Summer. Ugh. I hate summer. The heat - the sweating - the sun. All of it. The only saving grace is usually yard sales. But, this year, there have been surprisingly few sales that I have deemed worth stopping at or getting up early to attend. There was a Community Sale in a neighboring town the first weekend in July. There were supposed to be about 30 people set up selling. I decided to get up early and go - it helped that the sale started at 10:00 since I am not a 5:00 am kinda gal. You'd be proud of me - not only did I get to town before 10:00, I was early enough to be the first one in a thrift when they opened. Not only that, the guy that let me in said, "The whole store is half off today." Whoop! Sadly, I don't remember what I bought there, but I know I got a few things and I got to be the first person to use the restroom which is always a bonus.
When I got to the Community Sale, it wasn't supposed to be opening for another thirty minutes, but people were already shopping., including my very own Father. He has very little patience, so I figured he would be gone before I got parked and in the shopping area, but I managed to catch him. He likes to walk fast and skim the booths - I like to look at everything. Just because it looks like baby stuff, books and toys - there might be a vintage treasure in there. The best booth was being run by the event organizer - a local vintage store had donated three truck loads of smalls and they were selling it all "fill a Bag" style for $5.00. I filled up three bags and I should have bought more. There was some good stuff in there. I think the reason it hadn't sold and was therefore donated, was that the prices were really expensive.
Case in point - these pieces of framed art. They are lovely and very nice and I know they will sell. But, that little bird piece in the upper left? It's Mexican Feather Art and it was priced $115! Yowza! I will ask $18, I think. It was interesting to read all the tags and see the prices on each item. I got a lot of great stuff, but most of it went straight to the booth - souvenir plates, coffee mugs, vintage this and vintage that.
Yesterday I went to the Goodwill on the other side of town and scored a good amount of vintage. The Christmas ornaments are vintage - not particularly amazing, but they'll still sell. Sometimes I just need quantity to fill up my booth. The jadeite piece has been cracked and glued, but I will stick a bottle brush tree in it and decorate it so you'll never know. The little painting and the Thermos will go to the Junk Ranch as well. It is hard to let a fabulous Thermos go, but I do my best. The baking pans are Silver Beauty Brand. I saw a wall hanging made with each little cup made into a diorama, so I will try to make a couple of those. The pottery - well, you KNOW I am keeping the pottery. It was 78¢.
The old enamel cups will stay with me - we use them all the time. The Bedroom Mood Meter was an Instagram hit. Naughtiness! The wool throw will be added to a pile I am accumulating for TJR. The AutoBridge game just looked interesting, so I grabbed it.
This picnic basket is so bright and colorful! I thought someone had magic marker-ed it up, but that's how it was made. It is made by Basketville and it's a good one. I hardly ever let a picnic basket go, so I will keep it. It was only $4.00, so I can warrant that price as a keeper!
I found this tablecloth rolled up and taped shut, but it looked old and colorful plus it was only $2.00, so I took a chance. It eneded up being a vintage Black Americana tablecloth and in perfect condition. It's worth about $100, but it will go in my collection.
In addition to Vintage Christmas at the Fall Junk Ranch, I am trying to gather vintage toys to be bought as presents. This 1980's Easy bake oven isn't as "vintage" as I prefer, but still vintage enough that some 80's baby would love it. It works and gets hotter that heck.
This handmade oversize dollhouse will be at The Junk Ranch complete with furniture, a wreath on the door and a little Aluminum Tree. It's about 4 feet long. It was a happy find - someone worked really hard to make it, wallpaper the walls and make rugs for the floors.
I skidded to a stop when I saw these old blowmolds at a yard sale. Best part? They were in the FREE bin! The two bigger ones will be sold, the smaller on in the center went in my collection. Although I haven't decorated for Halloween in two years. Ahem. I need to cull it out, I guess. The whole sale was craft kits from the 1960's and 1970's. I bought a bunch of them and left my name and number when they said they had a storage building full including old Christmas craft kits. That could be a literal gold mine.
The Goodwill in a neighboring town was void of anything good, so I bought a Velvet Elvis so I wouldn't leave empty handed. I thought I'd throw it in the booth for a few bucks, but it turns out that Velvet Elvis is worth around $125. I wouldn't pay that much. I had to think long and hard to pay the $3.00 it was priced. :D
August brings "Bargains Galore on 64" which is the 100 mile yard sale crawl I go to each year as my birthday present. There is talk that this is the last year because a 78 year old lady currently organizes it and wants to retire. But, so many people, churches and organizations rely on this as a yearly fundraiser, I think it will continue. From what I read, the lady makes the flyers, prints them, drops them at each town and puts them out and about. I think each town could do that themselves, or really just rely on social media and eliminate the paper trail. Or get an app and go all 2018. At any rate, I am looking forward to it. It'll be so HOT. But, the car has A/C, we'll have the YETI full of ice water and there will be snacks, good company and junk. What else do you need?