Value Village #ThriftieNominee2019!

I do not like award scenarios whereby you have to ask friends, family and members of the public to vote for you. I don’t mind voting for other people when they ask, but something deep down inside of me turns inside out at the thought of asking people to vote for me in any way. It’s probably something to do with social pressure and me hating ‘popular people’ when I was growing up.

As I was perusing Instagram on Thursday morning, I saw an update from Value Village about their Thriftie Awards and I was immediately like, hold my drink. Value Village are having their first annual Thriftie Awards this year and to become a nominee, all you have to do is nominate yourself and share a post on Instagram about why you should receive the award. Where do I start and remind me again – who’s holding my drink?

I’ve always been aware of shopping secondhand. My mom would bring us on occasion thrifting, but the older I became and the more aware I’ve become of the environmental benefits of thrifting and the more I’ve consciously chosen to buy secondhand pieces.

I would confidently say at least 85% of our our home [including decor, furniture, clothes and accessories] is secondhand and a huge part of that is from Value Village and essentially, my entire blog is proof of that. My dream is to renovate a home of our own and all the renovations we make to be secondhand pieces we find online or on the side of the road or thrifted. Next to nothing new [within reason. I mean, mattresses. I won’t be running too quickly towards a mattress that I find on the side of the road].

Today I’ll be sharing on my Instagram stories ALL OF THE THINGS WE OWN FROM VALUE VILLAGE in an attempt to solidify and prove my nomination as a #ThriftieNominee2019. There’s a lot. So much that I had to record it all in advance last night while Robert was putting Cora to bed.

I hope you find it encouraging to go out and make your next purchase a secondhand purchase. It’s the main reason I share all my treasures. That, and to brag about what I found.

I’ll be spending most of my day manifesting receiving that tiny golden shopping cart. I already know exactly where it’s going to go.

Spice filled curio cabinet

If you’ve been following my blog for the past few years you may remember that for my 30th birthday my parents bought me a beautiful vintage curio cabinet. After some time I decided to paint it black and hung it up in the corner of the living room in our Islandbridge Apartment in Dublin, but for a very long time I had no idea what to do with it or what to put in it. I mean like two years passed and it was completely empty. I eventually put some jars in it for the sake of putting something in it, but I was eternally haunted by having such a cute cabinet and no idea what to do with it.

When we emigrated last year and moved into our Lower Town Apartment, there was a space in our kitchen that would be absolutely perfect for my curio cabinet. And almost immediately, I knew I wanted to keep all my spices in it. Don’t tell Robert, but I packed and shipped some of my favourite tiny empty glass jars [yes, completely empty jars. I have a problem] to Canada from Ireland. Once I unpacked everything and got myself organised, I hung up the cabinet in our kitchen and decanted all the spices and herbs we use the most into secret little jars and labelled them with black labels and a gold pen.

As soon as I started arranging the jars, I was embarrassingly ecstatic. I love stuff like that; organizing and sorting and having a little project just for me that essentially makes me feel like a witch in the kitchen.

I’ve been wanting to paint over the brown in our kitchen [this shade of brown was in the hallway and is currently in our entire bedroom], but I keep getting stuck on the idea that a room should be complete before I can take photos of it. Which I know does not make sense. Our kitchen will be a work in progress for the next while, but for the moment, I am loving my tiny curio cabinet in lieu of a perfectly curated dream Pinterest pantry.

If they’re good enough for Emily Gilmore

Around ten years ago my mom got us a pair of really lovely wine glasses for Christmas [one of them is the large glass in the middle above]. Unfortunately, one broke shortly after that, but ever since I’ve really loved the shape of that one glass that survived.

A few months ago when I was in Value Village I spotted a few of the exact same style glasses. I was standing looking at them when a woman walked by and said, “Oh those aren’t crystal. I’ll show you how to tell if a pair of glasses are crystal …“, and she kindly showed me some tricks to find out if some glasses are better quality than others. She was trying to help find some hidden treasures, but I was left feeling embarrassed for wanting the less-than-fancy glasses so I didn’t buy them. Later I of course wished I had, so now every time I see that style of glasses, I buy them. Crystal or not.

I’ve only found two medium and three small sized glasses since, but I’m determined to collect as many as I can now. I mean, if those glasses are good enough for Emily Gilmore, they’re good enough for me. Collect whatever you want. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. To finish with a quote from Emily Gilmore, that’s complete and utter …

 “Bullshit!”

Emily Gilmore image via here.

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