Box Lots

Box lots:  who doesn't love them?  They're the junk equivilant of a wrapped gift!  You can root through them a little, but usually don't have the time (or space) to take everything out and examine it, so it's always a surprise.

I've gotten several box lots lately and have had mixed results.  By far the best buy was the one I had the least hopes for.  I could see a bunch of small picture frames, a bottle or two and a Prince Albert tobacco tin.

It was early in the buying day, so I went for it.  Here's what was in it:

Lots of little liqueur bottles
An ashtray from the old Copacabana in New York City!
Lots of little pictures and frames

An old metronome with a white bakelite case

 Here's one of the most interesting things in that box lot -- a receipt for the purchase of a used car in 1938!  If you zoom in on it, you can see all the details -- they bought the car for $835 and got $75 for the trade in of their 1928 model.  Love it!

The next one was a lot of barware that included a mid-century tray, some 1950s or 60s bar towels and glass stuff.  I was a little disappointed in what ended up being there, but that's okay -- as my friend Bargain Hunter says, it's the thrill of the hunt.

Here's what I found inside...

The Mr. Boston Bartender's Guide is from 1941.  The towels are pretty  cool and the stir-spoon has a bakelite knob.  I love plastic stir sticks, because they're often from restaurants and clubs that are long gone.

This was in an envelope in the tray -- it's a dial-a-drink-recipe  Christmas card.  That's  Christmas 'spirit' of a different kind!

 Finally -- on the same buying day -- I got a box lot that I didn't even know was a lot until I got it home!

This is what I thought I was buying...

I thought I was buying a bottle brush wreath in its box and got a bonus layer of stuff underneath (most of which is just junk (real junk, not cool junk).  Maybe a box lot you aren't expecting is even better than a wrapped gift...it's more like getting a gift bag that has 2 or 3 presents inside!

Bottle brush wreath (it needs a different bow)

Felt Christmas decorations

I remember my mom making sequined light switch covers like this for our house -- I think I still have a few of them

Odds and ends of ribbon, a knee hugger elf & a santa pick

One of the best parts of this is the box!

 Have you gotten any great box lots?  Have you ever been 'taken' and really disappointed with what you got?

The BIGGEST sale of the weekend?

I went to only one sale last week -- advertised as the 'biggest yard sale of the weekend'.   That's quite a lot to live up to!    It was big and had a mix of old and new.  Just as I got there, it started raining and the seller was covering most of the tables with plastic.  He didn't cover the old glass & dish ware, though, which was what I'd gone for.  He had 3 rows of tables the entire length of his very long driveway and each was full of flat boxes filled with junk merchandise -- most of it filthy and so crud-covered, you could hardly tell its condition.

I had planned to go to a few more sales and then out to the mall, but had such a bad migraine that I had to turn around and go home.  Since the headache lasted all weekend, that little sale -- the biggest sale of the weekend (ha!) -- was the only one I made it to.

Lots of really dirt- & crud-covered stuff!

I got pretty much for not much money, but wasn't sure if it was worth it until I cleaned it up.

Look at how dirty the Oven Serve custards are!  Yuk!

Look how good nice it is!  EVERYTHING looks better when it's clean!  I ended up with 17 Homer Laughline and Taylor, Smith & Taylor Oven Serve custards and handled bowls, 4 Napco & Lefton birthday angels, 6 Mardi Gras Festiveware aluminum cups, two mid-century salt & pepper sets and some great Pyrex.

All clean!

These birthday angels are sweet and, amazingly, have NO cracks or chips!

I know I should sell these three loaf pans, but I'm really thinking of keeping them and starting a collection of them in all the Pyrex colors.  Sweet!

Desert Dawn, Chartreuse and Flamingo Pink loaf pans

In the Garden...

Spring always seems to come overnight here in Michigan.  One day the weather is just warming up but the trees are still naked, and the next everything is green & blooming.  It seems like you could just sit still and watch the leafs grow!

This has been the 'blossom week' and we've had 5 straight days of beautiful weather -- sunny, low humidity and 70s and no mosquitos (yet) -- just perfect for working outside.

I took my camera out while I worked because it was just so pretty.

Trillium in the woodland garden

Bluebells in the woodland garden

This forsythia was a Mother's Day gift several years ago

Ferns are growing next to the barn

Lilacs just ready to bloom

Apple trees have lots of blossoms this year...

