What A Find!

I found an ad on Kijiji (Canadian Craig’s List) for a few vintage Fisher Price school buses, the Village, & the Bouncing Buggy.  It was only $10, & though I had a Village already, the one I have was pretty beat up & missing a piece of roof.

 

When I contacted the seller, she said she had a few more Fisher Price things that she hadn’t listed, but I could come & see what she had.  When I got to her place, she had a table with a few of the toddler toys, like the TV, the Clock Radio, & the Camera, as well as some pull toys, & poppers.

I don’t really collect any of the other Fisher Price things other than the old Little People.  That’s what I really like, & the playsets take up quite a bit of room as it is.  The kids are starting to really enjoy playing with the Little People, but are too old for any of the toddler toys.

 

I saw on the table the Sesame Street Club House.  I had played with this when I was younger, & really enjoyed it.  I’ve been looking for it for awhile, but it’s pretty hard to find, & the few times I’ve seen it for sale, it’s been quite expensive.  The lady asked if I was looking for anything in particular, & I named a few of the sets I don’t have, but I also asked if she had any accessories.  She brought out a box with a few people, & a few cars.  She told me she had a bit more in another room, & when she came back she was holding the CAMPER!!!!

 

She said, “I’ll let you have this, if you promise to love it.  It’s one of my favourites, & I don’t want to let just anyone have it.”

 

The camper is another hard to find set, & I had it when I was growing up as well.  So, I told her that I’d been looking for that as well, & she was quite pleased that her treasures were getting a good home where they would be appreciated & played with.

 

So, for my second $10, I got all this…

 

 

The Clubhouse (the tire swing on the front is broken, just like the one at my parents’ house) 

 

And the Camper, complete with truck, boat & ladder!

 

After we made the deal, she gave me a few more pieces for free.  We ended up with the Pull-a-Long Lacing Shoe, & the Tumble Tower which had been the lady’s when she was little.

Chancery & I were both quite happy with our findings this morning!

Bags of Loot

A few months ago there was a major “kid stuff sale” in town.  It was one of those sales that if you want to sell stuff, you buy a table or two for all your stuff.  There were not near enough tables for the number of people who wanted to sell stuff, so it ended up that there were a lot of people who just listed things they wanted to sell, on the Facebook page.  On woman had 2 bags of girl’s clothes for sale at $30 a bag, sizes 2-7.  I asked if she’d knock the price down for both bags & she agreed to sell them for $45.

Once I got everything washed & sorted, I was astounded at just how much clothing was there.  Each stack is a different size starting with size 2 on the left, up to size 7 on the far right.  Up until that point, Chancery had been wearing mostly cast-offs from Asher, & I cannot tell you how many times she was mistaken for a boy.  It was an honest mistake, when she’s wearing boy’s jeans, a blue t-shirt & a hunter green winter coat, having a headband in her hair just doesn’t seem like enough to offset all the boy coloured clothes.

 

 

 

I’ve got all the clothes organized & put in bins, & I think she’s pretty set for the next few years.  Sure, she’ll still end up with a few of Asher’s hand-me-downs, like coats & sweaters, but with all the pink & purple she’ll be wearing underneath, hopefully being mistaken for a boy will be a thing of the past.

Garage Saleing

Saturday was the annual 70 Mile Garage Sale on the island, so I headed out with Chancery to see what we could find.  I was hunting for some long sleeved shirts for her, and that was really the only thing I needed, though I’m always on the lookout for old Fisher Price toys as well.

 

We started off slowly, not really finding anything good.  I picked up a few T-shirts for Asher, but there wasn’t much out there for Chancery.  It didn’t take long for me to shed my sweater.  It had been a cool morning, but it was quickly warming up.  A few garage sales later I could hardly stand the heat in my long sleeved shirt, so I shelled out 50¢ for a tank top (don’t worry, it was clean) & I was ready to hit a few more sales.

 

Apparently my garage saleing skills were a bit rusty as I totally missed out on the complete set of Little House on the Prairie books for $5, simply b/c I didn’t grab them when I first laid eyes upon them.  I learned my lesson & got down to business.  No other deals would be missed!

 

When I spied an 80 piece wooden train set touting “no missing pieces!” I grabbed it before Chancery had even noticed & that’s saying something, she can spy the toys at a garage sale almost before we’ve gotten out of the car.  It was marked for $25, but I wasn’t willing to pay that much for it.  I had a choice.  I could approach the woman who was wearing the money belt, or I could ask the man who was chowing on a burger if they’d take less…

 

Of course I went to the man!  He asked, “Was that at OUR table?”  As more proof that he was just happy to be rid of more ‘junk’, he accepted my lower bid & then asked, “How much change do I owe you?”  I probably could have gotten away with it for $10, but I stuck with the $15 we had agreed on.  It just goes to show that usually if you want to talk someone down on prices, it’s best to negotiate with the men since the women have a harder time seeing something of value go for less.  Of course, this same principle is reversed when it comes to tools!

 

Sadly, I didn’t find any great Fisher Price toys this time, but I had a great time looking everything over.  Since Chancery was born it just makes garage saleing more difficult when you have to get 2 kids out at every stop & they throw fits when you don’t let them have the grungy old stuffed toys they have just discovered, but now they love them so much & they just can’t go on if they can’t take them home RIGHT NOW!

 

I got home & was so excited to show PChad my awesome new trains that I got, but his first remark was, “What are you wearing?”  After he got over my new wardrobe, he was quite impressed with the train set too.