50 People Who Found The Best Things In Thrift Stores, Flea Markets And Garage Sales (New Pics)

I’ve collected suitcases all my life. I have found them at thrift stores and garage sales and sitting on the side of the road. I also have had friends donate them to me when they know I collect. My father was in the Air Force and my brother and I were born in Germany and the two burgundy trunks on the bottom row are the steamer trunks that brought us back from Europe to Canada on the steamship. My mother used to share a story how a nun saved me on the ship trying to crawl over the side! I think some may be interested in what I may keep inside. The labels do tell what’s inside of each. I store lots of things in them. I have a knitting suitcase, with yarn and knitting books, etc., I have photograph suitcases, (when we used to have photographs), I have a collection of plastic animals for when my grandchildren come over as well as many other suitcases with toys in them for my grandchildren, material, beads, a sewing/mending suitcase, a suitcase for screws, a suitcase with a drill in it… I could go on and on and on and on. It’s all pretty organized and getting more organized all the time as I sort through and give away lots of things that I don’t need anymore. One of the trunks is a Christmas trunk and one of the trunks stores my patio cushions from my patio furniture and another trunk stores my mother’s dress form and material and patterns for when I’m going to get to those projects.

Then the next morning when I woke up I saw it sitting on my porch because the woman knew where I lived and there was a note attached to it instructing me to have it for free that she sending it over with love and that she believed it would be in the right home if it was with me… feeling over joyed!

Just in case you're curious, the 8 foot Sinclair Dinosaur will fit in a minivan. Second pic is his new home in my front yard.

I went a lil crazy with it, but I love it! I found LED black light strips on Amazon and taped them on the bottom of each shelf. I found some black velvet fabric and used 5 thumb tacks and draped it down the back, then cut pieces to fit over each shelf. So no damage to the cabinet at all.

He went and knocked on the door to make sure they were really throwing it out. It’s an OLD sea captains chest. It was the guys great grandmothers that she had inherited. It’s awesome.

We laughed. Three days later it was in our house. Apparently it was a show piece in a store previously. Updates as this really blew up: We paid $175. All lamps are wired to one plug and we turn it on through a smart socket app on our phones. We do not want to sell it. We love it as much as you do.

I bought a pair of toddler-sized khaki pants and. Toddler-sized red polo at a local thrift store, then did a lot of dismantling/resewing to make them into a Jake from State Farm outfit.

Had to have him!! My mom has one and I always wanted my own. Hope y’all can appreciate my garden gater Steve. 🤩 he is placed where the water comes off the porch to look the most terrifying. 😁😁 I live in Alabama so kind of unusual to see a alligator running around unless your in southern Alabama where the swamps are.

Let me tell you, it has quickly turned into the #1 gathering spot in my garden too! "Ben Nanner" and the chipmunks love it!

I will always LOVE this door not only because of its beauty, but because of it’s “Why”...My boyfriend called me one afternoon and said he “got me something“ and I was going to love it and that he found it down one of the backroads thrown out to the trash near our 110 year old farmhouse we had just bought and were restoring. IT WAS THIS DOOR and I loved it “as-is”. He spent hours removing the old paint to restrain it and hung it in the entry way to my walk-in closet I will always LOVE this door not only because of its beauty, because of its “Why”

Found this beautiful piece at a local estate sale. Probably cost me less than a dollar? Purchase with a stack of things for $10. Has a chain to hang it, but I have a valance that would cover it, which I'm not willing to take down (so much sun!) So it leans against the window above my sink. *scale banana, for scale of course!*

I turned this vintage pink camper into a playhouse for my daughters. The camper was purchased at an auction near Newton, Kansas and the vintage contents have all been collected at thrift stores, garage sales, auctions and Goodwill.

I found this teapot at a secondhand shop a couple of years ago. I thought it was so beautiful that even though I knew deep down I would probably never use it, and even though I don’t typically like having knickknacks sitting around on shelves, I paid $50 for it and brought it home. The other day, on an impulse I decided to add it to a post I created in my neighborhood Facebook group to advertise some things I’m getting rid of in preparation for moving. I listed it for $20, hoping that price would deter anyone from buying it for use in a craft project, because as much as I support repurposing projects, I was really hoping to find someone who loved this teapot for what it was, same as I did. A few days later, someone offered me $10 for it. I said I would think about it. Then she explained that she would be willing to pay the full $20 that was asking if I could wait until her next paycheck, and that she wanted to gift it to someone in her life who collects teapots and had recently remarked that her collection was missing blue. I told her nevermind about the money, that she could just have it. Now instead of collecting dust on my shelf, this beautiful teapot will be used as an expression of love and go to a home where it will be treasured. And that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t been willing to let it go.

Owner was a woman whose mother had just passed, it was passed down from grandma. It was listed at $150 obo, I offered $175 because I really wanted it! I’m head over heels in love with it.

My cat tried to climb the corner shelf upon which it was displayed, and I watched in horror as the entire shelf and contents slowly tipped and crashed to the floor, destroying everything on it, including my beloved cat decanter. The only thing that survived was the cat head stopper. I've spent the last 6 months slowly replacing the broken items thanks to eBay, but I couldn't find the exact cat replacement. Most of the ones I found were like the green one, with a bigger head, wider neck, and the ears sticking out to the side and not straight up. I bought several off eBay, thinking they were the same as my broken one, but my heart always sank when I'd open the box. I ended up re-selling most of them, but I kept the green one because I thought it was pretty. Finally, I found a matching amber decanter with a "Buy It Now" price, and so I did. I'm so happy I found an identical decanter at a reasonable price! I've seen them advertised as both "Empoli" and "Empoli inspired", but I don't know which one is correct.

