I was really looking forward to the first Saturday in April, and the plethora of yard sales that usually come along with it. I'm not really sure what's happening, but there were only a couple of sales listed.
I was really looking forward to the first Saturday in April, and the plethora of yard sales that usually come along with it. I'm not really sure what's happening, but there were only a couple of sales listed.
I went to an estate sale Friday afternoon -- spied these three blue suitcases piled up in a hallway and ran to grab them! The sale was supposed to start at 2PM and when I got there at 1:56PM everyone was already inside, so I got lucky.
Also got a bunch of books -- here's a World Atlas from Collier's -- filled with some cool maps.
"Your Puppy" has some great illustrations.
This was sitting by the register so I couldn't leave it. It was published in 1934.
Do you do any buying or selling via social media? I have been doing LOTS of it, mostly selling but some buying as well.
As I said last week, I see many people selling on Instagram. I haven't yet, but that is my next enterprise.
There are a couple of Facebook selling pages I'm involved with — one is the Flea Circus, a local group which has about 1000 members. This is a closed group; you have to ask to join, and then be approved. There are only a handful of approved sellers (I'm one), and most don't ship (I do). So if you can pick up your purchase from the South Jersey/Philadelphia area, feel free to join!
One of the sellers there is my friend Jill from Vintageologie. She has amazing stuff, lots of it, and is a spectacular photographer/stylist to boot. I bought all of these items from her one day last week.
A dozen lovely green glass lidded bottles. I don't know whether to use them in my kitchen for spices or save them to embellish for Christmas.
A bunch of old wooden hangers -- I may transform these into something shabby chic. Or not. I kind of like the patina the way it is.
A bunch of vintage wagon wheels. Mr. VJIMT wanted them. In fact, all I had to say was "Jill just listed wagon wheels, do you want them?" and he bought them, sight unseen.
And then there's this. A vintage hotel room key rack.
So many things to do with it, as my Facebook friends have told me -- earring storage, show display, paint tube supplies…
I also sell on Country Cottage Auctions. Another closed group, but this site has buyers and sellers all across the US and Canada. There are two auctions a week, and I usually participate as a seller. I very rarely buy, but couldn't resist these tiny type trays… plus, the seller was local and I could pick up.
There is also the closed group Not2ShabbyVintage, where Kelley sells the many treasures she finds. She also runs the Upcycled Furniture South Jersey group, which is "secret" -- if you click on the link it won't take you anywhere, but if you are local and would like to join, go to Not2Shabby first and once you're in there you can request Kelley to admit you to Upcycled.
The sites I've mentioned only allow vintage, handmade, or re-purposed items for sale. However, there are many other yard sale types of groups on Facebook where you can get fun stuff and good deals. Type in your "town name" and "yard sale" in the search bar and a bunch should pop up.
On one of the yard sale sites, I bought a lot of 30 of these mason jar votive holders to resell, and am just hoping those darn stickers come off easily!
Feel free to share some of YOUR favorite sites in the comments, or on my Facebook page.
Welcome to Vintage Junk in My Trunk, the 2015 version. I hope to have some new and improved features for you this year. And, as always, some fun junking adventures and fabulous finds!
First off, there will be no Etsy listing challenge this year -- I think 730 straight days of listing is more than enough, don't you? Ten days in, and I don't miss it in the least! I thought I would be doing it out of habit, but nope -- no desire or inclination at all. Now, this doesn't mean I'm not going to list, or have shop goals, or anything like that. But I will not be listing one item a day, like I did in 2014. Or in 2013. I'm thinking more of some theme binges… but we'll figure that all out later
Maybe Etsy isn't even relevant anymore? Not sure if that's the case, but it's something to think about. Buying and selling via social media has really kicked into high gear. I have had some success on Facebook, and I know of many others who are doing well on Instagram.
{Which is your social media venue of choice? Are you following me on Facebook? Instagram? I feel like I need to focus more on IG…}
My plan right now is get back to blogging about our weekly thrifting, yard sale, and flea adventures. That kind of got lost in the shuffle last year; from June on I was only giving weekly updates on my Etsy Project listings.
