Tid Bits

The weather here is finally near perfect and we've been enjoying a whole mess of sales.  I haven't been getting that many things that aren't to resell on Etsy, but I do have a few gems to share.

Firstly, when I'm at a sale, I like things to be marked with prices.  I loathe when you have to ask someone how much something is because the skeptic in me thinks that when you admit to your interest in an item by asking the price, said price enevitably gets higher.  I always try to ask a general question like, "So how much is all this stuff, nothing is marked!"  It's almost always met with a "Well tell me what you are looking at and I'll tell you how much it is."  I hate this.  Most of the time I just walk away.  Sometimes you get really, really lucky and you get a set up like the on pictured below.

 

It does not get better than this, folks.  An oversized pad of paper on an easel with color coded pricing.  With notes!

Next on the agenda: An interesting house.  I went to an Estate sale about a month ago.  This house had lots of treasures in it but that isn't what really caught my fancy.  This house was interesting.  The kind of interesting that only comes from being owned by a really interesting person.  And by interesting, I mean super eccentric. 

See what I mean?  Mirrored wallpaper.  Mirrored!  What is this?  A porno flick?  Who has mirrored wallpaper?! And this paper is pristine.  Like it was put up yesterday.  And it's in the dining room, of all places!

Then there is the yellow faux bamboo furniture to match the mirrored plaid wallpaper.  Good god.  Can you imagine trying to eat in this place?

And to top it all off is the vivid green carpeting.  Like new!  Did they ever even step on it?  Amazing matching green love seats to match.  This place felt like a hidden garden, plush grass underfoot.

And who doesn't like making wee-wee in a olive and gold forest of bamboo?

I'm telling you, this place was the tops.  There was a second bedroom with mirrored wallpaper but I didn't take a picture.  It was done up in browns and looked like the lovechild of the 1920's and a James Bond set.  If I ever become an art director of a film I'm recreating these rooms because that shit is memorable.

Next on the random things list is a picture of my lap at Easter.  I love the inside of that purse.  It's just plain white vinyl on the outside with a tiny bow.

Lastly, I'd like to leave you with these guys.  I don't even know what to say about them, really.  They are the epitome of greatness.  They are about 6" tall and made out of flocked styrofoam.  I found them at a yard sale.  They were stuffed into a basket of other, newer, easter grass and plastic eggs.  The entire basket was going for $2.  I asked the lady if she would take $2 just for the pair of chicks.  There was this awkward and monumental moment where the lady looked at me like, "I can't BELIEVE this woman wants to pay me $2 for these hideous chickens!" and I looked at her like, "I can't BELIEVE this woman is going to let me have these adorable vintage chickens for $2!" In all honestly this set is probably worth at least $25.  As they say these days: Thay Shay Cray.

 

So, in summary:

I Spurn Unmarked Items

Don't Decorate Your House While On Drugs

Can't Have Enough Poka Dots

Ain't It J?

May Days

Another day, another yard sale.  

The last neighborhood sale in April turned up these treasures.  Black ballet flats with rainbow colored beads for 50 cents. (Yes, they were made for children.  I have small feet, ok?  I narrowly avoided the Dora the Explorer sneakers.)  An adorable drum major (see what they did there?) vintage Christmas ornament to round out the dollar.  

To know me is to know that I love my marching band days.  I played clarinet for a while but after an entire parade of honking out "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" it was time for a change.  I then became a majorette.  Twirler.  Fire baton. That's right, you heard me.  And yes, it was that awesome. 

Anyway.  I went to a church sale on my way home from work on Friday.  One of the last things that I spotted was this:

Yes, that's right.  Kermit soap.  Not just any Kermit soap, either.  Hallmark, "Sailor of Fortune" 31 year old Kermit soap in the original packaging.  To be exact.  One dollar.  I cannot tell you the amount of will power it took to "poker face" my way through this.  But I did it.  Because I'm just that good.  What a prize for the Muppet Room!  Just a quick fyi - you don't want to be using this soap, because ol' Kerm over there smells something terrible.  Rancid old lady smell.  I'm going to pretend that it would smell better if it weren't 31 years old.  Hopefully someone over at Hallmark had better sense than to make a child's soap smell like an old woman.

