You guys. I cant even. I mean. There are not words.
I hit the mother load.
And by mother load, I mean hands down the best thrifting haul of my ENTIRE LIFE.
On Wednesday I dropped Dylan off at Preschool and had 2 hours all to myself. I have been feeling a little uninspired as of late, and so with a prayer in my heart for something epic to get my juices flowing again, I headed out to take on every store I could with the little time I had to burn.
First I stopped at Restore (it is a Habitat for Humanity donation center/ second hand building supply store) and found 3 of the best lights ever. In fact. I think I love these mid century hanging pendant lights more than anything else that I have ever found. That is saying a lot. Too much maybe.
Anyways. I spent $19 on each of them and $19 on this major industrial beauty. Doesn’t it remind you of the light I used in the Epic Room Makeover Giveaway?
I am not a big consignment store shopper, but on a whim I stopped at 3 different ones and found THE BEST CRAP EVER!! (Dixie Consignment, Owl in the Attic, and Sell It Again Sam.) And then topped it off with a few great scores at the DI (Utah’s version of Goodwill).
I mean, I am looking at this picture and trying to decide which item in it is my fave but its like trying to choose your favorite kind of cake. Impossible. The geometric diamond statue was on clearance, it had apparently been in the store for ages. WHAT?! That is blasphemy.
The skirted pink lamp is so retrolicious. And the art. The art is amazing.
I have major plans for the gold trunk, and little Native American rug. The paint by numbers painting is really fantastic and you guys know that I am a sucker for anything brass. The toadstool is going to be so great on a stack of books on a shelf.
The seeded glass float is a little more than I would normally spend but one of my favorite vases in the world is a bubble shape and I always wish that I had more. (You can see it on the long shelf in my living room on the far right). The green glass rhino is actually a little bottle and Dylan has named him Nino. Welcome to the herd Nino.
 
Is your mind blown as much as mine was? I literally almost started crying in each store, because I was so excited. Is that weird?
Needless to say, I am inspired and itching to find homes for all of these treasures.
Have a great thrifting treasure? I want to see it! Use #colddeadfingers on Insta and make instant frenemies. Or if you’ve blogged about it leave a link below so everyone can check it out!
What the….! This post made me want to scream into a pillow (so I don’t wake up the kids 😉
These are totally the best pendants ever. I want them and I can’t believe you found a brass trunk? It has been on my craigslist saved searches forever and I haven’t had any luck. The rest is killer too. That mushroom…sigh…and the lamps.
Now I feel like hiding in my bed and drying for the rest of the day, sniff sniff!
Have a great weekend 😉
That diamond statue is hands down my favorite item. That’s amazing! Great haul.
Xo,
Steph
Omg.. I thrifted the same gold trunk! I paid $50 for that and a mid-century style dresser! Right now I’m using it as a bedside table. I kind of want to paint it or something, not really sure what to do with it. I can’t wait to see what you do!
WOW!!!! You hit the jackpot!! I love the variety of things that you found, too. I can’t wait to see what you do with those mid century pendants – I LOOOVE them!!!!
That pink lamp! Wow, you done good. Love the brass trunk too.
I had a good run recently too (after a bad run). I posted the score at https://circadee.com/2013/10/02/treasure-hunting-mojo/
Wow what great finds! I’m totally jealous!
It’s such great feelings to get so many scores when you’re shopping on a whim.
Lovely finds!
I need that gold trunk.
Seriously, in one morning!!! Oh my gosh, we hate your guts! : )
oh honey. I’m either overcome with jealousy or struck by the sheer beauty of it all, but words fail me. I didn’t even know that something as beautiful as those vintage pendant lamps existed, but there is now a glimmer of hope in my heart that maybe just maybe I’ll be blessed with such a thrifting mother load as that.
wow that is amazing. i start getting the excited shaking giggles if my thrift haul is going amazing. that brass mushroom should really come to canada though, i’m just sayin’
I recently meandered through the famous Brooklyn Flea and came home with a sweet brass and hot pink vase. Ch-ch-check it out: https://kilobravoinspired.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-brooklyn-flea.html
You found so many amazing treasures! If the float is one of the Japanese ones that used to wash up on Pacific NW beaches you got it for a steal! They sell for about $100+ along to Oregon coast! I’m seriously envious of that gold chest!
You can rehome that geometric diamond statue at my place!
That stuff is absolutely amazing, so jealous! It seems there is always a dry spell with lots of crap, and then voila, amazing stuff comes to you!
Such great finds! Love the lights and trunks! Does your husband just close his eyes when he passes through the garage? I’m so thankful to have a basement to store all my finds until I find homes for them but my hubby is wanting it celaned out!
Girl, what?????? This is the best thrift haul ever. Please come to Seattle and come thrifting with me!
-Becca
Ladyface Blog
It’s a dream come true. I’m in AWE.
That is all AMAZING. I totally get teary-eyed and giddy in thrift stores all the time, so no, that is not weird at all. Unless we’re both just weird, in which case WHATEVS
I’m so curious to see what your style is three years from now. It’s changed so drastically over the past few years and yet I know it’s totally authentic and you. Anyways, I L.O.V.E. the paint by number. Like, I know people in St George, and you should give them the painting for me so they can bring it to Oklahoma. For real. 😉
Hey, Mando girl! I think you’re thrift store is giving MINE a run for its money! Those pendant lights are FAN-freakin’-TASTIC! I just posted some stuff on my blog that I found last week. But that lights take the cake, baby!
