Thrifting Using the Buddy System

Recent resale adventures proved that, while garage saling and thrifting with a buddy is always more enjoyable, if you have a savvy friend, it can also be more effective for finding the stuff you're looking for.

At the recent annual Regent Square neighborhood yard sale, two sets of eyes were definitely better than one, for both myself and my friend Scoobie!

Oh, I did okay on my own to begin with; it wasn't long into our yard saling journey, for instance, that I spied-- and subsequently nabbed-- this table with fun legs...

No, really... Table with "fun legs"...

But later on that block, my eyes were not quite so keen as to spy this nifty Alice in Wonderland tea towel...
"Um, don't you want that?" asked Scoobie, knowing well my Alice-themed kitchen. Also, the tea towel was $0.50!

I had my money out so fast! The towel seems to be a souvenir from "Alice's Shop" at Oxford University.

Scoobie was also indispensable when we encountered these pink Fiestaware sandwich plates...

I was distracted by other goodies, while these were apparently right under my nose.

Like the tea towel, they were in my hands quickly, because the price turned out to be seven for $5!

Now I came across a few of these other goodies on my own, such as this cute bag of four pewter Mad Hatter chess pieces...

(There were no other pieces to the set, just these. They remind me of those Easter Island heads all lined up like this.)

A pair of suncatchers were just $0.50 a piece...
And the Mifflin Church Rummage sale rustled up two pretty vintage tablecloths in grey, purple and green.But I think my favorite part of our day-- other than getting to sit down after walking about 20 miles o'er hill and dale-- was that I got a chance to return the favor to Scoobie for her keen goodie-spotting.

I knew from previous shopping endeavors that she'd wanted one of those pottery Christmas trees that plug in and are covered with little bulb ornaments. Her great-grandmother had had one and they are a fond memory to her.

Well, on about our last leg of the journey (and literally, our own last legs), I saw one sitting on a table on an elevated yard. "Didn't you want a tree?"

Turns out, the tree and all of its ornaments was just $3. The price was right, and good shopping karma was with her.

So lesson learned. Take friends with you. Make a day of it. And don't forget to let them know what you're looking for. Because you never know-- four eyeballs may prove far better than two.

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One last order of business today, speaking of buddies...

My friend Claire has opened up her own business of drawing cheerful customized "doodle" artwork for special occasions, gifts, etc.

I thought you all might enjoy checking out her site-- The Doodologist.

Have a great weekend!

Hats Off to the Regent Square Neighborhood Yard Sale

Yesterday was the annual Regent Square Neighborhood Yard Sale, and the weather was fine and the competition fierce. I put on my comfiest walking shoes, hooded sweatshirt and jacket to protect against the morning damp and parked in a central location, so carting treasures might be just a bit easier.

With this good early start in the morning, you'd think I'd have been alone in my quest. Ah, but a home selling a wide array of tempting Victorian prints and paintings proved to be just a tantalus to yours truly...

A man and a woman (not together) were there before the sale officially started and were already pulling everything from the boxes they could carry-- dozens of pieces, and protecting their position at the artwork like famished birds of prey. The man eyed each piece with a jewelers loop.

Amusingly, when I did finally get to one of the boxes and looked at the crumbs left behind, the man turned to me as he finished demolishing his box and said, "Is there anything good in there?"

Oh, why yes, let me just fork it over to you, sir. I am not here to shop myself. :)

(I didn't say that, by the way. Not my style, as you know.) I'm guessing he had to have been pretty darned "In the Zone", though, not to have seen the illogic of his question.

Anyway, I was quick to move along-- because the day was young, and it wasn't as if there weren't other lovely things to be had! Like two marvelous vintage hats...


This red one was, according to the owner, her favorite-- and mine, too! All the red velvet, the delicate rosebuds and leaves... It was entirely too fun to pass up. The second hat I got came in a hatbox...


I belive this address would be where "Candyrama" currently is in downtown Pittsburgh-- but I could be wrong. That area of town has suffered a bit, as shopping malls with free parking have drawn shoppers into the suburbs and away from downtown. I love thinking of this area as having been filled at one time with high-end hat shops. And talk about your high-end hat!...


Hat in hand, I trudged the muddy streets, into garages, on porches and down neighborhood alleys perusing the goodies of the good folks around. So many times I spotted things that would be great for SOMEONE-- just not needed by me. Like the person selling gallons of unused interior paint... Or the man looking to unload a retro bedroom set... Or folks with whole Pirates bobblehead collections or comic books. All of these things, I found myself wishing would find good homes... Would connect with that right person who would see them and feel overjoyed at their terrific luck...

I imagine there was a lot of that going on yesterday. Or at least I like to think so.

I did a bit of connecting myself. The church on Mifflin Avenue was having a rummage sale...


And there I found a few fun things. Like this pastoral satin photo holder (I'd gotten one of these before for my friend Scoobie who has a French theme going on in her decor.)


And these excellent 40s and 50s homemaking and recipe books at a quarter a piece...


