Thrift Share Monday

It's time for Thrift Share Monday hosted by Apron Thrift Girl. And I'm glad it's Monday - the Saturday yard sales wiped me out. We went to about 15 sales and (unfortunately) only two were worth the time. I think a lot of people running yard sales around here have mistaken their beat up card tables set up in their yard for an antique store. I want to let sellers in southern Oregon in on a little secret-just because something is old doesn't mean it's automatically worth a lot of money. If you're wondering why late in the afternoon on the second day of your sale you've barely sold anything it's because your prices are TOO HIGH. Yes, those clip-on Christmas birds from the 50s are worth more than 25 cents but only if they are in GOOD condition. I realize condition is open to interpretation but when parts are falling off, the paint is peeling and pieces are missing that is not generally considered good condition. And sellers, please stop trying to pass off 10 year old technology as something more than a doorstop. I know you paid a lot for it all those years ago but here's another secret - it's not worth anything anymore. And please don't dump it off at the local thrift center when you can't sell it because they can't sell it either.
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OK, I'm done now. Just a wee bit frustrated. I found this little lovely in a free bin:We didn't know what it was but we took it home to ID it. It's a farrier knife from Heller Bros Co, Newark. These were made without patents before 1902 (we think) and we can't find the patent so it's pretty old.
We went to a sale where they were pretty much giving it all away. There were clothes that fit Kelly in their rather generous free bin:All those jeans will be good for work clothes. They were selling other things for prices so cheap that even I (cheapskate that I am) was embarrassed. I picked up this embossing tool:

There were various other items thrown in and also embossing powder. I haven't used one of these before but I've heard of them so I thought I'd give it a whirl. All for $1. I found this nice mosaic plate for 25 cents:It seems like something that would come from Pottery Barn but it wasn't marked in any way so I have no idea. Definitely newer, made in China in the last 5 years or so. I love the colors. I also scored this lamp:For 50 cents. It was so cheap that I was actually confused. It works, it's clean and well made, all the parts are there. When I saw the price on this lamp I began to wonder if this was in fact the seller's stuff or if it really belonged to someone else, like the owner of the house who is away on vacation. They seemed like really nice folks so I didn't dwell on it but it did flit through my mind.
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We ended up at one other really amazing sale. There was a sub-division with many sales going on. Kelly picked up some guy stuff here and there but I was still empty handed after the 6th house. We then passed a sale where 2 couples were shouting out "everything 25 cents". They had boxes and boxes of all kinds of books and pottery and odd stuff like this embroidered bird:

Someone had some mad skills. There was a much bigger piece with jungle animals all over it and I'm kicking myself for leaving it there. After all, it was only 25 cents. But sometimes I'm an idiot. I also found these intriguing buttons:
And this absolutely silly but lovable fish plate which I just had to have:
This is something called 1000 faces china, made in Japan:We bought this one by accident. I thought Kelly wanted it and he thought I wanted it so it ended up in the pile unquestioned. I'm happy about it as I rather like it. You can see the faces in the center rings.
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Lastly, there was a set of four Santa mugs. I don't usually buy Christmas stuff but these were cute and I'll use them for holly vases when the season calls for it.
Please post your own thrifting adventure over at Apron Thrift Girl. I want to know what treasures you found this weekend.