Instinct

It's said that one should follow their instinct, that wisdom lies here, that logic can be trouble - trust your gut, follow your heart. I say, easier said than done, but try. That's what I was doing when I bought this cookie jar, I was trying to following my instinct. It was a little more expensive than I would've liked and that's where logic came in, but since initially I thought this plantation style slightly racist cookie jar was some kind of adorable I ignored the cost and bought. My question is, was I ignoring my instinct when I bought?

As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think. - Toni Morrison

Claudia's Corner

Claudia has impeccable taste, her home is beautiful, her things are fun, I always find something worth admiring when I go for a visit. Last week I stopped by to wish her a happy birthday, of course I forget her gift and leave with these cool items for the store!

CLAUDIA'S CONTRIBUTIONS:

Wall Hanging Coffee Grinder


Retro Blue Fan


Vintage Reef Lamp with Hand-painted Shade


Thanks Claud!

Reality Check

The weekend has introduced a few new lessons, two of which pertain to this blog: as seen from the non-existent entries over the long weekend daily blogging can be difficult when life ensues, c'est la vie, and if I'm interested in making money "selling vintage" then I best find interest in selling my items vs. keeping them and get realistic with my pricing.

Everyone has a limit on the value of an item and between two good friends that price can vary by $10-$20 depending on the bargain shopper. Unfortunately my current pricing is around $10-$15 higher than estimates of the high bidder, meaning nothing sold.

With few items to install in the booth this week I'll have plenty of time to exchange tags - the bright side of hardly shopping for the week.

WEEKLY FINDS:









Like I said, not much shopping.

Proper Logo

Notice something different on Selling Vintage? Don't worry, I'll spell it out for you - the kick-ass, super-cute header made by the very talented and brilliant Tony Vitali, thanks Tony, I will forever be browsing for the perfect t-shirt.

Opinions? Praise? Tony deserves it!

Orange County is not LA

What good is buying another persons junk if nobody claims it with a higher price tag as their personal treasure? It's pretty to look at, and fun to search for, it's even fun to process it, tag it, and put it on the shelf, but dang, it sure is discouraging when nothing sells.

I was told it takes time, that people have to get used to your things, that they come back and ogle, and come back and ogle some more, and sometimes they come back and buy. I was told to give it a couple of weeks which is just fine since I was also asked when I was going to fill up the booth more. It's starting to look good though, I'm loving what I did to display clothing, belts and bags along the wall - a simple peg board is astonishingly useful. And the addition of the Baker's Rack and vanity seat are helping to fill things in as well.

But will Orange County like the goods of an LA girl?

OC Bound

Oh, tomorrow is such an exciting day. I love heading to the OC with my car packed full, I love filing all the toys into my booth, and I'm so excited to see if anything sold. Part of me suspects that I won't have a ticket to my name since all of my goodies were priced fairly high but I really really hope that suspicion is wrong. It'll be so thrilling to see which items went and what people will pay for these things. I mean, it is completely possible that I'm the only fool out there who would be willing to pay $80.00 for a fondue pot - it's possible.

Check back tomorrow to see what sold, or not.

Driving Vintage

Buying vintage is fun but finding vintage that you can't buy due to size constraints is not. Four months ago I was dying for a sports car, specifically the Audi TT, but the stars never aligned and I was stuck driving the wreck of a VW Golf that I'm driving today. This turned out to be a very good thing, I lost my job and would never have been able to afford that car and now I can buy a car that will actually be useful in transporting all kinds of goodies - can you imagine trying to move a baker's rack with an Audi TT, good luck.

Purgatory isn't such a bad place, the VW Golf has decent cargo space, it enabled me to take home that great little desk, but it is entirely not capable of hauling the table I am oh so obsessed with. The one I've already highlighted twice on this very blog and visited again today only to find out that it was not only half off the price tag but an additional 30% on top of that - and still I cannot pack it up and bring it home.

And so the hunt continues, not for vintage but for a car, a car capable of hauling vintage, that is fuel efficient, and stylish. Let me just say that the search for a car is not nearly as fun as scouring thrift stores for cute bric-brac, in fact it's quite nauseating. I have a budget, I have expectations and nothing seems to meet my expectations and so I keep looking, and looking. So far I've narrowed it down to a few roomy, and one not as roomy (hey, it's cute) and for what they are, they kind of like the environment too.

This could be my favorite of the four. It has good ratings and reviews, I think the only bad review was the ergonomics of the driver and passenger seat. Mitsubishi Outlander:



Next up we have the Saturn Vue, I really like the body style but reviews - comme ci comme ca:



I've owned a VW for almost six years, at first I loved it, and still I'll tell you the engine is quality but dang the rest of it just falls apart! With that said, I'm considering another, the Jetta wagon:



And finally the Subaru WRX wagon, so cute! I've always loved this car but it's proving to be quite difficult to find one in my price range, and honestly I wonder about the cargo space:



So there it is, four semi-affordable vehicles that will get me what I need and want. I'm actually quite excited to get a new car, it's the leg work that drives me nuts.

