Depressing Mid-Century Sales

Last week we discovered an awesome little thrift store that neither of us had heard about before. It's connected to a local church and it's too far away to make it part of our regular routine. The prices were pretty good and it had its own Christmas room. I'm planning on going back in a few weeks and seeing if they have any cheap decorations.

I snagged a few nice Halloween things and a candle holder I loved. Unfortunately she put the candle holder in a bag on its own, without wrapping any of the six glass candle holders. Cut to me opening the back door of the car and watching in horror as one of the candle holders rolled out and shattered into 5-6 pieces on the ground. Those are the breaks I guess.

I've started using Craigslist, just to see what kind of goodies I can find. Unfortunately, there's not a lot out there in this area, especially not mid-century wise. It's either reproductions, overpriced originals or overpriced reproductions. One seller keeps listing the same six fiberglass chairs and asking $400 for the set. He swears they're originals, but conveniently the "original" tags are missing. Another seller keeps listing this little end table and dropping the price each week, but no one's interested in it.

I'm also hoping to find a vinyl/chrome/formica kitchen/dining room table and chairs. I know what the reproductions are selling for, but I'd prefer an original set. I'm just not interested in paying the high prices found online for one. Someone actually listed a reproduction set (as original), with a $400 price tag. It's very frustrating. Luckily I have a gifted-to-me table, so I'm not worried right now.

I did manage to find a great hutch at a Goodwill in my area. The BF and I stopped by on our way home from the booksale and it was love at first sight for me. I know a lot of people say not to shop at the thrifts on Fridays because they're so picked over, but this piece was just set out that day. It's about three feet wide and just under six-feet tall, with glass shelves on top and storage in the bottom.

It's funny though because I *almost* didn't buy it. The BF started following me around the store, whispering in my ear and saying he was going to be the devil on my shoulder. I finally grabbed the tag and carried it up to the front of the store. The sad thing is that it had to be picked up within 24 hours. We have a friend with a truck, but he never responded to any calls or texts we sent him.

We ended up trying to fit it in the car, thinking we could hang it out and strap it down. Yeah...that didn't work. We had to strap it to the roof, drive it to my parent's house and live it there. It's been sitting there since last weekend, but hopefully we can pick it up soon, so I can post some pictures!

Out of Town Thrifting

Once a year I get the chance to visit family in Kentucky. Every year I make it a point to stop by Dairy Cheer, a local burger place and Sam's Hot Dog Stand for a few dogs topped with sauerkraut. This year I had one more addition to make to my list: Goodwill.

On Saturday morning, the boyfriend and I ventured over to the Goodwill after eating way too much at Shoney's (got to love the breakfast buffet!). As soon as we entered the shop, I noticed a big lack of furniture. It's not like we had any room to cart home any furniture, but it was disappointing to see one crappy looking dresser covered in stickers and nothing else.

The other thing I noticed was an abundance of clothing. Everywhere you looked there were racks of clothes. Right in front were racks and racks of women's and kid's clothing, with racks of men's clothing off to one side. I ventured into the back of the store where I noticed a few racks of knickknacks, but it was more than disappointing. Think plain glasses, chipped plates and the worst pots/pans you've ever seen at a yard sale.

The boyfriend was checking out men's clothes and he started rolling his eyes right off the bat. He pointed out a few shirts he owned during the late 80's/early 90's, mainly stained and ripped tee-shirts or Cosby-esque sweaters. A few shelves on that side contained Christmas stuff, but as much as I love Christmas, this was bad Christmas. Broken stuff, damaged stuff, stained stuff and in general, crappy stuff.

I did manage to pick up a few Baby-Sitters Club books that I didn't have (I run a blog recapping old young adult books from the 80s) for around $1.50, but that was it. We were in and out of the store in less than 10 minutes and I think that was too long. Oh well, at least I had something to read that night in the hotel!

On another note, it's been way too warm for Ohio in October and yard sales are popping up all over the place. The house down the street had a few random shelves and furniture laid out yesterday for sale. They added a bunch of vintage-looking Christmas stuff today. Hopefully I'll get a chance to swig by tomorrow and maybe pick up a few things!