The best place to find vintage for kids (if your mom didn't save all of your hand-me-downs like mine did) is the thrift store. Most standalone vintage stores don't feature kids' stuff, and when they do, it tends to be way more expensive than it would be otherwise. But at thrift stores, the old sailor suits, Polly Flinders dresses, and authentic saddle oxfords tend to show up mixed in with everything else, at everything-else prices.

I found this peasant blouse for Anne at Thrift Store USA recently, the heavy cotton fabric and bright hand-stitched embroidery jumping out from amidst a sea of Target and Walmart brand girls' stuff. And it had been marked down twice, making it a sweet $2.50. Score!


blouse: vintage (similar), jeans: Carter's, shoes: Minnetonka, sunglasses: 17th Street Surf Shop (similar)

Sometimes in the course of thrifting for Anne, I'll come across a piece of clothing that doesn't fit -- now -- but is too good a deal to leave behind. When that happens I always ask myself: is this worth storing for the two, three, or four seasons until my kid fits into it? We don't have a lot of storage in our house, so in most cases, the answer has to be no.

But sometimes, it might be a yes.

I found this brand new (still with tags!) Crewcuts bubble skirt when A. was still at least two sizes too small for it but picked it up anyway knowing that it would be worth it in the long run. Crewcuts stuff is practically impossible to destroy (when it isn't made out of some impractical fabric like SILK) and the colors and cuts are classic, meaning it won't go out of style while A. waits to grow into it. Also, Crewcuts stuff tends to be relatively expensive, so when you can pick it up for $3 versus $45, you better.

Other brands I tend to hang onto when I come across them: baby Gap, Hanna Andersson, tea collection, Boden.

Do you save things for later when buying stuff for your kids?

It's October, so we finally broke out the Halloween stuff, including some of our favorite vintage Halloween books. We wait all year for our Halloween books! Most of these we found while out and thrifting, but a few are leftovers that my mom saved from when me and my sister were little. It's only the second week of the month, but we've already read through most of these once and are looking forward to reading through them again and again. Below is a description of the titles (with affiliate links to where you can find them, but really, coming across them in a thrift store or secondhand shop is the most fun!)

The Big, BIG Pumpkin: Bear thinks of a creative way to use a big pumpkin from his garden.

Gus and the Baby Ghost: I remember this one, about a ghost and a museum director who adopt a baby ghost, as my favorite from when I was growing up.

Georgie's Halloween: A little ghost wins best costume on Halloween night.

The Pumpkin Smasher: The terrible Turner twins outsmart a Pumpkin Smashing witch who wants to ruin Halloween. Another one from when I was a little girl.

Clifford's Halloween: The big red dog and Emily Elizabeth reminisce about past Halloweens and some of Clifford's best costumes.

The Rabbi and the 29 Witches: This one is really a Jewish folktale and has nothing to do with Halloween but we break it out this time of year. A rabbi and a village run 29 angry witches out of town using nothing but their wits.

What are your favorite Halloween books? Have you made any good thrift store finds lately?

I've written before that one of my favorite things to find at thrift stores is fabric. For the beginner sewer (like me), it's great to find lots of fabric to practice on without breaking the bank. I found this vintage curtain panel at Thrift Store USA an age ago, and bought it for 99 cents. Even though it wasn't a lot of fabric to work with, I really couldn't bear to leave the adorable floral anemone pattern behind to languish on the rack. What if nobody else appreciated it like I did? It stayed curled up in my fabric stash until Anouk noticed it one day, and told me she wanted a dress out of it.

I decided to make it work, Tim Gunn style. I used an existing bodice pattern piece, tracing it onto freezer paper and lengthening it to a tunic length, and just managed to make it fit the cloth. I lined it with some muslin, and then tacked the existing ruffle to the bottom (the ruffle is really the best part, with the yellow contrast stitching). Over pants or shorts, it really is the sweetest thing and even if it isn't perfect, I'm glad that an adorable piece of old fabric got some new life (of course its new life was quickly threatened by a handful of rogue blueberries but I managed to get the stains out without ruining anything so hooray!) It's one of my favorite thrift store finds to date. 





Now A. is all ready to visit Rhett at the Atlanta jail and ask for the money to pay taxes on Tara! I'm sure she'll get it, how could she not looking this cute?

Have you found any thrift-store gems lately?

This regular feature has suffered a little as I've tightened my purse strings -- both literally and figuratively. I'm trying to put away more than I spend, and only bring things I'm sure will be beautiful or useful or both into our new home (having to pack and move a ton of junk will do this to you. It's still fresh in my mind). So I haven't been shopping much recently, except for others, for the holidays. I did, however, poke into two new (to me) thrift stores in the past few weeks and couldn't resist bringing home a few odds and ends that I'm eager to show off.

