One rainy day while trying to entertain my child, I decided to check out You Tube. Much to my amazement, there are hundreds of kids videos on there. Some are snippets of actual shows, some are home videos people have made of their favorite shows. You do have to be careful as there are some not so clean home versions though. At least once a week, I sit down with my child and we watch videos for awhile. I usually ask him to pick a topic (his current favorites are Cars, Roary the Racing Car, and Mickey Mouse) and then we try to find videos to go along with it. I set up the laptop on the dining room table and for the longer videos, I work on cleaning the kitchen while he watches. I'm nearby so I can make sure he doesn't destroy the computer. Sometimes, I use this time to cut and organize my coupons as I can sit right next to him while doing this.
This week's focus is on setting up the garage sale. If you missed the first two parts of this series, here are part 1 and part 2.
Start a few days before the sale. There is nothing worse than waiting until the night before the sale to begin setting it up. You will wind up staying up way too late working on it and being exhausted when the sale starts very early the next morning. Our sale is a week away and we set up the tables Thursday night. I've been slowly bringing items out to the garage as I get a chance. It is supposed to rain parts of next week so I will really focus then when I can't get outside but it is nice to know I won't have to wait until the last minute to get everything organized.
Sweep the garage floor. Sweep out the random leaves, grass clippings, and dirt that have appeared in the garage before setting anything up. If your garage is a mess, try to clean it up a little too. A nice appearance will appeal to the customer instead of distracting from your sale.
Visualize the layout. Decide where you want items to land before randomly setting them on tables. I have taken scrap paper and taped category names on tables so I can sort as I price. This is much easier to do from the get go instead of waiting until everything is priced and then realizing it is not organized at all.
Group like items together. This goes with the point above, but keep like items such as kitchen, toys, etc together. It will make it easier for the customer to find what they are looking for and therefore boost your sales.
Cover anything that is not for sale. There will most likely be items in your garage that are not for sale, simply cover them with a sheet so no one tries to buy them.
Stay tuned next week for how to market your sale. If you have any other great garage sale hints or tips, please leave a comment below.
It turned warm here this week which puts me in the mood for grilling. I discovered this recipe last summer while looking for ways to use a 5 gallon bucket of potatoes my father in law dropped off. It quickly became a favorite. I should note that I no longer measure the ingredients, I just take a guess and dump all the ingredients on. The original recipe can be found at Recipe Zaar.
Campfire Potatoes
5 medium potatoes, peeled & sliced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (I've used the canned stuff and it works too)
2 tsp minced fresh parsley (dried works too)
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine, cubed (I usually use less to keep it semi-healthy)
Place half of the potatoes on a large piece of heavy duty foil. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; dot with butter. Top with the remaining potatoes. Fold foil over and seal tightly. Grill, covered, over medium heat for 30-35 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
I think I might get to plant my veggie garden this weekend! I spent this afternoon digging up a few more rocks (I'm sure I'm a sight for the neighbors being 6 months pregnant and digging up rocks). The weather is finally stabilizing so that I think the plants will be safe. As a reminder, if you started seeds, they need time to harden outside before planting them in the ground. This means sitting them outside each day for a week or two so they can get used to the difference in tempurature from inside the house to outside. Everything I've read says to start in a shaded place outside and bring them back in at night. Work towards getting them towards the sunlight and out for longer periods of time. I've been doing this for a few days now and they are so far looking great.
My plan is to only work on the veggie garden this weekend. I will start working on flowers next week but I can only work for a few minutes at a time due to being pregnant and having sciatica issues. I would love to spend hours and hours digging in the dirt but that will have to wait for another year. I'm just happy I've been able to accomplish what I have so far this year.
How is your garden coming along?
Check out my guest post on upcycling today at Life as Mom. This week she is doing a series of guest posts on the green topic so check out her blog to learn some new tips.
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