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What’s your favorite garage sale/thrift store/flea market find?

by on Apr 8, 2010

With the arrival of Curbly’s latest how-to manual, Make It! Secondhand Chic, just around the corner, it started me thinking about some of my most treasured secondhand finds. One found at a non-profit rummage sale was the glass container pictured below. Can you read what it says on the front? 

   

“Perfection Urine Specimen Bottle”. When I saw it, I cracked up. I HAD to buy it.    Perfection and urine are two words you don’t often see side by side. The bottle has retired from its old job and now holds flowers. (I particularly like to use it as a vase in the bathroom.)

Another favorite is a recent find. While looking for treasures to makeover for the new book, I spotted a glockenspiel in the housewares aisle at my local thrift store. After bringing it home and cleaning it up, I found the maker’s tag, Rhythm Band, on the back. A quick Google search told me that Rhythm Band is still in business making musical instruments for elementary schools. Although my glockenspiel looks as if it’s about 40 years old or so, Rhythm Band sells new ones, which they call Resonator Bells*, for anywhere from 150 to 300 bucks. My little prize set me back a whopping 7 bucks. 

created at: 04/08/2010

I took finding the glockenspiel as a karmic nod of thanks from the music gods as the week prior we donated our piano to Keys 4 Kids. 

SO…tell us…what are YOUR best garage sale/thrift store/flea market finds????

*I’m gonna stick to calling it a ‘glockenspiel’; it’s a great word and much more interesting than ‘resonator bells’, which makes me wanna yawn.