Car Bar

Here is the Car Bar project after license plates. It took a few weird, shiny photos for me to realize I had to turn off the flash because license plates are, by design, highly reflective. Duh.

You will notice a few gaps on the left. I was somehow shorted Louisiana and Idaho in my shipment from Anita, the fine Ebay seller in Connecticut. She assures me it was an oversight and that they are in the mail.

I'm on the hunt for 4 matching bar stools. They have to be reused/recycled/repurposed of course!

Millstadt: you've got it going' on

I love Millstadt. There is a chance if I had viewed this lovely village prior to moving into my neighborhood, I would have lived there. Truly marvelous people (a koala stuffed animal and golf ball were given to my children for free), adorable old houses, and a Subway that ran out of coffee at 8:10am. Ok, so this wasn't a positive. But anyway.
The above picture is of wood. Regular readers of this blog (hi, 6 followers!) will recall (if they were paying attention) that I like wooden things. (For the quiz later, Nancy likes metal things and Samantha likes glass.) Old wooden things are even better. I saw this delightful stack of wood at a sale and gave the nice proprieteress my number so she could tell me the square feet, type, and price. Ah, the sounds of my husband freaking out!


Nancy noticed this most clever use of a ladder and snapped this photo (ok, she took all the photos. I was late picking her up since I had my kids and forgot my camera) of an excellent way to display yard sale items. Brilliant! Must remember this for later!

Nancy referred to the best treehouse ever. Here it is. Not only is it solidly constructed, but someone lovingly and carefully sanded/stripped the entire tree so their kids wouldn't get splinters! Love it! What kid wouldn't go nuts?

Here is my 6 year old Campbell, joyfully and incessantly ringing this little bell that he found in a free box. Free boxes + children=happiness. Free boxes containing bells+ children=adults with headaches. But look how happy this made him.

Here is Hudson. His favorite color is yellow. Can you tell? This was towards the end of our spectacular day. He was tired. I was tired. Everyone was tired. Hudson says, "I can't walk very good" when he gets tired and drops his arms to the floor like an orangutang. (How do you spell orangutang?) He hunches over and eventually falls to the ground like this. Luckily, instead of doing it in a dirty thrift store like he normally does, he found this lovely patch of green grass to lie down on. He is holding his free golf ball.


I spent about $9 today and got lots of goodies: a very old chalkboard, a wooden sign thing with our neighbor's last name, countless toys and books and children-related items, kitchen towels and cloth napkins, and I can't remember what else. It was a perfect day!

May Day in Milstadt

Once again, we drove out to Milstadt on a Saturday morning. But while last time was for a multi-vendor, school rummage sale, today our goal was a village-wide yard sale bonanza! They advertised 105 yard sales throughout the small, rural community.

We departed at 645 am in Laura's van with four kids as assistants: Sawyer, Campbell, Hudson, and JoJo. Donny had planned to go but when push came to shove he couldn't make it out of bed that early.

It was a foggy morning as Laura hauled ass out to Milstadt. We used my new and improved map-book and some cracker-jack directions from Milstadt resident and school principal, R.Dane Gale. (The R most likely does NOT stand for Rocky.)

As we impatiently approached the Dutch village, we skivved down Sunset Dr. Our first stop was at the most well-run yardsale I have ever seen. They announced their sale with a boutique quality "open" sign, hung expertly on their mailbox.

Their display was tidy and organized. Their prices clearly and uniformly marked. This retired couple had a collection of craft dolls hanging on rope suspended from the garage ceiling by a cleverly placed patio table. Excellent use of rafters, folks!

I purchased a set of ten glasses featuring the Big Ten universities. They are old, so old that they are from a time when there were only ten schools in the Big Ten. My husband tells me there are now 12 schools in this conference. Honestly... that's weird, right?

Just a few doors down Sunset Dr. were two more yardsales. I snagged this baker's rack for only 20 bucks.

I needed this rack because of my leaky basement.

