Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy 2014!!!

Gleeful Gloating Begins

Oh dear, it's January already, 2014 and I have been AWOL since November. Apologies to my faithful followers....my sisters and a few friends! I seem to lose motivation when I take too much time off from blogging. So please help me by commenting on my posts so I know someone out there is actually reading!!

November and most of December were surprisingly good yard sale months. Johanna was with me almost every Saturday which of course makes me exceedingly happy. For the most part we both scored well and picked up great items for family, for our own selves and some to resell. I am thankful for her driving skills, small but roomy SUV and sometimes she surprises me with a hot cup of coffee when she pulls into my driveway (McDonald's drive thru to get change for a $20 is quick option!).

Before I start on showing some of my finds, I want to show you some of the pictures my niece, Mary took after the box of books arrived in November. Another box should be arriving this week (I have been busy collecting easy readers and other books too). The children seem to be happy with the selection and I am tickled Mary shared their enthusiasm with me! Each time I have sent a box of books (average weight is 20lbs) by Media mail, I have been able to pay for the shipping by reselling items I've picked up at the yard sales. Most satisfactory!

I have another box already in the process of filling. It's about 2/3 full and hopefully after this cold weather spell ends, sales will pick up and I can finish filling this box and get it shipped.

I found this floor puzzle for my great nephew Hugh and he's already put it together twice! Smart 3 year old! Now more complicated puzzles are on the want list. The search continues

Puzzle: $3 Hugh: priceless

Here's one of my best sellers. I picked it up for $5 at a very earl morning sale...In fact the folks were just putting out their items when we walked up. Apparently they slept in a little late. I posted it and it sold immediately for $20 with folks lined up in hopes the first person would pass.

Wood storage cube/shoe organizer: $5

My niece Lindsey texted me one Saturday morning asking me to look for matchbox cars for her son Beau. Wouldn't you know at the very next yard sale I found this bag O'cars for $5. Sweet! And at the last sale of the day, I found a large truck shaped matchbox cars storge unit. Love the coincidences!

Bag of cars: $5

Same sale, I bought this lot of spray paint. Love the color and I know this is a good quality brand. Good to have on hand for a project.

$4 for all

Here is a trunk shot of Johanna's car one November morning. I bought the stainless steel trash can for $5. Nice one! Johanna picked up a couple of plastic rolling carts with drawers for her crafting needs...two for $6. Well played.

Some of you who have young children will immediately recognize this face as a Veggie Tale character. It is a holder/case for a set of Veggie Tale dvds I found for $5...for all. Two were still in shrink wrap. These will be presents for Nate's birthday in June.

Veggie Tales dvds and carrying case: $5

One morning I went solo to a yard sale held by the local Humane Society. To advertise by the road, two friends of mine volunteered to use these costumes...I had to stop in the medium to take a picture.

I didn't find a great deal there, actually I was disappointed with the amount of items they had. I was expecting a lot more. However I did find this nice metal book holder/stand with weights. don't have much counter space and can't use something like this but I was able to resell it for a decent profit. I also found a coat for Honey Bea, my dog. She's not thrilled about wearing it but with her thin coat, she's getting some use this winter!

Book holder/stand: $2

At another sale I lucked out with sellers who really were motivated to sell. As in I bought a Cracker Barrell 12 inch cast iron skillet for 50 cents! There was some food residue remaining but I knew that wasn't a problem. Others may say "Ew"!!!!!! But not me. Filled it up with water, put on the stove and boiled for a few minutes. Scraped out the residue, gave it a very quick scrub, dried and then applied a thin coating of cooking oil all over. Put it in the oven a low temperature and it "seasoned' up nicely. It is now in Austin Texas in the possession of my daughter Ellie. A dear friend was traveling to Austin in December and graciously offered to transport any items Ellie might like. So the heavy skillet was sent that way. I expect to hear about the first batch of corn bread she bakes very soon.

At the same sale I found this Le Cruset enameled cast iron grill. New, still had the bar code on the bottom. I haven't used it yet. At first I tried to sell it but no one was interested. They sell for around $100 new online. It is lovely and I love the dutch oven I found new at Goodwill a few years ago for $10. I use that one a lot. Just have to try this one sometime soon.

Le Cruset Grill pan: $2

People seem to really like these bedside steps with storage. This one I picked up and since Brenna already had one (I found another I gave to her last year) I put this one up for sale. $15 was the selling price and again, folks were lined up to buy it. Solid wood and storage under the top shelf.

$5

This is a child's flotation vest. Like new and it went to Nate for next summer.

$2

In December, I found about 4 Christmas themed sweaters for $1 each. They were definitely older but high end and I knew they'd sell quickly to folks looking for "tacky" Christmas sweater parties. I gave Brenna first choice and the rest sold as soon as I posted them. Here a couple I found. The other pictures were a little grainy but at least you have an idea of the score!

$1 each....could not pass up!

I always enjoy instant satisfaction. Who doesn't?! After visiting my brother Sonny's home in November, I saw they needed a step stool. The very next Saturday I found this one for $8. First sale I attended that morning! The wooden puzzles were super cheap and great condition; after Brenna picked which ones she wanted for Nate, I sold the rest for $5 each.

Wood puzzles: 50 cents each. Step stool is excellent condition: $8

The bunch of clips were too good to pass up. I know they can be pricey. So I offered them to Brenna first and she scooped them up and took them to her classroom. The books too went with Brenna. They were in "like new" condition and are in Nate's library. Classics!

