Lots of goodies!

Greetings virtual yard sale followers, 
This is a longer post since it is one with follow-ups from past adventures as well as a rewarding morning of shopping and a Goodwill trip. I will start with a brief recap of the week:


My great nephew Hugh loves the Elmo kitchen set I found last week but didn't get a picture. It now hangs on  my sister's refridgerator and she took a picture of Hugh and the set and sent it to me at my request. Elmo sings a few songs when Hugh presses a button. Too cute for $2. Aunt NeeNee says they have been playing with Elmo's pots a lot since it arrived at her house. She babysits for Hugh every chance she gets and asked that I find a few toys to keep at her place for him.  I didn't know there were heavy magnets inside it to hang on the refridgerator just at his level.

Hugh and Elmo, cooking and singing
don't you just want to pull up that shirt and give that belly a raspberry!

Hilary sent me a picture of the wood puzzles and that cute wood shape puzzle house (still can't figure out what to call it. Apparently Waylon is enjoying. 

At Goodwill this week I found a Trim a Home Christmas village house for $2. I thought it would fit in with Brenna's village finds a few weeks ago. Brought it home only to find the switch cord didn't work. Then found one at where else but the Dollar Tree! The cheapest ones  I found online were around $3 plus shipping. So if you need a new clip-on corded light for these kind of Christmas decorations, head to Dollar Tree while they last.

The clip on is the part that holds the bulb in place inside the ceramic house

I started my yard sale weekend with a Friday afternoon sale. Love these!  
I had a new "list" from a friend to look for a pack and play (yes, another...I have lost count on how many I have bought), a sturdy stroller, and items for dog training. Dog training list was: children's shirts and socks.This dog-training group gives obediance lessons to  dogs at the local Humane Society on Weds. afternoons. Dogs who have been trained are more easily adoptable. They use the shirts and socks to get pups use to different experiences, textures; helping them to be accepting. Found a pair of baby booties and a pair of socks and 6 shirts. Also grabbed a fleece hat and a light weight hat with a neck protector for Hugh (next summer) and a fleece jacket, as well as a couple of footed pjs for our church's charity program. Everything was 50 cents each.

fleece hat and jacket for this winter, light hat for next summer.

Then that evening, I enjoyed catching up with an old college friend, Carolyn Winks, who was here in Greenville for a wedding. The subject came up about the name of this blog, Thrifty Christy. Carolyn reminded me  our mutual roommate and dear friend, Beth Downey Schisgall, was the one who coined the nickname years ago, because of my attempts to reduce costs in our apartment; turning off lights, lowering the temp in the winter and suggesting we wear sweaters instead of turning up the heat. So credit goes to Beth for my moniker. She had me pegged.

 Now on to Saturday.

 Johanna had abandoned our yard sale mission for a day trip to Busch Gardens with our youth group. She goes as a chaperone every October and I never go. It is a mutual understanding. 


So I mentioned to our friend, Carolyn Morris, who has accompanied us on a Saturday or two in the past, I was going to be alone and would she like to come along. Carolyn said "yes". Company is wonderful to have on these jaunts but getting up at 0'dark thirty is a real sacrifice for someone such as Carolyn who is a night owl. She even drove us!   It truly was 0'dark-thirty since there was one 6am sale in the neighborhood. Poor Carolyn realized she had forgotten her Sheetz refill coffee to-go mug when she saw me sipping happily from my wonderous Starbucks mug that I regale its virtues to all. So when we arrived at the advertized sale at 5:55 and the sellers were JUST starting to put out a few boxes, Carolyn immediately drove back to her house to retrieve her mug and headed for Sheetz and the coffee bar.

Sheetz, where we get coffee and um, get rid of coffee if you know what I mean ;)

 By the time we arrived back at the "6am" sale, most everything was out and we could begin shopping. Lots of stuff and no prices marked. It was the  dreaded "oh, I didn't have time or want to be bothered pricing things, so just show me what you want and I will tell you what I want for them".  Agghh!  I hate that! At least with marked prices, you have some idea of the price the seller has in mind or hopes for and then you can either decide "yes, that is most reasonable" or "maybe we can negotiate". 