I'll explain: our basement leaks a little. If it rains really hard we get a small rivulet of water which runs from the north wall to the floor drain in the southwest quadrant of the basement. Along the way there are walls made of drywall. Over the years, mold started to grow. My contractor assures me drywall was a poor choice for the basement walls in the first place and for the low-low price of $2000 was happy to rip out the lower half of the drywall and replace it with backer board, a wall material used in high moisture areas like under the tile in bathrooms and stuff. So while we were ripping the basement to shreds we decided to add something fun and had the contractor build a bar in the basement. It's not plumbed yet and the behind-the-scenes area of the bar is totally raw so I needed this baker's rack for the bar back. Here it is with the Big Ten glasses displayed atop.

The faces of the bar will eventually be covered with the 100 license plates I found on Ebay. Check back next week for a glimpse of the completed bar project.

One problem. Since we had 4 kids with us and only Laura's cute little Odyssey (rather than the giant van-o-dreams) we couldn't transport the rack inside our vehicle. We were forced to use the roof rack for the first time in yardsaling history! Thankfully, Geoff (Laura's husband) is always prepared with bungee cords in the van. And the rack seller gave us free rope. I offered to pay for it but he said we could have it for free because he had stolen it in the first place. Lucky us. Here is a photo of our excellent tie-down efforts:

I should mention that in the past I have tied down a Christmas tree only to have it slide to the pavement outside a Pizza Hut. Also, my father, whom I resemble in many ways, once tied down our luggage only to have it fly off and pop open on a rural Georgia road. I tell you this so you can appreciate the fact that this rack made it home without incident.

On to the the Milstadt sale proper!

Remember our Brentwood, MO experience of last summer? There were a bazillion sales on every street? All we had to do was find a parking spot and walk from garage to garage to garage? It was just like that but with junkier stuff and farmier people. In my opinion, it made for a much better yardsale experience. (It's not insulting to use the word "farmier" is it? The people of Milstadt were excellent and friendly and generous. But there was a definite rural overtone to the entire town. I think "farmy" is a fair word. Please feel free to discuss in the comments section.)

I can't possibly give you a play-by-play of the multitudinous Milstadt sales. There were too many. I can only give you some of the highlights:

Sam and Nick, Snack Masters, hosted a top-notch food stand. Their signs were lovely and clever; their fare was varied and delicious; their manner was confident and polite. I have no doubt they raked in the dough today. Personally, I purchased a bag of Cheetos and a large glass of lemonade. Both were excellent. Thank you, boys.

Then we met Cheryl, a Milstadt resident with an ingenious technique for yardsaling in such a densely marketed environment. She parked somewhere convenient and then walked sale-to-sale pulling a cart/cardboard box contraption for ease of transport. You never know what you will find, you see, so one must be prepared for the bulky, unwieldy items.

I must mention the bicycle. We found this custom-made bike and bought it for 15 dollars. I wanted it badly and had to sweet talk Laura into fitting it into the van. She is a very good sport. You may know I have 5 kids: boys 13, 12, 10, and 6 and one girl who is 8. This bike would be enjoyed by all of them. But how can they share? How can a bike belong to all? Bikes are on that short list with blankies, backpacks, and bowling balls... they are personal items that do not require sharing. I have decided to give this bike to the eldest because he currently has no bike. Also, he is graduating 8th grade and deserves a nice gift for that occasion. However, he is on a Boy Scout camp out this weekend so I am letting the younger siblings ride it before he returns.

Now a few words about children. They are so cute and sweet, right? And when they are well-fed and well-rested they are perfect angels. Here is Campbell with his many new stuffed animals. He is quite well-rested, well-fed, thankful, and happy:

Here is Hudson, also rested, fed, thankful, and happy, receiving a yellow Easter egg with coordinating crocheted chicken cover.

And here is Sawyer, probably thankful, probably fed, but unhappy and tired and therefore plugging his ears because the particular song on the radio at that moment is so offensive he cannot bear to listen to it:

Here is Sawyer two minutes later:

This proves my point.

Oh, Readers, there was so much more: the great tree house, the world's ugliest stuffed animal, the free Filipino cutting board... I will have to let Laura fill in the blanks.

