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, October 01, 2009

A Tisket, A Tasket, My 17th Picnic Basket

The Thrift Gods have not been smiling down on me lately. I have been to a few thrifts, but left empty-handed. I haven't even been to a garage sale in two weeks. I've been de-cluttering a bit, crafting and doing school, so no time for much else. Looking through the old blog, I see that I have only bought two things in the past two weeks!
Today, on the way to the grocery store, I managed to run into one of my thrifts. I only bought one thing.

A Travel Scrabble Game which had these itty bitty wooden tiles in it. Those are regular Scrabble tiles on to, the tiny Travel tiles are on the bottom. I only wanted the tiles for projects and such.

As we were leaving the thrift, I spotted an OPEN sign on an old Mechanic's Shop and I could see what appeared to be a big garage sale inside the doors. When I got inside, I saw a huge amount of STUFF - piled to the ceiling and stacked everywhere. There was a lady pricing things ad she told me to "Come on in", so I did. I found a lot of things that interested me, but the prices were a bit more than I am accustomed to paying. Let's face it, I am cheap. I did see two pieces of McCoy Pottery for $8.00 each that I really, really wish I would have gotten. But, I only have $20.00 in my yard sale budget this weekend and I didn't want to spend it all. The lady told me they would be there for a few months, so I will be going back. And, if no one beats me to it - those McCoy vases will be mine. I spotted these boxes of Shiny Brites and Coby ornaments up high on a shelf. I asked the magic question - "How much?" and the lady told me 50¢ a box. So, $2.00 for everything pictured. The big teardrop green one and the red lantern shaped one are plastic, but I still think they are neat. None of them are overly special, but they will make a great wreath base. It's funny - this morning I had been emailing back and forth with a sweet girl that contacted me through my blog (Hi Amy!) - I had told her that I hadn't found any vintage Christmas yet this year and I was due to find some. Low and behold, within the hour I had found these ornaments. (Maybe is a taste of what is yet to come). I found the JAPAN Elf head behind the ornaments, so the lady threw it in too.

And, lurking under a table, what did I spy?

A picnic basket. Another picnic basket. Not a red one, but still a good one. It was $7.50, which is a bit more than I usually pay, but still cheaper than an old Rubbermaid Tote. When I mentioned wanting a red picnic basket, the lady said she thought she might have one at home.

Oh, yes, I will be going back.....

7 comments:

  1. Love the shiny brites...great find! Hope you can score a red picnic basket on your next trip..
    xo
    Pam

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  2. Morning Shara Good for you finds...esp the picnic basket. LOL Cheaper than a plastic tote! I like that...it's how I feel about my funky old suitcases! Those darn plastic storage boxes have gotten so expensive and they have NO character! Have a great weekend...it's Friday!! ps really liked your previous blue sky, no blogging post. Great pictures...fun day with the Bean! *elaine*

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  3. Me again RE: the Scrabble tiles...have you found the red ones yet? They come with the Deluxe edition with the turntable built into the bottom of the board...and the tiles are deep red. Found one last week @ the TS and only paid $1.00! *e*

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  4. Good morning--LOVE those Shiny Brites! I just posted about what I kept from the Monkeybox box at katespikesspot.blogspot.com. What fun!

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  5. Great Christmas ornies, and I've got my fingers crossed that any day now you'll get that red basket you've been waiting for! Hope that lady comes through for ya!

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  6. The tiny scrabble tiles are too cute!
    How fun to find the glass ornaments
    and that's a great price.
    Happy hunting this weekend.
    I'm staying home :( spent all my money and the check from HQ wasn't as big as I was hoping.
    Deb :)

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  7. I am drooling on your Shiny Brites! Why cant I find these darn things?!

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