A Look at the Booths (Part 1)

I'm still working on the other spaces.  I decided to stay in and rest yesterday, since it was raining,  I've been trying not to have too much downtime post-treatment, but I really do better when I have a day or so off.  I'm heading back over today, so maybe I'll have more pics after that.

Typical comments about the horrible lighting at the place apply.

Anyway, here's what's been done so far:

This is my main vintage/primitive/decor booth, which is one of my most popular.  This is the right half of the booth.  I've been working on thinning it out, re-zoning the merch, adding more small furniture, and cleaning things up.  Since I took this pic, the chair and wicker hamper have sold, along with the green chairs in the back.

 This is the end of that booth.  The first shelf here is all Louisville Stoneware and Bybee Pottery.

This is the left side of that booth.  That white shelf in the foreground is what started the whole process.  I sold the shelf that was sitting there and did not have one to replace it.  A vendor friend was looking to unload that white ine cheap, so I took it, only to find out that it was six inches too long to fit in the spot where I needed it.  This prompted a game of Booth Tetris to get the shelves in the right places, which meant I had to take some things of of them.  At the point I was thought: "In for a penny.  In for a pound."  And the booth re-do began!

 This is my salvage booth, which now needs more work done on it, because I added a bunch to it with the Junk Set Out haul.

Finally, there's a rent special on right now.  Rent a new booth for two months and get the third one free.  I decided to do it, because we were anticipating getting some large items from my mother-in-law.  That has fallen through, but I've ended up making several trips a week now to the Mount of Sorrows to haul stuff off of it, so it's working out well.  In this pic, the rolling cart in the foreground left has sold, along with the chair beside the painting of the lady.

If that last space looks kind of familiar, that's because I rented it a while back, but gave it up because I could not deal with the fire extinguisher pole.  I took it again, because it was the only space in my aisle that was available.  I'm not willing to walk any further than I have to when I am stocking and cleaning.  This space will go away once the rent special ends.  As long as it helps me clear a bunch of stuff out, it will have served its purpose.

 I have a goal set to move into a smaller storage space by June of this year.  At this point, I only have three large items left standing in the way of that move.  Thanks to this new space (and the booth re-do), things have been moving along pretty quickly. 

I'll share the set out stuff tomorrow.

2018 Finds So Far!

Before we get started, a word from the producers:

Once more, for those of you who happen to be reading this blog while lying down:

I've got one more 2017 finds post, and I'm contemplating making a post of some even older finds that I photographed but never shared.  I normally wouldn't bother with something older like that, but these things are kind of cool.

However, for today, I wanted to show some things that have crossed my path since the beginning of the year.  I really want to stay on top of sharing stuff this year, so these need to go up before too much more time passes.  Everything in this blog came from the New Year's Big Flea (including the Welcome sign above), first week of January shopping at the thrifts, and some trash picking.

In case you didn't know, early January is a good time to go thrifting.  Most non-profit thrifts get hit with a huge lot of last minute donations at the end of the year from people trying to eke out a last minute tax deduction.  One of the Goodwills here in town keeps their donation drop off open until midnight on New Year's Eve to accommodate people.  This large influx of stuff means a smorgasbord of new stock hitting the sales floor during the first week of January.  At one store I went to, four carts crammed with new stuff came out in the hour I was there.

I picked up an instant vintage clock radio collection at the Big Flea.  I saw them early in the day, but didn't buy any at that time.  I wanted to go back after I'd seen the whole show and pick up a couple at that time.  When I went back the dealer was in "Let's Make a Deal" mode, and I ended up walking off with the whole lot for a super, super price.  That's why I go on the last day.

The one on top is an Emerson.  It's also my favorite.  It's got some damage on the back, but still displays well.  The one on the bottom of the stack on the table has a real wood outer shell, which is just crying for an inventive DIY-er to make it over.  By the way, the table came out of my storage stash.  I've been on a small furniture roll since the week before Christmas.  I can't keep it in stock.

