Whoo Hoo Friday

Whoo hoo Friday! That's what I like to call the last Friday of the month, four-times a year, when these two blond's favorite retirement community has their sale. It's a charitable event to raise money for members of the retirement community who have run out of funds - so its also not a bad place to spend your money either.

This last sale on Friday did not disappoint. I don't know what it is about this particular community that makes it so great to pick at, maybe its that the residents there that donate their cast-offs for the fund raiser were all furnishing their homes in the same era that I like to buy (50's, 60's and 70's)...and they all had really good taste!

Here is my absolute favorite thing I found, and one of the first things I spotted. A vintage chenille bedspread in near perfect condition. Gorgeous. I'm actually having some trouble putting it up for sale!


Linda and her mom, Lee, introduced me to this wonderful quarterly event and I will be forever grateful, it's a pickers dream. Which is also why it has gotten progressively more crowded each time we've gone. It is at a point where you need to get there almost an hour before to get in line, and then be prepared to just about run to the area you have the most interest in - I usually go for the craft table first because I have a thing for sewing boxes, and then I head for the linens table, where I found the chenille spread.

This is a cute green pot from the 60's I snagged in the housewares area.


This event has gotten to be such a madhouse that Linda, Lee and I devised a plan to most effectively survive, and even enjoy, the day. We got there a half-hour before they opened the doors so we could be in the first wave, and then brought our armloads of purchases out to the car where we snacked on sandwiches and donuts we'd brought to fortify ourselves. After a half-hour sanity break, we headed back in and found the crowds had died down somewhat and we could poke around at a more leisurely pace.

Good day. Whoo hoo!

Half Off

I love Wednesday. Used to not be my favorite, middle of the week, weekend still days off...but now I know better. Now I know its half-off at one of my favorite Thrift Stores. Yay.

There wasn't a hidden Picasso in the painting section or signed copy of the Declaration tucked between the pages of an old book, but I did find a few interesting things. Linda did too. And combined we spent $10, so neither of us felt like we overspent (which can happen).

My favorite thing I found today was this great old Rolodex - I don't know why, just looks so cool. I know, I know, that's what a Blackberry's for, but what can I say, I'm a simple girl and I like to spin it around.

The weirdest thing I found today was a cross between a picture and a sculpture, basically a clay figure of a peasant boy walking a poodle (a little strange) standing in a landscape painting...

Wimp

Today was another Tuesday at Wehrly's Auction and I met my Aunt Joan and Uncle Dennis for an hour of eating homemade ham and bean soup and poking through all the stuff up for bid.

The soup and company were great, and I had a blast helping Joan, an artist, look for interesting things for her art work...see the picture below of a collection of dolls parts that prompted Joan to take out her camera - and the other auction goers to stare at the two crazy ladies laughing and taking pictures of broken dolls.

I also had fun looking for something a little unusual to put here on the blog...please see the very scared looking Easter Bunny picture below. Why so scared, Easter Bunny?
















But even though I found some cool things I would have liked to bid on, I didn't register for a number so I could participate in the auction. I could use the excuse that I was pressed for time and had to run Joan and Dennis home, but I really just wimped out.

There is something intimidating about the whole process and I want to observe how it all works one more time before I jump in and start waving my number around...and if that makes me a wimp, than so be it.

Next time I write about the auction I swear I will be showing you a picture of something I bought there...even if its something really silly, I'm going to bid!

Chance Often Better Than a Plan

Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings I am a master strategist with the paper, craigslist and yardsale.com print outs spread out on the table. Three types of highlighters at my fingertips for circling different ads, one color for each day.

But for all my planning and strategizing, life often steps in to make it all irrelevant. This week it was my oldest son who had to go to the orthodontist on a Friday morning...Friday!...but it was OK, I had a plan for when he was done, I could just make it to York to a moving sale after I dropped him at school. And then he informed me he forgot his cafeteria money on the kitchen table, we had to go back home before school. OK, so I'll try to get to another sale a little later. We're almost at school...he forgot a paper for English class, we have to go back home again...ahhh!

But because of this, I ended up going through town a different way and came across a yard sale that hadn't been advertised. They were just setting up and we were one of the first people there, and there was some very cool stuff. One of the things was an old heavy metal "Ladies" Room sign from a garage - that sold in 2 hours after I put it on my etsy site, and paid for all the rest of the shopping I did all weekend. Yeah for forgotten papers!


This isn't the first time something like this has happened and I am starting to notice that if I just relax and let life take me where it wants to instead of trying to plan it to death, I end up exactly where I need to be.