Also, side note: If you feel like a good cry please head over to Netflix and watch "Being Elmo".  It's the story of Kevin Clash, Elmo's puppeteer. I already knew the whole story and was not expecting it to be so emotional.  Very interesting for a Muppet fan, but a great story for anyone at all.

Then a church sale on Saturday turned up all these goodies.  Tiny little Hallmark and Russ treats for my shadowbox.  The larger house is actually a little box, the roof comes off.  I think that the dressy Jack-o-Lantern candles might be from as early as the 40's.  Each piece was a quarter.

Then there's these Christmas cuties. Tiny guys for 25 cents each.

Lastly we have a jewel eye kitten for my jewel eye friend, a little frog that was supposed to be in the Halloween picture (for that is where he will be displayed), a vintage flower pin that I'll make into a hair clip, Hallmark spring chick with cart and yes, that's right...more Disney pins to trade!  I'm now up to 8 pins! Watch out Disney (in like, two more years) because I'm coming to trade!!

So, in summary:

Pyro Marching Band Geek

Victory

A Million Tiny Pieces

 Great, Now I Can't Stop Thinking About Disney

Slow Start

Isn't this marvellous?  The picture is horrid, to be sure.  The Snug Bungalow is a dark place, alas, and I am not overly handy with a camera.  But you can still get the general wonderfulness of the poster, can't you?  My Friend Carla is an artist and she created this print by carving and printing.  I nagged her until she let me purchase a poster early then I promptly slapped it in a frame and stuck it on my wall above the fireplace.  It makes me happy every time I look at it.

 

In other amazing news: My lilac tree has a flower!!  It's not actually "out" yet, but I can see it, and it's real, and it's finally, finally happened!  After six or so years, the tiny little transplant from my great grandma's tree is producing blooms!  Well, ok...bloom.  But it's thrilling nonetheless.

There were two more church sales on Saturday.  We also stopped at a thrift store as well.    The husband was good enough to find me another pair of black chucks for TWO dollars on the kid's shoe rack.  I have the red shoes in pink as well. They were also two dollars.  And picture frames because I literally cannot have enough.

More beer glasses because I keep smashing our regular drinking glasses.  I also found the vintage compact at a great deal.  It's for a friend.

Nothing overly wonderful.  It's not like I found a Muppet item or something.  But, there are more sales this weekend.  Even though it snowed on Monday (Blast you, April!!) and was so heavy that it broke a million tree limbs, tons of people lost power (Including my work...surprise day off!) and also interrupted internet service (At my house.  So I had the day off but I could only really clean or read.  I did both.)  The temperatures are creeping upwards at a snails pace.  Because of this I've reached the point in the year where I cannot care about my wardrobe.  I'd honestly wear the same exact jeans and sweat shirt every single day if I thought nobody would notice.  I haven't put on eye makeup in two weeks.  I can't care.  I can't.  Not when I have to wear four layers just to stay warm.  Not when I have to wear closed-toed shoes and socks.  Not when I can't wear the accessories I want and have to cover up with a large scarf.  My mind is protecting it's self, and I cannot care.  So, if you suspect me of wearing my gray sweater for the fourth day in a row, tread lightly.  I'm very fragile at the moment.

So, in summary:

Talented Friend

An April Miracle

Some Stuff

April Is Killing Me Softly

Mighty April

April is starting to get on my last nerve.  It will be glorious for a day.  Sunny, radiant, nearly 80 degrees, even.  Then come the rains, the 40 degree weather and the sinus infections to go with it.  I'm creeping up on two weeks with this blessed condition.  Looking and feeling like a human poster for infection.  Delicious.  

Screw spring.  I want summer.  Full-on summer.  85 degrees, blinding sun, boob sweat, the whole shebang.  I want to wear sandals and bracelets again.  I want to remember what it's like to hear those delightful bangles chiming away on my arm.  I want to wear huge earrings with pointy bits that I can't wear during the winter on account of the fact that they will get caught on my scarf.

If it doesn't happen soon I'll go out of my gourd.  I'll dress in my finest white jacket and sit in a very plush room.  You hear me, April?  I'll do it, I swear I will!

Anyway...

There have been a lot of church sales this month, much to my delight.  It's not enough to save my brain from the knowledge that it's freezing and raining like ark time out.  But,  I've gotten tons of stuff for the Etsy shop, though I won't bore you with those details.

