Author: Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw
Unique Gifts from (yes!) Consignment & Resale Shops
Okay, so you scoured the malls and the big box retailers and the internet for gifts that will please your recipients, pamper your purse, and above all, not look like everything else that everyone else just found and plopped money down for.
If you cherish the uniqueness of friends and family, you want to give them unique gifts, right?
Here’s some ideas to get you started… and yes, the basic materials or even the gift itself could be found at resale, thrift and consignment shops. It doesn’t have to be new to be wonderful.
But then again, you know that.
For the relative with a relatively-chill dog:
For your sentimental daughter:
For the new homeowner who needs some holiday decorations and who loves wild animals:
I dare you to present your famous Christmas cookies on a plate for the neighbor family to keep!
Fashionista BFF needs boot bracelets, I’ll bet!
The best gift of all: One-on-one time with the kids. Gift them with the pipe cleaners, then make these together:
What does a 3-year-old “want” for Christmas?
B, a counselor for L School District, said she usually spends about $1,000 in Christmas gifts for friends and family, but is cutting back to no more than $500 this year — and all of it will go toward her 3-year-old daughter, N. “I can’t afford to shop for myself. Everything has to go to my child. You have to pay bills, so some of those bills are going to get stretched out.”
That’s a few sentences out of a “news item” about the shopping scene on Thanksgiving Friday. Now, I am no expert on three-year-olds, but chances are, that little girl
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OMG What will we be for Halloween? Head for the resale shop!
It’s getting down to the wire, and you still have no idea what to be for Halloween? We’ve collected up terrific ideas for you in this PDF. All it’ll take is a quick trip to your favorite resale shop, and you, your kids, even the baby will be all set!
A few ideas before you click to get our free PDF on Halloween costume ideas. My personal favorite: Crazy Cat Lady! Hat, glasses, dress and shoes and lots of stuffed cats…..
How about an undead flapper? Cheerleader? Fairy Ghostmother (such fun with an over-the-top bridesmaid dress from a thrift shop!) Heck, you could be an undead resale shopper!
This is probably THE easiest family costume idea of all! What’s easier than baby as a football, Daddy as a linebacker or letterman, Mom as a cheerleader or bookish nerd? Grab a onesie at your local thrift, dye it brown, use iron-on tape for the ball laces, and have, forgive me, a ball.
Did you take the 52 Things Challenge?
If you took our 52 Things Challenge to dis-burden yourself, chances are you ended up with a pile of possessions that you didn’t like, love, care about or choose to care for any more. Here’s how I passed on my underloved things, and how you might too.
Now who will love these 52 things more than I do?
Placemats: DONATED to my favorite consignment shop, to keep knick-knacks from scratching the for-sale furniture.
Hurricane lamps: CONSIGNED at same shop, as well as the ice bucket, tray and wall shelf/bracket.
Straw Stetson: DONATED. A local nonprofit shop sets aside things our migrant workers need. A straw hat is right, since much of the work these men do is under the brutal Florida summer sun.
Mid-Century bowls: SOLD to local vintage-furnishings shop. Art-show bowls: CONSIGNED. Orphan salsa bowl, in the DONATE bag for the local thrift shop which raises funds for a cause I believe in.
Tote, bag, knapsack, shoes, clothing: CONSIGNED.
Four black vintage handbags: UNDECIDED. I thought I’d try them on eBay, since I never have done that. But seeing the listings there, perhaps I’ll just consign them or ask at a few local antique shops. We have no great vintage shops around, although this might send me on a quest.
8 necklaces and bracelets: SOLD outright to a local resale shop. Well, except for the two bracelets Sis seems to find a liking for, and the necklace put aside for my friend Merry who has an inordinate love of primary colors…and in whose company, come to think of it, I bought the darn thing.
10 books to used-book store for store credit. I can always find another book or 5 to buy!
Fairy-bunny-ballerina: Gave to the little girl down the street wearin’ the tutu she tools ’round the ‘hood in. The feather-covered balls I put aside for holiday-present decorations. If I don’t use them there, I’ll take them to the thrift shop where I took the wire-art shopping bag and 4 t-shirts which are too well-loved to consign, and the sea gull. Although full of priceless memories, its beak’s been mended.
What I bought and sold these 52 Things for:
Total spent: Originally, about $275-ish. Total received by consigning and donating? $163 plus, of course, the good feelings of having donated some possessions to my favorite community charities.*
* Your mileage may vary. I seldom purchase anything “new”, so all my purchases were deals to begin with. That’s what happens when you ReSell, RePlace… you get to ReJoice!
How to Consign 