Thank You's and Other Stuff

Hi.  I really wanted to thank everyone for the so very nice comments that you have been leaving.  I had already been feeling the love from all the postcards everyone had been sending to me and The Bean.  And, then everything happened here and I got even MORE love from all of you.  I really can feel it and I appreciate it so much.  No one from The "Bread"man's family has even called or left a Facebook message to him.  Kind of breaks my heart.  But, I had him read all the comments on here and all the messages on Facebook and it really helped him feel better.  Yesterday we went grocery shopping at Wal-Mart, which was his first and biggest stop of the day.  For some reason, half the people hadn't put two and two together until they saw him in civilian clothes shopping on a Monday.  The other half came running up and telling him what a great guy he is, asking for his number to pass on to someone that they know, etc.  One guy walked past and simply said, "Hey Breadman".  He said, "Not anymore".  Then the guys face just fell as he figured it out.  Then he said, "You're the hardest working guy I've ever known."  All that meant a lot to him.  So, thank you to everyone.  He signed up for unemployment because he has a right to it and now the job hunt begins.  He has some lines on a few things.  Need to hold out for the right amount of money or close to it - can't afford to take just any job.  But, that's the point of unemployment - it allows you to find the RIGHT job.  He has  a leg in with another bread company, so the Breadman might just remain.  This time with Sara Lee.  Which for me, Shara Lee, that is just plain WEIRD!  He does need a job, but I have told him to relax a bit - it's really only been two days that he hasn't had a job.  He's been sleeping about 12 hours a night, so I know he's exhausted.  

Saturday night we went to see the jolly old elf at our first Christmas parade which got me into the spirit big time!  Tomorrow begins the switching out of regular stuff into full on CHRISTMAS mode.  Woot!  The Breadman has a Razorback game to go to on Friday, so I can get some things done without him following me around.  (Yes, friends, he has only been home four days, but he is beginning to get on my nerves.)  MOney might be a bit tight, but to me, Christmas has never been about presents - it's about decorating the house, Christmas music, baking cookies, being together, etc.  (Oh, I do like presents, but it's just NOT all about the presents.)  

I worked at the Flea market today and the Christmas stuff is flying out the door - not only my stuff, but from all the booths.  They told me that one lady came in on Saturday - she drove to that town to come to that store to come to MY booth because she knew I would have vintage Christmas out.  :)  She spent $50.00!  Woot again!  I have a lot in there, but I hope I can keep finding more to put out.  We may be short a job over here, but I still have to get my thrift on!  (It is how I contribute, of course.)  

Today I took a load of blowmolds out to the booth.  I bought all of these this summer at one sale.  I had to keep the Snowmen and the Santa, but the rest are out there.  I hope someone else appreciates blowmolds.  I also took two huge wreaths that hung out side JCPenney's.  My Dad bought them when they built a new store.  They are about five feet tall and super nice.  

Do you remember my beloved vintage PINK tree?  Well, gulp, I've put it on ebay.  I do love it, but I have never actually worked it into my decorating scheme.  'Tis the season for vintage Christmas items, so I listed it.  I did put a fat Reserve on it, which I really don't like doing.  But, I'm not willing to just give the darn thing away.  It's a beaut and I hope it goes to a good home.  My Mom said, "Stop panicking and stop selling your stuff!"  (This was after a full day of listing on ebay, Etsy, YSJunkies and Craigslist).  But, I'm not.  It's just the ideal time to list a lovely vintage PINK tree.  *Sniff* :)

Ok, again - Thanks so much!!!  You guys really are wonderful!!!

No More Breadman

I'm sure everyone knows by know that Interstate Bands/Hostess ceased business today.  The Breadman received a call at 8:00 am telling him to drop all the bread he had, bring the truck in and go home.  That's it.

All day on the news they have been showing Twinkies.  Laughing about "no more Twinkies?  How will we exist?"  I woke up this morning to Good Morning America passing around Twinkies laughing it up about their last Twinkie ever.  It's about so, so much more than Twinkies.  I could just puke thinking it.

