How To Score at Garage Sales

As I am sure you already know, one of my favorite summer activities is treasure hunting at garage sales.  If you would have told me 20 years ago that I would be addicted to finding little signs on the road and "banging a u-ey " as my grandma would say, I would think you were crazy!  I used to despise going to sales with my family.  My mom and grandma's were the queens of picking up stuff at garage sales, I was always so embarrassed and would  sit in the car and sometimes even slide down the seat to hide my face when my mom would pull up to a nice house.  I just didn't "get it".  I do now!  I have had a blast furnishing our home with someone else's rejects.  I am sure it helps that my style is somewhat shabby to begin with!  I have really found some unique things this season. I thought I would share a few of my favorite treasures that I got for a steal!  I have encouraged more than one friend to pull over next time they see a sign too and I love getting calls from them squealing in delight with their new found treasures.  It is addicting I am telling you!  I have a few tips to share too.  I find the best sales in our area are on Thursdays, not sure why but it seems to be the best day, with the best selections and a greater number of sales.  I also have taken advantage of technology in my search, I go online to the newspaper's websites and look up the classified ads for garage sales.  Craigslist is also a great resource for finding sales as well, some of them even have pictures of what will be at their sale.  I punch addresses into my GPS and away I go, it saves me lots of gas and frustration when I know right where I need to go.  I usually print off the list from the web and carry it with me and highlight the sales that I want to for sure visit.  I also scope out the big picture when I walk up to a sale, sometimes we are so focused on what is in front of us that we miss the good stuff and someone else walks away with the treasure.  I also have a "wish list" in my mind of things that I am looking for, you would be amazed at how lucky I get at finding exactly what I am looking for, usually in perfectly new condition, for a fraction of the price. 

Something that I hear all the time is that people feel uncomfortable if they don't buy anything.  I used to feel that way but not any more.  If you know me, you know that I am pretty friendly, I always say "hello" when I walk up, sometimes I make some small talk about how they got a "great day for their sale (good weather)" and if I don't find anything that I like/need I will say "thank you " and walk away.  They don't expect you to buy anything, they are hoping that you will but they understand if you don't, remember this is stuff that they no longer want, they don't have a place for it, you don't have to take their junk off their hands.  Only if you want to!!!  Believe me, there are many times that I am skipping away thinking to myself "who would get rid of something so awesome? This is my lucky day!"  And I make sure to tell them how happy I am with my purchase if I really love it, it makes them feel good that their things are going to a good home and will be loved.  Many times I get a history about the piece too, I love that, I like my things to have a "past".  And last but not least, probably my favorite tip of all, don't be afraid to go off the beaten path.  I have found some of my best treasures at homes that you would not expect.  I tend to like the older homes as opposed to the newer gorgeous subdivisions.  At least for what I am looking for.  And the prices seem to be much better.  I convinced my friend Sherry to do this the other day and she called me all excited and said "you were right!" I don't know why but it seems to be my theory.  Oh, I almost forgot one last piece of advice, the early bird gets the worm.  So true. 

Here are a few examples of my summer scores from this season! 

Cool antique hand form 50 cents

Just like new pro steamer for $25, I have wanted one forever!  Retails for $180

Three Vera Bradley bags, $5 a piece, including matching wallets!  I threw in Dayton's best friend this summer just to show you that things aren't always so glamorous around here, we have nicknamed it Walker Texas Ranger.

I have wanted some rain boots for so long, these were almost brand new for 50 cents, Sperry boots retail for about $60.  Can't wait to wear these in my garden!

The huge shell was $2, the basket was 50 cents and the scoops for my collection were all under 50 cents. 

Loved this mirror for $4!

Another Vera purse, brand new all silk! 

I filled this with sand from our Florida trip!

Can't wait to make a gorgeous fruit salad in this compote!

I love picking up glass pieces, they are so expensive in the stores, and usually only a dollar at sales.  The coral and candle sticks came from a sale too!  The large cloche was brand new Southern Living at Home, I got to the sale late and it was still there!  It was only $2! 

And just because it is worthy of two shout outs, my gorgeous stash of Tiffany silver for $3! 

