Community Yard Sales

 
This weekend marked one of the biggest community yard sale events in my area, but with the rain pouring down on Friday night, no one knew if it would actually happen. Woke up Saturday morning to a few clouds, but those clouds gave way to temperatures in the 90s and sunshine the rest of the day. My and my boyfriend's brand new matching sunburns prove it!


We went out with my dad and managed to find some good stuff. The boyfriend snagged two brand new looking pairs of jeans for 50 cents, a video game that came out a few months ago for $8, and some other random stuff. We also found eight dog toys for 25 cents each, cat treats for 50 cents each, and other stuff we actually needed.


I did have a few complaints though. First of all, we came across a lot (a lot) of yard sales where people were selling toilet paper, canned goods, bread, and other stuff from local food pantries. My dad said that people set up at one of the flea markets where he goes every weekend to sell the same stuff. It just seems to me like that's taking from people who actually need it.


My other complaint was from an eBay sale. Everything in the "yard sale" was price according to eBay prices. The wife of the couple was actually on her smartphone and looking at prices while pricing new stuff they put out. They had a used chainsaw that someone priced at $179 on eBay brand new, and they were literally putting the same price on it. They also had a Huffy bike the boyfriend loved that they wanted $200 for. He checked on his phone and found it going for half that currently online. Oh, and a not-at-all-vintage Coca-Cola table and chairs from the 1990s that they priced at $240 with a note that it was vintage from the 50s. Sure. Now that I've finished my whining, let's just get to the good stuff!

 

Some of my pictures are slanted, so I apologize. I've loved Eyeore since I was a kid, so this mug for $1 was a no brainer. I think it's funny to see expensive stuff from the Disney Store show up at sales. The little Snoopy was actually a kids' meal toy from Wendy's when I worked there in 98-99. It was a quarter for my Snoopy loving boyfriend.

 

 

I had this exact same caterpillar when I was a kid. The lady running the sale gave her to me for 50 cents and asked if I wanted the similar orange one. The orange one belonged to her son, and her daughter had the pink one. It's worth noting that the orange caterpillar was in near mint condition, while this one definitely shows some love.

 

This was a boyfriend buy for $1 or something. He bought a glass, an ashtray, and something else from one of those donation sales that I hate. Even their bake sale was donation only, which left me wondering how much to pay for two itty bitty brownie slices and a rice krispie treat.

 

This came from one of those I-don't-want-to-get-out-of-the-car-sales. It was five tables of kids clothes with some toys underneath. My dad wanted to ask about a car they had up for sale. Knowing my love of owls, the boyfriend got this for me for a dollar and the seller threw in a light up pumpkin. This is actually a Hallmark product with its $14.95 tag still attached. It sings and dances and still works!

 

Who can pass up a vintage ice crusher for 50 cents? It actually has a dial on the front that lets you turn it to change the size of the cubes. We also got a barely used cat condo for $5 from the same sale that our cats refuse to get in but like standing on top of to watch television. I also got this fantastic vintage looking popcorn popper for $5 that I forgot to photograph. I nearly paid $100+ for one last year, so it was a great steal. We even used it last night while watching The Duff.

 

I love The Muppets, have since I was a kid, and got this same set when I was younger. Unfortunately, each one in my original set is missing hats or something. I know we bought a few of these in the past, but I won't complain about spending $1.50 for another set LOL.

 

The boyfriend grabbed the Peanuts books from a sale where all books were 25 cents. He then decided to just get a few other vintage books. The seller was so excited to sell some books that she only charged him 50 cents for all of them.

 

Who could pass up Pound Puppies and one Pound Kitty? These were the kids' meal toys from when I was a kid. We paid 25 cents a piece for each one plus the Snoopy.

 

This is the pumpkin that the seller threw in for free with the Halloween owl. I think he looks pretty sinister sitting on the top of the car!

 

I thought this was super cute but probably overpaid for it. It had Pete's Dragon and a few other Disney books in it. Each one comes with a record so you can read along with the books. The seller said it was hers when she was a kid but her husband had the same one so they decided to get rid of one. When I got it home though, it's mainly random stories, missing The Pokie Little Puppy shown on the front, and is probably not worth the $5 I paid considering that I find these book/record sets individually pretty cheap.

