Sale-ing Away

I went to a Garage Sale on Saturday (last week!)

It was the first in months and months.

 I used to go every Saturday, rain or shine in the bad old days..

It's like falling off a log though, only more fun!

 So here is a little photo essay:

GARAGE SALE-ING in my town!

Friday night - the Garage Sale listings are in our local rag. (Waikato Times)3 columns is about all there is most weeks at the moment - it will pick up at the peak times. In a city like Hamilton you can easily do them all if you are focussed!

I just do the jumble style fundraiser ones.
The one I have circled is my favourite - it's a regular gig for the Cats' Protection League and it's very local to where we live..

7am - NO KIDS are up! That's miraculous!
Utterly glorious Spring day.

Bowl of Bircher. The Breakfast of Garage Sale champions.
I had got all my gear ready the night before, just in case I had all the kids to get breakfasted before I go..

Driving. I only have to turn 2 corners. I could walk - but that is NOT a good idea for the amount of stuff I plan to get!!

The well worn sign!

Photo on the left is looking in before it opened. The 'Cat LAdy' is ALWAYS late, so we just hover outside, catching up with the regulars!

Then we dig in! 

JUNK IN THE TRUNK!
These jumbles are particularly 'grungy' ie you really have to rummage and it's not neat and tidy. Just how I like them! But the Cat Lady and her sidekick are SO generous with their pricing, it's ridiculous.
She charged me $5 for one box and $7 for the other. I rounded it up because I got SO MUCH stuff! And they are really lovely and dedicated women.

I couldn't photograph it all in one hit.. so here are a few photos of some of what was in the boxes...
* The cake topper at the top is very old and ceramic
* Retro party ware - how much is enough??!!
* tray

There were SO many books! THis is some of the ones I got..

* magazine rack
* lightweight foldy-uppy shopping bag. 
* leis - for a couple of impending crafty projects..
*  kitsch ship wall thing.. Gold!!
* pencil holder - I LOVE these. For one of the boys' desks.

Also got quite a few coveted toys and other kids things.. 

At risk of boring you all, I might photograph the other things and add them to other posts at some stage..


How does garage sale-ing go in your town?! I'd love to hear about how it works in other towns, and countries!!! Tell us all about it!

Happy Days!

School Holidays again - YAY!!!
Love it!

Thank you for all the lovely comments lately. 

Lots of questions I haven't got to answering sorry - maybe I'll do a question post thing soon - I WISh I had the reply function!! I'm a techno der-brain.
x

Wardrobe Wednesday

Hands up who desperately needs a hair cut!

"WTF is wrong with this exposure thing on this self timery thingy?"

"That's better. Thank you Mr Picmonkey. Now y'all can see my really happy looking face more clearly."

Dress: op shop 
Cardy: op shop
baby: Stylist's own


Linking up to
CreateHopeInspire

My Hunting Style

When going to op shops and garage sales/jumble sales there are certain things that I NEVER pass by without at least having a gawk. And there are areas that I check out without fail...

I am quite selective these days (though not minimalist by any stretch! More is more!) believe it or not. 

And if something stands out and I like it - and the price is right - I buy it! (well that's not rocket science!)

In no particular order:

1. Anything orange! It's easy to spot from afar - and I OFTEN like it!!

2. I always have an eye out for old linen.. These are our pillow cases - (coz lots is NEVER enough, right?!)  We are linen snobs - no polyester mixes for us!!!

3. Anything Crochet.. I've said it before - I REALLY need to learn to do it myself!

4. Any pattern like this! On a rack of clothes I can scan and spot a pattern I like a mile off! And if it's there I'll find it!!

In fact, I don't usually hunt for clothes unless I'm on a specific clothes mission.
I find that if there's something in the shop for me it will present itself to me. And like I say, I can usually spot it amidst the other stuff on the racks.
Weird but true!

5. Canisters and tins. I like kitsch and colourful ones. Obviously. 

6. I always look in a crockery section - in case I see something I like.. like Crown Lynn which we LOVE round here. 

7. Wool blankets. If they're cheap enough. We have great piles of them on the beds in winter. 

8. FABRIC piles always need a rummage through in case I find something that I like. 

And one day I might even find time to do something with it!

9. Outdoor kitsch stuff. For sitting on or sitting under. Very Summer in the kiwi backyard!


What's your hunting style? 

I went  on a garage sale mission this morning. The first in MONTHS. And I took a few photos. Which will be the next post..

Weather is SUPREME right now.

I love SPRING.

Happy Days!

Thanks for all the lovely comments lately - I wish like mad I had a reply function ability thing on the comments form - then I could, well, reply! 
I have a lot of commenting to get done myself - I will I will I will!!

Pink Cardigan

Whilst trying to get everyone  organised this morning I got these photos.

Arlo is trying to tell y'all about how crazytown it is at our place from 6-9am every day, plus at a lot of other times too!! That's why these are photos, not videos!!

I'm sure we could have smiled in this photo. It's a serious business all this photo snappery!

pink cardy - jumble sale many moons ago
dress - Te Kuiti op shop last Summer. 50c. 

Recent Bang for my Buck? A few things..

Somebody asked me today what my best finds have been during my op-shopping/garage sale-ing career!. This is a VERY tricky question!

So many good scores, so many 'fill-a-bag-for $2' fabulousnesses, so many 50c items.. so many glorious things!
I am a bit of a cheap skate actually, even for op shop standards. Because I started thrifting so long ago, I used to get so much bang for my buck that I now expect it!

Anyway - in what I like to call 'The Glory Days' of op-shopping (20 years ago) LOADS of brilliant things were 10c, 20c, 50c etc.
It would be rare to pay $5 for something. My $10 pram (bought when I was 16!) was exorbitant and I had to think about it for about an hour! No-one else wanted it so I was under no pressure - LOL!
 

SO I thought about it..
in terms of what could be resold for a huge profit at the moment. Not that I will!
I walked around the house and photo'ed what I think are good 'scores' for what I paid for them.. I'm talking about recent finds.

This bevelled picture mirror was $2 and in SUPREME nick. about 2 or 3 years ago. It's heavy and huge.

This was from the Ham East Hospice shop, before it had a major makeover. I  rarely go in there now. Genuine Crown Lynn and very collectable/desireable here in NZ.

I LOVE this.. it is genuine Marimekko and cost 50c!! It is over a metre wide, and was already mounted! That was from one of my fav op shops.


If only I'd taken photos of all the op shop booty/junk-in-my-trunk back then!! I would take $20 out on a mission and end up usually with at least half of that left over!!!

Quite a lot of it will appear in my ongoing 'Collection' posts - when I get around to doing some more!!

End of lecture!

What have been your best bang for buck stories?

Spring Day and a couple of scores..

It was a classic rainy SPRING day yesterday..
So we went to Clandon Daffodils on the outskirts of Hamilton..

We went before the rain came - JUST!

The kids played hide and seek for ages. Great to get them out  to shake their sillies out.. coz there's a lot of inside weather coming up..

Here's me carrying baby + everyone's jackets. 

Iris found a purple tulip on the ground - she clutched  it most of the day.

Tip toeing through the tulips..

And in other news...

After my thrilling root canal on Friday I popped into my fav oppie.. (it's right by my dentist)

Delightful curtain. Quite big. $2

This was 50c.
I LOVE it!!!
Little baskets that you can make up.
You pop them out of the card.
They look pretty old.
Dunno what I'll do with them.
Other than gawk at them every now and then!


I have a lot of questions to get to - sorry.. I will asap!!

Happy Days!