Sunday, April 11, 2010

Junker's Delight



hey y'all,

who names their yard sale? that would be me. and the post title is what i called mine ... junker's delight ... which was yesterday, in all its glory.



first let me say that i will never, ever host another yard sale at my house. okay, i might have made that declaration a few times in the past, but this time, i. mean. it.

moving on. once i made the decision to have the sale, it was just a matter of psyching myself (and my kids) up for the challenge. notice i don't mention hubby. that's because when i told him of my plan, he not only said NO, but HELL NO.

now, before you get your hackers up, let me say that his only concern was for ME. he didn't think i was up to the task, physically. he didn't want me to get hurt, overdo it or generally-speaking, kill myself over a yard sale.

while it's true my health can be precarious, i was to the point where mind over matter had to prevail. my mind couldn't handle all the matter crammed into my garage. i was beginning to feel like a true hoarder, as in hoarders on A&E.



so to prove to myself that i actually could let go of stuff ... and to actually shed myself of the overflow, i was determined to pull off this sale.

alright. so the kids and i got busy in the garage. oh.dear.lord, the crap we pulled out of that place! some i hadn't seen in years, decades even ... some i remembered, some i didn't recognize! some was newer ... stuff spilled over from the house. you know the drill. garage stuff. half-heartedly, we pulled things from closets and other areas around the house that needed some weeding.



this was the first time that i held a sale in my backyard. with the pool filled in (it's a garden space now), it was a safe and pleasant place to use. but the BEST part about using the backyard was that we could set up early! at our leisure.



i can't even imagine how we would've set all that junk out early saturday morning! as it was, we worked the entire week on clearing and sorting and then setting up the display tables. sheesh.



i was thinking ... it is nothing short of a miracle that there are so many yard sale listings, considering all the time and labor that go into one! who, in their right minds, would do this to themselves?!?! okay, well, i guess i have my answer right there in the question.

and then there are other sundry details you must attend to. i know a little about advertising (by marriage, once removed and divorced) and promoting your event (from many years of, well, actually promoting events) so when it came time to do that, i was well-prepared.

schlepped down to city hall and shelled out my $5 for the yard sale permit (which i never thought of again until 1 hour before closing when a nosy ... er ... i mean ... helpful customer asked me if i had a permit from the city ... sigh).



since i have the gift of blah blah blah, i hacked out a semi-clever advert for craigslist and repeated it a couple of times. since the killeen daily herald charges per line, i had to be a little more succinct. pithy even. but that's okay. i think more and more yard sale regulars are checking craigslist.

apparently so, because we had lots of traffic. i think the yard/street signs helped too. i spent a full hour on those, but it was an hour well spent.

we had a plethora of old political signs in the garage, so i used one! covered the sign with an old quilted sham, stapled the sign to that, and there you go. a sweet, shabby sign.


i got the idea of using a vintage suitcase from another blog, yardsale bloodbath ... loved it.


used both sides ... because, as you all know, it's a two-way street out there


i call this my pillowcase sign. because it's covered in a pillowcase. why is it covered in a pillowcase?! because i felt like it. that's why. but isn't the little pink ball fringe toooo cute?! i added that. like anyone noticed.


jannetta and tara were my handy dandy yard sale assistants ... they were AWESOME! thanks girls. we had a blast sitting at the umbrellaed table, people watching and people pleasing by giving them great deals ... and even giving toys to unsuspecting little ones. they were thrilled!

three year old princess abbey, happy as a clam with her new tweety bird, magical wand and a pair of "noculars" (toy binoculars).


but i think we were even more thrilled to see the joy on their faces.

wish i'd taken more pics. but, well, i had my hands full. the stories i could tell you about the customers and their funny, quirky ways! i wonder if people talk about us (the FAGs) after we leave sales?? i just bet they do. we always make a such a scene out in public. okay, okay. it's usually me creating the scenes.

the best part of it all ... the optimist club will be picking up my leftovers on monday!! you might recall me blogging about their little thrift store in cove. they don't price anything ... you just donate what you think is fair. because it all goes to the children. with cancer. so i'm happy to be donating items for their charity. because i love children.

don't we all? heh heh

love and hugs,
terry lee

my texas cabinet made from barnwood. a young couple bought this ... wish you could've seen him hoist this baby up, all. by. himself! can you say muscles?!


texas table with all things texas, of course. it was a popular table.


however, christmas didn't seem to fly in april. not much traffic here


a combo table of thanksgiving and christmas ... again, not very popular. a keen eye would notice the two indian dolls i bought recently. they were not happy at my house ... something about not being allowed to smoke inside ... so i put them in their place.


some other items waiting for new homes.


the calm before the storm ... night before the sale.

