Garage sales are my favorite but I also go to flea markets, thrift stores and auctions. I am always on the hunt for furniture to paint, stuff for myself, my house, my kids and unique items that I could put to future use. I love the thrill of finding something that was once very expensive for as little money as possible.
In this series, I will share my scores to show you how much you could get for your hard earned money. Some days I hit jackpots, some days I get nothing, but I always have fun.
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There were only a few garage sales on Saturday. I guess most people would rather be swimming than roasting in the heat holding a garage sale.
I got this cutie chandelier for $5. It is small--more like a night light, but will go great in my daughter's room.
I went to the flea market on Sunday.
I got the dream shelf for $.50. I am going to remove the dream word and paint it to match my daughter's room.
The two other wood shelves were $2 each. I think they will work in my kitchen.
I got the stencil for $.25. It is a checkerboard and rope stencil. I hope I can use it on a piece of furniture eventually.
The stamps were $1 each. I thought that was a little expensive, but I really needed those phrases. I now make my own greeting cards and these are perfect for them.
It was my husband's lucky day with the scores I found for him.
I then got him the wheelbarrow for $5! That was a steal!
Speaking of a "steal", I have an embarrassing confession to make. Monday mornings is trash day for my neighborhood. I like to scope out the blocks to see if anyone is getting rid of anything good. (This is not the confession--this is normal for me)
A few Mondays ago there was a wheelbarrow at the curb of a house. It was next to their garbage can and it had other garbage on top. Since my husband needed one, I loaded it into my car.
I live in a community that has a property management office. They send out periodic emails to the homeowners with updates and events and things like that. Well, take a look at the email I received right after I got the wheelbarrow.
If it is too small for you to read--it says someone took a wheelbarrow and the homeowners want it back!
How embarrassing! I thought it was garbage! It was at the curb on garbage pick up day next to the garbage can, with garbage on top! I mean really, how could I not think it wasn't being thrown away?
My husband thought this was hysterical and kept telling me things like he has seen posters with photos of the wheelbarrow asking if anyone has seen it. Or he noticed people walking the neighborhood checking out yards for it. Really funny--not!
Since I got the wheelbarrow at the flea market, it was time I put on my big girl panties and return the other wheelbarrow. So I did...last night...at midnight...with all the lights off on my car.
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Love your shelf and great finds, but the wheelbarrow is a funny story. Yes, I would have thought it was trash too. Thanks tons for linking to Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
ReplyDeletethat is too funny -love dee x
ReplyDeleteBahahahahahaha!!! What an awesome story!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets caught doing embarrassing stuff. :)
ReplyDeleteThey'll have broadsheets of you posted throughout the hood pretty soon...
-andi
Thanks for the laugh! What a great story. That is what they get though for leaving it out with the other garbage, right?!
ReplyDeleteLove your hilarious wheelbarrow story--this is exactly why I'm too shy to snag people's curb castoffs. I have passed up many a cool item because I'm scared someone will run out of the house and start shouting at me!
ReplyDeleteOh that is so funny, I spit my coffee right out of my mouth! Thanks for the morning laugh!
ReplyDeleteOh that made my morning. When I was growing up my dad was stationed in Germany. I used to be so embarrassed when my mom would drag me “junking”. Basically a lot of people were throwing out old furniture to make way for new things. Looking back on it, it was amazing the stuff my mom would find.
ReplyDeleteManda @ Our Wolf Den
HAHA!! That's too funny!
ReplyDeleteI love the deer crossing sign!
I totally love the wheelbarrow story - I literally laughed out loud uncontrollably. Priceless
ReplyDeleteThe wheelbarrow story was hilarious. Not to you ofcourse. ty for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteYou are brave!!! Great finds! Great story. :)
ReplyDeleteThat wheelbarrow story was funny! I definitely would have returned it under cover of darkness too :)
ReplyDeleteYou painted a great mental picture of the stealthy return. . . thanks for the smile :)
ReplyDeleteThat is too funny!! I've been known to take things curbside. And I would have totally thought the wheelbarrow was a freebie. Who leaves something on the curb next to the trashcan and not expect it to get picked up. Come on??
