Apron Thrift Girl

Thrift Share Monday - Happy Halloween

Keiran

This weekend we had a Halloween celebration at our Waldorf School. It's far different than most Halloween parties. Each class acts out a skit for parents and families to watch. Each student in the lower grades carves a pumpkin that is grown at the school. These pumpkins are lit and the campus becomes a magical place with the glowing orange light, children in costume, a bonfire and the scent of warm food coming from the kitchen. The day was very warm and the evening was so perfect.

Ten minutes before we were due to leave Keiran started to panic about his homemade ghost costume.  Keiran was becoming so upset. I got what Keiran was going through. I can't tell you how many times I've dressed up in either costume or even a fancy dress and felt so self conscious that I nearly was sick to my stomach. I sent Dave and Cerys to the school and told them that we'd drive in our other car.

Then Keiran and I got to work very quickly to find him a costume. It was quite simple, first we found his vintage hat. I was thinking gangster. Not very Waldorf but we had all the fixings for it. We found his dress shoes, black pants and tie. He isn't wearing the tie in this photo because I (gulp) don't know how to tie a tie. We added a mustache when Keiran came up with the idea of being a member of the press. We quickly found an older typewriter font on my computer and printed out "press" and stuck it in his hat. He also wanted to carry around his vintage Polaroid camera. He felt so confident when we arrived at the school.

I was so proud of him to take an upsetting situation (aka - the failed ghost costume) and turn it around creatively. He was the only vintage member of the press there that evening.

Have a wonderful and safe Halloween.

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

Lenka - Everything at Once

This is dedicated to those of us that connect to Barbara Sher's definition of a Scanner. I heard this song for the first time early in the week and can't get it out of my head.

I'm sure any scanner can relate to wanting to do everything all at once.

Lenka is a fabulous musician that I discovered on Pandora.

October ReSellers Listing Challenge - Week 4

Apron Thrift Girl's - ReSellers Listing Challenge

Are you ready for week 4 of ATG's - ReSellers Listing Challenge?

Here's what I'd like you to do in order to take part in the challenge:

1. Comment and tell us your Listing Challenge Goal.
2. Add a link to your ReSelling Venue/Store. (optional)
3. Begin to List your items - don't forget to tally up your listings since items hopefully will start to sell.
4. Grab a Button and spread the word. We want to motivate & inspire.
5. Check in every Tuesday until November 1st. Share your progress in the comments.
6. Share your link every Tuesday to show us how busy you've been. (optional)
7. On November 1st, share whether you've reached your goal and if you wish, share how many of your Listing Challenge items have sold.

 
Button

This challenge isn't just about what you can list and how many items you might sell. It's about taking a step back and reviewing your business.

Last February I realized how inefficiently I work. I can't tell you how easily distracted I am. Seriously, just that soft ping of an email coming in send me to my inbox to see what has arrived. And then since I've left my listing it means I can quickly check my gmail account. Then I may as well see if anything new is on Craigslist. I'm completely and utterly distractable.

My work day is very short. In fact my listing days are really just Tuesday and Wednesday. Monday I work on sorting through everything. Thursday is a half day at school and I usually just do bookkeeping, organizing and maybe a bit of listing in the morning. Friday I'm back out in the field scouting for new inventory.

Eight months after the February challenge I realize that I work differently. I'm still not terribly fast at listing but I am definitely able to list more. I still get distracted from time to time but I CLOSE down the facebook page so that I won't even be tempted to pop in and take a look. As you all know, one peek and you get sucked into watching another funny cat video.

What have I learned this month?

I have too much inventory.

I have too little time to list.

I want to increase the amount of money that I sell each month.

It's really just a simple math formula that I need to evaluate and solve. I need to find balance between selling and listing big ticket items (between $150-$800) and small items ($15-$75). I need to stop buying anything that I can sell. It's very hard for me to see an item at a garage sale that they have priced for 50¢ that I can sell for $12. I need to walk away more. I want to keep my focus on Mid Century Modern.

Remember that we don't have a boss that keeps us on track. We usually are the boss, the secretary, the bookkeeper, the employee, the delivery person and so on. Most of us are a one man/woman show.

It's important to look at our business often and see how we can be more efficient.

Now back to the challenge. Although I'm not near my goal of 200 items in my store, I have sold a lot of items. I've also organized my office which means that I will be able to work better in November and December. I currently have 128 items in my store. My sales for the last 30 days is $1967. Overall I'm really pleased with October.

What has been the biggest insight into your business during the October Challenge?

Thrift Share Monday - Antiquarian Books

                                                   Vintage Ulter Tea Towel $2.50

Keiran spotted this fabulous towel on the back of a door on Sunday. I had been to the same estate sale on Friday but never saw the door closed enough to see this. Because Dave is English, I love being able to bring home any form of the Union Jack. I want the children to understand their heritage and to be proud of both the American Flag and the British flag. This might end up in Keiran's room.

Box of vintage keys $8

1960's painting.

