Apron Thrift Girl

Thrift Share Monday - July 30

1960's Culver Glasses

At 4:45 a.m. on Friday morning, I arrived at an estate sale. I walked on the porch, using my iphone for light in search of the list. When I couldn't find the list I realized that I was first on the scene. This happens so rarely that my first thought was that I was missing a better sale somewhere else. I rummaged up a piece of paper in the van and signed my name. Climbed back in my van and waited for others to arrive.

While it sounds a little obsessive or maybe insane to wait that many hours for an estate sale to open I did have my sights set on this fabulous cabinet.

The minute I stepped in the door, I asked where the garage was. I then sprinted through the house, down some stairs at the back of the house, around a corner through a covered area, into the garage where I quickly scanned the room in search of this cabinet. Once I spotted it, I slapped my Sold sticker near the price and breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently five others had made a run for the garage as well with hopes to score this. If I had been number 3 or 4 on the list, this would not be sitting on my front porch as I type this.

These are the experiences and memories that I love about thrifting. Of course I prefer them when they go in my favor. There is always the item that got away.

De Simone Tile from Italy

Vintage Globe & Pottery Owl

Another vintage globe to add to my collection. This was came from the Sebastopol Flea Market on Sunday. The little owl came from the estate sale on Friday.

Overall it was a great Thrifting weekend.

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.

Thrift Share Monday - July 23

Aqua Glasses purchased from the Flea Market

Either I've lost my thrift mojo or it's just plain slim pickings this summer. Either way, I'm arriving home after a morning of Thrifting with very little to show for. I purchased 4 of these fabulous aqua colored glasses at the Flea Market. They are going to be for sale in my case at the Antique Society in Sebastpol.

The Flea Market is such a fasciating experience. Since I wake up so early these days, I tend to get to the Flea Market just as dealers are setting up or even when they are just arriving. I'm not alone though as I always see the familiar faces of local dealers. Many I know from standing in line every weekend at estate sales. It's really a wonderful social event as well as a venue to buy inventory.

Since the early buyers are a little too early, we start making the circuits around the Flea Market. We look at the items new sellers are setting out and wait for new sellers to arrive to start unloading. When we see another dealer that we know, we typically stop to chat with each other, complain about the somewhat bad thrifting summer and then carry on with walking around. Since I typically work on my own much of the week, this chance to catch up with others is a nice addition to my business. Yesterday I walked around with a friend of mine named Steve. He's a silver and gold buyer but he also buys books, smalls (as we call them which refer to small pieces of inventory) and much more. He's a wealth of knowledge and I adore talking to him and learning everything I can from him. It's one of my favorite aspects of the Flea Market.

Fiberglass Bowls

These were purchased from the same booth as the aquamarine glasses. These will also be for sale in my case.

3 Shot Glasses from the Flea Market

With the Flea Market, you really never know what you will find. Some days I go away practically empty handed. I still enjoy it though and it's a fun part of my Sunday morning.

Wheel Mold?

I bought this at an estate sale on Friday morning. The seller told me that it was an antique wooden wheel mold. I've yet to research it properly. Does anyone know off hand if that is the purpose of this?  It needs a tiny bit of cleaning but I think it has a great patina.

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.

Christmas Listing in July

Christmas Listing in July

My sales are slow.

Partly it's due to the fact that I'm working part time since I have the children home for the summer. It's also summer and typically sales can be slower during this time of the year. Some of my motivation drive comes from things selling. I list, an item sells, I list more. It's a wonderful cycle of energy that can bring more sales. I will admit that I find it harder to list when it's slow. I start to think too much about why something isn't selling rather than focusing my energy on listing more items in order to create sales.

This week I realized that Christmas is just 5 months away with holiday sales really starting to pick up in October. There is also the back to school purchases that begin in August. I'm trying to hold close to the memory that the autumn is an incredibly busy time and in order to fill my store I need to get listing now.

