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.

Easter in Wonderland

hey y'all!

easter is quickly approaching and i've found myself in a bit of a funk. don't get me wrong ... i celebrate the true meaning of easter with my fellow believers, and am very thankful that He Is Risen.

however, on an entirely self-absorbed, emotional level, i've had some trouble with it all lately. i think it started when pal bonnie asked what my easter plans were. was i cooking a big meal?

whaaa?! cooking? a big meal? for whom?! hubby and me? my youngest (and the older two for that matter) will be with his dad this weekend. upon more scratching and picking at the emotional scab, my mind began to wander to easters past ... when my kids were little.



ahh! those were the days. when i was young, had more energy and of course, the major motivation of little ones expecting easter baskets full of chocolate bunnies, colorful eggs filled with jelly beans and other surprises ... and naturally, a big ol' easter lunch after church. ham, potato salad, green beans, etc. and a lovely hand-decorated easter cake for dessert! this usually meant a cake mix with canned frosting, green coconut on top, for grass, and jelly beans representing eggs. they were easily amused when they were young.



anyhow, thinking of those erstwhile easters ... and even further back to those of my own childhood (big, HUGE affairs!) i sensed a slow but sure spiraling downward, almost as if i were alice in wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. memories of easters past swirled and whirled around me as i fell deeper and deeper. then just as surely as alice landed, so did i. with a thud.

no need to worry, or call the men in white coats. i'm steering clear of strange mushrooms or little bottles of magical potions. but i am looking for the madhatter. i could use a funny, silly tea party about now.



meantime, while waiting for the white rabbit, i wanted to show y'all some more pics of projects i've been working on.

the much-ballyhooed church pew finale! liked it so much i put it in my front "parlor" area

different angle

close up

y'all remember last month when i blogged about that grrrreat gumball machine i found for $5?! i had some gum-popping plans for that baby.



first thing was to slap some pink paint on her. i'll admit to experimenting with different fillers for the glass bowl. but that's the beauty of this piece! you can change the vignette over and over and over!

she sits pretty next to my recently re-done pink chair

gorgeous glass knob for a makeshift finial that was missing

filled with all manner of musings ... tea cups! pearls, lace!

balls of precious pink and white thread!



makes you want to stick a quarter in and buy something, eh?

here's my vintage lady in her easter dress and bonnet. well, i wanted a real bonnet for her but couldn't find one. she'll be okay, except for the incessant whining. she's such a diva.

in case y'all didn't notice it in the photo of the church pew, here's a close up of my FREE column/pedestal. had to use her inside because, well, i wanted to.

isn't she lovely? isn't she wonderful?!


love, love, love these colors! my newly found turquoise tablecloth is a perfect easter color. sweet candlestick (from GW bargain barn, but still had the hobby lobby sticker!) paired with a vintage glass creamer filled with sweet balls of thread from an estate sale. i like the idea of mixing the new with the old.

happy easter, y'all!

love and hugs,
terry lee