When I get questions from readers, they are usually on one of three subjects: venues around town, what A. is wearing, and thrifting, probably because I can't resist instagramming all of the amazing things I find on our (at least) weekly thrifting trips. The most frequent thrifting related question I get goes something like this... I'm new to thrifting and wondering: what should I thrift FOR?

Every thrift store has its own specialty. Some have great kids clothes, others have a large selection of books and media, some are more like antique stores with the style of vintage furniture they tend to carry. But there's one thing that I look out for at pretty much every thrift store I visit, and usually find lurking on the shelves in the shoe section: Converse All-Stars, in every size, style, fit, and print imaginable.






Some people get squicked out by the idea of secondhand shoes, but I really don't mind it with Chucks, because they are SO easily rehabbable. You can throw them right in the washer with a scoop of Oxyclean, let them dry for a few days in the sun and voila! they are as good as new. You can replace the inner soles, use a Magic Eraser or nail polish remover to clean the outer rubber sole, and change the laces out to make them your own.




They are pretty impossible to wear out, and every pair we've ever thrifted has been subsequently RE-thrifted or passed down to friends with kids with smaller feet.  I haven't paid retail for Chucks in about a decade and have scored some pretty awesome designs. Right now Anouk has several pairs in the next few sizes waiting to be grown into and I'm willing to bet all of them together cost less than the price of one new pair. Can't beat that!

Do you have a question about thrifting (or anything else?) You can email me at wtwgrow@gmail.com or reach me on our FB page.

It makes me feel a little guilty to admit it, but I'm not much of a play pretend type of mom -- I really can't make myself sit down and play Barbies or dolls for too long without wanting to bang my head against the wall. Enter: board games, the perfect way to occupy a toddler for an hour or two without it being too painful. With the winter months coming up, and the prospect of many hours indoors looming on the horizon, I've been stocking up on board games lately and we've amassed a pretty impressive collection.

Anouk just turned 3 and a half, and knows her letters, colors, and shapes, but even so, some of the more complicated board games are still a little advanced for her. Through a little investigation, though, we've come up with a good stock of games that are advanced enough to hold her attention without being too much.

Here's our list so far. What have we missed?
Penguin Pile Up: Balancing the penguins on a slippery iceberg is the aim of this game (first one to get all of them up there wins). For the littlest players, the iceberg can be set flat on the table so it's not so much of a challenge. A little difficult but satisfying when you get it and tons of fun.

Green Eggs and Ham Game: This one involves matching images with squares on the board to win. A must for Dr. Seuss fans.

Eeboo Tea Party Game: The first person to collect all of the pieces (plates, cup, food) wins. But beware of hungry bees! This game is an award-winner and probably Anouk's favorite right now. It also comes with its own tablecloth, which is pretty nifty.

Hi Ho Cherry-o: A counting game that's quick and easy. Keeping track of all the little cherry pieces, on the other hand...

I Spy Bingo: Find each of the items on the cards on a square on your board and you might get bingo! Teaches letters and letter sounds, with a more difficult option for older kids.

Go Fish card game: The old classic and you can find it everywhere, even the dollar store. There are some adorable vintage versions available on Etsy.

Memory: We have several versions of this matching game, but our favorite is probably one we made ourselves out of card stock and stickers. Pinterest has some great ideas if you're looking to DIY.

The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse: Created by Eric Carle, this coloring game combines creativity and fine motor skills. We previously reviewed it here.

ThinkFun Move and Groove: Not really a board game but we're including it anyway. Roll the soft plush cube and choose a card to act out the movement. We really appreciate that nobody "wins" with this game, it helps a lot with the meltdowns (we're still working on how to lose gracefully). ThinkFun sent us this one to review and it's still a favorite.

Just as a side note: A good number of these games A. and I picked up at the thrift store, on various shopping expeditions, for a dollar or less apiece. It never occurred to me before to look at the board games section but it's turned out to be a pretty stellar resource for games. Just be sure to check and make sure that all (or most?) of the pieces are there before you buy!

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?