Monday, October 25, 2010

thrift store haul

Except for groceries and household supplies, I hardly ever shop in a regular retail store any more. Thrift stores are way more fun. They offer the thrill of the hunt plus bargain prices. Half the time they may not have what you're looking for, but they almost always have something worth getting.

Today I was on the hunt for old books. Books with cool covers, interesting end papers, odd diagrams, and usable text. When Julie was here in July, we went to a little church-run thrift store here in town and did pretty well. I remembered they had a back room full of books, and at the time, I was disappointed that they had mostly old hardbacks cause I was looking for readable paperbacks. They opened at 10 this morning and I was there at ten after. The 50% Off Clothing sign caught my eye, too.

After 45 minutes of rummaging around, I paid my $10.85 and lugged a big box full of stuff to the car.

I got a cotton sweater in my favorite shade of gray for $1. The little white dish and the 3 green glass jars were $0.25 each. I'll add them to the ever-growing collection of stuff on the shelves. The puzzle was $1. I needed a puzzle with small pieces for collaging. The three frames were $0.75 each.




And the books...

Well, the books were a whole quarter a piece. All twenty of them for $5. Some of them are marvelous old things full of diagrams and charts and blueprints and graphs - all the sort of stuff that works great as background material.





Some of the titles are: Structural Theory, Identification of Organic Compounds, Design of Modern Steel Structures, Interrogation For Investigators.  The torn up one at the far end is Treasure Island and it has some neat illustrations.

The little old ladies who run the thrift shop eyed my big pile of oddball books but didn't say a word. I unpacked them onto a shelf in my office/craft room and I can feel them behind me as I type, waiting to be torn up and come back to life as art.

1 comment:

  1. OooOooooo there are the books!!!! Next time -- I am going there. I have been catching up on your blog from before we met!

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