Friday's Finds: Free Box Bonanza

Last night my husband spotted a classified ad for a "barn sale" not too far from us, so this morning we decided, since we had other errands to do, that we might as well take a look. (Big surprise, eh?)

When we tracked it down, we realized it was a location we'd been to before--a barn, yes, but more or less a permanent hoarder's stash that is opened up a couple of times a year for those who like to rummage.  Most of it isn't terribly interesting. There are the ubiquitous piles of empty baskets, throw pillows, and mismatched dishes, old unused candles and Wal-Mart detritus. However, this time they had a FREE box outside the door.  And that's as far as I got.

Take a look:

The little ones were fascinated by this pile of grubby old toys... even Peppy slipped up to snatch a decapitated vintage Barbie head to examine more closely.

Yes, all this came from the free box.  I've only had time for a cursory examination so far, but there are vintage Barbies, a Tutti, some of those dolls from the Ideal family (can't think of their names--Pepper? Penny Brite?) as well as some vintage Ideal fashion doll knock-offs. 

Then, of course, there were the vintage My Little Pony figures made in Hong Kong. I've written about them here before. With a bit of cleaning, hair restyling, and research as to their individual identities, these will sell easily on Etsy. I have here not only ponies, but unicorns, a giraffe, and even a pony with a fire helmet...  Fascinating!  And freebies to boot.

I'll share more photos soon when I manage to clean these up a bit.

Then, when I finally got inside the barn, I found a few more dolls at fifty cents apiece:

I'm counting on my doll collector daughter to help me identify the various Barbies acquired in this haul.

Last night I got out my trusty scissors and paper punches and made some cute gift tags which I'll be putting up for sale in Peppy's shop shortly. The little pomeranian is taken from one of the antique greeting cards in my collection, the same collection I use for making the magnetic bookmarks, only this one is damaged on the back so I haven't been able to make an acceptable bookmark with it--yet. I do have plans to try and repair the card.

The Christmas buyers are already out in force. The night before last I had the shock of my Etsy life--someone purchased SWEENEY!

Oh, me of little faith... Though I put my little dachsund up for sale, I never really expected anything to come of it. And now, little Sweeney the Weenie is on his way to be a Christmas present! I wrapped him in the cutest dachsund print fabric bag.  Here's the fabric, which I purchased at JoAnn's:

 I have more to write about, but time is short for today, so I'll close for now, and I hope to add another post over the weekend.

Meanwhile, I want to share a link Vanessa sent me. Some of you who have been following this lame excuse for a blog over the last several months (and you do have the right to remain silent) will remember that Vanessa's beloved Maine Coon cat, Merrill, died after a brief illness. I'm happy to report she has a new fur baby, a delightful little bundle of personality and energy named Sophie. Flicker won't let me post the photo, but they will allow me to post the link, so take a look. It's a great shot.  Sophie is a doll!
  
http://www.flickr.com/photos/89240468@N03/8149035085/

Oh, and check out these treasuries if you have time. All three of my shops are featured in this one, by the Holiday Addicts Team. You can find sale coupon codes for all the shops represented as well:

www.etsy.com/treasury/MjYzMjk5MDJ8MjcyMzU1MTI5Ng/all-weekend-holiday-shopping-bnr-new

And these are some I've made recently, of which I'm particularly proud. I'd love for you to take a look, and perhaps leave a comment.

 http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTYzNzA5MTZ8MjcyMDk3Mjk5NQ/electric-bluewhat-a-hue

 http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTUzNDcxMDN8MjcyMDk4MzYyNw/orange-you-glad

  http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTUzNDcxMDN8MjcyMDc3MTY3NQ/the-lavender-blue-cast-of-melancholy

 www.etsy.com/treasury/MTA0ODU1ODB8MjcyMzUwNTEyNg/rumplestiltskins-legacy

www.etsy.com/treasury/MTA0ODU1ODB8MjcyMDg1ODQ1MQ/a-treasury-riddle-can-you-name-the-poem?