 

This will probably be a purchase I end up regretting. I love Halloween and $3 really isn't too bad, but I have so much Halloween stuff that this will probably end up in a box somewhere.

 

One of my only Pyrex purchases of the day! The boyfriend spotted it way before me. Not only is it my favorite pattern, but it was only $1. The seller and I then had fun talking about vintage Pyrex, Corningware, and Vision Ware.

 

My other Pyrex find came from a sale filled with guy stuff, lots of oil cans, car parts, and hats. It does have some marks on the front that I haven't tried to get off yet, but it was only $1. I came thisclose to buying both jars from a thrift store that thinks it's an antique mall for $10 each last summer, so I'm glad I found this one!

 

We already have this one, but couldn't pass up another one for 50 cents. The boyfriend and I both love tiki stuff, but the roommate is not a fan.

The other big find of the day was this working vacuum sealer with a nearly brand new roll of bags for a buck. I was so obsessed with these when I was a kid that I would actually watch the infomercial over and over again. It was kind of nice to find one so cheap that I can play with without making a real investment.


Believe it or not, this isn't everything I bought this weekend. The roommate and I found one of those get in the car before they catch us sales on Friday. I got the mother load of blow molds for an amazing price. I'll post pictures as soon as we get his car cleaned out...

Tipp City Community Yard Sales

I live in Dayton, Ohio (or at least I do for the next few months – long story!), which is around 30 minutes south of the town of Tipp City, which hosts a BIG community yard sale every year. The first year I went was back in my eBay days, and I bought $10 worth of New Kids on the Block memorabilia from a woman selling her daughter's collection. I kept a few things and sold the rest for over $100. Sadly, I've never come across any other deals like that, but I think I did pretty good this year!

 
Since the boyfriend and best friend had to work, I hit the sales with my dad. This little baby was just waiting for me at the first one. As a Notre Dame fan, I'm definitely not passing up a car magnet still sealed in the packaging for $1. As a side note, we later went to the flea market where my dad has a booth and someone had the exact same magnet for $9.99.

I have another blog (one of several) where I recap young adult books from when I was a kid. I've picked up a few Nancy Drew books here and there, but I found THREE for $1.25 at one of the sales: 50 cents each for the hardback books and a quarter for the paperback.

 

I have a hard time passing up Corelle bowls. They are the perfect size for cereal, soups, etc. I snagged eight of these bowls at a church sale for $2. Half are this pattern and half are Woodland, both of which I have in other pieces.

 

At one of those random "let's throw everything together and see what sells" sales, I picked up these two candles. I absolutely cannot get enough of anything cranberry scented.


The prices at this sale were kind of crazy though. I spotted a collection of table lighters from across the garage and made a beeline over before almost going into sticker shock. The cheapest one they had was $10 and the first one I picked up was $25. They also had some of those reproduction cast iron banks that they had priced at $25 to $50+. Ridiculous.

 

Josie and the Pussycats is one of my guilty pleasure movies, and I was happy to grab the soundtrack for a buck. The seller and I spent a few minutes talking about how much we loved the movie. I'm pretty sure my dad hates it though, especially after having to listen to it on repeat all day! LOL

 

These movies came from the same crazy priced sale. They had a ton of movies for $2 each. The Disney one is one I don't have in my collection, the classic horror set will one day serve as reviews for one of my other blogs, and the Garfield DVD was for the boyfriend. Apparently some of the Garfield DVDs are now out of print, and we were just at a used movie and game place that had one priced at $40.


I'm really curious (or maybe shouldn't be curious!) about where the movies came from. Some were still sealed with the store tags on the front. The dad got The Outer Limits Season 1 for $5 still sealed with a $45 price tag from Meijer on the front.

 

I have a piece of Glasbake in this same pattern, but I walked away from this dish a few times. My dad was still standing on the porch of the sale and buying a digital camera (for $5!) when I yelled up and had him grab it for me. None of my Pyrex works well for brownies, but this little $1 pan should do the job.

