Featured Items

Thankfully, the sale didn't start as early on Saturday as it did on Friday. Maybe the cloudy sky and sprinkles kept the shoppers away. But, we still needed an early start setting up because of the pouring rain from the night before. Everything needed to be uncovered or brought out from the basement. Posters needed to be re-posted. Brother Chris even drove around to tack up the drenched and drooping signs that were supposed to lead the drivers to my house. A few things had to be thrown away or thrown into the dryer because of the water, and a few new items were brought from the sellers' homes. It felt easier to get rid of the stuff as the weekend went on. Here are photos of just a couple of the tables near the end of the Saturday. As you can see from this glimpse, we still had quite a bit that didn't sell.












As promised, here are some of the absolutely gorgeous, completely stupendous, outstandingly fantastic items that we had a fun time featuring for our yard sale guests. I mean, who couldn't refuse these beauties?
Wooden Doll priced at 10 cents. With her 80s hairdo, rosy cheeks, and modest attire, she was well worth the steep price, but I would have given her away. However, it just didn't feel right to put her in the FREE box with the old maps, calendars, and Reader's Digests.
When the cards start streaming in at the holidays and you have no place to put your cards, you need this reindeer bin. We thought the buyers would fawn over him, but they only bucked at the price. Starting out at 75 cents and reduced to 50 cents, the guy still had no takers at a quarter.
What cat lover could refuse this purrrr-fectly delightful addition to their kitchen? (Apparently every single cat lover that attended our yard sale could!) This yellow and green feline paper towel holder was talked about and even picked up quite a few times, but I think they were laughing at her. Poor kitty. But, she's still smiling and doesn't seem to be hurt by the rejection.
A.... uh.... deer? This man-made creation is hard to understand or explain. A pair of eyes UNDER the nose? Say it ain't so! While this didn't sell, it was retrieved from the sale pile before we boxed things up. I think Lydia may have found it too difficult to part with this special guy.
This is the only "featured item" that actually sold - for the asking price of $1, no less. A kennel club certificate was included on the back of this long-haired dachshund portrait. While I don't remember his full registered name, we believe he was affectionately known as "Little Man." The name, birthdate, and date of death were handwritten in the certificate margins.

I admit it. Four of these five ridiculous items were actually mine. And, all four of them were obtained through the fun process of freecycling.

Have you ever freecycled? If you don't feel like having a yard sale but want to get rid of some stuff, you should check it out. The basics: You link yourself with a city or county. You list the stuff you want to get rid of. Everyone who wants it writes to you. You read through the emails and pick who gets it all for FREE. The winner comes to your place and picks all of it up at the designated time. Better yet, you can write in to the group and tell them if you are looking for anything. It's all free. The drawbacks? Every once in a while, in a group that includes something you really want, you end up with some extra stuff such as the funny items above. Many times, those items are then freecycled once again...and the process continues. It's amazing what is given away on freecycle... everything from washers and dryers, beds, and great living room furniture...down to trinkets, coupons, and craft materials. Anything that the owner doesn't want to deal with. It's just the recipients' responsibility to pick it up. I have learned this can be a great resource for a family in need while furnishing a home, a college student preparing a residence hall room or apartment, a young mother obtaining clothes for her children, or a hobbyist adding to his collection.

In all, after a lot of hard work these past few weeks, our homes are less cluttered, we earned a little money for our bills and for the church, and we had a ton of fun while hanging out in the backyard.


Tressa, all smiles, with a fancy shamrock headband and some fries during lunch. Abi and she were quite the little helpers!