Thrift Haul: Free/Thrifted Kitsch and Practical Organization bits for Home and Business

I've let myself back into thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets. I took a break while I spent some time deep-purging and organizing my apartment. I don't need or want much else in my life, but I still keep an eye out for extra-special pieces to induct into the collection; exercising a one-thing-in/one-thing-out rule. I always try to peek at some yard sales/second-hand shops weekly for practical wares for home and business, too! This post shows some behind-the-scenes bits I scooped up throughout the month for free- or close to it!

The bunting currently on my living room wall features an orange and red El Dia De Los Muertos themed fabric that goes perfectly with the artwork. I'll use the bunting for my market tent around October, but for now, it's a cute new addition the living room. I traded a kombucha SCOBY for it at a natural product swap. you can see other items I traded for here.

I found these pretty recycled rainbow place matts and matching box at the Goodwill by-the-pound store. They make a nice color pop, but my real reason for buying them was to keep myself from piling tons of stuff on the table while I work and leave it like that! The matts establish the table as a spot to eat or take notes. So far, so good. I've stopped junking-up the table.

Nearly all of my clothes is from Goodwill, yard sales, and random thrift stores or indie shops. I buy clothes that match my cool undertone in most cases. The fun thing about buying 2nd hand is that you can dye and/or sew/alter pieces without guilt because it's usually so cheap to procure.

These are just a few favorite pieces I've scooped up for anywhere from $1.00 to $5.00 over the past couple of months. The little floral piece was slightly against my rules but the Urban Outfitter's 90s-through back piece got to me, my mom had very similar floral sheets. It was $1.00. The wrinkled blue dress line-dried like that, oops! Didn't have time to iron it before shooting it.

I've one of two tote bags as my go-tos for years, even though everything constantly falls out of them! I started borrowing my roommate's little black purse to prevent further object loss, but I recently found my own for less than 50 cents!

This basic brown bag was like-new and seemingly unused from Goodwill. It was more than I normally pay for anything, especially a purse ($5.00!) but I liked the shape, it's a beautiful basic piece. I've used the piece for product photography. The white guy poking out is an aromatherapy inhaler from my shop.

I reached for my fifty cents so fast when I saw this dinosaur planter at the flea market! I may fix the paint chips with a little red and black paint. It would look gorgeous with some glaze, too. It was the perfect size to host one the succulents I've been propagating.

And books, hell yes, the books! I went to a library book sale recently where they had a fill-a-bag for 10 buck deal (and I believe a buy two get one free the last day.) I bought one bag stuffed with books on diet, herbalism, health, and a little art and kitsch for good measure. I can't wait to devour them all while taking notes and sipping herbal tea.

I donated (or sold?) my last watering can, a gorgeous copper hued metal one. I've been watering my plants with a measuring cup but it disturbed to soil too much. I scooped up this simply plastic watering can for a $1.00 to remedy the issue.

I already used this beautiful black basket for a recent organic/homemade product swap. It's reinforced with metal so it'll be the perfect practical display piece for outdoor markets. $1.00 from a yard sale.

This set of 12 jars was $12.00 from a yard sale. Perfection! My herb cabinet is a giant mess, these beauties are perfect for storing my current stock of herbs.

The jars were the perfect fit for a shelf I rescued from someone's curbside recently. I just finished turning it into my home apothecary with herbs and bulks, I'll have to update with an "after" photo later!

I found something for perfecting posture for long hours spent on the computer for fifty cents, score! On that same practical note, I scored a free crock-pot and two immersion blenders for close-to-free, both I'll use for making soap.

I scoop up nice little trays any time I see them for cheap, this little one was perfect for holding aromatherapy goodies and my little bamboo plant on my desk.

And The Yuko-chan is still following my around, jumping in my shots and/or watching me work when she's not sleeping off a food coma.

And Yay, Name Change: I finally pulled the trigger and changed the blog name to VanessaAlvarado.com, so please update your bookmarks and/or links if you can! I've thought laboriously on it, and I know this name change is a step I needed to move forward and be successful with my blog and businesses. I can't wait to showcase helpful new products for indie business owners and much more soon. By the way, if you see any glitches during this transition, please e-mail me and let me know. Sometimes it takes a couple of days for everything to smoothly transition to the new domain name. For now, caffeine, need all the caffeine, so much to do...

Have you been hunting at the thrifts/flea markets/etc. for practical wares, merch or fun lately? It's been fun to get back to the hunt in small increments.

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