Speaking of small furniture, the pics don't do the pattern on this vintage kitchen chair justice.  It's amazing in person.  Goodwill find.

I'm normally not one for these cheesy, faux-primitive signs, but they were really cheap.  I thought they'd be good for Valentine's.  Big Flea.

This cute Kitten with Mittens looks kind of like Tucker, except that his eyes are amber-colored.  Also, his mittens are sparkly purple. Goodwill.

I love it when I find things with an OUTRAGEOUS original retail price tag in thrifts.  This one is on the bottom of this:

Which just blows my mind, since it looks like an ordinary bathroom trash can.  It's made out of a hard plastic, kind of like Melamine, but thicker.  I have a feeling it would shatter if dropped hard enough.

Cute, handmade blue step-stool.  Goodwill.

These cute, Day of the Dead-style skeletons are hanging out on a clear Pyrex bowl.  I didn't know Pyrex still made things with designs on them.  Goodwill.

Since I do go to the Big Flea on the last day, I usually run into lots of dollar deals.  These were even better:  two for a dollar deals!  I love the designs on these pieces.  The figure in front is a cute pig.  The eggs in the middle are salt and pepper shakers.  There is also a bird figure that I couldn't find for the pic.

An odder couple I cannot imagine. Big Flea.

Mini oil lamp collection. Big Flea.

Does anyone know anything about this character.  I've drawn a blank in my searches. The only thing I found was an expired trademark application taken out by the Weekly Reader people.  (Remember them?)

Cute vintage metal tray perfect for Valentine's.  Goodwill.

Sweet original painting.  Peddlers Mall find.

I love educational comics of all kinds.  These are for my collection.  Big Flea.

Couch Potatoes.  Goodwill.

The second-hand store down the street from our house cleaned off its shelves over the weekend, so I cleaned out their trash shortly thereafter.  Picked up a lot of stuff that will be great for the booth, but the only blog-worthy bit was this 1980 Smurf wind-up toy. The little knob is missing from the winder, but it's still awesome.

Speaking of trash-picking, we are now only three weeks from the next junk set out.  Not that I'm counting or anything.

More 2017 Recap (Further Sights Unseen)

Continuing from yesterday, here are some more of the finds from last year that got photographed, but never blogged.  Unless noted otherwise, everything here is a trash find.

I always grab discarded lawn ornaments, regardless of the shape they're in.  This one wouldn't even stand up on its own any more.  I thought it could be painted and make a cool door stop or something.  It actually sat on our stoop for a while, until Keith told me it was creeping him out.

One of our across the street neighbors is also a garbage picker.  He used to do a yard sale every so often.  Now he just sets his old finds out during set out.  I've gotten some good stuff from his curb over the years.  These wheels came from there.  I grab stuff like this and toss it in my salvage booth as spare parts.  Someone must need them, because they do sell.  I'd rather see it go to a new person than be tossed out.

Rusty metal plant shelf.

My price tag on this one says:  "Make your own 10 Commandments!"  That was my thought when I first saw it.  I also added another tag that says:  "Thou shalt shop Booth 62!" That's an order!  

I found a huge bucket of these canning jars.  They're not at all old, but the rusted lids lend them that feeling.  They are waiting in the shed to be filled with odds and ends.  I sell lots of stuff in jars--spools, buttons, clothes pins, beads, etc.  My best seller is actually just jars of miscellaneous junk, which is what I use these larger jars for.  I keep one by my desk and just toss random stuff in it until it's full.  Usually, it's the leftovers from a bag or box of junk I bought that are too small or uninteresting to sell by themselves.

MCM wall hangings, which I thought were cool.  It's amazing what people will toss out.  Even the broken one sold.

Big Flea find.  I am kind of obsessed with wooden boxes, particularly homemade ones like this one.  They're a top seller for me, so I jump on everyone I can find.

More Big Flea finds.  

Remember the awesome cast iron vent I found a while back?  I went back to that house for the last set out, and all I found was Mr. Bubble.  That's kind of a metaphor for this whole business, I think.

