Weeks prior to the sale A had been giving out little leaflets with the yardsale info on it. They said quirky things like "Compulsive shopper making room for more shopping!" and "This was more like a pop up store than a yard sale. -Future Satisfied Yard Sale Customer". She plastered signs on signposts, in store windows and on boulevards. She made a facebook event group and she pimped the hell out of it. If you're going to have a yardsale this is how you do it!
My treasures include: A treasure box, clear glass bottles, a martini stamp, a pencil sharpener, mini decorative frames, four little animal print magnets, a string of sequins, a skeleton magnet, a grommet puncher and a pencil box.
I was up at 6:30, and after that 80's Skylab party too ... I picked up muffins at 7 am and stuck a sign on a busy corner while I was there before making my way to A's place to help set up. There were at least half a dozen neon signs on her house, lawn, boulevard and trees marking her place as the location. One sign on the front lawn had a heart on the back that said thanks for coming. Conscientious A, she thinks of everything.
My two little glass jars are on the right. On the left is a craft I'm going to do with them for Hallowe'en. It involved taking parchment paper and calligraphy-ing poison and witch's brew labels to turn them into creepy decorations. I may add orange or black ribbon to the tops as well.
Despite numerous signs saying the sale didn't start until 9 am there were a lot of people rapping on the fence, interrupting our progress and asking to be let in early. Dear Readers: If a sign says something doesn't open until 9 am and you're there early then take a f*cking hike, walk around the block, and come back at 9 AM. It's the polite thing to do.
This pencil sharpener is the coolest! It almost looks like a mini music box. It's got a teeny drawer that catches the shavings and pulls out so you can throw them away! The pencil slot is in the back.
There were fifteen tables and too many tubs of stuff to count. We still had to place more than a few items on the ground in front of overflowing displays. The group of helper monkeys managed to get the tables sorted into books (my section, mwuaha!), jewelry, home decor, kitchen, arts and crafts, accessories, games, and music and dvd's. SO. MUCH. STUFF. At quarter to nine there were at least thirty people in the front yard waiting for the gate to open. When the gate was opened the yard was immediately full. People had to squeeze by just to get from table to table, and this was no small yard!
A grommet punching kit. If you put a grommet at the tip of your pastie and fasten the tassel between the two metal rings it gives the tassel more freedom to twirl! A great tip given to me by Miss LaMuse.
At one point I overheard one guy say "they should open up another cashier", like we were some sort of chain store and not a local yard sale. Good grief. It's a good thing I wasn't actually being paid to work there because laughing and walking away from customers is generally frowned upon. We had a pretty good set up though. A was the main payment taker and haggler (haggle-e?), there were 2 baggers, one cash lady, I was taking payments for smaller armloads of stuff, a couple of A's friends wandered making sure there was no obvious theft or upsets and A's giant scotsman of a husband stood at the gate intimidating people into paying for their goodies. :D
An Italian leather donkey wine bottle. It was too bizarre to pass up! I think I'm going to rinse it out and put some fake flowers in it. Although, a headless donkey flower vase might be even weirder.
By 11 am over half of the stuff had been scooped up.
I should mention that A is my cousin so over the course of the morning I saw two aunts, an uncle, my grandma, a couple cousins and my Mom. It was like a family reunion. I was lucky enough to catch a ride with my Mom to bring home all my newfound treasures (of course helper monkeys couldn't help but riffle through things as we set up).
I bought styrofoam heads. Why did I buy styrofoam heads? a) Because I think it's evident by now that I like strange things and b) because they store and showpiece some of my masks and headbands very handily. Or should I say headily?
My Mom and I stopped at a second sale on the way home at Trinitarian United Church. It didn't have nearly as neat stuff but I did find these two items:
I'm going to add lace and buttons and doorknobs and whatever else I fancy and turn that purse into a steampunk masterpiece. I'm also super stoked about my new Dictionary! It's got everything from Middle Earth to Narnia and a ton of places I've never even heard of.
Not pictured here but also scooped up is the DVD Kickass and a faux snakeskin headband. Oh, the most I paid for any of these items was $2 for the purse. Everything else was a dollar or less. Garage sales, yard sales and thriftstores are the best places to find unexpected gems for amazing prices. If you missed out on these sales you're still in luck! Yardsale season is upon us. Just walk around your neighborhood on a sunny weekend and you're bound to bump into a couple. It's the best way to shop.
Saucily yours,
Miss Scarlet
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