Over and out.

Nancy

yard sale snob

I have become a snob. It is surprisingly easy to be snobbish about someone else's crap. For example, I can simply drive by a potential yard sale to determine its stop-worthiness. As Nancy has mentioned elsewhere on this blog, we often travel with children, and it is not a small deal to unbuckle car seats, get jackets on, have snacks ready, make sure children will be far away from the road, etc.
Today the Estates at Plum Hill advertised a 25 family yard sale. 25! (Did I mention I was solo today, as both Nancy and Samantha are out of town? AGAIN. You get the impression they would rather visit their family than yard sale. But I digress.) The lovely-sound Estates at Plum Hill (is it really a hill filled with plum trees? Do plums grow on trees?) was a new community of simmilar-looking houses crowded onto teeny tiny lots with no mature landscaping and lots of vinyl siding. I lived in such a neighborhood in Dover, DE, long before I discovered the wonder of older houses. I have since grown to despise plastic, and vinyl siding, to me, represents all that is bad about plastic consumption. Even though my 1906-built house in covered in mostly vinyl siding, I overlook it because I am a hypocrite. Anyway. The Estates at Plum Hill (note: not a hill or plum in sight), to judge from the items for sale, is geared towards young families who don't like antiques. The sales were remarkably the same, much like the houses. Baby toys, baby clothes, breast pump items, baby apparatuses, and cheap, not-well-made furniture. Not my style at all. I parked and walked briskly from sale to sale buying nothing.
On the way back I stopped in the lovely old neighborhood (bungalows prevailing!) made of McKinley/McKlintock/Garden Streets in East Belleville, by Carlyle Avenue. A wonderful little sale was to be had in which I bought 6 pieces of boy clothing for $1.00. Alas, that would be my only sale of the day.
No personal interest stories, no pictures, no puppies. Overall it was disappointing, but everytime I go alone it is. Next week we should be back to the trifecta of yard sale perfection with the return of Nancy and Samantha.

confessions

1. I only bring a camera if Nancy or Samantha come with me.
2. I am really, really cheap. In fact, I bought nothing (nothing!) today.
3. I am a sucker for 5 week old puppies. Free publuc service announcement of the day: puppies will give your yard sale that aww factor it might have been missing.

The puppies were $25, which I thought was a bit high for a mixed breed. There were sleeping all mixed up together in the sunshine and I woke one up to pick him up and squeeze him and baby-talk to him, because, really, how cute are puppies? Anyway, back to yard saling.
The highlight of the day was the St. Theresa's fabulous PTO, who had a fabulous sale back in the fall (topic: are two rummage sales per year too much? Discuss amongst yourselves.). They had another sale today, which really wasn't all that great, but that could have been because I got there close to 1pm. I think all the good stuff left at 8:01am.
I skiived getting to St. Theresa's, but nothing good was to be found.
I went to one very organized, clean sale run by a group of sisters (not nuns, but siblings). They were selling all manners of pregnancy and baby-related items: breast pump, baby Bjorn, bottles, baby clothes, maternity clothes, exersaucer, baby gym, etc. A true treasure trove for anyone who may need those items, which, alas, is not me. If you are a seasoned mom, you know how much breast pumps and baby Bjorns sell for, and these sisters only wanted $25 and $20, respectively. A steal!
Samantha just emailed me St. Charles is having a community yard sale May 22, which, really, are the very best ones. So there is hope that I may actually purchase something one of these days.

Back in the Saddle

Have faith, Laura! We will yardsale again!

Today was a perfect yardsale day: 62 degrees with a tiny, uplifting breeze. The sales advertised in the Belleville News-Democrat were abundant. Each sale was clearly marked and well staffed. Skivs were sprinkled about the metro east as if by the yardsale gods themselves, each one lying right in my path, with clear signage and good merchandise.

First, I owe mention to last week's yardsales. It was spring break so I got my entire family to shop with me. Even my husband! Here he is with his new weedwacker or hedgetrimmer or something:

Whatever it is, he's happy with it.