Needless to say, things might be quiet around here for awhile while we figure out what to do.  I'm sure I will have to re-enter the work force for the first time in 18 years.  But, I still have to Homeschool and educate my kid and get him ready for life.  He's 17, but he's a unique quirky kid.  A kid that is taking all of this very, very hard.  He worries about us so much.  He really takes a lot of the worry for us, and that is not a kid's job.  I don't care if he is nearly a man.  He's MY kid.  He has always been my top priority, and he will always be - but we have to pay the electric bill and the mortgage.

Monday we will look into unemployment, Mortgage Modification (to reduce payments while you are unemployed so you don't get behind) and a withdrawl from his Retirement account.  I know that last one is a bad idea, but, what can you do, right?  At least he has a retirement account since he wasn't employed directly through Hostess.

I appreciate all the comments and you don't even have to comment on this post.  I feel the love.  I really do.  I know everyone means well on here, on Facebook and in real life - "Things will get better, etc"  Well, they might someday, but for today, it sucks.  It really, really sucks.

Until I'm back - thanks for all your support. The Breadman Curtis and I really appreciate it.

Thanksgiving: Trying to Be Thankful

We are having Thanksgiving Dinner in my family on Sunday.  So, I better show my decorations before I send them all to the garage for another year.  I have more Thanksgiving/fall things than I should, but after I take down the Halloween and before I put out Christmas, there is a whole lot of empty space, so I fill it up with Fall stuff.  Any excuse to buy something if the price is right and hoard it.  

Annalee mice Pilgrims are a must. 

Gurley Candles too.  Have you noticed the Gurley Pilgrim candles in my header?  Waaay over on the far right?  Obligatory General Store for my Grocery Store collection.  

Sad half melted Gurley Pilgrims.  Face kind of has a burlap texture to it.  But, I saved them for a sale for 25¢, so they have a good home now.  What's that behind them?  Why, the Mayflower of course!  Constructed of a milk carton, construction paper and a straw by a much loved Kindergartner Bean.  (Those are the best kinds of decorations.)

The squirrel area.  I never meant to have a squirrel area.  I found one, then another, and another and well, there they are.  I threw in some acorns, some fall leaves and a pumpkin or two, too.  

Window above the couch.  Nice view, eh?  :)  The vintage thermos on the left had pretty fall leaves in it from the tree out back.  But then only lasted about three hours before they were brown.  

The turkey collection.  Mostly salt and pepper shakers, but no only one pair.  I find single turkeys all the time.  But, only one pair.  And it was such an UGLY pair, I can only imagine that they were never used so they remained intact all these years.  

Pumpkins, turkeys, and scarecrows.  I like to pile it all up.

One of my favorite areas - I love the old honeycomb turkeys.  

I think they look good on the picnic baskets too.

Now here's a weird area.  See that turkey?  Not the gobble gobble one in the back, but the "Mmmmmmmmmm......Tear me off a drumstick" turkey in the front?  Well, that's not just any stuffed turkey.  It's a HAT.  And it plays "Turkey in the Straw" while the drumsticks dance.  What?   You don't have one of those?  Hmm.  Don't tell anyone I do, 'kay?  (It was a recent find at Lowe's on Halloween and was reduced 80% so it cost about $3.00.)

Now, this is my favorite thing.  That is my Mom when she was a little girl posed by the turkey. And, she certainly looks happy about it.  I showed it to her not long ago and she said, "Well, I have always enjoyed a good turkey."  

Another squirrel, a pumpkin and a hint of what is to come......

**Trying very, very hard to be thankful this year.  But, it is super hard.  I'm sure everyone has seen on the news about Wonder Bread/Hostess.  As I write this, no one really knows what is going to happen.  The Breadman might not have a job soon and that is absolutely the most terrifying thought I have ever had.  He isn't even employed by Hostess.  He works for a distributor that gets the products out into the stores.  So, the people striking are affecting a lot more people than the 18,000 people they are quoting on TV.  Also, it seems to be a bit of a running joke - "Oh well, no more Twinkies.  Big loss. Ha ha."  Interstate Brands makes so many other products than just Wonder Bread and Twinkies.  They make the generic store brand breads that Wal-Mart and other stores carry.  They make the buns for Sonic, Chickfil-A, Hardees and many more National Chains.  They service school systems.  Sure, they make snack cakes like Twinkies and Ding Dongs, but also fruit bars and granola bars.  They make breads like Wonder Bread, but also Whole Wheat, Whole Grain and all sorts of healthy varieties.  They make tortillas that are used in restaurants and sold in stores.  They service Mom and Pop stores for their shelves and for their delis.  They service small town restaurants for their hamburgers and hot dogs.  They supply buns for high school football concession stands.  It's not just about the Twinkie.  It's about the lives of thousands of families.  Maybe mine.  And, that, is some scary stuff.  

