kirstencan

What a lucky day!

I woke up yesterday and browsed some yard sale ads online.  I found one nearby that listed legos and bionicles.  And started in half an hour!

I haven't been yard-saling that much the last couple of years (I used to go all the time!).  I think last year I went once?  And the year before none.  I kinda had the itch yesterday.  I asked Monkey if he wanted to come with, not telling him about the listing I'd seen.  I warned him on the drive over that yard-saling is like treasure hunting.  You go to a bunch that don't have anything you want, but then sometimes you find one with something awesome.

We pulled up and found the bionicle box.  He picked out a bunch of them and carried them in his arms while I continued looking around.  A nice lady found a sack for him to put his prizes in.  Then he said 'Now I have more room to carry stuff, Mom!' (read: I want more bionicles!).  The lady laughed with me.

We got back in the car and he chattered while we hit a couple more sales.  He spoke repeatedly about what a lucky day he was having.  First he got to watch Mythbusters, then he made himself waffles (he's learning to use the toaster by himself), then he got to go to TWO yard sales!  What a great day.

He was just so happy and quite good company.  I want to remember that.

I did find a couple other things (besides the bionicles - our box runneth over!*) like a much needed next-size-up bike.  A little dirty, a little rusty, but much appreciated (and $5).  I also found a decent frame backpack for hiking/emergency kits.  Yay!

Ignored chores for much of the day and enjoyed playing with the kiddos, reading, and appreciating that I had nothing to do for church the next day.  I love days like that! 

Later, Aaron and I headed out for our 'date'.  We were laughing about how it's very 'us' but most people might not think it was fun.  First we picked up another next-size-up bike from a classified ad (after seeing BOTH boys riding the new one, I realized we really needed another one  that size and lucked out finding the ad that day!), then we grabbed some shakes.  Next up was a trip to Barnes and Noble (all of our dates end up there or at the library - nerds!) and then the asian market where we picked up a shopping basket, but should have gotten a cart - we always end up picking up a ton of stuff there.

Fun stuff.  A lucky day, indeed.

*I used to look at Bionicles (now Hero Factory) as another dumb plastic boy's toy with accompanying cartoon.  I think it was hanging out at the Bionicle building room at Legoland that changed my mind.  It's awesome to have lots o pieces - you can build a lot of unique stuff.  Boys can be quite creative with them, and they are very different from all the other building sets around.

Chrome + Yellow = Happy!

I haven't posted anything thrifted in forever!  Mostly because I haven't gone much.  Boo.  I've hit a few yard sales this summer, but nothing too exciting.

Anyway, I recently decided that our (previously thrifted) patio table was too small and too wobbly, and have been trolling the classifieds looking for something just right.

And I found it!

Ignore the chairs.  They're next!

Anyway, a few years ago I was at a yard sale of an older woman who was selling a beautiful chrome + formica table for $15.  It was gorgeous.  I wanted it SO bad but had nowhere to put it.  I kept my hand on it for a while (while other shoppers hovered) and then finally gave up. Unfortunately, I never thought of keeping it out on our covered patio.  Darn it - that thing was gorgeous.

This one is pretty too, and while it isn't exactly like the old one, I love the bright yellow.

The legs are cool, right?  And seriously, new chairs are needed.  I don't know what kind, though...

It makes me want to dress up the patio a little - maybe make a summery bunting for back there and some candle holders like these?  Twinkle lights?

Anyway, the only other purchase of note lately is this set of vintage pyrex bowls.  They are so pretty I couldn't leave them at the yard sale.  Also they were only $2 for the set!

Yeah, I do not have room for more bowls, so I'm giving these to a friend - but they're super cute.

Have you scored anything awesome lately?

Thrifting Season Starts

Hit any yard sales yet this season?  So fun!  This year I'm on the lookout for an electric piano, a couple of chairs, bookcases and bedside tables.  We'll see how I do!

I went out on a drizzly Saturday last weekend to check out some specific items mentioned in an ad - and came home with a pile of books instead.

Books about Ancient Rome, Greece, and Norse Myths.

A stupid monster in your closet book (it's a hardcover Mercer Meyer - but still, WHAT was I thinking??!!!) which quickly went away.

