Cheap Thrills: Thrift Store Edition

I think I've already mentioned this a couple of times, but one of my big goals for putting together my fall wardrobe is to spend less money. When I'm shopping online, I'm trying to check eBay as much as Etsy; I'm also trying to spend some time searching through thrift stores, which can be a vintage loving girl's best friend.
Friday was Brian and I's anniversary, so I met him by his work to take him out for dinner and a show. I was a little early, and I decided to kill some time looking through a great little antique shop (well, antique shop is a little generous; junk shop might be more accurate). Initially I was scoping out the jewelry in the cases, but when I told the guy that I was really looking for budget pieces, he showed me the "bargain bins" - two tubs full of damaged, or unattractive, or generally less special pieces of jewelry.
I spent a happy half hour digging through them. At 2 for $5, there was no reason not to. I ended up finding 5 pieces, which he gave to me for $10.
A faux pearl necklace.

I've been wanting one for a while, so this was a great find.
These cute yellow clip on earrings.

I think those are daisies on them.
A tassel necklace.

There are little faux seed pearls at the ends of the tassel.
A pair of collar tips.

There was a trend for these a couple of years ago, but I never got them because they were too expensive. I think they'll add a fun, Western flair to some of my outfits.
A pretty, deco-inspired hairpin.

It's missing a couple of rhinestones, but I think that just adds character.
Not bad for $2 a piece. I've definitely become something of a jewelry horse these days, and I felt like each of these pieces was interesting and versatile enough to be well worth the cost.
On Saturday, I walked over to a huge thrift store in my neighborhood. Looking through a thrift store, I've realized, is a lot like pawing through those bargain bins. A lot of what you're looking at is going to be absolute crap (or at least, totally wrong for you), but with some time and effort, you might find just the thing you've been looking for for practically no money at all.
The thrift store was extraordinarily busy. I didn't realize it, but they were offering an extra 50% off of everything in the store, so there were a lot of parents outfitting their kids for back to school, or just getting new clothes for themselves. I wasn't quite as lucky as I was with my jewelry shopping, but I did leave with a few pieces that I'm really happy with, and I spent less than $5.


Pockets!
I am so happy with this skirt. It's felted wool, fits really nicely, and works perfectly with the whole Russian fairytale thing that I want to bring into my fall wardrobe. The only issue that I've found is that there was a little bit of elastic at the waistband to help with fit, and that's completely worn out. I might see if I can just ruche it and sew it down, since putting new elastic in would be a bit beyond my skill set.
I also picked up a charcoal sweater and black chiffon scarf. They aren't the most exciting purchases that I've ever made, but the sweater is the sort of go with anything, wardrobe workhorse that I always tell myself I need more of. The scarf, as it turns out, is a bit too long to wear the way I would normally wear a headscarf, but I'm sure I'll figure out plenty of uses for it.