Shopping at Goodwill for Christmas...oh my!

English: Christmas ornaments on a Christmas tree. Français : Décorations de l'arbre de Noël. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Christmas shopping at Goodwill was something totally new to me. In fact it never had occurred to me that it could be fun and that a person could gather such wonderful gift together by just scouring the shelves in that big used goods store.

It all started out about a month ago when my daughter suggested that we bake a cake for the adults on our Christmas list. Her thinking was that we would buy the baking pans at Goodwill and then wrap the cake in cellophane with a ribbon and a tag. Simple, inexpensive yet personal. We were very excited.

So we make a trip to Goodwill (the first time for me) looking for the baking dishes. I was amazed at all the stuff they had. My eyes dilated as I raced to the glass wear aisle and we were off to the races. We had a stopping cart and a mission.

Somewhere along the line we lost our focus and changed direction. The gift idea exploded in our brains and Goodwill employees were liking us more and more. Other shoppers gathered around to watch us and the Christmas Spirit filled our hearts...I think that is the way it was.

This is just a short list of the things we came home with:

1. 2 antique aluminum trays
2. 6 glass pie pans, one antique
3. antique china platter and bowl
4. cocktail shaker
5. cocktail tools
6. 7 sauce bowls
7. 7 cocktail rings
8. cookie cutters
9. glass candy dishes
10. glass small relish plates
11. 2 boxes of Ridel martini glasses (labels still on)
12. flour sifter
13. 3 wooden trays ( painted with metalic paint)
14. metal tray for martini set up (now painted teal green)
15. blue Emile Henry bowl
16. tin boxes (about 10)
17. Christmas ornaments
18. silver music box angel
19. one compost container for my counter top
20. AND an Ikea chair we scored for $30...parts still wrapped in plastic

I think there is a lesson in life here somewhere but I am not sure what it is. All I know is I am not going to Goodwill again for a while...I can't afford to save that much money! (Pictures later.)