40 Times People Couldn’t Believe Their Luck In Thrift Stores (New Pics)

It was hanging in a wood shop so it was covered with a thick layer of saw dust. I brought it home and cleaned it up really well and it turned out looking really nice. I love whales and I'm extremely happy to have saved this beautiful one of a kind piece of art from being destroyed. It's in it's forever home!

It is a dice that he made while he was a prisoner of war during WWII. Obviously it isn’t up to casino standards but it must have helped to pass the time! Interestingly, despite the very rustic charm of this piece, my grandad is a very talented woodworker, making beautiful carvings and furniture well into his 80s

What the fluffle (that’s the term for a group of rabbits btw)!!??!! I am tickled pink...And blue...And purple over my sweet find!!!You’d better believe I’m wearing this bad boy as I hop along to church, to teach, to walmart, pump gas and to the grave!! $6.99 goodwill Williamsburg, VA

They put in under a blanket to keep it away from dust and I think it has been there for over 40 years. Instead of throwing it away I took it with me and built a bar. You can store 12 bottles in it and turn on the light with the original on/off button hope you like it

My mom flipped a switch after my parents divorced and ended up in jail, eventually prison. Not many things survived my childhood. One thing I made sure I kept safe and hidden was this crystal cat. Always in my socks, inside a sock, inside a sock, a little nesting doll of sorts. My Granny was my everything, she raised me. My mom passed away almost 4 years ago, then my Granny a year later. I rarely wander Goodwill in the "knick knack" section, something drew me towards it today and I found my third crystal cat! (Second kitty was also found at a different Goodwill about two years ago. ) It's not much, but it makes me think of how far I've come out of the darkness and my beautiful Granny everytime I catch a glimpse of those kitties

Wednesday, June 10th, my daughter had a baby girl, Poppy. I am so happy to pass along such a wonderful heirloom to her made by her great-great-great grandma!

I finally got around to making this display. My original goal was to have it made for my daughter’s first birthday. She’s now 3 and a half. Better late then never! All pieces were found at estate sales and flea markets.

Left them all there as they need to be bought together, and they are $18 each sadly

From a social distancing-compliant yard sale in Mechanicsville, VA... When someone is selling their intricate, one-of-a-kind, hand-carved african bed, created from teak logs found at the bottom of a kenyan river, you immediately spend your entire stimulus check to bring it home (as I did)

I found this door knocker at a jumble sale well over 10 years ago and shoved him in the shed for a later project, I remembered him last week and figured during lock down he could finally be given the tlc needed. Turns out he's the messenger to the gods (hermes) over 150 years old and quite valuable. He's going on my front door this weekend (before and after pics)

Never in my life did I ever think I would own something as beautiful as these opera glasses I saw them at an estate sale last week and as soon as I saw them I knew they had to be mine. I’ve been thinking about getting opera glasses for when I see plays as I can only afford the nose bleed seats so it feels like this was meant to be! They work beautifully. I cannot wait to be able to use these gorgeous glasses!

My mom invited my sister and I to a "Garage & treasures sale" yesterday and my sister had filled a couple bags but I wasn't finding much... I had already passed this by once (it was hidden by a sheet of instructions taped to the front) but was making a second pass when I lifted the page to see what is was. It's a kinetic "Six man clock" sculpture by gordon bradt. It looked intricate and artistic so I did a quick google and discovered there are two on ebay listed for $600 (non-functioning) and $1250. It was $20! I shoved it into my bag without even checking to see if it worked

The world’s oldest drag queen (according to the guinness book of world records), Darcelle, is performing tonight. If I don’t wear a sequined hotpants outfit there, I may never in fact wear it. Darcelle said I killed it!

