Thrift Hoard: Under Pressure

Can you believe it's been two whole weeks since I last blogged? I can. That's pretty typical of me. For frequent Craftthriftordie lookers, remember when I whined about how April is the cruelest month?
I take that back. August. August has been rough. 
I totally meant to write this last week, but then I wanted to work on refashions and two craft projects I was in the middle of (and wanted to blog about. I completed neither and did no blogging. If you can't finish one thing, why not try and finish twenty things? I always walk the line in between tuning out out into "no fucks given" zone, or busting my ass and getting shit done (while using profanity, apparently.)
In my last post, I gave a nod to one of my fave Queen songs (Fat Bottomed Girls) and received praise for it. So, this week, I give props to the Queen/David Bowie hit, "Under Pressure" with my title.
My plan for last week was to show you awesome crap that has been acquired and then provide some commentary on the state of yard sales and flea markets.

As I scope out my fellow thrifting blogger's posts, it seems we all have a similar mantra: leave no metal racks behind. Look at that little side table. It's just so sleek and didn't cost me an arm and a leg. That was one of the first things I bought when my sister and I hit up a flea market a couple weeks ago. First trip of the summer, what took me so long? I gave it a quick spray of black Krylon and listed it up. black metal side table

I also picked up that lovely lamp. It's just so beautiful with its curves bold color. I love how it's art deco, but looks like it was clearly inspired by nature, as well. Art deco doesn't usually have anything to do with nature, right? That period was in the 20s, with the jazz and the industrialization, and such.
Anyway, another unmarked piece of lighting that I've seen attributed to Royal Haeger Pottery, but I don't know. Also, this lamp was a steal. One can't always tell when forking over 3 bucks at a flea, getting all giddy at the deal, what the actual condition is. This one is kinda scratched. Seriously, who cares, it's an old lamp, and it's still nice! $20 for my green lamp on Etsy
Oh yeah, I was supposed to provide some commentary, a little editorializing on matters, if you will. I don't want to lose your attention, so first; here's another pic:

I purchased these slightly beat up canisters on that day.

You know what would be great? If one could get slightly better service from the rag tag dealers at the flea market.

Woah, don't look at me like that! I'm not talking about you people. 

I'm just saying that it would be nice to spend a leisurely morning browsing for old, rusty market treasures without having to hear about chips being implanted into the brains of patients under Obamacare. My word! Is everyone who sets up a booth in these places a tinfoil hat-wearing nutbag? I came to the flea market to rifle through your junk and then pay small amounts of money for neat, albeit sometimes useless items.

Like these vintage watercolor tins. What are those for? Free, so who cares.

Why yes, the United States is a great country where people can spout off whacked out conspiracy theories whilst trying to hawk vintage dishes and old nudie mags! Hey, if that's how you want to spend your Sunday...

Oh my god, I can't believe someone made this GIF. This is the GIF I need!

If you want to take the customer's money...maybe make an effort to not be a total creep? Maybe pay attention to the people who want to give you money in exchange for goods instead of shooting the breeze with the guy in the next booth about the Illuminati's plan to contaminate your water supply?

Hey. I'll show you some more pictures of things. Here's an adorable vintage Kodak Brownie in its cute little box. 

And that's a cute little Kodak "Flashfun" in a nice coral color. They're a package deal for $25.
Oh, and let me tell you about yard/garage/tag sales...
I wouldn't want to have one. You take the bulk of your spring/summer weekend to haul your old stuff outside, and if you're smart, arranging it nicely and attaching price tags. Of course, the price tags mean nothing, because no one (myself included) actually wants to pay for anything at a yard sale. So, to you brave souls, sweating away your leisure time for the sake of clearing out unused items to get some pocket change; I salute you.

However, to the folks who sold me this lovely 60s birdcage...Please remember that it's a yard sale, not Sotheby's auction house. This was an interesting sale. I'm assuming the man was a dealer, as his garage runneth over with good stuff. Clearly, this was not just a one day thing. It looked like the stuff had been there awhile. There was a considerable amount of digging and rummaging necessary to unearth good shit. And there was cobwebs and dirt.
Now, I don't mind that sort of thing...but it's gonna cost you. The people didn't want to budge on any of their "off the top of their heads" prices. The way I see it, if I have to knock a spider web off of an item, I'm practically doing you a favor in taking it off your property! I actually overheard the guy telling someone how much an item would go for on the internet.
I understand what he was saying; but we're not on the internet. You pay a much lower price when you brave the summer heat and dig through filthy, dusty boxes to find a filthy, dusty treasure.
So, of all the cool things they had (ships' wheel wall lamps, old dissection kit, mid century dollhouses, etc.) I just left with the bird cage that I paid 5 bucks for.

See, you can put plants in it! Aqua bird cage on Etsy.  
Last thing I'll show you is this game that I found. The man gave me this and some cool tiki mugs, for $2. That guy gets it.

The letters are so fun and I see many repurpose possibilities in this game. I haven't listed it yet. Oh and forgot to photograph my vintage books from the free pile. I'm humming "Under Pressure" again.
Linking up with Sir Thrift A Lot and maybe I'll actually look around for some other link ups.