The first shop we hit was Best Thrift, on Military Highway in Norfolk. It opened in October and to fully explore every nook and cranny of this huge former department store building would probably take me until next October.

I found these hand-made Chinese pants for Anne in the toddler boy's section. They're not in the world's most pristine condition but our playgroup is planning a big Chinese New Year party and for 89 cents, I figured they'd at least get one wear. I love the double row of piping on the pant leg.

In the book section, I found a stack of kids' books for a quarter apiece, and this old vintage Halloween book. I love the old-fashioned, two-color drawings.




One of my fave things about thrift stores are the giant grab-bags of craft supplies. This one had pom-poms, pipe cleaners, foam stickers, and wooden letters, my favorite yet.

What's best at Best? The kids book section, housewares (a lot of Pampered Chef stuff the day we went including a stoneware dutch oven), toys (Molly found a couple of brand new Ninjago sets for pennies on the dollar), and kid and baby clothes. There wasn't much furniture, but what they had looked good -- everything in the store was clean and in almost startlingly good condition.

The second place I explored (with my two favorite thrifters, Molly and T.) was the Habitat for Humanity store on Tidewater Drive, also in Norfolk. I went looking for some home reno odds and ends and was surprised -- I had no idea they also did the traditional thrift store fare, I thought it was all building supplies.



I found these burlap bags and tinier cloth drawstring ones hanging out on a random shelf. The burlaps were pricier than I would have thought (50 cents a pop!) but the little ones were about a million for $2.00 so I think it evens out? I'm not really sure what I'll use the burlap for (maybe a pennant banner, something like this?) but I've already got visions of next year's advent calendar using the small ones.



These IKEA Vivian drapes will replace the ones in our bedroom that are looking a little sad (I'm convinced the Vivian drapes are pretty much disposable, not meant to be washed or even touched much. But they sure are pretty.) They were full price but brand new and saved us a long trip up I-95. James, hopefully, when he saw them: "Did they have anything else on your list?"



The big surprise at Habitat for Humanity was the bins and rolls of fabric way in the back. I never would have thought to look for fabric but boy, was there a lot of it. Molly walked away with two full rolls of upholstery fabric for something like $10. I found a couple of yards of this chambray with eyelet embroidery, which I'll probably use to make a dress for Anne.



Another big score was this bamboo Levelor blind for $5.00. Brand new they retail for $50. That's a 90% discount! J. and I hung it up in our kitchen, which needs a LOT of work, still, and already the place looks more finished. I'm going to be on the lookout for one for our breakfast room.

And last but not least...a cookbook. I live for these cookbooks -- you know, the kind that were put together by PTAs and Junior Leagues thirty years or so ago? This one was made to raise money for the Ponchatoula High School band and features some amazing Cajun and Creole recipes and also this one for Sad Cake (isn't that an oxymoron?)



Things to look for at Habitat for Humanity? FABRIC, doors, furniture, books (a great selection of random titles for the latter) and leftover paint samples in every color you could think of, perfect for craft projects.

What thrifted treasures have you brought home recently?

I do a lot of thrifting but so far haven't blogged too much about it. It feels weird not to talk about it -- it's like having a secret identity. V. lonely :( And because part of the fun of thrifting is sharing the treasures that you find with others, I thought I would start up a regular feature to do just that. Here are my latest, favoritest thrift store finds, in no particular order of awesomeness.



The day I realized that most thrift stores sell fabric was one of the happiest days of my life. It really cuts down on cost of sewing clothes, which means I can try more ambitious designs than I would with pricier stuff. The red and white fabric is a gorgeous heavy knit that's going to become a comfy dress for A. some time in the next few months. I think the dark blue flowered fabric might become this blouse for me.



I found this bowl at my fave thrift store of all time, the Goodwill in my old neighborhood in south Arlington, VA, when we were in town for a wedding back in July. It was in the window, tucked almost out of sight, but its gold rim glinting in the sun caught my eye as I was checking out. There's just something about it --  the shiny gold, the matte olive green. I'm not sure if I really like it, but I love it. (Does that make sense to anybody but me?)



These books are from the early 1950s, and feature all sorts of Christmas poems and comics and hilariously heartfelt essays comparing Communist Russia to the inns that turned the Holy Family away. There's an order form in the back to subscribe to the whole series; I am almost tempted to fill it out and send it in because 10c an issue is a great bargain. These two cost me a dollar apiece.



I recognized these toys from my own childhood -- they lived at my grandparents' house and I was fascinated by them for far longer than I should have been. Now that A. has a set of her own, she loves them, too. The premise is that you can combine all of the pieces to make a giraffe, elephant and dog (not pictured). Or you can combine them in new, odd ways to make creatures we affectionately refer to as the girephant and dograffe.




A good basket is hard to find. This one holds our cuddle-up blankets (and sometimes a cat or two).

What was your most recent thrift-store score?