No Place Like Home Collectibles

Happy Valentine's Day 2012

2012-02-14T07:35:00.002-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day from ozarksfinds (No Place Like Home Collectibles)

It's been a while since my last post so I thought I'd wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day and share a little story with you before I catch you up on my latest picks.

I've been thinking about buying some new pots and pans since the teflon surface is peeling off of my 5-year-old set. My husband isn't exactly Mr. Wooden Spoon, so my pots and pans take a lot of abuse. Sunday I saw a 16-pc. set in my local paper for a great price.

I told him I was tempted to buy them. He said, "Why don't you buy them, and that can be your Valentine's present?" (He's not exactly Mr. Romantic either). ((LOL)) I said, "How romantic!" We just laughed. He came through this morning with chocolates (sweeet)! Gotta love him...

So I guess I'll have to go buy my pots and pans today (deal ends today) if I can get out on the snow-covered roads. My husband just left and called to say the roads are fine so I'm excited!

(¯`•.•´¯) (¯`•.•´¯)
*`•.¸(¯`•.•´¯)¸.•´ ♥
☆ º ♥ `•.¸.•´ ♥ º ☆.¸¸.•´¯`♥

Here are some of my picks from a lady I used to work with several years ago. She had my phone # and called me last week to come look at estate pieces she was wanting to sell left to her by her mother and grandmother. You never know where your next "finds" will come from. (You can click on the links under the images)

Imperial Glass carnival grapes decanter

Matching wine goblets

Portmeirion Birds of Britain creamer & covered sugar

Portmeirion has been very, very good to me! :)

Limoges France Castel porcelain egg

Goebel West Germany yellow bird

Goebel West Germany blue sparrow bird

Goebel West Germany blue sparrow CV73

Vintage micro mosaic pin brooch marked Italy

Vintage micro mosaic heart pin brooch

Victorian pin brooch

Amber colored estate necklace

Another amber colored estate necklace

Vintage necklace with glass ? beads

Aurora borealis bracelet and earrings

If any of you know anything about these antique jewelry pieces, comments would be appreciated. I'm not really a jewelry person.

Creepy antique doll

And, last but not least, (drum roll, please) take a look at what one of my dolls sold for last week! My best sale of the year so far! I have a love / hate relationship with dolls ~ this one I now love! I'll write a blog about that on another day...

I hope there's some chocolate in your future today!

Picker Potpourri

2012-01-22T12:31:00.004-06:00

What's picker potpourri? No, it's not potpourri to place in a bowl to give a nice scent to the room after you've been out getting swetty and dirty all day long!

Pickers have been around a lot longer than the reality T.V. shows. Here's a definition that I read in one of my favorite books, "Antique Secrets" written by Joe Willard copyright 1998. (If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it). He says, "Think of the word picking or "to pick." Have you ever said, "Look what I just picked up" or, "Boy, it was slim pickins today"? We've heard of berry pickers, stock pickers, cotton pickin', fruit pickers, rag pickers, even a miner's pick. These are all terms for harvesting, aren't they! Antiques and collectibles pickers are, in fact, harvesters!"

Potpourri means a "miscellaneous collection". So, here for you is a misc. collection of what this picker has been up to for the first couple of weeks of 2012. Warning: it's not too exciting! The life of a picker isn't always as glamourous as they portray on T.V. But I can guarantee you it IS as fulfilling.

I have been very busy with working on getting ready to have income taxes prepared. I try to get this done now and not wait until the last minute in April because I will be busy with yard sales, booths, the internet, etc. when April rolls around.

I went to a garage sale yesterday dubbed "City Haul". Cute name. :) There were 40 plus or minus vendors selling their wares. I only bought one thing ~ not much of a haul. I'm saving my money for next weekend.

Next Saturday is the annual "Greater Springfield Garage Sale" at the fairgrounds in Springfield, Mo. where there are over 400 booths of old, new and in between.

Compliments of eventcrazy dot com

Every year I attend this event and come home with a van load of items to keep or sell online or in my flea market booths. A lot of booths are sellers who are getting rid of slow movers. What one seller can't sell another can so I am happy to buy their cast-offs. Some vendors there are just plain old folks selling their garage sale stuff, and they sometimes have unbelievable bargains. Last year I bought an unmarked piece of McCoy pottery for $1.50 and sold it for $45. I was smiling like my McCoy horse.

McCoy Smiling Horse

Pantech Breakout

A week or so ago I bought a new smart phone. I call it my poor man's android. With a 2 yr. contract, a discount and a rebate it only cost me $20. I'm really happy with it (always lovin' the bargains). It's a Verizon 4G LTE android. If you're a picker, one of these phones is invaluable. When you're on the road you can look up all kinds of things to help with your "harvesting". My last smart phone wasn't as smart or as fast as this one, so I can see it will be a big help; and I need all the help I can get!

I marked everything in my flea market booths that was $5. and under to half price. I do this every year to free up space for pricier items. It also encourages customers to look in my booth and buy other items which aren't on sale. It works every time!

I found a great shop on Etsy.com. If you haven't bought or sold on Etsy, you need to check it out. The shop I'm in love with is Trash Junkie. I love what she sells; her product images and what she says in her descriptions.

Everything slows down to a snails pace here in the Ozarks in winter. It's a good time to catch up on the things that I put off in the busy spring, summer and fall seasons. I'm already anticipating the spring yard sales. Well, that's it for the first couple of weeks in January, but I promise it will get more exciting as the months roll on... Leave me some comments, and let me know what you have been doing.

Happy New Year & 2011 in a Nutshell

2011-12-30T15:03:00.004-06:00

First of all I want to wish everyone of you a happy, healthy & prosperous new year in 2012. I know everyone is busy this time of year so here is my 2011 in a nutshell.

1. I started my blog in February, and I want to thank each one of my followers. I've met some nice people on my blog and written guest blog's for a super lady as well.

2. I also learned about Twitter (@ozarksfinds) and Facebook (No Place Like Home Collectibles) in February and found there are a lot of great people out there. Social media marketing is a blast! I'd love for you to follow me and Like my Facebook page ~ "Like" me and I'll love you back.

3. I opened my first Etsy shop (ozarksfinds) February 23 and was pleasantly surprised to find how many nice and talented people there are buying and selling on Etsy. I also love how easy it is to list there, and that their fees are so reasonable. If you haven't joined Etsy, I recommend that you do. It's fun!

4. Keeping it real: I was not pleasantly surprised to endure all of the rules on ebay (ozarksfinds) and have been gradually migrating my merchandise to Etsy. I have been selling on ebay going on 13 years. Where I once kept at least 100 items in my ebay store (No Place Like Home Collectibles) at all times, I am now down to 15 to 20 items. I'm sorry to say ebay has taken the fun out of selling for me and lots of others as well.

5. I opened a second Etsy store named Ozarks Doll Finds about 5 weeks ago. Some of you will remember last summer when I bought 7 large containers of doll parts from a strange man in a parking lot! "I Bought The Whole Thing". I opened Ozarks Doll Finds to list all of those part dolls & doll parts: arms, clothes, shoes, & accessories, eyelashes, eyes, hair / wigs, hands, heads, legs & misc. assemblage parts. It will probably take all winter to list those parts, and I'm happy to report people are buying them. You wouldn't even believe some of the things they are buying! Really!

Creepy Torso

6. I blogged about 5 crates of Holly Hobbie items that I bought in the heat of the summer. "Second Episode ~ I Bought The Whole Thing! What Would You Have Done?" It will also take me all winter to get them all listed as well. If you haven't read that post, it's an interesting one!

7. I was blessed to buy some great antiques & collectibles this year and am already dreaming about what is stored away in peoples' homes just waiting for me to scoop them up in the garage sales next year. :) I bought 21 boxes of mint condition Portmeirion dinnerware that made me good money. Also some Rose Point crystal that did very well. I could go on and on...

Portmeirion Peppers jar

Rose point cordials sold for about $170.!

I had lots of fun going to neighborhood-wide sales, a 100 mile yard sale and a hoarder's home three times. One great thing about this job is you never know where you will go ~ what you will find ~ or who you will meet.

Garage sale in Nixa, Mo.

8. My flea market booth at Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market in Branson, Mo. has done fairly well so I added a second booth this year to try to do even better. I'm hoping to sell more furniture in the coming year in addition to all my smalls that I regularly carry, so I needed more space for bigger items.

All in all it's been an interesting, positive and blessed year for me. It was fun taking a trip down "Memory Lane" to the corner of "2011 Street" to write this. The Lord has blessed me as He always does, and I'll continue to follow Him. I appreciate it that He helps me to do what I love. Sending you all lots of love and wishing you the very best in the coming year.

This plaque is one of my favorite Christmas presents this year :)

Happy Birthday, Jesus ~ Mary Did You Know?

2011-12-21T06:54:00.000-06:00

This week I want to say, "Happy birthday, Jesus" & merry Christmas to all those who read my blog this year. In keeping with my vintage-related theme I give you vintage words and vintage lyrics. They are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Image compliments of turnbacktogod dot com

Luke 2:6-14 KJV

⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

⁷And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

¹⁰And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Image compliments of turnbacktogod dot com

Mary Did You Know? Lyrics by Mark Lowry ~ 1984

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.

Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.

The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.

Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.

(Thank you Mark for such beautiful and thought provoking (soul searching) lyrics.)

Mat. 16:15,16 KJV

¹⁵He (Jesus) saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

¹⁶And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy & prosperous new year. Peace, good will toward men.

Sin~sational Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

2011-12-04T14:23:00.002-06:00

With Christmas fast approaching and in keeping with my "vintage" theme I wanted to share a vintage recipe that I have had for years. A co-worker's wife gave it to me. I've been very popular ever since!

This is the best cheesecake that I've ever made, and the best I've ever eaten. It's slightly time consuming, but it's not difficult and so worth it!

Sinsational Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Crust:
1 3/4 c. crushed vanilla wafers
1/4 c. sugar
2/3 of 1 stick sweet butter, melted (1/3 cup)
(Don't substitute a graham cracker crust ~ it's not nearly as good).

Filling:
5 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
5 eggs + 2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 c. whipping cream ~ not whipped
1 (6 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips, grated (I use mini chips instead and I don't grate them)

Blend the cream cheese together with mixer; then, slowly add flour and sugar, beating well after each addition. Add eggs - one at a time - beating well after each and scraping sides of bowl. Add vanilla and whipping cream; blend well. Fold in grated chocolate (or mini chips). You can save some chips out to garnish the top with. Pour into a spring form pan and bake at 500 degrees for about 15 minutes, until top is lightly browned. (Place aluminum foil tray beneath your pan while baking to catch the butter drippings). Then, open oven door and reduce temp to 250 degrees. Close door and bake for 60 to 70 min. Cool to room temp and then refrigerate. Finished cheesecake is heavy and thick - weighs almost 7 pounds! It is normal for the top to crack and fall. This is truly a rich and "sinfully" delicious dessert that will leave your guests speechless (because they can't stop eating it)!

Fresh baked today

Above is my latest cheesecake that I baked today. In the picture it is in it's cooling stage. I made this one without chocolate chips. I have a can of strawberry topping should any of my guests wish to add it. I think I like it plain even better than with the chocolate chips. It still has the aluminum foil wrapped around it to keep the butter from dripping into the oven. Once cooled that's not a problem, and I'll remove the foil and the spring form pan.

The finished product

Please stop by and leave me a comment if you make it. I'd like to know how you like it and what your guests have to say. Merry Christmas!

Ozarks Doll Finds & Updates

2011-11-23T07:52:00.000-06:00

Sorry I haven't written for a while. I've been busy as I'm sure all of you have been. I just wanted to take time out to tell you about my new shop that I opened (inadvertantly) on Etsy. The name is OzarksDollFinds. I began to set up the shop and had planned to write up some listings as drafts before the Grand opening, but I clicked the wrong button; and it went live. Oops! So, now I'm trying to get items listed. If you are a reader of my blog, you might remember last summer when "I Bought The Whole Thing" ! Well, now I've started to list all the part dolls and doll parts ~ arms, clothes and shoes; eyelashes; eyes; hair & wigs; hands; heads; legs & miscellaneous assemblage parts. It should keep me busy for a very long time to come.

Last update for now: I had posted previously about my newfound love for stuffed, plush animals, Santa, etc. You can read about that on one of the two posts here. I bought another stuffed animal (a wool llama) at an estate sale for $10. You can see what it sold for here. So, enough on the stuffed animals. I'm just sayin'...

Happy Thanksgiving ~ A Spirit of Thankfulness

2011-11-23T05:58:00.002-06:00

I try to maintain a spirit of thankfulness every day ~ not just on Thanksgiving or just the week of Thanksgiving. A person usually finds what they are looking for. I look for things to be thankful for (blessings).