Christmas at the Flea Market

Want to see a billion pictures of my booth?  Huh, huh, do you, do you?  I have worked on it for two days for a total of about seven hours.  That's a lot of time to stay in one small area working!  I pulled a ton of stuff.  I am getting a feel for what does and for what does NOT sell, so I pulled the dredges.  I have six full totes of items to sort tomorrow (some items coming to my Etsy store...) and then take to a thrift store far, far away.  I cannot stand to see the things I have donated on the shelves.  I feel like a Mom that left her baby on the curb when I see my castoffs sitting there. So, I take big donations to a thrift in the next city where I never go.  That way I can still go to MY thrifts and look for junk without saying, "That was mine, that was mine, that was mine.......".  

In the place of what I took out, I brought in a ton of vintage Christmas.  Two carloads, in fact.  I have been pricing it for about two weeks.  After working seven hours, loading in two carloads of Christmas and getting it all set up, the first lady in asked me..."Are you going to be putting any more out?"

Welcome to Booth #33.  There is a lot in there!  My booth is the only one in the entire flea market that is like a little store - everyone walks into it and does a 360 looking at everything.  I love it like that.  All the other booths - people just walk past while they glance inside.  Of course, most of the booths have big pieces like furniture and home decor and you can see it all when you walk by.

How do you like that 6 foot tall stocking?  I found that not too long ago.  I would hate to have to fill it up!  I mean, for SANTA to have to fill it up.....*Cough*  The tall white shelf holds the ephemera - letter car packets, Scrabble letter words, Scrabble tiles, Marquee letter words, old books, wooden letter cutouts, ephemera packets, packets of old keys and vintage games.  On the top shelf I have the owls and 60's stuff that I really don't care about buying or selling, but the do sell, so I do buy them.  I believe it using all the space I have - from the floor to the ceiling.  There's a lot to look at, but it's all neatly organized so people generally see what they want.

I attempted to get a little artsy with my displays this time.  It looks better in person.  There is a huge fluorescent light above my booth which makes it the best lit booth in the store, but makes it really hard to photograph.  Not to mention that lovely silver heating duct that is up there.  Only in Arkansas can you use Hog hats as Christmas display.

I've had this green shelf in the booth since the beginning.  It was actually in my old booth before that.  It cost $5.00 and was an ugly brown, but I painted it the lovely minty green.  People are always wanting to buy it...but, NO!

When I bought this pink shelf last week for $5.00, I hoped it would fit on top of the green shelf I already had.  I painted it white and hoped for the best.  

When I sat the white one on top - perfection.  They were exactly the same width.  

So, $10.00 for the shelves plus FREE paint I got in the mail and I have a wonderful display area.  I love the cubby effects of the white one.

I had a lot of individual ornaments that I wanted to sell.  I didn't want to try to work in a tree to display them on and I knew they would get tangled up in a tub or a box.  I ended up putting one to four ornaments in a cellophane treat bag, stapling the top then adding a folded over index card to make it look like a package.  I put them in old metal letter trays and now you can pull out a tray and look at the ornaments.  One lady was looking at them today and said my packaging was "brilliant".  Now, I don't think I would go that far, but I do think it worked out well.  I also used a couple of the Ben Franklin baskets on the bottom shelf.  One holds miscellaneous items I could't find a spot for and one holds about fifty Chalkware Nativity figures.

The cubbies each hold like items, snowmen, angels, Santas, Village items, etc.  More vintage on top and an assortment of my "Kitschmas Wreaths" on top.

Thanks for coming along on the tour.  Now, wish me luck that it all SELLS!

*My favorite and least favorite quote of the day:  "I bet all you do is shop."  Uh no, I don't, thank you.  I have a nice stockpile and, yes I do shop, but not all the time!

