Too Many To Do

This weekend there were lots of sales in our area. Lots of streets, lots of neighborhoods, lots of churches. We started at Dunkin Donuts to fuel up. We almost always start there. A little sugar, a little caffeine and we are ready to hit the open road.

In attendance: The husband, HB, Alicia, Sarah Mae and Me.

This is a picture from one of the church sales. I think it might be the exit, what do you think?

Just so you know where we're heading with this I'll give you a sneak peek at our haul:


And we had five humans in that car! For hours. In case you weren't aware, this is what is known as hard core. We are the few, the elite, the yard salers.

Alicia got a new backpack for scooting (when she rides her pretty red scooter) that is from the 80's and has the colors of the rainbow printed on it. It also has the original tag and a set of original mini colored pencils. So you can practice the colors on your own. Educational. $2. She also got an Amerks tote to bring to work with her. She loves those Rochester Americans. Can we just talk about what a rotten team name that is? "The Americans". Although on second thought I'm sure it would inspire tons of fear and loathing the world around, so maybe they are on to something there. Imagine if there was a team called "The Mexicans" or "The Spaniards". Not real nice. That was about a quarter as was the little hand towel with the reindeer on it. It's for Christmas time at her new house what she's going to get. I love that one of the first things she's planning for is Christmas. That's my girl.

The bulldog door stopper was $2 and the colossal and gorgeous vintage jewelry box was only $5.

HB got a ton of stuff. But, she didn't win the most or the biggest. She did get another ceramic tree (it does have plastic lights, not pictured) and this one is blue and was $5. A vintage Christmas light cover for a quarter, vintage scarfs for herself and for her Etsy shop (a quarter each), a mug for her mother who is an avid sewer, that says "Stitch-n-Bitch", some pounded pewter cups to use as vases (10 cents each) and a pair of earrings. They are hands with the middle finger sticking up. So sweet. So cute. What a perfectly appropriate subject for dangle earrings! We have a friend who will think so! (at least they were only a quarter)

The wire stand is what I thought (hoped?) would win "the biggest". I think it cost her $2 and was winning for quite a while. It has two baskets in it and she will probably use it outside to put flowers in. After a good coat of crazy bright spray paint. She has a collection of dramatic ship images: paintings, books and now, tins! The parrot clip on was a quarter or something. She loves birds, too. Especially ones that clip on. The large green glass ornament is Alicia's and cost a quarter at one of the church sales.

Here we have the winner of "The Most". You might think by these pictures that she must have won "The Biggest" as well. But, no so! All of the crazy hats are for her Etsy shop. They were about $1 each. I'm sorry to tell you that we planned a picture where we were each wearing a hat, and it was good. I was wearing the Q-Tip hat, second from the right. The yellow one seems to be made from genuine Muppet skin, and you know how I feel about that. The husband was even wearing one...the leopard skin hat. So, you can imagine the delight we had prepared for you. We even went so far as to ask a random lady in a church parking lot to take the picture. Then we even believed her when she said she wanted to "take two, just in case". She shut the camera off, instead. No picture. Sorry kids. You'll just have to use your ample imaginations, I guess.


The Bert and Ernie picture frame is vintage, adorable and was $1. The two leather purses were $1 each and the vinyl on with the ship was like 50 cents or something ridiculous. I told her that some hipster chick is going to love the shit (ship?) out of that one. There is a white metal tin with a rainbow graphic on it hiding back there. It's from the 80's. I used to have one just like it and I kept my crayons in it. Can you imagine the delight? The vintage Ray Ban mirror was $3 and she likes it so much she just might keep it. As for the nightmare rabbit...we'll get to that in a minute.

The cabinet was meant to house a record player...we think. There are holes in the back to that effect. We saw it at a church sale and sort of looked at it for a minute and then decided it was too much for the shape it was in. At checkout the guy from the furniture shed found us and asked if we'd take it away for like $2, Sarah Mae said she'd give him $1 and that was that. It's made of real wood and has nice brass feet. It's right up Sarah Mae's mid century modern alley. She loves tapered legs and clean lines. If you've ever seen the movie The Incredibles then you've seen Sarah Mae's dream house. She'd love to live in an atomic ranch built in the 50's.


So then, back to this...thing. I have a theory about toys from the 20's-50's. There is a very large time period where toys seem to be built for the express function of terrifying children to their little souls. Case in point. This fuzzy pink nightmare has a human face. It also plays music. Demon music rabbit. I think drinking was the national pastime during those years and it shows. What child is going to like this? What child is going to want to see this sticking out of his/her easter basket? No child, that's who. It's worse than Ralphie's pink rabbit pajamas.

Finally. The winner of "The Biggest". (Get your minds out of the gutter! You guys are seriously filthy.) The husband bought the biggest and what will surly end up being the most profitable. A Bridgestone bicycle from the early 90's. Originally marked $30. He waited until the end of the sale and went back to see if they would take less. Turns out they would. The grand total was $5. FIVE DOLLARS. That's no joke! Look at him all suave trying to control his bursting pride. Hopefully he really ends up selling it and doesn't add it to the menagerie of bikes that seem to be multiplying of their own volition on our porch. Hopefully he'll list it on Ebay and sell it really soon. Unlike the Doc Martins.

A few more shots for those of you who are interested in that sort of thing.

And here are my treasures. A free Encyclopedia from the 40's full of glorious pictures and illustrations. Another beer glass, this one from Dave & Busters which I thought was a made-up place from one of our favorite shows It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (50 cents) and what has got to be the world's ugliest Gonzo doll. I picked it up specifically to laugh at it. I thought there was no way it could be a licensed product. But, it was. Shame on you Disney! Shame on you Henson. You shouldn't sully your good names with sub-par character pieces like this! And what exactly is he wearing? A disco outfit? For the love of god man! But I bought it for a quarter because I'm a good collector. Or a sucker. One of the two. Geez. The thing is even wall-eyed. *shudder*


Then there's this little girl for a quarter. Vintage coy polka dot Christmas fiddle player. Flocked. Yes, please.


A few things for my Etsy page. Do you remember Nosey Bears? I didn't ever have one, but the popcorn one was my favorite! Better keep Lilah away from this little dude.


These things are both gifts. If you know much about me, you know I love Newsies. My friends love Newsies. We sing it, watch it and pretty much bond over it every chance we get. The gloves are for a friend that collects...gloves. I'm not sure that she has a pair of magenta in her stash of over 100 pairs.


This is my favorite find of the day. The fox lamp. I got it for a friend of mine but had she not wanted it, I wouldn't have walked away from this guy. I mean, just look at his little face! It reminds me of Fantastic Mr. Fox. A book I fell in love with many years before the movie came out. I love the movie, too.

The shade is a bit messed up, but...

I refer you back to this mug. Are you gonna say no to it? And at $5, it was a steal!