Groovy New Chairs

This summer has not been the best garage-sale season for Kim and me.   We don’t really know whether to chalk it up to the economy, the season of life that we are in and the things we’re shopping for, or what.   But we haven’t had many “WOW” outings where we’ve stuffed the mini-van with treasures.  We always like to have at least one really great find that makes our day.

Well, last week, I had a really great find that made my whole SUMMER!

My husband and I are decorating a new home — a condo in a mid-century building.   We’re going with mid-century modern decor, which is a big change from our previous antique Victorian style, so we’re needing lots of new stuff.   And I’ve been finding some good stuff, but mostly at antique shops or second-hand stores.   I’ve found a few cool art-glass pieces at garage sales, but not furniture.

Then this week, I found these GROOVY CHAIRS!!  And they were only $10 for a set of 4!   Winning!

Garage Sales — When and Where

Of course, it takes more than a desire to garage sale shop.   You’ve got to know where to go to find sales, and when.   That answer, however, is different depending on where you live.

I can only speak for the Omaha area, where I’ve done my own garage-saling for the last 22 years.   People in other areas of the US will have different situations and will have to do your own research to find out the “when” and “where” in your area.   I believe that in the south, where the climate is significantly warmer, garage sales are held year-round.  Some areas may have Saturday-only sales, where others may have long weekend marathon sales.

In Omaha, there is a definite garage-sale season.   It starts in April, peaks in May, holds steady through the summer, with another mini-peak in September.   Then you’re done, with nothing but thrift stores to get the garage-sale addict through to the next spring.

In years past, it was impossible to go to all the sales in town in May, with many many sales being held during the same limited time.   More recently, however, we’ve noticed fewer sales, more evenly spaced out during the summer, making it easier to catch a greater percentage of them.   The fewer sales part of that trend, however, is a little worrisome to the die-hard garage-sale shopper.   We don’t know if a challenging economy is causing people to buy fewer new things and therefore selling fewer old things, if holding garage-sales is simply becoming a less fashionable thing to do, or if this little slump is just a temporary anomaly.  Only time will tell.

The scheduling of garage sales is also something dependent on region.  In Omaha, the traditional schedule for garage sales is Thursday through Saturday, 8 or 9 a.m. through mid-afternoon.   Sometimes there’s a Wednesday night “sneak preview” that’s not widely advertised, reserved for select neighbors and friends.

I, personally, am not crazy about the Thursday through Saturday schedule.   What typically happens is that Thursday is crazy busy with those looking for first choice.  Then Saturday is busy with customers looking to negotiate and get big bargains or those unavailable to shop during weekdays.   And so Friday just sits there, kind of quiet, and really a waste of time for the host of the sale.  I think a Friday/Saturday schedule makes much more sense, but it’s hard to buck tradition, and if people are expecting sales to start on Thursday, you pretty much have to do it that way or lose lots of customers.

But even with the tradition in Omaha, we have noticed more and more sales moving to the Friday/Saturday schedule in recent years.   I hope that’s a trend that continues.

Of course, there will always be some Saturday-only sales, hosted by those with 9-5 jobs who can’t take days off to hold a sale.

I believe in some parts of the country it’s even becoming common to see Sunday sales, though that definitely hasn’t caught on here.

How to find these sales is also not a clear-cut, across the board answer.   Traditionally, a classified ad in the local newspaper was the only way to go, but the internet has added new options to publicizing and finding garage sales.

We still rely mostly on the local newspaper.  The local daily Omaha World Herald lists garage sales, sorted by sections of the city, and provides a map on Thursday, Friday and Saturday featuring all the sales advertised.   This is a great system, or at least would be a great system except for a nagging problem with accuracy.   It’s not uncommon to find that sales on the map are not actually listed in the ads, and ads are not necessarily put on the map, so some work is required to actually sort it all out.

I know there are also garage sale ads in some of the free “shopper” newspapers out there, as well as garage-sale websites and others like Craigslist.   Because these ads are typically free, you might find sales here that are not in the expensive daily newspaper, but we have found here that the daily paper has a more comprehensive list and is still the most efficient way to find sales.   That may or may not be true in your area.

