Monday

Garage Sale Season

Here in Minnesota I save hunting at thrift stores for the winter time when no one in their right mind wants to be outside.

Spring, Summer and Fall however are made for being outside and enjoying the thrill of the hunt.

Garage Sale Finds

Many cities and towns host city wide sales, which are like a smorgasbord with very little driving once you get there, and street after street of sale after sale.
My garage sale partner (hi Dii!) and I have gotten pretty good at scouting out what towns have the best and the most sales, but over the years what we are on the hunt for has changed.

Many times new housing developments have garage sales selling baby clothes and baby equipment.  Those sales offer bargains to be had of newer, barely used adorable-snuggly-cute clothes and other baby apparatus.

But I don't need any baby swings or strollers anymore, so if we pull up to a house and notice a sea of pink and blue, many times we might just keep trucking on unless there is something else to entice us to exit the vehicle.

It also helps that the two of us are not searching for the same things.  We'd have to flip a coin to see who goes home with whatever it is we were eying up.

Dii and I have also gotten good at what people do right and wrong with their signs pointing the way.  Especially the rural sales.

We have a saying we use when the signs suck.  It's from something we saw on a t-shirt in Vegas quite a few years ago.

I can't type it here and not have everyone's profanity filters bleep the whole thing out, but it gets our thought on the matter across to each other very clear!

Aqua Barn, Bliss-Ranch.com

One of our favorite pet peeves is seeing "Barn Sale" with great, well marked signs pointing the way to a sale billed as HUGE with boldly drawn arrows firmly staked in the ground that even give the distance, 5 miles over hill and dale ...... only to arrive at the barn house and the sign at the end of the driveway pointing in says "starts tomorrow".   
Starts tomorrow? WTH? 

Maybe it would be nice to include that tidbit of info on the other signs so people don't drive all the way out there, past the Holsteins and rows of soy beans and corn, only to find out they put their signs up a day early.

Seriously it makes me want to run over all their well marked signs on my 5 mile drive back out to the highway.

Anyway, this week was a good hunting week.

We went to a small town with a population of 513, having their city wide sales.  23 sales were listed, a smaller amount than most towns, but hey they only have 513 souls living there, you mathematicians can do the percentage on what that comes out to be of the towns population who were hosting a sale.

I picked up a wheelbarrow.  Not exciting enough for 'ya?

Well it would be if you needed to move a pile of landscape rocks.  You would now own two wheelbarrows and two people could simultaneously move.those.rocks.  It should go faster.

Garage Sale Finds Antique Oak Buffet

But my son, you know the one living with his family in my woods while his house is being built, scored an oak buffet the perfect size for a double sink vanity in one of their bathrooms.

Rather I scored it on his behalf.

What did we do before cell phone pictures?

Garage Sale Finds Antique Oak Buffet

I should charge a finders fee.  I wanted that thing, but I can admire it at his house.  $90 bucks, 67 inches wide, and yes that is the top of a tiki hut in the background.

You don't have a tiki hut in your yard?  Well I can loan you another of my sons and you too could have a real frond hut with a hammock in your yard.

I couldn't take the buffet with me so I paid for it and the next morning #1 son loaded up his kids, his mom and one of his younger brothers to supply some muscle, and off we went to fetch it.

Garage Sale Finds Antique Oak Buffet

The buffet has a nice mirror that goes on the top.  I'm not sure if they will be painting the whole thing before two sinks are installed or if they will leave it natural.

Lots of storage for towels and toiletries.

Garage Sale Finds Antique Oak Buffet

I forced #1 son to also stop and get a free desk I saw the day before.

Pretty sure at that point both he and his brother mumbled some swear words about why I wanted the old thing.

Garage Sale Finds Antique Waterfall Desk

I didn't.

I only wanted the drawers.  They both said in unison, "just take the drawers then!".

But it was at a church and I didn't want to ravage the free desk and leave the rest for the church people to dispose of.

So in the back of son's truck the free desk went.

Garage Sale Finds

On garage sale day I also picked up this little chandelier for .50¢ at the same sale.

It's going in the playhouse.

Garage Sale Finds

The original tag from a now closed shop was still on it.  I can see why no one paid that price, but I was pretty thrilled with fifty cents.

Garage Sale Finds

I can't decide if I should leave it just how it is, or paint the whole thing.  What say you?