**One lady came in to work her booth  - her arms were loaded with Lowe's and Walmart bags.  She had stopped to buy garland, lights and ornaments to decorate her booth.  I needed those same things this morning, but I stopped at the Super Cheap Thrift and picked up a trash bag full of new garland and LED lights for $2.00 plus two dozen new red glass ornaments for 75¢.  I don't see how people can make money when they spend $50.00 on decorations.  Also, I am amazed when people come in and work their booth, then walk around and spend $50.00.

The Week in Junk: Vintage CHRISTMAS

I am getting a jump start on Christmas this year.  I have to package all my items, decorate my booth, put out all my vintage items for sale, cull through my things and decided what's to keep and what's to sell and then decorate the house inside and out.  I have been sorting things this week and pricing them at night while we watch bad TV.  (The men of the house think we watch good TV.  They are mistaken except for DWTS, Survivor and Modern Family.)  I sit in the floor of the living room and price everything, when I get a box full, I take it out to the car so it is ready to go to the booth on my next trip.  I am trying to be calm and organized because I HAVE to get things sold at the booth so I HAVE to decorate and set it up.  But, I WANT to decorate at home and see all my lovelies.  No, I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving!  The house is peppered with leaves, turkeys, acorns and squirrels.  I'm not jumping ahead.  I am just making preparations. 

I bought all this stuff at Goodwill and an an Estate sale run by some lovely ladies that read this blog.  (HI LADIES! 

Remember that PINK shelf?  Well, now it is all white and pretty.  I love the darn thing.  It's going to the booth, but I makes a great place to stage my Week in Junk photos!  

Nice older flocked tree to display in the booth with my ornaments that are for sale.  

You can see the flocking better in this photo.  (What is up with the sun going down at 4:30 and interfering with my photo taking??)  I think all my vintage ornaments will show up better on this old tree.  Plus, it was priced at a great price of $6.00 versus a new green tree the exact same size for $19.99.  

Yes, it's nearly Thanksgiving and Christmas is around the corner, but honestly, it will be Easter before we know it.  Okay, maybe not really.  But, I cannot leave behind a chippy old glittered bunny, so I had to bring it home.  

Old hurricane lamp with a bubble light - headed to the booth, sweet pixie planter - my second pixie item in less than a week and a wonderful old cellophane Christmas wreath.

The wreath is vintage, has a spun head angel, mercury glass pick, foil leaves and a wee Shiny Brite.  That, is perfection in a vintage Christmas item to me.

A long, long piece of a strange sort of garland.  It's scrunched up paper, I think, but I'm not sure.  It was given to me when I bought the wonderful old tree topper and the two old bottle brush trees.  I love the old trees with the red bases.  

Model train trolley for the booth, a Bucilla Stocking kit headed to ebay and a box of old fraction flashcards to be sold at the booth too.  Bundles of flash cards are good sellers for me.

I spotted this Longaberger wine caddy basket complete with liner and cloth bag on the cart that was being wheeled out at Goodwill.  Luckily, they don't mind if you take things off the cart there, so I grabbed it.  The small crystal vase was taped over and held all those little forks and such.  I have a drawer full of those darn tiny forks and knives.  I have no idea why, but I do!

Inside the vase with the tiny forks, I found a very sweet surprise.  A tiny set of sterling silver sugar tongs.  They are only about three inches long and simply adorable.  Don't you love it when you find something that you didn't even realize you were buying?

The thrifts are bring out the Christmas stuff like crazy and I LOVE it!  Loads of absolute junk and regular old Christmas crap, but occasionally a TREASURE!  Is the junk still running strong in your area?  

Thrifting Without Leaving the House

I have a cold.  A really bad head cold.  The kind that makes you nose drain without any notice one second and then, inexplicably, the next second, you cannot breathe because it is completely stopped up.  The kind of cold where you wake up and your pillow is stuck to your face due to the aforementioned nose draining and the drool from sleeping with your mouth open.  And your hair is all greasy and sticking up in weird directions from the Vicks you smeared on your throat the night before.  You know the kind of cold I mean?  Oh, it's great fun.  (Sorry for the terrible awful images I just put in your head.  Too much information, I know.)

