Hi, welcome to Gaia! Cool items are obtained in two main ways from what I've seen. 1) Buying items with Gaia Cash and selling them for gold (or keeping them because you like them), which means a) clicking on the 5 daily tv icons up in the header to earn cash or b) spending actual money to buy the cash or c) completing offers than earn you cash. 2) saving enough gold to buy the items you want. This takes time if you're earning it, but posting in the forums, voting in the art arenas, clicking on the daily gumball machine icons and whatnot will all earn gold.
Good luck!
And I have a spring giveaway for some small spring themed items if interested:
http://www.gaiaonline.com/forum/charity-quests/newbie-spring-giveaway/t.96474751_1/#5