How to Choose a 'Thrift Gift':
So for our department holiday party, we did a White Elephant gift exchange. We decided on one rule: You must buy your present for less than $5 at a local thrift store.
That way, we could support the community and have fun, too, and no one should feel pressure to spend a lot or buy personal gifts. We also make it a generic "Holiday" party instead of any specific holiday, since we have a pretty diverse community.
I was really tempted to buy the giant frog lamp. If it had had a price...
Then again, there was the glass yachting stein. I'm sure someone would have appreciated it, if only for the laugh of any of us being able to buy a yacht. Still, if someone bought a yacht, and drank beer on it not in the beer bottle, it would make sense to have a stein so it wouldn't slosh out.
And then there was the 8-piece ugly-patterned tea set. Hey, 4 cups with saucers for under $5. What a great deal!
In the end, a lemon-painted ceramic cooking dish won, because it was both useful and quirky.
In return, I gained a 10-pound sunflower planter. Cute!
Conclusion? Thrift stores are fun. I could probably spend a few hours wandering around in one looking at just the non-clothes items. Plus, they help the community, so it's hard to feel guilty about buying things. And I've bought everything from dish sets to a fireplace kit in a thrift store, so I love an excuse to go in and see what's there, because there's always something interesting.
What's the most fun thing you've ever bought in a thrift store?
So for our department holiday party, we did a White Elephant gift exchange. We decided on one rule: You must buy your present for less than $5 at a local thrift store.
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| No one actually gave a pirate ducky. But it would have been a good choice. |
That way, we could support the community and have fun, too, and no one should feel pressure to spend a lot or buy personal gifts. We also make it a generic "Holiday" party instead of any specific holiday, since we have a pretty diverse community.
I was really tempted to buy the giant frog lamp. If it had had a price...
Then again, there was the glass yachting stein. I'm sure someone would have appreciated it, if only for the laugh of any of us being able to buy a yacht. Still, if someone bought a yacht, and drank beer on it not in the beer bottle, it would make sense to have a stein so it wouldn't slosh out.
And then there was the 8-piece ugly-patterned tea set. Hey, 4 cups with saucers for under $5. What a great deal!
In the end, a lemon-painted ceramic cooking dish won, because it was both useful and quirky.
In return, I gained a 10-pound sunflower planter. Cute!
Conclusion? Thrift stores are fun. I could probably spend a few hours wandering around in one looking at just the non-clothes items. Plus, they help the community, so it's hard to feel guilty about buying things. And I've bought everything from dish sets to a fireplace kit in a thrift store, so I love an excuse to go in and see what's there, because there's always something interesting.
What's the most fun thing you've ever bought in a thrift store?
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