A Trip to the Thrift Store

Today, I'm going to take you thrift shopping! I hope you like thrift shopping. I love it. It's like a treasure hunt. What will we find today?

I have two thrift shops that I mainly go to, although there are several on the island. Today, I'm taking you to the Humane Society Thrift shop in Lihue. See the sign there? It's a small shop, but always packed full of stuff. Granted, thrift shopping on a small island requires some patience. It's not like being able to thrift in a big city where there are lots of people! Kauai is a small place, and the climate is very hard on posessions. I leave empty-handed most days, but that's okay. The fun is in the looking.

Today, I found a happy, colorful platter for my kitchen. I bought a plate hanger at KMart so I can hang it up on my wall:

I also found some sheets and pillowcases that are in pretty good shape:

My local health food store, Papaya's, decided to start charging for grocery sacks in an effort to encourage their customers to bring in their own reusable sacks. When I saw this tutorial at Creative Kismet (I love her blog!), I decided to make my grocery totes out of old sheets and pillowcases. I love the fact that they'll be soft and washable and reusable.

I can only explain this next purchase by saying I must've been caught up in the moment. This poodle and jug were sold as a pair for some inexplicable reason. Now...I KNOW this tiny poodle was originally dancing with something else, but what?Even the poodle looks puzzled about his dancing partner. Now...I KNOW this poodle wasn't meant to dance with this jug. But obviously, through the years, he has lost his partner. Was it another dog? A cat? A ball? And why did someone think that a jug would make a good substitute? Have you seen this poodle before, perhaps on old Aunt Gertie's knick knack shelf, dancing with...what??

I asked the thrift store clerk if she thought this pairing was a bit odd. I was hoping that she would get curious and go look around in her mountain of stuff behind the counter to see if she could find the poodle's long-lost partner. But she didn't speak English very well, and perhaps in her native country, dogs and jugs go out dancing together all the time. Sadly, I couldn't persuade her to search for Fifi's long-lost love. I'll go back another time and see if a missing (poodle? cat?) has shown up. Trouble is, I'm not sure what I'm looking for? Any suggestions? (And no, the missing piece is not a leg. Ahem.)

I didn't find any fabric or old clothing today, but I usually come back when their clothing is on sale. I like to cut up cotton clothing to make quilts like this one:

I call this quilt, "Half-Price Day at the Salvation Army" because that's where I got 90 percent of the fabric in it! Only the border was purchased and a few of the lights were from my stash; the rest was recycled cotton clothing. This quilt is queen sized. The block pattern is traditional and has a few names, like "Buckeye Beauty" and "Jewel Box." The border is an original design by me, made from a variation in the same block.

I hope you've enjoyed today's outing. Time to sew some pillowcase totes! And finish my second mitten. And crochet some blue pillowcase edging. I better get busy!