Check out what I did get, though: 

Please don't miss the red Cape Cod fish coin purse.  I cannot wait to use it.  At yard sales, obviously.  You are used to seeing the vintage picture frames.  I really want to stress how amazing these look all spray painted up in some crazy bright color.  So unique.  You should really try it.  Plus, this one was like a quarter.  You can't even get a crappy picture frame that will break in two seconds at the dollar store for a quarter.  It being the dollar store and all.

Now, you might think this is all one glorious study in plastic.  And it is.  But it's not one piece.  There are two Christmas pieces which have white plastic holly, silver holly, glitter and red Christmas balls.  Who doesn't love Christmas balls?  Eh?  Eh?  

This picture really isn't doing justice with regard to the bird house.  Let me break it down for you:  It's a brown plastic faux wood birdhouse coated in white glitter snow.  I know, right?  I could stop right there.  But no, there's more!  One yellow plastic bird greets you from side A while side B sports a blue plastic birdie.  Then, there is the grass on the bottom made of cellophane tipped in, you guessed it, white glitter snow.  Despite all the snow, I'm making it an Easter decoration next year.  Because really, it's more honest here in upstate NY.

Recently we've had a very big piece of news here in Ra-ch-cah.  A Mighty Taco opened.  Now, this is a fast food taco chain from Buffalo, NY.  The husband, like all Buffalo natives, is in love with it.  Would defend it to the death and ask for it as his last meal before said death.  He used to work there, ate there nearly every day and it was and is both his favorite job he's ever had and his favorite restaurant.  On earth.  Ever.  A fast food taco joint.  I'll just let that disturbing information sink in.

So, as you can imagine we were there on opening day.  With bells on.  We waited an HOUR AND 45 MINUTES for food we've had one million times.  Food that we just had two weeks prior, actually.  It would have been faster to drive to buffalo and get it.  But the husband was just ecstatic the entire time.  Witness:

So, now it's five days later and the line is still out the door.  No lie.  People, let's get it together here.  Fast food tacos, ok?  I mean, even if they are the best fast food tacos on earth, they are still fast food.  See?  No?  No.  They don't see.  Well, congrats Mighty Taco, and welcome.  Apparently you are well loved here in the Flower City.  Hopefully I don't see you every week, but it looks like there is a slim chance of that.

So, in summary:

April kills dreams, puppies and unicorns

Plastic is a balm for what ails me

Fat Americans

Easter Craft 2012

Yes. I know Easter is over. I'm aware. You don't have to be snobbish about it.

But, the thing is...I didn't finish my Easter craft until after Easter. I know. That is some bad planning on my part. It's very un-Sarah of me. I like to do things in a timely fashion. Not complete a task two weeks late like some shiftless roust about.

I mean, here it is nearly a week after Easter and I'm just finishing getting these little babies out. But, at least they are so awesome that they'll still look great next year. And, everyone likes a fresh, new bauble to put out, don't they? I blame this whole thing on Martha Stewart, anyway.

So, here they are. My Easter Craft, 2012.

Papier mache eggs. Decorated with crepe paper flowers, made by me. The slightly larger, green egg in the middle is mine. I made it for me. It doesn't have anything special inside. It is also the only one that doesn't have crepe paper flowers. Because I couldn't figure out how to make teeny tiny lily of the valley like this, here. So, I just cut out the leafy bits and stuck on some vintage floral sprigs. The bases are made from checker pieces wrapped in crepe paper.

Lilah loves tulips. I'm not going to show you how I made these. That's not what this blog is about.

Pompom bunnies! I purchased the papier mache egg boxes online after a long search.

HB loves orange and aqua. The eggs were less available and more expensive than I thought they'd be.

Pompom chicks! But, I had a fever and the only cure was a papier mache Easter egg craft.

Sarah Mae got the only rhinestone. Can you believe I restrained myself? I HAD rhinestones and I DIDN'T use them ALL. I have to admit, I think I love the daffodils the best.

Sarah Mae has creepy-ass taste.


This last egg travelled all the way to Philadelphia! This will look killer with LuLu's decor.


You have to look at it on an angle to really appreciate the beauty.


Big ol' pompom bunny man!

Well, that was fun.

