Rummage sale weekend!

I've never been much of a thrift shopper. I think I get annoyed at looking through so much "junk" to find so few treasures, but this past weekend was the "Around the Town Rummage Sale" weekend in the town where I work. Since there were a few of them on Friday, I decided to hit them after work, and boy, am I glad I did!

My finds:

An awesome top - empire-waisted, plunging front and back, tag still attached! (And it's only a medium! Guess the zumba and running are paying off!)

A pair of super cute sandals. They're a size too small, but I have such trouble finding sandals I like and that fit, and they're close enough to my size that I can live with them. These are also near new - the plastic size stickers on the bottoms are still there. They came from the same sale as the top.

The nifty little gadget sitting on the toes is a writing guide. I didn't even know they made such a thing. It's basically a ruler with a whole bunch of loops out one side. These loops form a visual line on the paper, and they're flexible, so they'll move out of the way easily for doing descending letters. This is so much better than drawing lines and then erasing them after the lettering is done.

Some gorgeous candy cane candles. Three pillars with a mirror, and the floaters were found at a completely different sale, yet they go so well together. I almost can't wait for Christmas now, so I can put them out.

Large plastic drawers. I have a stack of these next to my studio table, and I love them, but they're too small for my larger sketchbooks, matboard, canvas, etc., so these larger ones will be wonderful!

I'm going to reveal my true dorkiness here, but I grew up with these things, and I can't seem to eat corn on the cob without them now. If you haven't seen these, they're just awesome. The dishes are shaped to hold your cob of corn just perfectly (and keep the butter in place instead of all over the plate), and the ends are notched to allow the picks into the ends of the cob. The picks have two prongs that you stick into each end of the cob, and voila! You can pick up the cob without getting butter all over your hands! Best invention EVER!

This might be another revelation of my dorkiness, but I actually bought my husband's birthday present at a garage sale. He's a John Deere fanatic, so when I found this perpetual calendar with 12 miniature JD collector plates, complete with certificate of authenticity for $25, I knew it was perfect for him! Now I just have to hide it until July!

And missing from the first photo, but by far the best find of the day - an Epson Stylus NX415 printer/scanner for $20!!!

 Only a year or two old, it came with the installation software, owner's manual, and a half dozen extra ink cartridges - everything but the USB cable. I was nervous buying something like this on a rummage sale, but since buying our Mac, I've had to print everything with the transfer file to flash drive, boot up the Dell computer, and print on the ancient Dell printer method. Extra great since the scanner on the Dell quit working, and I've been without scanning capabilities for too long.

Total for the weekend (including "Shallow Hal" on DVD and a dozen homemade monster cookies, neither pictured): $66! I think I could turn into one of those crazy people who waits outside the garage until the sale starts! :)

What are your thoughts on rummage sales? Fun? Too much effort for the possible rewards?