The Quest for Materials

There are many reasons to love summer; warmth, flowers, swimming, fireflies, grilling, gardening, and spending time outdoors.  One activity that I look forward to every summer is going to yard sales.

On the Saturday mornings that we have no plans, my husband and I have a ritual. We search through Craigslist for local yard sales. We usually don’t have to travel too far and rarely come home empty handed. Often, we meet interesting people in our town.

Today, we went to a barn sale, which was actually a garage and driveway sale,  and a flea market that was held on the grounds of a local church, and included multiple vendors who were selling vintage items. While my husband ran an errand,  I  was able to visit my favorite place for gathering supplies; Hoffman’s Barn in Red Hook, NY, which sells used vintage furniture and housewares.

At garage sales, my husband usually searches for computer parts, gardening tools, and musical instruments, while I search for materials to use in my mosaic pieces. I look for items that have a wooden base, china dishes, bottles, boxes, silver plated dishes, old photos, and vintage books.

Today, we both got lucky. I came home with a vintage wooden framed mirror, a wooden bread tray with handles, 2 vintage bottles, 4 flowered china teacups, a silver plated plate, and an aluminum bowl. My husband came home with a computer to refurbish, a mechanical drum set, and after having a conversation with a garage sale seller, he was offered one a free ticket to the Clearwater Festival for tomorrow!

Jenny - Reclaimed Designs