The Jewelry Side

I've mostly talked about the side of my shop that is about finding and selling vintage items, but there is another side I've neglected here, the jewelry side. Most of it I make using bits of illustrations from old children's books that are damaged beyond viability.

I make jewelry from either altering vintage pieces I find at yard sales and thrift shops, usually they have a plastic cabochon that's scratched or tired, I pop it out and replace it with a glass or resin cabochon that I've adhered a piece of an illustration.

Sometimes I buy findings from some of the fabulous suppliers here on etsy, like bracelets, necklaces or rings, and create jewelry that way with the old pictures.
These are some of the old books I work with - only books that are completely beyond-repair and one step away from the trash (sometimes already there).

And above them are some of the findings waiting for me to put illustrations in them.

Nothing at the Thrift Stores Today

Today I dragged my friend Kim around to every Thrift store I know because I was just sure that there was a treasure waiting for me in one of them, I could feel it...nada.
Although she ended up buying rolls of Christmas wrapping paper, books and movies, she was thrilled.

Me, not so much.

I did, however, spot another unusual item - or should I say, three...


These are three fuzzy ball type things with faces and pipe-cleaner arms and legs. It's the gloves and boots that really make them.

A Little Bit of Strange

Today was a bookkeeping and home cleaning day, so I didn't get out in the world to search for cool stuff, but I do have a picture of a shelf from the last time I was at a Salvation Army near Baltimore and I thought I'd share that today. Haven't shown anything too weird lately, this ought to fix that...


Anyone looking for Lassie head book ends? Doll in the middle is a little freaky too.

Wandering with Will

My youngest son Will asked to come out yard sale-ing with me Saturday morning, so we woke up at 6:45 on a Saturday which is no small feat for him -- see pictures of him on the blog about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure morning, can you say zombie?

This summer both my sons came out yard sale-ing with me several times and if they find and buy something with their own money, I put it in the etsy.com shop for them and give them the money if it sells. They have both done pretty well and Will still holds the record for fastest thing we've ever sold on-line...silver owl-shaped salt and pepper shakers, sold in 5-hours.

Here is Will with his haul for the day.
Now that my kids are both teenagers, I really do cherish time that I get to spend with them one-on-one, especially when he asks me. We have fun together poking through things, enjoying the beautiful fall morning in some of the most rural parts of York County and meeting some interesting people...in short, sharing experiences together. I am all too aware, as I watch his eyes getting closer and closer to my own - seemingly overnight -- that his childhood is wizzing by at a dizzying rate, so if junking together is something we can share, than its another reason I'm happy to do it.
My favorite find for the day is a stool made from the wood of an antique milking stool and then altered sometime in the 60's with three metal legs.

Will's favorite was this toy tin top. Now its a race to see which one sells first!

My Style Article

I'm so psyched, My Style.com (In Style magazine's webazine) did an article on using brooches to brighten up your wardrobe and talked about my etsy shop and quoted me. If you click on my name in the article it is linked to my etsy shop.

Here's the link (to cut and paste in browser)...

http://www.mystyle.com/mystyle/b6014_ask_style_how_make_brooch_modern.html

Or click on link to the right...

Morning in Maryland with Mary

This morning Linda and I found ourselves driving to Maryland through gorgeous fall light shining on hills, countryside, farm houses, barns and horses...really, it was like driving through a Thomas Kincaid painting...until we spotted the cardboard sign with "Yard Sale" on it we were looking for.

We were directed to a garage by a gray haired woman with a broad grin and deep wrinkles standing at the end of the driveway, she was still putting up a sign. Linda and I both looked at each other and decided we already liked her, then we got out of the Suburban and met Mary, and knew we'd been right.We followed her to the garage where she hit a button and the doors went up to display tables of housewares and a clothesline with sweaters, housecoats and dresses hanging from it. As we poked around her belongings Mary told us how much she loved yard saleing herself and pointed out Avon jewelry she thought we might like.

Then, as I made a small pile of items, she pointed to an empty "Stay Free Panty Liner" box and said, "I'll give you that to put your stuff in, can't give it to a man or he might freak out." We had a good laugh at that and then she told us how she remembered when panty liners first came out with the adhesive strip instead of the belts and that she wasn't sure which way they stuck, up or down...more laughter.

Once we'd both spent our dollar and listened to a few more of Mary's stories, Linda and I climbed back into the Suburban. Mary waved to us and wished us a great day.