Speaking of that vent, I sold it to a downtown antique dealer Who was a new customer to my booth.  I was working my spaces that day, and we talked for a long time.  I saw him again right before Christmas, and he told me that he had taken it to a big antique fair in New York and someone bought it from him right as he was setting it out.  I made a real nice deal off of it, and so did he.  I also got a regular customer out of it.

I found two bags of old paper in an alley, and brought them home to sort out.  Oddly enough, a lot of it was papers and  stuff from a tiny town in far western Kentucky where my great-grandfather lived when he was a boy.  There was also this poster.  Take a closer look at the bottom.

Interesting world, ain't it?

Big Flea find.  Also, guilty pleasure TV.  I don't actually watch the show itself.  I view clips of the big meltdowns on YouTube.  I look at it kind of like I do all those Real Housewives shows.  I can watch a little bit of it, turn it off and say to myself:  "Maybe I'm not rich, but I'm also sure as hell not CRAZY!!!"

Hiding in my front bush is a shy little squirrel blow mold I found in the alley that was  strewn with stuff.  He's by Don Featherstone, the guy who designed the pink lawn flamingo.

Finally, a happy find.  I got this at the Peddlers Mall.  The vendor had a bag of them and had misidentified them as Happy Meal toys.  It's actually a vintage Wilton cake decoration.  I htink it dates back to the days of the TV show.

It even look a little like Adam West.

Still more to come.  Tune in tomorrow.  Same Bat Blog.  Same Bat Channel.

Rusties, Crusties, and Dusties! Oh My!

Since I'm on low to no buying right now, there's still no Mazda shot.  I did go to a music sale at the comic shop yesterday, but the oddball goodness I found there would not have made a very interesting shot.  You'll see it later in the week.

In the meantime, here's something for you to marvel at:

I just borrowed the shelf for staging.

Even if I'm not really on the hunt right now, there are still a few booths at the Peddlers Mall that I simply have to check out every time I'm in.  A few of them belong to friends, and I just like to see what treasures they've found lately.  A couple are good sources of good stuff from time to time, usually at great prices.  These goodies came from one of my regular spots.  The whole stash cost less than fifteen bucks!

From top to bottom:  metal gas can, tin picnic basket, rusty metal card drawer, rusty plant older, seriously heavy old handmade wooden tool box.

I see dead people (or at least ther stuff)

I'm sure most of you are aware that, if you buy secondhand long enough, eventually you are going to handle, peruse, browse through, or actually purchase items that belonged to someone who is now deceased.  Often, you're completely unaware of it.  Sometimes, you're acutely aware of it.

Nothing can prepare you, however, for finding stuff from a deceased person that you knew, especially in an unlikely place.

Last week, I was goofing off browsing around the Peddlers Mall when I started going through a stack of books.  We have a dealer there who is fairly big time.  He has close to a hundred booths and thousands of items in the mall.  Frequently, he buys out whole estate when the family is looking to liquidate in one fell swoop.

I found a missal in the stack and started to thumb through it.  I always buy vintage missals when I find them priced well.  I have learned over the years to give them a quick skim to see if there are any holy cards tucked between the pages.  I didn't find anything, until I got to the front of the book.  There was an inscription indicating that this missal had been given as a gift from some grandparents to other family members. 

The names were familiar to me.  The last name of the family was the same name as a former co-worker and friend who passed away suddenly in April.  She had been a supervisor of Keith's for several years, and they had remained close afterwards.  It seems like no one outside the family knew that she had even been sick, until the obituary appeared in the paper, and it was pretty bare bones.  There wasn't a service or a visitation, just a private family gathering.  When I realized that the last name of the grandparents was her maiden name, I started to get a little freaked out.

Then I found a framed certificate given to our friend in appreciation for her work and got goosebumps.  I immediately took a picture and texted it to Keith, who was as shocked as I was by the discovery.  After that, I walked around all day shaking my head.  You just never know what (or who) you're going to find.

