Good sources for unusual items for a Treasure Basket?

[TimeWasting]

I'm re-stocking the Treasure Basket ready for when DC2 is big enough and would like to get some nice shells and maybe some other unusual items, particularly natural objects, but I don't want to spend a fortune.
Any suggestions?

A nice big pine cone, thoroughly washed.

A dried lavender bean-bag type thing.

A loofah.

A beach pebble with a hole all the way through it.

A wooden egg.

A set of plastic measuring spoons.

I like the lavender bag idea, I could make several with coffee beans, cardamom pods etc

Where do wooden eggs come from?

:o at the thought of your baby sucking the coffee bean one! It's a really good idea though.

I'm not sure where ours came from. I did a charity shop hunt and got lots of different things. You can certainly pick them up at Christmas craft fairs. I've also got a metal egg that has a pciture of flowers on the outside and splits in half. I picked that up from a chemist - it used to have soap in it :)

Yes, have to watch her with the coffee.

Charity shops is a good idea, we've a pretty good flea market here too I've not had a chance to get to in a while.

ebay? freecycle?

Large avocado stone, scouring pad (send shivers down my spine!), off cuts of pine from carpenter, sand down the sharp corners and rough edges?

i just bought a few bits from wilkinsons the other day to add to our treasure basket. pack of 24 dolly pegs for about £1, and the same for a 4 pack of those springy metal egg cups. i've given all the extra bits to other mum friends for their baskets.

and our local haberdasher does great mini bags of ribbon offcuts. again, for £1 i got 4 long bits of ribbon. a wide one, a narrow one, a lacy one and a rough one. i've tied them together at the end. DS loves it. oh and i got a free organza bag with some jewellery so i've filled that with cinnamon sticks.

other than that, the best source for treasure basket stuff has been my kitchen drawers!

Cds,
washed used crisp packets
boxes.
DS loved the cats ball with a bell in(bought one for him)
Pebbles
empty bottles etc
Different textures of material
empty tin
tins with different things in ie pasta, rice stones etc.

Pumice stone, piece of velvet, a waxy candle