On to the thrifting.  Tuesday I made my usual quick run through the Super Cheap Thrift Store on the way to open the Flea Market.  I was looking for vintage Christmas stuff for me.  When I was looking in the kitchen area, I spotted a box full of plates that looked like ice cream cones with cherries and sprinkles.  There were twenty plates and they were only $5.00.  When I saw them I told myself that they were cute, but a) they were heavy, b) I was trying to watch my spending and c) I had no use for 20 plates, so I left them there.  Then about ten minutes I arrived at the Flea market I thought, "Helloooooooo, I could have put them in the booth!  Ack!"  Proof that to this day, whenever I go thrifting, I am primarily looking for things for ME. 

I thought I would g back to see if they were still there on Thursday, but that's the day I woke up with my cold.  I was in no mood or condition to go out of the house, so I figured they were gone for sure.  Even though I knew they were most likely gone, I looked them on on ebay anyway.  I learned they were Oneida Waffle Cone Dessert Plates.  But, oh well, they were gone.  

Fast forward to today.  Saturday.  I'm still sick and not in the mood to get out, but I still wonder about the plates.  The Breadman calls on his way home to tell me that he has had to backtrack to deliver some bread to a store and is on his way home....."Did I need anything?"  He meant bread, milk, a malt, some Kleenex, cough syrup, etc.  But what I did I ask?  "Could you stop at the thrift store and go to the kitchen aisle and see if you see a box of plates that look like waffle cones and then buy them?"  Uh.......He couldn't really think of a way to get out of it so he said, "Ohhhhkay?"

Ten minutes later he arrived at the door with the plates!  He didn't have to call me to guide him through the store or anything.  He just walked in and found them.  

All twenty of them!  I think I am finally training him right!

Aren't they sweet?  I mean they literally ARE sweet.  Wouldn't they be fun at a party for a kid or a grownup or just about anyone?  I don't know what I am going to do with them for sure, but I GOT 'EM!  Whenever I get my taste back, I am gong to have something on one of them.  Mmmmmm!

The Week in Junk 11/5/12

It's been several weeks since I have been to any yard sales.  Thrifts seem to be more in my radar lately.  But Friday there were a lot of sales advertised, so off I went to hit a few.  I had my Dad with me, so he followed me around asking "WHY are you getting that?" and "What is that?"  He is trying to get a better feel for the sort of things I like to buy so if he sees things, he can pick them up for me.  At one sale, I picked up a really old beat up lightweight box and put it under my arm.  "What on earth are are you going to do with that old piece of junk?" he asked.  He saw an old beat up box, but I knew it was actually an old safety deposit box complete with the number written on the end.  It was only 75¢ and it will be great to hold my old BINGO cards in the booth.  Not everything I take to the booth is for sale - some things are just for display.  After I showed him what it really was, he thought it was neat too.  

 The first sale I went to was advertised as a Big Dang Sale.  It was being held by three women that have booths at my flea market.  I usually don't like people knowing I have a booth or that I sell on ebay when I am at their sale.  Some people tend to think you are going to sell their item for a BUNCH of money when they find out you have a booth.  But, since they know me, they knew about my booth.  But, the best part was that they kept bringing me things - "This is vintage - it would be great in your booth!"  They mostly sell home decor items and handmade things, so since we aren't competing for business, they were happy to let me buy the vintage loot.

My first find was this great old shelf.  It's painted a garish bright pink, has magic marker writing and stickers on it.  But, the cool cutouts on the side sold me.  Since it had issues, it was only $5.00.  I've already painted it a crisp white.  It will go to the booth to hold my vintage Christmas items.  I like the cubbie aspect of it.

An old wooden box with a punched tin insert.  It was only 25¢ and looked like I could do something with it.  

Three little mid-century dishes/ashtrays and the whatizit I featured on Facebook.  I still don't have any idea what it was originally for, but I think I can use it to display something, somewhere.  :)

Pair of chalkware Japanese plaques.  I was buying the boy when the lady handed me the girl for free.  It is chipped on the corner.  Maybe I can repair it, but I don't know.

The safety deposit box, an old tin treasure box bank and a sugar packet holder from a restaurant.   See the cutout on the side of the shelf?  That's what sold me!

Here are two of the items the ladies found for me - that orange doll was at the flea market for a long time, but when she disappeared, I assumed she had sold.  But, I guess they just pulled her.  It hiin she was $12.00 at the flea - I paid 50¢.  

A rose box that I think might have held candy, a JAPAN ashtray, a slew of vintage pipe cleaners and a horse's ass coffee cup.  Yes, that's right.  The front says, "Every family has one" and the back is a horses a$$.  I mean, I HAD to buy it, right?

