After a recent yard sale foray, I needed to squeeze what I'd bought into my gift closet. My "closet" is actually a big cedar chest bought for $15 at yet another yard sale. Because I'd been tossing stuff in higgledy-piggledy, I couldn't fit the new stuff in without reorganizing the stash. When I did, I was a little surprised to find out just how much I had.
Hardbacks bought at the dollar store (yes, they're by legitimate authors and no, there wasn't a mark on them) and at yard sales, plus quality fiction picked up for as little as 40 cents from the university bookstore's clearance table. Games, coloring books and a really cool fire truck bought pennies on the dollar a few months after Christmas. Unopened book-toy combos that cost as little as 50 cents at garage sales. Washable markers that were free after a drugstore rebate. Art card sets, gorgeously scented spa items, a craft kit, picture frames, candles -- all of it cheap. I felt like a frugal Santa Claus.
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