#9 Estate Sales

I have become an Estate Sale junkie. Since Better Block and my hunt for all things vintage craft related I still scour Craigslist and PilotOnline for weekend sales. I patiently await my Monday morning emails informing me of the upcoming weekend's sale and half the time I don't even end up going! Mike and I checked out one in Norfolk recently because of the "yard tools" listed. The house had a garage full of tools, which we didn't need, but we were able to pick up two shovels and small small gardening tools for less than $6.

The house was completely full of other nice finds - especially since everything was half off that day. Not to mention the sweet tiled patio above? I'm just pondering the places we could do that at our new place. Probably need to make several dozen cookies for our downstairs neighbor before bringing this one up :)

Stay tuned for more photos from sales throughout the Summer...

I'm participating in my third 92 Days of Summer challenge. Read about the project here.

Just What's Going On

M Studio has a great setup. Clean, easy, display makes it look like they have a lot of product...which is exactly what I need.

I realized that I have mentioned the Norfolk Arts District and the Better Block here on the blog, but I haven't really described my role in the projects. The Better Block is a revitalization project aimed at improving an area of a city that has a lot of potential. This area happens to be one block of Granby street, from Olney to Addison. 

Have lots of vintage ribbon and lace to sell, could use this format.

DIY display using tin trays, hot glue and candle sticks. Painted your desired color.

The week leading up to the event is used to clean up, paint, add art, make pop-up businesses and plan a weekend that shows the community what the district could be with help from the area businesses, landlords, tenants and general public. At the Better Block meeting earlier this month I was asked to help Kitsch and Glass Gardens in their retail pop-up for the weekend of April 12th. Our pop-up will be a mix of handmade retail, re-purposed terrariums, workshops and demos, a craft lounge and a locally-owned craft supplies store - i.e. Fairview Place.

Glass Ball Jars and bakeware to hold pencils, crayons, glue and markers.

Lots of paint brushes in old clay jars.

You can imagine I was elated for this news, and also a little apprehensive about how this whole project would come together. I have a decent amount of vintage and gently used craft supplies I've been hoarding over the years, but enough for a pop-up to show the community!? With the help of Pinterest and the estate sales I've been mentioning, my display actually is coming together very well.

Wire baskets full of fabric scraps. May do this, on a smaller scale.

Ribbon board, might be better for a "gift-wrapping station."

Tiered muffin or cupcake plates to display balls of yarn.

I plan on having a small sampling of a variety of crafty items. Thread, fabric, zippers, needles, embroidery floss, papers, ribbon, lace, yarn, needles, scissors and much more! The Better Block is still three weeks away, but there's no doubt in my mind it will be here before we know it. I'm looking forward to meeting with my fellow pop-up tenants this week to discuss more details of our Craft Lounge and start mapping out our plan of attack. Wish me luck!

Monday Musebles

Art books full of how-to diagrams, $2.

I took Estate Shopping to a new level this weekend. I spent more than hour on Friday diagraming out my sale route, with driving directions and a map to boot. My friend Susie and I left around 8:30 and hit up about five or six sales.

Box of more than 120 spools of thread for $10. I needed that.

I managed to enter a family's house, that was not in fact an estate sale (in my defense, the signs were very confusing)...still not sure who was more surprised - me or the 8-year-old boy. I almost ran over a man who was stupidly close to a moving car and gave me the dirty look. We smelled odors on humans we should never (ever) smell. I discovered some super nice (and not so nice) neighborhoods to potentially consider for our eventual house hunt. But best of all, I got  great friend time adventuring around curious scenes for a morning.

Children's and Chanukah books, Boy Scout manuals, Esquire Bartending Guide, $4.

Oh, and we got some decent deals too! I also managed to get my name on two more Estate Sale Company's mailing list, so I'll be able to keep up my weekend sales attack :)

Box full of paint pallettes, clothes pins, tags, bags and cards, $2.50.