My goal is at least one blog post a week detailing our treasure hunts. During the busy yard sale season that may be broken up into two to encompass the weekend stuff and the fleas during the week.
So here we go:
Mr. VJIMT and I spent the early morning of the first Saturday of 2015 at a local indoor flea market. I was having some mobility issues -- sciatica? some other old lady malady? -- so we didn't spend a lot of time, but it was fun to look. I came up empty, but he bought home this wood and glass-paneled terrarium.
I may have to stick to shopping the Facebook sales for a while. I bought these cool wood church pew embellishments from my friend Cynthia at Artycyn Retroshop.
This was trash-picked in the rain. It may be going back to the trash area.
And that was how I spent the first week of 2015. Exciting, huh? Don't worry, it will get better. Spring is just around the corner… and with it, our yard sale season. Hope you stay with me for the rest of the ride!
How are you doing with all of this social media stuff? I think I have a decent handle on it, although sometimes I forget to blog about the things I post to my Facebook page. Facebook is easy for me because it's simple to put up a photo of what's happening; I feel like I need a big "score" and story to feature something on my blog.
I guess Twitter is similar to Facebook but moves at a faster pace. A tweet needs to be more "in the moment" and I do not think fast enough for that. So my Twitter account languishes. I also know I should be doing more with Pinterest for marketing purposes but I just can't get into it.
So let's play a little catch up. Here's what's been going on the last couple of weeks -- don't worry, you didn't miss much!
There was one lone indoor yard sale. I had seen a sign driving by the corner days before, but it wasn't on Craig's List or in the newspaper. On the day of, there wasn't even a sign at the door. I was looking for it across the street when some people who had already been in directed me to the proper location.
It was pretty bad, but I did find this box of vintage millinery. Pam from Plucky Maidens Junk Fest and another Facebook friend spied the velvet pink and olive green leaves in the lower right and asked if they were for sale. They bought them all!
Luna is poking through the rest of what I found there -- a box of metal flower frogs and a container of hanging crystals.
There was also a church thrift open that day -- they hold a sale a couple of times a month. I usually don't find too much there, although the thrifty gods were looking down on me because I found this vintage suitcase. There's definitely a pale aqua under all that dirt charm.
I went to the last indoor flea market of the season and found this watering can -- which I don't think is old, but it still has a good look to it -- and three vintage Westclox Baby Ben alarm clocks from the 1930s to 1950s. The green drawer piece has been in our house for years and is one of my favorite things.
Speaking of favorite things, this is my workstation with one of my favorite blue scales. As I was posting this photo, I realized there are four scales within ten feet of me to the right. And another two to the right of that. And one behind me. And probably one or two in the dining room that I'm forgetting. And a couple upstairs for sure.
We may be slightly obsessed. Remember when Mr. VJIMT bought that giant blue scale at Bouckville? I think there are more scales than typewriters. How can that be?
I even made a Pinterest page for them. See, I'm getting it!
Last week I showed you the antique ledgers/diaries I purchased at the indoor flea market. I also picked up a small flow blue bowl, tiny teacup and a pretty porcelain plate.
But right after that I had to take young Mr. VJIMT to a school function, which I didn't mind so much as there is a Goodwill right across the street. I found this vintage Goebel porcelain raccoon figurine there in perfect condition.
Also this bag of goodies. I could only see the deer, but that's all that I wanted!
Everyone else did too, as they kept oohing and aahing over the bag in my cart.
Next I stopped at an estate sale that had started at 8am. Only now it was after 1pm and I was surprised to find a line still waiting to get in! Sadly, I did not come home with this typewriter; it was priced at $200!
But I did come home with this pretty ironstone pedestal compote.
It did not stay home with me for long though, as I listed it on Etsy (and the Mustard Seed Pages) where it sold practically overnight.
I couldn't leave this charming colored phototgraph behind.
Or this one. I've seen people alter them for Halloween. What do you think?
Speaking of the holiday season, you knew I would find Christmas in there, right? This appliqued felt tree skirt (or small table covering) is the epitome of kitsch. I found a similar looking snowman one here, which I used last Christmas. This one is going to the Etsy Christmas Junk shop.