Although I'll have more time to list once the children head back in school, it also means more things will be selling and I'll be spending more time packing and shipping.

Listed for $85 in my store. Sweet Book Set by Hilary Knight

Now is the time to really get listing if you can make the time. Sure, these items may sit for a few months but at 20¢ listing fee a month (for eBay store owners), it's a real bargain.

Here's what I do to make listing easier in the summer.

• I try to list simple items. Both simple to list and simple to ship in case they do sell. I don't have a lot of extra time to spend packaging up breakable inventory.
• I list most of my items directly in my store as buy it now items. I also don't have as much time to nurse auctions like I do the rest of the year.
• I take photos in the best light which is usually mid afternoon.
• I'll edit them first thing in the morning (which for me is around 5 a.m. when everyone else is asleep)
• I'll also use the morning time to write the listings.
• I try to list items in the same genre to make listing them on Inkfrog quicker. I use profiles there which makes listing a breeze.

With all of this said, I'm terribly behind. I only have 114 items in my store. But as many of you know, my mind has been on my mother and we just moved in April. I have a lot of catch up to do in order to have my store ready for Christmas.

I feel that I'm almost organized enough and ready to begin this listing push for the holidays. My goal is to have around 300 items in my store by October 1st. I'd actually prefer 500 but after having experienced three ATG Listing Challenges, I know this is much harder to achieve than I originally thought.

What's your best tip for listing in July in preparation for Christmas?

Thrift Share Monday - a 10 year search

Vintage Wicker Hanging Egg Chair

Part of the success of being a ReSeller depends on the nostalgic notions of our buyers. Many want to be reunited with items that they had when they were younger. I see this over and over again with children's literature. I even receive emails from potential buyers, asking me for details about a certain book sometimes with only a small memory of the book that doesn't include the title. Holding a book that we read when we were five years old can bring a flood of emotions and memories.

This chair above did that for me when I spotted it on Friday morning at an estate sale. I've been searching for this chair for at least 10 years but have thought about it for over 30 years. We lived on 40 acres in Northern California near Chico. My grandparents shared the property with us and every day I would walk to their home through our olive orchard. Although I loved to visit with my grandparents my real desire was to go on their back patio (which they referred to as the Lanai) and sit in their hanging wicker egg chair. I used to spend hours in this chair, especially when I had a book in hand.

When I spotted it at the estate sale on Friday I gave an excited-slightly-hushed shriek and placed a Sold sticker on it quickly. The price was an amazing $15.00.  Here's one on eBay that sold for $195. Dave suggested selling it but this is one item that I do intend to keep. I want my children to have the same warm memories of this hanging chair that I did as a child.

 
Vera Neuman Plate by Mikasa

Did you know that Vera Neuman also had a line of dishes through Mikasa. How fab are those Mod flowers?

I found two dinner plates and two salad plates. They will be for sale soon in my case at the Antique Society.

Overall I didn't have a very good thrifting weekend. My mind is still on my mother and there just didn't seem to be many interesting sales. Hopefully you found some amazing things so that I can live vicariously through all of you.

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.

my love affair with vintage

There isn't a single moment that I can recall when I decided to fall in love with vintage.

When I walk into an estate sale that is a direct reflection of the past, my heart begins to race. Although it sounds maybe a little odd, I have a physical reaction to these vintage wares. Excitement, a burst of energy, goosebumps and they especially touch my soul. Let me tell you, I don't have this same reaction at Target. While I appreciate what they have to sell, it just doesn't do anything for me.

Even Anthropolgie, which I have gushed and gushed about in many previous ATG blog posts, does so little for me. I want authentic aging, a darkened patina and an old energy to what I buy and place in my home.

I want to fully surround myself with vintage (except necessities of course like my Mac, iphone, Tivo :-) I want to walk into my home and feel the vintage energy that these objects radiate. My couch, desk, table, lamps, artwork, decor, kitchenware and clocks are decades old. I feel so at home here surrounded by these.