1. First and foremost I am thankful for my Lord and my God.
2. For the Bible ~ my instruction book for life, eternal life
3. I'm thankful for my salvation
4. my family and friends
5. food and drink (my cup runneth over)
6. a safe home to sleep in every night
7. freedom

Other things I'm thankful for:

8. not only having a job, but one that I love and have a passion for
9. for a husband who will let me be myself and do what I love for a living
10. For my 2 rescued cats and my 2 rescued dogs who I love dearly (they bring me so much joy)!
11.For heat when it's cold and air conditioning when it's hot (I've lived without both for a short period of time, and that makes you appreciate it and not take it for granted)

My list is so long that if I were to write it all, this would be the longest blog post ever written...

1 Thes. 5:18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Psalms 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Thank you Jesus! Bless your Holy name.

Happy Thanksgiving...

Now I Believe In Santa!

2011-10-22T15:58:00.004-05:00

Last week I posted about a newfound love ~ orangutans. Stuffed, plush orangutans, that is! Well, now I found another love. Santa! A stuffed, plush Santa that is! If you want to read about how the orangutans made me a believer, you can find that here.

Roly Poly stuffed plush Santa

How did I come to believe in Santa? Well, this is what happened. I went to a thrift store last Thursday (2 days ago). I bought this adorable Santa for .25 cents. I brought him home and brushed his beard and listed him on Etsy for $14.99. Before I did that I checked out ebay for similar ones. There was one like him listed for $50.94 and another for $49.99! I decided to be "reasonable" and list mine for less on Etsy. (After all, I wanted to sell him, not live with him the rest of my life). Within a matter of hours he was sold! I shipped him this morning. So, a quick turnaround in deed.

Santa's Tush Tag (blush) :)

Yes, Virginia, I believe in selling plush Santas. And other plushes! I'm happy to have found a new category to sell online. Perhaps you should give it a try! My next plush to list is a bunny. I'm excited to see if he hops away fast. I'll let you know...

11-3-11 UPDATE: Two updates for you. 1. The bunny did sell as I had hoped. It was fairly large, and I think I don't want to sell plushes that large any more. The shipping is too much for the customer in my opinion. Here's the bunny...

Bunny sold on eBay

Second update: I watched the other santa that I told you was on eBay. It did end up selling for $43. so not bad. I sold mine for much less, but I have a happy customer; and I'm happy that it sold. So, a win win situation for us both.

My Second Best Garage Sale Find Ever ~ The Price of Boys' Toys!

2011-10-21T04:10:00.001-05:00

Hi, and happy TGIF. In my case that's The Garage Is Full! Full of garage sale goodness! For you TGIF might be Thank Goodness It's Friday! For my friend, Cat, at Budget Blonde (dot) com Friday is "Budget Buddy Friday". Cat encourages you to spend less and live more. I agree wholeheartedly! I wrote a guest blog for Cat today entitled "A Little Toy Truck" which is about my second best garage sale find ever so please go check it out! You may also follow Cat on Twitter @BudgetBlonde and on Pinterest. Have a great weekend everyone.

Orangutans have made me a believer!

2011-10-16T15:19:00.002-05:00

I didn't know what to write about this week, and then ~ ding!, "You've got mail". So I checked my inbox, and it said, "Your eBay item sold! 23" Orangutan Monkey" What?! Are you kidding me I thought. I couldn't believe my eyes! Then ~ ding!, "You've got mail". I looked again, and it said, "Instant payment from PayPal". Wow, it was true! I sold a plush orangutan and for $29.99!

Plush orangutans A, B, and C

I was astounded. Someone I had met on Mike Wolf American Picker's Facebook page had told me that they sell a LOT of vintage stuffed plushes online and for good money, too. Since I'm a glassware & pottery lover selling plushes sounded a little "out of this world" (out of my world, anyway).

Orangutan B ~ eBay

Then I received a newsletter (ezine) from Lynn Dralle who is an online mentor to me. Her last ezine was on the subject of selling vintage plush toys online. Here I was again confronted with this "plush" thing. Always wanting to expand my merchandise I thought, "why not"? The next time I see an interesting plush I'll buy it. Sooo, what do you know but the next weekend yard saleing I found 3 vintage 1988 plush orangutans at a lady's sale and reluctantly scooped them up. I better not say what I paid until I sell the other two. :)

Orangutan on Etsy

I took them home, photographed them and listed them on three eBay auctions. After the 7 days, none of them sold. See, I thought. These things don't sell. So, I left one on eBay; listed one on Etsy (why not spread the wealth ~ LOL); and put one in my local flea market booth.

Orangutan in my flea market booth at Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market

When I received the email saying that one had sold, I just had to pass that along to you followers so you can try the same thing. Let me know if you already have had success selling plush toys. If you haven't, and you decide to give it a try; please let me know what happens. Everybody has to believe in something. I believe I'll buy another plush! :)

P.S. I just packed it, and it was so easy I could have done it blind-folded. I am used to packing and shipping glassware which is a "pain". I could learn to love packing and shipping plushes! ♥ It's a beautiful thing.

Picking Your Own Home ~ Dakota Glass Apothecary Drugstore Jar

2011-10-12T06:52:00.002-05:00

I've been so busy buying lately that I haven't had much time to sell and attend to all my junker duties. The thrill of the hunt, finding & buying are my favorite things about my job as well as the people I meet. Selling is secondary and something that I must do to continue my hunting, finding, buying & meeting.

I've gone to some great neighborhood-wide yard sales in the last few weeks. Love them! As I've said before when I have no or low expectations to find anything good that's when I usually score! And that's what happened at these neighborhood sales. I found an antique thread cabinet Saturday that's HTF ~ hard to find, and it's still setting in the back of my van.

STAR MERCERIZED thread cabinet

Some other purchases in the last few weeks are these Midcentury headvases in awesome condition:

Royal Sealy headvase

National Potteries Co. headvase ~ SOLD!

Napco headvase ~ SOLD!

Lefton headvase ~ SOLD!

Most of what I've bought is still boxed up, and I have people calling me to come see more things that they have for sale. So, I drop everything and go hunting! Yipeee!!! Yesterday I bought Fostoria crystal that I've never seen before.

But now, to get to the title of this blog post ~ Picking Your Own Home (you'd be surprised what you can find in your own home even if you're a junker like me). Yesterday I was listing some antique apothecary bottles in my etsy shop "ozarksfinds" that I bought at the neighborhood sale last Saturday.

Antique apothecary jar

While scouring ebay looking for similar bottles to mine I came upon a jar that recently sold on ebay for $100. I have had one exactly like it (only in better condition) on my kitchen counter for 2 years! And I couldn't believe my eyes when I read that it is Dakota glass from old drug stores. You can read more about it if you click on the link below the image.

Dakota Apothecary Drugstore Jar

Now I have to admit that I L.O.V.E. this jar. I'm fickle toward "stuff", though, so I'm divorcing it. ;) If it doesn't sell on ebay auction, it will go into my ebay store, "No Place Like Home Collectibles" and wait patiently for the right buyer.

Well, I need to go price things for my flea market booth. We call them flea markets here instead of antique stores. I learned from a mentor a long time ago that people don't want to go into an "antique" store because they think they won't be able to afford anything. However, they will go into a "flea market" because they think it will be more reasonably-priced for the common man (or woman). These days with the economy we all (re-sellers and consumers) need to shop for bargains!

P.S. A tip for FREE :) We have to "buy right" to "sell right", and I've been asking the sellers at the yard sales for a discount much more than I ever did before. I hardly ever tried to "talk them down" on their price in the past, and I do it on almost every item now. You never know till you try, and it doesn't hurt anything if you do it in a respectful way. You don't want to offend the seller or insult him. All he will do is say, "No" if he doesn't want to, but he might just say, "Yes".

Repaired Harley Davidson boot

P.S.S. Update! If you read my blog about buying and selling Harley Davidson items, I just sold the H.D. boots last week that I told you about. After repairing the sole on the damaged boot, I had $25. in the pair; and they sold for $55. I bought another pair like them last week for $10. and have them in my flea market booth for $55. as well. Hoping some "Hog" fan will cruise in and buy them soon.

Happy hunting all...

Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway ~ Winner Announced!

2011-10-02T05:32:00.000-05:00

I am so excited and happy to announce the winner of my Starbucks Gift Card giveaway! Drum roll please...the winner is sweet Jen of Garage Sale Diaries blog! You might know her on Twitter as @garagesalediary or on Facebook as Garage Sale Diaries. Stop on over and check her out. You may wish to follow her on Pinterest as well.

GARAGE SALE DIARIES DOT COM

Jen says she is addicted to garage sales. I hear ya', Jen. I used to pass out business cards that said, "Garage-sale-aholic" on them! (Well, okay, I still do) Blush... I admit it ~ now I feel better. Glad to know I'm not the only one addicted.

Thanks to all who entered. Enjoy your Starbucks treats, Jen! :)

MY WELL-WORN STARBUCKS CARDS

How Selling "Trash" Can Help You Move To A Caribbean Island!

2011-09-26T05:17:00.005-05:00

I'm excited to welcome and introduce Cat from her blog ~ Budget Blonde! You will find her link below. If that link doesn't work for some strange "blogger" reason, click on the blog button in the right column where you see her pink typewriter. (If at first you don't succeed, click, click again!) Cat has graciously accepted the invitation to write a guest blog for me today. She will relate how selling "trash" helped her to move to the Caribbean. She says medical school and the flight were "crazy" expensive. Today E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. is "crazy" expensive! We all need extra cash in our pockets. Can I hear an amen?! I hope you all enjoy Cat's post today and follow her on Twitter and Facebook. She's a special little lady, and you'll especially like her "Whatever Wednesday" and "Budget Buddy Fridays" posts!

Hi everyone! I'm Cat from the blog

and I'm very excited to be guest posting today for Wilma! I absolutely loved having her over to my blog a few weeks ago (which you can read here). Her Ebay success story was a hit!

Today, I wanted to write a little bit about how selling "trash" helped me move to a Caribbean island!

When my husband got accepted to a Caribbean medical school, we were so excited. We jumped up and down like maniacs. Then the reality set in. Medical school is crazy expensive. Flying to the Caribbean is crazy expensive. And, what are we going to do with our 3 bedroom townhouse full of all our junk?

Sell it all, of course!

We utilized Craigslist and had a big garage sale. We made over $3,000 selling things that we didn't want anymore. We sold two beds, all of our living room furniture, our dining table, etc. The only things we kept were two mid-century treasures, a few wedding gifts, and four chairs.

The amazing thing was that I sold many of our possessions for more than I paid for them. I bought so many antiques at thrift stores, and I sold them for $20-$40 more than what I got them for. It really paid off to be a smart shopper!

I really want to encourage all of you to scour your local thrift stores. It's incredible what you can re-sell items for. It's also a great way to make money in a recession when jobs are hard to come by. I really encourage you to be inventive, take great photos of your products when you go to sell them, and have fun!

We're so grateful that we de-cluttered and exchanged our 3 bedroom townhome in Richmond for a 300 sq foot apartment here:

There's no reason why you can't do the same!

For more info on having a successful garage sale, click here. And, for tips on selling on Craigslist, click here. I'd also love it if you followed my blog, my twitter, and my facebook!

Thanks again for having me Wilma and happy hunting to everyone else!

ღ(̆̃̃ڿڰۣ✿

A big, "Thank you, Cat!"

I don't know about all of you but that makes me want to move again and head straight for the Caribbean!  We have moved a LOT, and when we do; we always sell all of our furniture and appliances so my husband won't have to move them. One house we sold with all the furniture and decorations in it so we didn't even have to do a yard sale. The buyers just turned the cash for contents over to us at the closing.

It's really fun to get to your new home and buy all new things (at thrift stores, yard sales, flea markets, of course)! Although, if I moved to the Caribbean, I think I'd go the minimalist route. Less house cleaning and more soaking up the sun & surf! Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you all good luck with your treasure seeking and super selling this week. Please don't forget to follow Cat!

FREE STARBUCKS GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY / CONTEST

2011-09-19T04:39:00.002-05:00

CONTEST RULES FOR FREE STARBUCKS GIFT CARD GIVEAWAY

Only 2 more weeks to enter for my Giveaway. Don't miss out! Some have already entered via another post on September 5, 2011, but some haven't done all of the following so they won't qualify ~ don't let that be you.

The $10. Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway rules. Don't worry, it won't take much time; and it will be so worth it when you're relaxing and enjoying your favorite Starbucks treats! (I've provided links for you to make it even easier.) It shouldn't take you more than a minute or two..

1. Leave a comment on this post. Please include:

A. What do you most like to read about on vintage-related blogs.

B. What do you collect? And of course, any other comment you wish to leave.

Each comment will be entered into a drawing, and ONE winner will be selected randomly from those entries. The comments must be left on this (or the prior post of Sept.5, 2011) post by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30, 2011. The winner will receive ONE $10. Starbucks loaded gift card.

2. Start following my blog by entering your info. in column to the right where it says, "Follow by Email". ►► I will need your email address to contact you if you're the lucky winner. My email address is wilmaone@suddenlink.net. Make sure to add MY email address to YOUR email contacts in case you have a spam filter so you'll be able to receive my email notification in case you win.

