Where has my yard sale mojo gone?

Yep, that's right. I've been searching for my yard sale Mojo all summer.
Maybe it's 'cause the season started out to cold and wet. Maybe it's 'cause I really haven't found the mother load of garage sales yet, and nothing to really get my blood flowing.
Yes, I've found small things here and there, but nothing of epic proportion.
However, instead of just giving up (Hey, I'm no quitter), I drag myself out of bed super early, get cleaned up, and hit the road first thing so I can hit alot of sales, before I have to be to work at 11.
I'm linking up with Southern Hospitality for her Thrifty Treasures party to share my finds this week, and a couple from last week. Go check out everyone's finds!
I found these heavy wrought iron shelf brackets at the first sale I stopped at, for a buck a piece. I don't know for sure how I'll use them, but hey, for that price, I'll figure it out.

The little wire trash can was only 50 cents. Cute for under our computer table.

On our way home from my daughter's swim class, I turn onto our street, and I see a yard sale sign pointing up to the top of our street. Hmmm, so close to home, might as well swing by real quick. I saw this bird cage, which I've been searching for, so that we can get a pair of zebra finches.
I'm way too cheap to spend $50 on a cage at the pet store, so I've been hunting for one.
How much did I pay for it???
It was FREE!
The guy said 5 bucks, and I'm thinking Super, but I put it back down to go look at the stuff on the grass, and then he said, "You can just take it".
Really? Allrighty then!
I also grabbed this old book, which I'd guess is from the 1920's.


The cover was missing, so they sold it to me for 50 cents. The pictures are to die for, and I'll create many cute projects with the pics inside.

Then I saw this computer chair. We've been using an oak mission style antique chair, which is nice to look at, but uncomfortable as heck, with no arms, and a hard seat.Yuck, ignore my messy computer desk, it is a WRECK!
I asked the guy again how much, and he said $5. Right on!
I sent my husband back up to get it in our other car.
OK, so I did get some cool bargains, didn't I?
Last week I found this blue shelf for Macie's room, which I'll paint either light green, or bubblegum pink. $3.

One out of the way sale I stopped at, which I'm glad I did, yielded a couple of sets of cute vintage pictures.
These are in the original frame with paper backing, and are really old. I seriously paid 75 cents a piece for these! They are hanging above my Stickley table that I DIDN'T paint black.
This set the lady said was in her bedroom when she was a child, and her sibling's rooms before that. I love them, don't you? I think I'll take them out of the icky frames they're in, and reframe with mats and hang them in my daughter's room. 50 cents for both. Oh yah!
I had also found a beautiful ceramic oval bowl at Goodwill a few weeks ago for $5 (It had the original TJ Maxx price tag on it of 24.99). It really needed something inside it. At the same sale I found the pictures at, I found packages of these wooden carved balls and natural elements for 50 cents. Perfect.
I created a little vignette with candles and my birdcage I found at a consignment store. What do you think? Does it need something more? It's placed up high, on top of a bookcase, so I really couldn't hang a picture behind it.

Oh, and my in-laws also gave me a large bird feeder, which I hung yesterday. I had a mommy chickadee visiting this morning, and she brought her three babies with her. Oh my gosh, they were so cute, splashing in the bath and chattering all morning in the trees.
OK, so whatever! I did OK this last week, but I still feel like something's missing. What is it? I don't know. I'll let you know when I find it.

Yard sale finds

Well, I didn't score big by any means today at yard sales, but sometimes it's still fun to find just a couple of little things that are way cool!
I found this little bird sitting on a shell for a quarter. I'm not sure what it will hold just yet. I think he needs a bit of whitewash to make him look cuter. What do you think?
Next was the vintage ceramic snowman. I am so in love with this little guy, let me tell you! He reminds me of what the snowman looked like in the original Frosty the Snowman book from the 1950's. He was 25 cents also.

Also is this little wooden primitive snowman for 25 cents.

Then this Martha Stewart organizing book full of great ideas for $1.00.

Oh, and this lamp for $2.00 was a great find. I don't know why, but I suddenly want lamps everywhere to add mood lighting throughout my house. This is the third one I've bought in 2 weeks! Of course, it needs a shade, pronto. Just one more project redo to make it my own. I love doing that!I think it will get a coat of white spray paint and live in Macie's room for awhile. Then I can steal her milkglass wall lamp with the crystals hanging from it, and use it in my room!
I also bought Macie a couple of activity books for when we go on our road trip in July to Mesa Verde. Those were 50 cents a piece.
How did you all do today? Let me know, so I can come and look!