Henry caught the yardsale spirit when he found these crazy pants:

They are covered with prints from old comics. The tags were still on and they are a size or two too big, but for $3 he felt they were a must-have.

Louie is 13 and shops only for weapons. I try to limit him to Nerf products.

By FAR, the best sale of that day was this one in Belleville:

First of all, I love the ropes-strung-between-trees display. Using a ladder in the center as extra support is brilliant. Half of the clothes you see here are exactly my daughter's size. The clothes were mostly name-brand quality. There were even a few gowns, from someone's flower-girl responsibilities most likely. This is Tori, the previous owner of most of these beautiful clothes:

This brings us up to date and ready to discuss today's bounty.

I walked the kids to school, ran home, jumped in the car, and stopped at the Circle K. I needed the Big Three: gas, cash, coffee. But I ALSO bought a new map! If you refer back a few posts you will see Laura's official yardsaleadventures map. It is a paper, fold-up variety and has been ridden hard and put away wet, if you know what I'm sayin'. Plus, she keeps it in her car which I was not in today. So I splurged on one of those spiral-bound street-by-street maps with the yellow pages. You know, the whole county, at street level, and when you go more than a mile you have to flip to some other page in the book to continue on your path? $11.95. By far, the most expensive purchase of the day.

First stop, some church on Old Lincoln Trail. Nice people, bad sale.

Then on to Bunkum Rd where I met Erin! Here she is with her extensive collection of prom gowns and formals:

She wanted to be sure you got to see the back of this pretty gown:

There was discussion about the pink dress you see in the photo on the left. It was unworn and still had the tags on, announcing its original expensivity (new word). Erin's mother had a bone to pick with Erin about spending so much on a prom dress that never got worn. Erin said it was not her fault, really, because some boy named DAN asked her to the prom and then changed his mind and went with someone else who was a freshman at the time. I will not repeat Erin's opinion of this date-dodging-Dan, but, conveniently, I have a photo from the St. Louis Zoo of a certain part of a certain animal that will help you understand:

In Dan's defense, Erin's mom said the freshman girl was very hot. Here are Erin and her mom demonstrating that they hold no grudges about unworn, expensive dresses or hot, date-stealing freshmen:

After Erin and her mom, I was on a real yardsale high. I stopped at a few more that were a little lame. This calmed me down. But then I went to Biverton!

The neon green signs were well-placed and highly visible. The merchandise was well organized and well displayed. Sometimes, a yardsale proprietess will have some bold, interesting merchandise but it is not displayed in a becoming way. If you have a pop-up tent, for example, for God's sake, pop it up! Some shoppers drive by slowly and look for something to catch their eye before they commit to stopping and parking. We shoppers might stop and park twenty times in one morning. We want to know your sale is worth the effort of turning off the car and locking the doors. This sale of the neon green signs was worth it. The eye catcher in her driveway was this pair of palm trees:

The homeowner told me the story of her friend, Palm Tree Artist Robin Lewis. Robin saw a similar palm tree in a catalog for $300. Rather than shell out big bucks for the originals, she made them herself. The trunk is PVC pipe sheathed in a tube of white fabric. They are supported by Christmas tree stands. The fronds are each individually quilted and batted and supported by coat hangers which are then shoved down the pipe. Robin washed them before the sale and is asking only $20 each. Comment to this blog and I'll tell you how to get to the sale. You should offer $25 each!

While the palm trees roped me in, the rest of the merchandise kept me there longer than expected. Twenty-five moms combined their hand-me-downs to offer top-quality clothes and shoes in every kid size you could need. The clothes were on hangers, arranged by gender and size. The shoes we bagged by the pair in Zip-locs, an index card tucked inside advising the shopper of the size and price of each pair. Below are the many many shoes. Excellent yardsale, Ladies! Thank you for taking this seriously!

Speaking of serious, my next stop was at the home of a serious Reduce-Reuse-Recycler.