3. Start following me on Twitter @ozarksfinds http://dld.bz/apatZ

4. Like my Facebook page ~ No Place Like Home Collectibles http://dld.bz/VNNy

Now for "The Fine Print" ~ Rules & Restrictions
The contest started Sept. 5, 2011, and ends Sept. 30, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Steps #1 thru #4 above must be completed to be considered in the drawing.
Contest open to entrants with Continental U.S. mail postal addresses only (snail mail).
The winner will be contacted via email, so please be sure you leave a valid email address.
The winner will be notified Oct. 1, 2011. If the winner does not respond with his or her postal mailing address within 72 hrs. of the notification email being sent, he or she forfeits the prize, and an alternative winner will be selected (same guidelines apply).
Winner's prize will be shipped after postal mailing address is provided. After the prize is claimed, the winner's name will be announced on this blog.

Guest Post for Budget Blonde ~ Budget Buddy Friday ~ My Best Yard Sale Find!

2011-09-09T04:28:00.000-05:00

Hi, and happy TGIF. In my case that's The Garage Is Full! For you it might be Thank Goodness It's Friday! For my friend, Cat, at Budget Blonde (dot) com Friday is "Budget Buddy Friday". Cat encourages you to spend less and live more. I agree wholeheartedly! I wrote a guest blog for her today so please hop on over and check it out! I learned 17 years ago that I didn't have to spend a lot of money to have most of the things I want. I started yard saleing (okay that's not a word according to Merriam-Webster, but it's in my vocabulary anyway ~ sorry, M.W. (you're so stuffy)! :) I completely paid for my bright red Jeep Grand Cherokee back then with money I made from yard sales. Not bad, huh? Well, hurry on over to Cat's and read about my best yard sale purchase ever. Happy yard saleing, y'all!

A souvenir from the World's Longest yard sale ~ Wow, did I have fun there!

Learn From My Mistakes ~ Harley Davidson New Old Stock Boots

2011-09-05T08:28:00.002-05:00

CONTEST RULES
The first order of business on this Labor Day weekend is to give you the $10. Starbucks Gift Card Giveaway rules that I've been promising. Don't worry, it won't take much time; and it will be so worth it when you're relaxing and enjoying your favorite Starbucks treats! (I've provided links for you to make it even easier.) It shouldn't take you more than a minute or two..

1. Leave a comment on this post. Please include:
A. What do you most like to read about on vintage-related blogs. B. What do you collect? And of course, any other comment you wish to leave.
Each comment will be entered into a drawing, and ONE winner will be selected randomly from those entries. The comments must be left on this post by 11:59 p.m. Sept. 30, 2011. The winner will receive ONE $10. Starbucks loaded gift card.

2. Start following my blog by entering your info. in column to the right where it says, "Follow by Email". ►► I will need your email address to contact you if you're the lucky winner. My email address is wilmaone@suddenlink.net. Make sure to add MY email address to YOUR email contacts in case you have a spam filter so you'll be able to receive my email notification in case you win.

3. Start following me on Twitter @ozarksfinds http://dld.bz/apatZ

4. Like my Facebook page ~ No Place Like Home Collectibles http://dld.bz/VNNy

Now for "The Fine Print" ~ Rules & Restrictions
The contest starts today, Sept. 5, 2011, and ends Sept. 30, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Steps #1 thru #4 above must be completed to be considered in the drawing.
Contest open to entrants with Continental U.S. mail postal addresses only (snail mail).
The winner will be contacted via email, so please be sure you leave a valid email address.
The winner will be notified Oct. 1, 2011. If the winner does not respond with his or her postal mailing address within 72 hrs. of the notification email being sent, he or she forfeits the prize, and an alternative winner will be selected (same guidelines apply).
Winner's prize will be shipped after postal mailing address is provided. After the prize is claimed, the winner's name will be announced on this blog.

TODAY'S POST...
Learn from my mistakes ~ Harley Davidson New Old Stock Boots

I buy every Harley Davidson item I can afford at garage sales that I think I can re-sell at a profit. So far, I have sold every single H.D. item that I have bought. I do try to buy licensed products and items that can be worn by bikers or used as accessories on their bikes and decorative H.D. items, as well.

I think I blogged previously about making sure if you buy a H. D. part in a package to resell, that it is the part that belongs in that package and hasn't been replaced by a used part off the seller's bike.

Now enters a new problem to look for. I bought a pair of ladies H.D. boots recently at a yard sale. They were in the original box. The tag said $109. orig. price. The seller wanted $20., and I negotiated down to $15. I could see they were hardly worn in the box ~ no scuffs, etc.

Mistake: I didn't even take them out of the box to look them over. I paid my $15. and did a happy dance to the car. When I got home, I took them out of the box to find the entire sole had almost fallen off of one of them. Yikes! Why didn't I look at them at the sale?!

After calling a local H.D. retail store, and Wolverine ~ the maker of the boots, and checking ebay and calling a local boot repairer, I found out the following:

1. These boots are new old stock and not offered by H.D. any more ~discontinued.
2. They sell a ton of this model of boot brand new (old stock) on the internet for over $100.
3. With old stock (after sitting on the shelves) the glue that holds the soles on sometimes deteriorates.
4. The retailer and the maker won't stand behind these boots.
5. All these new old stock boots on the internet might possibly have the same problem.

So, I recommend:
A. Don't buy new old stock H. D. boots on the internet even if they are listed as new unless you check the H.D. website to see if they still sell these boots.
B. Always look over what you buy at yard sales before you buy it (buyer beware).

I will be paying the boot repairer $10. to reglue the sole. He did say that after he glues it, it will probably be better than it was new. Now I have $25. in the boots. I'll probably be able to sell them for $55. or so in my flea market booth.

I hope this gives you some things to look for at sales, and something to think about before bidding on "new old stock" internet items as well.

UPDATE: I JUST PICKED UP THE REPAIRED BOOT TODAY AND WANTED TO ADD THE IMAGE. I WAS A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED IN THAT HE SAID YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO TELL IT WAS REPAIRED, BUT I COULD SEE SIGNS OF GLUE ON THE SIDES. STILL A NICE BOOT...

Don't forget to sign up for the contest and good luck!

Keno Brothers Buried Treasure Fox

2011-08-29T07:51:00.003-05:00

Being a lover of antiques and collectibles I am so excited about the new Fox television show that aired last Wednesday called "Buried Treasure" at 8 p.m./7 CST. Stars (and brothers) Leigh and Leslie Keno travel the country in search of treasures buried in people's homes. Once the Kenos find items of value the homeowners then decide whether to sell their buried treasures to use the money for a good cause. Most of us regular folks can use some extra money these days!

Leigh Keno ~ Compliments of PBS.org Antiques Roadshow

Leslie Keno ~ Compliments of PBS.org Antiques Roadshow

I have watched the Keno brothers for years. I've watched every episode of "Antiques Roadshow" and every re-run. The Keno brothers are expert appraisers at the roadshows around the country and are so enthusiastic about antique American furniture that they can hardly contain themselves when they appraise a piece which is highly infectious.

Appraised by Leigh Keno compliments "Antiques Roadshow" PBS

Appraised by Leslie Keno compliments "Antiques Roadshow" PBS

They also starred in a PBS show called "Find", and I watched every episode of that, as well. The brothers went to various homes of the rich and perhaps not so famous giving appraisals to pleasantly surprised owners. Maybe unconsciously that is why I chose my user name for ebay and Etsy which is "ozarksfinds" several years ago.

ebay.com and Etsy.com

"Buried Treasure" is my favorite so far. Some reasons are: how down-to-earth the Kenos are with the people; their endearing sense of humor (show is unscripted); going to homes of people more like you and me; showing some antiques and collectibles that you and I might have or might actually be able to buy and sell ourselves. The biggest reason I like it is the "info-tainment" factor. I can learn information about antiques and collectibles (which I thrive on) and be entertained at the same time. I hold the same enthusiasm that they do only mine is for all vintage items, not necessarily antique furniture which I don't know enough about.

Compliments "Buried Treasure" Fox

If you're a vintage lover like me, don't miss their next episode this coming Wednesday. I've heard it rumored that it will be a double episode showing the first episode from last week in case your missed it and a new episode, as well.

Compliments "Buried Treasure" Fox

You can follow them on Twitter @KenoBros and on Facebook under Keno Brothers or Buried Treasure. I wish them well and send them some vintage love!

Second Episode ~ I Bought The Whole Thing! What Would You Have Done?

2011-08-20T16:05:00.005-05:00

One Saturday morning I noticed a yard sale that advertised Holly Hobbie collectibles. I forgot about that sale and after doing my garage sale rounds, I went home. I always go to the flea market where my booth is located at 9:00 a.m. when they open to add new items and straighten my booth. It wasn't quite 9:00 yet, and I remembered the sale with the Holly Hobbie items. I decided to leave home and go there before swinging by the flea market.

Vintage Holly Hobbie glasses

When I arrived at the sale, I found five boxes filled with Holly Hobbie collectibles. The seller had one box marked $50. for the whole box. The other four boxes weren't marked. I asked how much the items in the boxes were, and she said $1. to $2. each depending on what I wanted. I asked how much she would sell all 5 boxes for.

She said $50. a box, but said that earlier shoppers had bought some items out of the boxes so maybe she would take less. I asked if she would take $80. for all five boxes. She said no that she wanted at least $100. Finally, we agreed to $90. for all. I took out four $20 bills and a $10. bill and laid the cash on the table and spread it out so she could see it and count it.

Now the entire time I was dealing with her we were talking, and I was looking down from item to item. I thought she looked familiar, and that isn't out of the ordinary where I live. We have millions of tourists here every year, but the local community is very small; and I recognize people everywhere I go. I might not remember their name, but I'm pretty good at recognizing faces.

I asked her where she got all this Holly Hobbie stuff, and she said she was from the east coast and brought it from there. I told her that I have sold literally hundreds of Holly Hobbie items in the past, and that I used to sell to a girl who had actually known Holly Hobbie (the creator), and collected her items. I even bought from the sister of the President of the National Holly Hobbie Fan Club. (I could go on and on about that, but I'll save that for another post later on.)

I further told the lady at the yard sale that I used to have a booth at a local craft mall, and that I had had some Holly Hobbie items (including 4 plates) stolen from me there.

I had been looking down at the items while we were talking, and after I said that; I looked up. The lady had a real guilty look on her face, and she started crying! She said that she probably stole them! She related that she was now a believer and had been saved, but she had been in jail for a while. I then told her that my husband and I had been jail pastors at the county jail for several years. She said now she recognized me, and that she had seen me there and remembered me. Now I started crying, too!

I had been in jail with her and taught her God's word. I hugged her, and she hugged me. She pushed the money on the table toward me and said to take back however much money that I wanted because she probably stole items from me. I told her that I didn't want any money back. She said that she felt I was supposed to come there this day, and that the whole thing had made her day. I gave her my card and told her that if there was anything that I could ever do for her to call me.

It reminds me that "Grace" is getting what you don't deserve and "Mercy" is not getting what you do deserve. We've all sinned and come short of the glory of God, and we all need grace and mercy.

1. I'm going to start a monthly giveaway which will begin in September and end in December, 2011. That's right, monthly!

2. More details coming soon... You must have a mailing address in the United States mainland to enter.

3. Start following my blog by email if you want to win ~ you can sign up in the column to the right where it says, "Follow by Email" ►
(Don't worry, your email address won't be shared with anyone.)
If you don't follow by email, you won't be eligible. I will need your email address to notify you should you win.

4. The first prize will be a Starbucks gift card (who can live without Starbucks, right?) Even if you don't frequent Starbucks, I can guarantee you that someone on your gift list does, so you can always re-gift it; and Christmas will be here before you know it.

My well-worn Starbucks cards ~ I even have a gold one now!

Thank you for reading my blog.♥

I Bought The Whole Thing!

2011-08-15T07:24:00.005-05:00

First things, first ~
1. I'm going to start a monthly giveaway. (Yes, I said monthly)!

2. More details coming soon...

3. Start following my blog by email if you want to win ~ you can sign up in the column to the right where it says, "Follow by Email" ►
(Don't worry, your email address won't be shared with anyone.)

4. The first prize will be a Starbucks gift card (who can live without Starbucks, right?) Even if you don't frequent Starbucks, I can guarantee you that someone on your gift list does, so you can always re-gift it.

My well-worn Starbucks cards ~ I even have a gold one now!

The Whole Thing #1

I've had 2 instances in the last 2 weeks where I've "bought the whole thing". Both were unusual circumstances so I'll relate #1 now and save #2 for next time.

Someone named Michael called me last week and said he got my # from a lady who lives on the lake. I had left my business card with her at her estate / moving sale. We had flooding here in Branson/Hollister, Mo. recently, and over 100 people sadly lost their lakeside homes while others suffered water damage. Someone who had water damage asked Michael to remove things and said he could discard or keep what he hauled away. He said he had antique dolls so I met him in a downtown parking lot to see what he had.

BUYER BEWARE: I don't give people my home address to meet me. I usually meet at a parking lot directly across from the city police station.

BUYER BEWARE: I always ask where they got what they're selling so I'm not buying stolen goods, and in this case, I believed his story.