I showed her  a dog bed with a medium size tear on the back, a box of swifter dusting refills, and a expandable file holder, pretty and looks like a purse. She said $10.  I said, no, I don't think so! Actually, I didn't mean to be rude, I was just shocked. And then I politely said I would be willing to pay $1 for the ripped dog bed, 50 cents for the box (opened) of dusters, and $2 for the file holder. And she ok'd those prices. I also politely told her (after Carolyn said something about me being a "professional yard sailer and she asked my opinion about her decision not to price and her general set-up) how it is better to price things ahead of time and why. 
It was her first sale and I understand how folks don't really know the ins and outs of this means of selling things. I gave her thumbs up for using some tables and not laying stuff on the ground on sheets/blankets and for attempting to display as much as possible. I was kind because she had also simply dumped a lot of stuff in boxes, which slows you down as you dig through. I don't mind digging in boxes, I just don't like when the majority of stuff is in boxes. That really slows things down to determine "is this junk, treasures, and am I wasting my time kneeling in wet, cold, dewy grass"!

Dog bed not pictured but is brown with fuzzy soft fleece and rubberized bottom patched now with duct tape. Bike helmet is fabulous! Fits like a dream and I can now leave my older, more "used" helmet at my brother's house in Morehead.

 Hopefully she listened to my words of wisdom. Am starting to feel like Yard Sale guru these days!   Carolyn didn't see anything she couldn't live without so we moved on to the next sale which was in a upscale neighborhood. 


There I found a new Giro adult bike helmet still in the bag for $5, a wooden Ikea loopy toy for Waylon (marked $4 but I asked and got it for $2). My older helmet is serviceable but some of the padding cover is coming off, so this newer one is nice.

Carolyn was amazed to see a brand new microwave for $15 after having to buy a new one for her daughter just recently for quite a bit more. She bought an almost new electric griddle($10), and a vcr she needs to transfer video to dvd. I believe that was $5.   

Don't know what you would call this but I call it fun!

Just next to the subdivision, a church was having a sale and a good size one at that. I found two new pyrex containers with lids (not vintage, clear with 2 sections in each), 3 wooden toys for Waylon, 2 hardback books: the Nap Time Storybook (Carolyn highly recommended) and an I Spy, as well as 2 packs of battery operated miniature lamp posts in original boxes for Brenna's Christmas village. All for $7. Nice.

Hope Waylon like banging on the pegs!

Always looking for books

 We moved on to the next advertized sale on the list, my favorite street, Primrose Lane. I just love saying  "I am going down Primrose Lane". I am a dork, guilty. Nice things at the sale but nothing for us. Sometimes it is like that, reasonably priced things, great condition but hey, if you don't need them, you have to walk away. Still Carolyn, that metal cart...? Should have taken a picture of that one so we could look back and finally figure out where would have put it :)


By this time the big church down the road (Covenant) was opened for business. Wow! What a sale! The set-up was neat. The church rented 2 parking lots each per seller for $25 and the sellers were responsible for setting up, selling, and removing items. Big parking lot and LOTS of sellers. Here I found the pack and play on my list for $10, an electrolux floor attacment with 3 bags for $1, 2 adjustable curtain rods (need those to put up curtains at my brother's guest room; some people like privacy!) 50cents for both, a Starbucks travel coffee mug just like my beloved red one ($1), 2 grocery list pads for 25 cents each even though they were marked $1 each, dishwasher rinse for 25 cents each and a brand new Snoogle cover, never opened: $1. If you don't know what a snoogle is, google it! I have 2 in my attic and I need to get one of those to Lindsey. I asked the seller to come down on the grocery pads (stickers said $1)since Dollar Tree sells those for $1. She realized it wasn't yard sale price and came way down. See, it is ok to ask for price reductions...don't be shy!

So happy with this haul!

