Secondhand in the news!

Foster children only second best?
This proposal to allow foster children to buy clothes only from secondhand stores went outrage viral not many days ago.  This probably led to the hasty modification of the proposal.  I love to see local voices having an impact!

Forcing the issue
Nobody should be forced to buy only from secondhand stores (and I doubt enforcing such a scheme is practical or possible).

No, people should definitely only buy from secondhand stores because it's fun and a really smart thing to do with a limited clothing budget.  (If you have an unlimited one, please let me know, because I'd like to be your friend.)

Secondhand publicity 
I do thank State Sen Casswell for raising this issue, however clumsily, because when secondhand stores are discussed this widely, they are that much closer to mainstream acceptance.  That means more bargains for you and more money going to charities instead of retail outlets.

As a new regular feature, Secondhand Smarts, I'm going to show off the great finds from my secondhand treasure hunts. 

Secondhand Smarts

I won't have to force my kids to wear these beauties!

And for the brand conscious, don't miss that little Pumpkin Patch label on the blue guitar shirt.

Can you beat that?  Share your finds with me and I'll show them off too...

Secondhand Smarts - community works!

I haven't posted a Secondhand Smarts update for a while, but rest assured I get so many bargains from secondhand shops, TradeMe, etc, that I can hardly keep up.

An extra special nod must go to the bargains I got at last year's school fair. OK, I put in a lot of hours at the White Elephant sale where I got the goodies, but it was a great community event and raised much needed funds for the kids' school. And hundreds of people went away happy with their bargain finds!

Community and charity work can seem thankless at times, but as well as the reality of the help you're providing, you are also making connections that can sometimes reap more tangible rewards. Sometimes you need something and someone else already has exactly what you need. Like these...

Stepping out...

The boy needed some shoes. Look what I found!


Tevas. Good as new. In the right size. For a couple of dollars!

Frozen

Yeah, this attachment!

I love making frozen banana ice cream. It is pretty hard work for the S-blade on the food processor though, and we've heard that juicers and mincers do an even better job on the frozen bananas. I don't want another whole gizmo in my kitchen, but I have idly considered buying the mincer attachment for our mixer.


I almost let this amazing coincidence at the White Elephant Sale pass me by. I'd even shelved this box and moved it around a couple of times. But it wasn't until a customer said "there are bits missing from this" that we both realised it was an attachment, not a standalone machine. Just exactly what I needed for the machine we have at home, and luckily the customer didn't! $5, for an attachment retailing new for £38.


I can confirm that the banana ice cream product from the mincer is far superior - it can take the totally frozen banana chunks without strain and produce a really really cold treat instead of one that melts almost as served.

The icing on the cake

And cookies, and vegan cupcakes for the Vegan Society stall, and...

My sister's a decorating ace with all the equipment, but sometimes there's no chance to go borrowing. There were a couple of icing sets in the sale, and I knew I wanted to go home with one.

This one was pretty and compact, so it won the toss, and at $4 was quite the bargain. Especially when later at home, I found this was a collector tin retailing for $70.

Yes, there were even more bargains we got at the fair, but enough already! Secondhand is totally smart shopping.

Secondhand smarts - picture perfect!

I have a few historical Secondhand Smarts stories waiting, but this one is just so cool!  

Our waffle maker has made its last wholewheat vegan waffle, and the kids always love me more when I make waffles.  So I entered full secondhand shopping mode.

I checked on TradeMe and down at (you guessed it) my favourite charity shop. I did not find a waffle iron.  Nor did I find an exercise bike, which I've been prescribed as physiotherapy.  But I did find....

Smile!

I have wanted one of these for years, but even a small one is so expensive I hadn't bought one.  Now I have a big one - and that's no Photoshop fake, it was only $20!

(The backroom guy literally just put it on display as I walked by and I didn't let it gather any dust.)

Oh, and I got a small pedal exerciser from TradeMe and a good old-fashioned waffle maker free from Freecycle.

Pardon the expression, but retail and weep!

Secondhand smarts - style file

Second in the series of secondhand smarts:  the continuing stooory of how cool it is to shop secondhand...

Previously, it was just kid stuff.  Now, we're all grown up and ready to go out.  My supermum look needs some brushing up...

 

Check out these super-funky accessories - when I wear these, who notices porridge stains? 

