Last month I visited a gift shop down in Cape May, New Jersey. I decorate our home in a coastal beach style and I’m always looking for new home decor accessories or craft supplies. The first thing I do when shopping a tourist-style gift shop is look for a clearance section. Some stores have them and some don’t.
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On this particular day I found a clearance shelf that had these bundles of green colored large starfish. Each bundle had 5-6 large starfish with 2 small pieces of wood (to resembled weathered wood) and a small seashell all tied together. These were REAL large starfish that had been preserved and painted green. The clerk saw me looking at them and came over to talk with me.
She had said that they originally had these bundles in 3 different colors. The green color was a dud in sales and was the ONLY color they had left. Since the green didn’t sell well they marked the bundles down to 4 bundles for $10.00. Wow! Like I said, these are LARGE 5″ to 6″ sized starfish! I’m not a fan of that shade of green, so I knew immediately I would be painting them to work within my home’s decor.
On that particular day I bought the last four sets (bundles) that they had for $10.00. After we got home…I was even more pleased with my purchase. I unwrapped all of them and ended up with 22 large starfish to use in my home decor and/or craft projects along with 4 small seashells. If you have ever priced large starfish you know they can be pricey…like $5.00 and up for just one!!!
Even when you’re traveling and hitting the tourist gift shops you can find some bargains. Next month I’ll share a few projects with you that I’m using the starfish in. First up…re-painting them in aqua, mint and torquoise colors!