A trip to the Mall (the good kind of mall, antique!)

So sometimes you just gotta get out of the house and go where you know lots of good stuff is all conviently located in one spot, the antique mall. A few weeks ago I was feeling just such an urge. 

Here are some things I saw...

SCARY! This guy was about 24" tall and if he wasn't $65.00 I would have bought him just to scare my kids. Can you imagine waking up to this? Light up yellow eyes and all. 

Scary in a totally different way! I had this exact basket in my first apartment oh so long ago. Let's agree on a couple things, it's NOT an antique, and it's no cuter today than it was back then. (I had no taste at 19) 

GORGEOUS! The color, the shape, the price! It was $295 which seemed cheap to me, but I've never looked at prices so I could be wrong. But still out of my price range (get it? Range) so I sadly moved on. 

Uhhhm, I'm pretty sure this was mine. If you remember waaaay back I went to an auction and bought two of these wooden awning things. Well they sat in my garage taking up a lot of space for well over a year. In December we had our annual big trash pickup. Yep, I put these out on the curb and like most items out there, they got picked up before the trash man came. And apparently ended up in this antique mall. Which is a little hilarious. I paid like $10.00, this guy found them for free, and his mall price was $65.00. Which I guess was a good price because he sold the other one (the front ladies confirmed it) I say good for him, you gotta get your junk wherever you can. 

This came home with me. Cute, fun to play with, and I already have one so why not buy another. All criteria in a good buy ;)

My first one was hanging on my Hoosier door, so I put this one on the other door. Hard to get a good pic, the sun comes in that window. Speaking of Hoosier, I will show you one of my Christmas gifts. 

The repro green jadeite cake stand. And before you think to yourself, gee Marci sure is lucky, her family totally gets her and buys her cool gifts, lemme tell you how it really goes down. I'm cruising around World Market and spot this beauty. I've been wanting one ever since Shara showed hers she got at WalMart! It's the last one and I don't want someone else to buy it. Take it up to the counter to have them put a 24 hour hold on it. The next day send my husband to the correct store to get my exact item and wrap it for me. That's how that works. 

Doesn't it look perfect there?  I Agree. 

Lastly I got this giant plastic pig to go with my smaller plastic pig collection. The sad part is I got home and for the life of me don't know where I put the dang pigs. Maybe I sold them? Who knows

Sad piggy has no friends :(

Anyway, I'm leaving tonight for San Diego. My son is working for American Airlines so we get to fly free. He called me up and said lets go to the San Diego zoo on Sunday. So we're flying out tonight and leaving Monday morning. How fun is that? Did I mention its going to be sunny and 67 in San Diego? It is 22 here with snow on the ground. I'm out!

New Year Tales from a Bad Blogger

Where the hell did the time go? Has it really been 2 months since I posted? Like everyone else my only excuse is life's been busy. Nothing overly exciting but I'll recap the highlights.

In November I headed to Des Moines for Junk Jubilee. A great junk show held at the Iowa state fairgrounds. Went with my favorite junking buddies my aunt, uncle and brother. 

My aunt and uncle in front of the biggest ladder you've ever seen!

Lots of great booths, good junk, and happy people

Fun booth

I brought home a few smalls, but my big awesome purchase was this bad boy

A 5 foot long metal locker basket table out of a gym. I had big plans to put this in my family room but when I got it unloaded it was too big. It found a home in my entryway and I'm pretty happy with that. 

Mid December brought about an exciting event, my middle son Tyler graduated from the University of Arkansas! 

One child out of college and we are proud (but poorer) parents. Way to go Tyler! The graduation was long and boring (1900 students!) but one upside was one of the speakers was this guy

You probably can't tell who this is but it's none other than James Patterson! He received an honorary doctorate for all the work he has done for children's literacy. My family wasn't as impressed as I was, but I am a huge reading nerd so I thought it was awesome. 

A week before Christmas I went to a casino and this happened 

A $2,000 jackpot! After the IRS got their greedy mitts on it I only got $1400, but I am not complaining (ok, maybe I am a little)

Christmas came and went as it does every year. The decorations went up, then they came down. Sad but true I have no pics to show you. Nobody likes looking at Christmas pics in January anyway so it's all good. The kids were home, the presents were given, the food was eaten and bam, another year behind us. 

New Year's Eve was a fun time. I usually work or sit home on New Years Eve (amateur night) but my niece got married on New Year's Eve this year so we headed up to Omaha for a fun wedding!

She was a beautiful bride! 

The reception was a blast. Weddings in our family are fun anyway, but add in the New Year's Eve excitement and let's just say a good time was had by all!

