The Week in Junk: Pickin' Time on 59

In the last month I have closed my booth, donated about half of it, sold at the Junk Ranch then donated about a fourth of that (leftover booth stuff), cleaned in my office donating a pick up full of things, cleaned out the shed and donated some things and cleaned out our closet and donated and sold a lot of things.  Sometimes I think about the number of items I touch in a day with buying, cleaning, marking, packing, displaying, donating, etc and I get overwhelmed with STUFF.  But, then the STUFF bug bites me and I need to go find more stuff.  The old stuff here at the house is BORING. I need NEW old stuff.  In short, I think I have a mental illness.  :)  

Thursday I went to Pickin' Time on 59 which is a 26 mile long yard sale jaunt through several small towns.  You are in Arkansas the entire time, but you start at the Oklahoma line and work your way to the Missouri line.  BTW, I prefer these mile long sales over city side sales because they are all along the highway in clear sight and you don't have to venture all over town (and possibly get a flat and be stranded.  Ahem.)

First stop was a bathroom break and to trade in a winning lottery ticket.  I had treated myself to a $10.00 scratch off after the Junk Ranch and I "won" $10.00.  It's no fun to break even, so I saved it to trade in at a new store.  I chose a $10.00 ticket again and I WON $50.00 on one scratch and 10x $5.00 on another scratch for a total of $100.00.  Woohoo!  I had allotted $100 for yard sales and food for the day, so it was a free day!

On to the sales~  At the beginning of the jaunt, there is a field in front of the airport with about 70 vendors set up.  That is the main event.  We were there about two hours or so then continued on to the next tiny town and hit several spots where there were multiple vendors set up .  Those are really the best ones to go to because you might find one thing here and there or a lot at each vendor.  You never know.  

I filled up two totes at the airport for not much at all.  There were a variety of sellers there from yard sale junk with yard sale prices to booths full of new knives and Hot Wheels to booth of high priced vintage and antiques.  One guy had some older stuff, but it was dirty and unorganized in old boxes (I'm not saying any of that is BAD), but he said "Make an Offer" and I HATE that.  Hate it, hate it.  I had four items and he said, $5.00 after I begged him to name a price.  I countered at $4.00, which I honesty really never do, then he said, "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"  Then I felt awkward.  That's why I say, PRICE YOUR JUNK.

On the last aisle of booths, I spotted a nice old birdcage on a stand, but there was a lady looking at it. The lady selling it said it was $10.00 and I knew it was a great deal.  Then the shopper asked if she would take $5.00 and I knew that was not a nice thing to be doing on an already great price.  She said she had a lot of interest in it and was sure she could get $10.00 for it, so the shopper turned away.  I stepped in and handed her the $10.00 and thanked her for a great price.  She was happy that I was happy.  That's how I feel when I sell something to someone that is happy to find it.  

On to the next town and a few stops at different multiple vendor sales and a big open air market at a flea market.  I bought several things, none of which I can specifically remember because I found THIS.

A darling bunny girl pose doll.  FOR A DIME.  She is pristine.  I already have an identical one and she is honestly one of my favorite possessions.  Like, I would put her in my pocket if I had to out run a flood.  So to have another one is just icing on the cake.  I can keep her with no guilt since she only cost a dime.  I really do try to sell more than I buy anymore.  But sometimes, some things just have to stay with ME!

The car fulled up with lots of good stuff.  My last stop of the day netted that awesome plaid blanket and both of the Thermos bottles for $1.00 each plus a nice bag full of vintage Christmas for a few more dollars.  I love it when the last stop makes you feel like you had a successful day.  

This is NOT a political view in anyway.  I just find it interesting that someone would take the time to put this HUGE sign in their front yard.  This was at a house and I assumed it was advertising their YARD SALE, but nope.  'Murica.

After the yard sales were over, I did a great MOM thing.  I took my baby to the CASINO and taught him how to gamble.  Because that's the kind of Mom I am!

We pretty much lost that $100 I won earlier in the day, but we had fun!  We started on the Penny Machines which I hate.  I was playing one and the screen lit up and bells started ringing and this huge Wheel of Fortune thing started spinning above my head and I grabbed his hand in excitement and it spun and it lit up and.........I won $1.75.  Whomp-Whomp.  We moved on to the 25¢, 50¢ and $1.00 machines and we even played the $5.00 machine once.  Big spenders!  It was a learning experience and a fun day.  By the end of the say, I had spent $107 dollars for all the things I bought, lunch at Sonic, dinner at the Casino (which is not cheap) and three hours of gambling.  Not bad.

A few pictures of the goods:

I showed this on Instagram - I bought these things from five different sales, but they all go together like I bought them at the same time.  I love it when that happens.   I think those Mobile Home tags are sort of cool.  Glamping is in now.  I love those old red Bakelite dominoes and the Thermos have worked their way into my collection.  

Nice bag full of old Christmas seals from the Thermos/blanket sale.  I love these old seals, but I have no idea what to do with them.  I have an old candy tin filled with thousands of them and I just like to look at them and sort them.  Someday I will think of a use for them!

Friday I went to a five family sale, but everything I bought belonged to "T" because "T" had good old stuff for cheap.  I'm pretty sure those stickers might cost almost a nickel each....."T" was my kind of gal!

I have put myself on a "no tins" and "no old books" rule.  I guess you can see how well that is going for me.  :D  I have plans for the tiny candy tins.  The old books date from 1872-1932.  I love just holding something that is nearly 150 years old.  

Odds and ends.  That's a Poodle bottle cover kit on the right.  I love to buy old craft kits. Not sure if it will sell or not, but I had to grab it.  

I have never seen these old melted popcorn decorations for anything other than Halloween and Christmas.  Wrong time of year for them, but you have to buy it when you see it.  

This is the first one of these I have ever found.  It is missing the light up base, and a couple of the lights are missing, but it's in otherwise good condition.  People LOVE these things.  I do not.  But, nostalgia is a good thing no matter what the object of affection might be.  I bought this in the middle of the airport filed and carried it all over that darn field.  Super heavy!  

A little Christmas here and a little Christmas there always adds up at the end of the day.  I have several of those old toilet seat covers and they never sell.  But the cute PINK factor won me on this one.  (His eyes are covered up when the lid is lifted, in case you have never seen one.)

Cute Santa and Ms. Claus.  I hate that they say Xmas.  It's not even a religious thing - I just think that is a lazy way to write Christmas.  But, their cuteness outweighs that fact. 

One lone spun head I dug out of a box of junk.  

Super cute little dudes.  One of their hands is missing, but I will find something to glue there and no one will be the wiser.  

So, that was a long winded post, but it has been a long time since I had a Week in Junk post.  The yard sale season will be winding down soon, but I plan on shopping while it's still good.  I'm still trying to get a new booth and ebay sales have been good lately.  Plus our college booth is doing really good right now.  I say all this so I can persuade myself that I really DO NEED TO SHOP.  Ha.