Belated Happy Memorial Day! Vintage Italian Find!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Memorial Day! Mine was awesome and spent mostly relaxing...but I am not sure how it went by so quickly? Seriously.  I will be honest, I spent most of the weekend on my couch watching movies with the kids, browsing the net or watching YouTube. My husband has a big presentation this week and had to do some extra work at the office so when he was home he(and I didn't argue) wanted to be home and spend time with the kids. Notice I actually made two confessions: one my laziness and the second was watching YouTube videos. I have four genre's, if you will, of YouTube videos I watch or get into. The funny videos, usually animal ones where the cat or dog are doing cute things with the kids. The next three are rather embarrassing to admit but I have to do with my love of thrifting. I love thrift videos where people share what they have found, just like the blogs or Thrift shares...but on video. That one is not really embarrassing, but I promise the next two are. :)

Deep Breath! I love watching metal detecting videos! 

There I said it, Phew. A couple blogs back I compared thrifting to finding Treasure and I think that is why I love watching them. They are actually finding treasure such as jewelry, old coins, relics, bottles, old pottery and much more. 

The last one...I think it is for another post. Nothing bad, just a little dorky.  :)

You might have noticed that I did not post to Thrift Share Monday at Apron Thrift Girl's blog and it wasn't just because of my laziness but that did play a part. LOL I did go thrifting at Goodwill but I did not find or buy anything and I was unable to make it to any Estate or Garage sales. I was going to list some items on eBay on Sunday and didn't even remember to do that...so I may list some items on Thursday as well as add items to my booths on Bonanza. 

My kids are still in school which is later than most schools here in Arizona and probably the reason I was lazy this weekend. I think everyone is a little run down and ready for the school year to be over.  They have only this week and until Wednesday of next week left but next week maybe the busy week of the school year. End of year parties for the grades, a Brownie party, recognition/moving to the next grade ceremonies, a going away party for a classmate and getting my son and husband packed and ready for Boy Scout camp. So I planned and started today mapping out and going thrifting the rest of the week and weekend.

So Jenn, you did mention something about Italian pottery today. I made it one of the many Goodwill's in my area. I purchased some vintage Little Golden Books that I plan on listing in a lot(remember the Pokey Little Puppy?), a vintage Cathy collectible mug from 1983, a 1978 unused Enesco Precious Moments collectible Mug, and finally some vintage Italian white porcelian coaster that are a set of 8 in the original box but no lid from the 60's or 70's. Found the exact same coasters on eBay that sold for $ 44! Awesome! After finding and selling The Far Side Mug for $16 I have been scouting the coffee mug section every where to find similar items. I hope the Cathy(the comic strip) and Precious Moments mugs sell well. 

I did sell a Big Buddha purse on Bonanza yesterday so that was exciting and hope to get more listed on eBay and Bonanza. I think I will wait to post the pictures of all items for the next Thrift Share so please check back. If I find anything exciting and wonderful, I will make another post before Monday...I can't wait to post and share my items. Please feel free to make comments, ask questions or share as well. I would love to have some feedback and I want to thank all that checked out my first share the past Monday as well as the many Bonanza friends that are following my blog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Have a wonderful Thursday,

Jenn

Thrift Share Monday

Wow, did anyone see the eclipse yesterday? Here in Arizona we had a pretty good view and in Phoenix we were on the edge of the best viewing with 83% coverage of the sun. I was able to get a little thrifting in the last week and a half since my last post. I will share my finds here in a little bit which brings me to the title of my post.  There are a couple other blogs that feature a "Thrift Share Monday" where you can link back to your blog and post your finds as well as view and read about other bloggers great finds as well. I have learned so much from other bloggers by reading their posts not only on "Sharing Days" but just any post they write. I would have never known that vintage Polaroid Camera's(bought for $2.99 sold for $80) were so hot or that Starbuck's and Far Side Mugs(bought for $0.69 and sold for $16.50) go for big bucks online! Thank you again to my fellow bloggers out there and I hope I can share some knowledge too here along the way. Whether it is about what sells, what doesn't, how I decorate or use vintage items.

On my last post, I spoke about wanting to get a chest, armoire or bookcase and repurpose it to hold items, supplies and such. So every time I have gone out I have searched for some furniture piece that could use. I looked at Goodwill, garage sales and hit up a few Estate Sales....alas no furniture but find some lovely pieces that I will share below. Disappointed I even started looking online to see if I could find a new but deeply discounted piece that would work. Then it hit me! Repurpose! I have an armoire in my bedroom that houses some clothes but use to house a TV that we have since given away. I still had the shelves that we had taken out and stored long ago. I marched out to the garage got the shelves, cleaned them off and put them pack into the armoire and instantly had additional shelf room! Now, if only I could sell more items so I can pick more items and fill up the space. LOL

Today I hope I can link to the other blogs such as Apron Thrift Girl and participate in sharing to gain some additional exposure and maybe even make a sale. This past week and a half some of my best finds were at an estate sale:

Never Used Holly Hobbie Child's Gift Set from 1973

I purchased this Holly Hobbie Child's Place Setting at an Estate Sale still in it's original box from 1973. Oh, if I still had my Holly Hobbie Lunch Box and Thermos. I couldn't resist as it brought me back to my childhood. The plate reads "To Have a Friend...Be A Friend", how true!