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky to find a wheelbarrow for $5. They are impossible to find.
ReplyDeleteHeidi’s Wanderings
Oh my gosh! hahah! My husband is always so scared to help me because of this exact scenario! But seriously, why would you leave something out for the trash like that? The trash collectors could have taken it...
ReplyDeleteThat is hysterical! I can just see you skulking in the night, trying to return that wheelbarrow. You scored some great things though. I really need to go to some garage sales. I haven't had time all summer! Thank you for sharing it at What We Accomplished Wednesdays. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Deborah
Anything by the trash can is trash. They were wrong to leave it there.. I have been known to pickup things by trash cans, so I'm with you on this one....
ReplyDeleteThat wheel barrow story is so funny! It can happen, I would have thought it was trash as well. Our household trash is picked behind our house and we have bulk curbside one a month. One month, I found a nice kitchen style chair, brought it home and put it on my back stoop behind our garage. I was going to refinish it for an extra. Well, a couple of days later our trash man came to the back of our house to pick up household trash. Would you believe he took my chair. It was not even in the service yard. I called the service but NOBODY had seen it.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh!
Love your finds, so neat that you are making your own cards. I have often thought of that.
Have a blessed weekend, Ginger
Love that deer sign! You found some great things. I've been doing garage sales since my early 20s - mostly out of necessity when I lived alone. Now I couldn't imagine not going to them. Coming over from the Creative Home Blog Swap and a new follower. =)
ReplyDeleteJeanine
SOoooooo funny!! My DH is always telling me to stay away from the neighbor's trash!! He says I can pick from other neighborhoods, just not ours (in case anyone should recognize me!!)
ReplyDeleteLove your finds you got and as for the wheelbarrow issue....uhhhh yeah, been there, done that too. I reallllly wish people knew stuff out on trash day is trash...or to put a sign on it. I had one 80 ish year old lady chase me saying that a piece left out for a craigslist person coming to get it...
ReplyDeleteLove the wheelbarrow story! Lucky for your neighbors that you got to it before the garbage man picked it up and hauled it away. Then it would have been gone forever.
ReplyDeleteJudith
That's hilarious! I've almost taken a basketball goal off of someone's sidewalk. It was the week in our neighborhood when everyone puts out big bulk trash on the sidewalks. When I was standing there eyeing it, the owners came out and informed me they weren't getting rid of it. But really, who stores their basketball goal on the sidewalk?
ReplyDeletethat is hilarious! I hope no one saw you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cute story about the wheelbarrow! I have been so cautious lately when something really good is at the curb....now I am going to be even more cautious after your story. I would have returned it the same way you did! visiting from Amaze Me Monday and following you via Bloglovin'. Love the name of your blog!
ReplyDeleteI love all your finds (especially the deer crossing one!), but your story is priceless and totally hysterical. That would totally be something that would happen to me! I love your stealthy return story, too...awesome! :)
ReplyDeleteI loved your story! That happened to my mother once, so I'm still a little gun shy when it comes to loading up curbside finds. I wonder if anybody saw you. hehe You'll be laughing about this for years. Thanks for sharing your story. :)
ReplyDeleteToo funny! We have back alley garbage pick up but I occasionally put stuff out front (we live on a busy road) with a "free" sign on it. It amazes me how people will ring the bell to make sure it's ok if they take it. Um, yes. That's why it's there and says "free".
ReplyDeleteYep, I think it's funny too, but funnier you returned it at midnight with your lights off! for what it's worth
ReplyDeleteMy neighbors throw away all sorts of goodies, and I have gone out many times to score free stuff. I can understand how you thought the wheelbarrow was free. A neighbor once had a backyard barbecue and put a handwritten sign that said "TRASH" on the trashcan, hoping to motivate people to throw away their trash. Hauled it to the curb on trash day, sign still attached. The trash collectors dutifully threw the whole thing in the trash truck. The enraged neighbor was a lawyer who successfully got the township to replace the wrongfully disposed of trash can. I was reminded of this when I told my husband I was going to put a sign that says "TRASH" on our can because the driver (now with a robotic truck) keeps driving past our trash can without emptying it, possibly mistaking it for a recycling bin. I switched the wording on the sign to "Refuse Bin" just to be safe.
