Time For A Change

This is some of what's decorating my dining room these days (and a lot of days in the past too).  I think it's time to make some changes...maybe some brighter colors, maybe a simpler look.  I'm not real sure about what kind of changes, but I don't want to spend any much money!  Time to shop my basement...and maybe a thrift store or yard sale too!

Stay tuned.....

The Yard Sale

Well the yard sale is a thing of the past. Now if only all the aches and

pains associated with it would go away.

Here's a glimpse at our weekend.

 

My living room...the stuff runs into the kitchen and dining room too!

 

You have to have a little fun. (photo from Katie's Instagram)

 

There's a lot of scrapbook supplies in these boxes....a lot!

Yes, we had departments...including five tables of housewares.

Our (almost) bright-eyed and bushy-tailed vendor.

Home Decor

 

Christmas....and a little bit of Halloween.

There he is...and someone did find the sticker!

Linens and toys.

Everything was in very good condition...some stuff was brand new.

The Media Department.

Lots of clothing.

Electronics

Furniture and miscellaneous stuff.

Mark's Star Wars and sporting goods area.

Sadly, no one wanted the S'mores maker.  It ended up at Goodwill.

Here we go!

Scrapbook supplies were a hit!

Charlotte's friend helped her at the snack stand.

The bin next to Mark (and Lulu) was full of free stuff...strategically placed next to the snack stand!

 

What a day!!!





Everybody made some extra money...including our cute, little snack stand girls!  We got rid of a lot of stuff, Goodwill got plenty of boxes and bags and our homes are a little bit emptier. 

Especially my living room!

 

 



A Little Creating

Our yard sale is a week from Saturday. We've sorted through everything

and now I just need to stick some price tags on all of it. 

I plan on doing that this coming weekend. 

In between sorting I managed to fit in a little bit of creating.

 

 

I finally finished the pincushions I started weeks ago. 

I made five of the little goblet style and I also made one using a very

cute little aluminum pot.  I think it's my favorite!

 

 

These rocks from my yard are now fun photo holders.

I was inspired by one I saw in Pennsylvania ~ I've also seen them on Pinterest. 
Here's one incorporating a clothespin.
 

 

These Scripture Stones were fun to make...I'm hoping to

make a lot more of these!

Guess what?  There are only 90 days until Christmas ~ and way less

than that many to my first arts & crafts show!

Once our yard sale is history ~ I need to get busy making things!! 

How about you?

What are you busy with these days?

 

 

 

 

Thrifty Treasures

 

Visiting thrift stores and antique shops is one of my favorite things to do. 

Here's a peek at some of my recent purchases.

 

An old Gin bottle. It's 9 inches tall and GIN is stamped in
gold on one side.  This piece will get cleaned up and
displayed somewhere in my home.

Old spools of thread, and a tin pot.  The spools are displayed in my
craft room, and the little pot is sitting in my "make something
with this" pile. 

Two silver trays, and two medicine bottles.  The bottles are on display in my craft room,
and the trays are in that pile I mentioned up above.

Very old baby shoes, and a strawberry coin purse.  The baby shoes might become pincushions. 
I love the beading on the coin purse...it looks sweet tucked into one of my cubbies. 



A Weather Owl. The eyes are suppose to predict the weather. 
Pink - foul weather. Blue - fine weather. Purple - changing weather.
Looks like we're stuck on foul for now.  Into a cubby he goes!

Tiny painting.  This is just about the actual size. 
I really like the frame.

 

Do you enjoy thrift stores, yard sales, and antique shops? 

I think it's so relaxing to poke around in other people's cast-offs.

 

My family is getting ready for another yard sale.  I've been cleaning out cupboards & closets, Joe, Jo, Kevin & Jacqi have been piling bins & stuff in my garage for a few months.  Katie & Mark are gathering "merchandise" together at their home, and Mandy...well she just wonders where all this junk comes from!

Our sale is scheduled for the first Saturday in October...there is a lot of work to do!!  So if I'm not here...it's because I'm organizing, sorting, and pricing all the "treasures" we'll have for sale!

 

After all, I have to make some room for new treasures....right?!

 

 

 



Yard Sale

 We had a great yard sale again this year.
A nice chunk of money made and a whole lot of stuff gotten rid of!