Set of Four Vitrosax Metal & Glass Cappochino Cups from Italy

My next find was from the Goodwill and I still need to clean and take the sticker off are a Set of Four Vitrosax Cappacino metal and glass cups from Italy. The lines are gorgeous and classic I just couldn't pass them up.

My last find was a leather bound The Gourmet Cookbook from 1956. They just don't make cookbooks like this anymore. I have a more recent addition of The Gourmet cookbook and definitely isn't leather bound.

Look at those desserts! I hope to have these find either up on eBay or my booths on Bonanza soon. Feel free to email me in the mean time if you would like to see additional pics or have questions.

Have a great day and happy hunting,

Jenn

Took a couple of hours while the kids were in school today to shop a couple of Goodwills. Didn't buy anything...a big step for me! Was actually looking for chest or furniture piece to hold all my resale items such as tissue paper, thank you notes, boxes, tape and of course any items for sale that would fit. Didn't find anything that fit the bill for home use or resale. Want shop more garage/yard sales on Friday as I think there will be more items that fit the bill for home and resale. Saturday is hard for me to go out and shop early in the morning, my husband has a men's group that he has participated in for years that is not over with until 10 or so.  Saturday is the 50% off day at Goodwill so maybe garage/yard sale on Friday and Goodwill later on Saturday. What do you find works best for your thrifting and family life?


Have a great midweek Wednesday,
Jenn

I'M BACK!!!! Wow, I cannot believe it has been almost two years since I posted on this blog! Actually, yes I can.  As I may have said in a past blog, I am heavily involved at my children's school, and this year was no different. Even though I swore to myself, kids, family, friends and to the world that this soon to be past school year was the year I was cutting back and dedicating more time for the things I wanted to do. By the silence of this blog you can assume how that went. I suppose that is just how it is when you have school age kids with their activities, a house you have to keep up, and laundry. I hate laundry and if we ever become millionaires by winning the lotto or something, I will hire a full time person to clean and do all the laundry. I so admire other women who work full-time or go back to school and still do everything at home and kids school/activities. They must be superhuman and their traits are: super strength, never tire and can function on less then 7 hours of sleep, ability to multitask at least 10 different projects at once and much more.

So what have I been up to besides kids, school, home, brownie leader and such. Well, I still have both my booths on Bonanza but haven't added much in terms of items. Have sold some things but those are few and far between despite paying to have someone tweet for me(thanks MysticSales you did an awesome job) and participating in the forums. I realize that I need to list more there and really participate more such as making those picture groupings(forgot what they are called but like Pinterest) and advertising on forums. I love the friendly and helpful people on Bonanza but the marketing/time aspect seemed enormous compared to the amount of traffic I was receiving despite my best efforts. Hopefully, writing this blog and including pictures of items, maybe working on doing some Pinterest and linking with other blogs who share my love of thrifting and decorating with vintage items will help. I've also been selling on eBay again and doing OK. I do not have a store there so I have just been using the list 50 free auction items with Buy It Now option. It works, don't like the fees but I seem to have a little more interest and some more sales for now. I have been reading lots of blogs about others who thrift/yard sale/garage sale and sell somewhere as well as those who decorate using those items. Lots of nice tips, success stories to keep me motivated and inspiration. I CAN DO THIS, I JUST HAVE TO PUT THE TIME INTO IT! Why, because I love it?! I love the hunt and finding the treasure, I love the satisfaction of a sale and making a profit, I love decorating with the pieces and helping someone find that jewel that will make their house a home.  So here are some Jewels that I found that I either have for sale or have sold.

Vintage Oneida from 1932 Sold on eBay for $ 21.50

Vintage Avon Perfume Owl Sold on eBay for $ 3.24

Vintage Pewter Napkin Rings Sold on eBay for $ 11.50

Prada Wallet sold on Bonanza for $ 104

Polaroid 250 Land Camera currently up for bid on eBay

Awesome Vintage Crescent Man. Silverplate Footed Bowl up for bid on eBay

I have a couple of questions to my fellow bloggers and any readers I may have left, if I may. Any comments are appreciated and welcome.

- Do you have a store on eBay and do you think it is worth it?

- Where do you sell? List them all and if there is one you like best. :)

- What marketing do you do?

Thank you so much and I promise to be back soon,

Jenn