2015: The Year in Review

I'm not sure that much has happened this year.  That is a good thing because nothing terrible happened.  But, I swear - time does fly.  It was New Year's eve and now BOOM now it's nearly New Years Eve again.  Do you ever think, I am going to do yadda yadda (clean out the closet, take a trip, lose five pounds, buy a yak, start taking vitamins, jump out of a plane or WHATEVER) and then before you realize it - an entire YEAR has passed and you have not done it?  It's just crazy to me how fast this life is going past me.  There's so much I want to do in life - changes I want to make, things I want to do, and on and on.  2016 is going to be a big year.  I will be a certain age that my lips will not even utter.  It is very hard for me to think that I am that age - I still think I am 17 and that is no lie.

Midlife crisis anyone?

((Hand shoots up))

Ermhgawd.  It's awful.

But, what can you do about it but just DO IT.  So, I will DO IT.

Okay, let's see what kind of crap I thrifted this year.    

I thrifited this great old artist easel for $5.00 and sold it at The Junk Ranch in June for $100.00.  Plus, the girl that bought it was SO, SO happy.  Like skipping away happy.

I dug this old metal box out from under a workbench at an Estate Sale.  The color sucked me in.

But the little divided drawers forced me to keep it.  I have all my jewelry making supplies in it.  

Then there was a Sunday sale in March that I ran to on the spur of the moment.  Five blowmolds for $2.00 each.  I sold the ghost and Skeleton for $150.00, the snowman for $65, the Santa for $75 and the pumpkin for $35.00  Such a great find.  Although now that I see that Santa with the package I am wondering WHY DIDN'T I KEEP HIM?

At the same sale - a storage tub full of very old fragile ornaments - $5.00 for the whole box.  I  planned on researching each one thoroughly and listing them on ebay.  But the very thought of packing those delicate treasures for a safe ride through the USPS system made me sick to my stomach.  I did research a few and then I did something crazy - I put them all on my tree and I'm ot even a little bit sad about it.  :)  Sometimes, happy trumps money.

Huge cuckoo clock that I bought to sell - I haven't yet - but I will.,  I am on the hunt for pinecone weights.  

It was a good year for finding and selling blowmolds!  Teddy bear sold at the Junk Ranch for $35.00 and I kept the Santa - he had a bad plug, so I stuck him in with mine.

OH, this old school globe was such a nice find!  I paid $17.50 for it and sold it for $125.00.  A couple people scoffed at my price, then a nice lady walked up with cash in hand excited to buy it.  That makes me happy.  There was a time when I wouldn't have spent $17.50 on anything that I wasn't usre about.  But I have the courage now to buy things that cost more because I know I can get a good return on my investment.  It was priced $25.00, but the store was 25% off so, I got a deal on it.  That helped cinch the deal.  :)

The Evergleam tree I spotted near the trash at a yard sale.  The man refused to sell it to me - it's old, been in the attic forever  -yadda yadda - finally he said he would LOVE for me to take it and use it if I wanted it - even carried it to the car for me.  I had offered him money, I really did, but he said NO.   I sold it for $249.00 to a young girl that was beyond excited to replace the one her Grandmother lost in a fire.  Love that.  (Not the fire part...)

Fun shopping cart - it's desirable on ebay, but man do I love this thing.  

Bargains Galore on 64 took me to about fifty yard sales in one day and a nice haul of goodies.  

Including vintage Christmas - I think everything here has sold.  

The child's cupboard - one of my last finds of the year.  So cute.  On the fence about keeping or selling.  Always on that fence with the cute stuff.  I certainly do not need it.  But I want it.  Greedy vintage piggy I am.  

Great old Lions International sign.  Destined for the Spring Junk Ranch.

Pickin' Time Highway 59 was also new to me this year and I had good luck with a lot of smalls. All that little stuff was 25¢ each at one sale.  I kept the tree and the gnome the rest will go to the Junk Ranch.  

I found a lots of other great stuff on that day. (I did find a ton of blowmolds this year, didn't I?)  That tiered basket has turned into one of my favorite things ever.  And you can never have too many freezer baskets.  NEVER.

Most especially this fantastic cowboy tablecloth.  I swore I would sell it, but it mysteriously crawled into my collection.  Whoops. 

Huge Redmon basket scored at Goodwill for $5.00 -  you know those never leave my house.  Picnic baskets, tablecloths and cute stuff have no chance of leaving my house.  

The giant "S" that has been on my wishlist forever.  I just read an article that said big letters are OVER.  I say WRONG.  $5.00 worth of happiness right there....  I got up early to go to a HUGE sale that sounded fantastic.  It was a pile of crap at the end of a dirt road.  But they had piles of these letters, so I guess it was worth it since I got my coveted red "S".  

More blowmolds - SURPRISE.  $10.00 each - more than usual, but still a deal.  They are in the shed waiting for next Fall's Junk Ranch.  I know they will sell. FAST.

And the giant BINGO cage - I spent $20.00, sold it for $100 and I kept over 150 of the cards to sell later.  

I see a good trend for me in these posts - I am buying more to sell and less to keep.  YAY ME!  And, what I do sell is garnering better money.  That is mostly thanks to The Junk Ranch (Hey AMY!) and having a venue to sell higher priced items.  Searching for the perfect quirky things to take to the Junk Ranch has become a hobby within itself.  I never would have been able to sell the globe or the BINGO cage on ebay because of their size (okay, maybe I could have sold them, but shipping would have been a bear and the price would have been low to compensate for that.) 

Thanks for riding along with me this year and reading about all my junk.  This year has been short on journeys and I miss them.  Maybe this year I will get out a bit more and do some fun things.  Hopefully!

Happy New Year you guys - you really do mean the world to me!