Fast forward to last Friday night, when I am looking through the sale listings for the next day.  Lo and behold, there's a sale happening on our own street, right down the block from us.  I don't recognize the house number, so I decide to check it out in the morning, while I'm hitting up a new trash pile I saw the night before.

It seems to me that the house is awfully familiar.  Suddenly, it dawns on me that this is the house of an elderly gentleman who is known and loved by just about everybody around.  He's had several strokes over the years, but has taken daily walks around our block as long as we have known him.

We befriended him right after we moved into the house, when he realized that we both worked for local government.  He was having some trouble getting his disabled bus pass renewed, so Keith helped him and then got him connected with the local office for elderly/disabled services.  We had been wondering about him this year, as we had not seen him out and about in a while, not even after the weather got nice.

I get it in my head at that point that this must be his estate sale, which bums me (and Keith) out considerably.

Thankfully, I turned out to be completely wrong.  Keith says I have the wrong house, and he would know better than me, since he's been there more times than I have.  I also rechecked the listing and it was advertised as a moving (not estate) sale.  None of the items pictured for sale were the kind of things that someone this gentleman's age would have. 

We ended up missing the sale.  They closed early due to low turn out well before we got there.  I'm really glad that we didn't end up going through another friend's things.  I'm still bothered by the fact that we haven't seen him lately.

Up until this last week, the closest I had come to encountering a deceased friend's stuff was the time we went to a yard sale in front of a house that a friend had rented for years before she died.  We ended up telling the people having the sale all about her.   Now I've had a close call and a close encounter, right in the middle of the Peddlers Mall.

I really hope it doesn't happen again for a long while.

You Know You're a Junker When

You get to the mall, with all this to do:

And the first thing you do is make a purchase.

Two vintage metal cabinets, a bookshelf, and a primitive shelf

Close up of the metal cabinets.

I have no earthly idea where to put these.

And the other shelves.

I love that one on top!

I really did need that small bookshelf.  All I have left on Mount Sorrow are full-sized shelves, but I have a few small shelves in the booth that need something to be stacked on.  The other shelf will replace the small green shelf that I mentioned had sold in Monday's Ramble.  I am always looking for shelves of this size.

And I still got a lot of the work I needed to do done.

Now I just need to figure out where the hell to put the two metal cabinets.  Back to the drawing board!

Monday Rambles

Let me just say right off the top that I am so ready for winter to be over.  So ready.  We haven't had a bad winter at all, mind you.  I'm just tired of the cold and the dreariness.  There are things I want to do outside!  Shoo, winter!

We had another four inches or so of snow yesterday.  Shoo, winter!  It's supposed to start warming up this week, so it won't last long.  I hope.  Shoo, winter!

This is kind of another quickie, mini-ramble.  There's just not much to say right now, for real.  I'm pretty sure that you all honestly don't want to read about me sitting around in my robe, drinking hot chocolate and petting the cat.  Shoo, winter!

Last week was all about getting the big junk from the set out pick to the booth.  This week will be about getting the small stuff over.  I made a super score on some wrestling action figures, so I'll also be getting those ready to go.  And probably bagging some comics.  In my robe.  While drinking hot chocolate.  And petting the cat.  Shoo, winter!

My, what a lot of wrestling action figures!

A competing vendor mall has opened up across the street from the Peddlers Mall.  I might head over there to check it out later in the week.  I've heard it's not very impressive, as it's less than half-rented out and most of the vendors over there have either left our mall or also have booths in our mall.  I have to confess that I do not understand paying to compete against yourself like that.  It's not like two malls that close to each other are going to draw significantly different crowds of shoppers.  In fact, reports have most shoppers leaving there empty-handed and coming over and spending money with us.

Honestly, I'm not worried about competition.  Nobody anywhere does this thing the way I do it, if I can say so myself.  I've never been that impressed with the other malls that the owners of this new one operate.  The staff are unfriendly and none of their stores is ever fully rented it seems.  On the other hand, I have found really good bargains in some of them, so it's worth checking out to see if maybe a new close source for stuff has opened up.  We'll see.