I just love the African inspired purple set for special occasions, and that chunky ambery twist goes with almost everything in my wardrobe and is comfy enough to wear every day.

All this extra zing cost under $20.

Secondhand smarts - bagging it

Don't miss the previous entries in the Secondhand Smarts series...

Ever since I found a designer OiOi nappy backpack at my local charity shop (bought for $2, sold for $50), I always take a few minutes to check out the handbag section for other unappreciated goodies.

I'm a backpack fan rather than a handbag fanatic, as carrying gear on my back with two hands still free is about the best plan around.

My current backpack is from Kathmandu - it's as fashionable as a rockclimbing harness and almost as grubby.  Of course, it can carry at least 7 library books (hardback!) or an emergency lot of groceries.  But Cinderella would never take it to the ball.




But now I have a new handsfree device:

For a mere $7, I've plucked an elegant rose with a suggestively fashionable label to strap on when I expect a more civilised and less juvenile outing.

Is it really Nina Ricci?  For $7, who cares?

Anyway, it's the branding that keeps this from being the ultimate minimalist backpack.

I wore this on my adventure, miniMum in ConsumerLand.  Details coming soon...

Secondhand smarts - this reunion is cookin'!

My latest victory in rejecting retail purchases and discovering...Secondhand Smarts.  Last time, we met cast iron.  Today, we return to the kitchen.

See the sad and lonely Pyrex lid.

Its mate, my most favourite and often used Corningware 2.5L casserole dish, slipped from careless hands to a sad end a few seasons ago.  (A moment of silence, if you please.)

Unable to move on (emotionally, you understand) to a replacement, this sad lid has remained unused in a drawer, getting in the way.  Only once did it come out - trying to partner with a cast iron skillet...and failing.

Will it end its days as merely clutter?

The Corningware 1.6L casserole dish has been on active duty ever since the loss of its bigger sibling.  Bravely though it tries, it is not the same.  I cannot make enough Mexican bean tortilla casserole to satisfy the hungries at our Second Saturday Vegan Potluck. I simply cannot.

Cute in its way - like trying on Daddy's shirt.  But no.

Destiny strikes

Already heavily loaded with fruits, vegetables, gluten free bread, and heavily discounted vegan Anzac biscuits, and far from my car, I can't resist glancing into my favourite charity shop.  I wiggle through the crowds in the kitchen section, and....there they were.

Though disguised, nested underneath a smaller non-Corningware dish, I knew them at once.  Their smooth cool ridges were engraved on my memory.  I knew they were meant for us.  It was fate.  Kismet.  Karma.

It was 2.5 and 1.6!

They agreed to come home with me, to meet the others. 

This big pair were a bit shy at first.

But I have a good feeling about them.

Little 1.6 is thrilled to have some company.  How thrilled?

Nothing like a wee little 500mL to bring joy to a kitchen!

And we all lived happily ever after.

Cost:  $13

Secondhand smarts - on display

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we've practically been on a spending spree over the last few months.  TV, food processor, car...

All of it secondhand, of course!

This was another serendipitous peek in the back room at ye olde favourite charity shop in the hope of finding...exactly what I found.

History

In our previous home, we had an broken tile fireplace and brick chimney.  We demolished that ourselves and installed a beautiful built-in rimu wood, mirror, and glass display cabinet.  The new owners loved it too, so we made a quick and cheap purchase to hold our lovely things in our new house.   It has featured in previous posts, but here it is again.

From a distance, it is OK - the top is fine but all the bottom cupboard doors are poor replacements and don't close well.  It doesn't fit in the dining room but everything in it gets used there.  And it crowds that corner.

But for $50, it did the trick.  My decluttering left quite a lot of empty spots.

Looking here, looking there...
We had been halfheartedly seeking a corner cupboard on TradeMe but it was hard work. 

But in the charity shop, I could look at my new prize, and send DH to look at it, and we agreed that it was just perfect! 

Out with the old (sold for $51) and in with the new.

Now these beautiful things are in their natural home, the dining room!

Moving so many lovely things from one cabinet to another got me wondering how many quality wine and other liquor glasses of different shapes we actually need - we rarely drink and only ever drink wine with company.  (It seemed like a grownup thing to do to have wine glasses on the wedding register.)  Stay tuned.

So another after picture is now a before:

 We can now enjoy our whole lounge window.

Light and bright - success!