thrifty love gift exchange!! {and a sweet find}

happy fresh new week to you!

remember the thrifty love gift exchange?

well, the time has come, the time is now. link up your treasures!
{it was a fun thing, hosting this with my girls,
carina, danielle, jami, esther, sarah, heather and stephanie!}

first though, since i love a good ramble, a wee story.

>>> <<<

i don't often get time to go wandering the local thrift shops, you know.
when i do, it seems that i only see junk,
never finding that awesome sweetness i see other thrifting queens coming across.
every now and then, i have a bit of luck.

like this sunny yellow cup:

two of them actually, for a quarter each.

books are sort of my thing. especially old books.
even more my thing, are books from my own childhood days.
some that have been lost along the years,
i have found and happily added to my current collection.

like these:

i absolutely obsessed over the childcraft books as a child. 

the set i have now was given to me by my mama almost two years ago. 

because she sold our set at a yard sale. no comment. 

anyway, a few books were my favorite, two of which are the ones pictured here. 

and while these finds are a different edition, the contents are the same. this? 

this was a great dollar spent, my friends.

the real reason why? my sister loves these books, too. 

i had been contemplating giving her a couple from my set, for her to share with her kiddos. 

i never dreamed i'd find them at the local thrift, when i wasn't even on the hunt for them!

and it got even better.

same trip. same shop. i found these two gems. 

both, at different ages of course, were read over and over again by me as a child. favorites! 

i mean, i read this a billion times, to keep my dreams of living in a museum alive. 

and finding an old copy was just so sweet! 

my mama had given me the poems and prayers book when eg was a babe. 

and again, i was really wanting to get one for my sister. and bam. there she was. in excellent condition!

isn't the illustration darling?

i just can't get over it. finding these exact things.

i never thought too much about it, never prayed about it.

but for some reason, because he delights in giving good things? the lord gave me these books.

{why does god being god, surprise me so often?}

>>> <<<

ok, fancy friends! on to the exchange!

i was paired with cute annie.

she is the sweetest!!

it was fun packing up treats for her.

i was so worried at first, my shopping didn't start off so great.

then, i finally scored a few fun things i thought she'd like!

sadly, i didn't take photos of what i sent her. 

but i did get photos of the sweet loot she sent me!

carry crate, two napkins, two canisters and a precious pair of earrings!

even better than the fun goodies, was the note she tucked inside.

so much sweetness!

that's the real reason i participate in these fun swap things, you know?

to meet new people, make new friends. it's just way too much fun!

super grateful to know annie now, what a blessing!

alright, i wanna hear all about your thrifty lovin' finds!

grab a button and link up below! anytime until august 15!

{here or with carina, danielle, jami, esther, sarah, heather or stephanie!}

then hop around to the other links and say hello to some new pals!

<center><a href="http://www.wifeysinger.com/search/label/thrifty%20love" target="_blank"><img alt="a punk, a pumpkin and a peanut" src="http://i1111.photobucket.com/albums/h471/punkpumpkinpeanut/thriftylove200.jpg"/></a></center>