Monday, October 29, 2012

Thrift Report: Not-As-Extreme Thrifting


Last October, I went back to Louisville and shopped for an entire weekend and scored BIG - I shared my finds in my "extreme thrifting" post last year.

This year, I only had a few hours to shop so I made the most of it and I am pretty happy with my finds!

louisville october 2012d

Paint-by-numbers have found a place in my heart, but they have been hard to come by for me. I rarely find them! I loved this one of the ballerinas. You know I can't resist a travel bag! 

I have been wanting to learn how to draw/doodle better, so I picked up this cute "Build A Doodle" book for $1. My mom found the lampshades for me months ago and I finally got to bring them home. 

louisville oct 2012

I hope scales are still popular because I bought another one! I love crewel-work and I'm hoping someone will fall in love with these little mushrooms! Most of my finds were just a tiny bit outside of my natural aesthetic but I felt a lot of pressure to find, find, find because I drove 3 hours and wanted to come home with a full car. The horse planter and the chalk owl and the mushrooms are all a bit outside of my go-to aesthetic but I think they'll fit in with my booth, in the long run.

louisville oct 2012b
I loved this owl's pretty eyes. :) I bought another little scale because I had a similar one in my booth and it sold last year. Here's hoping this one sells as well!

I love old magazine racks and thought this one was cool. There are dealers named The Blue Spruce that are in a few "peddler's malls" that I go to. I always like to buy from them - they normally have really great deals on mid-century stuff. 

I do NOT need another suitcase but the price was right and I'm doing an in-person fair soon (more on that later!) and thought a hard suitcase would be good for a display of some sort.

louisville oct 2012c

Loved this Christmas apron and Christmas angel! We have a generic star for our tree so I was thinking about keeping this angel for home! 

The picnic basket I had in my booth for over a year FINALLY sold and this one was a good price, so I picked it up. It might have been a mistake since it took the other one soooo long to sell, but I have hope that it will sell in the spring.

Last time I bought one of these "state plates" from The Blue Spruce, it sold in a heartbeat. Are they worth something? That's the problem with me... I don't really take the time to research prices. I just feel an intuition on prices and go with it. It was also a Tennessee plate, so maybe a tourist* picked it up or maybe someone was feeling pride in their home state. Let's hope New Jersey sells quickly too. :)

*If you sell in a booth, do you find that you get a lot of tourists? Maybe it's because Nashville is such a tourist destination, but I feel like most of the people I meet while I'm stocking my booth are visiting Nashville and shopping. Thrifting/antique-mall shopping is my favorite thing to do when I travel, so I totally understand, but I just wondered if this was a common thing. Let me know! :)



If you're new to Owl Really, welcome! Please check out my favorite posts and consider subscribing! :)

11 comments:

  1. I will buy that scale!!!! Love all your finds!

    I see state tins/plates like that all the time! I will start buying them!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think about 50% of my customers are tourists - a lot of them come from Canada. It helps that my antique market is right on Route 1. I have noticed that anything that is Maine-related sells - most likely to a tourist as a souvenir. I do the same thing when I am traveling.

    I love that paint-by-number with the ballerinas btw. I have never seen that one before. Also, I have started to venture out of my own aestetic style as well. I used to say that I could keep about 90% of my booth in my own house - that is now down to about 60%. But kitsch sells, so hey - in the booth it goes - as long as it sort of fits the general theme :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Also, everything "vintage Florida" sells - maybe because so many Mainers spend their winters in Florida? Plates, trays and salt and pepper shakers from Florida have all sold pretty quickly - and also older Disney mugs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I guess we die-hard thrifters will thrift anywhere we go. :)
    great finds! I never see crewel and or paint by numbers...maybe I'm not looking hard enough. I'll keep a better eye out for those items for you. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh my gosh - I know you think that this is "not as extreme" but this is a killer stash! I love the paint by numbers and the deer figurine. Great finds!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well, you have to remember that most people who live in Nashville started out as tourists & transplants too. So yeah, doesn't surprise me that most of your customers are tourists - I think most of the people here overall are tourists & transplants. Being from here is apparently rare :B haha!

    ReplyDelete
  7. i think my favorite thing is the ballerina paint by number! the colors are great! and i totally vintage shop when i'm out of town. you find such different stuff in different regions.

    ReplyDelete
  8. DV - You really want the scale? We could work something out but shipping might be highish? :)

    MM - We are on the same page! Do you think sometimes, "Man, if I just bought this shabby chic thing and spray painted, I could make a lot of money... but I wouldn't be true to myself!" Sometimes it bugs me that people can get away with selling shabby chic for an arm and a leg and I'm slugging my smalls a few dollars at a time. :)

    Mom - definitely keep an eye out for paint by numbers, please! :) I will pay up to $7 for them - I am cheap. ;-)

    Maddie - Thanks!

    Ladybird - you're very right! Almost everyine is a transplant! I happily married a native - I like that he has history here. :) It's fun to drive around and learn about what used to be where or hear his memories around town!

    Rae - I think the ballerinas need to find a home with you pink landscapes in your case! :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thrifting while on travel is often the highlight of my trips!! In fact, I was down in Nashville yesterday (from Louisville, ironically!) and had to stop at the GW outlet. I didn't find much this time around, but it was fun none-the-less!

    ReplyDelete
  10. i love that kitchen scale! i might have to make a trip out to your booth ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I have a shop in Austin and we have a lot of tourist shoppers too. I always buy those state plates and they are good sellers! I try to be selective and only buy the super awesome ones. I usually sell them for about $12 each (both the ceramic and metal ones.)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for visiting and for leaving a comment! I try to reply by email to most comments - if you are a blogger user, please make sure you have your email address set so that you're not a "no-reply" user.