Well, I’ve been in Michigan for a couple of weeks visiting my family. We hit a couple of garage sales and I went to a new thrift store, VOA (Volunteers of America). The prices were great, it was clean, well-organized, and best of all, they have a 50% off sale on everything in the store the last day of every month. My kind of thrift store.
First up is a garage sale buy:
My sisters, mom, and I were on our way to a cousin’s memorial. Of course we saw a garage sale sign and had to stop. We couldn’t tell anyone at the memorial what we had done, but my cousin would have understood.
I have a thing for boxes and tins, but I’m going to pop this up on Etsy. It’s a lunch pail that the seller used and kept. No one would ever take it by accident with those colors and pattern. It’s marked but I didn’t take a picture of the bottom and it’s now packed in my car. The coolest part is inside:
The tray fits in at the top and holds your sandwich. The lid fits so tight that you wouldn’t even have to wrap things up to keep them fresh. Below the tray, there is space for your fruit, a thermos, or graham crackers (guess what I had for lunch during grade school).
I also bought this at the same sale:
Little Strawberry Shortcake isn’t perfect, but she’s still pretty good and totes adorable. We have pretty good luck selling Miss Shortcake, Rainbow Bright, and all of those dolls from the late 20th century. Sometimes I have trouble making myself sell them because they are sooo cute, but then I look at all the dolls I already have and remind myself that I don’t need to start a new collection.
This was a pretty awesome sale:
After we had all bought just a couple of things, she gave this watering can to my sisters because it wasn’t “worth anything!” I don’t think that the four of us even spent $20 and she was giving stuff away. My sisters have tons of flowers so this will be extremely useful.
So, on to the thrift store finds. This was in the front “prestige” area:
This is the lowest furniture that I have ever seen. The arms of the sofa came up to my knees! I probably would have to roll onto the floor and lever myself up on the cushions to stand up. I don’t think it was kid’s furniture with the upholstery material being a nappy red wine velvet. It must have been for a very petite family, or maybe a family that does yoga every day and can pop up onto their feet from any position no matter how low!
How we wish that our thrift store would sell china this way:
Here, china sets either came in a tub or were taped together in stacks for just plates for one price. I was taking a picture of this, and one of the store employees said that it would be half off next week so I should just wait. It’s only $40 right now, but of course the whole set for $20 is even better. I’ve always liked this pattern and if I didn’t have three big sets and two or three partial sets of china, I might have dragged this home with me.
It is always Christmas in the VOA thrift:
A huge aisle of everything Christmas from decorations, to linens, and wrapping supplies, to dishes. The next aisle over was more seasonal, so this must be set up all year long. Kathy and I would love to have Halloween all year round, too.
We have been kind of forgetful about holidays this year. I forgot to add Happy Mother’s Day at the end of the post two weeks ago. I hope that all the moms out there had a wonderful day. Since Memorial Day is coming up, I thought I would share some family memorials with you all.
When my father died a couple of years back everyone in the family bought one of these:
It’s a small pendant with his thumbprint engraved on it. Whenever I’m trying to decide what’s the right thing to do, I find myself playing with my pendant. It keeps my dad present in my life. Plus, people just think I have an interesting pendant.
My brother died very suddenly last November, which is why I was in Michigan last fall. It’s been hard to talk about, but a friend of his shared this idea to keep Larry close:
A very nice lady in the next town over makes teddy bears from your loved one’s favorite clothing— button-down shirts, t-shirts, pajamas, whatever. My sisters and I had bears made from his favorite Detroit Lions shirt and mine came with a hoodie that she made from one of his hoodies. My other sister has one made from a flannel shirt, and my mom has a stripey bear made from a University of Michigan shirt. I just love them, and Larry Bear will be sitting in a chair in my living room, just like real Larry did from time to time.
We would love to hear if any of you have a particular memorial for your lost ones. You never know, your idea might provide comfort to some unknown person who has suffered a loss themselves.
I hope everyone has a great weekend making memories with those who are present and remembering those who have gone ahead.
Second Hand Roses 