From left to right is John (my daughters boyfriend) my daughter Hailey, my son Hunter, the hubs, me, Jen (my sons girlfriend) and my oldest son Zach. Tyler wasn't able to come because he got a job working for an airline in Bentonville. Bonus,  his parents get to FLY FOR FREE! Can't wait to take advantage of that little perk :)

January has been pretty uneventful. I did start a fun new project. I was at Goodwill one day and spotted this for $9.99

A giant vintage wooden dollhouse. Squee! Yes it's a bit rough but I am giving it a major overhaul 

The inside had green gross carpet with crumbling padding underneath (do dolls really need carpet padding?) Every room had hideous wallpaper. Some shutters and doors missing, etc etc etc

But like a real house, it has good bones. So I'm rehabbing it. Carpet out, floors will be sanded and stained (except the upstairs bedrooms are getting recarpeted) walls wallpapered, shutters fixed, window boxes built, new moldings around Windows, upstairs doors replaced, new kitchen linoleum, new brick on the fireplace and of course every room decorated. So yeah, that should keep me busy for awhile! I'll keep you posted on the progress. 

My last bit of news is that I closed down my booth. It was fun while it lasted, I made some money, got rid if a ton of stuff, but it's time to move on. It doesn't get the foot traffic that it used to get so after crunching the numbers it just wasn't worth my time anymore. Everything has been brought home and stored in the garage so my next project is to start listing some of that on eBay. Fun times. 

So that sums up my last two months. I'll try and post more often. I really have missed it. Till then...

Auction and Halloween Fun

Every other Wednesday an nearby auction company does an antiques and collectibles auction.  I have gone the last two auctions and had a grand time.  There is just something about the bidding and the fun atmosphere that gets me.  I took my son and his girlfriend, neither of who had ever been to an auction, and I had more fun just watching them bid.  Hilarious I tell you.  Anyway, heres what I found

Gorgeous quilt that looks never used and may have to keep, I love the colors. I won choice on quilts and this one cost me $20.00

This was a quilt top only, I got this beauty for 6.00 and it sold on eBay for $36.00.

This was a porcelain doll head. I thought of Laurie when I bought it because in faded letters it says Ethel. It cost me $4.00 and sold for $35.00

This poor clock NOBODY bid on. I actually was bidding on some old books and they threw this clock in with the book lot. The books and clock were $3.00 total and the clock has already sold for $40.00. The books turned out to be mostly crap so glad I got the clock too. ka-Ching!

I got an old Planters Peanuts jar FULL of old milk caps. I put them on eBay in 2 separate lots. (There were 2 different dairies) this group sold for $25.00. I have the other group listed for $25.00 also. The whole shebang cost me $4.00. I kept a couple and added some magnets to the back to make some fridge magnets. 

This metal doll case was $4.00 and had a baby doll and clothes with it. I listed the case and clothes separately and the case alone sold for $30.00. The doll and clothes hasn't sold yet. 

Lots more from the auction that either hasn't been listed or hasn't sold yet. A few little things I'm keeping. Lots of fun and I went back again last Wednesday and got more, I'll show that later. 

On Halloween I went to my friends party.

It was a blast, he has it every year, I think this was the 8th or 9th year. If you remember I bought a red polka dot pin up girl dress to wear. I looked like fat MInnie Mouse in it so decided to not wear it. Decided to go as an 80's girl instead. Found the whole outfit right in my own closet. Not sure what that says about me.

Complete with microphone. There was a DJ there and yes I did sing Cindy Laupers GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN. I'll spare you the video. 

My friend, her husband and her son went as Minions. Not gonna lie, their costumes freaked me out a bit. She made the glasses out of rings off of mason jars which was pretty genius. 

No idea who these people were but they nailed the Dracula costumes. 

This is my friend Tim that hosted the party. He was Stevie Wonder. In real life he is white and bald. Hilarious. 

My oldest son and his girlfriend were Danny and Sandy from grease. She looked just like her!

My crazy friend Cindy and her husband went as Sonny & Cher

This is what they really look like. Haha!

We had a good time and I hope you enjoyed the pics! How was your Halloween? Till next time!

Busy Busy and What the What?

It's been crazy around here. I've been shopping, pricing, cleaning, digging, photo taking, and just overall getting ready for the holiday shopping rush on eBay and the booth. Our antique mall is doing a  Holiday Open House the first weekend in November and I have to change out my entire booth to Christmas! Ugh! I've got lots priced and ready to go, but much more to be done. Here's what I drug out so far

Bounty of Blowmolds

Scads of Shiny Brites

Every damn Elf

Loads of Lights

Gaggles of Garland (three is a gaggle, no?)

Crap ton of Candelabras

Truckload of Trees (get it? Because there is a Tree on a Truck ha!) 

There is more but I'll spare you. So yeah, that's a major time suck. I am downsizing my Christmas stash as you can see, but don't fret, I've got 14 tubs left, I think I can spare some stuff. 

