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.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

The Week in Junk 10/21/2012

I had a pretty good weekend of junking - FINALLY!  Most of it is for the booth, but as usual, some will stay with me.  :)

The Breadman was on vacation this week.  Let me say, having a husband underfoot all week is really, really exhausting.  We were on the GO all week.  So, compile the week before with my Dad in the hospital and now this week of going, going, going and I am ONE TIRED BROAD.  Tonight, he was all weepy and sad, "I'm sorry I have to go back to work tomorrow" and I was "Don't let the doorknob hit you where the good lord split ya".  You know what I mean, right?

So, in the midst of all the go, go, going, I managed to squeeze in several trips to thrifts and hit several yard sales.  I was particularly excited about an ABSOLUTE ESTATE sale only about two blocks from my house. The ad was great - vintage this and vintage that, vintage holiday, vintage aprons, 80 years accumulation, and on and on.  So, I get there Friday morning and there are a few random shed sort of things scattered in the front yard, the front door is standing wide open and there is a table with a few men sitting around it just glaring at me.  They all kind of look shifty to me, so I drive on by.  I went home and loaded up my big strong menfolk and go back.  I mean, I don't like shifty guys, but if there is some good vintage junk to be had - I'm going IN!  When we got there, the guys still just kind of ignored us, so I finally asked if we could go inside.  " "We didn't really get nuthin' ready for today.  We might have it ready ta-morrow."  Did I mention the ad said THOUSANDS of knick knacks?  How did they "think" they might get 80's years worth of things ready overnight and didn't?  I did go back on Saturday and the gate was locked.  I guess they didn't get it read ta-morrow. 
I did manage to buy this old handmade beat up bench out of the yard before I left on Friday.  I had seen several like these just the day before for about fifty bucks each.  This one was five bucks.  I think I could have offered less, but I wanted to get out of there!

On to the rest o' the junk!  I found vintage Christmas, a tablecloth, a basket and a piece of pottery, so that is a good weekend in my book.
Thursday we went to a huge craft fair with over 1000 vendors.  One part is entirely juried crafts and the other part is crafts and some flea markety booths.  Most of it is really high priced, but I like to look anyway. In one of the booths, I spotted a huge enamel stockpot filled overflowing full of brand new vintage baby clothes.  Starched, pins still attached, tags attached, etc.  Each one was sweeter than the next.  I bet there were 100 all together.  Each one was only $1.50 each which really surprised me.  I was expecting them to be a lot more than that.  The lady told me that she found them in her attic and had completely forgotten that she even had them, so she was happy that someone was buying some of them.  Later that night, I was in the shower when it occurred to me that I should have made her an offer for all of them.  I know they would have been great on Etsy.  Oh well.....
The whole kit and kaboodle.

 Large wire freezer basket filled with gutted reader's Digest Condensed Books.  have you seen the boxes made out of old books?  Book boxes  I finally found some old Reader's Digests with pretty covers to try it out.  These are all from 1954 and 1955, so they have really pretty covers.  
A good old basket like I collect.  It took four people and an phone call to determine if it was for sale and it it was, the price.  A price of $2.00 was decided and it was SOLD.  Some old coffee cups and some Melamine plates - 55¢ for it all.

 I was really happy to find this old red Riding Hood Doll.  I always wanted one of these when I was little.
Flip her upside down and she is Grandma.

Turn her bonnet around and it is the big bad wolf.  
A huge Haeger planter.  (I was sure it would go to the booth, but I managed to squeeze it onto my packed shelves.)  Vintage bunny planter, old sun bonnet made from a feedsack and a pile of wooden drapery rings that I am hoarding to use in a future project.

 Loved the "God Bless Our Camper" plate. 
Six Ball jar glasses, a sugar bowl, wooden box, blue cat planter, old fruitcake tin, couple of old dolls, an enamel rose bowl, two tiny glasses, gingham chicken scratch tablecloth and a wonderful old Santa.  

The blue cat planter is a keeper.  The tiny glasses laying on their sides are keepers too.  Why, I really don't know.  I just like them!

So, what did you find this weekend?

8 comments:

  1. I had that very Red Riding Hood doll as a child! Surfergirlie in Hawaii

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  2. I am completely smitten with that seahorse book cover. What a fun baby book cover it would make!

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  3. Strange as it seems, with all this goodness, that camper plate is my favorite thing of all!

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  4. So many great finds! I have seen many a "bless our trailer" plate but never a "camper one, how neat!

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  5. Wow I am enjoying your finds! I've not been junkin much at all. I have that cat planter in white and I love the blue!! How fun it would be to find it in all the different colors. I love that Red Riding Hood doll and the pink planter! You really did well! Hugs, Linda

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  6. How lucky you were to find those RD books already stripped so they didn't weigh 500 lbs! That seahorse cover is AWESOME.

    The camper plate is darling--that sucker has Etsy written all over it!

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  7. wow, been quite a while since you had that good of junking weekend. I am asking my mom if she has that Little red riding hood doll. I have seen it before. I know she has some old "mamie" doll

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  8. I had no idea that there were RD books with such nice covers!

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