First, you need to know that at my kids' school we are having an end-of-year carnival. The theme is "Recycling". To this end, the talented and beautiful chairwoman, also named Robin but different than the palm tree artist, decided to hold a contest. Students are to create some sort of art (animal, structure, thing, whatever) out of recycled materials. The sculptures are due on Earth Day, April 22. One winner from each class will receive a free pass to the carnival, where the sculptures will be used as decorations. Brilliant, yes? My kids are ready to go! We just needed supplies.

So I stop at this sale and find a big cardboard box. Perfect for some sort of recycled structure or creature!

But wait! What is that inside the box?!

One million clean and dry plastic peanut butter jars, that's what! Whole box: one dollar.

To the left you can see two teddy bear-shaped canisters full of discs. These are the smooth, metal tops from concentrated orange juice containers. One dollar for both canisters. The seller threw in a washing machine-sized cardboard box for free! I almost want to drag my kids out of school early so we can get started on our art! All we need is a few rolls of duct tape and we will have a weekend FULL of activity!

There were other sales today. I got a few stuffed animals, a couple potentially good pairs of pants, a weird metal circle for my collection of weird metal circles. But none lived up to Erin's dresses, the artsy-fartsy palm trees, or the recycling jackpot.

I was really starving after all the excitement and I had to pee really bad so I stopped at the QT on Lebanon Rd. They are the BEST mini-mart around for hungry yardsalers! They have an extensive collection of fountain drinks and two different kinds of ice. The cruched ice is actually little iceballs. Not quite as wonderful as Sonic iceballs, but good nonetheless.

They also have an enormous selection of donuts:

But absolutely worth the trip is the tasty taquito bar:

I had two delicious jalapeno taquitos for $2. Think "spicy cheese stick wrapped in corn tortilla and deep fried." Mmmmmm.

One thing I learned is that QT employees do not enjoy it when customers photograph their food. They were suspicious of me. Maybe they thought I was sent from the health inspector. Have no fear, QT employees! You would pass any test!

Please log back in after a few days to see our developing recycled sculpture. Spread the word about our blog. And if you know anyone who works for the Quik Trip company, send them our way so we can work out some sort of publicity-for-taquitos deal.

Until next time, Readers.

4/2 more sad sales

This is getting ridiculous. I need my friends to yard sale with, or I don't have any fun either. It just isn't the same. When Nancy and I are together and jump up and down when we see something wonderful, people tend to not be scared. Shocked, yes. Wondering what we are on, yes. But not scared. When you do it by yourself, people are scared of you. (I am kidding of course, when I am by myself yard saling, I am subdued with lonlieness.) Samantha and I have such a grand time chasing after the children and finding things that are not made in China. (Ok, Sam looks more than me, but I support her wholeheartedly). And when it is the three of us, oh my. Weekends just don't get any better.
I blame spring break and holidays. We have been apart and busy with obligations. I hope next weekend is better; there is a promising antique auction shaping up in Millstadt, and we had such luck there a few weekends ago.
Today I went to a sale with the largest number of 25 cents boxes I have ever seen, and I purchased nothing. Really, sometimes people hold onto just about anything. Oh, and it had the largest collection of scary naked dolls I have ever witnessed, as well. That would have been a good picture. A word about scary dolls: all dolls, I don't care how expensive and cute they were when purchased brand-new, tend to look scary after the 10 year mark. People, be kind to those of us who yard sale with children: donate to your fave thrift store and spare us the nightmares. Especially the ones with the freaky eyes (the dolls, not the kids).
I went to a total of three, I think, starting on Thursday. I went to one on Friday that was sold out at 11am! I am thinking they must have had fab-u-lish-ous items to sell out that quickly. My feeling on starting earlier than Saturday (not that anyone asked): you ruin it for the folks who can only come out on Saturday! They miss all the good stuff on Friday! And Thursday? What in the world? You are certainly not coming down on your price on Thursday. And by the time Saturday rolls around, you are dead sick of looking at your crap and hate everyone who comes to see your stuff that 100 people have already looked through since Thurs. and didn't want. Just sayin'.