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, August 06, 2009

More JUNK

I saw an ad in the paper today for a "Grandma's Clean Out Sale" that happened to be about a block away, so I had to go. Had to. Grandma herself was running the sale, and Grandma knew her stuff, so things were priced appropriately so. I about fainted when I saw a stack of random Jadeite dishes on one table. I have never ever seen a single piece of Jadeite. I glanced at the price hoping to see 50¢ or $2.00 or ??? and saw $61.00 for the set. Yikes! Not my sort of yard sale prices. After I bought a few things that I could afford, I drove around looking for any more Thursday sales. I found one out on a dirt road waaaay out of my usual route. But, I scored some very good things there at very good prices. So, it was worth it to go outside my regular zone. On the way back home, I drove past a house where a lady lives that has sales chock full of old cool stuff just to see if she was having a sale. There was a sign on her corner, but it was at another house. As we were headed home, I spotted one last sale and stopped at it. That's when I spotted the a fore mentioned lady at that sale. I thought she was shopping, but she was actually having the sale - it was her Grand daughter's house. So, I got to go to her sale in the end anyway. This came from Grandma's Clean Out Sale. It was $4.00. I like the "legs" on the bottom. It's different than most of the old printer's drawers I usually see.
Here's the old handle on the printers tray. I am forever picking up little things - I just got a teeny pair of handcarved wooden shoes not too long ago. I need somewhere to put all those teeny things. This will be perfect.

I got these two old motel chairs at the sale out of my regular area. Generally when I see these at yard sales they are either a) very expensive or b) being used by the people at the sale. They are hard to come by! I paid $5.00 for the white one and $2.00 for the red one. I really don't know why one was more than the other. I actually like the red one the best anyway. I now have eight chairs and a two seater glider. I really don't need anymore. But, at around $3.50 each, I had to rescue them for my own.
This awesome old metal stool was at the same sale. It was only $3.00. It is exactly the right height to reach my kitchen counters. I do everything at the kitchen counter from cooking to paying bills to my crafts to you name it. And, every once in awhile I gets tared and wants ta sit.
Two old trays with flowers - 25¢ each, two old dolls - 75¢ total and a painted milk glass apple for 25¢. The Bean said, "Why did you buy this? You don't like milk glass." I found it very interesting that he actually knew that I don't like milkglass. He really pays attention to what I say! *Milk glass lovers, don't hate me. I just don't care for it. ;o)

Another folding ruler. I think I have seven or eight now. It was $3.00. I keep picking them up since they are desirable (and I like them). I keep thinking I will never find any more, so I better buy the ones I do find.
A sweet vintage handmade pincushion for $1.00. People certainly used to go to a lot of trouble for utilitarian things, didn't they?



Two vintage tablecloths - $1.00 each. Each badly in need of a soak, but I think they will come out clean enough to make me happy.

Four fishing net bobbers for $1.00. They were in a big ugly modern looking hurricane vase. I asked if they went with the vase and the lady told me they did. I said, "Well, I really just liked the glass balls, so thanks." "Well, then you can have them for a quarter each". Okey dokey.

Three fun vintage pins - two poodles and one mouse for 25¢ each. The mouse's glasses lift up and down - it's funny.

Now, this is sort of boring, but still kind of fun. Glass jars for storage. They are smallish - about five inches tall. All uniform and exactly alike.
There's 35 in all. Enough to store all the beads, buttons, bits and bobs and other such things that I have in my crafting stash. And then some. I envisioned painting all the lids white or maybe even pink as yellow is not my color at all. But, most of the jars have 11/11 written on them. Since The Bean was very small, he would see 11:11 on the clock and get excited. It turned into "smooching time". Which was a kiss on each cheek at 11:11. He has looong outgrown "smooching time" (boo-hoo), but he still likes it when he sees it is 11:11. So, at least a few jars will have to keep those 11/11's. Oh yes, all thirty five jars were a total of $1.00. A good deal!
It is crazy muggy here after all that rain. It was super hot, muggy and so sticky here today. Good days to stay in the A/C. We were hot gross messes after our short yard sale run this morning. We had over three inches or rain, but y Dad who lives about 20 miles to the East had no rain and my Mom who lives 20 miles to the West had just a normal short summer shower. It is crazy how different it can be from one place to another even though we are all pretty close to one another. There are more storms in the forecast, but who knows where it will actually hit this time!

12 comments:

  1. You scored on those metal motel chairs. I got one the other day for $10 which I thought was a pretty spectacular price...but you got me beat!

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  2. Shara...your finds are great..well worth the trip out of your usual zone. Leave the 11:11 on the jar lids...I can relate to the Bean on that, don't know why, or any significance, but I have always thought of 11 as one of my "lucky" #'s...who knows? The motel chairs, the tablecloths, Ooo and the printer's drawer...all great. I'm feelin' a bit tared right about now, how bout we sit in them chars and we can have a glass of sweet tea, and swap stories about all the junk we've ever found? My boss won't mind if I'm a tad late! Re: the printers drawer..not legs in a true sense...they're to keep the drawer from falling out of the cabinet when the printer pulled it all the way out to reach the back cubbies. It must be a BIG drawer, and would have been very heavy with all the metal letter thingies in it. Have a great weekend...TGIF *elaine*

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  3. The motel chairs brought back some sweet memories! My parents have a wooded camp of 40 acres (yes - party central when us kids were still at home!!). Dad would pick up those old metal chairs that people had put out for junk on the curb, bring them home, weld them back to sturdy, paint them up solid green and then take them to the camp, storing them under the pavilion, awaiting the next gathering. There must be over 50 of them there now!!! THANKS for the memories! (...and yes. I have taken a few of them for myself!)

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  4. Want to hear something weird? You found this stuff on my birthday...and I was born at 11:11 pm!

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  5. Great finds as always! Maybe one day I'll get lucky and find a printers drawer myself!

    Love the chairs, too!

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  6. Ooh, you got some great stuff, so jealous. I hate not being able to junk shop...sniff. Love the jars with the lids, that will be so cool for organization. Love your printers box, I so love mine and need to change it. it still says waiting for baby.

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  7. Those are Geri's pins I think and they would catch a pretty penny where I am from in SoCal. We have a bunch of vintage lovers down here. :o)

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  8. Those metal chairs are great - you always get great finds.

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  9. I adore visiting just to see what you have found!!! and I have not done that for a long time so here I am loving everything. Of course I work in a thrift store so understand just how much is tossed to the side and not not loved anymore until a gentle soul like yourself comes along.....a very good thing.

    Lee-ann

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  10. WOW!!! What a haul! Especially love the industrial stool and the folding ruler, I have a major thing for vintage rulers!

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  11. PocketChange12:03 PM

    Shara, you always find the coolest items! Love the printer's tray and the folding ruler the most, but also like everything else too. You will have to take a pic of the printer's tray when you have it filled up with all your miniature treasures!

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  12. LOVE the red heart pin cushion. I found a pattern for these on line and have made three. I should whip out the thread and make more . . . hmmm . . .

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