You will see in these images that they weren't antique dolls, but they do appear to be vintage. They don't look to me like they are water damaged at all. I haven't looked any further than what you can see in the images. Sometimes people just get fed up with a situation and want to get rid of a collection. In this case the water damage to other items in their home may have caused them to no longer want the dolls.

There are dolls, wigs, clothes, heads, arms, legs, eyeballs, eyelashes, doll stands, who knows what! I did pick out a couple of kewpie dolls, and they are in my flea market booth.

Kewpies in my flea market booth #10 at Cadwell's Flea Market,

114 E. Main St., Branson, Mo.

Anyway, I went ahead and bought "the whole thing" which was 7 boxes. It will be a while before I even go through the boxes and a very long while to sell everything, but it will give me something to do when I'm snowed in this winter.

If you buy vintage dolls or parts, you might want to:
A. Sign up to follow my blog by email ~ sign up to the right where it says, "Follow by Email" ►
B. Bookmark my ebay store: No Place Like Home Collectibles
C. Bookmark my Etsy shop: ozarksfinds

Thank you for reading my blog. A good week to all of you, and I hope you will be able to buy "a whole thing", too, this week!

Definition of a Hoarder ~ to lay up a hoard of

2011-08-07T17:09:00.004-05:00

Okay, what does "hoard" mean? "A supply or fund stored up and often hidden away" ~ Mirriam Webster. I never really thought in terms of someone being called a hoarder until the recent reality shows on T.V. I have run into hoarders in my past but didn't realize there were so many people like that, bless their hearts. You can read about one of my previous hoarder experiences here: "The Great Pyramid of Stuffed, Green Trash Bags" http://dld.bz/akjzC

I found old Star Trek books in here

Last week I went to a hoarder lady's home for the third (and final) time. Before the first time I received a phone call from some people who were caretakers trying to sell what was in the home. The prior owner has gone into an assisted care home, and they wanted to sell what was left in the home to help pay for her expenses which are currently $89. per day! She advised that the lady had been a hoarder, and that it was quite a mess, and the son wasn't interested in dealing with it. She further warned to be careful not to fall through the floor! I told her the mess didn't bother me at all, and that I've probably seen worse. If I could buy things from her, it would help them to get rid of unwanted items and get some cash for the lady to use toward her living expenses. This would help the lady; the caretakers of the house; the son and me, as well.

Keepin' it real ~ I didn't find anything in this tub

I found old Avon collectibles on these shelves

I found an old collectible Kit Kat klock in here (sold)

Kit Kat Klock

I went through the entire home and selected what I thought might be saleable. The lady had been an Avon representative, and she had some Avon Cape Cod pieces that I'd never run into before including dinner plates, a chop plate, and this server which is for sale in my Etsy stop.

Avon Cape Cod server found in living room cabinet

There was also a beautiful green glass platter made by Avon that I didn't even know they made which I have already sold. So, I bought many boxes of things and paid the caretakers what we all felt was fair and reasonable. They told me I could come back so that is just what I did. I was amazed, however, the next time that I went. The caretakers simply gave me a key to the house and said when I left to leave a check for whatever I thought was fair, and put the key with it in a predetermined place in a cabinet. It's always a good feeling to be trusted. What fun this was for me. It was a treasure hunt to be sure.

I didn't find as much the second time as the first, but I did find a Fenton glass basket (with tag & original stickers) that I hadn't noticed my first time there because it had very vintage, dusty, plastic flowers in it which were what I mostly noticed. This Fenton basket is for sale in my ebay store.

This vintage Fenton basket was in the kitchen on top of a shelf

I went again last week and took a friend who buys things that I don't buy thinking that she might find things to sell and help her and the lady at the same time. She bought several boxes of items, too.

I bought 5 pieces of clothing all of which I haven't sold yet.

What was amazing to me was how she "stored up or hid away" things like the definition states above. I looked through the kitchen cabinets, and there would be all sorts of linens; dish cloths; towels, etc. and then stuck in the back would be a piece of carnival glass! Things didn't make rhyme or reason and that made it much more like a true treasure hunt. I didn't know what I would find or where I would find it.

Here are a few more things I found there. Planters 1939 Worlds Fair Art Deco design bowls (3 sets). I only have one set left, and it is for sale in my ebay store. Old cookbooks that can be found in my Etsy shop; Anchor Hocking green tumblers also in my Etsy shop, etc.

Planters 1939 Worlds Fair Art Deco design bowls

Anchor Hocking Gay Nineties tumblers

There are still things in boxes that I haven't had time to take out to wash and list yet. Somewhere is that piece of carnival glass that I mentioned. It will be like Christmas when I do go through the boxes because I don't really remember what I bought.

I will leave you by saying that I tried to be very fair in paying for her items. This wasn't a garage sale where someone was just trying to sell junk they didn't want. It was, however, all the lady had left from a lifetime, and she needed the money to pay for her living expenses. I believe we should be fair when we buy things from people to re-sell because what goes around does come around.

A vintage hands vase from the living room area (on Etsy)

I had someone say they wouldn't want to go through someone's old stuff that was in such a mess as this was, but it was actually fun for me; and it was a service to the lady and her helpers. I do like it when I buy from nice homes where the items have been well-cared for and are cleaner than they would probably be at my home; but I don't mind using a little elbow grease to clean up items and bring them back to their glory either. Thank you for reading my blog. Please become a follower and suggest a topic that you would like to hear about.

BTW ~ By the way: I have another hoarder experience that I may share with you next time. It's a lady who kept a dead mouse in a plastic bag in her refrigerator!

"What Children Believe"

2011-07-30T07:57:00.006-05:00

I was driving around from yard sale to yard sale yesterday listening to the radio. This song came on which was new to me but apparently came out in 2000. I thought the lyrics were worth repeating here:

"What Children Believe"
Shenandoah
>From CD: Shenandoah 2000
Written by new lead singer Brent Lamb, Jerry Salley and James Isaac Elliot

LYRICS
1st verse:

Saturday Morning at a treehouse meeting in our backyard
Over Kool-Aid and crackers
You could hear through the laughter
just how smart they are
With Crayons they wrote down the things they believed
Oh the wisdom in first grade philosophy
Let us all become more like children.

CHORUS

Love Lasts forever
Mom and Daddies stay together
cheaters never win
and a promise is something you keep
Its bad to lie, it's ok to cry
Dreams never die
Faith is all you need
Ain't it crazy what children believe

2nd Verse

Sometimes I wish I didn't know now
what i didn't know then
when my world was so small
back before all of this trouble we're in
when right and wrong mattered
and truth was in style
and hope could be seen
through the eyes of a child

CHORUS

A world without hate
Where people still care
what a wonderful place this would be
if we lived there

CHORUS
It's Amazing what children believe

May we all become more like children.

Tips For Cleaning Antiques & Collectibles Purchased at Yard Sales

2011-07-25T18:18:00.003-05:00

I just shocked myself when I went into the kitchen and washed this Anheuser Busch beer mug. This morning it had crusty, dirty mineral build-up inside that must have come from someone using it as a vase. It looked really terrible. This morning I filled it with vinegar and let it sit on the kitchen counter all day. I was just doing my dishes from the evening meal so I decided to go ahead and wash it, too. I had no hopes for the build-up to come out & look! It's all gone. You'd never know it was there. Now it looks like mint condition ~ sweet!

I began to think that there are some of you that read my blog that are self-confessed newbies. Maybe you haven't run into some of the things that I have, and maybe you pass things up at sales that you could buy; clean up with little effort & re-sell. So, here we go...

I haven't actually tried this one, but I've also heard you can get lime or mineral build-up out of things by placing a denture cleaner tablet in it and pouring hot water inside (not too hot ~ you don't want to break your item). This activates the tablet and is supposed to clean the build-up out. Makes sense. I don't have denture cleaner tablets, and I haven't bought any to try. I'll put that on my list to look for at the next estate sale.

You can also use bleach in old bottles to clean away film. I have tried that and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It works best on bottles that you can get a long, slender brush inside to brush the interior along with the bleach. Some bottle shapes can be kind of tricky! When cleaning old glassware and crystal, add a shot of ammonia to your soapy water; and it will make them shine!

Today I worked on listing some antique dinnerware. Sometimes on the bottom of dinnerware or figurines, etc. there will be a darkened ring from sitting on surfaces for so many years.

The bottom ring was darkened on the above piece and acceptable as it wasn't chipped, but it would look much nicer for sale if it was clean. I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser, and it came right off. I use magic erasers on all sorts of things, and it does for a fact work like magic! See how clean the chop plate above turned out? Just don't use it on black appliances. I found out from experience that is a no, no.

If you buy things at a yard sale that have stickers on them ~ sometimes the stickers have been there for years because the people didn't sell them in their last yard sale ~ WD-40 works great. Don't use it on anything made out of paper! But if the item is ceramic, tin, etc. it will take the sticker off. If it's old masking tape that has been there forever and even hardened, you can spray WD-40 on, let it sit for a while and then rub your finger in a circular motion until it loosens and disappears. It might take a little effort on this one, but it works. You can also use something from Wal-mart to remove stickers, but I prefer to keep WD-40 around as I use it on squeaky doors, etc., too. I've also used WD-40 and lighter fluid to clean sticky substances off of old tins. They make the tin's surface shine, too.

Last but not least, I have cleaned depression glass with oven cleaner. I had a piece one time that someone told me they would buy from me, but it had a dirty look to it that wouldn't wash off with soap and water. I took it home and sprayed it with oven cleaner, and viola! It was clean as could be. The next day they bought it and couldn't believe I had been able to clean it. I use oven cleaner on enamel ware and corning ware also. It cleans nasty black stuff off the bottom of enamel coffee pots, pans, casseroles, etc.

Well, I hope that helps someone with something they need to clean or find at a sale. What others may pass up, (thank you others) you might be able to turn into cash. I stand ready to help any of you if you have any questions about anything related to antiques and collectibles or yard sales, flea market booths, selling on ebay, Etsy or craigslist. If I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to find out for you.

Saturday Sale Scores

2011-07-20T15:44:00.002-05:00

These "Ozarks finds" are what I would have missed if I had decided to stay in bed Saturday morning. I'm a firm believer that if you snooze you lose!

Vintage Fenton 50th Anniversary Swan

Vintage Fenton Custard Glass Compote

Vintage Fenton Happiness Bird

Vintage Miracle Maize Cornstick Pan

These were all bought at an estate sale. I bought some other great things that either are in my flea market booth or I haven't listed yet (or I'm keeping for myself). The above can all be found in my Etsy shop ~ ozarksfinds. Thanks for stopping by to see what I found. I hope you found some great stuff, too! :)

If You Haven't Found Fab Quirks By Annie, You Can Find Her Here!

2011-07-18T06:43:00.001-05:00

Yes, there is a reason to abandon my hiatus. That reason is "Annie". Who is Annie you might ask? Annie is a wonderful vintage lover / repurposer (up-purposer) that I would hate for you to miss. Last week I was doing a little research on an item that I have for sale. I was looking on ebay and Etsy to see if anyone else had the same item for sale. What I found was a pleasant surprise. Yes, there was the same item for sale on ebay and Etsy by several sellers. My pleasant surprise was a particular shop on Etsy by the name of Quirks By Annie.

Why does her shop stand out from other Etsy shops or ebay sellers? I encourage you to find the shop; read about Annie; explore the beautiful items and answer that question for yourself. Annie also writes a blog called Fab Quirks By Annie, and you can find the button for her blog "Fab Quirks By Annie" in my column to the right. Simply click on that button, and it will take you directly to her blog. She is launching a new endeavor of creating custom-order antique / vintage windows just for you.

I hope you will do yourself a favor and take a few minutes out of your day to visit Annie's Etsy shop and blog and show her some love. Thanks for reading my blog, and I wish you a blessed week...

the blue eyed owl Giveaway! Junker Newbie & more Portmeirion

2011-07-12T14:07:00.003-05:00

Well, I know I said that I would be on haitus until fall, but a woman can change her mind, can't she? I just saw on Twitter that the blue eyed owl @blueeyedowl is sponsoring a giveaway to celebrate over 100 followers on her blog. I just checked and counting me, @ozarksfinds, she now has 134 followers and climbing! Good for you, blue eyed owl! If you wish to follow her and get details of her giveaway, you can read all about it at blueeyedowl.com. You can also check out her Etsy shop "blueeyedowl"!

Another blog to consider for vintage enthusiasts is Junker Newbie. Stephanie loves junk, vintage, repurposing as I do. She is fairly new on the scene to junking and new to an antique mall booth as of April 2011, as well. You'll find fun things on her blog ie., Would You Buy It Wednesday, guest posts, interviews, etc. I see her followers are up to 243 as of this post. Stop in and check her out by clicking on her button to the right.

While I'm visiting with you I might mention that I finally have gotten all the Portmeirion Botanic Garden china listed that I bought on June 2. It took me until today to accomplish that ~ 21 boxes of Portmeirion. This china sells incredibly well. If you ever see any at a garage sale or thrift store, pick it up ~ you'll be glad you did!

Back to my hiatus ~ actually back to listing on ebay and Etsy. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget the blue eyed owl...

