The Art of Garage Sale-ing
The inspiration for Mirror Mirror Mondays has gotten away from me for a while, but I’m back this morning with a fun find, inspired by my dear mother. Let me start by saying that my mom could make a sport of garage sale-ing. When we registered for gifts for our wedding, my Mom created her own competition to see how many items off our registry she could find at garage sales. Never mind the fact that people were giving us new ones. (They don’t make ’em like they used to, you know, cloth cords on waffle irons and all!)
All kidding aside, though. She’s pretty amazing at scoring incredible deals and has an pretty spot-on sense of value . Fabulous Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer for $35 bucks? Yes, please! I’m working at flexing my bargain hunting skills. Here’s a few tips I’ve picked up from her: She’s totally willing to make outrageously low offers, and totally willing to walk away if a price seems ridiculous. She doesn’t fill her house up with junk. She hunts for items that hold significant meaning (that elusive Shirley Temple pitcher missing from her grandmother’s almost complete cereal box set, or a prized chocolate pot – found after years of hunting). Her best advice: Always have something in the back of your mind that you are looking for, but never leave behind a great deal (Hello, KitchenAid!) or treasure.
This weekend she found a warehouse where costumes and sets from old Broadway shows were stored, selling everything garage-sale style. I headed over to see what all the hullabaloo was about. And although the gowns from White Christmas were already sold, the $395 old fashioned cash register from West Side story was still there, along with this very ornate, but very sweet frame, housing the original photo, still sealed in and matted with silk. My budget didn’t allow for the register, (which would have looked awesome in our dining room!) but I did snag the frame for $5. I should have my Mom start hunting for that cash register. No doubt she’d find it for a quarter!