A Real Steal... With A Side of Guilt!

This past weekend was my favorite Rummage Sale in Ocean Grove. It's put on by the Ladies of the Auditorium Ushers and it's a doozy. People line up an hour before and as soon as the local church bells chime 10 o'clock... well, it's a free-for-all. Part of the reason why is that the prices are so freaking awesome! For example, I got this box of 25 never used Cray Pas oil pastels for 50¢! The woman actually told me 25¢ but I felt so guilty... I gave her the 50¢ instead (it's for a good cause)!

I quickly ran over to the toys table to see if there were any good board games available, but none this time. However... I found all these awesome doll books. Some are actual paper dolls, some are flip books and I even got a box of Dolls Across The Sea with stand up dolls and outfits from around the world. The funniest/creepiest book I bought is that Let's Play Dolls... it's a glossy book of 3 dolls and the story of their day of shopping, picnicking, baking and such. But it's so weird because... well... because they're dolls! And their expressions never change! Love it.

Over to the fabric and linen tables I'm always searching for fun vintage fabrics to repurpose into new creations like rag dolls and such. I love using dish towels and cloth napkins, sheets and drapes, and all kinds of castaway textiles. This lovely chenille bedspread caught my eye and the price was right at a mere $2!

Heading back to the craft table (they're always putting out new stuff when they sell a bunch of things) and I found these 2 amazingly detailed, folk art style, embroidered scenes. I had no idea what I was actually going to do with them, but the amount of work that went into the pieces and their whimsical nature simply captured my heart. When I asked how much they were, the woman said.... a dollar for both. And now they're mine.

I purchased some other odds and ends as well... vintage kitchen utencils to use as doll arms and legs, vintage Santa ornaments just because they were so awesome, a circus girl figurine, an antique frame and some metal funnel thing that looked like it could be a stand-up doll body. All-in-all I spent $12 and am extremely pleased with my finds. So what's your favorite summertime flea market or rummage sale and what did you find?