thrifty: toddler activity center

Today's fantastic find wasn't at a thrift shop. It was from a yard sale. Before Julianna, I went to tons of yard sales on Saturday mornings. I could stop here and there, no problem. Now that I have a little one, it's harder to make those quick, impromptu stops at a yard sale because I have to get Julianna out of her car seat, tote her around, try to keep her happy, and search for good deals. It's just too much work. The benefit to thrift stores is that the ones I visit have shopping carts so Julianna can ride around the store without me having to get the stroller out.

I had to make a quick trip out this morning and I passed about 5 yard sales in less than 4 miles. I drove slowly by them to see if there was anything that caught my eye. I saw a little easel thing at one that looked interesting. I've been looking for an easel for Julianna but I didn't want to pay much for it. I called Josh and he left work for just a few minutes to go check it out for me. He told the people that he would pay $5 for it and they said okay! Turns out, the easel is more than just an easel. This is what it looks like on one side:

On this side of the board, you can clip on paper to draw or paint and it also functions as a whiteboard. Then you flip this board over and you get the other side:

And on this side, you can move the objects around and they stick to the little pegs. Julianna has already had a blast playing with this side of the activity center. I'd say this was $5 well spent! YAY for being thrifty!