Halloween Shopping: How to do it right!

I walked in Target recently and was bombarded with all things orange, black, cute and spooky! I love Halloween! It's my favorite time of the year (as is Christmas, New Years and my dogs birthday...but that's a different story)! I love the bold contrasting colors, (orange and black, or green and black), the ambiance, the underlining excitement, the changing weather (yay scarves and jackets!), black cats, pumpkin carving, hot chocolate, pixi stix...what was this post about again? Fortunately, or unfortunately, its the one time of year its not cohesively 'frowned' upon to shop thrift. In fact thrift stores as a whole rank number 1 this time of year in sales. The good news is, you can shop with pride, knowing exactly where to look and be in and out quickly (why would you want to?!). The bad news is, things get picked over quickly, lines are long, merchandise gets trashed and prices tend to hike. So how do you use that to your advantage?

PLAN. PLAN. PLAN.

1. Whether you're looking for holiday decor, party items or your costume-START AT HOME. Haul out everything from your shed, kitchen and closet for an in-depth look. Many might want to do this second, but if you already know what you have, you may look at something from a different perspective and see potential in other items in your research!

2. Then begin your RESEARCH. Whether it's google or pinterest to find your inspiration-do it! Head to Target, Walmart or the mall. Take pictures on your cell phone of anything you like, or that inspires you.

3. Figure out what you need based on what you already have and then go SHOPPING!

Here's how I do it:

1. Home. I looked around and found some cute dresses I could use as potential costumes.  I use a board called Polyvore, I like it because you can 'pin' things like pinterest but you can also compile them to create layouts for things as well. (INSPIRATION threads are created using Polyvore!) I found similar items to the ones I had at home and put them on this board.

2. Research.Using polyvore again, I began compiling ideas of what could be fun. Here's my 'inspiration' put together with what I have!

3. Shopping. Want to see what I came up with and how much it cost? Have to wait! Coming soon though! ;) Which costume do YOU like?

Graphic Print Accessories

Graphic accessories are IN right now. Normally I'm not much a trend chaser, but I've always had a soft spot in my heart for bold, chunky graphics: so being trendy right now means they are easy to find in every price range. Recently I hit up my local Goodwill [Grass Valley HWY, Auburn, CA] to see what kind of goodies I could find. Of course Goodwill is over thrown with Halloween stuff right now, but you never know what you'll find. Unfortunately I didn't score much, but I did find a chunky bangle in teal with a lotus motif overlay print. .99 ¢! 

October is a great time to visit thrift stores, they usually stock up for this time of year and unleash bigger and bigger discounts until Halloween so they can rid all of the stock! Make sure you check back often as the merchandise is circulated from location to location weekly, and the deeper into October you get, the higher the discounts! I've said it before, and I will say it hundred more times:

if you want to save money when shopping, know what you're looking for before you go.

This is true no matter where you shop. Local thriftstore, or Neiman and Marcus! Have an idea in your mind of what you need/want and start there. Sure you'll probably find other goodies along the way, but having a goal in your mind makes it easier to say NO when you get to the counter.

Following the graphic prints theme I made a quick wishlist of graphic stuff that I'm keeping my eyes peeled for!
What are you looking for?

Click the image to go to Polyvore and find out who made these totally cute items!