At first there were two other ladies in front of it discussing what items they were going to purchase, as there were some other fall decor next to this picture. I creepily stuck around and looked at the other great items near this picture and as they decided to purchase other things, I grabbed this so fast. My fiancé asked if we were really going to get this and I’m sure I gave him a wild expression. Of course we’re purchasing this! Come to find out, the owners of the store know the lady who made this. She’s 90 years old and her memory isn’t there anymore, but she’s made needlepoint art her whole life. Her name is Pat and I’m so happy I have this piece. (Also, I’m obsessed with Halloween and everything spooky, so this is just everything.)

So I stopped at my local Goodwill on the way home from running errands the other day, it had been a while and I just wanted to see if there was anything that I absolutely had to have. The first thing I spot were these boots. They are so pretty and so very “me”, but I though “ugh, they’re probably pricier than is ideal”…nope! $6.99, then I thought “no way these are my size”…nope! Size 7! At this point I couldn’t resist, but had to look around the rest of the store, I couldn’t just get the first thing I saw! After looking around the rest of the store I found nothing else that made my soul as happy as these boots, so I made my way to pay for these bad boys. The cashier commented on how cool they were and ring them up, I put in my Goodwill “rewards” and the cashier told me that I could use my birthday month discount if I wanted to get 25% off, so I used it! It came out to $5.25, THEN they told me I also had a $5 off if I wanted to use *that* so, of course, I say sure! I ended up walking out with these lovely boots for a whopping $0.25!! Best Impromptu Goodwill trip!

Each glass is signed by Faberge and the authentication cards are with it… At first I am thinking. “Nice, but where do I display these…” So I walked away and sat in my car for a min. Grabbed my phone and looked these up online. My jaw dropped when I saw the value! And like what are the chances of this happening to me again…None! So I ran in and bought em. I love them. So colourful and damn fancy! It was my lucky day y’all *Paid $50.00!

For a child wasn’t what I had in mind…. I now await the chicken concert. There are two very short videos in the comments now.

They were found at Goodwill, estate sales and yard sales. This is what happens when you are denied a set of table grapes as a youth... it turns into an obsession. Bejeweled banana for scale

Just wanted to share this find with you all! We have had this ball thing in the garden for over 11 years. We thought it was a garden ornament of some sort, just kinda rolled it about and moved it from place to place. Saw a Facebook post on Tuesday that looked like this thing, it was someone’s souvenir that they’d found and it was a bomb casing of some sort. I noticed the holes on theirs was empty….ours were not. So I posted photos of ours and everyone went nuts, telling us it was dangerous. Call police etc. So to cut a long story short, I called the police yesterday and they asked for photos. Then sent the bomb squad immediately So we’d been nonchalantly throwing a bomb about the garden for the past 6 years or so (it was partially buried before then) Anyway, we had to evacuate so off we popped to the local Chinese to get a take away for tea (I was delighted at this out come, no cooking, yay!) and Royal Navy bomb disposal came out, collected it and apparently they will now X-ray it and if it contains explosives (they think it might) they will do a controlled explosion. *Banana is for scale, it’s a joke in another group I’m in as well as this one (Things found in walls etc) to add a banana next to your random ‘find’ - in hindsight, popping a banana next to a potentially explosive device is probably not one of my cleverest ideas but in fairness it HAS been thrown about the garden for a few years already 👀😆. Yes that is also the photo I sent to the police 😆 Also that person in the shorts….my husband, not plain clothed police or bomb disposal. The police had asked hubby where it was so he went down the drive to show them, this was just before we were told to evacuate*

Bob is our 140lb German Shepherd. He was the runt of the litter 10 years ago, but once he started growing, Bob just didn't want to stop. He has this deep, gutteral, terrifying bark, and Bob is convinced his "job" is to lay at the end of the entry hall and watch the door. I've been wanting to get him something to lay on, the chaise lounge he had before was too big for that area, and the huge square Costco dog bed was a tripping hazard. So the other day I was coming home from work, and what is on the curb a block away? This sweet toddler bed with crib mattress! I ran inside, yelled "come now, before it disappears!" to my S.O. and we ran down the street to snag it. We carried it through the front door, and had not even made it down the hallway when the Gatekeeper appeared, took a flying leap through the air, and instantly claimed the bed. I guess it's a good thing it was meant for him... Pic 1 is his "please can I have it?!" look. No banana for scale, but one of Bob's ears is about the same size. Pic 2 is him working the door, watching... waiting... Good Boy, Bob.

My mother had bought them when I was around 16 (1986) from a door to door salesman when we were living in North Pole, Alaska. I always loved them and she gave them to me about 15 years ago. I had no idea where this little fishing village was located or even if it was real. Turns out, this is the fishing village my husband would go on Holiday with his parents as a child and it was the last place he had taken his Mother to visit on Holiday before she passed. It is Polperro, England...from our 2nd date we knew we were meant to be together.

After returning home and trying them on I realized something was inside! So I discovered this adorable tiny gnome tin. This was a better find than the boots and it made my day.

They are such special hand made pieces. My grandmother filled her home with her own crewels so whenever I find one I am reminded of her. Today the thrifting gods shined on me and I scored this huge beautiful green crewel to add to my collection Hand chair for scale