8 comments:

Dana said...

Oh gosh Terry Lee!! I wish so much that I could've come to your garage sale especially after seeing all the pictures!! Anything pink I would've bought it!!! But mom only turns 75 once, My granddaughter would've missed me at her ballgame, and my cousin just had to make his once a year visit on the day you have a garage sale. Dang it!! I read your CLEVER funny advertisement on Craigslist. Only sweet, sassy you would write up such a funny ad!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, the drive down to Killeen from Dallas would have been so worth it to beat out the young couple to buy that barnwood with the Texas flag, aaaaargh! And the Texas table?!?! Lawsie mercy, park me at that table and watch the dollars fly out of my hands!!!

You did such a good job on the signs, I picked up some tips.... and setting it up in the backyard was GENIUS, I might have thought of that, but worried that if people couldnt see what was for sale they might not stop - so thanks for letting us know you got good traffic, I am definitely going to do that next time!

Library Lady said...

Well, dear Little Sis! Congrats on a fab yard sale. I'm just now reading your post (I'm at W-O-R-K) and have been laughing my freakin' head off. My cheeks (the face ones, not the other kind!) are sore from all the laughter.

Linda, my assistant, just told me to "keep it down" and reminded me we are in a Library. Like I don't know that!

Well, you are to be commended on the fine advert on CL. V. well done. And the suitcase with the sign on it -- another good belly laugh -- I mean, it was a smart thing to do, but just struck me as a hoot. So Terry Lee. And yes, I noticed the balled fringe "sign", but only ONE Indian. Maybe the other one is signing a peace treaty whilst smokin' the ole peace pipe? Eh? Smoking, indeed! V. clever and gave me another good belly laugh.

I love the cookie jar with the wreath-shaped heart. I think I gave that to you! HAHA! You could at least given it BACK to me! :-) NOT! Don't want no more junk in my house. I, too, am de-cluttering and de-junkin' my place.

You also did a GREAT job in setting up. All the different tables themed or seasonal. Took a lot of time, but v. clever. People like that. Or at least, I like it -- being the soup-in-the-pantry-alphabetically arranged, OCD person that I am. :-)

You didn't say HOW MUCH you made from the $ale. Would be curious to know.

Love you!
Big Sis


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http://bkkscholl.blogspot.com

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Mollye said...

Well honey you're a better woman than me cause I can't stand having these dang things. I love, love going and hate, hate, having them. I need to have one soooooooooo badly. I will pay you to come set it up for me! Any takers?

Jamie said...

Thank you so much for your condolences Terry Lee! I so wish I could have been here for your yard sale, I'd have fought that young couple for the Texas cabinet, it would make an awesome bar! Oh well...we were where we needed to be. One of these days we are going to run into each other scouting some great stuffs. ;) I noticed your post on the Crafter's Corner, I just checked that place out myself, my neighbor opened a booth there.

Michele said...

OMGosh Terry Lee ~ I would have bought so much from your sale! You just had the best stuff!

Thanks for stopping by and offering advice. It never fails, just when you think you have these kids figured out, something happens to that you just don't expect. Hopefully, we will get this all worked out..sooner rather than later. I miss my grandbaby!

Hugz,
Michele

cindy said...

Darn it! I should have hung the kids on hooks in the closet and made it to that sale. if I had known you were setting up all week I would have come on friday as an early bird.
Oh well, those treasures weren't meant to be mine after all.

Mollye, I would come set up your sale for free but you like in LA and I live in TX.

Hey, do you think there is a potential for customers who would pay me to sell their crap?

Tara said...

What. A. Day. :-) It was a good experience though...I actually enjoyed it. Especially giving that huge Tweety to that little sweet angel girl...that made my day. So precious..."I need my noculars...there's a bird..." Awww...Love it! I totally missed the whole Terry Lee rose comment..."alls" I heard was strawberry banana...still, very funny...glad to help you pull it off with success! :-) Love you!