My Best Garage Sale Finds

I've been a garage saler since the 80's; sometimes I'm more rabid about going out, and sometimes less. I'm in a "more" phase right now because I'm redecorating many rooms in our house. Back in the 80's and early 90's I was mainly looking for childrens' clothes and toys. Now and then I found some household item I needed, but I don't think I ever looked for furniture. Now furniture is what I mainly look for.

The Nester asked on her blog, "What is your best garage sale find EVER?" That is hard for me to answer: Just one item? I've found a number of great deals throughout the years. Here are a few of them. Cute cradle was a bit dirty, but only $5. We found it just in time for the arrival of grandson #2.

Cute all-wood high chair, very dirty but already painted white. It was the end of the day; I got it for $2.

Before I stripped it, this dresser had an ugly black glaze on it. I paid $10.

This cake dome and pedestal plate cost me only $1 for the two pieces.

There is quite a story behind it: I had really been wanting a cake dome (I already had a set of three pedestal plates, so I wasn't looking for that), and I found a nice heavy one for $5 at a garage sale early last year. I picked it up, and suddenly I realized that there was an emergency up the driveway by my car. Not wanting to run off with someone's merchandise, I quickly put it down and ran toward my car. But the seller stopped me and said it was ok; my car was fine. I turned back around and the dome was GONE. What happened to it? There was only one other customer there at the time and she was on the far side of the garage. I looked all over, then I saw that other customer had it in her hands. She had moved very quickly to grab it and then move back to her original position. Very sneaky. I lost out.

A month or so later I was at another garage sale with very poor directional signs. I saw an identical dome with a cake pedestal~ what did she want for it? She said $1 for the two pieces. I was amazed! I didn't mention that I didn't need the pedestal.

This year, at our annual garage sale, I sold the pedestal alone for $2. That makes the dome FREE! And I have the satisfaction of knowing that sometimes good things come to the kinder people.

This child's play table and chairs cost $13 last year. I have since painted all of it white and my grandsons have it in their bedroom.

None of the items in this photo cost me more than $1. The Chocolat sign, my favorite piece, was $1; the eight linen napkins were 50 c

A beach-theme quilt and two shams, $5

An authentic German dirndl, $15

Another favorite that I don't have a photo of is my chest freezer, which cost me $30.

Today I'm linking to The Nester's garage sale party!