Garage Sale America

As a girl, I remember occasional weekend mornings when my mother would get this odd glint in her eye and ask, "Want to go to a few garage sales?"

Though the prospect of rifling through other people's junk never held great appeal to me, my mother made the experience a treasure in itself.

We'd grab the local paper and make our way down windy back roads to every nearby yard sale, tag sale, garage sale, and estate sale, certain to uncover plentiful diamonds in the rough. Hours later, we'd return home, famished, with a trunk-full of curiously thrilling finds that no one but my mother and I found valuable.

With memories like these, it's no wonder I jumped at the chance to review a new book by Bruce Littlefield called Garage Sale America for the Parent Blogger Network.



It's been years since I've allowed myself the time and self-indulgence to go "hunting," but after reading this handy and informative guide and drooling over photographs of the author's tremendous finds, I have my motivation. I feel that old familiar sense of excitement and, dare I say, titillation. With the expert advice contained in Garage Sale America, I'm primed and ready to score myself some grade A junk - er, treasures.

Littlefield gives readers practical Do's and Don'ts in the art of buying and selling, and points out where and when to find the best deals in the land. He provides valuable insights about collectibles, as well as how to "re-purpose" items and display them with a designer's touch.

In this age of rampant materialism and fascination with all things shiny and new, Littlefield's recycle/re-use/re-purpose message is as refreshing and eco-friendly as a cloth grocery bag.

Countless bargain treasures that can be "new to you" are sitting in a dust-covered box in someone's driveway right now. What are you waiting for?