What is a monkeybox?

When I was a little girl, we had a pet monkey named Amanda. My Dad worked in the produce business, so each night he brought home that days culls in a big box - spotty cucumbers, pithy apples, limp celery, moldy oranges and the like. We called it a monkeybox. It was really just trash, but my Mom would take each piece of fruit and trim it, pare it and cut it up to make a beautiful fruit platter for Amanda. Even though it was deemed trash by one, it still had life left in it and was good for the purpose we needed it. That's how I live my life - thrifting, yard saling, looking for another's trash to be my treasure.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Thrift Thursday Part II

Right after I posted my finds this morning, DH called to tell me there were quite a few Thursday sales in town and he thought I should check them out. I told him he was an enabler. He should have said, "Woman, stay home and keep de-cluttering." But, no, he told me to go buy more junk! So, like the good wife I am, I followed his suggestion. I found some good junk and I was back home within the hour.
In this photo you see an old Samsonite suitcase that I got for 75¢. When I got it home, I opened it and left the room for five minutes. When I came back, not only was the cat in it, she was sound asleep. And, she's been there all day. The funny thing is, that I just ordered her a new cat bed that looks like an old vintage suitcase and I cannot believe, that I, the Junkreator, didn't think of just giving her an old suitcase to sleep in. So, when the faux vintage cat-bed suitcase arrives, I shall see if she likes it or the authentic suitcase better.

That tray or platter is old white enamel with red trim, which I adore. It was under a pile of old plastic once-was deli platter trays. On a whim, I dug it out because it looked old. And it was! And, it was only 25¢! The old stuffed animals are filled with sawdust. Old carnival wins, I assume. They were 25¢ each too. The set of white enamel Coffee and Tea canisters were $1.00 total. There is a sticker on the bottom that says, "Not for food use. May poison." So, I will have to think of a non-tea, non-coffee idea for them.
This is an old Philco bakelite radio/record player that I found for $2.00. Yes, two dollars! They seem to sell in the $50.00-$100.00 range on ebay, but the shipping is about as much. I think I might try this on Craigslist. If nothing else, it will go to my Dad's house in his antique collection. I can't get it to work, but I haven't tried too hard. It has a bunch of glass tubes and odd things under it that I am afraid of breaking if I tinker too much. I wish I could get it to work. I still have all my old Disco albums that I would love to hear again.

Okay, are you ready for this? What's better than finding a few vintage Shiny Brite Christmas ornaments?

How about finding 86 vintage Shiny Brites all in red? I bought three paper bags and two small boxes of Christmas ornaments for $1.50 total. I didn't even bother going through them at the sale, because I figured it would be my afternoon's entertainment to sort it out. I did see a few things in the bag that made me know I was getting a good deal. And, guess what else? These red Shiny Brites aren't even what I saw in the bags.

Are you ready? Are you sure? Okay, if you say so.... Vintage Shiny Brite-a-palooza is what I saw. There's a few newer ones, but they are mostly old and oh, so pretty. I swear, I could have just left the suitcase full of ornaments (sans the cat) and left it on display until Christmas.
See? Oooooooh. So, so pretty. The red ornaments will most likely be attached to a bottle brush wreath. I think an all red ornament wreath would be so pretty. I'd love to put it on the front door, but I worry about ice and cold breaking them.

Tomorrow I am going to my favorite sale of the year. They have one or two sales a year and I have been going since The Bean was a baby. The people that have the sale, actually live in Kansas, but they bring their things here and have a big sale. They buy at old household auctions, re-sell on ebay and then sell the remaining things at this sale. And, even though they do sell on ebay, I have found a lot of things there that I have made good money on. They buy box lots for certain items, and just sell the rest. They normally have at least 25 boxes lining the driveway. The boxes are either $1.00 each or you pick and choose from the boxes and make your own box for $1.00. I swear, if I had a truck, I would just buy all the boxes and sort it out at home. They also have a flat bed trailer covered in linens and everything is 25¢ each. This includes a few clothes, but also kitchen towels, embroidered pieces, tablecloths, aprons, etc. They also often have boxes of material for $1.00. I bought a box of material once after I realized that the "material" was actually several tablecloths and other vintage linens. I think I ended up with 40 pieces for that $1.00. This was back when I had a flea market booth that did quite well. Then there are tables upon tables covered in little treasures. I am normally there about two hours looking at everything. Last year, I didn't buy that much, but I still had a lot of fun picking up a few things and looking at everything else. Everything in the entire sale is vintage. Nothing new, nothing modern. Just old stuff everywhere. I'll never sleep tonight thinking about it all. Gotta get to bed so I can get up early! I'll take my camera!

6 comments:

  1. Ooh, I have ornament envy! :) The first thing I thought when I saw all the red ones was WREATH, so we're totally on the same wavelength. LOL

    The sale in the morning sounds divine! I'm so excited for you--I know if it were me I wouldn't be sleeping a wink, or if I did nod off my dreams would be filled with treasures. :) I found a sale a couple years ago that was also auction leftovers--it was one of my best sales ever. I still remember exactly what I bought, and every time I drive past that street I peek down to just make sure there's not another sale going on! Can't wait to see what you find!

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  2. I love all your goodies! I am so jealous of your sales this week! There was nothing good in the paper today, so Sad!jbvnx

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  3. Your husband is one cool dude!!

    I always look forward to reading about your adventures in thriftland. You always seem to score on some really good treausres, like the cool aprons from a day or so ago. I think you are a natural at this!!

    Thanks for shaing.

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  4. I am *SO* jealous! lol! I never find these darn ornaments! You had an awesome junkin day though!

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  5. Great finds Shara! That is a lot of Shiny Brites to find all in one place.

    Happy hunting at the sale tomorrow. :)

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  6. Wowza Shara!! I'm envious, too! I would definitely make a wreath or a swag out of all the red ones-it would look great. I made one last year with some silver, pink and aqua ones I found and love it. It cost me about 5 dollars to make wreath that surely would have cost 40 or 50 in a store :)

    Have fun at your sales tomorrow!

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