freshvintage

Craigslist Bait & Switch

Before I share some vintage finds, I'd like to thank my personal shoe buyer, Jenny, from Yard Sale Bloodbath for leaving this comment on my last post:

OK, this is blowing my mind. I was doing my usual thing, going through yard sale listings on Craigslist for Seattle and look at this:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/gms/733884541.html

I KNOW THOSE DRESSES! (Because I was thinking that I should comment that it's a shame no drag queens came to your sale, or they would have been gone in a flash ...)

Apparently this person thought they were so compelling that they decided to use your photo in their ad. If I make it over there tomorrow I will attempt to find out what the heck they were thinking! Too strange!!

They actually used three photos from my blog. Think of all of the disappointed people who will walk away empty-handed. They only went to the yard sale for the sequins dresses, pin-the-tail on the donkey game and an old adding machine.

If anyone is near Ballard today, go to the yard sale and bust their balls, please.

Now, on to the twenty bucks worth of stuff that I bought at Goodeals and one yard sale on the way to my mom's yard sale last Saturday...

Set of 8 Pyrex mugs with creamer and lidded sugar bowl. This is the Summer Impressions pattern in Honeydew (aka lime green).  That's a Marx tin dollhouse in the background.

A little framed print, rectangular metal floral frog, small gray planter and a cardboard sign that says "Abide in Me". Anyone know anything about this sign?

I also found two sewing cabinet drawers and a BIG box of Shiny Brite ornaments. Here's a just a few of them:

 

Another fan. Are you sick of them yet? 

By the way, Erin and I will be shopping at Renninger's in Adamstown tomorrow (Sunday, Jun 29). Is anyone else planning to go?  Send me an email, and maybe we can get together. We're thinking about selling there in September, so we are going to scope it out.

Yard Sale Cotillion

My mom had a yard sale on Saturday. Read about the sale she had a few years ago, if you want to know how she rolls.

These pageant dresses hanging from tree branches are the "Open for Business" flags to let everyone know that the sale has started. My mom has been trying to get rid of them for years.

She was selling four-daughters-worth of prom, sorority, cotillion and semi-formal dresses. Every one more hideous than the next. Velvet, iridescent, tulle, plaid, lace. You name it - we had it. We even found my sister Megan's dress that still had a faint vomit stain down the front. Poor girl must have had a stomach virus that night. Or maybe it was too much Zima in her hairspray bottle.

These two are my sister Erin's pageant/prom dresses. I am proud to say that she was Miss Brigantine second runner-up in 1990. She clinched it with her performance of Honey Bun from South Pacific. I can't even begin to tell you how pissed off she is going to be that I just wrote the last two sentences. (Don't tell her that I found an audio tape of her singing Honey Bun strewn among piles of Sheena Easton and Boy George cassettes at the yard sale. I'm in the process of converting it to MP3 to share with everyone.)

(Don't worry - these ended up going home with Erin. She'll pass them down to her oh-so-lucky daughter.)

Erin may be known for belting out showtunes, but my mom is known for her fake plants. And trees. My sister told me that this sea of silky plants was twice this size before I arrived. We were all so proud of her when she decided to sell them. It is such a big step for a fake plant addict.

Our kids don't mess around when it comes to selling lemonade. That damn tip jar had ten bucks in it by the end of the day.

Remember my brother-in-law, Doug (Erin's husband)? He has a history of dressing up at my mom's yard sales. Saturday was no exception. 

I don't remember this type of clothing ever being in style, but my mom and sister wore it proudly in the 80's. And now Doug continues the tradition...

 

My mom was selling these empty wine carafes for fifty cents. She became irate when I told her that I was throwing them away. "Put them on the FREE blanket. Someone might want them." I need some backup here, readers. Do people really save these? I swear - I won't judge you if you do save them (well, maybe a little). I just need a second opinion.

freshfind: liquor decanter

Park Sherman liquor decanter with red-handled pump
Found: Goodeals in Stanton, DE

"Colleen's Bar" shot glass not included.

The scream heard 'round the world

Did you happen to read the latest Country Home magazine (July/Aug)?  I certainly hope that you didn't skip over the Reader Letters page. You would have missed this...

I opened my mail today, and saw the new issue. I thought to myself, "If they were going to print the letter I sent them in April, then it would have to appear in this issue". I immediately opened to the Reader Letters page and SCREAMED! I screamed so loud that I wouldn't be surprised if my neighbors called 911 to report that a woman was being attacked by some large, rabid, sharp-toothed animal.

I had no idea that it would be printed. I sent the email & photo to the editors, using the email address on this page of the Country Home website. I received a nice reply from someone, with no indication that it would be included in the next issue.