We were off to a good start.

The Stories

I didn't expect when I started selling vintage things on etsy.com that I would enjoy the stories and backgrounds about the items so much. Here's a couple of them...

A woman from New Jersey wrote me a really nice note about how happy she was to find this squirrel cookie jar for her sister. It's the exact kind her sister had in her kitchen in the 70's, she loved it and it broke, and she could never find another to replace it...until now. I think the buyer is going to sneak it on her sister's counter when she's not looking and surprise her.

This vintage child's chair/ stool was bought by a woman who had an aging dog and wanted something cute for the end of their bed to help the dog get up...and her husband's name is Thomas, how perfect is that.


A woman in Finland saw this sewing box in my shop and fell in love with it so much, that she paid over twice for shipping than what she paid for the actual box. I was worried when she got it that she would regret her decision, but she wrote me a very nice note and said she couldn't be happier.

I get such a kick out of the fact that all these things were basically forgotten in someone's attic or garage only a very short while - sometimes only hours or days -- before someone else saw them on etsy and were thrilled to find them.
I feel like Match.com for stuff.

The Giant Hole in the Floor

Today both my Aunt Joan and I had appointments in Lancaster County. Joan had told me about a warehouse she'd been to in that area a few months earlier that was filled with crates of stuff... good stuff, crappy stuff, all kinds of stuff. So of course, we had to go.

This is how I found myself in an old brick warehouse with a giant hole in the floor. It was a staggering amount of stuff, almost hard to believe. The picture of it is above, and I doubt it does it justice (click on it to make it bigger and really look). The entire basement of this huge building is filled with these crates, all owned by Mike, his picture is below.
Mike's parents owned a farm in Lancaster and their barn was filled with things they had collected over their long lives, and Mike had collected as well. Now, a large portion of this collection is stashed in the basement of this warehouse. Mike is converting it to a kind of flea market, where his items are for sale, and he rents space to other people to sell their antiques, as well. Mike is also a painter, entrepreneur, developer and frankly, a hoot.

There was another part of the building that had been semi-renovated and got my aunt's and my imaginations humming as we wandered around. This could be the next Torpedo Factory or Goggle Works (old factory buildings that were converted into artist studios and gallery space). We had plenty of ideas, just short on time, money, energy...but the ideas were flowing, and you never know, someday...
In the end we listened to Mike's stories, I bought an antique "All Detergent" bucket (see below), we gave the giant hole in the floor one last look and were on our way.
If this blog is to chronicle some interesting places and people I meet along the way in the pursuit of old things, this was a banner day.

Auction Day

For the last eleven-years, since I moved to south-eastern PA, one of my favorite things to do is go to a local auction house with my Aunt Joan. There is a small kitchen there and we usually get a bowl of soup or a sandwich, and then we walk around and poke through the tables stacked with pictures, boxes of pots and pans, costume jewelry - you name it, it's probably been through the auction house.

I love listening to the cadence of the auctioneer as he rattles on at a hundred-miles-an-hour, always scanning the room and upping the bid with each raise of a finger or nod of a head from the audience sitting in folding chairs in front of him. It's at these moments that I get completely paranoid that my nose is going to itch and I'll have to scratch it, and then the auctioneer will think I just bid on something - probably something really expensive or really horrible, or both.

Although I enjoy observing all this, I am a big chicken about making a bid myself. There is an entirely different language going on in that room, so while I like being on the outside taking it all in -- I'm actually intimidated as heck about jumping in myself.

But, now that the weather is turning colder and soon there won't be yard sales and church sales to plunder, I am going to have to put on my big girl panties (one of my husband's favorite expressions when he thinks I need to suck it up), grab my piece of paper with the number on it and raise my hand when something I want to bid on turns up. I just have to hope I understand the auctioneer enough to bid on the right thing and not pay three times what I thought.

So stay tuned, in a few weeks they will have another auction and I am determined to register for a number and pay complete attention to what the auctioneer is saying, and I will raise my hand high...or scratch my nose and end up with a $200 used-Flowbee, one or the other.

Nostalgia

Since I have embarked on this new adventure of finding old stuff, determining if I think this old stuff is something other people would like to buy...and then trying to sell it to them...I have been surprised at some of the things people want - a beat up Thermos, a cookie jar shaped like a mushroom, or green plastic spoon rest in the shape of an owl.