A dozen Archies - because as dumb as they are, my kids love them.

We already have a copy of A Child's Garden of Verses, but I couldn't resist picking up this one illustrated by Gyo Fujikawa.

A Harry Potter audiobook, and a collection of Beatrix Potter. 

All "needed" and loved immediately (with the obvious exception of Mercer Meyer - stupid!!).  I also picked up a few Game Boy Advance games for $4 each - they work in the kids' DS's so, that rocks.

Then on Friday I hit a few sales with my mom and found this beauty of a divided pyrex dish ($5) and some cloth napkins.

The lady had four of these dishes, but I just couldn't justify the cabinet real estate to get more!

And, yet another thrifted Lego collection.  $2 for each gallon-size bag.  Yeah, baby.

So the kids spent Saturday morning washing them outside (still in PJ's).

 

Which is quite fun (we've done this before!) and is the reason that the girl was embarrassingly late to a piano performance group.

We let them soak a while, and then I spread them out to dry on beach towels.

After spending all day asking me if they were dry, we finally got out there to sort through them and put them in a bucket.  And find treasures (and non-treasures).

We found some Lego train track pieces!  Thomas has been begging for a Lego train for years already.  He lost no time building an engine (outside, I know).

We eventually found one train wheel piece, so we'll need some extra track and at least one more wheel piece to make the kid truly happy.

This is how much we added to our collection - not bad for $10!

You can never have too many Legos.

Latest Thrifting Finds

This years yard sale finds have picked up, finally!  Here's some of what I've found in the last two weeks:

A red wagon - $2.  Because all kids need a wagon, right? I don't know how Radio Flyer does it, but they make kids play extra cute.  So. Darn. Cute. 

Even the bigger kids love the wagon (here Princess and a neighbor had just rode it down the neighbors' steep(ish) driveway).

A handful of vintage (or vintage looking?) Christmas ornaments and an old shadow box.  I will do something cool with that box, but I don't know what yet...

(I love how the soldier ornament above has a guitar - and speaking of guitars...)

A kid's guitar ($5).  The boys especially are thrilled.  Thomas made us put on 'No Cars Go' so he could play along - also he likes to 'play' and sing 'We're Not Gonna Take It' to much applause.

Monkey tried to jam with his sister during her piano practice.  Then we showed the kids School of Rock, after which the boys tried to crowd surf off the couch.

Lately I've been trolling the classifieds for another train table.  Our train table in the playroom is rarely used for trains anymore.  Usually it alternates between Playmobil and Lego bricks.  The sides of the table are awesome for keeping all of those teeny pieces in one place and not all over the house.

Often now one boy wants to switch what's on it while the other boy wants to keep the Legos on the table.  Monkey really really wanted to play Playmobil recently, and when Thomas wouldn't agree to cleaning up the Legos, Monkey asked him  to help him lug the huge Playmobil box up the stairs to his room.   We used to be pretty strict about keeping toys out of their bedroom - to keep it nice and calm for naps.  But they're beyond naps now and I realized that having a play table in one of their rooms might be a good idea and could possibly help with Quiet Time.

Long story short, I've been in the market for a train table.  Most sell for about $40 in the online ads.  I found this one on Saturday for $10 at a yard sale!  Woo!  That's a better deal than our first train table ($25 also thrifted)!

The roundhouse you see on there was included.  The boys are loving that, even without a turntable to attach it to the tracks.

So yeah, right when I show you Thomas' room - we go and change it.

I've gotten a few other things:  a bookcase we were needing, another globe, books and some other stuff, but these are the highlights.  I've been trying hard to not bring unnecessary 'stuff' into our house, so I've been turning down quite a few good finds. 

This really had been a slow thrifting summer for me (anyone else?) but my luck finally turned!

Polaroid Love

I mentioned last year that I'd passed up several Polaroid cameras because of lack of film.  Well, last weekend at a yard sale I found a Polaroid camera*... WITH FILM... for $3.  

Ten shots.  Ten tries at something super fun.

With film that expired nearly 5 years ago.

I loved it.

I scanned a couple to show you.

The gnomes are my favorite shot (hence the new blog header) - the clothespins are my second.

And now I'm asking for more film for Christmas.