When I walk into a faux vintage home, filled with Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, I can admire the style but I can't feel anything from it. Just appreciate that these brands are attempting to copy authentically vintage items. Very cleverly so, but nothing can replicate true age.

My childhood home was filled with lots of vintage oak furniture from the 1920's. We even have a secretary cabinet nicknamed "The General" that supposedly came out of a general's office at the capitol building in Sacramento. It's those stories that my parents shared with me that sparked my interest. Their "old stuff" arrived in our home with stories and history. In my opinion, particle board junk made in China mostly has sad stories attached to it.

Why do I adore selling vintage? I want to continue those stories and delight associated with vintage items. Although most things that I purchase don't include the story of where I got them when I sell them to the next owner, they still will have the enchantment of knowing there is history behind their 50 year old Danish Modern glassware. It's the unspoken tales that our subconscious is aware of.

It's that drive to love vintage that wakes me up at silly hours of the morning to go and wait 3 or 4 hours for an estate sale to open. I want to be first in the door in order to have the opportunity to see the house as it was left. It's often a nearly perfect example of a vintage past. These time capsule homes are rarer than your average sale but when do I uncover them my soul is filled with absolute pleasure. Kitchens filled with 1960's food packaging, 40 year old toiletries in the bathroom and 1950's Sunset Magazines on the coffee table. These homes are truly a gift to those that adore and honor vintage.

How long will my affair with vintage last? I don't really know. I do feel that day to day I am much happier than the old me who would feel so much satisfaction from spending money in a retail setting. Or the old me that actually was defined by what I owned. While I now love what I own, I don't need any of it. I could sell it all if the price was right. My living room in fact is beginning to look like an eBay showroom with items listed but on display in my home until they sell. A part of me is purely content with this ReSeller's lifestyle. I wouldn't change a thing.

How deep in love are you with vintage?

my mother

my mother

September 6, 1939 - July 3, 2012

Last Wednesday my mother died in my father's arm, surrounded by her son and daughter-in-law. Although I was 800 miles away, she was never far from my thoughts. I called every day up to her death to tell her that I loved her and missed her.  As I sit here typing this my heart hurts from missing her.

When I am asked how I got started in thrifting, I always begin with mentioning my mom. She would take me in her arms as a baby into the only thrift store in our small town. Let's just say I never remember not thrifting, especially with her. She taught me how to thrift, how to seek a lower price and how to be frugal. So much of who I am today, is because of my mother. ATG wouldn't exist without my mom.

This is a poem that a friend of mine read at a potluck a few weeks ago. It seemed so fitting and I wanted to include it in this post dedicated to my mother.

My mother taught me how to be considerate, she showed me how to be planted firmly in my body.

Mom taught me to do something right the first time, she showed me how to focus myself into that task completely.

Mom taught me to always do the right thing, she showed me that doing the right thing isn't always easy.

Mom taught me that women must be treated with a certain respect, she showed me how I would comply

My mother told me that life is difficult and that I would make mistakes, she showed me how not to be ashamed of my mistakes

My mother told me to persevere, she showed me how to stand in strength.

Mom told me that tomorrow would be a better day, she showed me each day was what you made it.

Each day is a blessing waiting to unfold.

Each hello is a new chance to reconnect.

Each goodbye carries a moment of sweet sorrow.

And that each person we meet provides and opportunity for compassion.

My mother told me that she loved me. My mother showed her that she loved me.

-Dustin Deason

 mom, I love you and miss you. xoxo Selena

a short break

I'm taking a short break to focus on my mother and her last few days. Thanks for all your support during the last 6 years that she's been dealing with cancer. Your warm comments and prayers have always been appreciated. Maybe send out an extra thought or prayer to my dad who has been taking such beautiful care of her if you have a moment. Thank you.

xoxo

Selena