Some of the things people buy I remember wearing when in high school, or maybe its something my grandmother put her leftovers in, or a brooch my Aunt Mary wore. Things that at one time seemed old and dated. But now, they're appreciated all over again, many times because of the feelings they evoke, remembered feelings of home and childhood, and even a little innocence. Things that you want around you again to remind you of when life was a bit more simple, grounded. Even things that just made you laugh. I love that my job now is to find these pieces of the past that make us smile, or feel pretty, or just look super cool in our renovated ranch houses.

This all became clearer to me this weekend when I returned to the far off and mystical land of my birth - New Jersey -- to be surrounded by the people of my youth - my family, in all its messy, loud, wonderfulness. I treasure these times more than all the vintage thermos, spoon rests and beaded brooches in this great big world.

So, as I like to put pictures here on the blog of either my "favorite" thing I discovered that day or the "strangest," I will give you both in one picture from this weekend... granddaddy playing with my nephew's Mind Flex game in full headgear.
I wonder if thirty years from now someone will be on etsy.com trying to buy one of those old Mind Flex games, they'll remember when their grandfather put it on at a party and acted silly...

English Lace and Mid Century Ducks

This morning started a little more hectic than I would have liked. It involved my oldest son's ankle he'd hurt in the football game the night before and then rifling through my husband's dresser drawer to find a support bandage, and then being informed that we would not be having a rare quiet evening at home that night but that it was "band night" at the high school football game and we would need to attend - and oh, yeah, I need money for a sandwich.

They made the bus by the skin of their teeth and then I ran for the door, there was a barn sale starting in half and hour at a retirement community in Maryland. But I couldn't leave, I lost my keys...under the giant pile of clothes I had just dumped out of my husband's drawer looking for the ace bandage. I am not even making this up.

Twenty-minutes later than I wanted, Linda, her mom Lee and I finally made it to the sale, which was super crowded and a little overwhelming at first, there was a lot of stuff, everywhere. It took me a couple minutes to focus, but I finally got down to it and spotted the area of the room where the "craft supplies" had been piled up. At first I didn't see anything that caught my eye, then I noticed there were still boxes that hadn't been emptied under the table. Yay.

I immediately squatted down and sorted through a box and found an entire bolt (over 8 yards) of English black lace, beautiful. To make it even better, I found a note pinned to it from the man who'd donated it. It said his wife's family had sent the lace from Scotland over 20-years-ago, and now that she was gone, he hoped they would know what to do with it. There is a picture of the lace below and the note. It's gorgeous and I know someone on etsy.com will love it and know exactly what to do with it to create wonderful things.


Then I came across a great mid century modern wooden duck plaque. Trust me, even as I write this I know those words sounds silly to get excited about, but it appealed to me. And now I will put it on etsy.com and hope it will appeal to someone else, too.

Wandering

I drove the boys to school this morning because we all forgot to set our alarms and jumped out of bed a little late. We missed the cut-off for dropping off at school without being considered tardy, so I had to fill out a form in the school office. I stared for a few moments at the line on the form that asked "reason for being late"...um, we're just dumb and forgot to set our alarms, should I write that?

As soon as the boys were groggily on their way to homeroom, I jumped in the suburban and headed to Red Lion where I'd seen a "multi-family yard sale" advertised on Craig's List. A half-hour later, I pulled onto a narrow street and found three yard sales in a row. The first made me particularly happy because the woman who was having it was still taking boxes out of her shed and said I could look through them if I wanted before she set them out. I love getting to be the first one to dig through a box - sometimes I wonder at the things that make me happy.

Once I was done there I just couldn't seem to give up the hunt and wandered the countryside for another hour. I didn't find any more yard sales, but I certainly saw a whole lot of beautiful views on a sunny fall morning. I found myself (see below) in the tiny town of Muddy Creek Forks and had to stop and take a picture to share it was so pretty.

Trader Joe's and Salvation Army Combo Pack

Wednesday mornings are fast becoming one of my favorites in the week. There is a Trader Joe's only a mile away from a Salvation Army Thrift Store that has 1/2 off on Wednesdays...can you say multi-tasking?

Once we'd packed the Suburban with exotic cereal, organic potato chips and recycled toilet paper, Beth, Linda and I arrived at Salvation Army a few minutes before the doors opened. We got in line with about twenty other people to prepare for the great stampede. Once we'd been carried by the wave of people into the store, I can't say there was a huge amount to get excited about.

But, I did find one thing that made me smile and I will put in my etsy shop, a vintage metal record stand. Linda found a great jewelry box...and Beth tolerated our psychosis of sorting through junk.