(Hope you’re doing well!)
Serena
Thrift Diving
DUH….stupid typo. I meant MANDI, not Mando….unless you like Mando 😉 LOL
I think Mando gives it a little something special, don’t you? LOL 🙂
Good morning! I almost flipped when I saw your amazing finds. I had the EXACT same day this last weekend! And even more crazy I have a gold truck that looks exactly like the one you found and I call it my “favorite thrift find ever” FTFE for short. I have never seen one like it until today! I also found the industrial fan that sit’s on top of it at the safe thrift store and was equally excited and decided to pair them together in the living room. I also love all things brass and I have little brass deer and brass ducky in my living room as well! Check the pictures out here:
https://haileyberryblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/just-give-me-comfortable-couch-dog-good.html
Thanks for your posts Mandi! You are an inspiration!
No words……on that spectacular haul…..epic.
I came this close to buying that same light fixture at the Restore. The green and red one!! But I had no place to put it so I left it, but I’m glad some one has great plans for it!!
Jealous! Those finds are awesome! The white lamp looks like something you would buy new for at least $50-$75. I haven’t had much luck at thrift stores lately, but I did some great vintage brass accessories when I was visiting my parents last month. https://blue11interiors.blogspot.com/2013/09/vintage-shopping-in-illinois.html
Please with that golden diamond cage ! Ah my heart. And the adorable toadstool. You did hit the mother load !
Well, I am definitely coveting right now! I am doing my daughter’s room navy, blush and brass so I want that pink lamp.
These lamps had a hideous DIY paint attempt. You can imagine how happy I was after that was gone!
https://www.lightglassandtrend.com/2013/08/friday-thrift-find-gorgeous-glass-lamps.html
whoa! scores! you did good girl! I love love love the geometric statue…so unique!
Score! I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to see what you do with all that awesome crap. 🙂
great thrifting!
So fantastic! I have a question, where in Utah are you? I just got married and moved from Georgia to south SLC to be with the hubs, and don’t know the area at all. Would LOVE your advice on stores and areas to hit, thrift is my favorite! Thanks 🙂
Jenn
EPIC! I’d have to live with them a bit before I sent them off to their new homes. Can’t wait to see the rooms they wind up in too!
Cannot tell how much I love the light fixtures and lamps…. I have such a ‘thing’ for lights and these are amazing! Cannot wait to see the mid-century pendants up! Thanks for sharing….. A girl can dream…
I once found a Sterling Silver Silpada hammered cuff bracelet in my local thrift store jewelry cabinet. I gasped when I saw it knowing right away what it was. I asked to see it up close so I could check for the Silpada logo mark on the inside and there it was! I got a $124 bracelet for only 59 cents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For reals?!?! That amazing!!
the little vignette you set up with the two shadeless lamps, the geometric sculpture and the art is perfect as is!!!
How did you make me love brass? I blame you.
I have a love of mid century, and chrome. And somewhere along the way I started to warm up to the brass over the last couple years or so. I think it was your old bed that caught my attention first.
These finds are amazing, I will continue to debate if I should pack up these rowdy children & go shopping:)
I could easily do the hustle with those pendant lamps. It’d be a retro boogie-down, baby!
Gadzooks, your pink lamp is amazing! And I don’t even normally like pink. My latest find was a dreamy 1937 green Royal typewriter that I had to buy, because how often do you run across a GREEN typewriter? I just had to name him George.
https://www.houseofhawthornes.com/2013/09/a-new-royal-is-in-house.html
So many great thrifty scores! The art, the mushroom, the lamps…
Holy cow! Not only did you find amazingness…it’s mostly amazingness that doesn’t require any work! The best kind. I feel like I often find good things, but they need a paint job, or fixing, or tweaking and then they end up in my “to do” pile.
I shared some treasures lately, and the wicker chest I snatched up reminded me of you, Mandi!
https://www.themakerista.com/2013/09/thrifting-scores-and-sad-day-for-local.html
We live in the same town! I’ve been wanting to check out owl in the attic, now I have too! 🙂 You can come over and use all that stuff in my master bedroom, just sayin’
Ahem…I am new here, but love it already. Yes, my mind is completely blown. And you know that post about #colddeadfingers & jealousy?! Well….it’s happening right now! Those lights! That geo sculpture! That trunk! whew. In. love. Can’t wait to see what you do with them all!
xo
Melis
Oh. My. Goodness. Can u please stop!!!! I’m uber jealous over here!!!! The geometric statue!!! That brass toadstool!!! Those freakin lanterns!!! Ughhhhh. :).
And dylan needs to teach nino some manners bc it looks like she ate way too much bubble gum!! If ya know what I mean!! Lol
wow, i am so jealous! i really need to start shopping around for finishing details for my house. i’ve realized recently that we don’t have much decorative stuff. we’re really big on spending our money on stuf we can use. which is great, but when i look at pictures of other people’s homes i’m definitely missing the details.
Speechless! Except when I say that green and red industrial light totally (TOTALLY) was supposed to end up at MY Restore. 😉 Should you want to part with it at an internet yard sale, I would totally (TOTALLY!) snap it up. 🙂
You definitely hit the mother lode! Thrift envy!
I love my local Habitat for Humanity store! My mom and I always find such cool things to redo there. I love thrifting so much that I even have a label for it on my blog https://poshpurpose.blogspot.com/search/label/Habitat%20for%20Humanity
Thanks for the inspiration to keep going! The lamps are probably my favorite, but that rhino is just too cool!