Weekend Scores

Just a quick post to show off a couple of my scores! It was a great weekend of yard sales, thrift stores and flea markets with a fellow junker who also happens to be one of my oldest friends.

The antique hall tree was a yard sale find for ......$15! It's a perfect fit right in the little nook by my front door. I actually had envisioned a hall tree there (my Mom has one that I covet) but they are always so expensive when they show up on craigslist. I couldn't get out my $15 fast enough :)

$10.25 at the Goodwill for a Le Creuset 8 qt. stock pot that appear to be brand new. It's enameled covered steel and such an awesome color. Im in love with it... now I just need the perfect recipe to test it out.

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's "Thrift Share Monday"

Four Words...

City. Wide. Yard. Sale.

This year Morro Bay's annual city wide yard sale boasted over 125 sales! It's a little overwhelming (so many sales, so much competition), a little frustrating (think traffic jams on residential streets) and really, really awesome! Our plan was to systematically work our way through the town until we could yard sale no more and I think we did pretty good. We found some really great treasures and only spent $15!

The metal "Public Telephone" sign was our first buy. It's double sided and in great condition. I originally planned on putting it above our phone (where else) but after doing some research, found out they sell on ebay for around $80 and up! Im tempted to sell it but will probably end up keeping it.

The little orange jug fits in perfectly with my growing collection of pottery pieces. The yellow cream and sugar are California Pottery from the flea market ($1!) and the little teapots are actually salt and pepper shakers.

The yellow pyrex bowl and the metal chair came from the same barn sale. It was my favorite kind of sale - where you have to dig through piles of junk to find the treasures. It makes me feel like I'm on American Pickers. I love the condition of the chair and wouldn't change a thing. We also got a few unexciting, utilitarian household items (including a free full size, lidded rubbermaid garbage can perfect for recycling).

This is a vintage aluminum foil/ wax paper/ paper towel dispenser. Its three serrated doors flip open and inside are curved trays to rest the rolls in. Its wall mountable and a great way to free up drawer and counter space. I really love it but unfortunately I don't have the right kitchen decor to go with the chrome and it comes across a little too much like a towel dispenser in a public bathroom. As you can see in the first picture, it was in rough shape but I got to shine like new by rubbing it down with a piece of balled up aluminum foil. I had read about this trick when I was researching how to restore my vintage suitcase. I was a little skeptical but it works like a charm!

All in all, it was a perfect weekend :)

Linking up to Her Library Adventure's 'Flea Market Finds' and Apron Thrift Girl's 'Thrift Share Monday'!

Thrifty Art

In the last couple of weeks I've thrifted several nice pieces of art. It got me thinking, the majority of the art in my home has come from yard sales, flea markets or thrift stores. My latest scores have come from the Goodwill. I've sorted through alot of tacky "art" at the Goodwill. Who buys that stuff in the first place ?!? Oddly, our Goodwill seems to have an abundance of duck and palm tree themed pictures (although not on the same canvas, thankfully). Flea markets and yard sales consistently have higher quality pieces but also have higher prices. An often heard line at the flea market is.... "the frame alone would cost you that much new".

Artist signed photograph: Goodwill - $5.25

Poster awaiting frame: Goodwill - $2.25

Artist signed and numbered print: flea market $10

Growing collection of black and white photography

Total cost: $15

Faux wood mirror: flea market - $10

Grand Canyon Lithograph: flea market $5

Today's find: a 1970's 12" Replogle 'World Premier' globe.......and it lights up! I found it at an estate sale down the street. It was their second day so everything was 50% off. I wouldn't have bought it for $28 but I couldn't resist for $14. It's so cool when its plugged it! Maps and globes are great to decorate with. They're cheap, colorful and fun to look at and dream about where you want to go :)

Plugged

Unplugged

Linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

Who Wants Eggnog?