It was so extensive that Carolyn and I lost each other and had to call to meet up. I sure hope they do this again next year. Prices were all over the place; some sellers way too high and some ready to bargain and get rid of stuff. After I bought the pack and play(very reasonably priced at $10), leaving it with the seller so I could continue to shop, I passed an older couple selling their wares. I had passed them much earlier before and was on my way out to collect the pack and play and leave with Carolyn. I slowed down to look again at their stuff when the husband mentioned they also had a pack and play for sale.  I looked and realized I had missed it  because they had stuff on top of it and it was lying down. I told them they might consider displaying it because I had missed it earlier and had already bought one. Then I saw the price....$50! Whoa!! I offered my opinion that their price was way too high and my earlier purchase for another was significantly less. Plus I had never paid more than $20 for one at any yard sale. They seemed open to my comments and had that item out where it could be seen. Sure hope they lowered that price! Just keep in mind when you have a yard sale to prominently display your stuff. If you want to sell it, SHOW IT!!

Carolyn bought a Cosco step stool with drop seat which was in nearly new condition, a dream catcher, and a couple of glass candle sticks at this sale.

By this time I was almost ready to burst, the coffee earlier had gone through my system. Made it to Sheetz in time, (am I getting too descriptive here? Be honest.) just down the road, felt better and we decided to hit one more church parking lot sale close by. There I found a nearly new camera case for Steve, 

He likes it! Nice and roomy for his larger, work camera at school. Lots of pockets and storage.

a very sturdy Eddie Bauer stroller 

with cup holder and make-up mirror.  No, I have been corrected, that is a rear view mirror(!) 

Maybe it can double as a make-up mirror. 

$15. Price on sticker was $20, I asked if she'd accept $15 and "yes" was the answer. Just so you don't think I am too thrifty at a seller's expense, this stroller was not in top notch, almost new condition and it was late in the morning which means it had been sitting there for a few hours unsold. Sellers want to SELL! So as the mornings progress, prices need to come down. She certainly was on the same page since she didn't hesitate.

By then it was 10am and time to call it a day. Carolyn had found treasures as well and had spent her last dollar. Literally. I think I had a couple bucks left.

Trunk picture..more in the back seat too! Blue pack and play on the bottom

Carolyn dropped me off, helped me unload my haul and left for home promising to take pics of her treasures for the blog. Not only did she take pictures, she wrote a commentary as well!

Here's a run down of everything:
1. Bre really liked the dream catcher ($1) and plans to hang it on her wall to add to her dream catcher collection.
2. The doggy diapers (25 cents) fit Luke so we are ready for his episodes. (Luke is a very small beagle, almost as cute as my Abby)
3. The VCR ($5) is up and running so that our DVD player can access our 1984 TV.
4. The step stool ($5)is clean and in my pantry so I can reach those high shelves.
5. Cube Lite Brite($2)...Breanna had so much fun playing with it that we decided to keep it and use it to entertain kids that she babysits.
6. The candle sticks and mason jar (25 cents each)are clean and ready for my craft.
7. I can hardly wait to make pancakes ($10)with that beautiful griddle.
8. That cute little bowl (50 cents) matches my kitchen and sits on top of my refrigerator holding my vitamins.
9. Becca will get the cutting board($1)...it will look great in her kitchen.
10. And this winter, I will begin scarf making with my knitting thingies($7 for a bag containing 4 knitting looms, knitting books and loom paraphenalia)!! 
 What a find they were!! Did I do good or what???  Thanks for helping me find all these great things!!

It was wonderful sharing the morning with you, Carolyn and if you decide to come again in the next couple of years, I will be very happy to have you along. We had fun shopping, negotiating and catching up with each other's families and lives. 

As always, I hope everyone has a great week and enjoy this beautiful cool October. Next Saturday is Steve and my  28th wedding anniversary. Whoohoo!! Seems like just yesterday we were walking down the aisle. I'll be sure to give Steve a gentle peck on the cheek as I slip out of bed on the 15th...Jarvis Methodist church is having a big yard sale that morning! Johanna will be out of commission for a few days so I will regale her with my adventures while visiting her while she recouperates.

Sincerely,

Thrifty Christy