Cherry tree -- not that we ever get any cherries...

Chives

Strawberries

Baby peas -- just coming up

Asparagus!  We'll start getting 1-2 pounds a day...YUM!

Potatoes aren't up yet 

This was one of my best ideas ever!  A $6 beach umbrella from IKEA that can be moved around to give me instant shade while I weed & plant.  It will be really great when it's in the 90s and weeding takes all day. 

Instant shade!

The whole time I work outside, Turner the protector sits by the side of the garden and watches the back of the property.  I think he's making sure attack-bunnies will get me...

Turner's in the shade, but 'on the job'

The girls enjoy scratching at the weeds & finding worms

Only the foolish (or those who can afford to plant twice) plant tender vegetables & annuals in Michigan before the last frost date of Memorial Day weekend.  The chances are that we'll get at least one more frost between now and then.

Most of the garden isn't planted yet

Flats of plants just waiting to be planted or put in hanging baskets
We're still going to get frost!

A BIG Disappointment!

I guess all of us who go thrift shopping have our own favorite venues for bargains -- I just love rummage sales!  I watch for them and always try to hit them early.

There were two on Friday and I made sure I was at the first one before it opened.  It's a local church that advertises it as their 'Barn Sale' and it's always REALLY big.  You fill a brown grocery bag for $7, plus they have furniture and collectables separately priced.  I live pretty close and it was a gorgeous day, so I got there about a half hour early...I was sixth in line.

The tent area where they have the household items and tools was half the size as usual and the collectables was twice as big.  All the interesting stuff was there and priced equal to or higher than an antique mall.  No bargains anywhere and hardly much to tempt!  I couldn't even find enough to fill a bag.  I would have put it back, but decided to go ahead, since it was basically a donation to the church.  I talked to a few friends there and we all had the same reaction and most are considering not bothering next year.   Boo Hoo!

The next rummage was really small and also overpriced.  I think everyone is watching American Pickers and Market Warriors and they all think they have the next great find!

Those were the second & third rummage sales I've been to in a row with not even ONE piece of Pyrex!  How can such things be?  It's enough to break a Pyrex-addict's heart...

Hopefully, the yard sales will be popping up here in Michigan along with the dandelions and there will be more treasures to be found.

"You Find the Most Random Stuff"

My daughter-in-law told me last year that I 'find the most random stuff'.  I took it as a compliment (and I hope she intended it as such).  I remembered that as I was unpacking my car on Thursday afternoon.

Timing is everything -- I went to a couple of yard sales that were big busts.  Then I decided to do an 'about face' and go another 20 miles in the opposite direction to a family-run estate sale.  I figured that, getting there an hour after it started, all the good stuff would be gone.

I was so surprised to see really good stuff left!  The first thing I saw was this bike for a really low price!

AMF Skyrider bike

Then I picked up a big lot of cardboard produce boxes from the FREE pile (don't you just love the free pile?)

I found lots of treasures and left with my car totally packed!  I think I could have fit more in, if there had been more to buy...

The car from the side door

There's still room for a lot more!

It's not even up to the roof yet!

Here's some of the great stuff I got -- soon to be listed on Etsy or in the booth...

4 mint tablecloths and a set of napkins that go with the gladiolus set

Have you ever seen a Mirro Dial-a-Cookie set?  Really unusual!

These carolers had brown hair until I cleanded them -- they're blondes! 

I love this spaghetti poodle vanity set!

Four framed wildlife prints by Richard E. Bishop -- a famous  waterfowl painter from the 40s through 70s

This vanity set was mint, unused and still in the box...a Christmas gift that missed the mark?

A set of Torquay salt and peppers -- I'm SO tempted to keep these!

What a SWEET little green table!

A brown painted wicker hamper.  Even if it doesn't sell, it's always great for storage

A red lampost blow mold and a jack-o-lantern

A box lot of Christmas...I'd promised myself that I wouldn't buy any more Christmas!  I  couldn't resist this bottle brush wreath though.

A box-lot of barware -- more on that tomorrow...

A box-lot of pictures and odds & ends -- always a surprise.

Do you want to see what I found in the box lots?  So do I!  Stop back tomorrow, when I unpack them all!