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.

Monday, December 07, 2015

Phone Dump

Thank goodness I decided to do these phone dump posts or I wouldn't have anything to blog about some weeks.  Not that my phone dump posts are all that terrific, but it's something.  I have my decorating done, but I don't want to start filling the blog up with all that quite yet.  It's pretty much the same as last year and the year before that with a few new things.  Small house plus small spaces equals not much room for changes. But, don't worry - I will have it ALL on here soon.  It's a great way for me to look back over the years and see what is the same and what I have changed up.  


We had our family Thanksgiving dinner on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  I set the table with what I call my Pilgrim tablecloth (it's more Dutch than anything, but the colors are right). vintage glasses, an old gold Anodized aluminum pitcher full of ice water, the family vintage gold "silver"ware and white dishes.  It looked pretty good.  We don't have a dining room, so for family dinners we clear out the coffee table and set up a table in the middle of the living room.  


The very next day I went thrifting and found a Ziploc baggie with turkeys in it.  I thought they were Gurley candles so I grabbed them.  But, they are actually chalkware turkeys marked JAPAN.  The folks on Instagram got really excited about them.  They are nice and I am happy I found them before they got damaged in that baggie.


Lara and I met up last week and did a big booth overhaul.  On the other side we had a long table with that cubby sitting on top of it.  The cubby is great for holding smalls and cups and such, but we knew that other side could hold SO much more if we could find some shelves.  Lara and I both went to thrifts looking, but we couldn't find any.  I was on Craigslist looking when a Facebook notification came up that someone in my own store was selling two sets of bookshelves for $15 each.  Kismet! We hated to lose the cubby but then I had an idea that it might fit on top of our one arrangement and it did!  Perfectly!  So we will have all that space for smalls and such PLUS the wall o' shelves.  


We also thought that maybe the long table would fit in front of the gallery wall and it did - like a glove.  We were on a roll!  I love all Lara's prints on that wall plus the capability of putting some on easels and using the table for more display.  That giant wire basket is great for holding bags of junk, which I am famous for - bags of junk!  Right now I have tons of older toys - Happy Meal Toys from the 80's and a bunch of cake toppers that are actually toys - Batman, Rugrats, etc.  I have a sign on there that says, "Toys Your Mom Threw Away".  They seem to be popular with the college crowd and the kiddos.  


The wall of shelves.  We really jut crammed junk on there that night.  We always have a Razorback section and I put all my ephemera on the bottom two shelves since I got rid on my metal rack.  I sell some, but not enough to warrant that big rack.  Plus, that rack is so cool, I really hate leaving it anywhere  - isn't that silly?  


Spotted this old hat at a thrift.  It was in bad shape, but the tag was cool.


This school bus was backed in the the curb, so it stuck waaay out into the street below.  It looked dangerous and humorous all at the same time.  have I ever told you that when I worked at the school the begged me to be a bus driver?  I cannot IMAGINE me - all 5'2" of me driving a school bus!  Not to mention laying down the law with high schoolers.  


This fun old 1930 Model A had a big Christmas wreath tied to the front grill.  I sent this photo to The Bean and he asked if I had gone back in time.  


This thrift store.  Oh, this thrift store.  I have a hate/hate relationship with this thrift.  I rarely ever go and trust me, it is OFF the list now.  About a month ago I went in and they were putting an aluminum Christmas tree together.  I asked if it would be on the floor soon and they said it would be the next day.  Now, this store is crazy high on their prices  but sometimes you can find something marked crazy cheap.  That's what makes me go from time to time.  So this tree could have been $3.00 or $300.00.  It's anyone's guess.  My Dad lives near there, so her went by the next day to ask about it.  No one knew what he was talking about (there are only two employees).  He went back four days in a row and it never appeared.  I SMELL A RAT.


So, Saturday I was driving by and made a stop.  HUGE MISTAKE.  There was an enormous wreath on the wall with this wonderful rubber face elf/pixie sitting in it.  You can see the NOT FOR SALE sign on the wreath.  But the elf was loose, so I asked and was told with a laugh - That's NOT FOR SALE.  Why do you put things out in a thrift store and mark them not for sale?  I don't get it!  She could have been $2.00 or $200.00 knowing that store.  But not for sale, WTH?  So, two times in a month I have left here with a pit in my stomach.  I am DONE.  