Last Friday the husband and I had the day off. It was amazing. We went to lunch at Orange Glory Cafe. Dear anyone in the Rochester area, this place is only open during the week for lunch. Do yourself a huge favor and take a day off (come on, you deserve a day off) and GO THERE, GO THERE NOW. Seriously mind blowingly delicious. We also hit up a few Estate Sales. Now, Estate Sales are vastly different from yard, garage, tag or church sales. Estate Sales is where the antiques dealers go for their booty. Prices and stakes are higher. They razz each other and gloat quite a bit. They scoff, stick up their noses and act like crazed animals the entire time. It was a good reminder of why I stay as far away from Estate Sales as I can. I did end up getting some good stuff for the Etsy page, but I only got a few things for myself.

Can I get a witness?


25 cents each. Red felt deer head on a holly pick with bells and a ...snow...tuft. With glitter.

Also this vintage Goose-Grease mug which will be a prize at the Seersucker Social this year! Come on out, folks!

Also, as a word of warning: Sometimes a trip to the toy store for your niece's birthday turns into a trip to the toy store for yourself.

So, in summary:

Give Someone The Gift Of Glitter This Season
Oh, Please With Your-Antique-Dealer-Self
Plastic!
Seersucker Sounds Dirty But Isn't
These Are Aunt Sarah's Toys

First Sale of the 2012 Season

The first sale of the 2012 season was at a middle school in Irondequoit. I'd never been to this sale before, and I don't generally let my expectations run amok in that situation. But, when we arrived, the parking lot was full and people were already pulling away with truckloads of things. Literally. This made me practically run to the entrance. When a sale has started minutes earlier and people are already leaving with truckloads of items, you need to run. That's like, one of the most basic rules. You might want to write that down.

I was caught off guard because there was a $1 admission fee. I wasn't prepared for that so they had to break a 20 for me. Salers consider that kind of a dick move. To make them break your 20 dollar bill first thing in the morning? Yeah, I was that jerk.

So, it was set up in the gym and it was full of vendors. Like a mini dome sale. Which, incidentally some of the exact same vendors were at. (I'm looking at you overpriced vintage jewelry salespeople!)

In attendance: Me, husband, Sarah Mae, Kara, Kelly, Noah & Vito. A good, hopeful crowd. I'll show you what they got in alphabetical order. And I apologize. These are phone pictures.

Kara

Kara got a vintage wine selector booklet, a gorgeous vintage rhinestone pin for her mother with the most amazing colored blue stones, a squirrel couple that hang on a pot (Word on the street is that she's going to hang them in her office so that they are peeking at her from above her monitor.) and a vintage mirrored 3d (Did you get all that?) picture of Niagara Falls. It needs a tinch of tlc, but it's nothing a few minutes with a hot glue gun won't fix. The thing is gorgeous. It even has faux flowers in there. You can't imagine what the person was thinking when they created this as a souvenir. It's amazing. And I think it was like $2. I was able to help Kara purchase more things than she normally would with my super power: Enabling.

Maybe that's my X-Men power. I had a dream the other night that I was a member of the X-Men. But I never got to use my power during the dream on account of Prof. X not wanting us to when we were out in public. And we were at the movie theater. Scott Summers used his powers though. He was mad that they wouldn't let him out of the parking lot because they said he owed them money for parking. He just lasered the crap out of the arm on the booth and drove right through. I told him that Prof. X was going to be upset at him. On second thought, I think my power is more likely to be in the bossiness realm. (Not a peep from any of your!)

Kelly

Kelly bought a book about the Pyramids and a Diet Coke. They had a full on lunch area at this sale. One second longer and I would have caved and had a nice bowl of chili. It smelled so good. And you just know some middle schooler's grandma made it. Old Lady food is always the best, don't try to deny it. Probably I need to ask Kelly why she picked this book and then dazzle her with my theory about movies and pyramids. In case you are dying to hear what that is all about yourself, I'll tell you. My theory is that any movie involving the pyramids in any way is a sucky movie. Can you think of one good movie involving the pyramids? Nope, Stargate doesn't even count, so don't try it. You know it's a sucky movie and just because you don't want to admit it, it doesn't make it less true.

Nicholas

Ok, I didn't take a picture of the husband and his stuff. I forgot. And I had his stuff in my bag and so that added to the forgetfulness. He got files. For $1 each. You know, like, tools? Yes, those files. He said they are about $15 each or more in the stores. He was pretty excited about it, really. I should have taken a picture.

