Finding Buried Treasure

This Saturday I was on my way home from running errands and took the backroads to avoid a
congested PCH. I personally think my cluttermoney orchestrated the whole thing!

I found myself in front of Goodwill's "Last Chance" store with an open parking space right
at the door!!! Have any of you been to the last chance store? You'd better be armed with stamina and a bottle of hand sanitizer....this is not for the faint of heart! (but oh, so worth it!!!) As you enter the warehouse type building in an industrial area, you are greeted with huge cardboard boxes overflowing with STUFF and surrounded by yellow caution tape. These boxes are for auction only and not to be messed with. Auctions occur twice daily and minimum bid is $30 for the anything-goes monstrous grab bags. I myself have never bid on one of these, but there is always a gaggle of vulture -type people hovering around them.

I made my way to the far left corner of the warehouse, where there are several long tables heaped with every thing you can possibly imagine. Most of the tables contain fabric and clothing, but there is also a section where you can find anything from purses, stuffed animals and office supplies to small appliances and CDs. (I have found things such as a Coach purse and vintage collectibles in this pile).

Once I was able to squeeze my way through the huddle of women chattering in Spanish huddled on the floor picking through mini-piles they had grabbed, I made my way to the textile tables...I once found a brand new $250 Ralph Lauren comforter here....the only thing wrong with it was a 2" section of the seam that need re-stitching. Repaired and washed.....Gorgeous!!! Picking through this mess is quite an adventure...lots of denim, children's clothing, dirty underwear and curtain panels, but if you are tenacious there are wonderful buried treasures to be found.

I was in there for about an hour and here is a list of what I found...are you ready??

A charming fabric purse with a scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves,
A shabby chic tin wall pocket with hand painted pink roses, 8 sheets of stickers with cute animals on them, A perfect condition leather belt from the 1928 Jewelry Co. with an ornate Victorian repro silver buckle, A tiny white birdcage votive holder, A child's silver beaded purse, A white eyelet skirt from Anthropologie, a silk cord crocheted shoulder bag, begging for embellishments, a 1980's pretty print blouse with a lace collar, My amazing scores.......a 1960's mint condition chartreuse high-style jacket with a custom New York label that Audrey Hepburn would have been proud to wear and a burnt-orange silk print 60's dress that a manufacturer had started and never finished hemming (probably from the same closet as the jacket). I also found a "Lux" (an in-house Anthropologie brand) crushed velvet green jacket , two nice fashion belts, one of them made from fuschia sequins, some vintage linens and an embroidered lace curtain panel. In two different locations was what turned out to be a brand new intricately embroidered hot pink dress and pant cotton outfit from India. (a few knick-knacks not worth mentioning) and I was done!! Quite a haul and an unusually bountiful day.

Everything is taken to the check out counter and dumped in a rubber bin that sits on a scale. You pay $1.99 per lb!! if you shop wisely and aim for things that don't weigh much (the Audrey Hepburn jacket was heavy, but a must, you can make out like a bandit!
My whole Santa-sized bag cost me $20.00. (and I sold the jacket for $40 at the flea market on Sunday). I immediately went home, took a hot bubble bath and headed for the laundrymat to wash all the fabric treasures that I found.

This is recommended only for hard-core thrifters, the rest of you will go running for the hills after a few minutes of digging through some unsavory things to get to the good stuff, but if you have the heart for it, more power to you!! It is a field trip well worth taking.

archeological digs

Archeological Digs

The flea market business has really changed. People are not shopping the way they used to.
Granny carts and backpacks and dollies were the tools of choice back in the day. Not so much today. The desktop, laptop and mobile phone are now the favorite shopping accessories in our fast paced world and belt-tightened economy.

At last Sunday's flea market I talked with several other vendors.....the story was all the same.
One vendor who specializes in high-end la-di-da decorator items said that this had been the all time worst she had ever done. Three years ago she could take home two to three thousand dollars after a "decent" show. Sunday she had only sold about two hundred. People are not paying antique store prices at a parking lot flea market!

So....what are people buying? Cheap little crap!!! She went on to tell the tale of her flea market neighbor who normally brought great stuff and this time brought boxes of cheap little crap!!!
Everything this neighbor sold was between one dollar and five dollars. Are you ready??? He sold $1500 of cheap little crap!!!

So tomorrow I am doing an archeological dig, (this is a sociological experiment) and finding insignificant little stuff that I have not deemed flea-market worthy in the past, slapping a price tag on it, filling up boxes, unloading the great stuff from my car and reloading it with.....CHEAP LITTLE CRAP!!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cheap little crap...I buy it all the time. Then why is it that I never take it to the sale? PRIDE!! yep, you got it....everything has to be special and pretty and displayed as though it were a store. This weekend I am going to change my tactics. Yes, I will have a display of some of my "altered art", but will use it more as a tool to give people ideas about what to do with the _________!! Let you know how it goes.