And yeah, I was the geeky mom who brought THREE cameras to the last day of swimming lessons.  Whatever.  One was for video.

 

*It's a 1200FF

Old quilt finds new home

I picked up this beauty of a quilt at a yard sale this morning.  It is in really great condition, and entirely hand-pieced and hand-quilted.  I think the pattern might be called 'Grandmother's Flower Garden'?

I was checking it out and asked if it was indeed hand sewn, and the answer was "I don't know, it was a gift" and that I could have it for five dollars.

Well, I think the person who put the hours and hours into this lovely gift would be horrified by the price tag (besides the fact that they were selling it!), but would hopefully be comforted by the fact that it is appreciated by the buyer.

Not sure what we're doing with it yet - it may be a summer quilt for my daughter's bed.  It has a lot of different pinks in it - very pretty!

I couldn't very well leave it there, now could I?

Saturday mornings so far

I haven't shown you my yard sale scores from this summer yet!  There have been a few Saturdays I've gone out - most of them rainy, of course.  I haven't found any crazy amazing finds (yet), but plenty of moderately cool ones, which is happy.

The day before Princess' birthday, I found her a New In Box metronome.    I was wondering if I should get it or not when I peeked in the box and saw that it was cherry red!  Also, the price tag said $37, but the lady sold it to me for $3.  So that was good.

That day I also found some New In Box Freaky Little Girly Pet toys - for less than $1, and some manga.  Really, I should have wrapped this stuff up for her birthday...

Then I found this set of knitting looms for $1.  Now I need to figure out how to use them... Princess has tried crochet, but was having a hard time - I think this might be easier for her.

Last weekend I came home with only these three boxes - but I had a lovely morning listening to music and driving around downtown neighborhoods that I normally don't go to (and only spent $7).

See that box in the middle?  I'll bet you could only find Gocco stuff at the yard sale of a blogger.  It's a fabric kit!!!  I need to pick up a few more bulbs, though.

And we've been having fun playing the Lego Creator game with our little Lego Maniacs - although somehow there are always more people (clones) than we need - and some casualties.  Pretty sure that's not how you're supposed to play...

Speaking of clones... I stopped by one yard sale recently because I saw that they had lots of boys' clothes.  As I'm looking around I find a Star Wars clone costume.  One of those cheesy ones that I just won't buy for my kids (at least not full-price), that nearly every boy in our neighborhood had last Halloween (and still wear regularly for Star Wars battles).  Mask and all, I couldn't turn it down for less than $1.

I was driving home with my box of clothes wondering exactly how on earth my two boys were going to share the costume, and then when we unpacked the box... somehow there were TWO costumes.  I swear I only saw and picked up one, but I'm loving that somehow it multiplied in the box. ;) The boys dress in costumes often, so it's fun to have more stuff to throw in the dress-up box.

Let's see - that's the interesting stuff, but I've also picked up some clothes and books, cool letter stamps, and an outside table for the back patio (kinda seen here - last photo).  We'll eat outside more when it stops raining!

I have more on my list to look for this summer - what are you looking for?  Or have you found anything awesome?

p.s. I just noticed this is post #600!!!  A nice big round number, eh?

Tales of Tables

When we were first married, we rented a furnished studio apartment.  Our table was tiny and two of the four chairs were stacked in the closet because there just wasn't room for them.

For our next apartment we went to the thrift store and bought a horrid (but cheap! We were still in college!) table and chair set - which we left on the side of the road with a 'free' sign when we graduated and moved (they were picked up almost before I put out the 'free' sign).

In North Carolina, we picked up (or got suckered into) an English pub set at an antique booth at the Raleigh flea market.  It was cool.  Tiny, not practical at all, but cool.

For several years, we were the gathering place for my family when my parents came in from out of state.  The pub set wasn't cutting it, so we eventually got my parents old dining room set (which has like 13 leaves, I swear - it's huge!).  I love that set.  My parents bought it when I was about 9 or 10, and I remember thinking as a kid 'This is nice.'  I've always loved it, and was happy to have it in my home.    It's oval, and a beautiful, dark, glossy rosewood.  Ahhh.