Awesome and Free

I don't know how long this is going to last so please hurry, someone is giving away this free pair of socks and some ACDC boxers (all used of course) on Craigslist right now.

YIKES! Earthquake.

This evening, like most others, I was chillin' at home searching the web and watching TV when a strong jolt hit my house rattling all of Nana's China and for the first time in five years my nerves along with it, my heart was racing and hands shaking and my initial thought was securing the China and then what to do if it doesn't stop, and then it stopped. It's a strange feeling immediately after one of these little shakers, everything gets quite and you wait for it to keep going, listening, I may even stop breathing, like that will allow me to hear it better.

A couple of thoughts:

1. I really hope I'm not in town when the biggie hits
2. I'm scared the biggie is going to hit soon
3. I need to get Nana's China some place safe
4. How does a dog react? Do they sense it before it happens?

Apparently the answer to number four is yes, a significant time before it occurs they behave in an unusual manner - search results: http://swagbucks.com/?sourceid=Mozilla-search&q=dog+sense+earthquake

Here's a picture of Lucas - the dog that is going to warn me before the next one hits. I just hope I listen.

Finds from the week.

It's been a busy week scouring thrift stores and Craigslist, and more thrift stores - determined to find more than one go to. I'm ruling out the west side, though I will give it another go in the coming weeks, and I'm prepared to say that the Valley rocks, yes that is right, The Valley has a haven of thrift store finds. But enough talk it's time for some pictures of the goodies I picked up this week.

THRIFT STORE FINDS:


I actually picked up two of this cute little container last week at a thrift store in the OC. The thrift store turned out to be a real dud considering it's size but this find made it was worth sifting through the junk. One at home, the other at the station - $20.




A sturdy little suitcase, my guess is circa sometime in the 70's. I've yet to decide if I'll sell this or the pretty blue one below which was bought off Ivett when she moved to Spain.




I actually use this suitcase and the wear is beginning to show - it may be better at a home where it's only use is as decoration.




LOVE!




I may just hang on to these little beauties for a while but if I keep this up there won't be much for the already empty booth.




Walking around and around the UCLA Thrift Store with nothing much to look at I debated these surfboard coasters for a bit, it turns out I'm pretty happy with the purchase. Maybe I can make $15 or $20 off of them, we'll know soon enough.



YARD SALES:


Considering this was a yard sale find it was way overpriced, I was able to talk them down to $10, it's crystal, very pretty and came in the original Joseph Magnin black and white checkered box - cute!




The booth needs more clutter and this was practically free.




It's a nightlight!




I still can't decide, is there anything special about this wine rack?





MY OWN COLLECTION:



There are four of these pinkies, I love love love them but I'm running out of room since I decided to part with the table to make room for the dog crate. The question is whether to let them all go or only two with the preference leaning toward two - sad.

All of these goodies are going into the booth next week. It's going to be exciting to see if anything sold - yikes!

This weeks pass.

What to buy is never a sure bet, either the price tag makes me question the likely hood of a profit or I'm not 100% about the item all together, sometimes it's a question of both, and every now and then size really matters. Although I am working on some ideas about how to overcome the storage obstacle, I've yet to figure out the pricing obstacle, which I imagine will come in due time.

I've decided to post a weekly blog highlighting items I've passed on, but due to the fact that I only decided this yesterday this weeks blog is going to be a bit slim. I'll do my best to take pictures and remember the cost, but every now and then I'll probably slip up - it's what I do. And I would love to hear your thoughts - tell me, do you agree with my decision or are you in love, should I have jumped?

The first item here you saw highlighted on yesterday's blog, this is a white Formica (I think, I'm no expert) table that seats four with two additional leafs to seat six or eight, the number of pretty blue chairs it comes with. One chair had a big gauge in the middle, another had a small one on the side, and the third was taped with green duct tape where it was coming apart on the bottom near the seat. All of which could be covered with a little creativity. Asking price - $125.



Here we have a hanging wine rack - $10 at the Salvation Army.



Today when I was out and about I decided to skip on this cute little lamp shade that was going for $3 at the UCLA Thrift Store.



I also passed on a pair of 70's style sugar and flour containers, white with a brown floral pattern ($5), a rough piece of desk with great form that had seen better days ($10), and due to transportation and fear of breaking glass I had to let the sweet little vanity that I probably would've kept go ($150). But I did get this adorable scallop chair that fit it perfectly.



More to come on the things I actually did buy tomorrow.

