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.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

The Week in Junk 3/12 Edition

I seem to be finding a better variety of junk lately.  maybe that is a sign of things to come!  However, I drove about 80 miles round trip yesterday just to go to a thrift store.  Add in the price of gas and maybe that wasn't such a grandiose idea.  But, we were looking for something to do and wanted to see some new roads, so we headed out way past our usual tromping grounds.  We hit a thrift run by old ladies ( my fave) and a Goodwill in the swanky part of town which was too high priced for me.  I would say that I should have skipped it, but I actually found my favorite find of the week in there.  It's nice to buy armloads of things, but then again, sometimes it's nice to just find one or two GREAT things to make the day worthwhile. 
Here's what I found.  It's a solid glass egg.  It's old and it is decorated like those old sugar eggs.  
Take a peek inside and you see a little bunny and egg scene.  Adorable!   I've never seen anything like this.  I am going to gussy it us with some of my stash of vintage velvet ribbon and rickrack to make it even more special.  It was only $1.00 and I found it under a pile of Dollar General reject junk.  Dig!  Dig!
I found these at the "Old Lady" store for $1.00 each.  They are porcelain, old and very well made.  There are no parks on them.  I see fruit and vegetable boxes all the time, but these are not those.  These are very nice.  I must research them.  I am particularly fond of that tomato with it's stem and leaves.  I think it looks like a garden tomato and I can almost taste it!  Slurp!
There were the two small ones too - a lemon and an orange.  Tey are well made and nive too, but I like the larger ones that seem almost life size.
The Bean who is into knives and kitchen implements found these old knives for 25¢ each.  I don't think they are Bakelite, but I see some listed on ebay that say they are indeed Bakelite.  It really doesn't matter - The Bean likes them, so the will go into the "Kitchen Oddity" drawer.
I spotted about a five foot tall of tins that were all nondescript newer tins, but at the very bottom, I could tell that there was one old one.  So, I carefully restacked them and found this one.  What's that she's holding?  A cake?
Not just any cake - a HOSTESS Fruitcake.  A fine find for The Breadman's Hostess/Wonder Bread collection (that he has no idea that it even exists, but I call it "his" to justify it....)

This old terry cloth tablecloth is different than the ones I normally pick up, but I thought it would be a fun usable tablecloth to put in our picnic basket.  I carried it around the thrift, had it in the car and had it in the house and it seemed fine.  But, when I took it out to take a photo of it, I noticed that it smells exactly like my Grandmother's perfume.  And, that is not really a good memory.

I have had this doll for awhile.  I looked him up and he is a "Jack" doll of "Jack and Jill".  
When I spotted this doll at the thrift today, I knew I had found "Jill".  She needs some cleaning on her face and hat and I hope I can do it without ruining her.  
Two vintage Trixie Belden Books.  I loved these when I was a kid and I am tempted to actually read these.  After that, they will go to the booth.
An older See and Say - I seem to sell a lot of "old school" toys at the booth.  Items bought on a whim to give to their kids or grand kids.  
Three vintage Easter Baskets and a sad little old bunny that I felt compelled to rescue.  All booth bound.

A bunch of old wooden pants hangers and the neat old metal one too.  I see these on Pinterest being used to hold art or signs or notes.  I am thinking about making some sort of sign that has the Pinterest "Pin" on it and placing them on things in my booth.  Many of the other booths are actually making items from Pinterest.  There is a chalkboard frame in every booth and several book page wreaths and many other Pinned items.  So, instead of making items and charging big prices, I thought I would sell the bits and pieces and let people make their own.  What do you think of that idea?
Three nice older Native American weavings.  For my Mom is she wants them (do you want them Mumsie?) or to the booth if she doesn't.  
Some older Golden Books for the booth - again, these are impluse items to parents and grandparents.  

Now, for the keepers.  Well, in addition to the Hostess tin and the glass egg, that is.  You can't not keep a few things, right?
A set of nesting dolls, a great old gardening tool, a matte white pottery box, an old grater (I have a project in mind for that) and a Kewpie doll.  I have a big basket full of Kewpie dolls that I have rescued.  They are just too cute to leave behind.  

Lastly, (it's about time, huh?) I found something that I have never seen before or never knew existed but I LOVE.  Ready?

Vintage topiary forms.  I had no idea!  These are really neat - they would make great topiaries, but I think they are great for displaying jewelry or maybe paper items clipped to them with old binder clips.  I don't know whether to use them in the booth, in my house or just put them out in my gardening collection.  They are well over tow feet tall and have a great old patina on them.  Neat, right?


So, what did YOU find this weekend?


*Linking up to Apron Thrift Girl.  Check out all the other great thrifty finds this week!

16 comments:

  1. Wow Shara what a haul.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love those topiary forms, too! You could do a million and one things with those (including using them just the way they are). I don't know if those knives are Bakelite or not but I wouldn't trust eBay to know - there are people who label every kind of plastic (including ones with recycling symbols) as Bakelite and it makes me crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great finds as usual. the topiary forms I have a couple and do use them for my potted plants in the summer. It makes the vines intersting.
    love the egg can't wait to see how you doll it up.
    Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  4. Never seen topiary forms before - WAY COOL!! definite keepers, though I'm sure they will bring you $$$ when you are tired of them ;) Good eye!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You found some great and unusual items this week! Love that glass egg..amazing! Topiary forms are also pretty darn cool and I love the Hostess cake tin for the Breadman! Glad you had such a good weekend. hugs, Linda

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love everything! Really love the egg!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You could even go to Michael's and get tiny wooden clothespins to pin stuff to your topiary forms!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excellent haul! At first I thought the second topiary form was a hat stand, I've seen smaller ones of a similar shape that actually are meant for hats.

    Also please let me know if you ever decide to part with the glass Easter egg-- it looks like one I used to play with when I was a kid, it was my grandmother's but unfortunately it broke when we moved to Arkansas. Sadly I've never come across another one until your blog post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well worth the gasoline spent!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love the egg! and the kewpie doll. Fun finds.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Great shopping. Love the topiary forms. The handles look like horn but are likely a plastic made to look like horn. Just a guess.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Love the topiary forms, I have one like the round one that I use to display vintage hats.

    ReplyDelete
  13. That glass panoramic Easter egg is beautiful! I've never seen a glass one before. Well worth the dig, I'd say!

    ReplyDelete
  14. That glass panoramic Easter egg is beautiful! I've never seen a glass one before. Well worth the dig, I'd say!

    ReplyDelete
  15. As usual, great finds! I have had zero luck lately but I only go to one place occassionaly so let's blame it on that.

    I have those knives, too. Bean has fab taste. And I also loved Trixie Belden. Oh and the Bobsey Twins though I never see any of those. :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Love Trixie Belden, and I have been re-reading mine and ones I find at thrift stores. I love children's literature. And Trixie, Mart, Brian, Honey, Jim, and Di are tops in my book. :-) Great finds, as always, Shara!

    ReplyDelete

I love my comments. I'd love to respond to everyone, but if you don't have an email address tied to your ID, please sign your name so I will know who you are! It makes it nice to know who is saying what. Now, leave a comment! Please? ;o)

I Can See You!



Look at my Visitors!

Fellow Junk Followers