 

We went back to the church sale at noon when they dropped everything to half price. Despite wandering around the kitchen area multiple times, I didn't see these until hours later. Both are Taylor, Smith, Taylor mugs that match the dishes I collect. Each one was priced at 5 cents and were half price, but I just gave them a quarter.

 

These were also half price at the church sale, so $1 for eight mugs in the Woodland pattern. My dad made out much better at the sale than I did. He got multiple dish sets, snack sets, some tools, and who knows what else for around $10. This sale made me so sad though. They had this amazing little mid-century modern green industrial desk chair for $15 that was still there at the end of the sale. I wanted it so bad, but there was no way it was fitting in the car.


 

 

There is this charity sale every year that doesn't price anything. Last year, I picked up a few small things, gave the lady $5, and she got a bad attitude about how it wasn't "enough" of a donation. It turns out that my dad hit the same sale last year, got the same woman, and got the same attitude. This year, I gave the woman working $2 for this piece of Opal Pyrex, and she was so excited! Her exact comment was, "you're giving me $2 for that?" Yes siree bob.


My dad got the find of the day though. He paid $10 for a vintage 1966 telescope in the original box with its original wood stand. The only ones I found online go for $100 or more. Trust me when I say that sucker was extremely heavy, given that I was the one stuck carrying it three blocks back to the car.

 

I need to get a few of my cats spayed and only have one carrier. The places around here charge $10 for a little cardboard carrier, but I got this one for $3, which will come in handy when we move. I passed up on one earlier in the day for $8 before finding this one. The funny thing is that the man running the sale gave me a higher price for it before I pointed out the sticker on the top. He wasn't too happy that his wife priced it so low.

 

The Winnie the Pooh cookbook was $1, but I loved the graphics inside. This one is from the early 70s and is a reprint from the 60s book. The cover says it's a companion to a Pooh party planning book, so now I must be on the lookout for that one!

 
This set came from the church sale too. I can't remember if it was $1 or $1.50, and I'm not sure if the lid on the sugar dish is the right one. It fits right, but it's made of plastic...

 
This is what I am most excited about. I love the movie ET so much. It was the first movie I saw in theaters, I went back and saw it when it was rereleased, my dad got me the fancy DVD box set for the anniversary edition, and I have a ton of merchandise and memorabilia around my house. The church sale had this priced at 10 cents, but I didn't see it until the half price sale. I showed it to my dad and he promptly bought it for me. It's a poster advertising the ET ride at Universal Studios and is dated 1991. That is right around the time we went to the park and I went on this exact ride with my dad.


I managed to pick up some stuff, but the sale seemed a little lackluster this year. They divided the city into different zones and gave out maps, but some of the zones had no sales at all. In previous years, we could park and hit 10 or more sales in a few blocks. We did a lot more walking this year and didn't come home with nearly as much. Hopefully this isn't a sign of what the rest of the summer holds...

Not So Recent Finds

I can't believe I let so much time go by without updating! I sadly haven't found anything of note lately. We had out of town guests staying with us two weeks in a row. One was my former roommate, who has no interest in vintage or collectibles. The other was a friend who loves vintage stuff, but even after hitting an antique mall and two different thrift stores, we came home with nothing. Since I can't post about recent finds, I thought I would post some finds I found earlier that I haven't yet posted about.

 

We hit up a citywide yard sale this summer that is pretty much hit or miss for me. I'll find some amazing stuff one year and then go years without finding anything. The first sale we stopped at yielding this Pyrex coffee pot in super good shape for $1. I already have a couple of these that are in pretty bad shape and missing the bottom piece. This one had some candle wax stuck in it, but one trip to the freezer and it came clean.

 

The same sale also had this little baby for another $1. It doesn't have any markings on it, so I have no clue who made it or even how old it is. I'm guessing it's probably from the 60s. As an added bonus, it was free of wax!

 
I have a Master's in Historic Preservation and have a lot of respect for the Ohio Historical Society, so this was a no brainer for me, especially for 50 cents. My great-aunt actually lives in Columbus and does volunteer work for the OHS. When she heard about this, she got super excited, so this is probably going to her next weekend.

