January Thrift Haul

It’s the first thrift haul of 2025 and I can’t wait to share it with you all! Once again, after taking a look back at my thrifting for the year, I’m trying to stick with my goal of being super picky with what items I thrift. However, I’m also trying to keep in mind that if I love something I need to just buy it. Some of my favorite items over the years are items that I wasn’t necessarily looking for… but loved anyways.

Here’s what I thrifted this month:

Merona Cardigan, $5.50

Okay, so at first glance this cardigan isn’t anything special. It’s Merona brand, which was carried at Target from 1991 – 2017. At the time it was introduced at Target to help them compete with department stores, but ended up replaced by their current ‘A New Day’ collection. However, it is actually a pretty great little cardigan.

It’s 100% cotton and has a fun pattern going on. I can see it over a solid t-shirt for work Team’s calls, over a graphic tee on weekends, or paired with a swishy skirt for more of a kitschy look. For $5.50 it will be fun to play around with!

Coldwater Creek embroidered jeans, $9.50

I’ve been on the hunt for a new, comfortable pair of jeans, so I was touching all the jeans at the store to check out brands and washes. I saw that this pair was from Coldwater Creek, which initially piqued my interest, because that brand tends to be made really well. Then, I saw the adorable embroidery at the bottom of each leg and I was sold.

The company releases different versions of these embroidered jeans every so often and they are priced around $100, so YAY for this steal. I’m looking forward to wearing these in the spring with sandals and sneakers.

Cactus hat, $3.50

While I’m not a huge baseball hat person, this cactus hat was too darn cute and I absolutely needed it. For those of you who may be aghast at purchasing a secondhand hat, it went straight into the washing machine (on cold, with everything else) and then formed it back into a hat shape and let it air dry.

Banana Republic scarf, $6.50

It’s been cold and snowy the last couple weeks, so I found myself drawn to the soft and snuggly scarves. I really liked this chunky two-tone version. It has the Banana Republic tag on it and is 70% wool and 30% cashmere, which sells at the store for anywhere between $100 – 200 depending on the sales. This one went directly into a lingerie bag and then thrown in the wash (on cold) and then to the dryer. It’s so soft and it will be the perfect topper for the chilly days we’re having right now.

Stitch Fix sweater, $9

This sweater was new with the Stitch Fix tags still on it. It’s just a nice, mockneck Henley sweater that I found in the men’s sweaters. This is a great topper for telework days, as it’s easy to layer and will look professional when I’m surprised with the random Teams call. I like the pretty cranberry color too, so this will get lots of wear this winter.

Homemade quilt, $15

This quilt was my absolute favorite find of the month! After months, if not years, of checking for handmade quilts… I found this one. It is an absolutely gorgeous handmade queen sized quilt in the ‘Trip Around the World’ style of quilting. This quilt took somebody hours and hours and hours of loving work to make it.

Just for fun, I checked Etsy for ‘Trip around the World’ quilts and they range from $325, $500 and over $1,000 due to the labor in creating them. I love the shades of blue in this quilt and it has been soaked in Oxyclean, washed and now is part of my ‘snuggling on the den couch’ nest.

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2024 Thrifting Wrap Up

As the year winds down, I like to take the opportunity to look back at my thrifting purchases. While I still make a thrifting mistake here and there, thrifting is a pretty low stakes (and low cost) way to determine if something is going to work for you, your closet, or your home. So let’s take a look at my thrifting winners and losers for 2024!

My Favorite Thrifted Home Items for 2024:

  • DRU Holland Dutch Oven, $6.99 – January 2024
  • Handmade Pottery Tray, $6.49 – April 2024
  • Starbucks ceramic mug, $3.99 – June 2024
  • Pampered Chef Bar Pan, $5.99 – July 2024
  • MCM Bamboo bowl, $12 – August 2024
  • Rifle Paper Co x Corkcicle travel mugs, $18 each – August 2024

My winning home items from 2024 were a mix of super useful and super adorable. The Starbucks mug, Pampered Chef bar pan and Corkcicle travel mugs have been used heavily since I purchased them — ranging from every day to a couple times a week. The handmade pottery tray and the bamboo bowl are also super useful, holding stuff in my den. The DRU Holland Dutch Oven is more of a ‘makes my heart sing’ sort of item, that I just love!

