[item] A painted canvas and some vintage pins / broaches.
[purchase info] Purchased at a thrift store.
[time in my possession] Approximately 4 years
[last used] 4 years ago
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy
[destination] Freecycle
[replacement item] None
[info] I bought this canvas half painted. I finished the painting and pinned vintage flower pins all over it. It’s been in my garage and some of the pins broke off.
[item] Box of dolls, some new, some vintage.
[purchase info] Purchased mostly on eBay and at thrift stores.
[time in my possession] Approximately 6 years.
[last used] A few months ago.
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Difficult.
[destination] Freecycle
[replacement item] None
[info] I bought these to use in a photographic art project for an altered book. I like taking random photos of them and using them for art projects. Interesting conversation pieces too when you set them out around the house or bring them to meetings.
[item] Vintage olive green iron
[purchase info] Purchased at a thrift store
[time in my possession] Approximately 4 years
[last used] almost 4 years ago
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Medium
[destination] Freecycle
[replacement item] None
[info] I used this for art projects like melting crayons. It’s cool, but I just don’t use it enough to keep it. I hate getting rid of cool looking retro stuff. Oh well, I still have my rotary dial phones.
**Only 20 more days in the challenge!!**
[item] Pretty Maid retro pink doll oven
[purchase info] Purchased on eBay
[time in my possession] Approximately 6 years
[last used] A couple of years ago
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Medium
[destination] Thrift store
[replacement item] None
[info] I had this on my “weird stuff” shelves. It’s just a cool thing to have, but it has no purpose. I still have some of the stuff from these shelves, but all they were doing is collecting dust. Less is good.
The first thing I do when I’m on vacation in a new city is scope out all of the local thrift stores and resale shops. It was raining yesterday, so the kids couldn’t do some of the things they had planned, so we hit the thrift stores. 
The first one had some cool stuff, but way higher prices than what I’m used to. The second store was a combo resale-thrift store. I found a great t-shirt there, but they only take cash. Of course I didn’t have any cash with me. The boys found a treasure here, something I had when I was their age, but I said no impulse buys. If they wanted it, they were going to have to return the next day to get it. I was going back, after a bank run, to get my t-shirt.
The third thrift store didn’t have much that peaked my interest, that is until I turned the corner and found this little gem for $2. A vintage Polaroid 600 camera. Now that there’s a company making film for these, they’re not as easy to find. These are selling on eBay from $10 to $50. Replicas are going for up to $150. This little beauty was only $2, an expenditure that was not part of the $16 hours of fun that I’m about to share with you. I’ll have to order the film for this. Did I need this? No. My kids and I will have some fun with it, then probably turn around and sell it.
My kids were talking the entire time about the vintage toy back at the second shop. Honestly, I knew they would appreciate it and it was a cool flashback for me. When we returned, the nice lady working there greeted us with a big smile and said, “You’re back!” We bought the vintage toy…
Meet Rex, a 70′s vintage string puppet named after our favorite restaurant in Steamboat Springs, CO. He cost $16, a price that seemed fair for a real vintage toy. My boys have a great appreciation for vintage things, as they love our 12 rotary dial phones as much as I do. We decided to take Rex out on the town! Continue reading
[item] 2 smock tops
[purchase info] Purchased at thrift stores
[time in my possession] Approximately 3 years
[last used] Months ago
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy
[destination] Resale and thrift store
[info] The red top is awesome but it looks terrible on me. The other top I just never wore. My mannequin, Darla, did though.
[item] 4 pieces of clothing
[purchase info] Purchased 2 new at discount stores and 2 at the thrift store.
[time in my possession] Approximately 3-5 years
[last used] Several months ago
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy
[destination] Skirt went to a resale shop, the others to a thrift store.
[info] The t-shirt and white top were from the thrift store. The white shirt never fit and I have way too many brown t-shirts. The skirt is too short for me… so I got one that is 1″ longer. LOL The vintage pink t-shirt is cute but I never wear it.
[item] 3 tank tops
[purchase info] 2 from thrift stores, one from Marshall’s.
[time in my possession] Approximately 2 years
[last used] Several months ago
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Medium
[destination] Thrift store
[info] I tried to sell these to Plato’s Closet but they said they’re too old. The first and third are Free People and retails for over $60 each. I paid $1 for one and $12 for the other. The middle one is Abercrombie, retailed for over $30 and I paid $3.99. I don’t look good in gray tones. The blue one I also have in faded pink.
[item] Retro Christmas lights
[purchase info] Purchased at an antique store years ago
[time in my possession] Approximately 5 years
[last used] Never, other than decor. Plugged them in once.
[difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy
[destination] Thrift store
[info] These collected a lot of dust. No purpose in keeping them.
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. I’ve never actually tried to type that up to check it, but it seems accurate. What if we take that one step further… a picture is worth 1,000 things?
So what do I mean by this? If you own a camera, you can snap a memory of anything you see. 
With digital photography, there’s no extra cost for taking a lot of photos like in the film days. Isn’t life all about people and relationships? Our society says it’s more about materialism. Wouldn’t it be better to have a photo of your child at Disney World versus having those ridiculous mouse ears laying around? Has anyone actually ever worn those after the plane ride home? Instead of buying souvenirs or mementos, snap a photo if you need something to remind you of that moment in time.
Mouse ears… $19.00
Other souvenirs… $136.00
Cleaning person to pick up all the junk you’ve accumulated… $175 a month
Memories with your loved ones? Priceless.