Thrifting Using the Buddy System

Recent resale adventures proved that, while garage saling and thrifting with a buddy is always more enjoyable, if you have a savvy friend, it can also be more effective for finding the stuff you're looking for.

At the recent annual Regent Square neighborhood yard sale, two sets of eyes were definitely better than one, for both myself and my friend Scoobie!

Oh, I did okay on my own to begin with; it wasn't long into our yard saling journey, for instance, that I spied-- and subsequently nabbed-- this table with fun legs...

No, really... Table with "fun legs"...

But later on that block, my eyes were not quite so keen as to spy this nifty Alice in Wonderland tea towel...
"Um, don't you want that?" asked Scoobie, knowing well my Alice-themed kitchen. Also, the tea towel was $0.50!

I had my money out so fast! The towel seems to be a souvenir from "Alice's Shop" at Oxford University.

Scoobie was also indispensable when we encountered these pink Fiestaware sandwich plates...

I was distracted by other goodies, while these were apparently right under my nose.

Like the tea towel, they were in my hands quickly, because the price turned out to be seven for $5!

Now I came across a few of these other goodies on my own, such as this cute bag of four pewter Mad Hatter chess pieces...

(There were no other pieces to the set, just these. They remind me of those Easter Island heads all lined up like this.)

A pair of suncatchers were just $0.50 a piece...
And the Mifflin Church Rummage sale rustled up two pretty vintage tablecloths in grey, purple and green.But I think my favorite part of our day-- other than getting to sit down after walking about 20 miles o'er hill and dale-- was that I got a chance to return the favor to Scoobie for her keen goodie-spotting.

I knew from previous shopping endeavors that she'd wanted one of those pottery Christmas trees that plug in and are covered with little bulb ornaments. Her great-grandmother had had one and they are a fond memory to her.

Well, on about our last leg of the journey (and literally, our own last legs), I saw one sitting on a table on an elevated yard. "Didn't you want a tree?"

Turns out, the tree and all of its ornaments was just $3. The price was right, and good shopping karma was with her.

So lesson learned. Take friends with you. Make a day of it. And don't forget to let them know what you're looking for. Because you never know-- four eyeballs may prove far better than two.

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One last order of business today, speaking of buddies...

My friend Claire has opened up her own business of drawing cheerful customized "doodle" artwork for special occasions, gifts, etc.

I thought you all might enjoy checking out her site-- The Doodologist.

Have a great weekend!