Bag of clips: $2. 4 books: $2

And that about wraps up the first post of 2014. Trust me there were lots more  treasures found in November and December but I am finished for now. I will tell you the weather has affected the sales this January. Either too cold or rainy and this weekend looks to be the same. Of course when there was decent weather, I had plans for the day and couldn't go. Sigh. Fingers crossed that my luck will change and things pick up. I haven't been to a yard sale since December 21st!! Agh! I am seriously going through withdrawals and it ain't pretty!

Have a great week, stay warm and good luck with your own bargain hunting!

Thrify Christy

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More and more!

Gleeful gloating goes on and on! 

September and October have been great months for yard sales. August was really slow but as soon as the temps came down people were inclined to set up and sell. Thank you Fall! I was really happy to have Johanna with me for most of those weekends and she came with me to Morehead for a second time at the begining of October. 

We learned of a big community wide sale at a subdivision in Morehead as well as a couple of other interesting sounding sales. So we left Friday night after work and drove to Morehead. We were up early to head across the bridge to Atlantic Beach to hit two sales there before heading to the community sale. All the places we went we found some great pieces and gifts for family members too (Christmas is getting closer!).
We learned at the community sale that older people there seem to value their stuff precious objects a great deal more than younger folks. We bought hardly anything from the retired sellers and much more from families with children. Go figure!

I picked up two of these new in the box converter boxes along with several other items at one sale for $10. I knew someone who wanted a box and I grabbed the other one because I knew I could probably sell it if my brother didn't need it. He didn't. So it sold very quickly for $25. This kind is only for the older model tv, not the new flat screen kind.

2 of these converters for approximately $4 each.

The palm sander was new and I bought it but came home and realized I had a perfectly good one already. Sigh. Impulse buy. I have it up for sale now. The Tonka "Chuck" truck and the house is for Nate when he's a little bit older. I chuckled when I saw the house, because my girls played with one exactly like it. The date on the back is 1984. Vintage! The shelf at the bottom is the one I showed you a couple of posts back. It was Pepto-bismol pink but only $1.50. So I lightly sanded it and painted it white. Sold it pretty quickly for $8. So not too bad.

Palm sander: $10. Truck and house were $2 each. Shelf was $1.50 original purchase. 

The soft leather Robeez shoes are for my little neice Julia. The  wood tool box will be one of Nate's Christmas presents. The earrings were for me but I didn't like the back of them; it is another long curve like the front. Kept scratching my neck. So I sold it for $12. The toiletries were each $1. I sold the Bed and Bath body sprays for $8 and kept the Este Lauder foundation and moisturizer as well as the Clinque moisturizer and Happy perfume.

Shoes: 50c, toiletries: $1 each, earrings: $1, Melissa and Doug tool box: $2

My sister Cee asked me to look for some more wood train stuff for her "Aunt Nee stash". The bag below was filled with Brio tracks and accessories. They should connect to the Thomas tracks I am letting her borrow.  Have fun Hugh and Aunt Nee!
I bought the wood shelf with towel rack for a buck. Took a while to sell and finally did but only for $5. Not much profit. 

Train track with accessories: $10. Wood shelf with towel rack: $1

I am always looking for yard tools for my nephew Jon. He has a landscaping business and goes through tools rather quickly. I purchased all of these for him and he was rather pleased Bought my first pick ax too.
The wood shape sorter goes to my almost 2 year old nephew, Beau. The magnetic puzzle at the bottom goes to my Grandma stash. Unfortunately my dog, Honey Bea, has a fondness for wood puzzle pieces and so now it is missing one at the bottom. Oh Honey Bea!

Wooden shape sorter: $2. Tools: $5 each. Puzzle: $1

I bought the easel below thinking I could use at my house for Nate. However, I decided it was too bulky for now in my small house. It cleaned up very well and I sold it quickly for $20.  

Easel: $5

Our neice Mary lives in New Orleans and started her first year of teaching in a new charter school. She has a class of second graders from a very poor area and they have a limited number of books. As you know, new books can be expensive especially for a new teacher. So I have been looking for books close to her grade level to send. I hit the mother lode! All the books below were $2 total! Initially they were asking 10 cents each but when I told them what I was going to do with them, the sellers said take as many as I want for $2! The stack of Junie B. Jones titles and the Magic Tree house paperbacks contain around 28 books. Good haul! I shipped them Media rate and with 20 lbs of books, it cost me aproximately $12 including tracking which was extra. Mary was delighted to recieve them and I am in the process of gathering another load I picked up last weekend and this past Saturday. 

Trunk shot of Johanna's car. I think we could have squeezed in more but we had enough! Oh, the red clock is mine. It replaced the black one I picked up a couple of months ago. So sad that one died. I really did like it. This one cost 75cents and it looks nice against my pale yellow wall. Fingers crossed it lasts a lot longer!

On Sunday morning Johanna, my brother Sonny, his son, Jon and I headed out at 0'dark thirty to go fishing. 

We caught a lot, threw back several and had a wonderful time. I did manage not to snag our lines on that buoy you see in the distance. Earlier, I got a little too close for comfort, forgetting about our troll lines. The ribbing continues!

Sun breaking the clouds early in the morning over Shackleford Banks


And here is my nephew, Jon, and my brother Sonny. I love fishing with these guys! Thanks Johanna for taking these pictures!

I managed to go to yard sales every weekend in September and October, well, maybe there was one I slept in! I am looking forward to this Saturday and the local Humane Society's rummage sale. Maybe I can find something fabulous for Honey Bea and Prudence the cat.  Rest assured, if I do, I will take pictures and fill you in on all the details!

Until next time, happy bargain hunting and have a great week!

Thrifty Christy

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