Antiquarian Book from 1544

Another bookseller and I talked about this book in depth at an estate sale on Friday. We both tried to research it in the field but didn't come up with much. I merely loved holding a book this old. The bookseller left it and in the end I left i behindt. I couldn't justify $100 on something that I knew nothing about.

Of course I thought about this book all weekend long. I was at the house by 8am on Sunday morning in order to be first in the house to look for this book. It was still there and the new price was $50. Now I could take a risk. I still don't have a clear answer as it will take me some time to figure out how to research such an old book.

The pages are absolutely beautiful. I feel honored just to be in the presense of a book this old.

At the same sale I also picked up an 1845 book called Elements of Botany by W. S. W Ruschenberger, MD. Another one to research.

I forgot to take photos but I found my first ever Pucci items; 2 neck ties. 

The best part of the weekend was thrifting with long time readers and friend, Joy and Jeanie (and of course Bill). I'm such a lone thrifter most of the time, that it felt strange to speak aloud my thoughts on items. Joy noticed the same thing. I loved seeing the interaction between Bill & Jeanie. They were so sweet.

Do you usually thrift alone or with a thrifting partner?

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

ReStore Furniture Find

Very cool furniture piece from ReStore in Santa Rosa for $150

I so adore Thursdays. I get pick up Keiran from his short day of school at 12:35 while his sister enjoys four hours of Circus. It's a precious time to spend with him. We usually end up either going to local museums, exploring parks or going to thrift stores. He always is present with his fabulous good natured spirit and his keen thrifting eye. He's pointing out more and more valuable things to me.

Today I wanted to introduce him to the Habitat for Humanity Thrift store in town called ReStore. It's filled with building supplies like tile, sinks, stoves, light fixtures, doors, hardware, paint and furniture. He loved the store and it made me excited for the home that we'll eventually buy. They even had eco friendly paint today for $7 a gallon.

This lovely piece of furniture (photo above) was there and a steal at only $150. It may have been handcrafted. It's definitely old but kind of hodge podge together too. It was solid wood though and so fab with those glass doors. If I had a studio, I'd certainly would have been tempted to buy it. If you are in the Santa Rosa area and are interested, I'd give them a call and see if it's still available.

I'll be doing a post on ReStore soon with lots of photos.

I have an excited weekend ahead of me. I get to go thrifting with two of my friends and readers (Joy and Jeanie) tomorrow. Then on Saturday I'm going to attend a Grocery Outlet Blogger's Summit in the Bay Area. Although I'm still exhausted from L.A., I'm sure the excitement will help me through the weekend.

Have a wonderful Thrift filled weekend and I look forward to seeing your posts on Thrift Share Monday.

a Thrifty Halloween Costume

Cerys in her 100% Thrifted Halloween Costume

I've written a guest post over at Goodwill Industries of Northern New England. 

This year I didn't even contemplate making a costume for my daughter as I've done in the past. This time Cerys decided what she was going to be and how she was going to do it.

Here's the post.

October ReSellers Listing Challenge - Week 3

Apron Thrift Girl's - ReSellers Listing Challenge

Are you ready for week 3 of ATG's - ReSellers Listing Challenge?

Here's what I'd like you to do in order to take part in the challenge:

1. Comment and tell us your Listing Challenge Goal.
2. Add a link to your ReSelling Venue/Store. (optional)
3. Begin to List your items - don't forget to tally up your listings since items hopefully will start to sell.
4. Grab a Button and spread the word. We want to motivate & inspire.
5. Check in every Tuesday until November 1st. Share your progress in the comments.
6. Share your link every Tuesday to show us how busy you've been. (optional)
7. On November 1st, share whether you've reached your goal and if you wish, share how many of your Listing Challenge items have sold.

 
Button

Where in the world has October disappeared to?

Seriously, between the weather which has been in the 80's and leaving town for 5 days, I'm completely confused about what date it is let alone what month it is.

What did I do today?

I spent every extra minute listing auctions since it was an eBay free listing day (up to 250 auctions).

I do realize that I'm the world's slowest lister. I tried to figure out why. I think it's because I get caught up in the research.

And that I probably want the listing as near perfect as possible. While that may not sound like practical work advice, I think it's just the way I work my auctions. Photography, description and using the correct key words in the title are all very important to me. I prefer to list high end items and hopefully sell to people with high end taste that include a high end budget. For me, it's worth taking the extra time to make my listings look as fabulous as possible.

I listed 16 auctions today. When I added up the potential starting bid prices it came to $1633.89. Some of the starting prices are high and some I've even had to guess because I couldn't find many prices to compare to. I do plan on probably half of the listings not selling and ending up in my eBay store. Between the Listing Challenge and the listing sale, it certainly got me motivated to list today. I've really struggled with energy since I've returned form my trip so working at the moment is challenging in itself.

My goal for the month is 200 listings. I'm at 132 and feel rather behind. Thankfully today re-lit my fire a little bit and I hope to continue to churn out the listings for the remainder of the month.

Curtis Jere Wall Sculpture that was found in Sonoma last Thursday. I should add that Keiran actually spotted it in the thrift store yard area. I think it had just arrived. You can see the listing here.