Speaking of booths and such, February is rolling long well.  I had a bit of a glitch last week for a couple of days, but the tax money is now getting to people and they are coming in and filling their carts.  Seriously.  I see more people walking by my space with huge mounds of stuff in their buggies and think:  "Tax refunds."

What's really wild is that there are a bunch of them that have never been in a Peddlers Mall (or a flea market, for that matter) before.  You can tell by listening to the conversations.  They're the ones that are either amazed at how much stuff there is here or they're appalled that so much of it is secondhand.  I really don't know exactly what that last group was expecting when they came in.

As someone who does not sell anything remotely resembling a necessity, I am very grateful for the tax refund folks, since for some of them, this is the only extra money they get all year.  The sales boost is always appreciated.

The real issue sales-wise right now is the weather.  All of my off days have also been snow days.  Shoo, winter!

Tomorrow, it's back to the cancer center.  This is treatment number 16, so I'll be scheduling another scan as well.  Those come every four treatments.  Wednesday will be a day of rest. I keep forgetting to do that, but it makes such a difference when I do it.

If I'm feeling up to it on Thursday, I need to take some stuff from the Hillock to the booth.  I still have a hunk of my religious books in storage, because I didn't have room for them.  I figured out how to rearrange some things at the booth and make more room, so I need to get them.  I have some empty shelves sitting and waiting for them.

Also, I need to take the Valentine's stuff out and replace it with St Pat's and Easter stuff.  I really don't ever sell much for any of those holidays, so I never have much to put out.  I barely sold anything for Valentine's Day this year.  I think I only have about a half-dozen St Patrick's items, but they should go out.

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day full of hearts and flowers and chocolate and whatnot.  We stayed in, and I made dinner for us--the kind of big cooking with side dishes and fresh veggies and chopping and peeling and dessert that we hardly ever do any more.  It was fun.

This is a post "dig in" pic.

Then I realized that kind of cooking makes dishes to be washed.  Lots of them.  And I understood why we don't do that kind of thing very often.  Oh well. 

If you need a little Monday giggle, try this collection of Popes in sombreros.  Fashion-forward Pontiffs for the Win!

All together now:

SHOO, WINTER!

Monday Rambles

So, I broke a mirror yesterday.  There goes the rest of the decade for me!

Also, I bought some stuff on Saturday, so I have a teeny Mazda shot.

What's in Mazda?

Sales are getting fewer and farther between here, but I did scrape a couple up for Saturday.  We had to hop across the river for them.  We went to a church that was having a Christmas yard sale fund raiser.  I was hoping to find some more vintage stuff, but no such luck.  I did pick up a few small things, including a Hulk ornament.  Nothing special.  The cashier spent all this time carefully wrapping these candle holders that were mostly cast iron, then tossed the ceramic figurines in the bag unwrapped.  Sometimes, I feel like I live in Bizarro World.

That church also runs a thrift store, which is only open about six hours a week.  I love it, but I never get to go there because of their schedule.  It epitomizes the one thing Louisville lacks--the little church-affiliated thrift run by little old ladies with tons of stuff at super cheap prices.  I wasn't sure if they would be open because of the church sale, but they were.

Their Christmas was all half off.  I gathered up a box of stuff, both Christmas and non, including a complete vintage Yahtzee game.  Prices ranged from 5 cents to 2 dollars.  The older lady doing the check out decided she needed to sort the Christmas out so she could do all the half price at once.  Good plan.  Then she declares that three ornaments aren't Christmas.  In fairness, they were little houses and buildings, so they didn't look like typical ornaments.  They were only a quarter, so I let it go.

Then she declares that the religious articles--crosses, Jesus pictures, etc--are Christmas because "You can use them for that if you want."  So, I got more of a discount overall than I would have if she had left those ornaments in.  I always throw in a small donation at fund-raisers and church sales, so I kind of made up a little of that difference for them. 