Noah

Noah got to the sale first and scored the awesome glass turtle lamp. For $1. It's very beautiful. He also got an Apple keyboard for $2 and a game new in the package for...cheap.

OK, now I'm going out of alphabetical order, but it's only because Sarah Mae bought the most and the biggest (obviously) and it's going to take a while to get through her stuff.

Vito

Vito got this entire pile of tools for $10. He was pretty impressed. He waved one clamp at us and said that just that one item would be over $10 new in the store. Check out the dudes scoring some stuff they can get excited about. I love when that happens.

Sarah Mae

Don't act like this surprises you. If you've been reading this blog over the past year you know that Sarah Mae likes herself some creepy babies. And while these little guys aren't babies, they are creepy Dickension Christmas carolers.

Then we have this fun bunch of trinkets. I love souvenirs.


A group shot including the Noel mugs with elves as handles!

Here are two items that I found for Sarah Mae and bought for her. On purpose. The pink haired fairy baby on the left shouldn't be confused with an angel. Because she isn't. Firstly, she has no halo and wings that I'd clearly categorize as fairy wings. Lastly, she's in a negligee. The "Baby" statue is terrifying. I know it is. But, it's what she likes. Try not to think about the fact that the infant is in a semi-sexual coy pose. There are a disturbing amount of these items out there.

Sarah Mae also bought a large roll of upholstery fabric from the 1960's for $10 in shades of brown, white and orange and some 1940's paper print block things for $1 each. They have some great illustrations from the 40's.

Last but not least: Me. I got a few things for my Etsy shop and two other things: A roll of green crepe paper streamers and an unopened bag of vintage chenille pipe cleaners. I think I spent less than $5 all told. And I didn't take a picture because I'm lazy. But I will leave you with this pleasing image:


My mom brought these back from her trip to Florida for me. I have the most awesome mom on the planet.

Also, the covert craft project is coming along well. Only one more to do! Then I can show you what I've made!

So, in summary:

Power Of Enabling
Don't Be Jealous Of My Dream
Movies With Pyramids = Not Good
Forgetful And Lazy
Creepy Babies Want To Seduce You
Yes, I Did Need Another Pair Of Converse

Things I've Seen In March

I don't know if you are aware of this or not, but it's hot in NY in March. As in, 70+ degrees for weeks on end, now. This is unprecedented. At least in my memory/lifetime. It's like we're in fast forward. Spring? What spring? Winter segues into summer here, baby. It's the exact opposite of last year. I mean, last year in March we were just making it out of the deep freeze of below zero.

This weather is bringing out the crazies, let me tell you. I saw a car with a bra on it the other day. Are we not done with those? Dear bra-ed car owner, 1980 called and it wants it's terrible idea back. What are we even trying to say with that? Your car's tig old bitties are so big that they need to be contained? Your car has polateeters and you don't want anyone else to see them? I mean, I've seen truck nuts and for the record: I get it. I get what people are saying with those things and I think it's pretty funny. But not in the "laughing with you" kind of way.

I also saw a man walking down the street in jeans and no shirt today. Dude. It's not that hot. It's 72 degrees, here. Let's keep it together, Rochester.

I've also seen a bunch of great stuff, namely: vegetation. Like I said, on fast forward! These things usually don't even start coming to life until April and then it's weeks between seeing the first green sprout to getting flowers on trees. It's happened this year in about a week and a half. Scary. Check it:

Hostas from this week.

Hostas from last year, mid April.


Lilac tree from this week.
(Please overlook the fact that this is a craptastic picture.)


Lilac from last April.

Look at these gorgeous little party people! I stared at them for a long while. Their color was so deep and mesmerizing!

At this rate the lilacs will all be come and gone before the Lilac Festival goers have a chance to enjoy them!

One more quick thing. On Saint Patty's day we went out for sushi. Obviously. Trying to stick with the main Irish traditions and all. Imagine my surprise and delight when this was delivered to me!


Green rice! I'm pretty sure I squealed with delight. I mean, come on! I love this kind of commitment and creativity. It's making me totally hungry looking at this. Mmm...suuuuushi.

So, in summary:
Mother Nature Is Pissed
Vehicles Oughtn't Have Naughty Bits
This Junk Be Growin' Like One Of Them Speeded Up Videos In Science Class
A Little Green Food Coloring Makes My Day