I also brought home some glass milk bottles for a buck.  Same sale.

Garage Sale Finds Milk Bottles

They came with plastic lids which are nothing special but make the bottles usable.

Currently in the fridge I have the one on the left holding heavy cream for my coffee.

Garage Sale Finds

I'll bet my readers understand why I couldn't just leave the desk all drawer-less for the sweet church lady to get rid of..... I mean obviously we were almost best friends since I bought other stuff the day before at her sale.

And best friends don't leave their junky desk at their friends house after they take the drawers.





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14 comments :

  1. love the light and the buffet!!! and darn those barn sale starts tomorrow jerks!

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  2. Terrific deals - that buffet is TDF. I wish we had more 'clustered' types sales around here, or were closer to the World's Longest Yard Sale, which is coming up. But my sisters & I've traveled the World's Longest before (in KY) - we only made it about the equivalent of 1 block. That's how we roll. Looking at every.single.thing.

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  3. Great deals! Sound like an adventure with Bliss if anything else LOL! Great score on the buffet.

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  4. I had to laugh at this post...I can sooo relate to wanting to run over signs that point you to the sale that's NOT. Makes you want to carry a Sharpie marker with you at all times so that you can pull off the road and help the dummies with their signs. But it would be hard to stay nice with what you actually write on them! You found some great things, especially that buffet.
    Judy
    judypimperl.blogspot.com

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  5. love that chandelier!! Leave the white/blue parts and paint the gold in flat white - it will be even more gorgeous!!

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  6. I do understand why you didn't leave the ravaged desk and I'm sure you'll think of something to do with it! You get the best finds at garage sales. I haven't been to one in years....I'm not good at browsing and not buying with the people staring me down!

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  7. you found some great items! I can't believe the light fixture was only 50 cents! that's truly a steal if you ask me. i think you should paint the brass white to match the other part on it. it might fare better outside that way too. Love the buffet. It reminds me of one my MIL has. that will be nice with sinks in it.

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  8. Totally, you can't leave the ravaged desk. That would be just plain wrong, especially in Minnesota. I had a similar experience where I was tempted to take just the glass knobs off a piece and leave the rest (it was that bad), but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It just felt wrong. As for the chandy, I'm with Anne. Just paint the gold parts. Last, I feel like you are holding out on me. Where was this neighborhood? I must add it to me neighborhood sale calendar for next year ;-)

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  9. Totally, you can't leave the ravaged desk. That would be just plain wrong, especially in Minnesota. I had a similar experience where I was tempted to take just the glass knobs off a piece and leave the rest (it was that bad), but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. It just felt wrong. As for the chandy, I'm with Anne. Just paint the gold parts. Last, I feel like you are holding out on me. Where was this neighborhood? I must add it to me neighborhood sale calendar for next year ;-)

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  10. Oh, yeah, those darn signs! We were on vacation once rolling along a country road in our RV when we saw a sign for wine tasting at a local winery. Like you, we followed the signs for miles just to get there and find out it wasn't open that day. REALLY???!! You couldn't put that on the sign at the corner 10 miles back??? ARGHHHHHH !!! It's pretty difficult to turn around an RV on a little country road. Now my hubby won't stop at these wineries for me because of this. *** Would love to know the saying you found in Las Vegas. I'm SO curious now that you've mentioned it. Can you send it to me with the naughty words XXX'ed out ? Awesome finds. Come on down to Texas in the fall; we have a city wide garage sale twice a year !!

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  11. Soup buffet and your Mother of th year. I'd paint the chandelier. Now I really want to come to the play house

    Cindy

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  12. OH that sounds like fun! That buffet is gorgeous and is going to be beautiful with a sink...hope you share it with us when it is done! The chandelier has a charming Euro-farmhouse look, so it just depends on the look you are going for in the playhouse...I'll bet you could find some pretty shades, too! I need to get out and hit some sales before fall is here!

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  13. Yes, everything is cool ... the buffet especially. But SERIOUSLY someone actually had previously charged $125 bucks for that chandy? and AS IS? Ufda. Well my crazy cousins are coming up for some fun tomorrow, and I hope we hit some good sales like you found.

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  14. Oh my gosh! That buffet is fantastic! It's absolutely gorgeous!

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