Sweater harvest.

Two days in a row! I'm on a roll. Today I'm all about DIY inspiration and Goodwilling. First, the most important part....MY NEW SWEATERS!!!

I got the three of them at Goodwill for four dollars each, which kind of felt like robbery, mainly because I'm incredibly cheap, and the two last times that I purchased sweaters they were: free for as many I could fit into a bag and the time after that I only spent 50 cents each at my friend's garage sale (she tried to give them to me for free, but I refused to let her). Online, on Ebay and Etsy and all of those types of sites, the cheapest sweaters that I could find were 14 dollars each, and at least I did much much much better than THAT. There was also another sweater at Goodwill that I fell in love with, because it was obviously hand-knitted, but my mom pointed out that I would have had to wash it by hand, and it probably wouldn't have lasted as long. Still, I will pine for it.
The one with the floral pattern on it is undoubtedly my favorite, and it's the only one of the three that I have to pull over my head. 5 seconds after this picture was taken, I was wearing it. 
Now, I must bring up a topic that has been pissing me off for a long while. That is, sites that take vintage items and recreate them and sell them for exorbitant amounts of money compared to what you would pay for the real thing.
For example: Modcloth. One of my absolute favorite websites ever, it is also a huge offender.

This is a set of potholders that sells for 28 dollars. At both of the little antique shops around the corner from me, you can get ACTUAL vintage potholders for a couple bucks each. The prices generally range from 1.50 to 3 dollars each. In this set, you only get three potholders (the polka dot thing is only the packaging they come in) for 9.33 each. It's absolutely ridiculous, not to mention wasteful! Why purchase something new, then there's something pre-used that is in just as good condition? And if you're worried that the real deal wouldn't be as cute, there's one vintage potholder that's knitted to look like a clock that I always have to talk myself out of buying, because it's so Alice in Wonderland chic!

This canister/jar sells for 22 dollars, also on Modcloth. For 4 dollars to 6 dollars (depending on size) you can get a just as good, just as cute one. I collect mushroom jars, and have 15 pieces of it so far, and ALL of them have been purchased at Goodwill for reasonable prices. The same goes for cutesy vintage teacups and saucers--I just found a sale at World Mission Thrift the other week where matching teacups and saucers were going for just 1.50 a pop. Buying things in sets also keeps costs down, if you're looking into tea sets and the like.
There are also blankets on Urban Outfitters (that I couldn't retrieve a picture of, due to the website's sneakiness and usage of the zoom tool) that are knitted to look like vintage blankets and are on sale for 20 dollars (originally 49...can you believe that??). If you don't believe me, you can see them on the other end of this link: http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?id=23512544&parentid=SALE_APT
  We have two similar ones that we got at Goodwill for 4 dollars each, and I bet you that they'll last longer.
Another thing that I've noticed is that there is a huge surplus of vintage tupperware clogging up the shelves at Goodwill. There is no reason why you have to go out and buy new things of tupperware from stores. The vintage stuff is just as good! Trust me! My mom still uses some of the tupperware that she got when her mom passed and it's great! Airtight just like the newer stuff! If you're really worried about buying used containers, you could just bleach them before you use them, to give you the extra security that there are no remnants of germs on them.
So don't waste your money buying look-alikes!! Buy the real thing! If it's lasted these many years,  you can bet that it's going to hold up just as well for you!