{Garage Sale Finds}

It's Garage Sale Season!

Here are my finds from this past weekend:

This red coral pillow was $1.

It still had the original price tag on it for $19.

It smelled fresh and clean and came from what I could tell was an immaculate home, so I snatched it up.

It looks great on my wooden rocker.

I'm a bookworm.

I love decorating with books. Especially beautiful old books.

So when I found these delightful

1952 children's U.S. history books

at 3 for a quarter, I didn't even think twice.

Bonus:

My 9-year-old  son thinks they look great and can't wait to read them!

I spotted this cute teapot from the road and knew it was going to be mine...that is, if it was less than 5 dollars.

Lucky for me it was only $2!

I love it.

I'm always on the lookout for these memo boards to use for hair bow storage.

We have a lot of bows at our house.

You'd think I had a dozen daughters, but I have only two. 

My girls have never gone a day in their lives without a bow in their hair (you think I'm kidding, but no).

This is only about 1/3 of our collection.

So when I found this one still in its original packaging, I tried to strike a bargain with the seller. I offered $1.50, and she accepted!

It never hurts to try.

All in all, I'd say it was a very successful start to Garage Sale Season for me.

Here are some tips for you mommies out there:

You can go garage saling (I'm declaring that a real word) with your kids.

• Pack a lot of different kinds of snacks and some toys you wouldn't usually have in the car. I like giving them new stickers or notebooks with fun pencils that will keep them happy. And don't forget the sippy cups.

• I wait for a parking space that is right by where I'll be browsing, and I leave my kids in the car with the windows down so I can hear them and they can hear me. If I can't get a parking space right next to the driveway, then I wait for one. It's SO worth it to not have to get your kids out of the car and battle with them while you're looking for treasures. Also...if the sale goes deep into the garage and I'm forced to go inside where I can't be near or see my kids, I don't go in. No treasures are worth risking my family's safety.

• I also involve my kids when I'm looking for sales. They have competitions to see who can find the signs, and they love helping me look for the arrows to tell me where to go  (hopefully they won't take you to an octopus). The first one to actually spot the sale is the big winner! Sounds lame, but it works for us.

• The more fun you can make the whole adventure, the longer you can be out treasure hunting on Friday and Saturday mornings!

If you have any more tips, please let me know in the comments.

Have fun out there!

--Tammy