Portmeirion Botanic Garden & A Summer Hiatus

2011-06-28T06:30:00.003-05:00

As it is every summer I get so busy that I don't know if I'm coming or going. It is that way once again, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed right now. I have decided to take a hiatus from my blog so I can give more attention to my selling on ebay, Etsy, my flea market booth and to spend more time with the special people in my life. Look for me to return in the fall when my buying and selling slows down every year. I wish you all a great summer!

Some of the Portmeirion that I found in the last few weeks which can be purchased in my ebay auctions, in my ebay store and in my Etsy shop.

Portmeirion Botanic Garden mugs

More Portmeirion Botanic Garden mugs (taller)

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Bowl

A different Portmeirion Botanic Garden Bowl

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Candle

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Candleholders

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Chili Bowl

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Chop Plate

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Rimmed Soup

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Rimmed Pasta Bowl

Portmeirion Botanic Garden Scented Oil Burner

I have boxes and boxes of this china to open yet. I also have boxes and boxes of other things that I've bought that need to be opened, cleaned and listed. God has blessed me with some wonderful finds recently (and for the past 17 yrs.). That's why I need to take a hiatus so I can attend to my work and get these treasures out there for my awesome customers.

See ya'll in fall! Until then, happy picking...

Flea Man: A New Reality Show on National Geographic Channel

2011-06-20T11:53:00.006-05:00

Image compliments of Jimmy Kaplow

I don't know about you, but I'm so excited that there's a new reality show on TV about antiques and collectibles called "Flea Man"! I'm not a sports fan, and I get so tired of all the sports programs that are on. Why can't they have an antiques/collectibles channel like the Food Channel, etc.? There are so many of us (the numbers are increasing daily) who love to watch shows about antiques, collectibles, junk, thrift stores, flea markets, buying, selling, picking, pawning, yard sales, estate sales, storage unit sales, etc. that there should be one channel that shows nothing but that, and I'm sure it would do very well.

Image compliments of Jimmy Kaplow

Until that is available we have to comb the channels for various episodes to watch. I wouldn't have known about this new show yet except for the fact that Jimmy Kaplow, the star of the new show started following me on Twitter. Once I saw what he was all about I was so excited to watch two new episodes of Flea Man at 8 p.m. EST Friday, June 17, on National Geographic Channel. Thanks Nat Geo! You can follow Jimmy @JimmyKaplow on Twitter and at Flea Man on Facebook. You can find out more about the show at nationalgeographic.com, as well. There are also great facts and info. on their website related to flea markets including 10 tips on how to find treasures. People like me are always looking for new sources to buy treasures!

Image compliments of Jimmy Kaplow

The show is about Jimmy who goes to different locations across America helping people to decide whether they have trash or treasure, how much he thinks they might get for it and then helping them sell it at a local flea market (swap meet) for a profit. The people who have inspiring personal stories then use the profit for positive things such as college tuition, medical care, etc. Not only does he help them realize the values of their "stuff", but he guides them on how to negotiate which always goes along with the territory at a flea market. Jimmy has a good sense of humor so the show is interesting, informative and entertaining at the same time ~ I believe they call that infotainment.

Image compliments of Jimmy Kaplow

I wish Jimmy lots of success with his new show and thank him for another reality show which actually is an "escape from reality" for me.

Thank you for reading and following my blog. Thanks for the comments, as well. I fixed that pesky little typo! ;)

Let's Learn About kate spade Handbags

2011-06-19T09:30:00.001-05:00

I went out on my usual yard sale adventure this week and bought some great things! At one of the sales I bought 21 boxes of fabulous china. After I loaded it all into my van, the lady having the sale asked, "Did you see these purses?" I reluctantly answered, "No." I don't normally pay much attention to clothing, purses, shoes, etc. As I told someone on Facebook, "I'm not a fashionista. I'm more of a jeans and t-shirtista! Ha"

She said they were kate spade, and that she bought them 10 yrs. ago at Nieman Marcus in Fort Worth, Tx. She further told me they were around $300. each, and that she bought them back when she had money. LOL! (I hear ya'!) When I heard what she had paid, my interest was suddenly peaked (piqued) so I bought them from her. She knew I was going to sell them on ebay, and I told her if I made a ton of money I'd split it with her. She wholeheartedly agreed! Now I need to decide what the definition of "a ton" is. :)

I posted an inquiry on a friend's Facebook page, SAMMY DAVIS VINTAGE, asking if she knew anything about vintage kate spade handbags. The post received a comment from Lady Jane Vintage suggesting that I look into whether they were authentic or fake. Great suggestion! I don't want to get into any trouble. I had believed the prior owner, a local realtor, that she bought them at Nieman Marcus so in my heart I knew they were real.

Just to be sure before listing them on ebay I looked into it. There are sites you can find by Googleing. One of the sites I found was ihatecounterfeitbags.info According to info. found there my new purses are authentic (hallelujah!), and here's why according to the site:

1. Must have a kate spade NEW YORK fabric or leather label. The site describes all kinds of labels from different years. My two purses have one fabric and one leather label.

2. Label must be sewn on through the label and into the purse. If you can pull the label off; and it was simply glued on, it is fake.

3. Label like one of mine is leather and stitched in white thread is circa 2000 and is authentic.

4. It will have a country of origin label inside. Mine both say, "MADE IN ITALY". Thank goodness. She said she has only seen ONE fake made in Italy label in all her years of doing this.

There are many, many more things to look for. If you are thinking of buying a kate spade handbag ~perhaps mine :), I suggest that you look at this or other sites first. There's a wealth of info. out there for you.

Another suggestion is that you follow SAMMY DAVIS VINTAGE AND LADY JANE VINTAGE on Facebook. They are good people. Thanks for reading my blog, ozarksfinds.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

2011-06-11T07:22:00.003-05:00

If you're so busy you don't have time to read, this one's for you! These are a few of the things that I bought from one lady this week. These all can be found in my ebay or Etsy store (at least at the time of this writing) by clicking on the links to your right ►►

Antique EAPC (Early American Pressed Glass) perfume bottle

Antique kid gloves from France

Vintage brooch and matching earrings

Vintage Victorian inspired brass bracelet

Vintage Wm A Rogers Canada set

Antique brass kettle with green wood handle

Antique Depression era Art Deco beaded purse

Well that's it for now. I have tons more, but I haven't had time to unpack it yet. Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you a day full of awesome vintage finds.

Vintage Lovers Never Ending Hunt...

2011-06-11T07:01:00.002-05:00

Welcome to all my fellow vintage lovers! You know who you are. We're on the never ending hunt for vintage at garage sales, estate sales, thrift shops, flea markets, anywhere and everywhere a vintage gem might be waiting to be plucked up, dusted off and treasured. My treasures are probably different from your treasures, and there's plenty out there just waiting for all of us.

Primitive grain scoops

17 years ago I started buying at yard sales ~ keeping what I wanted for me ~ and selling the rest to antiques dealers. I progressed from that to sharing a flea market booth with a friend. After about one year, I ventured out to my own flea market booth, and as they say "the rest is history". I've sold in up to 3 booths at the same time, but I'm down to one at present. I sell anywhere I can ~ on ebay and Esty as "ozarksfinds", on craigslist, in my flea market booth at "Mrs. Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market in Branson, Mo., in a garage sale at my home once a month, in local auctions, wherever I can think of.

Mrs. Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market

I could write a book about my experiences and adventures, but I'll focus in on buying at flea markets today.
Flea markets are different in different areas. The prices are different ~ what they sell is different, etc. There might be a large amount of certain items in one area of the country and a scarce amount in other areas. Usually I only shop at flea markets when there aren't any yard sales going on in my area. I look for "new" dealers' booths who might have good items and don't realize their value ~ otherwise known as sleepers. These underpriced items sleep on a shelf waiting for someone who does know their value to discover them. The best time to find these new booths are at the first of the month when a prior dealer moved out and a new dealer moved in starting business at the first of the month.

My booth last winter

Another good tip is to shop the flea markets on their off-season. In my area the off-season is during the winter months. In your area it might be in the hot summer months. This is when you'll find 10-90% off sales in the booths or even going-out-of-business sales. Check with the clerk when you go into the store and ask if any dealers are having sales. (Remember when you check out to watch that they give you the discounted price.) I've gotten some great things this way to re-sell in my booth. What doesn't sell in one flea market will sell in another flea market because they have different clientel.

My booth last winter

I also walk around in the flea market that I sell in to see if I can find a sleeper. Dealers are bringing new merchandise in every single day. What is of value to one person might have little value to another and you can scoop up a bargain from another dealer who doesn't place much value on that item. Especially check "high end" booths. The dealer may place great value on expensive items, but he might think other collectibles are trivial and put a very low price on them.

My booth last winter

We live in a tourist area so we get customers from all over the U.S. Because of this we get shoppers with all different tastes and all different budgets. The trend here seems to be that the old true antiques aren't selling as well as the items from the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

My booth last winter

I also recommend when you buy to purchase the best that you can afford in the best condition. No chips, no cracks, etc. That way when you decide to sell your treasure (and one of these days you will), someone else will want it and pay good money for it.

Eames era bowl ~ hot right now ~ SOLD

Well, that's it for today. I have an appointment with someone to sell them some pottery that I bought 2 days ago. That's a quick sale! I will more than double my money and have cash to go buy more treasures this week. It doesn't get any better than that! Happy hunting! :) (UPDATE: POTTERY SOLD!)

Volunteering for the Joplin Missouri Tornado Victims

2011-05-30T13:14:00.003-05:00

FYI: My "Followers" ap strangely disappeared last weekend, so I have added a new one. Hoping you will follow me, and that it won't disappear in the future. :) Thank you for reading my blog.

I'm straying from my usual "vintage" posts today. Yesterday we drove to Joplin, Missouri, with a ministry named, "Jesus Was Homeless" to cook for, feed and encourage victims of the devestating tornado. I don't have the words to explain this situation so here are some images... Keep in mind these are just a few images ~ every house on every lot in every neighborhood for miles looks just like this. It's beyond comprehension.

We must be thankful for what we have and keep the victims in our prayers and not forget them. It will be a very long time before their lives are ever back to normal.

Antiques Roadshow, The World's Longest Yard Sale & Other Vacations

2011-05-17T08:03:00.007-05:00

My blog post today is dedicated to Tiny Matchbox Studio of Tulsa. Check her out!

I just found out this week that I was selected to receive tickets to Antiques Roadshow. I'm so excited!

I've been watching Antiques Roadshow ever since it was on the air in America. I watch it twice every week ~ blush! I watch it on Monday night and the same re-run again on Saturday afternoon in case I missed something on Monday. Ha! And I do miss things because sometimes I dose off on Monday night. Not because the show is boring but because the weekends wear me out from all the yard saleing. I sware that I was awake during the whole Monday night episode, but then on Saturday I see that there is quite a bit that I missed!

I watch the new ones, and I watch all the re-runs. I feel like I know the appraisers personally. When they announced many of the appraisers who have passed away, I truly felt sad as I had gotten to know them over the years from watching them on t.v..

My husband works 6 days a week so we can't go on vacation right now, but he's taking a day off so we can go to the roadshow, stay all night and come home the next day. This will be our vacation this year which is perfectly great with me.

These shutters are similar to ones we bought from someone's barn on the Corridor 127 Yard sales. We climbed up in their hayloft to rescue them!

The only thing I would rather do for vacation is go to the World's Longest Yard Sale or otherwise known as the Corridor 127 Sale. It runs from Gadsden, Al to Hudson, Mi. now ~ 675 miles. When we went to it in 2002, it was only 450 miles. It was one of the most fun things I've ever done.

My souvenir t-shirt

Hawaii

Rome

Paris

Jamaica

I've been to Hawaii and 8 or 9 countries in Europe, and we went to Jamaica on our honeymoon; but the World's Longest Yard Sale ranks right up there with all of those. If I could pick anywhere I'd like to go, I would go to the longest yard sale again. Since my husband works 6 days a week we can't go now but maybe when he retires we'll make the trip again. If you get a chance to go, I highly recommend it. It's like being in picker's heaven! Everything you would want to buy is there from low end to high end and everything in between. What a blast! Fun watching the people; seeing things that are available there that you might not see in your home area. Food to sample; great stuff to buy ~ I got "stressed out" from looking at so much stuff! We finally had to pack up and go home because we just couldn't look at another thing. When we got home, we wished we'd stayed and bought more. I had a little antiques store at the time and sold almost everything in the first week at home.

Here are some of my finds from last weekend's neighborhood and community-wide yard sales... Most can be found in my ebay and Etsy sales if you click on the images in the column to the right under "My ebay by ozarksfinds" and "My Etsy by ozarksfinds" -->

Antique A J Ley bottle (not listed yet)

I bought this & 57 other old sports mags

An old cartoon book listed on ebay

A Mad magazine from 1958 listed on Etsy

Fenton cased, crested, ruffled pre-logo bowl

Four sweet, little Goebel angels

Murano art glass bowl

Well, that's it for now. I haven't dug everything out yet. Until next time, I wish you happy picking!

How to Make the Best DIY Shabby Chic Plant Hanger from a Vintage Ceiling Light Shade!

