Is there an Elephant in the Room?

Let's hope so!! Much to my great delight, I have discovered a whole new genre of thrifty goodness! Last week, I nearly caused my husband to run off the road when I suddenly shrieked out "Oh My God!" as he was pulling out of a parking lot. He thought he was about to run over a pedestrian, and was none too happy with me when I confessed that my outburst was due to having spotted a sign on the church lawn across the street advertising a "White Elephant" sale this weekend. A white elephant sale? What was this? I had participated in white elephant exchanges at holiday parties in the past, but had never encountered a rummage sale with this label before. I whipped out my iPhone and quickly punched in a reminder.

After my morning hair appointment today, I raced to the other side of the center.  With great anticipation, I entered the White Elephant sale. It was small but seemed to have a nice range of items. I immediately was drawn to the two large tables of Christmas decor. I discovered a box of vintage bird ornaments, 50 cents each. I took two to add to my growing collection of feathered friends. Someday I will have enough to decorate an entire Christmas tree. Since I now have a little more space to play around with at home, I plan to have several Christmas trees each holiday season, each with its own theme. I may have to work up to this, and my goal this year is just to have three. More on this later, as I further develop my plans...

After carefully investigating the rest of the Christmas goods, I moved on to the china and glassware. I selected two glass containers that had nice shapes. I plan to use that looking glass paint to turn them into faux antiqued mercury glass. They will look awesome with the rest of my vintage Christmas decorations this year!  I will post an "after" shot once they are complete.

I also scored a vintage Texas Rangers bobblehead. I believe at the time this was made, they were called "nodders." I have no great love for the Texas Rangers, but this will look ever so cute in my son's bedroom, which is being furnished with a "vintage sports" theme. So far, I have collected old weathered table tennis paddles and a tennis racket, a set of ceramic quarterback bookends probably dating to the 1960s, and some felt pennants. I am just about ready to implement my decorating scheme, and when I do, I will post pictures of it, too.

Although I definitely plan to keep the nodder, out of curiosity, I had to sneak a peek on ebay to see if my little guy could fetch a few bucks. A couple of examples popped up immediately, with one going for around $30. Not bad, considering I paid only 50 cents for mine! 

At the same table as the nodder, I uncovered two pairs of unused vintage ladies' white gloves. I love throwing dress up parties for children, so these just might come in handy some day. Usually well-used examples go for upwards of $5 in thrift stores, so I felt good about getting both pairs for only $1.50. One came in its original bag; the other has pretty mother-of-pearl buttons at the wrists. These were a nice find.

And then I spotted a little nostalgic find: a book of children's seals from the 1970s. I grew up using this brand of decorative seal and although I don't remember this particular booklet, I have been searching for some (particularly the Christmas and Valentine's sets, FYI!). These are in mint condition, with all the seals there. Tucked inside the booklet were sheets of nature seals that I believe came from Ranger Rick or some other publication and also date to the 1970s. I might give those to my kids to use, but I will keep the Dennison's for myself. At least for awhile. I also picked up a cute mini Cape Cod souvenir booklet. It is in great condition and was just too cute to leave behind.

In the end, I decided I very much like White Elephant sales. The prices were very reasonable, there was a nice selection of goods, and no admission fee. I will be keeping my eyes and googling fingers on high alert for more!