 
This was my bad buy/maybe okay buy. The same couple had the other stuff I listed up top, but they also had some more expensive stuff. I guess they own or owned an antique booth. It was really random too. They had a few $1 tables and a bunch of pennants priced between $10-20 each, but mine was 50 cents. I thought the price on this said $2.50, which I thought was super cheap. Turns out it was priced at $7.50 and me being a wimp, didn't want to say anything so I just bought it. I've seen the same tins priced at $20 and up, so I guess it was an okay price. Still way more than I wanted to spend though.

 
I also got this for $1. Two years ago, my roommate went through a phase where he wanted our house decorated for the holidays. Instead of just putting up my pink Disney Princesses tree like I usually do (LOL), he bought a ton of old candles and put them all around our house plus a bunch of other stuff. We technically didn't need this, but I'm hoping to put out a display of vintage Christmas boxes this year.

 
This was my "I'm so desperate, I have to buy it" stage of the community yard sale. It came from a sale full of baby items and newer items, and it was the only thing vintage. I don't college Glasbake, but for 50 cents, I'm sure I can figure out something to do with it.

 
All three of these came from the same "rummage/charity sale." It was at a real estate agency, but all the proceeds went to charity. They had tables covering the front yard and all along the sidewalk. The roommate picked up the waffle maker, and I grabbed the Pyrex. We asked the lady in charge how much, she said to pay what we wanted, I grabbed the little stack of bowls and gave her a $5. This led to her sighing quite loudly and generally just acting like a witch.


This is one of my greatest pet peeves at sales. If you're not happy with what I offer, then tell me what you want, or better yet, price your damn stuff. Another woman working the sale was whining and moaning because some guy offered her $10 for a chair in the yard. This thing was in such bad shape that she's lucky anyone wanted it. The guy said he wanted to reupholster it, which we all know isn't cheap, and she just gave him a look and rolled her eyes. I seriously almost dropped my stuff and left at that point.


I'm hoping to maybe, possibly hit up a flea market this weekend before the season dies down, but it depends on the rain that keeps threatening to pop up. Hopefully I'll find some new treasures soon!

Community Yard Sales = Lots of Fun

Community yard sales have been something of a miss for me lately. It's all baby stuff, clothing, and other random junk that I don't need or want. This year was a lot better! My dad called to remind me of a community yard sale not too far away from them and asked if I wanted to go. While I didn't fill the car, we still did pretty well.


The first sale we stopped at had a lot of fresh veggies, which led to the dad buying tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and who knows what else. I don't know if it's like this everywhere, but a lot of sales around us have a lot of new stuff. This one had tons of razors, shampoo, body wash, deodorant, and other brand new things. I'm guessing it's extreme couponers trying to make some extra cash? I did buy four Glade candles from the sale because she had them marked $2, I liked the scent, and I just paid over $3 for a Glade candle in the store. I also picked up these two books for 25 cents each (sorry but they aren't my pics, I totally forgot to snap some!):

 
Danny and the Dinosaur I had as a kid, and I loved the illustrations in the other one. I also picked up a copy of Howdy Doody Meets Santa for a quarter that I had my dad take to his flea market booth. Funny story about the Baby's Christmas book! My dad asked me if I was trying to tell them something since I'm a single woman buying a baby book. I had to break the news that if I was secretly pregnant, I would be buying a lot more than just one book!


From there, we headed to the actual town with the sale. The first spot was a real honey hole. Years ago, my parents went to auctions in the building, and the people who owned it now had a big sale. Turns out that they have a booth at an antique mall, and some of their prices definitely reflected that. 

 

 

These salt and pepper shakers are the perfect shades of pink and turquoise! I took one look and fell in love. Not too crazy about paying $2 for the set at a yard sale of all places, but I can deal with it.

 

This guy is about 12 inches tall and still has his Made in Japan sticker on his butt. He was $3, which my roommate thought was about $3 too much. He really and truly hated my new little friend, but he'll probably hate him a lot more when I put him out on the mantle this year!

 
How pretty are these?? They look big, but they're actually the small ones. I paid $3 for the whole box, but I thought that was a good deal since the box is in near perfect condition. Can you believe that this is the first time that I ever bought a box of Shiny Brites? Last up is this beauty:

 
The same sale had some items inside with higher price tags attached, i.e. $15 for a jadeite plate, $35 for a Coca-Cola phone. I spotted it as soon as I walked in, but some other woman picked it up, looked at the price, snapped about it, and put it back down. The price she didn't want to pay? $6! It has some scraps, but it's the first piece of aqua Butterprint I've ever found in the wild. Funny thing is that the same woman then followed me around the shop waiting to see if I would put it down again. Nope!