ReplyDeleteI also remember going out one evening, before dark, to scope out the trash in the hood, infant son in arms. (I only like to collect late at night). A woman approached me and demanded to know who I was, where I lived, and what I was doing on the block. Sheesh. I thought taking my son out for a walk was a good cover. How embarrassing. I certainly wasn't going to tell her what I was really doing.
Lots of people now put "free" signs on their better trash. I like that, as well as the Craig's List approach. Better yet, I don't know why people can't drop stuff off at the local charity thrift shops. Let us shop in dignity, and give some money to a good cause at the same time.
What a great story. I would have done the very same thing. Especially the returning at midnight. HAHA.
ReplyDeleteHow funny! Your story made me crack up!
ReplyDeleteAwesome story!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing at A Peek Into My Paradise TGIF Link Party! I can't wait to see what you link up next week! I hope to see you at the (Not SO) Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop! http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/
Have a terrific week!
Hugs, Cathy
Such a funny story about the wheelbarrow. I had a good chuckle. Can't wait to see what you find next week :)
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious!!!!! I have so wondered the same thing about stuff I pick up that is on the side walk, Like "maybe this wasn't free after all" and I should drive off really fast before the owner comes out to yell at me! I would so do something like this. Checking my neighborhood for goods on trash day is perfectly normal in my book!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this last week at my link party, I am featuring you today!
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking up this week at Dorothy Sue and Millie B's too.... this post had me laughing hysterically!!!! Glad you returned it....in the dark....
ReplyDeleteThere was a story in our local paper recently about kids getting ready to sell lemonade. The mom carried their patio table to the curb, and went inside to get the lemonade. You guessed it, someone pulled up and loaded the table in the car and off he went! I am a side of the road shopper from way back, so no judgment from me!
ReplyDeleteGreat finds and sorry, I had to chuckle at the wheelbarrow story. Just this week I was driving to a nearby town and saw 5 large green wine/demijohns at the end of a long driveway in the country. And I mean large like 1.5 feet tall. Two were in vintage wicker holders and three were in the newer woven plastic holders. I drove by but on the way back home I kept hoping they were still there. And they were. And I took too long deciding how many I should take. And a dog way up by the house was interested in why I was taking too long. When I got out of my van to approach the bottles, the big dog and another German Shepherd started to bark and start down the driveway. I chickened out and hopped back in my van with NO bottles. Still kicking myself over that one.
ReplyDeleteGreat story! My sister finds all sorts of stuff for her kids at garage sales.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing at the Creative Home & Garden Hop. Looking forward to seeing what you share this week.
http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-creative-home-garden-hop-3.html
Ha! That is soooo funny!!! I remember years ago seeing a wheelbarrow by the side of the road with yard clippings in it and I thought they were throwing it away! I mentioned to my hubby that it was too good to throw away with all the yard debris that was piled in it and went on to say that we should take it home. THANKFULLY my hubby explained the "rule" to me that it was there for the debris to be dumped and the trash folks wouldn't be taking it with them! So funny!!!
ReplyDeleteI totally love the deer sign! And oh my goodness, the wheelbarrow story is priceless! Of course you thought it was trash! And I would have returned it in the dark as well!
ReplyDeleteI would have done the same return as you did, but I would have done it at 3 AM, "just in case". Midnight was brave!!! Mary
ReplyDeleteSorry I'm so late visiting. The wheelbarrow story is TOO funny!
ReplyDeleteWheelbarrow napper! :) The owner is lucky you are the one who took it instead of the regular garbage people, who also would have logically thought it was trash. In fact, the owner owes you a big public thank you email! I love your story and all your great thrifty finds. (Visiting today from Elizabeth & Co.'s feature.)
ReplyDeleteLove the wheelbarrow story!
ReplyDeleteHahaha! That's totally funny, and totally understandable. I would have thought the same thing!
ReplyDelete