you've got to kiss a lot of frogs

A quick note first to say THANK YOU all for your kind words about the blue and white event we will no longer mention. Each and every one of you put a smile on this mom's face. As Dolly Parton said, "Laughter thru tears is my favorite emotion."

I often do posts on here and on Instagram of the wonderful things I find when I'm out and about in the grand world of antique stores. However, I think sometimes all of those grand finds may mislead you to think I am always finding great things. OR, that I only go to stores that have wall to wall awesome.

Not the case my friends.

As my grandmother used to say about estate sales - you've got to kiss a lot of frogs. For every great thing I find, there are 10 horrible things I see. Really that's optimistic, it is probably closer to 30 horrible things, but you get the idea. So, I thought I'd share some of them not only for a good laugh, but to show that in a store full of crazy crap, there can often be a great gem. Don't write off a place by what you see in the window. And with that, I think I'm fresh out of clichés. Let's shop.

Oh the irony. A sign about everything being for sale, with a big fat NFS tag on it. The dreaded NFS (Not For Sale )is something that usually makes me angry to no end, but in this case I was quite alright with it.

Slap my ass, that is certainly a piece of work.

There are always spooky old dolls. Always.

Perfectly normal item to see. But not really.

Just don't.

If you were going as Run DMC for Halloween, these would actually be useful.

Clowns, are pretty ubiquitous, as is bad art. So this one scores on both counts.

Taxidermy is also pretty common, unfortunately. But notice this is just inches away from great silver and gold champaign buckets and just opposite the isle from the booth where I got my bamboo bench.

Body parts. In a bag.

This.

And my favorite piece of all. This has been in one of my favorite shops for at least two years. I'm all for ironic art, and I enjoy good humor,  but this is not for me. Or apparently anyone else. Two years.

So remember, it only takes one good item to make a "crappy store" turn into that "cute little place you found that great (fill in the blank here)". There is never a shop I'll refuse to check out. The thrill of the unknown is just too great. I have a pretty regular list of places that I stop in weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending on their success rate. And if you go often enough, you can breeze thru a place in under 15 minutes making it a great thing to do in between appointments, when you are a little early on your way to pick up or anytime you have a free patch of time.

Where are your places to shop? Do you get overwhelmed by the places with wall to wall 'stuff'? Need help finding something? Email me, and I'll find it for you.

Cheers to the hunt!