You can't imagine how excited I am to be in Country Home magazine (or any magazine, for that matter). This has been a goal of mine since the day I started buying & selling antiques. Now, you know what my next goal is, right? A cover story, baby!

If you don't subscribe, go out and buy it right now! And do what my sister Erin did...open the magazine to the Reader Letters page and tell the cashier that your sister (or online friend) wrote that letter. And then the cashier can look at you all funny because he obviously prefers Hustler to Country Home.

Chris' Last Clothing Gift Ever

I had my very own yard sale today, along with a few other families in our neighborhood. I forgot what a pain in the ass it is to get organized. And then deal with the hagglers who make a big pile of stuff and then ask to pay half price. At 8am. I had to say more than once "Nope, sorry. Someone else will come along in the next few hours and buy it at full price". With a big passive-aggressive grin on my face.

I didn't put any of my vintage stuff out, because I wanted to focus on getting rid of toys, kids clothes and home decor stuff.

Chris dug through our closet and found a huge pile of clothes that he no longer wears. Fifty cents each. I was happy that he was getting rid of them, until I noticed a woman holding a pair of his Banana Republic pants.  After she bought them, I asked him why the hell he was selling those pants, when they were only a couple of years old and they weren't cheap (although we probably bought them at the BR Outlet).  "They are missing a button."

Then I spotted a really nice Gap sweater that I had given him for Christmas a few years ago:

I love this sweater. He wore it once (as implicitly obligated), but today declared it "too metrosexual".  He probably should have told me that when I bought it for him, so I could have returned it and used the money to buy something for myself.

The sweater didn't sell - even at fifty cents. So maybe he was right.

freshfind: vintage dennison office supplies

 

Vintage Dennison office supplies in a mini cabinet

Found: On eBay

Most of the boxes are empty, but this one has some crumbly "mending tape"...

Party Stunts

Thanks for your WWMD (What Would Mommy Do) responses about the Legos. Since I let Finn keep the Harry Potter Legos, I won't feel guilty when I keep the next box we find.  And so much for keeping the pieces together...half of them were spread out all over the playroom by Tuesday.

We had another family yard sale outing on Saturday. It was a good day because I didn't have to steal anything out of my kid's hands and try to explain what "I'm selling it on eBay" means to a three-year-old and a five-year-old. 

Insulated Oak Picnic Cooler:

Big, old ArcticAire Fan:

Dominion fan:

I also found a set of four linen bird napkins, The ABC of Wine Cookery, a green wooden dove-tailed explosives box, and two small floral frogs, still in the package with Woolworth price tags.

I like to party all the time, so I couldn't pass up these party games and books.

Pin the Tail on the Donkey game from 1954:

I love that this Party Games envelope says "Games and stunts to entertain your friends". Stunts? What is this, Jackass? The envelope contains detailed instructions on how to properly staple your testicles together.

Return of the Legos

Last Saturday morning, my husband and kids joined me on my yard-saling trip. Usually, I only bring Maeve with me, or I sneak out by myself before anyone wakes up. Before we left, I gave each of the kids a buck. We hit a few yard sales before they were both able to find something that they really liked.  And what does Finn find?  An unopened box of Harry Potter legos. I immediately had dollar signs in my eyes. Dammit. This is exactly why I don't like to bring the kids. I know...I sound like a mean, horrible mommy. But, believe me, my house is already FILLED with lego pieces. We have enough friggin' Spongebob legos to build a life-sized Krusty Krab.

I knew that this box was worth some dough from my previous Lego experience. And it was only two dollars! Finn wanted to buy it, but the evil side of me reminded him that he only had one dollar. I told him that he could buy it if he could successfully convince Maeve to give up her dollar. Oh - too late. She had already found something girly that she wanted to buy. And so the good side of me gave him another dollar and let him buy the Legos.

As soon as we got home, I looked it up on eBay. The same unopened Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Lego set recently sold for $105. By the time I looked up the price, Finn already had the box open and started to build. By the end of the day, he finished putting together the entire set. That's okay, though. The opened box sells for $50-$60 on eBay. (I'm not selling it anytime soon. I'm not that evil.) 

Luckily, I found some things for me, although they probably aren't worth half as much as the damn Legos.  Here are my fifteen dollars worth of finds...

I love this whitewashed bushel basket with the floral lining. The homeowner said it was from the 1950's. I also found a box of old sheet music for two bucks.

Read it and weep...FREE! The homeowner told me that I could have this box of old sewing notions.

With one stipulation...

Her grandmother had lost a sentimental treasure in her sewing stuff.

If I happened to find a tooth, could I please return it to the house?

Um, yeah sure.

Thankfully, I never did find one.

UPDATED TO ADD: About the Legos...I'd love to hear what you would have done. Let him keep the Legos? Or trade it for something else?  Let me know in the comments.