My Handy-Dandy (Thrifting on a Theme)

 

I think it was a year ago that we put "Blue's Clues Stuff" on our running thrift store list. At first, we looked and looked and found nothing. But then we started to find little things, like beanie babies and baby toys like the one below.

Then we found a fridge that identified colors and shapes with Mr. Salt and Mrs. Pepper's voices. That was played with endlessly.

On day, my Mommi found a beautiful, high quality Blue plush. She meant to save it for Christmas... but she didn't.

Then another day... I found this. A thinking chair. THE thinking chair. It cost SIX WHOLE DOLLARS.

But it was so worth it.

If you don't know about Blue's Clues, it's OK. This is a central part of the show. It means something to Jules, who is a Blue's Clues afficionado. Now he can sit in his thinking chair and think... think... think.

I meant to save it for Christmas.

But I didn't.



Then today, the children spotted this. It was n a grab bag that we had to pay three dollars for. It was drawn all over and looked pretty junky. But I had done my homework. I knew what I was looking at. These bad boys go for $30 new on Amazon. The pages are erasable. They are laminated. So I bought the bag, scrubbed the notebook down, and wrote Julius's name in the book in a nice dry erase marker.

Now he has a Thinking Chair AND a Handy-Dandy Notebook. Now we can solve Blue's Clue whenever we want!!

What's the point? The point is, if you go to the second hand shops regularly(we try to go once a week) and know what you are looking for, you will eventually strike gold. These toys I got for Jules they don't make anymore. We have spent a total of MAYBE $20 for three or four times that in retail, an ten times that in fun and joy. You just can't get that kind of value at Wal*Mart.