This little guy has been in my hands no less than three times at my go to vintage mall market, in Oakdale NY, however he had a chip on his left ear and the seller wanted a firm 12.00. Yesterday my guy came with me to help me hunt pyrex ( he’s my bowl spotter, lol) and I asked him to also keep an eye out for a hippo.. Who does he find? The hippo with the bum ear. He is a cutey and frank promptly started calling him Chippo and insisted on buying him for me. Told me to hit the ear with a sharpie and no one will ever notice. I’d say he’s correct and “Chippo” a Lenox endangered animal series pygmy hippo is now very happy in his new home protecting yet another collection of mine my cornflower blue corning ware lol

We picked up this cabinet of old mail boxes a couple years ago at an antiques and pinball machines show in Illinois. I forget now how old this is, but I think it was from the 60’s. It took some work to get the musty smell out of the cubbies. This thing is heavy!!

Assembled with glue, zip ties, and safety pins, using all thrift store garments and gewgaws, this ensemble came together just in time for a mystery & magic event. Thank you, thrift stores!

My mom picked this up at a yardsale in the 1970's. It somehow survived in our basement tv room through five kids, a few dogs, and a 500 mile move in the mid 1980"s. After my dad passed in 1997, my mom was downsizing and preparing to move again. In the garage sale pile was The Brain. Gasp! Thankfully I happened to be visiting, snatched it up and it once again made a 500 mile trip home with me. It has since survived an additional four moves, kids, dogs, and grandkids. Over the years I have looked for this lamp on different sites. I have never found a match.

My mom turned 75 years old. I showed her a old pic of her from 1968 and she laughed and said she was real good at ice skating. She said she is still really good at it. She posed for a pic to show me how its done.

She talked for a hour about her collections of bears. She now has 500 beanie babies: )

It just warmed my heart to hear her talk about her collections. She loves painting and always has so what would she ask for her birthday???

A used bowling pin I cant wait to see what she paints on her pin.

When I was leaving she said maybe next time we could go ice skating. The older I get the more I realize where I got my crazy can do anything imagination

Saw this as I was leaving texas thrift in hurst at closing time. Went back the next day to try it on and it fit! It absolutely came home with me and now my dreams of becoming ursula the sea witch are all coming true! Only $16 bucks!

On the first day, I found in her jewelry box what I suspected was a Mother's Ring, based on the number of stones, and knowing one was my dad's birth month for sure.

I reached out to my cousins to see what their dads' birthstones were. One said it made sense, the stone matched. But the other stone color didn't seem to match up with any birth month. The other cousin said her dad did seem to remember my grandfather giving my grandmother a mother's ring though, so we thought the mystery was solved. End of story, right?

The night that I returned to my own home in Florida, I had made one very last trip by her house to say goodbye to it on my way to the airport. It was harder than the last couple days, because the estate cleaning crew had started, and there were 4-5 large black trash bags filled and knotted in the middle of each room. Walls were bare. The mantle empty. Her table next to her recliner completely clean swept of all her notes to herself. No more crossword puzzle books or tabloids.

In one of the bedrooms, a small office trashcan was sat on the bed, and any papers or cards from in the desk were in it. On top, I spotted some very retro blank baby shower invitations and shower thank you cards, probably from the early 50's. Being the vintage hoarder I am, I salvaged the small stack, tucked it in my pocket, said goodbye to the house, and headed to the airport.

When I finally walked back into my apartment in Florida, I took that stack of cards out of my carry-on to take a better look through them... and out fell a folded up, yellowed, scrap of a magazine clipping.

When I opened it up, I audibly gasped.

I'm sure I turned white.

Nana had clipped an advertisement for a mother's ring out of a magazine, ticked off the correct stones for all the kids, and almost certainly must have left it out for my grandfather as a hint, back in the late 60's.

The odds of ME stumbling upon this seemingly insignificant little scrap are worse than me winning MegaMillions, let me tell you.

I had absolutely ZERO idea it existed. Why would it even have been saved at all?! Nevermind that it was so serendipitously in that handful of trashed stationary I took out of a garbage can hours earlier!

I think Nana Po wanted me to have that fun little anecdote to go with the ring.

She always loved to tell a good story 

I am definitely buying it for 99 cents! Might frame it & hang it in the entry way. Edit: you all are amazing! It’s so great to relate over a kitty towel that speaks a sassy truth