Not that the weather here in Ohio has been cooperating, but yard sale season is starting to heat up and I've compiled my list of things we need to find at yard sales this summer that we can also use to decorate our houses.
Because yard sales are a great place to find inexpensive (ridiculously inexpensive), fun, quirky finds for the home. So without further ado, I give you my . . .
Top 5 Things To Look For At Yard Sales This Year:
Paint By Number Sets
I love a good "tacky" paint by number in a vignette and even more so when done as a whole gallery wall!
Why oh why did I throw away the horse I painstakingly painted when I was ten years old.
Source: Shannon Berry Design
Source: At Home On The Bay
Source: Midwest Living
Pam at Retro Renovation has a nice guide all about vintage Paint By Number sets if you want to know more about them.
Vintage Summer Sports Gear
Don't worry, you don't have to actually USE it (wouldn't want to break a sweat or anything), but vintage summer sports gear is cute to put on the porch or use in the house for a touch of summer home decor.
And for some reason, people at yard sales have no idea how desirable this stuff is.
Anything from croquet sets to badminton racquets to bow and arrow sets are fair game.
My Summer Home Decor post from last year showed a vintage wooden croquet box along with croquet mallets in an olive bucket and
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Summer Home Decor
croquet balls, wickets and goal stakes on the coffee table.
Source: House of Hawthornes, Summer Home Decor
In my Vintage Eclectic Style - Kicking Traditional To The Curb post I show some vintage badminton racquets simply leaning up beside the front door.
Source: House of Hawthornes, Vintage Eclectic Style - Kicking Traditional To The Curb
Or you can throw some shuttlecocks in a truck and call it summer like I did in my Vintage Eclectic Summer Vignette.
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Vintage Eclectic Summer Home Tour
BTW, this is in no way an ad for Coke. I like the stuff, but I really was just using the bottles for another pop of red.
I even used a croquet set on my Summer 2012 Front Porch Decor
Dead Animals aka Deer Heads
Deer heads, antlers, stuffed cats. It's all good.
Although, probably the dumbest thing I ever bought at a yard sales was a set of turkey feet. Claws and all.
So yes Virginia, you CAN go overboard on the dead animal thing. But a good head does look darn cute in a cabin or holiday theme (may they rest in peace).
Source: Maison Douce
Source: Circa34 via Eclectically Vintage
Of course, there's always my friend hanging out in my living room from my Vintage, Rustic, Industrial Holiday Home Tour.
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Vintage, Rustic, Industrial Holiday Home Tour
Picnic Baskets
Yogi Bear had a soft spot for picnic baskets and so do I.
Source: Remodelista
I keep all sorts of things in my picnic baskets and it's rarely a soggy sandwich. They're great for hiding craft supplies and fabric.
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Vintage Farmhouse Storage Ideas
Or for holding a tray of faux caramel apples.
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Fall Home Decor Tour
Wait for it . . .
Thermoses
You knew that one was coming!
Thermoses are just too darn cool and too darn cheap at yard sales not to buy up every single one you find. I like to group them together.
Source: House Of Hawthornes, The Making Of A Vintage Thermos Collection
And sometimes use them as vases like I did in my Valentine's Day Chalkboard Vignette.
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Valentine's Day Chalkboard Vignette
One of my most fun finds this past year was an Aladdin thermos bottle with an original label still attached. You never see THAT!
Source: House Of Hawthornes, Shopping The Country living Fair
Wow, that sounds dorky, but some people love their Star Wars . . . I love my thermoses.
I even made a lamp out of a Thermos jug.
I may have met my match for thermos collecting though with Jann at Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson.
Source: Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs. Olson
So that's my top 5 Things To Look For At Yard Sales This Year, what's on your list?
Like this post? Check out some of these other related posts:
- 40 Yard Sale Tips For Hosting Your Own Sale
- Top 10 Thrift Store Shopping Tips
- A Letter To All Thrift Store Workers
After I wrote this piece some blogging friends decided to compile their own lineup of The Top 5 Things To Look For At Yard Sales. Pop on over and see what made their lists!
Brocante Treasures
My Thrift Store Addiction
Adirondack Girl At Heart
Distressed Donna Down Home
Eddie-torial Comments
Bella Rosa Antiques
Snug Harbor Bay
Itsy Bits & Pieces
Panoply
Monkeybox
Thrifty Rebel
Amy
I absolutely love the deer head in a frame. How do I accomplish this look
Sue Pagels
I know this is probably a decades old post by now 😉 but I had to tell you that I have a tabletop croquet set and tabletop bowling set we used as kids! And it was old then - still have a soft spot for these old pieces! What a great post - love it all (well, except for the deer heads and/or other dead animals) and especially love the chair covered in the striped blanket! And the paint by numbers (I have cat ones)...and the thermoses!
Pam
No, it's really only from last year 🙂 It's really odd, but I just can not find paint by numbers any more. I used to see them all over the place, but I haven't ran across a single one all summer.
Lisa
Pam, thanks so much for sharing this over at the Favorite Five Party last month!
Naomi S.
Oh, I just wanted to add that I am working on my own list of things I look for at yard sales and will share it soon. I'm sure you all will find it "interesting" and perhaps quite out of fashion!
Pam
I'd love to see your list Naomi! I wonder if we're around the same age though? I'm going to be 55 shortly.
I think one of the main reasons I love thermoses is that I can remember them from when I was a kid. My parents never bought me a real lunchbox (we didn't have a lot of money, so I always had to use a brown paper lunch sack) and I was always envious of the kids who got to carry the lunchboxes. I think one of the first thermos/lunchbox items I bought was one of the plaid lunchboxes I remember the other girls having in 1st grade:) And then I found a matching thermos to go with it and then it's snowballed from there!
Naomi S.
Well, I just don't know. Maybe it's my age and I grew up using those old thermoses, but they just don't appeal to me as decorative items. Now, if they had great resale value, maybe I could work up a little enthusiasm. And I can't say I am interested in hanging dead animals on my walls. The picnic baskets are more appealing, although, when I stores stuff I need it to be in something that is mouse-proof. I do kind of like the old paint-by-number canvases. I painted a pair of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans when I was around ten, which I still have.
It certainly is interesting the things that people decide they like or are "in". Aren't we all just unique and in our own class with our tastes and loves? Variety--the spice of life, as they say!
Well, I hope all of you are successful in your yard sale searches for all those prized items that are "in" this summer. I will not be any competition for you, promise!
Tuula @ Thrifty Rebel Vintage
Love your list Pam, and thanks for letting us get in on this with Melissa. Although they didn't make my list I pick up practically every picnic basket that I see. I just love the way they look, and the paint by numbers are awesome and a have a few. I might just have to add that to my list.