Christmas...

It was a wonderful Christmas at our house.  All my kids were home and everyone got along pretty well.  For what more can a mother ask?







My youngest helped make the traditional Candy Cane Braided Fruit Bread...

My husband had this bread growing up and it became a tradition in our home as well.  It is a sweet fruited yeast bread creation.

Oldest son and daughter cutting up in the kitchen...

As the new year approaches I am contemplating all for which I am thankful - family being way high on the list - I am grateful for them and all with which I have been blessed.  God is good.   Happy New Year to you and yours!

Leah

Update on Recent Resells...

Remember the vintage German Silver belt buckles I picked up for a buck each?  The peace sign with inlaid turquoise went for $16.51 and the Brass Eagle with inlaid abalone went for $29.00... not too bad of a flip.

I sold most of the Lenox Winter Greetings dishware I posted but, due to an error on my part, will probably lose most if not all profit.  I accidentally mailed one piece to the wrong buyer.  I realized it later that same day and emailed him, offering him free shipping on his order if he would ship the other back to me.  Then I reimbursed him for everything.  Still have heard no word from him and it has been a week.  I'm sure he had probably already left for the holidays and will be in touch.  However, felt I needed to reimburse the other buyer, although she stated she was in no hurry for the item.  I plan to send it to her if it gets returned.  We shall see.  What a mess I created. Something to be careful of when prepping things for shipping ahead of time.

I'll be joining Selena's Thrift Share Monday here http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/ .  Hope you had a wonderful Christmas with those you love.  Blessings for the New Year! Leah :)

Reselling and Shipping Fine Dishware...

I posted awhile back about a friend giving me several pieces of Lenox Winter Greetings Everyday dishware.  I listed some of them (was thinking about keeping a few:) and three out of four sold yesterday.  The small serving bowl brought the highest price at $24.99, cup brought $9.99 and one luncheon plate brought $4.95.  I have only received payment on the luncheon plate, which weighed more than I thought, leaving me a profit of only $2.74, but the others will be higher.

I have only been reselling for a short while, there are more sage sellers out there from whom to learn, but here is something I have gleaned... When packing use plenty of padding to keep the plate from moving in the box and make sure there are several inches of padding on all sides.  To be really safe you can double box the item, using plenty of padding in both boxes.  Just make sure you do this before listing so you charge enough shipping.  If a piece sells for more than I am willing to lose, which for me is around $10-$15 including shipping, I insure it as well.  It is important to keep customers happy and being able to reimburse them for a broken object helps.

Vintage Belt Buckles...

Anyone have experience selling belt buckles?  I found these two at a yard sale yesterday.  One is made from German Silver and inlaid turquoise, which is not silver at all, but a mix of copper, nickel and zinc. I believe the second one is also German silver with a brass eagle and inlaid abalone shell.  They are listed on Ebay.  Will see what happens.

I'll be joining Selena's Thrift Share Monday here: http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/2011/12/thrift-shar-monday-my-christmas-wish.html . Join the fun and see what goodies others have found. :)

Reselling Flatware, Perfume... Updates

You may recall I purchased a 42 piece set of Oneida Dover 18/10 Flatware recently.  Paid $65.00.  Listed and sold it on Ebay for $194.99.  I was pretty happy with that flip.

I also sold the two partially filled perfumes I picked up at another thrift store.  The Burberry Brit, 85% full, 3.3 oz. bottle was purchased for $7 and sold for $34.  The Chanel Coco Mademoiselle 50% full bottle was purchased for $5 and sold for $32.80.  Again, I was happy with the return on original investment.

One lady needed to buy this sweet Peanuts ornament early and upgrade to priority shipping to have it in time for an exchange.  I added a Buy It Now option and she was very happy to receive it for $1 more and $2-$3 more shipping.


The icing on the cake of all these sales was that the buyers were delighted with their purchases.  I have been blessed with some pretty great customers this year!  Of course, there have been a couple snarky ones, but overall they have been wonderful. :)

I'll be joining Selena's Thrift Share Monday here: http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/  Come check out all the thrifted goodies.

Chocolate Coconut Bon Bon Recipe

Chocolate Coconut Bon Bon Recipe

1 14oz. bag coconut
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/3 C chopped pecans
2 bag of chocolate chips
1/2 bar parafin

Mix coconut, milk and pecans the night before rolling and chill in freezer for ease of rolling.   Roll coconut mixture into one inch balls - or the size you like.  Chill again while preparing chocolate coating.

Melt parafin and chocolate chips separately.  Melt chips in microwave dish for one minute on high, stir and then heat at 30 second intervals, stirring in between till melted.  Melt parafin in pan on stove top on low just till melted.  Don't heat parafin too high or it will burn chocolate.  Once melted stir parafin into melted chocolate.

Roll coconut balls around in chocolate with a fork and then place on wax paper covered cookie sheet.  When full, place sheet in freezer to set.  Candy must be stored in the frig or freezer. Enjoy!

Strange Find & Vintage Tea Towels

Stopped by a favorite thrift store yesterday and found this strange little fellow...

It appears to be silver plate over some goldish metal.  On the inside is written "Rochester Stamping Co. Germany". I did find info on the Rochester Stamping Co.. They had their fine cutlery manufactured in England and Germany until around 1895 when tariffs were raised and they brought the work home to the USA.  So, these are probably from before 1895.

On the other side there seems to be something missing from the chicken's eye... maybe a stone of some kind.  Has anyone seen something like this before?

UPDATE:  Thank you to the wonderful blogger at "It is an all-skate" for the tip on this item.  It is used to cut the tops off of soft boiled eggs as they sit in an egg cup.  

 On Friday I hit a few yard sales and found a collection of 14 linen tea towel calendars, some vintage dating back to 1968.  I see they are selling on Ebay, so may give it a try.  Here are a few pics...

 I have successfully sold vintage linen tea towels on Ebay before, but not the calendar type. They are selling along with instructions on giving someone a calendar for their birth year along with a recipe for jelly rolls, which are made with tea towels.  I learn something new all the time in this vintage thrifting business.

I'll be joining Selena's ThriftShare Monday here http://apronthriftgirl.typepad.com/apron_thrift_girl/ . Come check out everyone's thrifty finds. :)

Vintage Stockings & More at Estate Sale...

Went to an estate sale today and found these lovely ladies... vintage stockings.  They seem to be a pulled thread woven design in ivory. No holes in the lace that I could find.  There is a darned hole at each toe and a couple of tiny holes in the heels, but they are in otherwise good condition besides some stains in the feet.  They are on Ebay now.  I could not find any just like them, but some were close and were listed for $75 or more Buy It Now.

Also found this red transferware bread and butter plate.  It is stained somewhat strangely.  A guy at the sale told me to soak it three weeks in hydrogen peroxide (the heavy duty kind hair dressers use) and then in water three weeks to remove the peroxide.  Hmmm... not sure if I will do it or not.  But,  the picture is like none I have seen before in transferware.  It has an almost island like theme... note the person in the foreground.  Anyone seen a pattern like this before?

Back of red transferware plate

Had lunch with a friend after hitting the sale.  She gave me some Lenox Winter Greetings Everyday dishes.  Wow!  I love this set.  I already had one mug and two salad plates (which I use for decor because they are so darned expensive).  I do drink from my mug, but only bought one.  She told me to feel free to keep or sell them.  Decisions, decisions.

Lenox Winter Greetings Everyday Dishware

Hope you are enjoying a beautiful Christmas Season!  Love to you and yours! :)