Thrifty Finds

I’m not sure if Rhoda will be doing her weekly Thrifty Monday Party since she is on vacation, but I thought I would share my finds anyway.  I was only able to visit one Estate Sale back before Labor Day, and I found a couple good deals.

I thought the frame ($1) was a great size and shape to do something with, perhaps another jewelry display?

For $2.00, I couldn’t pass up the metal mirror.  It’s already a cool color, but I may change it.  Such a pretty scroll design. My mom ended up going back and picking up one other frame for me.  It needs some work (bye bye Mr. Fish!) but it’s got good bones:

I was browsing the clearance section at Michael’s last week and found this wooden “W” for $.99.   I thought it would look pretty painted black and gold-leafed sitting in our living room bookcase.

I’ll be working this week to get out my fall decor, and of course trying to learn how to use my new embroidery machine, so stay tuned for new posts!

The World’s Longest Yard Sale

Unfortunately I didn’t get to do any thrifty shopping this week; instead I just worked on transforming some of my previous thrifty finds. I wish I were lucky enough to live near the route of the World’s Longest Yard Sale, which was held this past weekend. I don’t think I would have flown out or made a special trip to just attend the event, like this person did last year, but it sure would have been fun to stop by if I lived close by.

Have you visited Susie, Layla or Rhoda today? Be sure and head over there and check out some of their finds from this great sale. Their photos reminded me about the trip my mom and I made to Canton Trade Days earlier this year. Which, in turn reminded me that I never posted photos of any of my finds!

So I do have some thrifty treasures to share after all. Here is a beautiful purple cut glass bowl I got for $6 I think:

Read more about purple glass here and here. Another look at it filled it with roses for a Mother’s Day centerpiece:

I also found this cute little wine glass (or sherry glass?) for 50 cents and couldn’t pass it up since it is etched with our initial, plus I love the little ball stem:

I bought about 6 of these tin ceiling tiles for $1 each, this one I have painted a fleur de lis on and embellished with rhinestones:

Believe me, I bought plenty more stuff, but these were my favorites.

Just for fun, here’s a little something Rhoda and the girls didn’t take home with them, although for the life of me I can’t imagine why!

Garage Sale Madness!

It seems that my mom & I have held a garage sale at least once a year for the past 5 years....between her remodeling, my dad downsizing his office, and just the general accumulation of junk, there is always a need to have one! So that is just what we did this weekend, and the turnout was pretty good. Although, she didn't get rid of some big ticket items that she was hoping to.....those items are now bound for Craig's List!

I also set up an Embellished Bayou table with my tins and frames and actually sold one to my mom's neighbor! I had several lookers and some positive comments, but most people were just bargain hunting.

Here's a peek at some of the beautiful merchandise we had for sale:

Too bad I didn't get any photos of my mom and I stylin' in our fanny packs!

The Nesting Place recently posted her tips for a successful yard sale (both as a buyer and a seller). Since we have organized a ton of garage sales in the past, we pretty much have our routine down, but her tips are helpful for both garage sale novices and pros alike.

Here are some of my own garage sale observations:

• It never ceases to amaze me what people will buy at a garage sale! Something that is totally worthless to you has a totally different purpose in someone else's eyes.
• Things that I thought would never sell were the first things to go (25 cent worn-out orange dishtowels, anyone??). And then things that I thought would sell right off the bat are still hanging around.
• I think it's so funny that we have "regulars" at our garage sales. We recognize these people and can remember if they were big spenders or annoying talkers.

Overall, our sale was pretty successful. Even though having a garage sale is a lot of work, it's usually worth it in the end, if not for the money, purely for the entertainment value of people-watching!