Here's a little slide show of photos to give you an idea of what went on.

"Picnik Show"

As you saw in the photos we gave out bottled water to anyone making a purchase.  We also gave them a little flyer inviting them back after 1:00 PM.  Everything left then was given away .... for free!  All we had to clean up were the empty tables and a couple small boxes that my husband took to Goodwill after the sale.

A job well done.  One that I'm really glad to be able to cross off my list!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

So much to do....So little time!

Tomorrow is my yard sale.....my living room looks like dozens of totes exploded everywhere!  But there is an end in sight!

I'll show photos of the yard sale next week...it's sure to be fun!

Here's a peek at last year's sale.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Random Monday Memories

When I lived in Wisconsin I used to go to a lot of yard sales. My children were little and it was one of their favorite things to do.  Most of the items I bought were for them...clothes, toys and books.  Every now and again I would find a treasure just for me.  A treasure like these pitchers.  I found these at a neighborhood yard sale during the late 1980s.  I paid $5.00 for the 5 inch pitcher and $6.00 for the 6 inch one.  "One dollar an inch"  the man at the yard sale said.  According to an antiques dealer that I showed them too about ten years ago they were made in the late 18th century...that makes them well over 100 years old.  Each one has a tiny chip near the spout...otherwise they're in excellent shape!  I'm just over half their age.  I wish I could claim the same!!

I know very little about these pitchers ~ I haven't been able to find much at all on the internet.  They might be from Robinson Ransbottom Pottery.  This website shows pictures of pitchers almost identical to these.  It suggests they might be Roseville pottery.  But it doesn't matter what they are because I love them  exactly as they are.....nameless!   

Of course if anyone out in blogland knows anything about them, I'd be happy to hear from you!

Yard Sale ~ Just A Memory

The yard sale is over.  It was so much work fun!  Katie and Mark were on the road by 6:00 AM Saturday (Charlotte spent the night with me, so they wouldn't have to wake her up).  They hung the all important signs and picked up ice for the (very popular) "free bottle of water with purchase".   Everything was sorted out into boxes and baskets Friday night. That made it so much easier to set up the yard sale Saturday morning.  Here's a look at some of my front yard.

We set up in "departments" and the final product looked like an outdoor thrift store.

Below is a peek at part of the toy department and baby items. 

This is the scrapbooking department.  We sold every piece of paper, sheet of stickers, album, etc. There were tons of great bargains here!

There was a lot of clothing for men and women to choose from ~ and shoes and handbags too!

Here's our electronics and multi-media area. The "table" is made out of tubs and the gate from my old fence.  We replaced the fence last summer and I wanted to use the gate in part of my garden.  Obviously I haven't yet ~ but it sure came handy for the yard sale!

There were A LOT of baby clothes ~ A LOT!  Between Nana in England, Gramma (me), Aunt Mandy, her Momma and others, Charlotte accumulated so many wonderful outfits during her first two years.  We had three pregnant women at the yard sale ~ all of them were having baby girls. Lucky them!!  Charlotte wore the  "flower power" dress during last year's yard sale.

Here's the household and (way in the back) holiday departments. There are a few things here that I had a hard time parting with BUT I have no room for them....so I took photos of them to save. Great way to hang onto a memory.

Here's Katie getting ready for the first customers ~ and there were a bunch of them.  I was way too busy to take photos during the sale.  See the fan?  It wasn't for sale. It was so hot out ~ we needed a little air circulation!

Mark has a large collection of Star Wars that he purchased while he was in college.  Now that he and Katie are getting their house ready to sell he decided it was a perfect time to sell some of it.  He sold about 25% of what you see here and will try again this fall (yes, there will be a fall yard sale).

Here's a look at my front yard after the sale!  Pretty incredible don't you think!  We made almost $600.00!! (We're not thinking about how much it cost to stock our inventory though).  Yes, the sale was a huge amount of work ~ but it was fun and it sure was nice seeing all the empty spaces inside our homes.

P.S. That's my father-in-law standing in the doorway.  He was pretty amazed at the amount of shoppers we had.  He made us park his car in our back driveway. He didn't want anyone trying to sell it!