Thrift Store Tips

A few basic tips for those new to thrift shopping:

• Use Google Maps to find thrift stores based on neighborhood – a higher end (read: rich) neighborhood is more likely to have quality items like cashmere sweaters than lower income neighborhoods. However, items regardless of value will also often cost more. You’ll know better than I do what neighborhoods in your area are higher income – just choose ‘thrift store near ________’ in the search field.
• Yelp is another good resource for Thrift or (primarily) Resale stores. You can use the reviews of others to determine what kind of goods are available based on what you’re looking for.
• Resale stores are an alternative to thrift stores – items are more organized, and they typically only accept high quality goods. The trade off is you’ll pay much more, but spend less time. Best if you’re just trying to build a few outfits.
• Always ask if the store offers a military/student/senior discount. It is always worth asking – the Goodwill stores offer those discounts every day, while other thrift stores only offer them on certain days or only for military/seniors.
• Speaking of discounts, ask the store if they have a calendar of sales. You can shop on certain days for different sales – for example, Wednesdays may be 50% off women’s clothing, or this particular Saturday they’re offering 50% off storewide.
• Always haggle. Times are tough, and more retailers than ever are willing to haggle. Worst case scenario, they say no. Just be reasonable – if the shirt is already .50, it isn’t worth it, but a $300 antique bookcase you might be able to knock $50 off.
• Grab a basket if available, then just toss in whatever clothes you’re thinking about. Don’t mull over each one too much, or you’ll lose speed – before you go to try clothes on, review each article and pare down what obviously won’t fit or colors that don’t look good on you.
• If it doesn’t fit you but you absolutely adore it, then try to imagine what else you could do with it. Can the sweater be felted and turned into a mitten and hats? Can you cut out the graphic and sew it to a sweatshirt or pants? Can you use it for materials much cheaper than they’d cost otherwise? (I picked up a fringe-covered suede coat and have slowly used it for all sorts of things, including an eyepatch and cat toys!)
• Don’t set out looking for specific items – this isn’t a department store, where you set out looking for the perfect pleated skirt. Instead, set aside a certain amount of money (I suggest between $20 and $50) and refuse to spend more. You’ll soon make a game of trying to get the most for your money.

 

Alas, Knitting

I had all these wonderful post ideas, ready to begin daily posting here – and now I can’t find my camera cable. The boy has promised me a G1 for a late Valentine’s gift, so until then I will borrow videos to illustrate my point.

I am a lover of all things DIY. I am determined to be able to at least understand how the things I use every day are made, if not make them myself. We’ve gone from a society that had toys, appliances, and shirts repaired to simply replacing everything when it breaks, which is creating a great deal of waste.

As my current job involves a bit of Big Brother watching my websites, I’ve needed something I can do at work that isn’t so noticeable. I could have done crocheting – I’ve been doing that since I was 8 – but I have always wanted to knit. Lacking someone to teach me (optimal), I say hurray for YouTube. But now, some notes for the total newbies like me, that will explain the above video a bit.

 

Avoiding Cliches

Oxford compiled the top 10 overused phrases that you might want to try and avoid.

The top ten most irritating phrases:

1 – At the end of the day

2 – Fairly unique

3 – I personally

4 – At this moment in time

5 – With all due respect

6 – Absolutely

7 – It’s a nightmare

8 – Shouldn’t of

9 – 24/7

10 – It’s not rocket science

The BBC, as usual, followed up with their own 20 hated phrases, adding a twist as they ask readers for their votes. I don’t know about you, but the Telegraph has a script that’s making my computer explode.

 

Finding Postal Addresses with Google Maps

Thanks to Amit Agarwal at Digital Inspiration Labs, you can now click on a building in Google Maps to find the address you’re looking for. Really handy when you know where it is but not the mailing address.

Find the Postal Address of Any Location on Google Maps (via Lifehacker)

 

Deals for Today

Amazon is having a 55% off sale on Groceries with the coupon code CLRNCFTY.

That’s um, about it.

 

Birthday Octopus

I’ve got a thing for steampunk and thus octopi… and someone on Craftster had a link to Because We Can design, and their squid attack room inspired me. So… I really wanted one of these for myself, but I made the very first one for my friend’s birthday, because she enjoys steampunk too.

