Thrift Shopping Therapy

As I said in my last post, it's been a really busy month.  We've had happy things -- a new grandson, lots of fun times with our granddaughter, lots of houseguests -- and there have been not-so-happy things -- lots of rain (and therefore, LOTS of mosquitoes), lots of yard work, and really slow summer sales.  People just don't buy much in antique malls in July because they're all busy outside or on vacation.  I don't blame them one bit!  Then there's the let-down when all the out of town family leaves and you know you won't see them again until Christmas (or later)...

So, I've just been crabby and down in the dumps.  What does a thrifter do when she's crabby?  Go shopping!

There was a mega-Pyrex estate sale today, but it was an hour away and began at 4:00.  My friend Bargain Hunter and I really thought about going -- they had over 300 pieces of Pyrex!  Look at all this Pyrex (and that's not all of it)!

We figured out, though, that if we weren't one of the first 10 or 20 people in we'd never get any good stuff and we'd use 4 gallons of gas just to get there and back.  We decided at the last minute meet up somewhere and just see what sales were nearby instead.

There wasn't much -- we kissed a few frogs (sales not worth the drive to get them), went to a disappointing local estate sale, an even more disappointing high-priced 'liquidation' sale run by the same company and finally ended up at a resale shop.

I bought one thing -- this fun little vinyl make-up bag or train case.  It's shiny black patent vinyl (like the Easter shoes I used to have when I was little) and has a clear vinyl layer that separates the stuff below from that above.  It was at it's lowest price at the resale shop and was a good deal.

When I restocked my booth at the antique mall today, I shopped a little and found these sweeties, too.  A 1940s never-been-used Hawaii tablecloth with four napkins in its original box!

Each napkin has a different island on it

Even the box is cool!

 I bought two of these turquoise and pink barkcloth panels for a bargain price because they're cutters.  See the big holes on either side (where the table shows through)?  I have a couple of benches to cover, though, that they'll be perfect for!

Even with the frogs and the disappointment of not going to the mega-Pyrex sale, Bargain Hunter and I vented a little and laughed a lot and both felt better for the trip.  Just goes to show that it's not what deals you find or what you buy that's important, it's the fun people you 'hunt' with!

Hope you find some good sales this weekend...as my dad used to say, "stay with the happy people"!

Two Great Days of Vintage Shopping!

Last weekend was an amazing 2 days of flea market shopping at two of my favorite venues:  Midland Antique Festival (1000 dealers on 80 acres) and Greenmead Summer Flea Market.  There were so many treasures to be found!

My friend Bargain Hunter and I left early in the morning on a wet and windy Saturday to go to Midland.  When we got there, it was in the 50s (but felt colder) and we were glad we had our hoodies!  The grassy areas were soaked and there were squish grass-puddles everywhere.  Some of the booths had straw over the puddles -- it was supposed to give the shopper a dry place to walk, but it only hid the puddles and turned them into bad surprises.  A few booths even had wood planks to walk on!

Soon the sun came out, though, and made everything brighter! 

I bought some nice things to add to the booth and to list on Etsy:

A wall shelf shaped like a book with a red art deco inside

A Harmony House platter with a gray, turquoise and white line design

Some nice linens.  I'm keeping the plate (I have a cream & sugar to match), the Harlequin egg cup and the chicken tea towel (of course!)

Some tinware and utensils.  The canister has a butterscotch bakelite knob

An Anchor Hocking holly punch set

Then there's always the to-me-from-me treasure or two.  I did the happy dance all the way out of the booth on this one: 

A tinware laundry soap pitcher!  I've had these on my wish list for ages

A Dots and Squares Pyrex salad bowl set.  It turns out this was a one-time promotional offering from Pyrex and came with the salad fork and spoon -- still with this set!

A medium Pyrex fridgie in red (also on my wish list) and a cute little bowl with a dutch fired on design

One of Bargain Hunter's blog-friends, Marie, went all the way to Midland from Windsor, Ontario and she met BH there to say hi.  I love how our blogs connect us and introduce us to people we never would have known otherwise!  BH and I had a nice time chatting with Marie and checking out the bargains she found (a cute toy sewing machine and a lovely quilt). 

There were some crazy things there, too!  Here's one of the oddest things we saw at Midland:  A shopping cart with a motor (look closely at the blue cart). 

 By the time we were finished, my granny cart was overflowing! 'Granny' was groaning as I wheeled her to the car:

Sunday was Greenmead (a flea market at the historical village of a town nearby).  There were about 100 dealers there and lots of variety to choose from.  I thought the prices were a little higher than last year and a couple of my favorite dealers weren't there, but it was still great fun.  It was  still really windy, but the day was sparkling bright and beautiful!   You can't ask for better junkin' weather than 70 and sunny!

I got there about 20 minutes before they opened and stood in line with everyone else -- the line was really long (longer than usual, I think).  I chatted (well, mostly listened to, I think) with a man who collects and sells pipes and pipe accessories.  He was there to look for smoking stands and the old faux-pewter 'Our Daily Bread' plates.  He said they make perfect pipe ashtrays because of the height of the sides and because the wording and design on the inside holds the pipes up.  He goes to national and regional pipe collectors' shows and sells.  There's always something new to learn about in vintage! 

Once again, Granny was filled to the brim with lots of great buys! 