2011-05-09T14:42:00.002-05:00

This is dedicated to those who like to take nothing and make something ~ those who like to re-purpose or up-purpose who love vintage!

I just listed this mid-century modern ceiling light shade on Etsy and wanted to share it with you.

This beautiful glass ceiling light shade can do double duty at your home. Imagine it hanging down by three chains from a hook on the ceiling. This is what I had in my shabby office/sun porch. I took three chains that I purchased from the hardware store and hung them through the three holes already in the light shade. I placed a hook that you can buy at any hardware store or box store, and screwed it into the ceiling. Then I planted grass seed in potting soil that I placed inside the shade and watered it only minimally. Since there are no drain holes you can't put much water in, but it does work. In no time at all grass was growing and it looked shabby fabulous! You could plant almost any thing in it that doesn't require a lot of water. You also can simply use artificial ivy; moss roses; shabby cottage roses, etc. It looks really beautiful and is a one-of-a-kind!

You will find this for purchase in my Etsy shop via the link at the right. Thanks for looking!

Mother's Day and Other Thoughts

2011-05-07T15:44:00.003-05:00

I'd like to start out by mentioning Carolyn from California, a new Etsy seller DBA Modern Vintage Market since March. You might like to check out her shop and show her some love.

What do you think of my new background and header? I decided to match it up with my images on Etsy, ebay & Twitter, as well. I'm sure it will probably change again sometime in the future.

If you care to follow me on Facebook, my store is under "No Place Like Home Collectibles" just like the name of my ebay store.

An image of my late mother ~ I love you, mom.

Since Sunday is Mother's Day I'd like to dedicate my blog post in honor of my late mother, Betty. She passed away 28 yrs. ago at a much too young age of 63, and I've missed her ever since. There have been times that I thought for a second, "I'm going to call mom and tell her..." and then I'd remember she was gone; and I couldn't call her any more. One of the things I inherited from her was my love for antiques. I hope all of you out there who still have your mothers call and wish her a Happy Mother's Day ~ and better yet spend some time with her if you are able. If you're a mother, I hope your children do the same for you. And if your mother is gone like mine, I wish you happy memories.

The Bible says in Deu.5:16, "Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." This is the only commandment with a promise. It logically follows in my thoughts that if we don't honour our father and mother, then our days won't be prolonged and won't go well.

Well, I hope you've all had a good week yard saleing now that yard sale season is in full swing. I don't know if it's just me, but it seems like people aren't selling the good stuff; and what they are selling seems to be over-priced. With the economy I would think prices would go down but that's not what I'm finding so far this spring.

Schmid Mother and Child Plate I bought last week (it's on ebay right now)

In the last 3 days I've put $90. gas in my car! I'm not sure if I can afford to keep doing this. I can't think of a better alternative, though. I know I'd be miserable if I got a real job and quit yardsaleing. No, No, please not that!

Here is a picture that I took this morning of the flood waters at the lake. I had to take it with my cell phone while I was driving so it isn't very clear. What you're seeing is a building in their park area where they hold a fair every summer. The water is about 1 ft. from the roof. One day last week it rained here so much that the water level went up 10 ft. in 24 hours!

I took this pic at a yard sale yesterday

I opened an Etsy shop in Feb. and have been enjoying the sellers and buyers there. They are really nice and supportive people. If you haven't experienced Etsy, you should give it a try. Sellers can sell items 20 years old and older in the vintage category. You can find almost any vintage item you would want there. I'm still adding to my inventory, and you can find my shop under the shop name of "ozarksfinds" just like my user I.D. on ebay.

Thanks for stopping by for a few minutes. I hope you all have a nice day on Mother's Day.

My daughter, Jaime, and me when she was little

My two sweet granddaughters, Tori and Ireland

I'm also the mother of Sugar, my girl cat, and

Shadow, my very boy cat (here he has found a resting place in my new photo cube) not what I had in mind

Happy buying and selling in the next week. Wilma ~ ozarksfinds

Sunshine On My Shoulders Makes Me Happy! Neighborhood Garage Sales...

2011-05-02T07:31:00.006-05:00

As promised from my last blog post I want to take you along with me to the two neighborhood sales that I went to last Friday and Saturday. It has been raining, flash flooding and tornado watches here for quite some time so when Friday and Saturday turned out to be sunny and in the 70's I was thrilled and thankful. I went to sales Friday and didn't buy a whole lot but I was able to go visit my daughter and granddaughter afterwards so it was a win situation for me. I always love seeing my girls!

My granddaughter,Ireland Grace, sitting in a police car at her church-run day care

One thing that did happen at the sales on Friday was this: When I walked up to one sale in the garage I picked up a piece of Fenton glassware at the same time that a man picked up the matching piece ~ a pink ruffled vase. I kept my vase, and he kept his. He finally asked me if I wanted to trade another piece that he had picked up for the Fenton vase. I said "no". Then I asked him if he wanted to trade me his Fenton vase for a mirror that I had picked up. He laughed, and said, "no". Then he and his wife and I both walked to our cars at the same time. I offered him my Fenton vase for twice what I had paid for it, and he said, "yes" so I sold my vase before I ever got to my car. He was happy, and so was I. :)

Two more things I found at the Friday sale were a child's miniature sad iron and a galvanized funnel

Saturday I found green depression glass stems; a green & milk slag Fenton Christmas tree; a Fenton milk glass hobnail basket; a Fenton milkglass hobnail bell

Also a handpainted Nippon bowl; an antique butter mold; a Schmid plate with the original $40. price tag; a spoon rack with souvenir spoons

This copper Revere kettle was free ~ score!

6 shabby shutters

A wonderful Radio Flyer

Three little outdoor metal plant stands

I actually bought more than this, but I haven't unpacked all of it yet (Fiesta, Pyrex, more shutters, pink flamingos, etc.). Oh, and I forgot to mention the neighbohood itself. I don't know where you live, but I live in a fairly depressed area. Our sales in my hometown and surrounding areas leave a bit to be desired. The thrift shops here also don't have very nice items. The neighorhood that I went to for the sales last Friday and Saturday have wonderful houses. It is about an hour drive from my house. Some of the houses are in a gated area, but they open the gate for this yearly sale. So you can just imagine the kinds of items that they sell. The cars parked in the driveways are Cadillacs and Mercedes and BMW's ~ oh, my! Here are a few of the houses! The second image is "one" house!

Here is just one of the cars.

Well, I hope you had fun tagging along with me and enjoyed the beautiful weather. Until next time have a blessed week and happy picking!

Two Neighborhood Yard Sales Coming Soon ! Woot! Woot!

2011-04-26T06:45:00.001-05:00

This blog post is dedicated to the people who have yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales, moving sales, thrift stores, any type of s-a-l-e-s!!! Thank you from all of us pickers. Without you what would we do? There are two wonderful neighborhood sales coming up in my area this Friday and Saturday, and I just can't wait. I'll share with you some of my finds next week.

I bought these last week at a garage sale and sold them for $29.99 Bella Casa by Ganz

I had written a blog post last Saturday about shipping costs on ebay. I got so upset writing it that it ruined the rest of my day. Then I thought if I posted it, that it would ruin your day, too; and that isn't what I want to do so I filed that one. I decided today that I would simply post some things that I have bought recently at sales. Buying is a much warmer and fuzzier subject so here we go...

Bird knife that I bought at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago sold for $51.50

Marked bear single bookend purchased at a garage sale about two weeks ago sold for $19.99

Pottery elephant planter marked from Germany purchased from estate sale a couple of weeks ago sold for $37.66

Angelina Inn restaurantware pitcher purchased from the same estate sale sold for $16.45

Display hand that I bought at the Lion's Club sale a few weeks ago sold for $13.83

Flower frog that I bought at a garage sale a couple of weeks ago (I "should" have bought all of them!) sold for $12.50

With this economy I have been trying to be too frugal. This garage sale had at least a half dozen flower frogs for .25 cents each, and I only bought one! What was I thinkin'? I wasn't thinkin'. I could blame it on the early morning hour and not enough coffee, but that would be a stretch. I sometimes am just too frugal.

My trusty flashlight

Here's a tip for you at no extra charge:) Two weeks ago I went to a moving sale where a poor lady had just lost her house due to the economy. I felt really bad for her. She had already moved and was getting rid of what was still in the house. Unfortunately for her, there was no electricity so it was dark in the house. I always keep a flashlight in my car. I bought one that can sit on the surface to free up your hands if you want to look at something. I added shoe laces so I can hang it around my

neck also to free up my hands. It also has a stap to hang it on your wrist if you want to . You can use it like a normal

flashlight or you can open it, and it shines light out over

a larger area like their table of treasures. There were two ladies who came while I was there, and they couldn't see a thing. I don't know why anyone wouldn't want to keep a flashlight in their car. You can use it if you have an emergency in your car or an unexpected "garage sale emergency!"

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my "finds". Wishing you lots of warm, fuzzy pickin' and grinnin' this week. :)

Should You Accept an Offer on Your Online Sale?

2011-04-17T13:49:00.005-05:00

So, what do you think? Should you accept an offer on your online sale or not? If so, what offers should you accept? I've sold on ebay for 12 years (and now Etsy, as well). Every once in a while I receive an offer from a buyer when it isn't a "make an offer" situation. When this happens, it's always a red flag to me.

Why are they offering to buy the item now instead of waiting till the end of the auction? I've heard some great excuses rivaling "the dog ate my homework"! "I'm old and waiting for my social security check" but they have a user I.D. that would suggest otherwise. "I need it for a birthday present, and I have to buy it t-o-d-a-y!" "I want to get it for father's day", but they forget that father's day is a month and a half away.

The first offer that I remember getting was from Norway, I think. They wanted to buy my pair of candlesticks for $150. to end the auction early. I declined as I usually do, and the auction ended up for less than the $150. offer so I actually lost money by not accepting their offer. This is the only case where I should have taken the offer so far. Hind sight is 20-20.

Other offers I remember are:

1. They offered me $200. for an antique bottle that ended up selling for $806.!!

P.F. Heering bottle

2. Offer for a celluloid album for under $100., and it sold for well over $100. (Sorry, I don't have the image on my computer now to post for you).

Just in the last week I received an offer on Etsy for 6 pink Arcoroc champagne flutes for $30. but for me to ship free. Since I had only listed them two days prior I declined. Within another day I sold them for my $30. asking price, and the buyer paid for shipping which amounted to $12. I waited for "the right buyer".

6 pink Arcoroc France flutes

Then in the last 2 days I was offered $70. for an antique straight razor and artwork of the same razor when I was asking $100. for the pair. I declined. Then within hours I received a $100. offer for the razor only, and I keep the artwork; but I ship the razor for free. Of course, I accepted that offer. I got what I wanted for the pair, and I still have the artwork that I can sell separately. Shipping only cost me $5.50. Once, again, I waited for "the right buyer". He is happy and so am I.

Wonderedge Dubl Duck straight razor and artist signed artwork

So, my point is don't just jump on an offer. I believe good things usually come to those who wait. This is not to say don't accept any offer ~ just think it over before you do. I like working with people to a satisfactory end for both of us. If the offer is on ebay, I will go into their feedback and see what the buyer's feedback is. If they have good feedback, I'm much more likely to accept. If they have negatives, I won't. I also look at the feedback that they leave for others. This tells a story, too. Give me a great buyer, and I'm happy to work with them.
Update: I just sold the artwork of the straight razor to another buyer for $25. so I ended up getting $25. more for the razor and artwork than I would have if I didn't accept the offer to sell each separately.

Fun Fact: There is a grumpy, old antiques dealer who lives in a nearby town. His wife has a well-paying job, so he doesn't really care if he sells anything from his antiques store or not. A customer came in and offered him less money for something than he was asking, and he simply told her, "save up your money and come back". Ouch! (kinda funny though if you know him) :) He's a real character. The negotiating tactic didn't work for her, and he didn't really care.

P.S. I DO CARE, so I try to treat all my customers with respect, and I recommend that you do, too.

Garage Sales Have Been Very, Very Good To Me

2011-04-11T08:52:00.003-05:00

Today I dedicate my blog to garage sale fanatics (like myself ~ozarksfinds) such as: moneynthegarage; vintagegoodness; RCmissouri; garagesalediary; TexasPickers all who can be followed on Twitter. I go to at least 750 yard sales, garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales ~ whetever they want to call it ~ every year. Not only is it my job, but it's my hobby. I go to work ~ I go to play ~ it's all the same. :)

I bought this table for $10. and sold it for $30. (I had marked it $45. and was talked down to $30.)

This week I had a garage sale, too. It's good for a garage-saler to have their own sale once in a while. It keeps you grounded. You experience all the work that the seller puts into it and deal with the early birds; the re-sellers; the rude and the courteous; those who try to talk you down on your price; those who are really nice people who become a new friend; meet your neighbors; see how tired you get getting ready for the sale and running it; see what time most people come. It's all good information to have.
BTW: Don't pass up "free" stuff at garage sales. You can "sell" it in your garage sale. Oops, did I say that? Blush. :)

Car part was free, and I sold it for $5. All I had to do was bring it home.