A pixie candy dish and an old minnow bucket.  I have four minnow buckets and I've never been fishing a day in my life.  I use them for plants and flowers.

A set of vintage tins that really do match - the photo makes them look wonky, some owls for the OWL lovers out there and a wee little cigar box.  

I spent less than $15.00 for everything and had a nice day out junking.  I'm sure the weather will turn worse for the wear soon, but until it does, I'm going to keep on junkin'!

Junk from Dad

My Dad likes to go to yard sales.  But, he rarely ever buys anything for himself or anything at all for that matter.  Occasionally he will pick up something for me and bring it to me.  He knew about my love of picnic baskets, so he started picking those up for me.  But, they would end up being newer ones with the plastic cups in the lid and matching plates inside.  They were nice and great for a picnic, but not really what I collect.  He isn't computer savvy and has never seen the blog, so he didn't have much to go on.  I appreciate him trying though. 

Earlier this week he called to tell me that his neighbor was putting some things out in his yard to sell.  It was on a Monday, so it wasn't really a yard sale.  He was just seeing if anyone would stop and buy something for a little pocket money and fun.  My Dad referred to it as "old junk".  That got me curious.  So, he went back for a second look and gave me a call.  He said he bought a star, a fan and a set of scales for me.  Then last night he called back to say he had picked up a picnic basket and an old milk can.

Today he came to visit and delivered the goods.  

The milk can is brass - marked BUHL Detroit.  I did a little research and found out that it is a brass milk can from Buhl Dairy in Detroit Michigan and is intended for the railroad.  The set of American Family Scales is in great condition.  The old metal blade fan is in great shape and has even been rewired so it's actually useable!  The giant red star is awesome.  It's not old, but I have one of these hanging above my bay window and have been wanting one for the back of the house too.  And, that picnic basket!  Well, that's a Redmon and precisely the ones I LOVE.  

I think he's learning!  He did GOOD!

One More Piece of Pottery

It's almost that time of the year.  Time to box up the pottery collection until January.  I wrap each piece up, cull out any that don't speak to me anymore and pack it all away in the garage.  Once upon a time, I only had matte white pottery.  And, I still really like matte white pottery.  But, piece by piece, pastel pottery started finding it's way into my collection.  Now, I have more pastel than white!

I found this nice piece of Abingdon Pottery at Goodwill yesterday for only $3.00..  It's my first piece of Abingdon Pottery.  It's a lovely pink, but I'm not completely sold on the whole clipper ship theme.  I'll pack it away with the rest of it and when I rediscover it in January, I will decide if it's a keeper or not.  I must say, clipper ship or not, any piece of pink pottery is pretty much a keeper in my book.

My pottery display might make you cringe.  It's packed in there pretty solid and nothing can get hurt.  If I find a piece of pottery that I can afford, then it is coming home with me and I will find a spot for it in here somewhere.  So far, so good.

I'm in love with this shelf and all the pastel pieces.  The globe lights up although I rarely remember to plug it in.  That's a giant dough bowl in the back.  It's Olivewood from Jerusalem.  That giant green McCoy vase in the center has a chunk out of the back.  But, you can't see it, only I know about it and it was only 50¢, so there it sits.  

More pastels and some white mixed in.  I never used to like figural pieces, but I seem to have picked up a few recently.  I found that one purple piece this year.  I still can't believe I had never found a piece of purple pottery.  

The aqua log nd birds is one of my favorites - plucked from the shelves at The Super Cheap Thrift for a mere twenty five cents.  My collection of folding rulers lives in that big white planter for now.  I finally sold a star I made from one so I made another one.  Two down, twenty to go.  :)  As if I could ever let them ALL go!  I LOVe tht weird pink one on the left.  It's crazy shaped.  

That pretty green planter up front is a newish find too.  It has that cold feeling and heft in your hand of good old pottery.  I miss all my pottery while it is packed up.  I'm always happy to have it out on display again.  I love for a lovely old cabinet to put it all in, but the right one hasn't come to me yet.  Until then, I bet I can squeeze in a few more pieces.  :)

While it's gone, the turkeys will come out and then SANTA takes over.  Bring it ON!  

Are you ready?