The best thing about the Thrift shop was that I did find several things to post here as some of the "strangest things I've seen today" pics - credit really going to Beth and Linda who found the best ones.

Today, I bring you the most bizarre puppet I have, without a doubt, ever seen in my life...scares me a little.


Then when we were leaving, we saw something really beautiful - right in the middle of a city parking lot, a gorgeous hawk sitting on a pole. Amazing where you'll see some of the most beautiful things, if you only stop a moment to look.

Beginnings, Endings, Beginnings

I feel like finding vintage things for my etsy shop is part of a cycle. The things I hunt down were once new, treasured, then became "old" and unwanted, tucked away in the corner of the garage or attic, and then years later are taken out again to either have a little sticker with ".25" stuck to them or put in a box for Salvation Army. But then they are rediscovered, bought again by someone who treasures or collects that exact vintage thing-a-ma-bob.

On this rainy, gray Monday, I finished putting together a cover letter, synopsis and manuscript for a publisher. This is the last manuscript I finished and one of the last publishers I plan on approaching for awhile, so in some ways I'm feeling like I'm in a cycle myself. Putting aside what I have been pursuing for the last several years to explore new things, but I still have hope someday I'll rediscover my passion when the time is right.

So on my way home from the post office, I stopped at the local Goodwill just to poke around. In addition to finding some great old enameled refrigerator tins (just put them up in the etsy shop)I also found - I hesitate to say "strange thing" because I think it's great - not Monopoly, but...




The game was sealed so I couldn't peak in, but reading the side it looks like it was a fund raiser for a Temple in Baltimore.

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

For the first time in a long time I was up very, very early and it wasn't to either get my children off to school or driving to East Jabip to a yard sale. My family went to run (some of us to walk/jog) in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Hunt Valley, MD.

A very nice morning. My husband Mark and oldest son Evan completed the 3 miles in under a half-hour, which was their goal. And my youngest son Will was kind enough to hang with his old mom and do about 1/2 walking and 1/2 jogging to make it in a stellar 45-minutes.

I know I missed finding the "strangest thing I've seen today" picture yesterday, but I have one for today...my family up at 5:00AM on a Sunday morning.

There's an Estate in Glen Rock?

It's Saturday morning, which means one thing, time to fire up the van, make a to-go cup of coffee and hit the road. This morning both Linda and I had to drop off our sons with the Boy Scouts at 7:20AM. Once the boys were deposited with the right people, we raced back to the van and consulted the list of yard sales we'd compiled from the paper and Craig's List - which I, very shortly after, lost.

We were especially excited for the first sale because it was advertised as an "Estate Sale in Glen Rock." Wow. How fancy.

Actually, not so much. When we arrived at the advertised address, we were faced with a steep gravel drive with cavernous pot holes and a rusted tractor in the distance (see picture to the right). The van ground it's way up the drive and we ended up in a small home, although with some nice things, meeting two very pleasant women running it. I bought a vintage Christmas tablecloth and Linda found a neat old clock.

After bouncing back down the drive, we headed out in search of more sales - without the benefit of the list. As we kept our eyes out for yard sale signs, Linda and I chatted, mostly about our concerns that both our usually docile sons had a love for shooting, war-type games on the X-Box. How could two such peace loving moms allow it? We never did reach an answer, but we did stumble upon another really good yard sale.

Linda's favorite find for the day was an old child's size aluminum rocker folding chair (check it out on her site - link to the right - very cool).

My favorite buy is an antique toy tool set (see below).
Unfortunately, no super weird stuff today - I'll try to find some more next week.


Can't wait to see where we end up next.

Off Roading in Jacobus

Linda and I didn't really want to go off roading in my Suburban this morning, it just kind of happened. We were trying to follow some yard sale signs, stopped in the municipal parking lot to consult with my GPS, then drove straight on what we thought was an alley back to the main road, which continued to get narrower...until we were on a walking path.

My words were, "Why is this road getting so narrow?" Linda's were, "Oh, my God, we're in the middle of the park." I apologize to the old man we startled who was getting his mail near the area where we exited the field. He stood in the middle of the road staring after us. I tried not to make eye contact.

But, besides the off roading, I had a very nice morning in a beautiful church in York. I put a picture up to the right of the pathway we followed to the yard sale, a wonderful place to find yourself early on a Friday morning, and one of the reasons I seem to be addicted to this pursuit.

And so now for the strangest thing picture. This is a hand crocheted cover for a tissue box with a plastic face on the front, and although you can't see them in the picture, matching pot holders.