5 Winter Thrift Picks in Summer

All those inspired flea market decorating ideas that you’ve been Pinning for months to make your winter season decor smashing have something in common. They all feature stuff that you’re going to want to find through thrifting. It has to have that joie de flea or what’s the point? And there is nothing, nothing I say, worse than when you have to thrift under pressure. It’s all desperation and no serendipity. And that is why you should make a BOLO list of winter thrift picks in summer for winter decorating.

We have some ideas for things that you might want to pencil in on your list.

1 Vintage Sleds

We’ll admit it, the vintage wooden sled on the doorstep with a nice swag of greens and a sassy bow may be ubiquitous, but it is ubiquitous because it’s charming as heck. But stopping at the doorstep is aiming too low. Sleds have so much more potential. Build it a stand and it’s a coffee table. Elevate a sled in the center of a table (encyclopedias are great for this) and it’s a server. Make a tiny tree stand taller by using a sled as a pedestal.

As a winter thrift pick in summer, finding a sled means you’ll probably need to scrub off some cobwebs, but you’ll like the price much better at a yard sale than at a vintage shop.

2 Big Glass Vessels

You can never find one when you need one, but the same glass vessels you would build a terrarium in are equally perfect for creating a tiny holiday scene, for filling with ornaments and micro string lights or for showcasing a candle. Look for apothecary style jars, canisters, oversized snifters, round vases and even fishbowls. The beauty of making scenes in glass is that they are only a little bit more complicated to take apart than they are to put together, so those big glass vessels can be repurposed over and over.

3 Crusty, Rusty Garden Goods

The end of the gardening season is a great time to find rusty, weathered garden tools, planters, old wheelbarrows, galvanized buckets and tubs and other pieces with the true patina of age by the curb on trash day, at the town dump, at yard sales and at places like Habitat for Humanity Re-Store that specialize in building materials. These are workhorses for decorating outside and inside. A wheelbarrow full of greens by the door, a bale of hay with a pitchfork as reindeer food in the garden (use sterilized hay so you don’t get a garden of weeds from your decorating), a small tree in a galvanized bucket in your kitchen, a coal shovel next to a coal scuttle of greens…

4 Sweaters and Flannel Shirts

Now is the best time to find a vintage Christmas sweater. Wait until after Halloween and the competition is fierce. Sweaters are also good for crafting, my fave is the fast no-sew wrap and tie to give pillows a seasonal flavor. And here’s an added bonus: you get a holiday pillow without having the volume of a pillow form to store until next year.

5 Containers for Gifts

If you share homemade goodness, like from your kitchen, your plantery or your craft laboratory with friends and family, early scouting for vintage tins, pie plates, decorative plates, planters and other fun things to pack them up in and/or on pays off. You’ll have better luck hunting early and before you start the prowl, you have to plan out your gift giving ahead of time so you know what you need. Organized and prepared–what a win, win. Caveat: Be careful choosing plates to give food on. Some plates are for decorative use only and are not food safe (there’s usually a warning printed on the back).

Happy hunting! Do let us know if you find some great winter thrift picks in summer–we’ll be jealous but we’ll still congratulate you!