Yesterday was a beautiful day but we didn't have alot of luck with yard sales. We did go to a couple of interesting ones though. One was in our neighborhood and was what appeared to be the lifetime collection of an elderly couple. There were a lot of his old woodworking tools and her various sewing notions. The sale was big and had so many interesting things to look at. There were several photograph albums of trips to brazil from the 1940's, pharmacist diplomas from the late 1800's, hundreds of old road maps, and lots of treasures collected over the years. Judging from the sale, these people led an interesting life. I purchased a flower pot, some vintage ribbon and was given a cool cigar box with a sliding lid.

Conversely, we went to a sale that left me just feeling sad. It was my first true estate sale held by an outside company. You were allowed to walk around the sparse home of an elderly woman who had passed away. Everything was priced (high) but in its normal place, even the items on the bathroom counters. It was just cold and sterile feeling and I made me wonder where her family was. I didn't buy anything.

Yard sales were a bust, but my luck changed at the Goodwill......

This is a McKee eggnog set from the 1930's or 40's. I bought it for $13. I had no idea what it was when I bought it but I remembered reading this post on The Ebay Life about Fire King glass and thought it looked similar. I did a ton of research (I literally had dreams about pyrex and milk glass last night) and it turns out that, like Fire King, McKee is highly collectible. I am going to put this up on ebay today and Im excited to see how it does. There is alot of McKee on ebay but nothing quite like this set.

This was an innocent little plant that sprouted from some compost in a succulent pot. It has now taken over my garden and is attempting to conquer the neighbors backyard as well. I finally cut these today and have no idea what I am going to do with them. The heaviest weighs 12 lbs!

One Woman's Trash......

On Saturday, while Will and I were on our way to a yard sale in Morro Bay, I spotted this mirror in a pile of garbage on the curb! There was a man with a weed wacker working in the yard so I yelled at him to get his attention and asked if they were really throwing this away. He said that the house was being cleaned out and I was more than welcome to take it. I was really excited because Ive actually been needing a full length mirror for a long time. The amazing thing about this mirror is that the glass is in perfect condition, not a single nick or crack. All it needed was a little sprucing up. I painted it this morning (coincidentally the color is called 'Morro Bay') and glued some heavy, silver wrapping paper in the inset panels for some extra pop.

An Ebay update: last week we hit the jackpot when we scored 3 camera lens at a yard sale for $20 dollars. Today my auction went off and I sold two of the lenses for a combined $139! I also got $20 for a messenger bag that I bought for $5. Yard sales were slow this weekend and I mainly bought things for myself but I still have some cool things to put on ebay from last week including several sets of vintage souvenir coasters.

A beautiful Sunday in Los Osos

The Plan

Tomorrow I will be up at the crack of dawn in hopes of scoring a deal! I have some financial goals that I would like to meet before the end of the year and to help boost my monthly income Im going to re-launch my ebay career :). A couple of years ago I had some success selling on ebay (thats a post for another day) and I even made some money selling items for other people. Recently I have been encouraged by other bloggers who have been extremely successful in reselling items purchased at yard sales/thrift stores/estate sales etc. on ebay. The Ebay Life is a great blog with alot of awesome tips about selling on ebay. It has also opened my eyes to selling possibilities that I never realized. Who knew coffee cups were in demand!? Another one of my favorites is Apron Thrift Girl who sells her thrifted, vintage items on etsy as well as ebay.

A teapot I sold on ebay for someone. They bought it for $35 at a yard sale, I sold it for $500.

It's no secret that Im a craigslist addict and a flea market regular but Im hoping that I have better luck shopping yard sales. Craigslist can inconvenient unless the item is close by and a lot of flea market vendors are resellers themselves and charge high prices. Im a sporadic yard saler (sailor?) but Im eager to give it another try now that Im more informed and inspired. I think the greatest challenge for me is spending money on things I don't personally need and aren't necessarily my taste or size. However, no one has ever had to twist my arm to go shopping so I'll give it a shot!