She grabs this roll of bubble wrap for the glass stuff I bought and this little older man, who I assumed was her husband, moved to the counter to help. Or at least I thought.  He grabbed the end of the bubble wrap and started popping the bubbles!  It was too funny.  She fussed at him and he stopped.

The other big sale I went to was a library book sale.  One of the libraries across the river holds a book sale twice a month.  I had been wanting to go, as I had heard good things about it.  Oh my gosh!  It was so organized, that it was nearly mind-boggling.  Everything was on shelves, instead of tables, with clearly labelled sections.  Prices were super-reasonable.  All around, it was impressive.

I ran into blog reader Elizabeth while I was there.  From time to time, she pops up at the booth, usually when it looks the worst, but she always says nice things about it anyway.  I've been meaning to mention her here and keep forgetting.

Anyway, I got a nice box of books there, plus a large stack of cookbooks out of the FREE boxes out front.  Love me those free boxes.  I sell a lot of cookbooks.  It was nice to be at a sizeable book sale.  The Louisville library has discontinued its large sales, much to my consternation.

We grabbed lunch at our usual Asian Buffet, and I made a stop at the Thrift Store that's in the same little mini-mall, since it was having a sale. I ran in the library branch in the mall to use the bathroom, then saw a dude with a bunch of tables in the middle of the mall selling comic books!  Seriously.  I'll leave it to you all to fill in the result of this discovery.

Saturday night, we went to one of our favorite holiday events.  It's been three or four years since I've gone, due to health stuff.  I was so glad to be able to do it again.  We wandered the streets, popped in and out of shops, enjoyed hot cider, shopped a bit, then finished off with a wonderful dinner.

I didn't get many photos, but I did get a few.

Santa's VW van sleigh

Always gotta get a Kizito cookie.  Fresh and hot!

The Eye of God is watching you!

Blow molds!

There was a rep from the business guild that sponsors the event driving around with a bunch of lights and blow molds on a truck, all lit up.  I could never get my phone out in time for a pic.  I also failed to get a pic of the girl in half a banana costume doing sidewalk karaoke.  I did get some short video of the laser light show.

I hope this works.  I've never done video on the blog before.  Well, like this anyway.  That Eye of God pic comes from the neighborhood Catholic Church, by the way.  There are more pics of the amazing decor in the church at their web site.  Doesn't Keith look all ruggedy and mountain manny with his walking stick and beard?  Believe it or not, he was wearing shorts!

So much goes on at this event.  Past years have included Elvis impersonators, bagpipes, Dickensian carolers, and concerts.  I look forward to it every year, and was so glad to be able to do it again.

This is going to be a pretty busy week.  Today, I'm heading back to the booth.  It was busy there yesterday, that I didn't get everything done that I needed to.  I have a cartful of stuff in the break room that I need to get put out.  The store is having its vendor party and open house on Saturday, and they need the room for that.  Sales are remaining strong so far.  I'd like to have a couple of $100+ days in the mix, but otherwise I can't complain.  I still cannot seem to get all my Christmas out.

Tomorrow is my next scan.  Results will be next week.  After that is done, I'll be headed to Mount Sorrow.  Thanks to being sick, I am a week behind on the work I wanted to do there.  I also just remembered that I have two sleds buried in the back (!) of that mess and they should have been at the booth two weeks ago.  I'll probably pull a small load out of there while I'm at it.  Since I'm going to have to pull a lot out to get to them, I'm planning to get it all back a little more organized.

Wednesday, I'm planning on working at home.  I need to go on an orgy (not like that!) of pricing and packing.  I am going to get any stray little bits of holiday stuff I might have missed.  I keep feeling like there are a couple bags of stuff still kicking around here.  I also have a new stack of comics to bag and price.  (Heh!)

Thursday, it's back to the booth.  Friday, I'm sneaking out to finish getting Keith's presents.  This weekend, I'll be at the Peddlers Mall vendor get-together, and maybe going to a holiday gift show.  It's run by the same people that do the Big Flea, and I've been wanting to check it out for a while.  I'm not planning to buy anything, but I would love to check out the displays.