I’ve never made a plush doll before and I’m actually really new to sewing, so this was an interesting project. It’s made in two parts, because I wanted it to be durable (she has dogs) and easily resewn. The top head part is separate from the tentacles, which are their own “pillow” that I then attached to each other. I used red velvet for the top parts and yellow fleece for the underside, both of which were scraps at the thrift store so they cost less than the buttons/eyeballs.

 

Baking – for Science!

And so begins a series of laboratory experiments. Cooking is, in essence, a series of chemical reactions that make delicious things. So! First off, my work on the New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies. The difference between these and regular chocolate chip cookies are summarized easily:

• High quality chocolate
• Allowing the dough to sit 24-36 hours
• Serve warm (you can toast them in a toaster oven on the lowest setting to rewarm them)
• And, not noted in the article, combine cake flour and bread flour to get a chewy but soft cookie.

My first batch was made at 24 hours, and the second will be made at 36. This time allows the dough to soak up the vanilla and eggs, which as the article states, gives it a slight caramel taste. The recipe calls for $14 a pound Valrhona fèves, which is much smoother than most chocolate I’ve had, and is disc shaped (giving the cookies a very pretty marble look). I bribed my fiance with his favorite candy – ‘No Bake Cookies’ – into letting me buy $20 worth of chocolate for this recipe. I wanted to make certain I had all the ingredients exactly as asked, so I could then mess with it to make it easier for the average person to make.

Consensus on the cookies? Extremely good.

 

Bob’s Red Mill: Whole Wheat Pancakes

Bob’s Red Mill has the best whole wheat pancakes recipe. But their website is down, so I grabbed the recipe from my notecards and I’m posting it here because it’s that good.

Whole wheat pancakes need to be grilled a minute or so longer than regular ones. They’re also a little more dense, so you’ll only really need 2-3 to fill up.

Ingredients:
1-1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
3 Tbsp Sugar
3/4 tsp Sea Salt
2-3 Egg Yolks, well beaten
2-3 Egg Whites, stiffly beaten
1 1/4 cups Milk
3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil or Melted Butter

Combine and beat the egg yolks, milk and vegetable oil. Sift together the first 4 ingredients (whole wheat flour through salt). Add this to the liquid mixture, blend. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.

Fry on medium hot griddle until bubbles are well-formed around edges of pancakes; turn and cook other side 2 minutes. Or bake in waffle iron. Reheat waffle iron before putting another waffle in each time.

Makes 8 pancakes or 4 waffles.

(I honestly just whip the eggs heavily and mix them in, because I dislike having to use multiple bowls.)

 

Giveaways

Baby Cheapskate is giving away 12 cloth diapers – great for folks who prefer to reuse and clean rather than pay a ton for new diapers you’ll just throw away.

Frugal Babe is giving away a $100 off $250 gift card for Diamond Nexus Labs. Because lab-made diamonds are superior to those clawed out of the ground and artifically priced.

Sign up for an ING Account, put in $250 or more when you open it, and you’ll get $25 and I get $10. Win-win. :D Leave a message with your e-mail and I’ll send you a link for checkings or savings. They pay the best interest rates in the industry, and their checking account debit cards are linked to the ATMs you see in most gas stations (and can be used there for free!)

More in a bit, I’m consolodating the best ones.

 

General Advice

I was thinking about this, and figured I should post it. If you want to make delicious creamy cookies, etc, but you don’t want to make a big mess with separate bowls for creaming the butter and sugar as well as dry ingredients, it’s quite simple. Cream the butter and sugar first, then add the dry ingredients in 1/3rds to the sugar mix. It helps keep everything in one bowl and that means fewer dishes to do.

Also, if you have trouble sleeping, melatonin is a natural supplement that’ll help you get to sleep. The effectiveness goes down the more you use it though, sort of like antibiotics.

Also, if you’re like me and ants keep going after your pet’s food, get the Light version of their regular food. I wouldn’t suggest it for dramatically underweight pets, but the ants won’t be interested in it. (By the way, I am a total fan of Blue pet food… it’s the only one I’ve found that uses good quality meat instead of “chicken meal” and tons of crap fillers. It’s organic as a bonus.)