I think I got a quarter's worth out of them already, because in one of the cookbooks, I learned something incredibly helpful. There pictured on one of the pages were my Hazel Atlas Moderntone Platonite dishes-- and best of all, they were utilizing the "mystery piece" I have, that I'd originally thought was some alternate styled sugar bowl. It turns out, it's a SOUP bowl. As shown here!


I feel like so much of my life involves piecing together little mysteries like this. And ya know what? I love every minute of it.

I moved on to the other side of Braddock Avenue, and even more sales were to be found. A book sale inside a local school netted me T.H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose (I LOVE T.H. White-- a great humorist who I think is a bit under-recognized currently. This story expands on Johnathan Swift's Gullivers' Travels, as Liliputians have vacated Swift's story and have taken up residence in a little girl's backyard.) I also found this nice Victorian novel with an Art Nouveau cover.


Way, way far along the route and close to Frick Park, I uncovered these excellent 50s aluminum tumblers-- six of them for $5. Amusingly, two antique shops I've seen recently have them running for about $5 a cup!


They're going to be excellent as drinking glasses to go with either my Hazel Atlas set, or my carnival glass. Woo and hoo!

And lastly, as several hours in the great outdoors was proving a bit rough on this allergy-prone gal, and the pollens were a bit over-enthusastically joinining me on my journies, I found something I'd been hoping for for a while-- at a good price and in good condition, that is. An alabaster lamp!


All, and all, it was a really great day. I'm sore today, from hours of trudging up hill and drive and front steps and back again. But it certainly was the kind of fun that makes it well worth getting up at the brack o'dawn.

To Jill, who had emailed me saying she might attend the sale, too-- Here's hoping you found some great treasures, and I'm sorry I didn't spy you along the route!

• For those who missed last week's Treasure Box Wednesday, click here to see some thrifted illustrated children's books from he 1930s.

• And for the folks who missed last Sunday's post, you might enjoy clicking here, to view some ephemera from the early silver screen and British stage.

Thanks a bunch, dear friends, for coming along on my yard saling journey this week!

All Hail the Regent Square Yard Sale

What’s that old Who song about how “I’d walk 900 miles”? Well, apparently I’D walk 900 miles if a vast neighborhood yard sale were involved...

And I’d FEEL every mile of it the next day, too.

But in a good way. At the Regent Square annual neighborhood garage sale, a little bit of physical pain is to be expected. It just shows you really put in the time and the effort in search of little treasures.

And let me tell you, the little treasures seem pretty darned big-- or at least weighty-- after three to four hours of trekking, carrying them.

It was not quite eight a.m. when one of my friends and I began our adventure last Saturday, powered by some serious caffeine, and wearing our most sensible shoes. The vendors were just setting out their wares, and even so, it seemed pre-sales in some areas had intervened, making certain purchases impossible.

“We already bought all this,” a lady said protectively to a few of us lookey-loos, giving a sweeping gesture across some 40s panther lamps, a Shabby Chic-ed up mirror, and a pile of other things that were too numerous to register so early in my caffeination process.

It was okay. I am not in lack o’ stuff, and my deep lamp obsession apparently doesn’t extend to pottery panthers.

So my friend and I trekked on. My first purchase was some green Depression glass-- I think the larger of the two is for butter. The other smaller, lidless container I’m currently using for Sweet ‘n Low (doubtless, the Depression-era manufacturers would be surprised at this new use).

A little way down the road, my friend added to her Avon Cape Code ruby glass collection with a vase-- for just $3. And further still, the local antiques store, Le Mix, was having a sale in their back alley, where I came across these old greeting cards, Valentines and Easter programs.


It looks like someone had used them for a bit of roughly-executed crafting, stapling cream-colored lace around their edges. So I’ve been spending a little time removing the staples from these where possible and trying to get them back in a better form.


In some cases, though, the lace just looks really pretty. So maybe I’ll just remove the staples, give it a new backing and glue.

By this time, the rummage sale on Mifflin Avenue was open. And there I came upon this little Madame Alexander “Alice in Wonderland” doll.


As you can see, she needs a bit of TLC. (The photo below kind of makes me laugh, because in person she doesn’t have the creepy, overly-alert look that got captured via the camera. The Alice above looks like she’s got Gothic, nefarious plans.)

Anyway, the little gal has her original dress, pinafore and underthings, but a little research seems to show she’s been given shoes and socks different from the black Maryjanes and stockings she was supposed to come with. Her face also has some smudges. If anyone reading has tips on how to clean the face of a plastic doll without harming her, I would love to hear from you. Also, if you happen to know of anyone who sells replacement stockings and shoes for Madame Alexander dolls like this.

Thanks!

The next church rummage sale was at the Waverly Church on the corner of Forbes and Braddock. There I got a number of pieces of French pink glass that fills out a set I’ve been accumulating through thrift stores. At three pieces for $1.00, it was an exciting find.


So what lies ahead next week? Join me as we revel in, and renovate, some roadside finds. There’s nothing like the early summer to support one’s trash-to-treasure dining chair habit!

Have a wonderful week, my friends!