In eBay news things have been hopping! People are getting in the moooood to spend money. I hit a garage sale the other day that was an eBayer's dream. Everything this women owned was HIGH END designer labels and everything was $4.00! I got a huge pile of clothes, half still had tags on it. Tags from places I will never get to shop at in my lifetime, like Barneys New York, Tory Burch in Florida, TopShop in London! (I know they have a TopShop section at my local Nordstroms but this was actually from the original store in London) Plus I bought Chanel sunglasses for $25 (already listed for ($175 on eBay) I asked the lady if they were real (I really should have known better based on her clothing selection) and she just looked at me and smiled and said "I don't do fake" haha! Made me laugh. I was wondering how the hell more people weren't at her sale so I asked her if she put her sale on Craigslist. She said no, she never heard of doing that, she only PUT IT IN THE PAPER! For real? Does anyone even read the paper anymore? Oh well, I was glad she did.

I also hit 5 thrifts that day so I have a mountain of stuff to list. As I was driving to my first and favorite thrift store I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this

Whaaaat???? Nooooooo!!!!! This particular Goodwill is in a not so great neighborhood, but, it is surrounded by some very rich neighborhoods. So they get some killer donations, but hardly anyone shops there! It is my secret honey hole of great finds and I'm SO BUMMED that they are closing!!! Now, I happen to have a great Goodwill near me, it also gets great donations, but it is in a very wealthy area and everyone knows it! It is always packed with people. I still find stuff but the competition is fierce. Like, jab your eyeballs out when they bring out a new cart fierce. So I guess I better start working out cuz I see some fights in my future. Kidding! (Sort of) 

So that's the news around here. I did go to an auction the other day that was great fun but that's a post for another day. Till next time!

Junk Stock!!!

I didn't get to go to Junk Ranch this year and I was BUMMED! It's a fabulous Junk Sale and of course Shara and Lara sell there so the pickins are gooood! If you want a great recap of the show go check out their blogs, but it will make you sad you missed it :(. I didn't get to go because my work schedule changed, BUT that meant I could go to JUNK STOCK in Omaha and it was FABULOUS! It's been on my bucket list forever and it was everything I could have hoped for and more!

Drove up on Thursday night to spend the night with my favorite junking buddy my aunt Celeste. (Or as we affectionately call her Aunt Lesty) We headed out about 11:00 am Friday morning. This giant sign was right inside the entrance and was about 20' tall. Made with old cornstalks. 

This one was right next to it and it was so neat. All made from corncobs and it was HUGE! 

Close up. Very cool but we were there for the JUNK so let's get to the good stuff. 

Miles of junk

Booth after booth of the best stuff!

47 food vendors and food trucks! Every yummy fattening thing you could think of or cook on a stick. 

10 bands. This stage had different bands all weekend. 

Cool photo props everywhere. The side of the barn has dripping paint cans. Genius.

Me and my aunt taking a much needed break. 

Glorious weather!

Old VW bus

One of many barns full of junk. Check out that giant window on the ceiling with the chandeliers!

A cool booth. They had amazing big stuff but sadly out of my price range:(

Here's what came home with me...

This awesome huge wooden cubby. Yes it's already set up and decorated in my dining room. It's missing a few pulls but I have some brass ones I'm gonna try and match. 

The drawers are rusty metal and open on the back side. 

The back is open so the mailman (?) could fill each slot. I assume that's what it is, although not 100% sure. Whatever it's fantabulous. 

Finally hung that antique swiss flag I got from my mom, added some fun items and Whalla! 

A bundle of orange and yellow branch stuff which I forgot the name of.

Old hinge turned photo frame

Old street sign with my nephews name on it. 

This was a loooong peice of wood with neat old hooks. 

Maybe 6' long? Probably longer than any wall in my house, but my motto is BUY NOW, FIGURE IT OUT LATER! I will figure it out, later. 

At one of the last booths we went in, I saw these gauges

I told my aunt to guard them and don't let anyone buy them. I stepped out of the booth to look them up on eBay. I knew that some of these can sell for good money. I quickly checked completeds and they were going for $50-$150. These were priced at $10 (the two small ones) and $15.00 for the bigger ones. So of course I bought them all. As I was paying for them this guy comes into the booth and is frantically looking around. He sees me paying and he's like "where did you get those" I pointed to the shelf where I got them (knowing full well that I bought all of them) and he goes over, sees the empty shelf and yells  "DAMN I MISSED THEM BY 5 MINUTES!" That's when I knew I made a good purchase :) 

And lastly we both got ourselves a couple souvenirs 

Neat mug and at shirt that I can't show because I wore it 2 days straight (even to bed) and it is getting a much needed wash. 

So a great weekend, thanks Aunt Lesty for a fun fun time! Can't wait till Spring to go back! And I'm bummed I forgot to take pics of my aunts finds because she found some killer items too. Till next time!