I was going through Craigslist on Friday night, as I am wont to do, and found next to nothing interesting — after about twenty minutes, I had written down two addresses. And Weather.com informed me that rain was an almost a certainty — not just rain, but thunderstorms. I have had quite enough of running through rainstorms after last weekend, let me tell you. So at 11 pm, I made the decision to sleep in the next morning. Immediately after making this decision I felt the most delicious sense of well-being and satisfaction. Not one iota of me wondered what I might miss in the morning. This satisfaction was compounded at 6:15 am, when I was awakened by POUNDING rain on the rooftop. I fell blissfully back to sleep, only vaguely hearing my phone ring once, twice, three times. By the third time, Jack had burst into the bedroom twice, saying, “Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Are you sleeping, Mommy?” and I figured, what the hell, I might as well answer the phone. It was my friend Barb, and she didn’t even bother with a preamble. “You need to get over to this sale right now,” she said. “I’ve been calling you for an hour.” I swear, my Mom, who spent countless hours during my first 17 years trying in vain to rouse me from bed on weekday mornings, would be so surprised to see how fast I can get out of bed and get ready when I get a call like that. Who knew that all she had to do was dangle the prospect of a hot yard sale in front of my eyes. When I got there, Barb had run to the bank for more money (it was that kind of sale) but I immediately identified her pile. She had gotten some AWESOME things. This woman was a life-long antiques shopper who was clearing out for a move — she was going all “beach house” in her new house and was pretty much getting rid of everything. It was the only yard sale I went to on Saturday, yet I had as big a haul as I do when I spend four hours shopping.
I love it when my car looks like this.
Let us begin surveying my prizes, shall we?
I love everything in this chair. But more than that, I LOVE THIS CHAIR.
It is so cute, and so solid, and so perfectly chippy. It will be difficult for me to part with this one.
Love this wire basket…it folds up.
These suitcases were an impulse buy — I should have looked them over better. They’re not in great shape.
I love the tray so much. I’m pretty sure the iron cat banks are reproductions but they’re awfully cute anyway.
Hello, world’s most comfortable wicker rocking chair.
I paid more than I wanted to for this ladder, but I’ve been looking for one for a while. I got it for $20. That’s a lot, huh?
I’m not sure if this set of drawers is old or made to look old. But I thought it was pretty cute.
So once I had gotten it all home and unloaded, I realized I had spent probably more money than I should have. It was one of those sales where some things were ridiculously cheap (my perfect white chippy chair was $5, the wicker rocking chair was $10) but other things were kind of expensive (the luggage was $5 each and the ladder was $20) so it kind of starts to add up without you realizing it. The people working the sale told us to come back today around 3 because she would be really slashing prices but honestly, I didn’t think there would be much left at that point. Cue my phone ringing at 3 this afternoon. Barb said, “You really should come and see what’s left because she’s practically giving it away.” Show me one junker who could ignore a siren call like that one and I’ll show you someone who IS NOT REALLY A JUNKER.
Yesterday, she had a stack of quilts for $20 each. None of them were in great shape, and they ranged from so-so shape to really bad shape but there were one or two that had GREAT fabrics and colors in them. Barb had snagged the best seven for $50 by the time I got there! She kept offering to let me choose one or two from her but that ain’t the law of the land — if you get there first, you have dibs. Besides, there were two left that I really dug. I won’t have to worry about being too terribly careful with them, so I can let the kids use them.
After I snagged these, I just buzzed about the house, grabbing some great stuff that was left.
Adorable chippy pink window frame.
Two bushel baskets and fabric-covered balls — I’m always looking for things to put in bowls for display at the booth.
Cute little tin man. This is the second tin man out of tin cans I’ve found — I found one years ago in Chicago. Isn’t that weird?
Rainbow oil can, because everyone needs an oil can, right?
Three cake plates that aren’t old but I thought they might be a good holiday item for the booth.
Random stack of china — the stamp on these confuses me. First of all, they have the Homer Laughlin stamp AND a stamp that says Lifetime China Co., pattern of Jaderose. EXCEPT a few pieces which are stamped Cavalier Eggshell. They’re not really worth anything but the plates especially are really beautiful. They would make a gorgeous holiday table, if you do the mix-and-match china thing.
This scale is in pretty bad shape but it’s nice and heavy (porcelain, maybe?) and I kind of like it rusty. (Have you heard that about me?)
Three wooden hangers with baby clothes on them. I don’t know if they’re going to come clean — they’re soaking right now. But the hangers were pretty cool by themselves.
Stack of frames for re-purposing, although a few of them are really charming old frames with pretty prints in them so I may sell as-is.
SO. I got all of this for $20! And the neighbor was selling this mirror for $7, which I grabbed:
Definitely worth a second trip — and I owe it all to Barb.
I did get one other thing on Saturday — since it was raining so hard, I ended up hitting a few flea markets in town. It never hurts to see what’s selling out there. I found these vases at All My Treasures in Fayetteville — I almost always find something when I shop there.
Lusterware vases from Japan. In 3-D! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. They were only $4.50 each, which I think is a bargain. I just think they are so cool and unique.
Okay, I know you’re fading fast, but I have to show you one more picture of something I got on Friday:
This thing is huge, about 18 inches tall. He was seventy-five cents! He’s cool, right? I’m not just imagining it?
Okay, I’ve probably taken up more than my share of your bandwith with all of these pictures. Hope your weekend was as fruitful as mine was!
by Lara Jo
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