Trash to Treasure

We had our FIRST ever yard sale this past Saturday. It was an early morning, waking at 5:00 a.m. to get everything organized and accepting our first visitors at 7:00, but it was quite entertaining (especially since the boys decided to wake with us and were wide open the entire morning!). I'm sure we could have made double what we did, but my husband concluded that every person that came through didn't have much and so he would knock a good 50% off our already incredibly-low priced possessions. For example, an investment of collectible wrestling figures and accessories cost us over $500 and the entire lot was sold for $6! It was interesting to see the variety of people who came through and what they were interested in. One man came asking if we had guns or flea control medication for his dog! Two other men came with magnets and bought everything metal. One little proper lady bought a handful of paperbacks and a vampire cape and wig. People bought whole boxes of toys for less than $10. We spent a lot of time just talking to people, got to know our neighbors better and even met friends of past occupants of our house! We used our "profits" to buy halloween costumes for the kids and let the kids have money to buy a new toy - one that will probably end up in our next yard sale . . .

I like going to yard sales much better than hosting one though. It is a lot of work to clean up your own clutter. Plus, it really is sad to let go of items with attached memories - I ended up pulling several items before they could be purchased. There are so many great things that people get rid of in yard sale - one man's trash really is another's treasure. A few weeks ago I got 4 chairs for $5, painted them and they are our new dining room chairs. I also got a cute bookshelf for $10, cleaned it, sanded it, put a few new nails in, painted it and it is now an adorable addition to my daughter's nursery. Look at the pictures I've posted to see what you think.