Holiday Gift #10: Thrift Store Finds

When you pay $2.50 for some hockey skates, it's going to be a great holiday. Way back in the day, my boyfriend played hockey for awhile, and was even drafted to the NHL although never officially played for the league before he called it quits to pursue "the arts." Meanwhile my stepdad got his stepdaughters totally obsessed with the sport back in the mid '90s. I still have binders full of hockey cards and an old Sabres jersey in my closet. No lie, I used to dream of meeting and marrying a hockey player. Obsessed I tell you. Well here I am dating an ex player and here in Milwaukee we have an official US Olympic training facility, the Pettit National Ice Center. It's a match made in heaven.

Well the magic doesn't stop there people. At the Pettit it costs $10 for public skating and that includes the $3 skate rental. Now this might not sound like all that much, but I'd love to go more often since it's fun, romantic, and a hell of a good workout for my ass. So right after Christmas, my boyfriend discovered that a local thrift store, Value Village, put out a bunch of used ice skates. He wanted to get me a pair for Christmas, but obviously a new pair is very much out of budget range. Well we scurried on over there and I found a pair of hockey skates that fit for $5! Oh it gets better! It was Half Off Wednesday, so a dull rusty pair of $2.50 Bauer Chargers were officially mine, thanks to my boyfriend and his sweet belated Christmas gift.


I'll probably revisit the awesomeness that is thrifting again and again in this blog because it's a fantastic resource for cheap gifts, and cheap fun altogether! My boyfriend is a huge Dokken fan, and last summer he took me to see them at the State Fair. (CLASSIC right?!) Well a few weeks prior we were on one of our thrifting adventures and I found his favorite Dokken album on vinyl and surprised him. You probably had to be there, but trust me it was pretty stellar.

Ok back to the skates. As I mentioned public skate with rental is $10, but now that I've got myself my own pair of skates, the cost comes down to $7 and I think I can handle that. Because sometimes you have to spend money to save money, right?

***

So yeah! That will officially conclude my Ten Fabulous Holiday Gifts on a Budget. Coupon books, memory journals, and wallets full of goodies. Homemade planners, coasters, and cake cookies. Scavenger hunts, Blurb books, and enough decoupage that will get you high off the glue. I think the list provides a vast array of quality ideas that can be utilized throughout the year for really any occasion. So treat your husband, your girlfriend, your brother, and your best friend to some of your sweet creativity. PS my 30th birthday is on Wednesday. Just sayin'...