16 April 2010

More thriftiness

Sailing on the success of last weekend’s thrift store outing, I have continued on the quest for dinner forks and buffet plates this week. Monday’s target was a rather upscale thrift store in the heart of the Montrose. It is staffed with a hefty supply of volunteers that resemble museum docents. My journey rewarded me with a set of 7 dessert plates in a modern floral design, shades of orange, pink and yellow. Quite festive and only $10.

Then yesterday, on the way home from work, a little voice urged me to pull off and dash into Dillard’s clearance center store. I had been there 2 or 3 weeks ago and doubted that the inventory would have changed much, but I heeded the voice. And the reward was worth the extra time. Open stock china priced at 99-cents. Only three patterns available, and mostly saucers without cups, but I was fortunate enough to get an armful of pretty bone china salad plates for under $20.

However, the fork shortage still lingers in the shadows of my thoughts. So today I went to the Salvation Army family store in the Heights on a quest for dinner forks. There were a lot, just not a lot that I liked. I prefer a dining utensil that feels weighty in your hand, so the stamped metal utensils, the kind that are plentiful in thrift stores, don’t exactly do it for me. Thankfully there were a half dozen that met the minimum criteria and at 20-cents per piece, who can complain, right?

I casually glanced at a few other items, but with not much time to spare, I made my purchase and headed back to work. Future thrift store outings will continue to be part of my future as I move down the list to other items queued up in my mind’s periphery.

11 comments:

  1. You are a damn good shopper. So shrewd! Wish we had a Dilliards outlet here in SW Florida. Bet you can get some goooood stuff there. You'll have a very ecclectic collection after your wedding is over.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are a damn good shopper. So shrewd! Wish we had a Dilliards outlet here in SW Florida. Bet you can get some goooood stuff there. You'll have a very ecclectic collection after your wedding is over.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So, after the wedding what are you going to do with all those dishes? Entertain a lot?! Hope you have lots of storage space. I have a ton of china, but not so much crystal. I really should thrift it and see what I can find!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hehe, you will end up with a massive collection of forks , lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, so much catching up to do here. I moved and had no internet for a bit but I'm way more settled. Let me say, I admire your thrift. There is always good reason to save money and I have hit some thrift stores myself. Some are hit or miss but when you hit....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, I love thrift stores - we call them charity shops here. I was in the Red Cross shop today picking up a few packs of recycled beads! I love the way they do this. They unpick, sort and repackage, and you can pick up bargains in haberdashery!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Don't ya just LOVE when you follow your "little voice" and it guides you to something just perfect?

    YAAAAAY for little voices!

    I agree with you, I like the feel of dining utensil's that have a weight to them because it feels like I have more control. The lighter stuff seems to just flop around in my hands.

    Aren't Thrift Stores the BOMB? I found a faaaabulous sports coat in one about a year ago and nabbed it ($12.00!!!).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Persistence, persistence, that's the key word in getting what you want. Way to go Diane, now only if that works with someone you have a crush on...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Some of them will probably wind up being donations back to the thrift store again, but some of them i will probably keep because they are just pretty.

    ReplyDelete
  10. We have a fairly good sized collection of dishes and salad plates are so versatile for parties. i have no doubt that we'll use them all. I saw some pretty stemware, 6 goblets, at the Salvation Army store last Friday, but was in a hurry, so didn't bother to get it. Not crystal, but just fine for casual use. I really should go back....

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have been meaning to check out the jewelry so that I can reuse the beads, but I haven't done this yet. I would love it if they sold beads already repackaged - what a fabulous concept! Oh my, we went to a bead show over the weekend and goodness gracious - sensory overload!! So many shiny objects in 1 place. It was so difficult to stay focused.

    ReplyDelete