A Little Bird Told Me

First thing before I regale you with the bargains of the week I would like to ask you to please keep Johanna's uncle, Bab's brother, Tim, in your prayers. He is in the hospital and will be having surgery this week.

On the top of the page now, I have a Facebook "like" button. If you are a Facebook member, please click the like button. I am testing it to see if it is worth keeping.

So I thought I would be riding solo once again but Brenna, mother to be of my grandson, decided to join me and drive as well! The morning started with a 6:30 sale nearby; originally listed as one sale, the family next door decided to jump in and have one too. Nice. We love doubles! Lots of items at the original sale, nothing that I needed or had room for, but Brenna found a bumpo seat with a tray for $5.

 

 

When we were looking at it (nothing had sticker prices), Brenna said she wasn't sure if she wanted one for the little guy. But when she asked the price, heard "$5", it was in her hands in seconds. I was in complete disbelief. The best price I think I paid for Kelley/Hugh, was $15 and it didn't have a tray. I will have to check back in past posts to see if I posted that. So anyway, Brenna walked away with the Bumpo seat and a pacifier clip. $5.25 total. A great start to the morning indeed.


For those of you who are not familiar with a bumpo seat, here is a picture I found online of a child sitting in one. These are great and can be used as a seat from ages 3 months up to 18 months depending on the size of your child. Most important note is these are only to be used on the floor and never leave your child alone. Never ever put a child in one of these on an elevated surface such as a table. Serious head injuries have occured when a baby/toddler leans way back and has tipped over and fallen to the floor from a height.

I

So we continued to the next listing which was on the same side of town. This was an inside sale but on the way in there was some outside items such as patio furniture and garden things. I spotted a little metal bird with a 25ct sticker and picked it up on the way inside. Obviously a smoker lived here and I knew we wouldn't linger. The smell of cigarette smoke permeated everything. I picked up a pair of brand new hockey skates for $5 (Steve had told me to buy anything hockey related) which I thought was a bargain and that was it. $5.25 total...hmmmm deja vous all over again! But no, that wasn't the theme for the rest of the morning.

 

 

 

She has found a new home with my pansies and her name is Gloria

On to St. Timothy's church rummage sale just around the corner...sort of. At least nearby which as the gas prices increase, is going to be very important in the coming months. I have generally found some nice things or at least useful things at St. Timothy's in the past. Downside is the space there is very small so crowded conditions are an issue sometimes. It was an issue yesterday. There were ALOT of people there! I completed a circuit around the room, stopping hopefully at a table where there were packs of stationary/cards for 10ct (Vickie aka Nightshade, I am continuing my search for the blank notecards).
Nope, none were blank cards. I met Brenna to see if she was ready and saw she had a dishwasher basket for baby bottle accessories in her hand. Pink and white. Hmm. It looked just like the one I found and bought last week at Goodwill. Yes, she remembered the one bought but wasn't sure if was the same. I assured her it was and was green and white. (you know, green is gender un-specific!) So we left empty handed and moved on to the next sale.

Not much for us here either but I did spot hockey sticks. I have been instructed to look at all things hockey but not street hockey. The seller said the sticks were $1 each. Hmm. Sounded promising but they looked like street hockey sticks. I was still hearing "$1" each so l looked more carefully. One seemed to be an ice hockey one so I figured, why not? The tape was coming off and the bottom had some wear as well, but we have neighbors whose sons are really into hockey so perhaps they could use them. At $1 I could afford to be generous to neighbors! I also know the tape can be easily replaced. Steve has seen both the stick and the skates and deemed I did ok. He will take the skates to the rink for folks to use in case they come without skates to the games (he said they were much nicer than the rentals) and the stick is an ice hockey one that had been used on the street. The bottom was still in good shape, not too badly worn. Whew!


Farther down the road was the next to last sale. Here was a nicely set up sale, I wish I had taken a picture. It was well organized with tables lined down the middle of the driveway with larger bulky items on either side. Brenna found nothing but I hit the jackpot with note cards for Vickie's friend.

 

 

 

 

A couple packs of 20 in a box and all in either unopened or missing maybe one card. Fortunately I keep a couple of reusable bags in my yard sale carry all so I pulled out my extra and started to fill it. No juggling items precariously.


Moving on, I saw bunches of silk flowers, and pretty ones at that. I like to keep flowers at the family cemetary plots so I am looking always for replacements. Yes, I am Thrifty Christy so of course I am not going to purchase these at retail prices.

No prices on any items so I did ask how much were the flowers. 50ct a bunch. Ok, they were nice full bunches with prices of $3 and up on them so I went for it.

 

 

 

Putting them in my bag, I moved along the tables and picked up a new can of tennis balls, new box of fragant soap (English made) and a new bag of vaccuum bags(8 count "genuine" Electrolux).

So I approach the seller with my filled bag and the total came to $7.50 She started with the 50ct bundles of flowers and after the $2.50 totoal on that was figured, I don't remember what the price was on each item following for I just held up an item and she totaled as we went. I was pleased to say the least. I googled the soap later yesterday and found a new box of these sell for $18. I like the frangipani scent and according to the ad, long lasting as well. Vickie, I think she bundled the stationary and probably cost you around $1.50 for the lot.

 

 

Clutching my bag o'stuff and jumping into the car, we headed for the last on the list. An estate sale that began the day before. Not sure if there would be anything of worth left, it was an option since it was on the way to breakfast. There was some beautiful furniture but the prices were not yard sale. I picked up a timer priced at $1 and asked for a price reduction on a box of Christmas ball ornaments. I liked the colors and want to make a Christmas decoration like the two Brenna made this year pictured on her mantle.


Now the box was marked $3 which was a little high in my opinion so I asked nicely if he would go as low as $1. No was the answer. I know, you may thought I was really "low balling" no pun intended, but I have seen these in a new box set for $2 at Goodwill. As he was saying how nice they were, I dug deeper and found other ornaments in there I definitely was not interested in and said as much as I started to walk away.

$1.50 was the next thing out of his mouth. I could hear a little desperation in that voice. He was tired, had a long day in front of him as well as yesterday's set up and sale. I will pause here and talk a bit about estate sales. I personally would not want to attempt an estate sale. There is the emotional aspect of parting with family things as well as deciding what to sell, how much to ask for, setting it up as well as dealing with customers and possibly helping them take stuff to their cars or having them come back to pick it up. Now, you may think, welll don't people do that when they have a yard sale? Yes, but not the volume of items, and not as much work involved unless you are clearing out huge amount. It is hard work. So with more sympathy than need, I said yes to the $1.50 for all of the ornaments.

When I returned home I went through the box and found 27 ornament balls which I wanted and about 15 flat mirrored ornaments I definitely do not wish to keep. So I set those aside and will take to Goodwill this week.


And that is the end of the yard sale bargains from yesterday. I spoke to Vickie this afternoon and she decided now we have enough quantity of cards for her friend, I should now focus on quality. She has $6 left in the account so having my instructions updated I will go from there!

I will share the Goodwill find of the week. Brenna's Grandbaby List included a My Breast Friend nursing pillow. Found one in Goodwill this week for $2.99. Looked up on Amazon.com and it is the Deluxe version and retails for $40.00. This one is in pristine condition. I washed the cover and after sealing it up in a plastic bag, it has now joined the other grandbaby items residing in my attic.

 

And that is all my friends for this week's post. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. Take care and happy bargain hunting.

Thrifty Christy