Sometimes You Get Lucky

If you've read any of my previous posts, you know that I'm a yard sale junkie.  From about April until September, my SO and I don't miss too many weekends of sifting through complete strangers cast-offs.  We love the early sales, the ones that start around 7:00 in the morning.  In the heat of the summer, it's still cool then and we finish up our browsing and buying by 9:00 a.m. or so.  If you don't get to a sale early, most of the desirable items are gone anyway so going later is a waste of time.  I usually look for clothing for my grandkids, sometimes for myself, items for my daughter's house and my own, books,  but mostly I look for decorative things I can reuse in making my floral designs or old jewelry pieces I can incorporate into my beadwork.  We check on-line in the local newspaper's classified section and also buy a paper to see where all the sales are located.  Then armed with our list and the city map from the phone book, we take off in search of treasure. 

This last weekend, we were headed to a particular sale when we passed a sign for one on a street we'd either missed or that hadn't advertised.  So on a whim, we decided to stop.  Lucky decision.  The lady having the sale had been a Premiere jewelry dealer and she was getting rid of all her display pieces.  I bought all the big pieces pictured for a cool $65.00.  I now have not only a better way to transport jewelry to shows but display options as well.  After we left, I got to thinking about being able to use these for home shows, an idea I've been toying with for quite a while, and I wished I'd also picked up the smaller display pieces she was offering.  So, we swung back by and unfortuneately found she had sold some of the pieces but I managed to score three nice necklace stands and a lovely black velvet table cover for another 2 bucks. 

This time around I also found two pair of pajamas, two t-shirts and swim trunks for my 4 year old grandson ($7.00), a grapevine wreath and a bag of green floral moss ($1.50), a rather unique lidded basket and a really cool wooden chuch birdhouse ($2.00).  Next week?  Who knows what treasures await?  I love yard sales!!

Why I Love Yard Sales

Normally, I am up every morning at 5:00 to exercise, get ready for work and have some computer time before I leave to be at the office by 7:30. You would think that on Saturday's I would sleep in, but no, I still get up early. Why, you ask? To go to yard sales, of course!!

Yard sales, garage sales, tag sales, they are called by different names in different areas, but whatever they are called, are wonderful entertainment and if you know what you are looking for can be gold mines. They are also in a way, a great form of recycling. I find lots of containers and wreath forms for my floral arrangements. Most just need a bit of cleaning and allow me to keep my price to the customer lower because my cost is lower. I also find clothing and toys for my grandchildren and sometimes myself. I find home decor and garden decor. Last summer, I even found a cash register to use at my craft shows! In a previous post, I mentioned that the little wooden fish I was using in a jewelry project were a yard sale find. This is a picture of another recent acquisition. A lady had three pedestal bases for those beautiful glass balls you see in so many yards. I took the one with a wind chime and dragonflies in it. She said she didn't know you could replace the balls. Guess she doesn't make it to the stores very often. For a buck and and a half price globe from Hobby Lobby, I got a great addition to the garden. I love the purple globe with my orange flower hanging basket!

These little metal butterflies were another treasure I found for 50 cents for 6 of them. They look so cute in the garden.

During the warmer months on most weekends, my SO and I grab a paper Friday night and map out a course of action for the morning. We love the sales that start at 7:00 because we are early people and especially when it gets hot, we like to be finished with our bargain hunting by 9:00. We also like the neighborhood sales. You can just walk from house to house and it's kind of like a big party. If you've never done yard sales, you should give it a try. It can be a fun adventure. The old saying, "one man's trash is another man's treasure" is quite true. So don't try to reach me before 9 or 10 o'clock on a Saturday morning. I'll be out treasure hunting!