Monday, June 8, 2009

From Charity Shops to Garage Sales

When we lived in Scotland I LOVED visiting charity shops -- uncovering antique embroidery, finding beautiful china teacups, and shopping for our clothing needs.

My friend Rachel enjoyed the very same thing (except she knew more about fashion than I did). We lived in different places, but we met up in various towns to explore their charity shops.

Here's what our outings looked like with us dressed for the weather and our children buckled into our "vehicles" (neither of us had cars):


Fast forward a few years to this past weekend. Rachel's sister, Rebekah, now lives in the same city we do!!! And, we met up to go garage saleing together this past Saturday. We piled our 6 kids into our cars and set out for 6 hours of fun! (Mind you, the children were graciously watched by a good friend for several hours so they only had to endure 3 hours in the car, and they were very, very good).
I came home with a car full of finds, my favorite being these yellow chairs which I got for $10 each. They've already found their home in Christina's living room. Aren't they adorable!!!

Another favorite find was some china which Rebekah and I split. There were 6 teacups and saucers and all these extra bits. And the design was so lovely and cheerful. In much the same way that Rachel insisted I must buy the Laura Ashley plum tweed suit we found on the day pictured above, Rebekah insisted I must buy the depression glass cake plate for $2, especially since I already had dessert plates at home to go with it. I'm glad, on both occassions, I took their advice!

Ah yes, then there were piles of clothes for Andrew, a few shirts for Michael, a dress to wear to a wedding this summer and at the next sale brand new shoes that went perfectly with the dress. There were lovely gifts which are being saved for holidays, a tiny teacup for Rachel, a skirt from Zara (thanks to Rebekah, I now know that is a good name brand), fabric and craft supplies, a war-time edition of the Woman's Day cookbook for which I paid 50 cents and I see is selling online for around $30, and a number of other lovely and useful things.
We pulled into the driveway around 2:30, exhausted. But, that might be it for the summer (I usually only focus on the particular sales that were on this past Saturday) except for the odd, unplanned stops now and then. It was just way too much fun! Can't wait for next year!

11 comments:

liz nelson said...

sounds like you found some good stuff. i love those yellow chairs! very cool.:)

Lovella ♥ said...

I just read an article in a magazine about friendships and shopping and how the friendship can be even better if you have the same shopping styles. . .they could have used the two of you for an example of cheap and good fun. I love the china. . .and look forward to seeing the dress with the shoes. . .at the wedding.

Emma@christmascupboard said...

WOW...Love the chairs! What bargains they were!

southseaislandhome said...

I love those chairs! Ain't America great! You would never, never, never find anything like that at a garage sale in NZ. The china is beautiful! What a fun day for you.
Rachel L

Margaret said...

The chairs are awesome! I think I should go with you some time. I never find anything, perhaps it's a lack of patience. I would like to become more accomplished at garage sailing/thrift store perusing. You seem to have a knack for it!

Lovella ♥ said...

I couldn't wait to tell you .. .I just went and picked up the mail .. .and guess what? I had the most precious package waiting for me.. .give Andrew a big hug. . and tell him that I'll have his payment in the mail lickety split. . .I love his flowers. . I'll show them off with pride.

Brenda@CoffeeTeaBooks said...

You just described my favorite kind of day! :)

It is always a good day when we find new teacups. :)

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Whoa...just the chairs would have been worth the shopping. And the other stuff was great too. You scored big time!

(The word verification: tewoot. Yeah...like Tea-w00t!)

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

you broth nice chairs!
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Anonymous said...

I love those yellow chairs! such a bargin!