So the bottom line:  the answer to the question of when and where to find garage sales in your area is…   figure it out yourself.  Sorry.

Dog-gone it!

One day, Kim and I were shopping at a neighborhood sale where there was a sale every block or so, so we were just driving up and down every street in the neighborhood and not looking for specific addresses.

We stopped at one house, and got out of the car.  In the driveway there was a mower, some other yard tools, and several boxes.   Looked like there was lots of stuff in the garage.  There was also a beautiful big dog lying in the sun.  As we started up the driveway, the dog stood up and approached us calmly.  We pet the dog, and commented to the homeowner how nice the dog was.  He said  ”thanks” but gave us kind of a weird look.

We started looking through the boxes a little bit, and noticed that the homeowner seemed to still be watching us intently.  We thought it was a little odd until he spoke.

“This isn’t a garage sale, ladies.  I’m just cleaning out my garage.”

The Penguin Phenomenon

I believe in God.   And furthermore, I believe that God is alive and active in our lives —  not just in major life-changing events and decisions, but in our everyday, mundane lives.   And, believe it or not, that applies to garage sale shopping.

There have been so many times that we have been in exactly the right place at exactly the right time to find exactly the right item that I cannot possibly chalk it up to chance, or to coincidence.

Once, years ago, I was making plans to teach a pre-school class at the Vacation Bible School (VBS) at my church.  Now, at my church, VBS is a big deal…  always has been.   The reputation of our VBS draws families from all over the city, tons of volunteers, and lots and lots of excitement.   One of the things that is done up big is decorating.  Every year, there is a theme, and every part of the church is decorated to reflect that theme, whether it be jungle, or western, or ocean, or whatever.   On this particular year, the theme was Antarctica.  Now, as themes go, Antarctica was a bit of a challenge.   I mean, what does Antarctica have besides ice and snow?   So I was feeling a little stumped about how to decorate my classroom.  I knew I could put white fabric down as snow, make a mural of snowy hills and blue sky, and then what?   I decided that a penguin would be cool.   But it had to be an impressive penguin…   not just a picture of a penguin on the wall, or little stuffed-animal penguins.   I needed a 4-ft penguin!

Now, as I said, this was a number of years ago…   before e-bay or any internet shopping at all.  So when one wanted a 4-ft penguin, one had no recourse but to shop at the local party store and toy store.  No luck.

And VBS was quickly approaching, so there wasn’t time to do a lot of searching or shopping around.  I needed a 4-ft penguin now!

So the very next Thursday after deciding I was in need of a penguin, we went garage-sale shopping as usual.   Early in the morning, we veered off our planned course, lured by an unexpected “Garage Sale” sign at the entrance to a suburban neighborhood.  Finding the sale at the end of a cul-de-sac, we parked the car and had started up the driveway when I saw it.   A 4-ft inflatable penguin!!   No kidding!   It was already blown up, standing there regally — an Emperor penguin, of course.  And for $1 it was mine!

Since that day, I refer to the occurrence of finding the impossible as the “Penguin Phenomenon”.

A recent example of this is when Kim had a request from her daughter-in-law for a very specific kind of wagon for her daughter.  The chances of finding such a wagon during a typical garage-sale season were miniscule.  Seriously, in all our years of garage-sale shopping, we don’t remember ever seeing one.  Yet, on the very first trip out after receiving the request, Kim found that exact wagon.

For my parents’ 25th anniversary way back in 1975, they received a set of glassware as a gift that that had been specially ordered for them and had their monogram, a “G”, on the glasses.   For many years, these were the glasses used for special occasions and at special meals.  But over the many, many years since their anniversary, some of the glasses had broken and the set had become quite small — too small for the family gatherings when my mother really wanted to use them.   Then one day, while out garage-sale shopping, I stumbled upon a set of 12 of those same silver trimmed glasses….   and they had a monogram on them…  a “G”!!   Thank you God!

In most situations in our everyday lives, even those of us who believe in the presence and activity of God and in the power of prayer find the temptation to do things “our way” overwhelming and go through life striving to be in control.  That leaves very little room for the Holy Spirit to work on our behalf.   It’s only when we “let go and let God” that we can really see His fingerprints on the events of our lives.