I bought this bench for $25. and sold it for $50.

You also rid yourself of unwanted household items and turn them into cash. You can sell merchandise of yours that isn't selling on ebay or on craigslist or in your flea market booth. I've also been buying items recently at other sales just to re-sell in my garage sale. Items that are too large to sell online or won't fit in my over-stocked flea market booth that I know are a bargain and will bring a good profit. I used to pass those items up knowing they were a bargain, but now I bring them home and list them on craigslist. When it's my garage sale day, I put them in my sale. Once they sell I remove them from craigslist. I've decided to have a garage sale once a month, and it has been very successful so far. A bit tiresome but that's why it called "work".

Found this pitcher and bowl set in a burn pile in a box ready to be smashed and burned!

Cleaned it up and sold it for $10. (probably could have gotten more)

I recommend that you try it. It's fun dealing with the people; turning your unwanted items into cash; and gaining some compassion for the sellers whose garage sales you attend. We can always use a little more kindness in the world.

Fun Fact: At each garage sale that I have someone tells me they have stuff they want to sell. I go buy great merchandise from them after my sale, and have the cash I just earned to buy it!

Dedicated to the Junker Newbie in All of Us

2011-04-03T13:38:00.002-05:00

It's absolutely gorgeous today in the Ozarks! I just checked the temp, and it's 80 degrees. When I started this blog in February, it was below zero and icey-cold. Today I'm sitting on my front porch with my cat, Sugar, listening to the birds chirp and the wind blow. The grass is turning green, once again, the flowers are blooming, trees are budding.

I'm excited to dedicate the blog post today to Stephanie, Junker Newbie. It makes me happy when a fellow junker will follow my blog. I encourage you to follow Stephanie's blog, too, at junkernewbie.blogspot.com.

A few "rest of the stories" for you and one "keeping it real" today.

I bought a Japanese Imari vase at an estate sale for about $1. I had no idea what it was worth. I auctioned it on ebay, and it ended at $112.50 which you can see in my closed ebay auctions until ebay removes it. When the buyer received it, he was very happy with it. I was very happy with it, too. :)

At the same sale I bought a brown flower pot that had an unusual shape. I've never seen one like it before. The bottom was marked, "Peoria Pottery". I'm originally from Illinois, and I've never seen a piece of pottery with this mark before.

I found out on the internet that it was made before 1904, and it sold on ebay for $78.77 to my surprise. You can see it in my closed auctions, as well. The lady who bought it says it is rare, and only a few examples like it are known to exist. She was thrilled to win it. I was thrilled, too. I paid about $1. for it thinking it "might" be worth about $5. I had bundled everything I bought (maybe over 50 pcs.) and offered $150. for all, and my offer was cheerfully accepted. I am cheerful, too. :) Although, at first, I was having "buyers remorse" thinking that I paid too much for all. I never know what an item is worth until it sells. It's only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Thanks to the Lord it has all worked out on this buy.

In my "keeping it real" secton I do want to say that I charged about $11. for shipping the Imari vase. The buyer was concerned with breakage so I took the vase to UPS and had them pack and ship it to free me from any responsibility should it break in transit. UPS charged me about $16. MORE to ship it than what I collected from the buyer, so I ate the expense. When he received the box, he said it was crushed; but the vase wasn't broken. I still made a good profit, and everyone is happy.

Tip of the Day: If you purchase something at a yard sale, and it has old masking tape residue on it; you can clean it with WD-40. I keep a can in my office to clean residue of all sorts off my items (not paper, of course), and it doesn't hurt them.

The Lion's Club All Star Indoor Garage Sale ~ No Fooling!

2011-04-01T13:11:00.001-05:00

The first order of business today is to dedicate my blog entry to Mitzi of Vintage Goodness. I recommend that you check her out on ebay; Etsy; Facebook and Twitter and her blog, as well. She's a class act. Thanks, Mitzi, for all your help!

Well, happy April Fool's Day. Did anyone fool you yet today? I went to the Lion's Club indoor garage sale this morning. I always go to the sales there and never leave empty-handed. Their craigslist ad read, "DON'T BE AN "APRIL FOOL". YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT"! They were right. Here are some of the neat things I picked up:

Great hand and foot ~ love them!

I always pick up body parts when I see them ~ display ones of course. They will sell EVERY time.

Musical washboard ~ isn't it great?

I live in the Ozarks, and there are quite of few people around here that play these in groups. One of the most famous is Washboard Leo who plays out at Silver Dollar City, our local amusement theme park. He's really great and really fun to watch.

Royal Haeger pottery ~ always a good seller

Awesome antique frame

This lovely old frame would not only be nice for a vintage print or photo but great to hang on the wall with another frame hanging inside it or propped up on a mantle or shelf. Sweet!

Horsman Little Debbie advertising premium doll

Well, that's all folks for right now. I did buy some other things, but I think I better get back to work on selling some of these goodies. Have a great weekend junking! Oh, and don't forget to stop by and visit Mitzi at Vintage Goodness.

Local Ozark Folkart Roadside Souvenir Pottery ~ Touristware

2011-03-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

Purchased at an estate sale this unusual folk art pottery
is often called Ozarks Tourist Pottery or Ozarks touristware souvenir pottery. It was made in the 1950's through the early 1970's of a mixture of clay and cement by local artists. When I moved to the Ozarks, I visited the School of the Ozarks museum (Ralph Foster Museum) in Hollister, Mo. At that time, years ago, there was a display of this heavy, drip or swirl glaze pottery in many colors of the rainbow. You can find a piece to go with any color of decor. I fell in love with it at first sight. I have found pieces at local yard sales, but the owners didn't want to sell it as they explained their family member used to make these pieces back in the day. These are no longer being made and are a wonderful memory from days gone by. Some pieces command high prices on ebay and in local antiques shops, as well.

Late March Garage & Estate Sale Finds & A Fun Fact

2011-03-27T13:49:00.001-05:00

Here are some of my recent finds that I am or will be offering on ebay or in my local flea market booth or my next garage sale.

Fun Fact: When we would take my little granddaughter to Silver Dollar City, a local theme amusement park, we would ask her if the ride she went on was fun. She would answer, "A little bit fun and a little bit scarey". Well the following "Fun Fact" is a little bit fun and a little bit scarey! A few years ago I went to a garage sale real early in the morning so it was still dark. When I got to where I thought the sale would be held, it was on a country road; and there were no street lights. I couldn't tell if I was at the right house or not. I decided to get out and knock on the front door to find out since there was a light on inside. Nothing was in the yard at all to suggest a yard sale was going to be held, but there weren't any other houses close either. This must be it. I got out and walked up to the front door; and just when I started to knock, I saw a paper stuck to the door so I started to read it as I started to knock. The paper said, "Early birds will be boiled in oil"! Yikes! Just then to my shock the front door opened before I had to time quietly sneak back to my car for safety. The man who answered was really nice, and he let me come in to shop before anyone else arrived. It was just him and his son inside. I have thought since that I was blessed that the Lord was with me (and that the man had a sense of humor) or who knows what could have happened to me?! These days I'm a little more careful ~ a little.

True-blue Garage Salers ~ Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night...

2011-03-26T10:04:00.003-05:00

Today's post is dedicated to all the true-blue garage salers like me who will go out even if it is snowing, hailing, raining, whatever! Sounds like the postal carrier motto:
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." - USPS inscription (wikipedia). I bet a garage saler thought of those words first! I've even gone to city-wide yard sales when there were tornado warnings, and I've had to pull under viaducts until the worst of it passed. After all, a city-wide sale here is only once a year here. Who can miss that? I guess I should also dedicate this to those who stay home in the bad weather because it gives us who do go a better chance at finding treasures! Thank you.

Early a.m. hail

Fun Fact: I was standing in line Thursday morning at a church rummage sale waiting for it to open when this memory emerged. I live in the Ozarks, and I sell on ebay. Several years ago I went to Springfield, Illinois, and I was living in Harrison, Arkansas at the time. I went to a church rummage sale with my sister and purchased a Czechoslovakian toucan bird vase. I took it back to Arkansas and listed it on ebay. When it sold, the buyer was in Springfield, Illinois so I mailed it right back to where it had just come from. I can't even imagine what the odds are of that happening!

I've been waiting for the weather to clear up so I can go put merchandise (junk) in my flea market booth, and it has done just that; so I will be going now. Have fun junking, my friends.

The Happy Junker

2011-03-23T06:56:00.001-05:00

I'm taking a few minutes out to have a cup of my favorite vanilla caramel truffle tea with you. I hope you're enjoying your day. I've been unpacking, cleaning, listing, selling, packing, shipping since our last visit. I love what I do. I admit I think I'm obsessed with it. I don't mind getting up every morning to start my day. As a matter of fact, I WANT to. I love my job! I feel sorry for the 85% of the population that hates their jobs. I read posts on Facebook that say, "Monday mornings suck!" These people need to follow their passions and enjoy their job and their life. Life's too short. I guess some people are never happy, and that's their choice. I choose to be happy, and I choose to be a junker!

Here are some of my finds in the last week. Spring has sprung and lots of great antiques and collectibles have sprung up along with the daffodils. Don't let anyone tell you that you just can't find antiques any more. Seek and you shall find.

Some of the vintage English milk bottles that I'm listing on ebay.

A nice Le Creuset pot with lid.

German patches and photographs from the war.

Woven baskets that I'm not sure yet whether they are authentic American Indian baskets or not.

There are lots of other things ~ which reminds me that I better get back to work now. Hi ho, Hi ho, whistle, whistle..

T.G.I.F. ~ The Garage Is Full!

2011-03-18T13:12:00.001-05:00

My post today is dedicated to Reana of NiFtic Vintage, Buffalo, NY.  She is a new Etsy friend and fellow garage-saler. Her Etsy shop "will touch your heart and bring back thoughts of days gone by".

T.G.I.F. Today is Friday and usually people think "Thank Goodness It's Friday", but today for me it means "The Garage Is Full", as well. I had a garage sale myself Wednesday, and the garage was emptied out fairly well. I met a sweet, funny new friend named Jeni who came to my sale. She told me that she lived next door to an 80 something-year-old lady who had passed away and all her belongings were still there from over 2 years ago. She didn't know what to do with them. I told her I'd love to see them and perhaps buy something so our friendship began.

I went there yesterday ~ a cute, little old school cottage by the lake. They are planning to turn the cottage into a bed and breakfast once it is cleaned out and given a fresh coat of paint and some TLC. It still has the pink bathroom tiles, pink bathtub, pink commode and pink sink. Retro chic! The elderly lady had a collection of cookbooks in the kitchen that they are going to leave there right where their previous owner had left them. The lady and her husbund were also painters and one wall will be adorned with their framed paintings. It will be such a cute little place once they get done with it. A fireplace in the living room and a wonderful front screened-in porch that looks out onto the lake. Fresh, cool breezes blowing through. There are boxes and trunks full of old photographs, and some will be framed and hung on the walls in memory of the original owners. I am going to go back out there, and Jeni and I are going to sit at the kitchen table and go through all the old photos and newspaper clippings. Then I'm going to buy unwanted vintage photos to use for price tags on my flea market items.

Following are a few things I bought from her, but my garage is full once again; and I see another garage sale in my very near future. I haven't had time to unpack anything (because I had to go to garage sales this morning, of course) so those packed items will be featured in future posts.

This pitcher and bowl was in the trash! It was in a box and under old chairs and wood that they threw out. You can see the dirt inside the bowl. I can't wait to clean it up and see what it looks like without the mud and grass.

The shabby chic hall tree is something that I bought at a garage sale yesterday morning. It's made from an old, chippy door. The bottom area is attached to the door and opens to store things. The crocks are from the estate.

I especially love the middle jug. It has a great shape and is in such good condition.

This pink 50's cake carrier and can opener were from the garage sale yesterday morning. Neat!

This is a Fenton Coin Dot shade that was in an old shed! It was just sitting there amongst stuff that you'd find in an old tool shed. Tools, wooden boxes, spider webs, broken glass and this shade! In the same shed I found an old jadeite towel rack stuck in a bushel basket, and it was miraculously unbroken.

Well, that's it for today. I need to do some serious unpacking and cleaning. Got to rest up for tomorrow morning's garage sales, too. I wish there were two of me. Please come back and reminisce with me again.

A Week In The Life

2011-03-12T12:07:00.005-06:00

Today's post is dedicated to Marilyn. Thanks for following. I would love for YOU to become a follower, too. I will dedicate a post to you, and you can leave post suggestions by clicking on the feedback button, lower right corner.

I drove around to the local thrift stores on Tuesday and only spent $1. Bummer. Wednesday I had an appointment in Springfield, Mo. to buy some vintage glassware. I drove to Springfield and went to some thrift stores first before my appointment. They have more and better donations than we do here in Branson. It didn't take long and I scored 8 pieces of vintage Fenton and one piece of Ozarks touristware pottery for a total of $3.50. in one store and 2 pieces of vintage South Pacific dinnerware in another. Yipeee!

Then I went to the lady's apartment to buy the glassware. It was vintage pink Arcoroc from France and still with original tags. It should sell well on ebay and in my flea market booth, and I will report on how it sells in the rest of the story on a later post.