My next post I will be sharing with you a gorgeous find for $5!  So go out and have fun!  And I will tell you, that in a few weeks I will be having my own sale, I love to get rid of things that we are no longer using, I  despise clutter and love giving my things a new home as well!  So if you are in the area, stop by!

Living like the Rich and Famous for $3!!!

Now if I had lots of money, I could carry it around in my stunningly beautiful  money clip

And for when I go to the "club" I can now use my gorgeous  key chain when I hand over my keys to the valet.

And for all of those times that I sign over huge amounts of money to my favorite charity I can pull my gorgeous silver pen out of my pretty little pen  pouch. (Say that 10 times fast!)

 I would hope you would all know me better than that by now!  On my budget I am buying Bic pens in the econo pack, my key chain has never been in the hands of a valet except for when I pull up to the emergency room, and a money clip, what would I need that for, I never carry cash on me except for when I garage sale and that would just look like I am being snooty if I pull out a gorgeous silver money clip to hand over a dollar for their junk (junk to them treasures to me!). 

However.....I scored these absolutely stunning pieces of Tiffany accessories yesterday at a garage sale, get this.... for a dollar a piece, these are still in the box, with pouches, authentic Tiffany silver!  I don't get it?  Did she not know about Tiffany?   And if she didn't like them, couldn't she have re-gifted?  Seriously!!!  I went online and added up a total of $480 worth of Tiffany delight for the grand total of $3!!!!  I feel so spoiled!!!  I have two pieces of Tiffany in our home, one was a beautiful crystal candle holder that my sister Melanie bought for my 30th birthday (wow, that will be 10 years ago next month!) and the other was a bracelet that Mark bought for me while we were in NY at Tiffany's.  The grand total of those pieces was $170 combined.  And I treasure them so much that I still have the boxes that they came in.  So you see why I was skipping away from that sale?   I was on cloud 9!!! And why had no one else picked these up yet?  Who walks by Tiffany blue boxes marked for a dollar and passes?  My momma didn't raise no fool! 

My One Dollar Foyer Makeover, You Don't Want to Miss This One!

Ok this post will change your impression of me I am certain. To those of you who know me personally you know that I have a reputation for getting good deals and I am not afraid to walk up to a scary house to get one, or to walk into a thrift store, second hand store, Salvation Army etc. I have no pride where finding cool stuff for my house is concerned. Things that are pretty much junk to others are treasures to me. Hence my new title: Garbage picker!!! Yes I did. I did it. I was in a super cool little downtown area and saw people going through stuff at the curb so I just HAD to see what all the commotion was about. After they had cleared I stuck my neck out the window of my hubby's truck, (thankfully I had that today) and just about hit a parked car when I saw the coolest stuff just sitting in the street! I didn't even care if people had to wait to go around me while I loaded my treasure up! Trust me, I am sure the guys inside are telling a story at the dinner table tonight about the crazy little lady who lifted that thing all by herself! It was super heavy but I was determined to get it into the truck, I think I have a hernia and have re-activated my hemorrhoids (sorry but us garbage pickers can talk like this, ya know, in the gutter talk), plus as the day goes on I feel every muscle in my stomach and chest area starting to ache! But I did it!!! My sweet hubby even tried to help me lift it and I think I surprised him with my strength, and when Dayton got home I tried to have him lift it...he could not budge it! I was a woman on a mission! I would have loved to have room for the other one (there were two) and another super cool locker cabinet, oh where is my brother in law and his semi when I need him? As soon as I left I saw another truck pull up and take the others. That is ok, I got the best one, I made sure of that! So I got this for free!!!! Yippee! And yesterday at a yard sale this super nice lady was selling cool windows and screens for a dollar a piece! Yup, you guessed it, the screen was only a buck! And everything else I already had. So for the grand total of 100 pennies I re-made my foyer and I love it! I cleaned it up really good, you should have seen the spider nests in it! And as a bonus it was filled with some super old tags and papers. Oh and a swine flu flyer from 1976, I didn't even know it existed back then! So for now I have loaded my mittens, scarves, hats, umbrellas and rain gear in it, I love having a place to keep all of that stuff! I am so happy (and sore) with my new treasure, I am not sure how many times I will go garbage picking but I am pretty sure I will start looking now! To all my family and friends, I apologize for any embarrassment that this brings you, I promise I will never give you a gift that I found in the garbage!
Apparently, these are now my people, I am one of them. See them taking the other things that I wanted but did not have the room or strenth for! What a lucky lady, she has a truck and two guys! You think Mark will want to start joining me on my little trips?! I highly doubt it!

