YHL's Unofficial Macklemore Thrift Store Challenge

What? What? What?  Yo, Young House Love is hosting the Unofficial Macklemore Thrift Store Challenge and I'm here to tell you that it's like date night, Christmas and a little like walking through a fun house all in one!  The Petersiks, inspired by the hilarious rap song, Thrift Shop, by Macklemore & Ryan,(if you haven't heard the song, you can listen to the (clean) version here):

came up with this excellent and clever idea (not surprised; they are DIY superheroes) to host a thrift challenge!  Here's the sitch - there are three things you gotta do:

1. Take $20, head to the thrift;
2. Spend your $20 however you like and photograph your spoils; and
3. Find one or more of the things Macklemore & Ryan raps about and snap a pic and post it.  And of course, blog about your adventure.

Easy Peasy - Oh I got this.  I can thrift like a bargain biotch.  Challenge accepted.

Dan and I started off like this:  $20 bills in our pockets, fly specs, and a rapper's attitude, CHECK

Local Thrift Store...in the snow!...double check

We headed to the Savers in Woodbridge, set to blow the lid off the place with all the crazy thrifting - hecka yeah.  It's a superstore yo, bring on the cheap quirk.  I couldn't wait to start shopping but one look at the price tags, and I was like:

What? What? What?  Savers' wants HOW MUCH for this secondhand stuff!??  You can tell I'm totally irked cause I'm making the disrespected duck face.  Whoa, the prices were ridiculous!  Case in point - these creepy masks:

Twenty-FIVE dollars... EACH!  I'm sorry the picture is blurry but I was getting swindled and pimped.  $25 spondoolicks for these creepy artiWHACKS that could possibly put a curse on my house?  Definitely NOT.  There were no thrifty deals here.  The thrift superstore was a super disappointment.  I call that getting tricked by a bizness...although...

There was this cute beaded monkey:

FIFTEEN bucks.  Sorry beaded monkey, I'd go bananas for you if you were, say, $2, but $15?  My cart must roll on.

Then, there was this other stuff from the song - a Big A$$ Coat, and it was dookie brown:

It was fun cause it was made out of  Muppet fur.  Wait a tick, has anyone seen Fozzie Bear, lately? No?  Uh oh!

My ace man Dan found some super-cool kicks.  They are not alligator but they sure are green:

But green don't have a thing over these:

Ah, he got the Velcros!

I found where old knee boards go to die:

And then, we found Macklemore's Grandpa's keyboard:

Pops can really stunt and floss with his electric chord organ (yeah, I heard it; it didn't sound right)....Anyhoo, Dan fired it up...

(Lucky for us he was in the "electrical testing area") and he rocked the house phantom of the opera style.  But, for $25 our cart stayed unoccupied.  We decided to try our luck at another thrift.   As we headed for the door, right at the check out, I saw these flashy glasses:

They are really flashing!  The saluting price tag is really hot, too.   Don't hate.  They had 5 settings, "steady" as shown, "sequenced," "chasing,"  "random," and "blinking".  Cool.  I wanted them *but* $5 is too much for a few chucks (and then tossed in the junk drawer).  So, out the door we went and headed over to:

B Thrifty - that's exactly what we were trying to do but Savers fibbed.  But B Thrifty pulled through!  Lo and behold, it was a great thrift store!  I was happy to have gotten my pics at the other place because I was in the zone and hunting!  So many cool things here!  Here's my haul:

And in the spirit of keeping it real, here is where I FAILED the challenge (I prefer to think I overachieved, thank you).  I was supposed to spend $20 and well, my chair alone was $30.  So I was definitely able to spend $20 (twice).  If I hadn't bought the chair I would have been fine but it's just too cool to have left it behind.  Here's a closer look:

Oh so sweet - I love the scroll back and semi-circle frame!  It's in desperate need of a bath; then paint, and then something delicious for the upholstery.  That big green glass globe?  I've got plans for it too.  I'm thinking table lamp!  I have a soft spot for large chunks of glass and this was definitely coming home with me.   I was thrilled to find these two pieces:

Pyrex Delphite.  This baby needs some scrubbing, but once it's cleaned up, I'm using it for a casserole for the next work-sponsored pot luck!  This particular pattern/piece was a promo during winter 1961 - this is peanutbutter&jelly Awesome

My constant readers know I am an all-out glass hound.  I have been after a piece of this glassware --the pattern is called "Chandelier" by the O'Hara Glass Company.  This is the first time I've ever seen a piece in the wild!  It is roastedmarshmallow&chocolate Awesome!  This plate is gorgeous:

It looks like the Katy pattern from Imperial Glass.  Here's a closer look at the silverplate basket:

It will need some polishing.  A silverplate basket seems like a great idea.  Easter is around the corner and we live on Easter drive.  Done and done.  I'm set with my basket and bobble-head bunny:

I had to, it was 99c.  Spring-y ears AND its head bobbles - win/win.  

The doll is a vintage Crissy doll with "growing hair."  It works!  Turn the crank on her back and her hair recedes into a hole in her head.  Press her belly button and pull her hair up.  Nifty!  How do I know so much about this doll?  I read a lot (and I may or may not have had one when I was growing up)  She has "1969 Ideal Toy Corp..." plus a patent number stamped on her tush.  Poor girl, she'll regret that when she's older.   Don't let the lazy eye fool you, she's in excellent condition (except for the bit of frizz in her hair).  $1.99 - incred-i-bul. 

Next up, a magic, 3 Dimensional world of Mermaids book.  A must have for all mermaids and mermen, alike:

It was 99c.    And last but not least, this truly pretty framed silk embroidery.  

It has been professionally framed (with a silk mat!) but it's water-stained (at the top behind the price) and the white silk has mildewed.  I am not sure I can salvage it but it's worth a try.  

There you have it.   It was totally fun and finding treasures is like opening Christmas gifts on Christmas morning.  Oh, and how is it like a fun house --well, because it's a little scary too.  Because of things like this:

At least this little...uh, hobbit/troll/gnome?? looks friendly, right?   Hmmm, even white paint wouldn't help this look chic.  Or would it?  See, imagining the possibilities is just part of the fun :)

Are you ready to accept the challenge!?