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.

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Have I Told You

Have I told you that I am selling at my very first Vintage Market this Fall?  I started seeing things on Facebook about the "Farm-Fresh-Barn-Sale" that was going to be held in my area.  I "liked" it and was thinking it would be fun to go there and shop.  I mentioned it to my friend Lara, over at Pretty-Quirky so she could "like" it.  She decided that she would set up and sell some of her vintage wares.  She mentioned that maybe I should set up with her and sell some things.  I decided that I really didn't have time to get ready or to plan, or to hunt and gather things or to make things or to get ready in anyway, plus I have The Bean, The Breadman, my Mom and my Dad to worry over.  I really just didn't think I should so it.  I mentioned it to my Mom and she said, "You should do it."  So, what did I do?  Did I decide to set up with Lara like a sane person?  Oh, noooooooo...I decided to get my very own space and even request a BIG space.  What was in my brain that day, I wonder?


 A lot of the things I got last weekend will go to the Barn Sale.  In fact, this very picture was featured on the Fresh Barn Sale Facebook Page this week.

The sale isn't until the end of September, so in actuality, I have plenty of time to get ready.  I want to have a mix of vintage goods, ephemera and handmade items.   I sell quite a bit of Ephemera, so right now I am focusing on that aspect.



I jumped in on the jewelry making bandwagon.  I've been making glass tile pendants.  But, instead of scrapbooking paper, I have been making mine with vintage feedsack material.  I think they are very unique and each one is completely different.  I have been wearing a lot of them and I get a lot of compliments on them.  A couple of years I bought a huge baggie chock full of tiny scraps of old feedsacks and vintage quilting pieces.  I think they were for a postage stamp quilt, because each piece is only about an inch and a half square.   They make perfect pendants.  Each one has a silver bail and a ball bearing chain.  How much do you think I can price them?  I'm thinking $5.00 each.

I ordered a deck of playing cards with my header photo on them, punched a hole through the middle and hung the pendants on the cards, placed them in cellophane bags and taped them shut.  I'd show you a photo, but I already have them all packed away for the sale.  Doh!  Maybe someone out there could shoot me a photo of one "if" they get any Happy Mail from me this week........:)

I sell a lot of Scrabble Tile words in the booth that I pre-make on cards.  But, I can only think of so many words to make, so I want to just put out my bulk tiles and let people make their own words - like kid's names, last names, etc.  I bought a couple old muffin tins, painted them with chalkboard paint, put each letter in it's own muffin hole (?) and then wrote the letter in chalk above it.  (If you are doing the math, that's 24 holes and 26 letters, but I put X-Y-Z all in one hole.) I have hundreds and hundreds of Scrabble Tiles but I only have ONE "K".  If, by chance you sell Scrabble tiles and have a surplus of "K's" in your stash - let me know and maybe we could trade for them.  I sell a lot of ArKansas and RazorbacKs.  So, that takes a lot of "k's".


I put all of those neat old flash cards in individual cellophane sleeves and priced them individually.   I have tried framing a few, but the unframed ones seem to sell better since people want to put them in specific places with certain color themes.

I took that old unabridged dictionary apart page by page and made bundles of pages.  I tied each one up with Baker's Twine and priced them $2.00 a bundle.  I had a few other old dictionaries with great old patina on them, so I did that with them too.

Boy, this post would be better if I would have taken more photos before I packed it all away!

I want to set up a table with all my loose items - keys, chandelier crystals, dice, game tiles, skeleton keys, game pieces, milk  pogs, etc., in glass jars with scoops like a Candy Bar.  Price each item individually and have little sacks available to fill up.  Sounds good, but will I do it?

I have tons of things to sell, but I also have tons of things that I only want to use for display - like my old wooden ironing board, an old metal drying rack, vintage printers trays, etc.  I am hoping people won't wnt to try and buy MY STUFF all day long.  And, I HATE haggling.  So, I hope they don't haggle.  *Crossing fingers.

Since the sale is in September, I will take vintage Halloween and vintage Christmas too.  I want to make some wreaths and other unique things.  The things I tend to like aren't like the things that everyone else makes (those big mesh wreaths, painted furniture, etc.) so I want to be unique.  BUT!  Not so unique that no one "gets it".

So, what other ideas d you have for things I can sell?  What do you look for when you go to a vintage market place or flea market?  I will have a large mix of vintage, I just don't know what until it gets closer to the date.  I need to keep the booth stocked too.  I plan on ransacking the booth the seek before so I can clear some things out too.

Okay - what kind of ideas do you have for me??????

21 comments:

  1. Your ideas are all great. PLEASE clearly mark
    anything that is 'DISPLAY ONLY'.We were shopping
    recently & had an encounter with a very rude
    shopkeeper about an article that was not for
    sale. I also dislike haggling when I am the seller BUT I have asked people for a better price myself when I am the shopper...go figure.
    Maybe a discreet sign with a polite but firm statement about your policy? Another concern is payment method? A few bad checks can ruin the
    expierience....BUT my advice is have FUN~share your love of vintage & your unique style. There are lots of sweet people out there that share your taste!

