Please note!  I am not pregnant!  (But let’s count how many “Congratulations!!” comments I get anyway after posting this on Facebook.)

Recently good friends had a baby shower for their soon-to-be-born little human.  Several months back, in anticipation of this new little person, I picked up an excellent red onesie with the words “Born to Rock” and an American-flag-patterned hand in the “rock fingers” position at the thrift store.  I am a bad blogger and forgot to photograph it, so here is a similar item in grey and for sale on Etsy in case you think this kind of thing is awesome and want to support independent artisans:

“What?!” you say, “you thrifted a baby shower gift?!  How tacky!”

Well, perhaps.

But these particular friends know I thrift everything—in fact, the mama-to-be is currently rocking several of my thrifted maternity wear pieces.  And they both love my kid’s thrifted monster truck jammies.

They also love them some ‘Murica in a wonderfully (un?)ironic way that includes blowing up lots of giant fireworks on the 4th of July (and every other chance they get)—hence the stars-n-stripes finger motif.  And because one half of the couple is Chinese, I figured the lovely red color of the onesie would contribute to the overall “good fortune and joy” vibe that comes with having a new baby.  And red is handily gender neutral, since they have chosen to find out their baby’s sex when it makes its debut.

Oh, and also, that sucker was new with tags on, straight from Macy’s via the Goodwill.

See? I can be classy when it’s called for.

Continuing the red theme, I also found a red puppy Wubba Nub, the pacifier-cum-beanie baby which makes it easier for your baby to hold onto the bink and for you to find it when they inevitably (a million times a day) throw it on the floor:

Source

Lest your mind have gone into germophobe overdrive, never fear—the Wubba Nub was also thrifted brand new, in the bag, on this trip.  (The things people donate!!)

Last but not least, I like to regift books we already own—you often get multiples (I think our record was 6) of certain popular kids’ books.  So our friends’ little one also received these classics:

Not too shabby for a heartfelt gift that speaks to their personality (onesie) and is practical (binky) and educational (books).

Now, to be fair, thrifting means no gift receipts included; they’re stuck with these puppies unless they themselves decide to regift or donate them to the nearest thrift shop (not every kid loves a Wubba Nub, you know).  And we certainly didn’t tick any boxes on their registry; I hope they’ll forgive us (and make us bring them dinner) if they really wanted something on the list instead of this.

Because listen.  A thrifted baby gift isn’t something everyone will appreciate and I’m a believer in getting what the giftee will love, not what YOU love.  If you don’t know your friends’ taste or aren’t sure they’ll love what you found, or if you know their skin crawls at the very thought of anything second hand, by all means, hie thee to the registry.

But sometimes you just see the perfect thing and the registry list goes out the window.  And despite having had a (small) registry ourselves, those outside-the-box, non-registry gifts were the ones we’ve cherished the most.

Hey, that makes me think—would y’all like to see a baby shower registry for someone who tries to thrift everything?

Many blessings to you, L&B!!  We can’t wait to meet your new person!

Would you ever thrift a baby shower gift, or are you shaking your head and yelling “SO TACKY!!” at your screen right now?  Scroll down to comment!