Garage sales are inherently out of our control.  We go out shopping, but we really have no idea what we’re going to find, or even where we’re specifically going to go, or who we’re going to meet.  God can more easily lead us where he wants, because we have no specific “to do” list or agenda.  So when we go out garage-sale shopping, we have open minds, no expectations, and just look forward to finding whatever God has for us that day.

And God has some great stuff for us!   We just have to go out and find it.

What Not to Buy at Garage Sales

Over time, through trial and error, I have come up with a few things that I do NOT recommend buying at garage sales.  Of course there are the obvious gross stuff that I discussed in the post titled The “Eww” Factor.   But there are other, more appealing things that may seem like a good idea, but really aren’t.

While baby gear is plentiful at garage sales, and can be a really good idea, really old baby gear probably doesn’t meet today’s safety standards.   As I discussed in “What to Buy in Garage Sales”, you can check for recalled items on-line.  If you see a high chair just like one you had when you were a baby, it’s probably not a good idea.  The same can be said for really old toys.  They’re great if you have an antique toy collection, but not for kids to play with.   I once bought a vintage riding horse for my kids.  You know, the kind that’s hooked to springs and bounces when you jump on it.  Lots of fun until my niece rode on it, and the brittle old plastic that the horse was made of shattered into a billion pieces.

I have a long history of hating vacuum cleaners.   This is due in part to my insistence on buying vacuum cleaners at garage sales.  They’re easy to find, and very cheap.  But there’s a reason for that.   I’ve come to realize that the only reason that people would ever get rid of their vacuum is because it doesn’t work well.  None of the vacuums I’ve ever bought at a garage sale worked well.  None of them.  The vacuum I have now was bought at a retail store, and I finally like my vacuum.

For safety reasons, you should never buy food or medicine at garage sales.  I have to admit I have bought food at sales, but it’s probably not safe unless you know who you’re buying from.  I took a risk and bought a couple of tins (sealed) of cocoa mix once, and it turned out to be the best cocoa I ever had.  Wish I knew how to get more.  Still, I don’t want to go on record saying that buying food at garage sales is a good idea.  If you do go ahead and buy food, make sure it’s in sealed packages and not past the expiration date.

If you’re buying something fairly expensive and you’re not sure it even works, be sure to get the name and address of the garage sale host.  I wish I had done that with a dorm refrigerator I bought for my son.   After we got it home and plugged it in, we discovered it did not work at all.  But I had no idea where I’d gotten it, so there was no chance of returning it for a refund.  If at all possible, test things out before you buy them.

Computers.   These become obsolete so fast that any computer available at a garage sale is probably close to worthless.   But its hard to dispose of an old computer, so people try to sell it.  Same for various computer peripherals.  I have tried both a printer and a scanner, and never was successful in getting them to work with my computer.  Bad buy.

Think twice about buying really old appliances.  The extra energy they burn may offset the savings.  Just because it works, doesn’t mean it works efficiently.  More current appliances discarded just because they’re the wrong color for the new kitchen or don’t fit into the new condo are still a good buy.

Batteries at garage sales are probably old and won’t have much power.

Pens and markers at garage sales are probably all dried up.   But they’re cheap enough that it might be worth a try.

Used socks probably have the “stretchy” part all stretched out.

Garden seeds are good only for the year in which they were originally sold.

And of course there are more than anyone could warn you of, or even anticipate.  You have to use your own judgement.  And you have to willing to take a risk.   You will make mistakes.  But the money you save on the majority of things you buy will more than make up for the money you lose on a few bad buys.

Elmo gets tickled… and then some

As I mentioned in the “Who Am I?” section, I am a free-lance puppet maker.  I have a website, take orders, and make custom puppets for church puppet teams, ventriloquists, video makers, or anybody who wants a custom puppet.   And I find lots of things as garage sales that I can use in making them.

