The Week in Junk & An Expanded Booth

Tuesday Lara and I met up at our booth and took over the set of shelves that is right next to our booth.  When you walk into the long aisle that leads to our booth you can see this set of shelving. Previously the person that had that set of shelving had a lot of scrapbooking stuff, hot rod magazines, Christmas clearance items and the thorn in our side - the famous pumpkin sweater.  They would hang that pumpkin sweater on the board that separates each set of shelving from the next so it would stick way out into the vision line of our booth.  This was in July, by the way, you know - when Pumpkin sweaters are ALL THE RAGE.  Lara and I would often move it down lower on the board so it wasn't right in the line of vision or maybe even (THE HORRORS) move it to the wire grid IN their booth. It drove us crazy with it's tackiness, but since Lara and I are the nicest people EVER, neither one of us ever complained about it.  We did contemplate even actually buying the darn thing, but then what if something equally awful was put in it's place?  We can't buy all the ugly sweaters, can we?  We just worked around it until one day, out of the blue, the owner said, "I'm kicking that lady out next to you - you want those shelves?"  We talked about it for a hot minute and said "YES!"  It's worth the extra $15.00 a month for each of us just to be able to keep it neat and not covering up our stuff.  Plus, since you see it when you walk in, it makes you go straight to our booth in the corner.  Added bonus - Now I can sell my very own stash of PUMPKIN SWEATERS.  Snort.  

Here is our big corner booth.  

*See those big flash cards?  I have a bunch of them, so I framed several and put them in both booths. I sold ten at $15.00 each this month in this booth.  I didn't even think they would sell to the clientele there either.  Surprise!  They are 11 x 14 frames and super hard to find affordably, so I am constantly on the hunt for them.  

And now the set of shelves beside it.  

Lara worked her magic and put up a cute back on the shelves to hang her prints and display vintage goodness under it.  I put all the Razorback and red/white stuff on the bottom two shelves to make a cute display.  I have too much stuff and always seem to take up more space than Lara.  I have told her to shove my stuff to the back or tell me to get rid of things.  But because she truly is the nicest person EVER, she just lets me cram my crap-ola in there.  I will say that stuff sells in that booth.  My other booth is very stagnant and I will probably have to make some decisions about that once the Junk Ranch is over.  It's so odd, I have the same sorts of things in both booths.  One stagnant, the other doing very well.  

Anyway, I think the booth and the shelves look great and I know we will see an increase in sales, so that's always a bonus!

On with the JUNK:  I went to a huge Church Sale on Friday afternoon.  Everyone always blogs about Church Sales, but we really don't have any big ones here.  But, Thursday I saw a photo of a Church Sale and it took my breath away because it was indeed - HUGE!  Friday morning was a stormy wet one and I don't venture out in the rain.  But it cleared up about noon, so I headed that way. I did find quite a bit of good stuff, so it was worth the trip.  

From Goodwill - PINK Lucite grapes and green Lucite grapes.  Vintage at Goodwill is a rarity, so this was a happy find.  I found the green ones and carried them up and down the aisles, then on my second round I spotted the PINK ones on the shelf right behind where I had picked up the green ones. How did I not see them then?  Anyway, I am glad I did find them.  I'm going to put them on ebay then in the booth if they don't happen sell.

I found this Jayhawk hat at the Church Sale.  It is hard plastic and unlike any others I can find on the internet.  It is dated 1980 so I am hoping someone will like it - it is on ebay.  My radar is always on for Razorback and Jayhawk stuff.  

From the Church Sale - test tubes.  242 test tubes to be exact.  I found a bag full, then another and then more and more.  I have a huge amount of glitter that I really need to sell.  I was thinking test tubes full of glitter would be a fun way to sell it. Now I need 242 Size 3 corks.  Did you know corks come by size?  Me neither. But now we both know!  

Remember how I talked about buying in bulk on my last post?  Well, here is a great example.  I found a plastic baggie full of vintage Children's scissors.  I hemmed and hawed about it then I realized that I just HAD to have them!  When I counted them there were thirty pairs of scissors in that bag.  I need to think of a clever idea for them.  Or I will put them in a tin and sell them by the piece at the Junk Ranch.  They really are just the sweetest little things.

   

Church Sale:  This pink chenille tree had so much new dollar store junk on it that I almost didn't notice that it was a PINK CHENILLE TREE.  Uh, hello???  I still can't decide if it's old or a reproduction.  Truthfully, I don't really even care because it is a PINK CHENILLE TREE.  It's delightful.

Church Sale:  These little bisque dolls came in their own little wicker basket.  They are about three inches tall and just the sweetest.  There was a table of older things and I spotted these dolls and a very old porcelain baby doll with sleepy eyes.  I asked how much and a girl at the table told me $2.00 for the small ones, $5.00 for the larger ones.  So, I grabbed these and the baby doll.  When I went to pay (I always take a small load up when things aren't priced to get a feel for what the prices will be) my total for about seven things was $34.00.  "What the heck?" I asked.  The guy told me that my baby doll was $25.00.  YIKES.  I said that I was told it was $5.00, but I understood and I would put her back.  Poor thing.  I really wanted to rescue that baby!

Church Sale:  I managed to find a bit of vintage Christmas on the tables and in the boxes under the tables.  It's always fun to dig through  plastic ornaments and ugly garland and new sets of lights and then find one lone spun head angel at the bottom of the box.  Makes it worth the effort it took!  Most of this will go to the Fall Junk Ranch.  I might have to keep the little Lefton Candy Cane girl.

Today I went to a rare Sunday sale and found a few unique items.

A pocket fetal Doppler system.  I mean, this is a new thing for me to find at a yard sale, that is for darned sure!  I paid $2.00 for it and put it on ebay.  It seems to work although I don't have a pregnant belly to try it out on.  THANK YOU JESUS. :D

These glasses, or so I thought, were unique enough to pick up.  As I was washing them, I spotted a signature on the bottom of each of them.  A flashlight, some sunlight and a magnifying glass later and I could finally make out FENTON on the bottom.  (Man, getting older is FUN!)  They are as big as glasses, but are actually votive holders.  Not sure if they will go on ebay or the booth or ? 

I got a box of old papers to sort through - tax receipts from 1938, birth announcements, baby bracelets, Christmas cards, letters, Pharmaceutical receipts, car tag forms and lots of other old papers from the late 30's to the late 60's.  So far, that little birth announcement for a Christopher (!) and that little beaded baby bracelet sure won my heart over.  

I have a buys few weeks ahead of me - The Junk Ranch is June 10th and that is surprisingly little time to do all that I need to do - and keep up with the bigger booth and my booth and ebay and the house and on and on and on.  Oh yea, and I'm still trying to find the Breadman a new job and a part time job for me.  WHO NEEDS TO SLEEP?  Me, that's who.  Good night!