My dad found some vintage Elvis magazines at the same sale for $1 and then spotted a John Lenon book inside. He asked for a price, and the woman running the sale flipped out. She started talking about how all the books inside were her reference books and not for sale. Really? It was a biography of Lenon, how is that a reference book for a reseller? It ticked me off too because she had a whole shelf of books that apparently weren't for sale and other shelves filled with merchandise for her antique mall that were unpriced and not for sale.


At another sale, I found a stack of Corelle bowls in the Spring Blossom pattern for 50 cents each. When I got home, I realized that only four had that pattern and the other four were different. Oops.

 

A few years ago, I started collecting these Wilton cake pans to hang on my kitchen wall. My roommate and ex made me an amazing Winnie the Pooh cake from one, the ex and I made my roommate a Care Bear one for his birthday, and the roommate and I made the ex a Garfield one. A few months after I started collecting, the price on these went through the roof. I've seen them priced at $10+ at some thrift stores. I got the Big Bird and the Cookie Monster cake pans for $1 each. The Cookie Monster one even had his original decorating booklet!

 

The seller said that she used them both for her daughter's first birthday party and then just forgot about them. I'm glad she decided to clean out her kitchen.

 

I also picked up this XBOX 360 set from her for $2. We absolutely loved DJ Hero, but the keys aren't in the greatest condition because I bought it used. The ex bought DJ Hero 2 for me from a flea market last year, but we misplaced the copy. Now I have a new copy and an extra controller just in case the roommate ever decides to play with me!

 

I currently own seven billion shot glasses and have no space for them, but I couldn't resist this vintage Las Vegas design for 50 cents. I have maybe a dozen or so out on display in my kitchen and two completely filled boxes of wrapped glasses. The ex and I both collected and bought a bunch whenever we took a trip together, so he just helped foster my bad habit LOL.

 

I've seen all three Chipmunks movies in the theater, had the soundtrack to the last film downloaded on my phone, and still love and watch the original cartoon. Every time I see these Ty Beanie Babies in the store, I have a hard time walking away. I got them both for $2.

 

I am a Hello Kitty nut! I have almost all the kitchen appliances: toaster, toaster oven, coffee maker, waffle iron, juicer, etc. I even have a bread box, and the complete bathroom set from the shower curtain and toilet seat cover to the toothbrush holder and soap dispenser. The same lady who had the Chipmunks had this lunchbox for $1. I had no clue they made these plastic designs in 2011.

We also made it to a few other sales that were pretty much misses. Both my dad and I bought a book from a "name your price sale". He wanted a James Patterson paperback, she told him to give her a price, he said 50 cents, and she looked super pained. If you want to set prices, set your prices! I had him had her another 50 cents for a book for me.


There was a Brownie troop selling treats that were a little expensive. Is $1 really the going rate for a piece of peanut butter fudge? It was the size of a brownie but still. They also had lemonade, and both me and the roommate got a cup. They didn't say anything when the little girl handed me a half-filled cup, but when they did the same thing to the roomie, her parents made her fill it up. I also got a delicious pulled chicken sandwich, and my dad and roomie got the biggest hot dogs I've ever seen in my life!


Our last stop was at a church sale that looked like someone with multiple personality disorder did the pricing. You'd see 5 cent mugs right next to a plate with a $5 price tag on it. They had two boxes of Shiny Brite ornaments, but they wanted $1 for each ornament. They also had a porch swing outside that was exactly like the one my parents have but in a different color. They bought theirs for $100 on sale last summer, and the church wanted $75 for one that was several years old. Really?


It was an amazingly busy day! After the sales, we drove 45 minutes to the flea market where my parents have a booth, came back, went to two different indoor flea markets, stopped by a Chinese restaurant, and swung by a thrift store. I'm looking forward to spending even more time with the pops this weekend, and I'll post some more of my finds later this week!