The piece that got away

It's almost been a week since I started to blog, and I've found that it can be a tough business coming up with something worth putting to text on a daily basis. Fortunately, a day hasn't gone by that I haven't visited a thrift store and so those nights that I've gone to bed wondering what I could possibly blog about again the following night have easily been put to rest.

Today was no different, I headed to the valley to pick up some free hooch that was sent to my boyfriend's old place of business and thought I'd hit up some new thrift stores before floral class. The hooch happened to be on Victory three long blocks from Sepulveda where my all time favorite Salvation Army is, naturally I stopped by for a visit, and by-the-way tomorrow (Friday) is 50% off day. I left with some Bric-Brac and a couple of skirts and I found that I really prefer it on Tuesday when the entire store is 30% off, and even more on the first and last Friday of the month when the entire store is 50% off.

It's a semi-tragic experience to find a piece of furniture that makes your head spin it's so good and to come to the conclusion that you simply cannot buy it. This happened today 30 seconds after I walked into SAVN. There it sat, a long, white table with eight perfect floral print blue chairs gathered around it, looking like the only table I want to sip champagne at during afternoon brunch, and yet I could not buy it. This has nothing to do with money, although if it had then money may have been a problem, and it has nothing to do with size, I would've made the two trips it would've taken to get it home, it has to do with... size. There is no way I could fit that pretty piece in my little 8x8 booth, just no way. So I took a picture to share with you and maybe find out what you would've done - would you make it work?

I thought I could store the piece, in fact, maybe I could store a couple of pieces and keep a book in my stall with photos, that way if anyone were interested they could just give a call and set an appointment. Maybe I'll work on that. Maybe I'll head back tomorrow when the store is 50% off and buy the dang thing - I'll let you know.

Day One

A couple of things: one, I don't know what I'm doing and two, it's fun. I started this blog four days ago and for you eleven readers out there, thanks, I'm having a blast. Initially my plan was, well, non existent, but it certainly did not involve sharing my ventures, but thanks to the one person that randomly commented on my blog I became motivated to tell my friends, and friends, I love you.

Today was the day, I woke up early, 6:00a.m. early, for reasons that don't pertain to this blog and I headed to The OC, car loaded with goodies. Fortunately for me my uncles employ a lovely man named Tony who unloaded that awfully heavy desk from my car and kindly moved it to my "antique" stall. Not only did he do all the hard work but he even cleaned the desk up for me and filled in that nasty gauge with something that made it not-so-nasty.

I made two trips to Home Depot and both times I bought items that need to be returned. Not only did I not know what I was buying but I don't know that I have ever felt so out of my realm - "I don't know, I need one of those L things for a bookcase, you know, they keep it steady against the wall" - seriously, the looks I received were priceless.

But everybody was so helpful and so nice, from Tony, the guy who sells goods he finds on the street in the Antique Station alley way, and who used to "live on the street", to the dude with Ray-Bans and a Hawaiian shirt directing me to pegs, at "the end of the isle and three bays down". Jason found the proper L-thingy (yes, L-thingy) and steadied my bookcase and Mary, the manager, seems like a pretty nice lady.

My booth is sparse. I'm shocked that my car packed full with nearly everything I have barely made a dent in that tiny 8x8 booth, but really, it barely made a dent. Check out the photo above, that's only HALF the booth, and it's nearly ALL of my stuff. I still need to bring some clothes, shoes and purses down, a couple of home ware goods and the Baker's Rack, but for now that's it.

I haven't decided if I'll head down again this week or if I'll wait until next, but I guess that's the beauty of it - it's for me to decide.

Salvation Army

I realize that what I'm buying I am significantly marking up, but as with any art (yes, I consider a good eye an art) there are those times that you just may not make a dime, today was not one of those days. Today I hit up the Van Nuys Salvation Army and let me tell you, it kicked ass. I left with a bag, a big bag, full of goodies and a pretty blue, round lamp for $20.08.

It's safe to say that if you're looking to turn a buck thrift stores are not the way to go - wake up early to hit the yard sales, head to a flea market, or as referenced in last nights blog scour the free section of Craigslist, but as a friend who's been doing this for years told me "thrift stores SUCK". That is except for the Salvation Army - the Van Nuys Salvation Army.

The most expensive thing I bought today other than the mid-century style desk with lock and key in-tact for $28 from the gold mine that is VNSA, was the retro cup holder pictured above - it was $8.40 and it came from a not as great Salvation Army in Canoga Park. Please note that it came from the "collection" section, a different cash register, a different room, displaying over-priced items. Fortunately this little treat was discounted 30%, the entire store was discounted 30%, in fact both Salvation Army's were discounted 30% - it was senior day and apparently I'm a senior!

I should probably explain that I did in fact leave thrift store heaven with a big bag and a round lamp, during which time I kept asking myself if I should return for the desk. Return for the desk I did. After much questioning, after sending a picture to my good friend and vintage connoisseur Julie Gollins and deliberating with her via text I decided I could throw the $28 down to see what comes of it. So far, no regret.

