thrift haul – This is my hobby.

Surprisingly Artsy Crafty

Happy New Year! I’m grateful to have this creative outlet and friends who support it by reading and engaging with my ramblings.

So let’s waste no time and get right into my ramblings this week!

I ordered a hot glue gun from Amazon, and I fear it has made me too powerful.

I’ve never been an arts and crafts type of gal, though I admire artsy and crafty folks so very much.

But…has this hot glue gun made me artsy and crafty? Perhaps you can be the judge.

I initially ordered the hot glue gun for my mom, actually. She needs it for a project, but once I had it in my possession, I quickly realized that the possibilities are vast.

On literal Christmas day, I took this hot glue gun into my bathroom to renovate our struggling towel hooks, because the thought had been scratching the back of my mind ever since the Amazon package arrived and I could wait no longer.

Here’s how the towel hooks looked before:

Woof. Chipped and broken.

As you’ve learned by now, I’m really into shells and have a lot of them laying around my house, so I thought: why not hot glue some shells onto these broken towel hooks?!?

So, that’s what I did:

This experience was so intoxicating, that I took my hot glue gun and shells to a picture frame I thrifted during my Denver Goodwill trip in October:

I’m obsessed. What will I glue next?!

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Last week’s thrifted ‘fits:

>> Highlight reel of the thrifted Christmas gifts I gave to family on my Instagram profile! <<

House of Harlow dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Gorgeous necklace made of thrifted fabric, charms, and shells by Sarah Bray Bermuda

Dooney & Bourke bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Baby girl’s Christmas eve dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

My Christmas day sweater and linen slip dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Vintage, secondhand Lilly Pulitzer caftan purchased at a nonprofit event

Baby girl’s Lilly Pulitzer romper from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Woven bag thrifted and gifted from a friend!

Sweater layered over a white sun dress – both from Goodwill West Palm Beach; Necklace made of thrifted materials by Sarah Bray Bermuda; Ring from A Timeless Treasure in Northwood Village

Sam Edelman sandals from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Sunglasses from Goodwill West Palm Beach; Top from Nearly New Shop West Palm Beach

Can you believe my mom found this bag brand new at Goodwill?! She gifted it to me for Christmas.

I hope the new year brings you many thrifting adventures, friends!

A Thrifted Christmas Table

This year, our boys were out of town for Christmas, so Vince and I hosted a small Christmas dinner with just baby girl and our moms.

I’ve been collecting items for my Christmas tablescape for several months and am sharing here all the details of my completely thrifted, gifted and secondhand Christmas table:

-White Dinner Plates – Goodwill West Palm Beach
-Green Cloth Napkins – The Nearly New Shop West Palm Beach
-Napkin Rings – Thrifted and gifted from a friend
-Silverware – Wedding Gifts
-Milk Glass Goblets – Passed down from my mom
-Candle with Glass Christmas Tree Charm – Goodwill West Palm Beach

-Taper Candles – Thrifted from Goodwill West Palm Beach or gifted
-Crystal Candle Holders – Wedding Gifts
-Table Runner – Goodwill West Palm Beach

The table runner originally had tassels on either end, but they fell off after I ran it through the washing machine, so I tied ornaments on either end to replace them! The vintage wreath ornaments were sourced from The Nearly New Shop West Palm Beach.

-Brass Candle Holders – Passed down from my mom
-Small White & Green China Candleholders – Goodwill West Palm Beach
-Glass Christmas Tree Votive Holder – Passed down from my mom
-Christmas Holly Candle Holder – Goodwill West Palm Beach
-Cake Stand – Garage sale find
-Wooden Nativity People – The Cozy Cottage Lake Worth Beach

Now that all my Christmas gifts have gone out, I’ll also be sharing details on most of the items I thrifted for friends and family this year — stay tuned!

I hope you had a cozy Christmas full of warmth and love, friends.

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Last week’s thrifted ‘fits and treasures:

>> Mom and I visited the Rust Market in Lake Park for last minute Christmas shopping – reel on my Instagram profile! <<

Sweater and MANGO tote from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Ring from A Timeless Treasure West Palm Beach

Sweater from Goodwill West Palm Beach; Madewell Jeans from Goodwill Boutique in Boca Raton

Hightop chucks from Goodwill West Palm Beach

J. Peterman jumpsuit and leather belt from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Anthropologie skirt from Goodwill West Palm Beach; Amazing necklace made of vintage fabric, charms, and shells sourced from thrift and estate sale trips made by Sarah Bray Bermuda

A closer look at my stunning Sarah Bray Bermuda necklace!

Baby girl’s dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

Mom bought me a pair of tassels from the Rust Market in Lake Park – they are on our end tables in our bedroom for now.

This stunning handmade, one-of-a-kind dress made from a hand stitched vintage tablecloth is from a Rust Market vendor named Marcia. She doesn’t sell online/has no digital presence and more people need to know about her!! This dress is one example of many gorgeous designs. I highlighted her in my recent instagram reel – check it out!

