I Used to Collect Shoes & Handbags

These days I find myself collecting Fisher Price Little People sets & accessories with the same enthusiasm that I used to look for a deal on shoes or purses. I guess it's part of becoming a parent, and I'm loving every minute of it! We've accumulated quite the collection, and still working on a couple more specific pieces to complete it. When I was a kid, we had almost all the old, original Fisher Price Little People stuff. My favorite thing was to set up a little "town" in the living room and play for hours. The only thing I enjoyed better was when my mom would sit down and play with me, too. I was talking to a friend the other day and realized that the Little People play sets include a lot of "boy" stuff. I guess I like all that kind of thing since I grew up with all brothers. I want Kylie to be able to enjoy her dolls and princess toys, but I'd also like her to have the opportunity to embrace her tomboy side too, if she wants! I feel like I got the best of both worlds growing up, and I'd love nothing less for her.

Lately, I've been trying to take advantage of our location in Salt Lake and the plentiful opportunities of "second hand" shopping, which will not be available once Bryan is in school again, since we'll be living in a little, tiny college town. The plan is that all this loot is going to be boxed up, and then pulled out for birthdays, Christmas and other gift occasions while Bryan is in graduate school. I know that some of you may recoil a bit at the idea of giving your child a used toy for a birthday or Christmas, but Bryan and I have absolutely no problem with it whatsoever. First, kids (especially when they're very small) don't know the difference. Second, if I can get a Fisher Price play set that's in great shape for $1 at a thrift store, I'm not willing to pay $25-$40 for the cardboard packaging it comes in at WalMart, Target, or Toys-R-Us. It's just not worth it to me. I'm glad that Bryan and I think the same on this subject, since we've saved tons of money on baby and kid stuff already in our married life together. 

Our Collection of Little People play stuff

In various trips I've been making to thrift stores (I love garage sales, but life has been too busy the last couple of years to allow me any extra precious time on Saturday mornings!) I've been able to find almost complete sets of farm, airport, school and other fun stuff. I've been finding the play sets & buildings themselves for about $1, and the little vehicles and other accessories for .50-.75 cents. I only get the stuff that's in great shape, which means that all the sounds and lights work, etc. Once I get the toys home, I wash them up with baby wipes, then spray them down with lysol, just for good measure. The one thing we have discovered is that it's very difficult to find the actual little people figures second hand, (in all my travels and searching, I've only ever found one little people figure at a thrift store!) so we've taken to eBay and been able to find some deals on a good variety of different characters. All told, we've spent under $100 for our whole lot of Little People play stuff. I can't wait to start pulling it out and spending lots of quality time on the living room floor with Kylie over the next few years!