We were expecting a lot from the Carag Neighborhood Yard Sales, and we were not disappointed. Carag is close in to downtown Minneapolis and is much more diverse than the suburbs we've been shopping in lately.
True, we didn't come away with tons of stuff, but we sure got some interesting pictures . . .
Find of the Day
New suede jacket
price - $5
sold
This was Janie's find and purchase. The owner was moving to England. "Why not take it with you" Janie asked. "I'm afraid it'll get rained on."
(Note to self: Don't wear new suede jacket in the rain).
Thing We Wanted Least
Snowflake dolly
price - $2
no sale
It giggles.
Other things we did or did not buy:
Chewbacca boots
Price - forgot to ask
no sale
As a rule we don't buy shoes at yard sales. This was at the beginning of our 22-block walk through the neighborhood, and when we returned the first thing the sale hosts said was that the boots had been snapped up.
Carmen Miranda Banana salt and pepper shakers
price - $1
no sale
I'm kicking myself. They were hideous - yes - but when I got home and looked at the picture I thought they just to cheesy for words.
One less thing around the house, I guess.
Vase
price - $3
no sale
We don't use vases, and I don't have a market or storage for it at this time. As resaleable things go, vases are cheap.
I thought it was really well done though. Something like this does not come from a machine; rather it was made by a glass blower.
Burt Reynolds blow up doll
price - forgot to ask
no sale
Relax, it is as anatomically incorrect as a Precious Moments figurine.
New telescope
price - $30
no sale
I thought it was a great price, albeit on something I'm not interested in having any more.
Grinding wheel
price - $10
no sale
I would want to take it back to my workshop in Colorado, but we haven't bitten the bullet and bought a truck yet. We still just have a car, and this would take up too much room.
Bowzer bracelet
price - $1
no sale
It wasn't my size. (I don't see these in the suburban sales).
CB radio
price - $10 (marked down to $5)
no sale
I've never owned one my self, though in high school many of my friends did.
Trivia bit about me: CW McCall (Bill Fries) was once mayor of my home town.
Table saw
price - $15
no sale
I've already bought one of those fold up tables where you clip your circular saw up underneath to make it into a table saw. And I don't know how I'll get it to Colorado.
Free piano
no sale
I just thought it was cool to find a piano "in the free box".
Homer slippers
price - $1
See above rule against buying shoes at yard sales (especially fuzzy slippers). I would have liked to photograph them with a foot in his mouth, but it would have been rude to do that and not buy them. I could have brought them home though, but the no shoes rule stands.
Stuffed fish
price - 50 cents
no sale
Stuffed animals have a way of taking over.
1890s jar, dug "out West somewhere"
price - $2
sold
I've know bottles, and I've never seen this design. It's a keeper. It's not going in my business inventory, but if I ever do sell it I'll report it as revenue on my taxes. Any personal property I sell I'll report as income. I think it's all part of the deal for someone who writes off his yard saling mileage.
Copper frog candle stick
price - 50 cents
sold
We already have the one where three of them are dancing in a circle. These are expensive, and a lot of fun.
Spare record cleaner
price - 25 cents
sold
It was in fine shape and these get soggy, so now I have one for each of my turntables, so I can alternate cleaners when I'm playing DJ.
Eyeglass stand
price - $1
sold
Last year my friend Joanne beat me to one of these. I knew it was only a matter of time before another surfaced. Glasses sold separately (and man, were they expensive).
Raw silk shirt
price - $1
sold
Raw silk drapes like wool. It isn't itchy. It's soft. It let's heat get in and flow out. I never pass a raw silk shirt by, though I did break my no-long-sleves rule to buy this.
Warm shirts for my mom's shop
price - $1
sold
This is my documentation for the petty cash expense. Cost of goods sold.
Ornaments
price - $1 each
sold
There is a lot of tacky Christmas stuff at yard sales, but sometimes a nice things slips through.
Scrap sheet aluminum (2 lbs. 4 oz.)
price - 15 cents total
sold
a couple of the handles were hard to get off, until I decided to just bash them with a splitting maul. Problem solved.
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Would You Buy This or Not is a weekly feature on Gather. Come back next week when a neighborhood 20 blocks south of Carag - the Kenny neighborhood - has its sale. Kenny will be a bit more affluent, but still close enough in to town to have the occasional character living there.
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Comments: 42
Silk is amazing, Corina. I don't like the processed kind though. I like the heavy-duty stuff. In fact, I wish they made them with the same thickness as wool shirts. Oh, man. I think I might pay retail for something like that. Did I mention I like raw silk?
Roxanne, I've been to other places that have rocking yard sales. The Northern Phoenix suburbs are just awesome, with all those folks dragging the best fraction of their stuff down south with them, and then when they get there they discover they have to unclutter some more. Ah, bliss!
I saw tons of garage sales and moving sales this morning on my way to a meeting for work. By the time we got done most of them had closed up. I'm hoping to see a few tomorrow.
See, Sue? There's so much Christmas stuff at sales that it can't all be bad.
Very nice finds, the jacket and the green shirt are my favorites.
When it comes to glass, I always show a preference for things that were intended to hold something - coffee, pickles, whiskey. Many times the attempt to make something that is 100% ornamental loses my interest.
Thank you, Shannon. I'm afraid I would have passed it by because I'm hell on clothing. I'd ruin it in no time. But Janie has an eye for these things . . .
Thank you, Lori. I'm glad you can revel in the horror of the creepy things too. Janie is really proud of that jacket.
Jennifer, this particular frog still has the fake green patina on it, but I keep my frogs on the balcony in the rain and snow. Eventually the uniform green is replaced with something much more authentic.
After all this discussion, I suppose the Burt Reynold doll would have to be the find of the day. That's interesting. Maybe I don't have to limit my find of the day to things we bought . . .
Yeah, rain ruins suede. Difficult to keep clean, too.
Kathryn, the bottle is already sold : ) Hopefully the suede will have delivered $5 worth of enjoyment by the time Janie get's stuck in the rain.
Karolyn, what I like about taking a camera is that it obliges me to look for things I have no interest in buying, and that makes the sales more interesting.
I do have a little collection of bottles. All started at a little museum where they had $5. grab bags of bottles, then I started picking up a few more at various junk shops. My pride and joy bottles are the one's from my friend's ghosttown that I have been fortunate enough to have. The days of finding bottles on public land is rare, here in California, anyway, and technically you aren't supposed to "collect" them, but leave them where you found them. Even up at Cerro Gordo, if we find a bottle we keep it up there to display in the museum or somewhere in town. The one's I have were common one's that they sold several years ago. My husband practically tripped over an old beer bottle on one visit, and it is on display on the bar in the 1871 hotel!