Sunday, May 8, 2011

Sunday Garage Sale Showcase

Yesterday morning, Kat and I picked up my daughter, Jean, and headed to some subdivision-wide garage sales in the northern parts of the city, not too far from her house.  While several subdivision had sales, participation seemed low, with not many people holding sales.  Those that were selling didn't seem to have a lot of merchandise.

I bought a pair of new flip-flops for quick jaunts out to the garden (50¢), a decorative plate that will probably show up under some food here on the blog eventually ($1), a couple of wooden planter boxes for $1 each, and this Singer Tiny Serger.

The lady who sold it said her father had bought it for her mother, who didn't sew at all.  Oops!  It hasn't been used other than for a test swatch.  Online reviews were all over the place, with some people hating it and others loving it.  I own a traditional sewing machine, but have never used a serger.  This machine has very limited capabilities, but it will give me a good feel for how a serger works and will help me decide whether I want a better or one, or if a serger is something I just don't need or want.  For $20 (that I can almost certainly get back if I decide to sell it instead of keep it), I decided to take the chance.

Not my picture, but the one I bought is just like this.

Jean bought a few things for her house, including a dozen or so spice jars for just $2 and a couple of wooden ladders that aren't sturdy enough for humans to climb, but are perfectly sturdy enough for plants to climb.

Kat was the big winner, since she had no trouble finding things she wanted or "needed".  She is into all things Star Wars right now (I don't get it...never have...), and found several movies and a Darth Vader costume.

Let's not forget yesterday's "Item of the Day".  This week's item of the day was the 20Q handheld electronic questions game.  It's the little puck-shaped game that asks you to think about an object, then tries to guess what it is in 20 questions.  I don't recall having seen them at a sale before, but we saw two of them, at one sale right after the other, each priced at just 25¢.  Kat snatched up the first one.  It's actually kind of fun and surprising just how often the machine can guess correctly.

Did you go to sales this week?  If so, what did you find?

3 comments:

Melynda@Scratch Made Food! said...

Cool finds and sounds like a great day. I had a co-worker how had a serger and she sewed most of her clothes with it. Let us know what you think of how it works out, thanks.

The Cookbook Junkie said...

I've been struggling to get into yard sale mode which is probably not the worst thing. It's great when I'm in the mood but nothing is lost if I skip a few of them. I'll never know what I missed!

I can barely remember the couple I hit on Saturday. I bought a sweater and a Power Ranges Video at one. Oh, the other I bought a bunch of cookbooks. Most were Pampered Chef pamphlets which I only picked up because they were 10 cents each and there was a bigger one that was 10 cents so I figured why not bundle them together and spend a buck (it was a fundraiser sale). That larger spiral bound book turned out to be a Rachael Ray book, a kids cookbook - Cooking Rocks! It was missing a hard cover and was open to the middle of the book which is why I didn't realize it was one of her books. Only 10 cents! Oh, I bought a video at that sale too (50 cents). And a purse ($1).

And I didn't go to Goodwill at all!

slugmama said...

I haven't done garage sales in years.....I don't need anything so why go since I'll just be tempted to spend money, right?lol

I HEART sergers! But then again, I use to sew ALOT...most of what I wore and many many items for the kids. I got a cheapish Singer serger at Walmart of all places back in 1992 or so. It cost under $300 and it's still working just fine. Now that I've said that(or typed that)it will prolly shit the bed this week.lolol
Enjoy yours.... 8-)