The Garage Sale Trail:: 26th October

I'm fan-girling Sally Seltmann, ambassador for The Garage Sale Trail 


Let's talk about vintage stuff. Pre loved stuff. It's the stuff of my dreams. Remember way back when I went skip diving for weeks on end. My friends, that was some kind of Utopian experience. Honestly. A high point in my life - and I know for many readers, it was a favourite period of PMM too. 

So a garage sale is high on my dream to do list. If I see a garage sale, I must pull over. It's like when it's hard rubbish and I spy something with potential goodness. Must pull over. Much to my husband's disgust.

Thankfully the last few weeks I've been getting a little ruthless tossing things out. Well actually just sending them off to other people, charities, and maybe hoarding for my own 'one day garage sale'. 

If you're like me, it will warm the cockles of your heart to know that The Garage Sale Trail is on the approach. Empty your shelves and coathangers my friends, and get ready to declutter, recycle, upcycle, and get shopping! 

You can register your own sale, and you'll be added to the map! Or if you're like me, you can map out the hot spots and get on the trail. My heart's palpitating just thinking about it. You can customise the sale, or search for something you're looking for. Is this all your wishes coming true? Sigh. Me too. 

My tips for hitting The Garage Sale Trail?

Get organised: Check out what sales are happening in your neighbourhood via the site. Then you can map your day out. Plus you need cash. Not necessarily lots of it, but don't take $50 notes and expect people to have change. I try and take a mix of notes and coins, and I set a budget. 

Take some bags: I always take a couple of bags when I go to garage sales. Then I can shop without stuff in my hands, and I have a bag to take home my purchases

Look carefully: When I go to sales, I get all panicky and think I have to grab things and buy. Bad move Lexi! Think about what you really want to buy - and keep that top of mind. When you find something you like - check it out, look for cracks, stains, missing buttons (are you really going to replace them?),  does it fit?

And lastly - but most importantly, do not WHATEVER YOU DO take your husband or your children. If you do, you will rue my words. Trust me my friends. 

The Garage Sale Trail Ambassador - Stylist Jason Grant 

Cheap. And Very Cheerful.

I have restarted frequenting the local garage sales, and I must say, I've rebooted with great results.

This weekend I found a hat block. Awesome. Wunderbar. Ace to the power of spades. It was only $35. Thirty five clams. That is all! Until I went to pay for it and the woman said, 'Do you realise this is $85?' Shocked and in fear of rigor mortis setting in, I replied, 'Er no, I thought it was $35, I misread the label.' The lady then kindly said she would go and ask her mother how much she was willing to reduce it.

I have a growing and yet completely unvaluable vintage hat collection. I love hats. I love hats in the Spring time. I love hats in the Fall. I love hats in the Winter when it drizzles. I love hats in the summer fo' shizzle.

The lady came back seeming despondent and said, 'Oh she will only take it down to $50'. Of course I took it. I would have been a fool not to. Ordinarily there's no way I could buy one of these babies.

Hat blocks are GO! Enough about the hat block - I'm not here to bang on about the darn hat block.

I also snaffled a range of children's books for the grand tootin' sum of $3.00. And I saw a cork pinboard. Which I didn't get..

And yet, later in the day, after my brain had birthed an idea, I went back and found that pinboard and snaffled it for the Doctor's room (for about $1).

I gave it three coats of 'Passionate Blue' (do you ever have passionate blues?) and have resurrected it to be a new addition for the Doctor's special things. For approximately $10 for a customised pinboard, we likey.

Who Put the Rage in Garage?

After a wee second birthday party we drove home, with a detour following some fluoro signs that blasted GARAGE SALE. It was an instruction we could not ignore. It was a command. Where there is a garage sale we must follow.

I got a little perturbed when the trail to the garage sale turned thin. I started to do a U-turn, and Matt piped up that we should keep going. So we did. Thankgoodnessforthat.

What we discovered was a garage sale on the brink of closing down. Ten minutes to go. I got a few choice linens (the cross-stitch, though silverfish fodder, is unfinished, perhaps I should help it realise its full potential). The frog hidden in the depths of an ugly vase.

And a big box full of linens. Which some (un)charming woman told me she had just purchased so I could not look. Thangsverymuchcowabunga.

However I did snaffle these two delightful angels, perfect for Christmas decs, a wooden elephant reminiscent of the ones my grandmother had (minus the tusks - did someone use those for toothpicks?!), and that cool Corningware dish (minus its lid, but I am ok with that).

Matt scored a wooden bowl which was thrown in as a freebie..

And almost my favourite thing, I do believe, how fortuitous. I had just taken out my knitting last night. I spied this stool/table thing and asked the lady what it was. A knitting stool. You put your knitting in the middle, and sit on it. Sit and knit baby. The fabric has definitely seen better days, but will be easy to replace. And she told me it's almost 100 years old. For $10 it was mine.

Perhaps tomorrow I will share my spoils from my mid-week op-shopping adventure. Tiny and I. We wike shopping! Actually, we both hate it. But op shopping calls, and it's a duty that we must obey.

Magical March: Day 16

Do you feel as though I am copping out, and anything that happens in my day is magical now to fit into my Magical March? Yes. Me too. But you're going to have to deal with it, awright, because for now these small things are going to have to make do for being magical. Magical or non.

When the Doctor returns from pre-school today he's totes going to be stoked because he and I have been on a man-hunt searching high and low for vintage Fisher Price Little People. We drove all around our neighbourhood last Saturday searching, searching - there were NO GARAGE SALES within a 10km radius (ok, ok we didn't really trawl that far), so we wound up three suburbs over. lThis garage sale, though highly organised, did not do it for the Doctor. There was not one skerrick of children's paraphernalia. Bummer dudes.

With my hands thrown skywards I went global. If only I could just pop on to my private jet, but nope, eBay it was. And eBay is where we scored the fruits of our search.

Guess what arrived in the post today?

Like I said, the Doctor is totes going to be stoked.

Sweet Saturday: Guests for lunch, a garage sale, a twilight vino

I love Saturdays. So full of hope and promise. Particularly if your weekend is wide open and free. Free as a bird baby.

Ours? We started off with a visit from my Mum & Dad who are in town. We had an easy lunch, followed by the best cheesecake ever (sadly not made by me), damn fool, it was good. Wonderful to have a very relaxed afternoon with them, and the Doctor and Tiny were both tickled pink to see them and be the epicentre of attention (not that they're not with us, but you know how it rolls).

Grocery shopping. Not so good.

Garage sale (not to be confused with garbage sale): good! 50 cent books - hello, hello, will photograph tomorrow - but some real treasures! Sadly the Doctor was pining after some plastic race track, but his mama declined. Poor Doctor.

Swim: Crazy fun. Tiny and the Doctor go overtime in the bonkers department - they lurve it. Tiny plunges her face in the water - she is one crazy cat.

Evening vino on the back steps: Ah hello night time. I see you ride into the sky, a line-up of clouds in pink are pushed out - make way for lilac skies. And here come the bats. Time to chat with Matt and enjoy the cool evening breeze sneaking in. Welcome.

And in case you're wondering how my decluttering is going (and even if you're not, I'll tell you) - it's going ok. Though as my MIL says, I have to live in the now, not in the past. Will that make it easier to get rid of my stuff. Hmph. I am not sure, but I will try! And while I'm on the subject - does anyone own this book? Is it good? Do I need it? Or is it more clutter?

What's something fun you're doing this weekend?