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, March 20, 2014

It Might Seem Crazy What I'm About to Say

Sometimes when the thrift stores haven't been very nice to me and I am feeling sorry for myself, I drown my sorrows in Etsy and eBay. I don't make it a habit to buy things on either of those places since I have plenty of stuff around here.  But, sometimes, I keep a bit of my eBay selling money in my PayPal account and treat myself to a goodie or two. Shhhhhh!

The first item was a box of Cupcake decorations.  The seller told me that her Mother remembered her mother putting them on cakes for the holidays.  They are cupcake decorations, I suppose, but most importantly, they are spun heads.  

There are Santa's for Christmas.

Two varieties of snowmen for Winter.

One sweet little Valentine.

Four big eared Easter Bunnies.

Two what I assume are devils for Halloween.  I have never seen any like these before so they are fun to have.

These are my favorites.  I know they aren't "politically correct" in this day but that is what dates them and show how old they are to me.  I'm not sure what holiday or event that these would be appropriate for.  They are like brand new, so maybe "mom" never really figured that out either. These are a first for me too.

The second thing I bought was also advertised as a box of  "almost 100 " cake decorations. I was intrigued and the price was right, so I bid and won.


When I got them, they were all the same pinkish white color.  Lots of different boys, girls, men and women in different poses and styles of clothing.  They didn't really look like cake decorations, so I did a little research. 

That's when I discovered that they were really "100 Little Dolls" from an ad in the back of comic books in the 1960's.  You sent in the coupon, $1.00 and 25¢ for postage and, in return, you received a box of 100 Little Dolls.  I actually like them even more now that I know what they are - I want to put them in a printers box or shadow box of some sort.  

Lastly, this chubby little jewel arrived in my mailbox today.  
A Sunruco Rubber Baby Doll with Squeaker Whistle.  She is hardened with age, so no squeaking or whistling.  Nothing but adorableness remains.

Rubber toys are safe!  
Original price from FW Woolsworth - 39¢.

Adorable.  
Did I need this?  No.

Did it make me happy?
Yep.

Some days you just have to make your own kind of happy.  And if that means a rubber baby or some cake pics will do it and the price is right - then you must get HAPPY!

"Happy"

Clap along if you know what happiness is to you!

14 comments:

  1. So glad you like your dolly! Cheers! Beth aka Dime Store Chic

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  2. I love it all!!! The spun heads are so neat. I have a few, but none as cool as yours.

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  3. Don't even feel bad about buying these things, Shara! Especially if it makes you happy :-) I do the same thing and keep a little extra money in my Paypal account for purchases like these. My mindset is that if the money is not coming directly out of my checking account, then it's like I'm getting it for FREE!! Woo-Hoo!!

    Have an awesome weekend. Hope you find some good junk!

    Erica

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  4. I think that if the money is in your PayPal to begin with, then it is there because you earned it, so of course you get to spend a little of it and be happy. Those pink dolls make me happy because I've seen that comic book ad literally thousands of times in my life, but never knew anyone who actually had them. The toy ads in old comics are really cool, but then so are the comics. I'm happy that you're happy.

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  5. We had those little pink "dolls" when I was growing up. My brother painted the Santa and we always hung it on a bottom branch of our aluminum Christmas tree, which of course rotated. So Santa flew over the village that we had under the tree. In the village there was a lake (a mirror) that had some of those pink doll ice skaters that some other sibling painted. And I still have those skaters and my brother has the Santa.

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  6. I love those spun cotton heads!

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  7. Happy is what it's all about Shara! Love your purchases and I too just happen to 'find' items on Etsy and treat myself!!
    hugs, Linda

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  8. You're entitled to treat yourself once in a while and you got some great stuff. This made me remember the time we were both bidding on some spun heads! Craziness that it was! LOL

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  9. I just downloaded that song yesterday and was listening to it all day! Then I crawled into bed to catch up on some blog reading and there was your post title right at the top of my list! You can't feel sad when listening to that song! :) And with a dearth of g'sales around hear lately, I'm singing that all the time. ;)
    rosie

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  10. Hey, your are a 'Cheap HAPPY' - the Breadman should not object ;-) !!

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  11. I do the same Ebay and Etsy shopping. Sometimes a little treat is a great pick me up. Good job on the spun heads. I have seen those devils before, but not often.

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  12. Oh, my goodness!! I ordered that box of "100 little dolls!" And Little is right---they were almost too small even for cupcakes. We used them for years for little décor on this and that, or freezing them into ice cubes for a silly party.

    This is my morning smile, so far.

    rachel

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  13. Oh, I remember those ads for the 100 little dolls! Just so you know, I do the exact same thing when I'm desperate for a junking fix! I won't tell if you won't.

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  14. Sometimes I have to turn to eBay/etsy to buy a few things that the booth dictates I need (ie can't keep it in stock in the booth). I LOVE all of these spun heads! :)

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