The Hunt for Treasures

This morning I was reading a post by Jenn Mason over at Cloth Paper Scissors Blog titled “mixed-media thrift store dilemma.”  In it Jenn mentions how she has thrift-store amnesia, when she walks in a store she can’t remember what she is looking for.  

I got to thinking... I am an avid thrift store shopper... THE HUNT is my favorite part of shopping.  In the stores, yes I said stores.  Do I know what I am looking for?  NO NEVER!  It is ALL about the HUNT for TREASURES.  I usually hit at least one thrift store a week sometimes more if you count yard sales, flea markets and auctions.

Do I make a list? Not really.  I have a routine in each store.  Each store I visit the routine is a bit different.  There are sections I tend to gravitate towards.  My mind is always going a hundred miles a minute with one question, “What could I use this for?”  I keep my eye out for the following:

Books: Vintage books with old pages, good pictures, music, children's books and old school books 

Crafts & Fabric: Paint, paint brushes, stamps, buttons, lace, trims, paper, feathers, anything that may work in a future project, beads, crepe paper

Toys: Games with awesome pieces, doll furniture, checkers & chess pieces, blocks, tidily winks, cards

Office Supplies: Old ledger paper, office stamps (now obsolete), brads, pen nibs, scissors

Jewelry: Vintage, costume, beads, chains, broken jewelry

Silverware: Small spoons, interesting handles

Brass: Bird cages, candle sticks holders

Wood: Pictures frames, boxes, shadow, boxes, small bird houses 

Nik-naks: Smalls that would go into a shadow box or make great molds.

Fabric: Lace, vintage looking scraps  

Other: Crystals, chandeliers, vintage postcards, old photos, old letters, cabinet cards, old reel film, birds, keys 

When you go searching for treasures what are you looking for?