One of our favorite places to window shop is Austin Creative Reuse. To be honest though, we rarely get away without purchasing at least a little something!
What do we love about ACR? Oh, let me count the ways! First, it’s a non-profit thrift shop for art supplies. Did you buy a 500-pack of pom-poms but only used 6 of them and now the other 494 are just taking up space? Donate them here. Did you buy a Christmas stamp set to only have used it once? Donate them here. Have a ton of popsicle sticks that you don’t even remember buying? Donate them here. Donating to ACR keeps art supplies out of the landfill and allows them to find new life in someone else’s art projects.
Need just 1 and not a whole pack of 50? Then ACR is for you. You can buy just one pipe cleaner (last I saw, they were 1 cent each) instead of a ginormous pack of them. Need just one button? We’ve taken a pack of 10 buttons to any employee and asked if we could just buy 1 or 2, and they’ve gladly separated the pack and priced them out for us on the spot. Reducing our consumption helps both the environment at large and our environment inside our homes.
If you are in need of a large amount of very random supplies, there is a whole fill-your-bucket section. You get a big 5-gallon bucket full of stuff for $5! You can’t beat that with a stick (or a pipe cleaner)!
I gotta give love to the employees and volunteers at ACR. The organization of this place is mind-bogglingly fantastic. Everyone here is also super helpful and friendly. We were inquiring about donating some items, and Baby Girl saw an item on their table that probably had just gotten donated. She got up the courage to ask if it was for sale (she had been wanting one of these for a long time!), and the kind employee took a look, smiled, and said, “Sure! How about $1?” Talk about making a little girl’s day, both my girls were overjoyed! We’ve asked for help on art projects we had no idea about and they’ve always been able to at least point us in a direction if they didn’t have exactly what we were looking for.
Stock of course changes each day depending on what gets purchased and what gets donated. So if you see something that you love, you’d better snatch it up, it might not be there the next time you visit!
Oh and don’t let me forget about their events. We’ve been to events that were completely free. Some are $20/person, which is a fantastic price for a fun and creative time with friends.
Speaking of events, THIS WEEKEND: Don’t miss the Kids’ Mini Market. It will be held indoors (whew!) inside ACR’s Classroom, and will feature artists 5-17 years old who incorporate reuse into their creations. Come out to show “Much Love” for the young artists in our community! [ ACR Blog Post ]
Saturday, September 9, and Sunday, September 10, 2023
12:00 PM 4:00 PM both days
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