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    Replies
    1. Hello - Oh, I will mark things NFS or Display Only. I really just meant I want to have it so full that no one notices my cool display things. It wouldn't kill me to let some of them go anyway.....:)

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  2. Hi- quick question, where do you get the cellophane sleeves and bags? I have been thinking of selling some things like that in my booth and need the packaging. Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I order specialty sized bags from Clearbagsrus on Etsy. I ordered bookmark bags for the Scrsbble words. Also there are treat bags if all sized on Amazon and at Hobby Lobby that work too.

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  3. Shara I think your ideas are fabulous! I love the necklaces and think $5 is very fair!! I will check to see how many K's I have in scrabble tiles (not all really vintage but what I have) I'll email a pic of them first if you want them. I'm excited for you and just wish I could visit your booth!!
    hugs,
    Linda

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  4. I don't have any great new ideas for you - but I really like all the things you've described. Wish I could come to the sale. It sounds wonderful, and your display ideas are very creative! Any chance you will be selling any of your feedsack charm pendants online?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Pat - I wish you could come too! I will probably reopen my Etsy Shop after the Barn Sale to clear out some (all) of my extras. If you are interested in a specific pendant - or color, or pattern, or..... Let me know.

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  5. Oh and I am always on the lookout for 'T' for Tiger cards, etc! Thanks!

    Linda

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  6. You are doing well with your booth, so people "get" your stuff. From the FB postings by FFBS, your stuff is going to be different enough, and you will make your booth "come hithery" so people will WANT to shop it. I have some old ragged quilts but had never thought of them as pendant material, very cute! How do you determine if scrabble tiles are vintage when you have them all in a jar?

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    Replies
    1. I think some of my tiles are newer. They are wooden. The new ones are still wood. I just looked it up and you can buy a set of letters and tiles on www.Scrabble.com for $7.99. Who knew?

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  7. One thing you might bring to sell....~Craigslist Find! 31 Baskets and two racks~ Folks walking around shopping just might LOVE to buy a blue basket to haul their purchases in. (that is if you still have them)

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    Replies
    1. You are an observant gal! I am gong to take a stack of those Ben Franklin baskets with me. I'll price them individually and hope that someone has your idea to buy one to use while they shop. They are very sturdy and very fun!

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  8. I have an idea that I collected all of the little individual molds for, the jello and aspic molds that are round, oval, square and diamond shaped. Use them as reflectors on a string of lights. The big old fashioned kind, not the mini lights. Paint the inside of the mold white and the outside country colors. Wrap the cords with fabric or I have seen them with pennants from old quilts in between the lights. Wish I had a picture. My daughter and I did craft shows several years ago and the pendants and earrings and bobby pins she made she put them in vintage suitcases and she used the playing cards like you are using. Also the glass tiles could be magnets for your fridge. I actually used an old refrigerator door and painted it almond and put my magnets on it. Got lots of comments. I'm excited, you will do great with all of your ideas.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those lights sound like a great idea! I have also made some magnets out of the glass tiles. I have them on an old granite ware broiler pan for display now, but I LOVE the idea of an old refrigerator door. I wish I could find one of those neat old round topped doors! Thanks for giving em something else to look for in the world of junk!

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  9. You might as well get prepared. Folks will try to bargain with you. When it's polite (like you and I do it) then it's called bargaining. When it's rude like the dealer that sneered at the 20% discount I was willing to give on my AnnaLee's this week, then it's haggling. I wish you lots of nice people who like your stuff and scoop up all of it! Good luck and have lots of fun! Be sure to wear a hat, take plenty of water with you and wear lots of sunscreen. (Speaking like someone being treated for melanoma right now.)

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    Replies
    1. I think a few people might try to haggle. But, since this is more of a "marketplace" set up like a store front, I think people will know that the prices are set. That's not to say that I might not offer up a better deal or a bulk deal for someone. I'm not a hat gal, but I will take your words of caution seriously. NO SUN!

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  10. Sounds like fun! Make sure you mark your displays as displays only, if you don't want to sell them. Have a sign with what your methods of payment are. If you use a square to take credit cards or some other system, make sure you have a minimum amount to be spent. Business cards for your mall space, ebay store, blog etc...promote the heck out of it all.
    p.s. Words of the wise on sunscreen from EM...melanoma is a nasty thing..(I speak from personal experience)...good luck to him!

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  11. The quality of your work is awesome, Your taste in vintage is Fun and Quirky - You're gonna kick Butt!! Will The Bean or somebody go with you to help out and give you a break occassionally? (I hope?)

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  12. You've already got great ideas, and so do your commenters. My friend who worked in retail one Christmas once told me she used to visualize herself sticking her fingers in her ears and humming lalalala any time she got a rude customer. She could keep smiling at them while the whole time not listening to a thing they said. I think that could be helpful at a market.

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  13. How fun! Mandi and I sold our glass tile pendants (mixed with domino and scrabble tile pendants) for $6 each or 2 for $10. They seemed to do the best of all we had. AND people liked them ones we put in a footed glass jar that they could pick through better than the ones I put on playing cards (also with my blog on them) though I thought they looked cute. You just never know. I like making ephemera packs, too!

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  14. This sounds like something you will be awesome at! One suggestion (if you haven't already thought of it) is to accept credit card payments using your iPhone and a Square reader. Many people find it easier to pay with plastic than to hand over cash:)

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