Do you remember playing treasure hunts with your friends when you were little? Or hot/cold (where you hide something, and the person is walking around the room or playground, and you say hot or cold or warmer/colder if he gets closer/further away from the “treasure” object)? That’s what thrifting is like for me.

There is a book out there called “Games People Play” (you can learn more about the book here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_People_Play_(book) - thrifting is my game! And it is just like that treasure hunt that I’ve mentioned above.

And just like any good game, my thrifting game has it’s rules. Now these rules are mine and mine alone, you can follow them or create your own:

1. When thrifting buy ONLY vintage or rare brands. That’s the whole idea of a treasure hunt! Yesterday I spent over an hour looking through the purses at a local Salvation Army. And an hour later I found another vintage Coach purse in brown! (Pics to come soon!)

2. Sometimes people would want to go thrifting with you, so when thrifting with friends make sure you tell them that they are free to look around on their own. But it’s always fun to goof around and try on ridiculous outfits.

Definitely check out Sammy D’s blog – the link is on the right side of the screen, under Blogs that Inspire me – She is a vintage goddess

3. Never buy Polyester! You want your skin to breathe, right? I don’t want to go into the whole explanation on why cotton is better for you, I trust we understood each other

4. Check if the store where you are shopping has regular sales or special one-day sales. For example the local Salvation Army has 50% off Yellow tag or 50% off Green tag. And last week they had all women’s tees for $1. It’s really hard to predict those sales, sometimes it’s going to be mere luck! I scored some awesome things on sale yesterday, but as funny as it may sound, a week before, when I was vase shopping for my wedding centerpieces, I got some of the vases for a dollar, and some for 50% off. They were identical too

( Sammy D’s pic again! She is just a great source of pictures of thrift stores and other oddities! Love you, Sammy!)

5. Bring your own bag. I know this sounds OC, but I feel like thrifting is a way of staying green. And another thing that being green goes with in my head is using a re-usable bag. I love my Zabars bag, I got it right before I left for Russia, and brought it back – it’s so durable, I can’t even describe

I have mentioned above that for me thrifting is hunting for brands or vintage. Now I don’t buy all vintage or all expensive brands (but I will not buy Old Navy or some Target brand at a thrift store, nor will I wear clothes by those brands – I will explain in the future posts, I promise). I also try and stay away from Buffalo Exchange (though I have nothing against this store and even wanted to work there at some point) and those type of stores, because walking into one, I feel like walking into a condensed version of a regular shopping mall, and yes the opportunity to buy a Betsy Johnson dress or a BCBG jacket is definitely appealing to me, but it’s so much more fun to find something like that at a regular thrift store. Though they do sell vintage at Buffalo Exchange and it’s usually cheaper than the other dresses. Anyways, this is a whole new subject

I hope you all are having a happy vintagy and thrifty week!

Also definitely check out Sammy D’s blog and her tips on how to thrift store shop.

Hugs go out to all of you! Spread the good karma!