Saturday night we went to the local Christmas parade.  We were right at the beginning of the route and the people were lobbing candy at us like crazy.  I mean, we are three grown adults, we weren't expecting to get candy.  At first it was tiny candy canes that exploded when they hit the payment.  But then I noticed Snickers, Hershey Kisses and GOOD stuff that I never buy being lobbed at us.  SO, we grabbed it - 149 pieces in all.  We would have given it to the kids around us - but there weren't any!


I bought this oversized Smiley face mug for the booth after seeing Chanelle buy them.  The Bean admired it and said it would be perfect for Hot Chocolate, so it's his now.  I like ti when he appreciates my thrifted finds.  (When he was little and it snowed, we would go out in the snow and play.  To get him to finally go inside again, I would bribe him with a cup of hot chocolate.  One random day, his Dad asked him if he wanted a cup of hot chocolate.  He ran to the window and said, "But, it's not snowing?"  He thought you could ONLY have hot chocolate IF it was snowing.)

And finally - a thrifted item to sell.  Three Razorback Tervis tumblers. Pricey suckers at retail level!

Thanks for stoppingby - I'll be back with the CHRISTMAS WONDERLAND soon.  



12 comments:

  1. Love those chalkware turkeys! Nice snag!! The booth looks terrific - as usual. I'd be all done with that thrift, too. There's only so many times you can get that pit in your stomach... Looking forward to your Christmas decorating....

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  2. So much fun your random photo dumps!!

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  3. I always love reading your stories and seeing your finds! I agree, what's up with the "not for sale"??

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  4. I love the stories....thrift stores that cheat and sell stuff to dealers or keep??? I hear it happens, especially with furniture. I also have heard of stings catching the folk. Personally I'd bust them, but I'm revenge based (here hee). Your Smiley keeper mug is modern. Look for a taller thinner mug. Often marked McCoy. Of course I wouldn't drink from the older ones so perfect for hot chocolate!,

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  5. I found a bunchy of those turkeys at the flea market a few weeks ago! They still have their original store tag on them too.

    I love when our kids have a certain dish for something. Alex always calls a specific Pyrex dish of mine his Jello Bowl. It's even cuter when they are 19 and do it!

    ~Erica

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  6. I see something in your booth pics that I now own...Lara's framed print, "Keep your fork, there's pie". I saw that in one of your blogs and drove 300 miles to Daisies and Olives last weekend in hopes it would be there. It was. :) I didn't go to Fayetteville or I would've seen the booth in this post, just too sick after 15 miles of winding roads from Siloam Springs to Prairie Grove! LOL

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    1. My goodness! What a trip! I hope you came to NWA for something else in addition to getting your print! I love it - that's my favorite print of hers! Hope you had a safe trip to and fro.

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    2. We were in Tulsa for a couple of days to celebrate my birthday, because I love to shop River City Trading Post in Jenks, but my MAIN goal was D&O. Boy, was I thrilled to see the print when I turned the corner into her booth! I went across the street to your booth too and some ladies were hanging out in it, and since I didn't feel that great and felt weird about trying to shop over their shoulders, I left, but I'll plan a trip for another day to see it because it looked like a fun booth!

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  7. I love your blog and your phone dumps are always entertaining! I'm a school bus driver and if you ever do reconsider your career plans and join our ranks, I think you'd be great at it. A good sense of humor is one of the most important assets to have in this job and you've definitely got that. Good luck with your sales and keep sharing that good junk you find!

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  8. I want that rubber faced elf. That's too cool. Too bad the people at the thrift are idiots though :) I haven't found ANYTHING cool lately at the thrifts, so I've pretty much stopped my "look what I found posts". Hoping after Christmas it will pick up?

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  9. Always enjoy a good phone dump. Your booth looks great, those cubbies were too good not to use so glad you found a spot! I hate overpriced thrifts. I end up getting pissed and leaving and swear I'll never go back. Then I will stop again and get mad all over. But there are some Ive sworn off of for years. I am looking forward to your Christmas house tour. Love that the Bean claimed the smiley cup as his own. I have one of the Tervis Arkansas cups. They are pricey but you know I found that baby at a thrift store :)

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  10. Love that Smiley face! It's so positive and alluring! I'd also take it for hot chocolate. I adore it. Thanks for sharing! Your booth is really wonderful!
    Warm holiday coming hugs,
    Liz;)

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