Another weekend, another massive Goodwill Hunting Spree in Indy (two in Carmel and one in Westfield).  I found a great set of IKEA floating shelves that will look perfect in my craft room – and are very much needed since we moved a lot of our boardgames up from the living room.

Chrissy’s newest Goodwill obsession are the t-shirts – because they make her laugh.  Think of it like funny jokes or memes on Facebook and Pinterest – only in a textile format.  I have to agree, she found some good ones this time around.

I also found some great puzzles (yes, I know I said that I was cutting back but I couldn’t resist). The Map puzzle not only turned out to have all the pieces and be two-sided, but it dated to the 30’s based on the countries that were found on the world map.  My guess would still be a little later based on the colors, but it definitely has a vintage look and feel, and a pleasant vintage scent.

As always, I had fun finding funky things to try out with Anna.  Including an organ, a scale a time-out chair and a water bottle belt for marathon running (or goodwill shopping).

Other odds and ends…

This day is so Epic, I’m going to break it up into several posts…

I started the day with Chrissy and Anna in Franklin, IN – which we learned is about an equal distance for us both to travel – to try out the monthly Johnson County Antique Market (held on the Second Saturday of every month from 9AM-3PM).

Admission was $2 but that didn’t keep big crowds from coming out to enjoy the event. At times it was a little tough to move around, especially within some booths, but we still managed to find some treasures. Chrissy found great some great vintage thread spools and I found some fun valentines cards and valentines-themed jewelry.

I also found an old vintage “Little Red Hen” puzzle. Even though I’d vowed to skip on puzzles for a few months after all the collecting I’d done for the Puzzle Extravaganza at the Monroe County History center, I couldn’t pass on something unique. Besides, that’s one of the cardinal rules of thrifting: If you see something you like, get it…because the odds of it being there if you go back are slim.

Tips we took away from this first stop on our thrifting trip to Franklin:

1. It took us a while to remember that you can haggle at antique markets (unlike other thrift stores) and most vendors definitely seemed willing to make a deal.
2. Check pricing, while most things were rather consistently priced, there were some differences from vendor to vendor so it paid to shop around a little before making purchases.
3. Bundle, put a few things together for more pricing leverage.Vendors don’t want to carry everything back home with them at the end of the day – so oftentimes, the more you buy, the better the deal.
4. Talk to the vendors. By talking to one of the vendors we learned about a lot of other stores in town as well as other antique markets and fairs in the nearby area.