This screen is the only thing I purchased for my foyer, the rest was free, a gift, or I already had it in storage. It cost me a whole dollar! ( The Foyer Before) This Hall Tree was a great find about 12 years ago for $50, it was oak and I gave it a white treatment when we moved into this house. I change the decor out on this alot, I have wanted a storage piece for this area but it is an awkward little space and not very wide so I needed something kind of narrow and tall. (this photo is from a few years ago)

The foyer now! My free, junk picked, super cool cabinet!!!

Love this screen, I am not sure if I should keep everything green or give it my signature white touches, what do you think?

I love this, I have had it for a while, my son Dayton has been #8 on every team he has ever been on so I just had to have it!

I am sure I will change this up a bit but what fun I will have playing with this new piece!

Super neat (and heavy) pull out drawers, six of them to be exact! The drawers are like file cabinet drawers on heavy duty rollers, very sturdy. I could use it to hold weapons or something like that (hee hee). The sides are off white and the drawers are green, not sure if I want to paint it or not.

It is hard to get a good shot in this really narrow space sorry! ! It is a good size, it stands about 4 feet tall!

See I have already fussed a bit more and put my magnolia twigs on here! Loving this!!!

A Few Tag Sale Finds

The jury is still out on this one! I truly think I got a real LV purse, the markings look real and all, does anyone know how to tell. I have a real serial number that matches a real LV bag just like this, it is from 2003, I paid $5, a new one to replace it is $1030.00! I bought it at a really nice home, one of the straps needs some work but I love it any ways!

At the same sale the lady had this old typewriter still in its cool old box for $3!

Really crummy picture I know but I am short on time, this golf bag was crying for me to take it home, isn't she pretty! Now I really need to learn how to golf better, it even has the fancy embroidered number club covers! It is a nice tanish color with white toile-ish flowers on it!

My friend has one of these, she has something like 30 nieces and nephews so it was a neat way for her to display all of their pictures, I found this one still in its box for $1 and luckily I have 5 nieces and nephews so it was a perfect fit for me!

Now this big bad piece of coral almost caused a blood bash between me and my neighbor Pam who was shopping with me that day. It is beautiful and a nice size for $5 it was a super good deal or should I say steal! I wish I had more of these!

Not sure what you call this but I have wanted one forever and this one was only $2 so I finally gave into temptation and brought it home.

Love this frame! I hit another jackpot of a sale, my favorite children's boutique closed a few months ago, the owner had a sale at her house trying to get rid of the rest of her loot, I had looked at this frame before but she wanted $40 for it, I got it for a dollar!! Hee hee! I also got and old shutter, some Cath Kidson bath salts, some adorable pillows for my porch swing and a few other incidentals for next to nothing!

I had no intention of being gone so long! Life just got so busy! Today is Dayton's first day of high school as a Freshman, boo hoo!!! We had a great summer ( it could have been warmer!) and crammed lots of activity into each day. I am not sure why but always on the first day of school I clean both of the kids rooms out. Maybe it is because during the summer we are so busy that stuff just gets ignored and I let things slide. So I have spent most of today cleaning out Myah's room, boy that girl is a pack rat! It feels so good to have their clothes organized and their gadgets put away for a while. I love to be organized and my household runs so much better when we are. I totally had a great time going to tag sales this summer ( I decided that it sounds so much more sophisticated to say tag sale instead of yard or garage) , I hit some great ones let me tell ya! I have become much more selective in what I bring into my home so I did pass up some great stuff just because I don't need it or have a place for it, I hate buying things and then never using them. I actually did a happy dance at one in particular, you know it is bad when you leave and then go to the atm and go back! I found a gorgeous Horchow chenille bedding set for Myah's room. The lady said she paid over $600 for it! It is like new, she actually had 2 because she had 2 little girls but I only needed the one. I will have to show you that later, I don't have any pictures of it yet. I also found a mirror there by an artist that I love but could never afford for $15.00!

Well, here are a few photos that I found for your viewing pleasure, nothing too interesting but treasures nonetheless!