I’m sharing the 5 best places to get cheap food photo props today!
If you’ve been food blogging for a while, you’ve probably bought a few new dishes here and there to try to help your photos stand out. If you are a prop fanatic hoarder enthusiast like me, you may have a crazy growing stock of plates, bowls, silverware, ramekins, glasses, holiday accessories, paper straws (oh how I adore paper straws!), fun toothpicks, napkins in every color, and serving ware. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who collects these things…)
It’s gotten to such a point that my family just buys me pretty dishware for birthdays and Christmas or sends me gift cards to World Market. (Thanks family!) My collection started out in a kitchen cupboard, then moved to some plastic storage bins in an extra cubby of the wardrobe that’s just off the kitchen, then took over all 4 of the wardrobe cubbies (oops). Hubby recently bought me a credenza to store and display it all in, and I think I’m cutting myself off for the moment. (Unless I really NEED something.)
Despite my ballooning collection, I’ve managed to not break the bank when purchasing new photo pros, so I wanted to share some of my favorite places to get them.
My 5 Favorite Places to Buy Cheap Food Photo Props
1. World Market – this place is like food blogger heaven with all it’s adorable little miniature everything and open stock dishware! Things like these mason jar measuring cups and spoons or this two tiered dessert/fruit stand or these adorable glass jars! You can usually get single items for $2-$10 dollars, which is great if you only like buying singles over a whole set. They often put stuff on sale for the holidays (basically any and all of them), and send out 10% off coupons if you’re on their mailing list. If you’ve been around my blog for a while and take a trip to World Market, you may end up recognizing half the dishes in there from photos here on my blog.
2. Target Clearance and the Dollar Spot – The only thing better than Target, is Target clearance. When the seasons change, they typically put the old stuff on major clearance on the back end caps. Their adorable Threshold collection stuff goes on clearance all the time. I saw these white ceramic takeout boxes for even less at our local Target recently, and it was all I could do to not walk out with them. (I may still go back!) Seasonal stuff goes on clearance like crazy, so I’ll stock up on stuff after the holidays are over for the following year. (Like this weekend I’ll be snatching up Valentine’s Day stuff!) The dollar spot (at the entrance where things are a dollar or so) has great seasonal things like napkins, paper straws (paper straws!), wooden spoons, metal buckets, drink containers, plastic tableware, etc.
3. Ikea – Oh how I love Ikea. I could spend entire days there dreaming and re-designing our house in my head. They also have open-stock dishware at super-cheap prices, and most of it is on-trend with the seasons, or plain white, so it’s even better if you want plain, simple dishware and fancy chargers to make your food really pop. My other favorite secret in Ikea? The “as-is” section. They often sell cabinet doors, table tops, random dishes, single napkins, bits of fabric, etc at a rock bottom price. This grey wood backdrop that I’m kind of in love with and using in nearly every photo recently? Yep it’s an Ikea cabinet door that I got for 99 cents!! This black backdrop under my lemon curd creme brulee and this white one behind my handmade filled chocolates are also both 99 cent scores at Ikea in the as-is section. Definitely look the next time you’re there!
4. The antique store – our local antique and re-sale store often has a box of things that they don’t want to sell in their shop. The owner knows me by now, so she sets things aside for me from the discards that she thinks I might like and groups a few of them together for $5 or so. This is also a great place to find napkins, lace, and random bags of silverware so you don’t use the same spoon in every shot. (Guilty!)
5. Dumpster Diving/ Craigslist Free/Garage Sales – Our neighborhood has dumpsters, and things will often be set out next to them that are still in great condition. This is one of my favorite places to find discarded wood for backdrops (like dresser drawers, book shelf shelves, etc.) Browsing the Craigslist free page and stopping by garage sales has produced some great random coffee cups, plates, cookie sheets, muffin tins, glasses, silverware, measuring spoons, etc. If you go as garage sales are closing down, they often will give things away rather than have to take it to be donated. Just be sure and wash anything you get from an unknown location before using it with food!
So there you go! That’s where I typically find my food props.
I love looking for fun props! One of my favorite places is Goodwill, because you can get really great deals. I also love Target’s fun bowls, coffee mugs and such. Their dollar section can be helpful, too. I picked up some adorable paper straws the other day!
Yay paper straws!! I have had hit or miss luck with Goodwill lately. I’ve found a few awesome things, but a lot of their plates around here seem to be patterned or crystal, which aren’t necessarily bad, but I tend to prefer more solid colors in my photos. I think it depends on what aesthetic you’re going for. Plus, I keep ending up coming home with 80 other things that aren’t even for my blog when I go to Goodwill. (Target is like that too…)