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.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

The Weekend in Junk

Well, now.  It's been awhile since I was able to post with that title, hasn't it?  Friday was carved out as a day for The Bean, so no sales or thrifting for me.  (And BOY did I pass a heck of a lot of signs along the way.  I just kept chanting in my head, "Be a good Mom, be a good Mom...." as I passed sign upon sign.  We went to see "Divergent" which was very good then the movie arcade from some friendly competition.  Seeing my boy with a machine gun isn't something I enjoy.  But, he was shooting Zombies, so that's okay.

So, flash forward to Saturday - I got up and went looking for sales!  I found an unadvertised Church parking lot sale, two yard sales and hit two thrift stores.  I din't find a lot, but that's okay.  It was more the therapy of getting OUT and looking for JUNK that I needed.

Church Sale Finds:

Or rather, make that Find as in singular.  There wasn't much left but I found this in the bottom of the box of stuffed animals.  When I went to pay, everyone wanted to know where I found it because no one had ever seen it.  I swear this happens to me ALL THE TIME.  Does it happen to you or is it just me?

Next stop: Super Cheap Thrift:


I love these old "Mother" pins.  This one has an actual rose on it from Oregon.  It's a bit different, but it will go with my collection.  

Some junk for the booth.  People love those "vintage" cracker tins.  They are from the 80's and that is not "vintage" to me.  Yet, I will sell it to them.  :D

I picked up this brand new security blanket hoping it was one of those that is worth hundreds of dollars.  It wasn't.  What is up with people having that kind of cash when they have babies?  Dude, we could barely afford diapers and formula - not a couple hundred bucks for a security blanket!  Jeepers!

Second thrift store:  

A Red Wing gravy boat.  When I went to pay for it, the lady took it over to the window, held it up to the light, said, "HUH!" then brought it back over to the register and said, "Somebody glued that bowl to that tray!"  She decided that 50¢ was a good price since it was "damaged".  Silly lady.  That is my second favorite gravy boat story.  Here's my first.

Last stop:  One more yard sale.


A heavy old Swingline Stapler, a Elementary School Dictionary and a local HS Yearbook from 1960.  I have gotten many chuckles from the groovy hairstyles and cat-eye glasses.  

I spotted a box under a table that said "Christmas" on it, so I drug it out for a looksie.  There were new strands of lights and an ugly tree skirt, but there were two boxes full of ornaments in there too.  I decided to spring for the whole box since it was only $3.00.

I ended up with a bunch of plain Shiny Brites, a honeycomb bell, a tree topper and some flocked ornaments.  Not really awesome old vintage Christmas, but I am hoping it is just a teaser of things to come.  

I wish I had found more or something AMAZING.  But I found some things to use in crafts and to sell, so I guess it was a win-win for me.  

It's Spring Break and that is usually a good start to the yard Sale season.  Bring on da junk!




9 comments:

  1. At least you know that you will be protected during the Zombie Apocalypse :-)

    Horray for the Vintage Christmas!!

    ~Erica

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  2. One more gravy boat story and you'll have a collection! I love those old Swingline staplers and buy them whenever I see them. They're heavy duty and last forever.

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  3. The gravy boat cracked me up and I love the little deer in that box of Christmas. Looks like a pretty good haul to me!

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  4. mmmm... I could DEFINITELY go for a BOAT LOAD of GRAVY RIGHT.NOW!! ~And since I'm still wearing my 'snow-suit', and by the looks of the snow that came down yesterday and is still coming down this morning - I will probably NEVAH have to worry about fitting into a 'swimsuit' (or is it bathing suit these days??)!! Load up those comfort laden Boats -O- Gravy, send out the ice barges first (filled with some of your FANTASTIC vintage goodness of course), and 'ship' them all NORTH!!
    Please.

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  5. The gravy boat story is funny, what a fun find. I haven't had much thrifting luck lately, either. But I'm going to keep at it!

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  6. Anonymous12:54 PM

    I picked up a Ritz cracker tin from 1970s from my local thrift/antique mart for $6; not too vintage but in better condition than older ones that are too rusted to actually use in my 1970s retro kitchen! Cute gravy boat!
    GADawn57

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  7. Yep, when the zombies are coming to eat your face off, you'll be glad you stopped and let him play with the machine guns.

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  8. Hey! No laughing at the 60s hairstyles! We thought we were so cool! ;-) love the Christmas things you found, hope it's just the beginning of a great season of yardsaling/thrifting.

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  9. Anonymous10:48 PM

    I bet that mug says "Wall Drug, South Dakota" - ?? yes? I live 50 miles from there. Enjoy reading your blog!

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