Most obviously, I buy a lot of baby clothes to costume my puppets.  I’ve got tons of great baby clothes including a cheerleader sweater, tuxedos, a traditional Chinese outfit, and even a Harley Davidson jacket, as well as the more ordinary polo shirts, Hawaiian shirts, and t-shirts.  I’ve got cowboy boots, sandals, and zebra striped rain boots.  Eventually, I will use all of these on the puppets I make.

I also find things like feather boas (used for hair), wigs, hats and jewelry.   I sometimes buy large stuffed animals to use the fur for hair, and the stuffing to stuff the arms and legs of the puppets.

One thing I buy and use over and over is Tickle Me Elmo.

Elmo has really cool eyes.  They’re big and round, can be removed using pliers and re-used — sometimes adding eyelids, sometimes as is.   I can buy new eyes like this, but they’re $4-5 a pair.   Tickle Me Elmo dolls are usually a buck or two.

So whenever I find an Elmo that’s in good shape, I buy it, take it home, cut the top of his head off to get the eyes, take out the stuffing to use in arms and legs, and turn the fur into the finger puppets I give away at puppet festivals.  Like the Native Americans and the bison, I use all parts of the Elmo.  The electronic “giggle” mechanism is the only part I’ve never found a use for, though I do rescue and re-use any batteries that might have life in them.   One of my children once thought it was funny to fish out the “giggle” box from the trash, and put it under his brother’s pillow to startle him at bed-time.   “He-he-he-he, that tickles!” the pillow said.

My garage-sale companions appreciate dark humor, so they think this is all very funny, and often sing funeral dirges for poor Elmo as I carry him back to the car.  ”Dead Elmo walking,” one of them once said.

My friend Kim, garage sale shopping once without me, found an Elmo doll in perfect shape, and decided to buy it on my behalf.   Being the social gal that she is, she struck up a conversation with the garage sale host, and told her why she was buying it, and what I was going to do with it.   Well, the woman was so aghast that her child’s beloved plaything would be violated in such a way that she refused to sell it!

So now, when I’m buying an Elmo (or 2 or 3 or 4) and someone asks me why I’m getting it, I simply answer, “I collect Elmos.”

 

The “eww” factor

One of the objections that some people have about garage sales, is that the stuff has belonged to and been used by someone else.   There’s just a certain distaste associated with using or wearing something that’s been previously used or worn by a stranger.    Everybody has this objection — what I call the “eww” facator.  The only difference is where each individual draws the line on what is distasteful and what is not.

This is where I draw the line with several typical items:

I won’t buy a comb or hairbrush that’s dirty or has hair in it, but if it appears clean enough, I will buy it, and wash it when I get home.

I’ll buy glasses or sunglasses, but if somebody’s chewed on the ear-piece, then no thank you.  Same goes for pens or pencils, or sippy cups — nothing chewed.

Deodorant, shampoo or other personal products should, in my book, be unopened.  Though I have no problem with partial bottles of nail polish or perfume.

I’ll buy used bed pillows, only because I know I’ll be covering it with a pillow case before using it.   Maybe I should have a problem with couch pillows, but I guess I don’t as I’ve bought and used some without cleaning them in any way.

I always intend to wash all the clothes I buy at garage sales before wearing them, but have to admit that I don’t always, especially if it clearly smells like laundry detergent.

Some people will not buy used clothing at all.  Just the idea that another person’s germs are all over a garment turns them immediately off.  These same people, however, will sleep in bedding at a hotel that has been slept in by  strangers.   And they’ll try on clothes in a retail store that have been tried on by others, without laundering in between even!  So, I personally don’t understand that objection.

I do draw the line on underwear, however.  That’s just gross.

So you have to decide where your “eww” factor line is on a case by case basis, and recognize that your family may not necessarily agree with where you drew your line.

I once brought home a beautiful pair of leather slippers, lined with sheep-skin for my husband.  You could tell by the lining of the slippers that they had been worn, but only a few times.  He said he liked them, and they fit, but he didn’t want them.   I assumed it was because they had been worn, crossing his line of what was yucky.   But he said that wasn’t it.  He concluded that the only reason that any man would stop wearing slippers that nice after only a few times was because he had died.   And wearing “dead guy slippers” was just too icky for him.