My Favorite Thrifted Clothing Items for 2024:

  • Laura Ashley skirt, $7 – February 2024
  • L.L. Bean 100% Cotton cardigan, $3 – February 2024
  • Vintage skirt, $8.29 – April 2024
  • Madewell Walker Chelsea suede ankle boots, $5.99 – May 2024
  • Coach Dakota purse, $29 – June 2024
  • Sorel sandals, $20 – August 2024
  • Target Pleated Running Skort, $5.99 – September 2024
  • Lands End Squall Waterproof Parka, $17.99 – December 2024

These are my absolute favorite clothing thrifted scores over the last year! The Laura Ashley skirt and Vintage skirt have both become my absolute favorites in my closet. The L.L. Been cardigan and Lands End parka (a recent addition) are more ‘sleeper winners’ in that they are super useful and keep me nice and warm. The shoe winners of the year – the Madewell suede ankle boots and the Sorel sandals are both comfortable and cute, and have gotten lots of wear. The Target skort is super cute and will go into heavy rotation once the weather warms back up. Lastly, that Coach purse. SWOON! It gave me the opportunity to try out my rehab skills and it’s oh so gorgeous and timeless!

And here were some of my 2024 mistakes that I will learn from:

  • Athleta Arrival skirt, $13.49 – January 2024
  • Kate Spade Viva Colores Sidney Skirt, $11.29 – June 2024
  • Anthropologie Skirt, $5.29 – June 2024
  • Halara workout dress, $12.99 – July 2024
  • Made in France bowl set, $9 – October 2024
  • Johnny Was dress, $9 – October 2024

For the three skirts and two dresses, I have the same issue… I need to TRY ITEMS ON. However, with all the dressing rooms closed, I take a gamble. While I can get back to my local thrift store within a week to make returns, when I thrift further from my house I can’t always get back out before the return window closes. So, to learn from my mistakes: I will be more selective when thrifting if I don’t know if an item will fit. And if possible, make sure to make those returns in time!

My mistake with the bowl is that I totally overlooked two huge cracks (they were covered by tape). Sigh. Lesson learned!

Moving into 2025, some wins that I’ve learned from is to ALWAYS do the vacation thrifting! Some of my favorite items of the year were purchased on our travels and in addition to being great items, they also have some fun memories built in. As for lessons to learn, I need to be more selective with items that may not fit and make returns when possible.

I can’t wait to see what kind of treasures we find in 2025!

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December Thrift Haul

I’ll be doing a 2024 thrifting wrap up post soon, but before we start winding down the year I need to share one last thrifting trip with you!

I only had one thrift store visit this month, but I’m super pleased with my two items:

Lands End Squall Waterproof Parka and bonus REI gloves, $17.99

I totally manifested this purchase and I’m so, so happy with it! The day before I went thrifting I was outside for an evening event and thought that I could really use a heavier winter coat that is long enough to keep my bum warm. Well, I found this coat the very next day!

It’s the Lands End Squall Waterproof Parka in Deep Sea Navy and it retails for $199. This particular coat is from Winter 2022 (you can tell by the inside tag), it is in fantastic condition and even has adjustable elastic in the waist so you can give it a little shape if you want. It’s the size I would have preferred, a color I enjoy and the exact cut that I was hoping for.

Even better, when I came home and threw it in the wash, I found that it came with a pair of bonus REI gloves in the pocket, which retail for $40. So that’s $240 of coat and glove goodness for just $17.99! Yay for secondhand. And now I’m planning to donate my previous winter coat (that was too short and too constricting on me when wearing a sweater) to a local nonprofit’s coat drive.

Kenneth Cole Reaction skirt, $6.99

I’m a skirt girl, so when I saw this circle skirt in a substantial material I went in for a closer look. It’s super flowy with pockets and I enjoy the grey/beige + white + black pattern. The waistline is a little bit big for me, so I stuck a belt on it to wear it to work last week.

I may take the time to figure out a new waistband situation on my sewing machine at some point… or I may just keep topping it with a belt so it can be adjustable based on my holiday eating!

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