Tonight the desk sits where Josh left it, in my car, waiting for miss muscles here to make it magically appear in my stall. Tomorrow is it, I pack up and head to The OC with my VW treasure chest loaded to the gill, and then I wait.

Free

Another late night weeding through Craigslist, this time I went for it - FREE. What I thought would be complete junk resulted in some interesting finds, some good, some strange, some good to know and others... junk. I found free yarn, a lot of it according to the women who never followed through with her soon faded passion for knitting; free used doggy chew toys, I understand that it's a dog but something about that is gross to me; a free BOAT, it doesn't come with a trailer and there's no picture but it's a boat; and if you're looking to landscape your yard go here first there's sand, and gravel and dirt - tons of dirt, and plants; and plenty of wood, I feel a beach bonfire coming on soon. And then there's the "curb alerts", people just toss their stuff on a curb and hope it finds a new home, they post the address on craigslist and the race is on.

Around 10:00pm this evening I fell for a curb alert posted only 15 minutes before, I begged my boyfriend Scott to go with me, after all I would need help loading that "Trunk (Heavy, dark, antique looking)" that I was certain would still be there. An hour after the post we pull up at 1522 Michigan avenue and nothing. I am shocked, I circle the street like a stalker, creeping around until finally I'm convinced that someone beat me to the scene. But I'm not the only one, in the two minutes it took me to leave I saw two other cars creeping and turning, stopping and going, and I realized then that an hour is a long time in the "CL" world.

Determining Worth

Suddenly I've come to the realization that I don't have enough furniture - it's Bric-Brac galore with no place to display these treasures. And so what's a girl to do but shop! I need bookshelves, a wall-unit, display case, how about credenza or hutch, cabinet? A clothing rack and shoe rack. I look in LA and OC, and all that I find is over-priced everything. Yes, it is worth it, I would ask for those prices too but people, come on, I need something fabulous and I'm a girl who can't wait.

I weed through the abyss of Craigslist like a hunter - a wish list of the all to obvious keywords that result in the perfect and the far too expensive piece. Moving on to the general brings in some negotiable results but it's late and so I wait for tomorrow, wondering what they're all worth. There's the matter of transportation needing to be added to the cost - I'll rent a truck, then how do I physically move it, hire a mover? Great that's $50 bucks and couldn't they just take off with my stuff? Now things are adding up.

Take the chairs for example, two gorgeous wicker chairs purchased in fair condition from a thrift store. I love their lines, and I envision them cleaned up and painted black, they are my dream of an outdoor chair, and with summer on the horizon this could really sell - but for what? I spent more money on paint than I did on the actual chairs, and I'm thrilled with the result but is there anyone out there who will want them as badly as I do? Anyone willing to pay $100 for the pair? That's a reasonable number, in fact they're so unique I think I could go higher, maybe $150 - that could be worth it. But now I'm thinking $175 and wondering if it will ever end, the determination of worth.

A quick SwagBucks search results in: a collection of any kind is only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for it - brilliant! *SIGH*

Stuff

I love stuff. Specifically old stuff, stuff for the house, designy stuff, cute stuff, 50's stuff or anything with nostalgia. I recently got a stall at the Antique Station in the Orange Circle, in the city of Orange, in the county of Orange just off Glassel. My stuff is being sold there. Here I am blogging about my stuff, stuff I keep and stuff I sell. It's not easy for me to sell my stuff, everything I buy I love. I've vowed to only buy stuff that I would keep in my house, stuff I would wear and stuff I hate to part with, that way if I can't sell my stuff at least I'll be happy with what I have.

I question myself a lot so even if I love my purchase I may still be nervous about it, and I'll blog about that and we'll see what happens. And if I love something too much I may just mark it up like crazy, and we'll see what happens - like the kick-ass fondue pot I recently bought, really, I don't know how I can part with it. Or the chipped pottery - I've never owned pottery. And if those camel suede shoes fit it'd be very, very tough.

I'm always on the hunt, for cool, for kitschy, danish modern, great dresses and shoes, and kitchen stuff, I love that nostalgia 50's mom with the apron and the dress, I love my apron, I love to cook and to entertain, and to be crafty. My Nana and I have the same style, what I have of hers I am fortunate to have - I wear my Nana's jewelry, I use her vases for my flowers, and her dishes for my food. I like birdies, and bright colors, and clean lines.

I like to hear what people think and get ideas from them. I'm always looking for a good thrift store, a good yard sale, a deal. I'm blogging about my stuff because I think it'll be fun, and if anybody decides to read this and wants to buy my stuff let me know. Some stuff I sell, some I could be persuaded to sell and there's some I just can't get rid of.