Stickley, anyone??

Hey ya'll. How was your yard saling adventures this morning?
Mine were nominal. For some reason, I was not in the mood to go. Blame it on Auntie "Flo" visiting this morning, and my usual weakness due to hormonal changes. I felt extra crabby, and not in the mood to browse or haggle.
There were three community sales in my area, but there was a lot of baby stuff and not much else.
I did grab this beautiful vintage end table. It's solid wood, and in perfect condition.
I asked the lady how much, and she said, "Oh, I don't know. It was my husband's mothers." (He looked to be in his mid 70's).
"Is $10 too much?"
Umm, NO!
Seeing as it has all the original labels inside the drawer, marking it as a piece of Stickley furniture!
My sister-in-law is an interior designer who works for Stickley, and their furniture is high end, nice stuff. I won't tell her I'm going to paint it black, and change out the drawer pull!

I love the thick wood turned legs on this!

How awesome is this going to be once I paint it black?

(Ignore the pink carpet in the picture. The former owners of our house were obviously very pink passionate people (ppp). The exterior of our house is also pink, Ukkk! ) Carpet shopping put us into sticker shock, so for now, we continue to live with it!
We've got swimming lessons tomorrow (if it ever stops raining), and maybe a few yard sales if I start feeling better. Have a super weekend, my friend!

Depression, anyone?

I'm re-posting this at Southern Hospitality's thrifty party, partly because this post is so funny, and partly cause I haven't had anything else thrifty to share. Go checkout everyone else's thrifty treasures!

Hi ya'll. Yes, I've been away too long. Busy life, and bloggers block have kept me away for awhile.

On a funner note, it was an awesome garage sale weekend. I knew of at least 5 large community sales within 15 minutes of my house that were going on, so Macie and I were up very early, to make the most of our morning. I couldn't stand knowing I couldn't hit them all!

She is an afternoon Kindie, so we had to be home by 11 to get her fed, and off to school at noon. Then I had to go to work for awhile.

Seriously, every minute counts when you know there are dozens of sales, and bargains to be had. When you have a 6 year old in tow, time is constantly being wasted, haggling over getting her in the car, out of the car, and ripping her away from sale after sale.

You know what I mean, Moms:

You drive up to a sale, get out of the car, and stand outside the car for who knows how long, telling your child to unstrap and get out; they are busy taking apart something they got at the last sale you stopped at, so they are suddenly deaf.

Again and again, you ask them to get out, as you watch 5 more cars pull up, knowing your bargains are going to be snatched momentarily.

Finally, you snap, and yell at them to listen to you, and get out of the car!

As you finally get their attention, you see out of the corner of your eyes someone carrying off a large, beautiful mirror, the EXACT kind you've been looking for for months! Argg!

This happens at each and every sale you stop at, all morning.

The other scenario is that once you DO get them out of the car, you absolutely cannot get them back IN the car, because they will always go over to the 25 cent box, to mull over for the next 15 minutes which stupid McDonald toy they MUST have.

I can tell within 5 seconds if the sale is a dud, or a good one. I want to get back into the car, and head to the next one, pronto. With a child in tow, there's gonna be a fight, to be sure, if you don't let them browse around for something. Anything.

My daughter insists she wants to GET something. She has the "I wants". She can't stand to leave the sale without buying something. I'm trying to break her of it. Step AWAY from the yucky stuffed animals and crappy McDonalds toys, honey. Just do it.

Really, it's only fair to let them browse, too, especially since they have to go with you, and endure you looking, when there's alot of sales with no kid's items. Macie actually enjoys going with me, and carrying her cute little wallet, with all of her piggy bank coins in it. She is learning the value of each coin in Kindergarten this year, and is so proud to count out her quarters when it's time to buy something.

Let's get on to what I got! This darling ceramic snowman platter, and these four brand new felt snowman placemats, tags still on: 25 cents, and yes, 25 cents for all. Unbelievable! ( I KNOW that my continuing to buy more Christmas stuff is a sickness!)

A bingo game from the '90s. I love the style, so I can age them for my paper projects.
50 cents.