But, quite frankly, it's too nice for us.  We recovered the chairs, and had the hardest time keeping screws in the seats after that - resulting in most guests being very surprised when they slipped off their seat, and one chair breaking into smithereens.

Also, we had to keep a pad/tablecloth on it all the time.  That's hard when kids want to do school on it (you need a book under the paper), or you just need to wipe up one spot. 

I've been thinking a lot about how schooling is going to go in the fall.  And one of the things I decided was that we needed a new table.  Something wipeable.  And a little smaller, to make room for some cabinets I would like to hold school stuff.  I figured I'd look this summer at thrift stores, yard sales, classifieds, and if I hadn't found one by August I'd buy this table from IKEA.

So, having just decided that, I checked the classifieds online, and found that exact table.  And eight chairs, much like I would have picked out myself (except I wouldn't have picked white!).  In perfect condition.  In my own town.

It was too easy.  I'd just decided this, right?  But I called, and it turned out I could go see them that very afternoon - and my mom happened to be up so I had someone to watch the kids.  It all just came together, you know?

Anyway, that is a very long way of telling you that We got a new table - and I love it!

It's very wipeable... and sturdy.

We were going to put one or both leaves in it, but decided to keep it at it's smallest for everyday use.  And it's working for us.

I was also thinking of getting a preschool table for the boys to work at - something where their feet touch the ground.  I pulled this table and chair set (we painted it for Princess when she was two) down from Monkey's room and put it in the living room temporarily.  It's been cloudy and rainy, so sometimes little changes like this work wonders.

It's not quite big enough for two kids to work - but I figure between the table, counter (assuming I keep it cleared off - heh), this little table, and their own desks, the kids will have plenty of workspace choices next year.

p.s. I also bought another Nintendo DS from the classifieds this week - and guess what - I talked the seller down $15!  I stink at bargaining.  Generally, if something is priced too high for me I just don't buy it.  But I think this was easier for me because we offered/counter-offered via email, and it ended up being a great deal - I'm proud of myself!

Exactly what I wanted.

After dropping off my donations at a thrift store, I walked in to browse for a few minutes and immediately found this:

This lovely little side table.  It's just what I was looking for.  I love the legs, aren't they gorgeous?  We're doing a little living room re-do.  Nothing huge, just some paint, and moving bookcases and things from room to room - more on that later.  But I needed a side table.  Preferably one that can hold books (because we never have enough book storage), and preferably vintage.

This.  Basically I wanted THIS!  And I found it!

And did you see the drawer pull?  Perfect.

*sigh*  I love when that happens.

Randomness for a Monday

• I just found out that Thomas' kindergarten teacher is RETIRING at the end of the month.  They've hired a new teacher, but I'm worried about the transition.

• I found a bunch of Star Wars toys at a yard sale on Saturday - and bought too many.

• But I also found a nice, handmade Spiderman costume that fits Monkey perfectly.  He's ecstatic.

• I hope it lasts until Halloween, because now I don't have to make/find a Batman one for him.

• Here's some cute glasses and a pyrex bowl I found, too.

• The bowl was free - the guy was going to charge all of 25 cents for it, but when I bought several cd's from him, he just threw it in.

• People really value things differently.

• I've ordered a new camera - it should get here by Friday and I CAN'T WAIT!

• I've had a lot of camera dreams lately.

• I enjoyed reading both Left to Tell and Snowflower and the Secret Fan.

• I still can't find my reading glasses.

• This week for a church activity the young women are learning salsa dancing.

• In November, I'm teaching them about photography.  Not because I'm any expert, but because they asked me to. 

• At camp, I was giving the girls a few pointers about their cameras and they were so into it.  

• We bought our HD converter for our tv.  Now we don't get ABC or NBC.  Bigger antenna needed?

• I can't miss The Office.

• I hope it's better than last season...

• Apparently, this is my 492nd post.

• The fruit stocking verdict?  Aaron says he doesn't think they helped.

• I found a pair of Juicy Couture pants for Princess at a consignment shop - she'll wear them for dance.

• Last year, she wore a size 13 ballet slipper.  This year, we had to buy her a 2.5!

• Wow, that old shoe looks gross.  It didn't start out as white as the new one - she chose canvas this year - the old one had a grey inner sole, I swear!

• Still...