Vince and I brought a bottle of wine to dinner with friends and I popped on this vintage ornament sourced from a collection I found at Goodwill West Palm Beach.

Elaine’s set from Goodwill West Palm Beach

A Thrifted Thanksgiving Table

I was thrilled to host Thanksgiving this year, not only because I love spending time with my family, but also because it gave me an excuse to create a holiday themed tablescape.

In recent years I’ve gotten more and more into tablescapes.

It’s another outlet for creativity, and I like pulling things from around my house to place down the middle of my dining table.

I’ve pulled framed photos, shells, and collected trinkets for my tables when hosting friends and family.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like almost anything goes for a tablescape.

You want bows? Butterflies? Bird houses? Tie and stick them onto candle holders or table runners and make it a thing!

(My husband was sure to tell me that placing miniature chairs down the middle is a little insane — I just love a miniature piece of furniture, okay?!)

This holiday, I’ve had a lot of fun thrifting specifically for my tablescapes.

Here, I’m sharing the details on where I sourced all the items for my Thanksgiving table.

Goblets – Goodwill West Palm Beach
Glasses – Home Goods (I store these separately / away from our daily use cabinets so nobody can break them, and only bring them out for guests)
Flatware – Passed down from my mother-in-law
Crystal candle holders – wedding gifts
Pink taper candles – Goodwill West Palm Beach
Beaded/wooden candle holder – Nearly New Thrift Shop West Palm Beach

Napkin rings – thrifted and gifted from a friend
Fall wreath – Goodwill West Palm Beach
Bronze candle holders – passed down from my mom
Dark blue dessert plates – Goodwill West Palm Beach
White & blue dessert plates – thrifted & gifted from my mother-in-law

Floral urn – Nearly New Shop West Palm Beach
Block print napkins – Etsy
White vessel thingy I used as a candle holder – thrifted & gifted from my mom
Glass cake stand I used as a candle holder – found at a garage sale years ago

Baby girl made this sweet centerpiece at school!
Teacup I used as a candle holder – thrifted & gifted from my mom
Dinner plates – fiestaware; I chose dark blue plates for our family’s everyday use because the color hides scratches and they look nicer longer!

It felt like a blessing to be able to make my table beautiful for friends and family to gather around — I hope your Thanksgiving was fab, too!

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Last week’s thrifted ‘fits & highlights:

Easy breezy dress from Goodwill West Palm Beach

GAP shirt dress, linen pants, Target sandals from Goodwill West Palm Beach

I left this at Goodwill and kinda regret it!!!

Top from Goodwill West Palm Beach, Madewell jeans from Goodwill Boutique in Boca Raton

Cutie frog earrings from A Timeless Treasure West Palm Beach

Shells and rocks from Goodwill West Palm Beach styled in one of my plant pots

Still screaming over this bag found at Goodwill West Palm Beach — the red and the bamboo handles!

Button up from my Denver Goodwill haul, MANGO bag from Goodwill West Palm Beach

I styled an area in my bedroom with shells, a basket, and design books from Goodwill West Palm Beach

This basket from Goodwill West Palm Beach is solving a clutter problem on my desk!

Thrifting into the Holidays

It’s hard to believe the holidays are nearly upon us. After October it’s basically Christmas, so buckle up, folks.

One of the challenging things about being a mama is that holiday gifting for the kids, family friends and extended fam usually falls on your shoulders.

Baby girl and I stopped by A Timeless Treasure in Northwood to start our holiday gift hunting. This store has treasures in every nook and cranny and also sets up a booth at the Lake Park Rust Market!

My husband is in charge of arranging with Santa the big gift each kid will get, but there’s still stockings to fill and smaller presents to find — all while attempting to maintain some semblance of a budget and keep the spending even among all kiddos.

There’s also sharing gift ideas with extended family — you have to keep straight what you’re getting the kids vs. what you recommend the family gets for them.

*Parents, take note:* Last year, my genius idea was creating a Pinterest board for each kid and sending out links! It worked great.

We scored several perfect, vintage gifts at this shop! And, naturally, a few things for ourselves as well. 😏

Lucky for this mama, I love gifting and shopping, so sourcing holiday gifts is mostly fun.

It’s going to be even more fun this year because I was inspired by an influencer I follow, Margo Roth, to gift thrifted baskets.

The Goodwill by my house always has a variety of cute baskets to choose from, so I’m collecting them and filling them with thrifted items that remind me of the people in my life.

Baby girl’s favorite thing about the shop.

I can’t emphasize how primo (often brand new) the items I find in the shops are. I’ve already started collecting and will eventually share the details on each basket I make.

Gifting this way gives me an excuse to be in the shops even more than usual (twist my arm), and also allows me to share about my obsession with thrifting and its benefits with my people.

It’s been so much fun searching for things that are personalized — can’t wait to share what I’ve found with you soon!

Last week’s thrifted ‘fits & treasures round-up:

>> VIDEO THRIFT HAUL HERE <<