Thank you to all of those that are taking part in the October ReSellers Listing Challenge. Here's to week 3.

If you are joining the Listing Challenge you have an option to share your ReSelling Venue with us. Links should be to a venue where you sell 2nd hand items.

Thrift Share Monday - Rose Bowl Flea Market

Rose Bowl Flea Market - Pasadena Calif.

A week ago Sunday, my travel adventurer Teresa (owner of Wee Threads Resale Shop in Mill Valley) and I met up with the so charming and fabulous Lara of NowSoLA blog at the Rose Bowl Flea Market.

I had heard so much about this Flea Market for years and still I wasn't quite sure what to expect. It was so large and was almost like a puzzle the way it was layed out. I'm thinking that Alameda Flea has spoiled me with it's straight rows both for parking and for shopping.

We met up with Lara by the front gate. I adored her from the start. The moment I visited her blog a last year, I knew that I'd love her in person. She had been to the flea once before so we completely placed our newbie-ness in her hands. She became our guide as we weaved our way through the market.

I loved this booth and would love to replicate it back home.

Lots of eye candy with Vintage Christmas, Halloween and just plain vintage sweetness.

Prices were overall higher than I'd like but hey I'm an Estate Sale/Garage Sale Thrifter so it makes sense. I did spend a little money but not too much. I stuck to my frugal goals.

We spent two hours at the Flea Market and my favorite booth wasn't in the Vintage & Antique sections but in an area that included mostly clothing sellers. One booth had a table with scarves and blouses. Every item was just a dollar. It was as if they didn't want to deal with woman type items. Our gain.

Various vintage scarves, many of them Vera Neuman designs - $1 each

I found so many vintage scarves. I was in Vera heaven.

This last weekend I didn't go out on Friday like I typically do. I decided to tackle my office. In the last few weeks my inventory has multiplied and spread to practically every room in the house. I decided that it was time to move out all of my craft items and create a practical sorting area in my office. I continued working on it throughout the weekend. I feel so much better this Monday morning. I still have a ways to go with my office but it feels manageable now. One of the worst problems of a ReSeller is when our inventory gets out of hand. I personally feel frozen when it gets to be too much and struggle to do any work. Right now I'm ready to get listing and making some money.

Did you go thrifting this weekend?

Thrift Share Monday celebrates the Art of Thrifting. As a community of readers and bloggers we are able to connect through the process of buying second hand, selling and sharing.

We Thrift  - We Share

Here are some guidelines if you would like to join Thrift Share:

• Your Thrift Share Monday blog post should include your thrifted finds from the weekend.
• Create a blog post with photos of your items.
• Link your Thrift Share Monday post back to Apron Thrift Girl.
• Link to your Thrift Share Monday post on Apron Thrift Girl using inlinkz below.
• If you participate with Thrift Share Monday regularly, please add a button to your side bar so that we can build our Thrift Share Community.

Don't forget to visit Her Library Adventures for Flea Market Finds.

October ReSellers Listing Challenge - Week 2

Apron Thrift Girl's - ReSellers Listing Challenge

Are you ready to accept and take on ATG's - ReSellers Listing Challenge?

Do you want to join ATG's ReSellers Listing Challenge?

Here's what I'd like you to do in order to take part in the challenge:

1. Comment and tell us your Listing Challenge Goal.
2. Add a link to your ReSelling Venue/Store. (optional)
3. Begin to List your items - don't forget to tally up your listings since items hopefully will start to sell.
4. Grab a Button and spread the word. We want to motivate & inspire.
5. Check in every Tuesday until November 1st. Share your progress in the comments.
6. Share your link every Tuesday to show us how busy you've been. (optional)
7. On November 1st, share whether you've reached your goal and if you wish, share how many of your Listing Challenge items have sold.

 
Button

October started off to a great start for me. Then I sort of gallivanted down to Los Angeles and it threw my entire challenge to the wayside. I'm so behind in catching up on emails, on the ATG advertising sale, with listing auctions and even this post which should have gone out on Tuesday.

I've been blessed by working with 2 new clients for ReSelling Consulting but this means that I've not had much time at home this week at all. I'm hoping for a relatively quiet upcoming work week so that I can get busy and get listing.

One of my clients lives in Sonoma and on the way home from her house I found a Curtis Jere wall sculpture which made my entire week. Thank you Church Mouse thrift store!

Thank you to all of those that are taking part in the October ReSellers Listing Challenge. Here's to week 2.

If you are joining the Listing Challenge you have an option to share your ReSelling Venue with us. Links should be to a venue where you sell 2nd hand items.

Thrift Share Monday - Los Angeles

Mysterious Machine from the Prop Sale in Burbank

I have so much to write about but so little time. It's been an incredible whirlwind trip down here in Los Angeles. Thrifting galore, exhibitions, flea markets and later this morning an interview with a very close friend of Sascha Brastoff. I have so much to share in the coming weeks as I take photos, download photos and share some of my finds. I didn't buy the above contraption at the prop sale but I did enjoy shopping there. More details to follow.

Because I'm short on time I'm going to just include the linkey tool for sharing your finds. Most of you know how it words right :-)