And check out these sweet vintage Christmas stockings. Love the Lulu!
Lesson of the day -- it's never too late to find a treasure!
We went to the Spring Garden Indoor Flea Market on Saturday. First junking day for me since early December. Mr. VJIMT has gone a couple of times this winter, but my schedule has not allowed for it. Until today.
It's small, with lots of smalls, but we got some good stuff!
(not this water buffalo)
Mr. VJIMT bought some lantern slides. He has a project in mind.
I bought a few vintage target practice sheets. I have a project in mind.
I also got this gorgeous lot of Mulberry transferware (Rose) by Edward Challinor that dates from 1842 to 1867.
The lot included 6 large saucers/bowls and 4 handleless cups.
One plate had a chip on the underside (mine!); the others were in great vintage condition with lots of crazing.
One of the cups has a couple of chips, and another was repaired and pretty unusable; I kept both and am thinking of making some mosaic jewelry with the broken one.
The others were listed and sold likethat. The woman who purchased them must have had an alert set to "Mulberry Transferware Rose Challinor" because they were literally active for only a few minutes. I'm glad they went to a good home!
Speaking of a good home, I cannot think of a better home than MY HOUSE for this gorgeous typewriter. The first one of the 2014 season!
As usually happens, Mr. VJIMT and I asked separately about this beauty, then met up to compare notes and knocked each other down racing strolled back to buy it.
The curvy top!
The typeface!
The red keys!
I don't think I can part with it. At least for a little while. We may need to rethink our display options in this house.
Well, the last month has certainly flown by! I feel like I've neglected to keep you updated here; I've said it before, but I'm much better at posting a quick image to my Facebook page as things happen.
Luckily, you are seeing most of my finds as I enter them into The Etsy 365 Project, but here are some stories you may have missed:
YARD SALES
One of the last yard sales of the season netted us some good scores.
Like this super sweet rusty turquoise blue scale, which I bought with the intent to sell. Until I came to my senses, and put it on my desk, where it is staying.
I bought this whole bag of Christmas atrocities because I could see those demonic adorable elves through the plastic. They were item #61 in my Etsy Christmas Countdown listings.
FLEA MARKET THURSDAY
Mr. VJIMT and I were able to do a quick Flea Market Thursday trip together because the schools were closed. Lots of fun!
THRIFTING ADVENTURES
My BFF and I managed to squeeze in a day of thrifting between work and kid activities. The St. Dymphna statue sold as soon as I posted this image to my Facebook page. I made a pedestal plate out of the Johnson Brothers Christmas dish and that went too. The blue atomic ashtray was listing #331 of The Etsy 365 Project and sold this morning -- cha-ching!
ANTIQUE SHOPS
Mr. VJIMT had a break during his teaching gigs and stopped at an antique store. I got some gifts! Like this typewriter:
and this giant Mary statue (I left the baseboard dust there to keep it real).
CHURCH RUMMAGE
I blogged about the load of elf/gnome blow molds I found at our school rummage sale, but you didn't see the box I found them in. This is what I saw under one of the tables. I grabbed it and bought the whole thing for double what the church lady wanted without even looking at what was inside.
These large (marked 60 and 80 inches) round Christmas cloths were on top:
This is what it looked like when I got them home -- even Luna likes them! Only two (one Santa and one snowman) were cracked. Five out of the six elves (gnomes?) have sold -- who wants the last one?
Still not much going on here on the blustery East Coast. Not only were we cooped up this week due to the bitterly cold temps, but we've also been passing around some nasty colds and coughs. Next week is supposed to warm up, so I'm hoping that means spring is around the corner!
Managed to drag myself off my sick bed for a quick monthly church thrift store excursion. Only the skates are vintage, but figured with a little scuffing up the patriotic sign would look nice on our porch come the 4th of July.
And one can never have too many 25¢ Valentine heart lights.
Unabashed trash picker, flea market aficionado, thrift store hunter, and yard sale junkie; mom to an irrepressible little princess and a scholarly teenaged wizard; independent graphic designer.
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