A Puzzle from Springbock. Did I mention I love jigsaw puzzles? But only Springbock. They always have interesting pictures, almost like an eye spy picture. I can't do the 1000 piece farmland scene, where EVERY piece is green. My dear mom loved to work puzzles, and now I honor her by doing them, and always think of her when I do them. I've even gotten my husband interested in them, and we sit side by side, for hours, bantering and stealing each other's pieces.
50 cents.
Sorry for the flash! This one is an open fridge, with all kinds of cool thing in it. I like at the top, the "Cop Stopper" package of donuts.

I also scored several antique plates and depression glass at one sale. The guy said he cleans out foreclosed homes and storage units, and comes across all kinds of cool stuff that people leave behind. Below is a picture of one of the two hand painted Haviland plates I picked up from him. Perfect condition, not a chip on either one.


Beautiful hand-painted detail
Also, a little creamer, he said he thought it was Delft. I think it's flow blue. No markings on the bottom. If anyone knows, drop me a line, please!

I also picked up 6 of these green depression glass dessert cups. I always try to picture who used these way back when, and what kind of yummies they may have eaten from these. Remember, back in the '30's, everything is made from scratch, and that homemade goodness. For now, I'll keep them, and try to make some homemade goodness for my own family to honor these beautiful pieces.

The guy threw these two plates in the box, at the end, to be nice.
They are marked J & G Meakin, Hanley England. I just love them. If anyone knows anything about these, drop me a line.

Hand-painted gold edges, and embossed roses, such pretty details.


Are you ready for the total? 6 depression glass dessert cups, 2 hand painted Haviland china plates, 2 heavy china rose plates, and a Delft? creamer, all for .... $7.00! Yes, I LOVE it!
I also got a cute Express T-shirt for $1.00, and a few cute clothes for my daughter for .50 cents a piece, a great bargain. Oh, and a great fall doormat, for 1.00.
Don'tcha just love finding all kinds of cute stuff that someone else wants to get rid of?
I think now more than ever, people are doing yard sales to make extra cash. In this economy, every dollar counts! I love finding cute clothes at extra cheap prices, cause then I'm saving money on things that I would've had to buy at full retail.
I told my daughter when we were yard saling last weekend, "Honey, I love you, but mommy will be so glad when you start first grade (and start at 8 a.m.) and I can yard sale by myself!"
It's not far away, that end of July date. She is on a year round school schedule, so I'll have some time to myself, before the season ends. Yay!

Step AWAY from the Christmas stuff, Susan

O.K., so Spring will just not warm up here! It's overcast, cold, and still downright gloomy here in Colorado! I had been looking forward to going to The Paris Street Market for seriously months, and today was the opening day.

My husband came home and informed me that HE had to work the one and same Saturday, to my disamy. That means I get to stay home with my daughter.

What, you say? Just take her with you?

Let me just step out of the room and laugh.

I'll be back.





O.K. I'm back.

Not on your life.

Here would be the the dialogue:

Honey, don't touch that.. No, I said no, don't touch that. Yipes, that's breakable, I told you not to touch anything that looks breakable... Actually, don't touch ANYTHING! (Dealers giving me and her dirty looks.) HANDS OFF! (Now I'm giving her dirty looks.) Macie! How many times do I have to tell you not to pick up or touch anything? Hey, do you want to go sit in the car? I'll put you there if you touch ONE MORE THING! (and on and on and on.)


And that's if I don't lose her in the crowd of hundreds.

So. Now you get it.

Besides the fact that I hate being cold more than I hate, well, just about anything. And today is cold.


So we resigned ourselves to searching for the almost non-existant yard sales around the neigborhood. (It being cold and all.)

The first one we came to was just junk, but somehow my daughter talked me into buying her a Furbie.

The second was a picked over Estate sale that looked like it wasn't that great to begin with. I did score a cool aluminum ware tray, really large and pretty with detail.


I'll be using it at work, at the salon, to put over the top of my rolling tray that I put color bowls, cutting tools, etc on. Yes, my salon is that nice! Look how pretty!


Beautiful handles. Nice and big, for all of my "accoutrements". Cool word, that one. Snagged it for $4!

Then we met my dad for lunch, and on the way home, we spotted a sale sign, so we pulled in. This is where I found some cool old holiday decorations. First I spotted this large Tom and his wife ceramic turkey salt and pepper shaker. These are seriously really large, although it's hard to tell from a picture. I'm going to use them for display, not S&P. They are very old, which I love the look of.

