serendipitous thrifting

I enjoy thrifting because it saves money, it helps recycle old things that would go unused otherwise and saves the resources required to produce new things, and because I love finding unique and often vintage items. I think going to thrift stores and yard sales to find items is a fun sort of challenge.

I believe in serendipitous thrifting. I take mental notes of things I am needing around the house and for art projects, and usually come across those things within a few weeks. For example, last Saturday, my studiomate Brittney and I went to several yard sales. At one sale, I found a box of 2 dozen mason jars for $5, without lids. I have been preparing to do some canning later in the summer for quite some time now, and had been on the lookout for jars. I knew it was a good deal, even if I had to buy the lids new, but the serendipitous part came in when today I found a new box of lids for 50 cents at my favorite local thrift store. Now I need only 12 more lids to make my set complete, but I currently have 24 jars and 12 lids for $5.50, and I like that no new jars were produced just for me.

I also think thrifting is great for people who make art and/or do crafts. Today I also found an unopened, 8 oz. jar of screen printing fabric ink, which costs around $6 new, but was only 50 cents. I've been working on setting up a screen printing area in my home for summer, and was only a few days away from ordering a set of inks, so finding one of the colors I needed (white, for a set of cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white) was perfect. In the past, I've found fabric, yarn, string, darkroom supplies (be careful purchasing things which expire), and more.

What kinds of things do you like to shop for at thrift stores and yard sales?