Thursday I went to a yard sale and bought a Harley Davidson billfold wallet that's on ebay right now.

Friday I went to local yard sales and bought 6 Harley Davidson framed pictures and a long metal Harley Davidson sign. The pictures and metal sign are in my flea market booth today, and I'm hoping to sell some of them this weekend. I also bought a great vintage hand painted toleware oval tray made by Puritan.

I also bought a cross pendant and earrings from a local Branson celebrity's garage sale. It's great to be a yard saler in Branson where you can attend yard sales of famous people from time to time and score some interesting finds. This set is on ebay right now, too.

From this same sale I also bought a sterling silver pin made in Mexico and earrings for $3. total. When I left the sale I went straight to the pawn shop and pawned them for $15. So within 30 ninutes

I multiplied my investment times 5. Sometimes I do this with sterling silver in any form, gold jewelry and musical instruments so I don't have to list them on ebay or put them in my local flea market booth. The last time I took 55 pieces of sterling silver flatware to the pawn shop that I had paid $55. for and received $225. CASH for it. Score! I had only owned it for about 1 hour.

Last summer I bought a vintage accordian for $10. at a yard sale and within 30 minutes sold it to the pawn shop for $75. So don't forget the pawn shop sales. Buy it low ~ sell it high ~ do it fast.

Today I bought a quilt for $1. that I might have to repair slightly and also some old timey dresses to put in my flea market booth. People like these old school dresses for some reason.

I also bought a top and jacket for myself and a burgundy Fiesta bowl that will go with my Fiesta collection. All in all, not a bad week! Until next time thanks for stopping in and have fun out there...

The Great Pyramid of Stuffed, Green Trash Bags

2011-03-07T14:49:00.002-06:00

This post is dedicated to the memory of Nadine Cooper. Memories don't do us any good unless we dig them out, dust them off and enjoy them from time to time. I haven't thought about this one for many years. I lived in Arkansas for 10 to 15 years. This is where my major garage saleing, picking began not counting when I was a little girl.

I met Nadine when I drove down a country road and stopped at her yard sale. She lived in a mobile home and had a few tables set up in front of her home. There were a few interesting items, and I bought them from her for .10 cents a piece. This was what she charged for everything no matter what it was. She had an old pickup truck next to the mobile home that was filled with stuffed, green garbage bags teetering high in a pyramid-shape in the bed of the pickup.

I asked here what these were, and she explained that these garbage bags had been there and in various outbuildings for 15 to 20 years. Prior to that she had gone to garbage dumps and picked through the garbage for about 15 to 20 years. She brought home everything of interest to her. She was what we now call today a hoarder. She brought the stuff home but never got it out of the bags.

I asked if she wanted to sell any of it. She said she did and asked me to come back when she wasn't having her yard sale. So, I went back a couple of times. She had a building filled with these bags. She had a fortune tied up in just the price of the bags alone. We would go through them one at a time and pick through every item. It was a blast! I found old occupied Japan windup toys, depression glass, blue stoneware, and all kinds of odds and ends. Why some of it had gone to the dump I have no idea.

I would leave there with 60 items for $6.! But I had $60. worth of fun.  She had more inside her mobile home and more in the back. We went through every bit of it except we never got to the pickup truck. No telling what was in there or whatever happened to it. She passed away many years ago.

She had trees hanging on one of her tin roofs so one day my husband went with me and cut limbs for her to prevent any damage to the roof. After that, I felt like we were even up. Labor for junk and a good time. I even bought Fiesta plates out of her yard that I guess she fed animals with. I'll never forget Nadine.  She was an old Arkansas treasure.

Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market Branson Missouri

2011-03-07T07:05:00.002-06:00

Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market, 114 E. Main St. Branson, Mo.

This is where my flea market booth is located in old downtown Branson, Mo. at 114 E. Main Street across from the Hilton Convention Center and our beloved Starbucks. This flea market has been in business 25 to 30 years to my knowledge and is the best flea market in Branson (along with their sister flea market, Main Street Flea Market). How can I say that? I have had numerous booths in flea markets in Mo. and Ar., and this one is hands down the best from the way the owners run it to the merchandise to the friendly atmosphere. Their sister flea market is just as great!

Branson, Missouri is a family-friendly town that offers an unbelievable amount of things to do for the locals and tourists, as well, not to mention the beautiful Ozarks scenery.

I have had my booth #10 here for many years. I sell all types of antiques and collectibles and especially like pottery, glassware, primitives and dinnerware replacement pieces. I also sell vintage yard ornaments and shabby chic items. My inventory is ever-changing as I add to my inventory daily. I recommend if you find something you like you may want to buy it because it might be gone tomorrow. The best time to buy an antique is when you see it. If you don't find what you're looking for check back tomorrow because I may have added it since yesterday.

The people who work here and the customers have lots of fun. It's open 7 days a week which is nice for the vendors and the customers, as well. There are approx. 65 booths, and each one is filled with great items for all tastes and pocketbooks.

If you get an opportunity to come to Branson, stop in and say hello. You'll be glad you did. Ya'll come see us now, ya hear?!

Picker Secrets With A Cup Of Tea

2011-03-05T14:40:00.000-06:00

Today's post is dedicated to Jen @garagesalediary on Twitter, a kindred spirit.

I live near Branson, Mo. In the paper and on craigslist there was an ad for "Gigantic Garage Sale" in Springfield, Mo. That is over 50 minutes from here. It said "120 booths with unique and affordable garage sale treasures, antiques, collectibles, etc."

It's a yearly event, and I heard you have to stand in line for an hour to get in if you want the good stuff. With the price of gas and 32 degrees weather I decided to pass on this one. There was sure to be hundreds of people there, and I just didn't feel like dealing with that today.

So, what to do? It seemed like a good day to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea which is exactly what I did. I'm not a fiction reader and believe reading fiction is a waste of time and brain cells. The good book that I chose is one that I bought in 1998. It's so good that I've read it once a year ever since. The name of it is "Antique Secrets" How the Pickers Find Treasure...in Another Man's Trash by Joe Willard. Don't get me wrong - I'm not selling this book and don't get any commission for recommending it. It's just a great book!

If you buy, sell, trade or collect it's a fun, easy read. If you think you already know it all, then you probably won't get anything out of it. I get more out of it every time I read it. He talks about picking, finding, pricing, negotiating, etc.

I've used many of his tips over the last 12 years. I tried to look him up on the internet but didnt have any luck. I wanted to thank him for the book and find out if he's written any more. Well, I guess I'll get back to my tea and my book. I'm in the chapter right now about "how to do it better than the other guy."

I do want to tell you the rest of the story about the monk plate that I mentioned in one of my last posts. I purchased it for $1.50 and sold it for $49.99 and the buyer was very happy to receive it and felt it was a bargain. Joe who wrote the book would be proud of me!

Born To Be Yaaard Saaaleing! (To The Tune Of Born To Be Wild)

2011-03-04T14:36:00.002-06:00

I'm dedicating this post today to Kari. She's my newest follower, and I appreciate that!

There was an annual spring indoor garage sale at the local Lions Club this morning. The newspaper ad promised many vendors, cheap prices and lots of goodies. That's all I needed to know. I go to this sale every year and usually do find enough for resale to make it worth while. It started at 7 a.m. so I needed to wake up early. No problem for me. Since the time change (fall back) my body and mind hasn't adjusted so I wake up every day about 3 a.m. I can't wait for (spring forward) so I can sleep till 4 a.m.!

While I was still in bed the song "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf was running through my head.

"Get your motor running
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
In whatever comes our way"

I was singing "Born to be Yaaard Saaaleing" to the tune of Born to be Wild. Some day I need to rewrite the lyrics to fit my yard saleing obsession. I know I was born to do this and it's my adventure.

I couldn't wait to get up and get ready to go to the Lions club. When I got there we waited in line. Like a bottle of fine wine they don't want to open any sale "before it's time". Ugh! Once we got in there was plenty for all. I found 2 pieces of Fenton art glass (a vase and a basket); a Hull mug (House n' Garden mirror brown drip glaze); 3 Remington signs (not old); an antique telephone; a jadeite Alice cup and saucer set; a vintage horse finial for a hitching post; a Grandma Moses Jack and Jill decorative Limited First Edition plate; a vintage Country Doctor tobacco tin and an artist's 8" fully articulated mannequin. For some reason I end up with these mannequins or body parts so I placed him on my shelf with the others.

Not bad for an hours work (did I say work)? Even though this is my job it's also what I love to do so it's not like working at all. Everyone there was nice, and I got some really good bargains. The sellers were happy to negotiate because they didn't want to pack their stuff up and take it home again.

I came home and priced some of it for my flea market booth (#10 in Cadwell's Downtown Flea Market, 114 E. Main St., Branson, Mo.) and the rest I put on Etsy in my Etsy shop named ozarksfinds. I took the priced things and put them in my booth this morning, and there's a possibility some of it has already sold. I love to turn things over the same day that I buy them!

I love garage sales and yard sales, and I love my job! I'll tell you the rest of the story later when some of it sells. Have a good day and thanks for stopping in.

My Best Pick Ever!

2011-03-02T13:17:00.000-06:00

I thought I was going on a pick today, but the seller cancelled. I tried the thrift stores but that was depressing. I guess I'll have to reach back into the past for my best pick ever to share with you.

I went to an annual city wide yard sale a few years ago about 30 minutes from where I live. It seems like city wide sales get worse every year because what they have gets sold down year by year until the junk is all that is left. This year I didn't have high hopes to find anything great. Boy was I wrong!

I got there when it was still dark. I'm not familiar with the streets' names so I just go from yard sale sign to sign. This year there was a sign that said "estate sale". It was very early and when I drove up, the lady was just coming out to walk her dog. Her sale wasn't open yet. She said I could go ahead and look. Yaaaay!

I found wonderful things. This was the type of sale that makes you keep going to yard sales. I was there about 20 minutes before anyone else showed up. Love that! I bought old pottery, a 1930's radio, and lots of antiques. I literally loaded the back of my car. The other man who had come after me bought 2 antique wall phones after talking her down on the prices.

When I went to list the radio I couldn't find a value for it but I could find that it was old and possibly rare. I put it on ebay with a low opening bid and a reserve of $250. Bids went up to $900. the last time I looked. At the time I owed $1700. on my credit card. I prayed that I would make enough to pay off my credit card. When the auction ended, it sold for $1903.! I was shocked and thrilled. I paid off my credit card and thanked the Lord for his many blessings.

This is the radio. It is called a Colonial Model 700 New World Globe radio and came in black, brown and white. The white one was the most rare, and that was what I had. I had paid $20. for it! I can't wait for the yard sales to start up again, and I will definitely be going to THIS city wide yard sale again.

You're Invited...

2011-02-27T16:34:00.001-06:00

Hello. Thanks for stopping in. It's another beautiful day in the Ozarks. The first thing I'd like to say today is that I'm new to blogging since Feb. 10, 2011, when on a snowy day I thought why not write a blog? I'd like to invite you to follow me and give me your comments on what to do to improve my blog for YOU. I know that I am going to shorten each one and add more images. Every day closer to spring means I get busier and busier with picking so I won't have time to write as much. I'll still take time to add images of my new picks and tell you "the rest of the story" and "keepin it real" comments. Every pick doesn't turn out fabulous like some pickers lead you to believe so I want to keep it real for my readers.

However, this is a pick that did turn out fabulous.

Coronet Limoges France Monk Plaque Signed Le Pic 1906

I bought this plate or plaque at a living estate sale. It is a signed Limoges plate of the "Smiling Monk" series. Handpainted portrait display plate by the famous listed factory artist, Le Pic. Limoges, France, 1906 - 1918. I sold this on ebay today. I will tell you the rest of the story later on in another blog.

My goal is to write something of interest to YOU. What do you want to read about antiques and collectibles? Do you need answers to specific antiques / collectibles questions? Or are you like me and simply like to hear about other pickers' finds and history of the items? Let me know and please do come back.

ebay, Etsy, Flea Market Oh My!

2011-02-25T13:30:00.000-06:00

The last time I visited with you I had gone on a pick way out in the country. I put some of the picked items on ebay, some in my flea market booth and some is in my garage until I get a chance to do something with it. I'll report the next time I visit with you on "the rest of the story". I'll tell you what I paid for the items and what they sold for. I also want to comment on my "keepin' it real section.

This is one item that I bought from the man out in the country. He said that he knew a man a long time ago who would go to auctions and buy one box for one item. This man would then give the rest of what was in the box to the man that I bought these things from. This was one of those items. I didn't now what it was, but I felt that someone would be interested in it since it was from WW2. Long story short I finally found out that it is called a "ruptured duck", and was a grave marker of some sort and not to be sold. So the lesson here is be sure to research before you sell to keep yourself out of trouble.

Also I've been working on a new Esty store. My ebay store was 2 years old this month so I decided it was time to try Etsy as well. I'm so busy I have to run, but I'll keep you posted on my picks and "the rest of the story" which will include some items that are shown in my last blog. Pick on people!