Next, of course, I saw the Christmas stuff, and not just any ol' Christmas stuff. Cool ol' vintage Christmas stuff. Like, the Bonanza of Christmas stuff!
LOVE the little paperboard Christmas housed with the glitter, and bottle brush trees. Don't you love the Santa and the reindeer pulling the sleigh?

The little elves are all marked Japan on the bottom, nice and old.

Their faces and detail are so darling, don't you think?

Along with several Old bottle brush trees, faded to vintage perfection (not pictured), this rubber faced santa, the bottlebrush wreath, the spray with bells and the switch plate cover (so cute), were also in the box, as well as some hard plastic reindeer.

Also in there was an unusual assortment of these little mirrored ornaments, which were kinda cool.
I'm also a sucker for chalkware figures, so I snagged this angel, which also is a spinning music box, as part of the deal. She's my 4th chalkware angel, and plays Silent night.

All this for $7.00. I feel your jealousy oozing through into my family room right this second!

At this point, I'm not feelin' so bad about missing the Paris Market; after all, it will be here again in 4 weeks. Just think of the money I saved, not going today!

Let's yard sale and Hand Jive!

How was your weekend, my friends? Mine was busy and fun. Macie and I decided on a snap to check out a couple of yard sales Friday morning before school.

Yard sale season is just beginning out here, with the weather slowly warming up. I love seeing those bright pink signs as I drive through the neighborhood, calling to me: Susan Susan Susan, come look through our junk, come spend money on something you think you need, but don't.

Hence, my finds this week that I really thought I needed, but really probably didn't.

A fun collage project book, with just the inspiration I need to use more of my paper ephemera. Also another french book, I can use the pages for in my projects. 50 cents and 10 cents.

A jar full of fairy glitter, and a cute small mason jar. 20 cents for both.



A baggie full of weird stuff. I bought it for the keys, there were a couple of old ones in there. The tokens were cute, too. They say parking tokens. 25 cents.



A set of four placecard holderd from World Market, I'll probably use these for something else. 50 cents.


A neat heavy wood plaque with a tin frame attached, I'll probably pry it off to use for something else. 50 cents


Old "pillow" book, Night before Christmas. This will be cool for Christmas projects. 10 cents

These were in a baggie with the next picture below. I love the little tree!
I love these little treat cups. These will be a tutorial for my "Christmas in July projects. Behind them is a paper cone covered in sheet music and tinsel trim. So cute. All with above picture: 50 cents.
A Gorham pewter Christmas ornament kitty cat, I bought this after I dropped Macie off at school. I'll slip it in her stocking for Christmas. Yes people, I DO shop early for the holidays. It's never too early to pick up little things here and there, is it?


A leather wallet, in perfect condition. 50 cents. Seriously.

The girls I work with are always changing the purses they carry. I sware they must have a whole wardrobe of purses for every outfit. Me? I'll carry the same purse forever, and not really think about it too much. At least that used to be me. Now I think I actually have three, count them, three purses I actually use on a regular basis. I'm learning, people. Why not do that with wallets, too?

Here are my daughter's treasures.

A Hello Kitty insulated lunch sack, a Benji book, (she loves the movies) and an American Girl book. No she's not a kindergarten reading genius, but she wanted to get the books for "someday". Ahh, a girl after my own heart!

She also got this adorable pink cowgirl hat. She'll probably never wear it, it seems a bit small for her head, but I'll snag it and use it in a display somewhere.

Ya, I know, I buy too much Christmas stuff, but I just can't resist! I'd like to find more Fall
/Halloween things, and more Spring and Easter things, too.


We also went to Macie's school '50's dance. She was so cute in her kitty "poodle" skirt, and I dressed up as a tacky beautician.

I caught this totally candid moment of her applying her eyesahdow and lipgloss before we left for the dance. Yikes, she looks so grown up!

My beautiful doll.

My friend and I hangin' at the dance.

There were hula hoop contests, and lots of dancing to the Hokie Pokie, the Chicken dance, and the Bunny hop, of course. I've never excercised so much in my life!

I even hung in there during the whole "hand jive" dance from the movie Grease. I picked it up pretty quick (she said proudly), but woke up the next morning with bruises on my hands from the continual fist banging during the song! Can you believe!

Then I worked on Saturday, making people beautiful, and solving vexing hair color problems. (Did I mention I'm a hairstylist by profession?)

All in a days work for a mommy, professional hairstylist, bona-fide crafter, and wife/handjive dancer!