A penguin ice bucket, melmac cream & sugar and a pottery tabletop set and carrier

Cool blue and white glassware

More linens!

I love, love, love the farm scene on the big pitcher and the art deco design on the little one is nice, too

Here's the to-me-from-me...
Two Pyrex dots bowls (now I just need two more) and a very fun, very kitschy flamingo thermometer!  That one is already in my living room

I hope you had a great junkin' weekend and found some treasures! 

A Fun Day & A Kiss for a Prince

I went down to Jackson today to have lunch with my friend who moved there (and to pick up the bookcase I bought, but had to leave, last time I visited).  There was an indoor flea market there, billed as a 'Cabin Fever' event. I'd gone to this market a few times and it was always just so-so -- some prices reasonable, lots of prices high and also lots of 'tube socks' (my code for new dollar-store-type stuff).  I wanted to spend the day with my friend, though, so it was definitely worth the trip.

The flea market turned out to be a real prince this year!  We got there about 10:30 and it started at 11.  As in the past, people started lining up at the door then.  In past years, though, they wouldn't let the shoppers in until the stroke of 11.  They'd let you into an entry area of the building where you stood there crammed in like cattle, looking at the dealers (who were all ready to sell and stood there looking at you)!  This year, though, they just let us in!  The prices were still all over the place but there was a lot of great stuff and I bought some of it.

After we shopped, we went to lunch and sat and talked for hours -- we caught up on our families and what we've been doing and went down one conversational bunny trail after another (the way good friends do when they've known each other for years).  I've really missed seeing her all the time and it was just a boost for my spirits to get a long visit.

Maybe you want to see what I bought, though...

I love these little 1950s Japanese figures, too.  I don't think they're going to leave my living room

I love these chalkware elephants! 

The crocheted hotpad is just like the ones with pop bottle caps, but it's jar lids.  I've never seen one this big before.  The little blue hankie has 'To my wife with love  Iceland, 1942' painted on it.

More Gurley candles -- I can't resist!

These ornaments are unusual -- they're plastic and have little figures suspended inside.  At 50 cents each they were worth it

3 really odd postcards from 1905 & 1907.  I have no idea what 'Sure Mike' means!  The ride around town is someone in the back of a police wagon

I saved the best for last!  This is a BIG framed paint-by-number of flamingos (really well painted, too) -- it combines two of my favorite collectibles.  I think I'll keep it. 

  I hope you all had good shopping this week!  I'm off to check out your blogs now...

Thank You Wuglyees!

I've met the nicest people through my blog and my Etsy shop -- especially considering I'll probably never 'meet' most of them!  As we convo back & forth on Etsy and read each other's blog posts, we share each other's fun finds, rejoice over a long-sought item found, laugh at the silly things to happen to us and share tears and prayers over the sad ones.  There's still nothing like a face-to-face friendship, but blogging (and selling) are definitely social! 

Today I got an Etsy convo (message) from Deb at Wuglyees and made a new blog-friend.  She featured some lamps I'm selling in her most recent blog post and wanted to let me know about it.  What a sweet thing to do!  If you get a chance, be sure to stop by her blog, The Wug's Backyard Blogspot, and check it out.  She crochets and sells beautiful hats & scarves and the neatest little crocheted flowers in her shop on Etsy. 

By the way, you can see the ceramic lamps here.  I just loved these lamps as soon as I saw them and thought their original, really tall & thin terry cloth shades (who makes lampshades out of terry cloth any more?) were wonderful!  I tried so hard to find a place to use them here!  Oh well, my loss will be someone else's 1960s house gain...

Thanks again, Deb -- it was really nice of you to include the lamps! 

A Wonderful Treasure (and a Busy Weekend)!

I've been trying to stay true to my commitment not to buy as much -- I think that's much more realistic than a vow to not buy ANYTHING!  How could I ever have thought I could quit thrift shopping cold turkey?

I've been picking up things here and there at the local thrift store, resale shops and one or two local junk stores, but mostly have been waiting for estate sales.  There were two sales close by this past weekend, so I was able to hit them and still go to the booth and fluff.  The first one was very close and looked like it was almost 100% new.  I go to those anyway when they're close, because you never know what the dealer doesn't take pictures of -- it might be a hidden treasure!  That one was a real frog -- all I found were 2 red dish towels with hand appliqued chickens on them.

 The owner of the house was there along with the estate sale company people, and she kept talking to everyone and trying to 'sell' the items.  It was really uncomfortable!  I was able to ask her, though, about the towels and she said her grandmother had made them as a young woman.  Judging by her age (60s) I think that dates them to the 1940s.

On Saturday, I went to a sale that was run by a friend and her sisters and cousin (it was fun to meet her family and see how much alike all those sister were).  They'd lost a dear aunt in December and they were settling her estate.  She was a lot like my Aunt Gene --  she had no children, so these women were just like daughters to her.  It was really bittersweet for them because she'd died rather suddenly and they were still hurting, but they wanted to have some closure to her condo and the belongings that they hadn't wanted to take.  I got there right before they opened and there were only 3 of us there because the weather was awful -- I got to have first pickings!   I was really pleased to be able to support my friend and her family and also get a few things to use that belonged to her dear aunt. 

Here are pictures of what I got -- but be sure to look all the way down because I've saved the best for last!

A couple of Pyrex pieces (not in the best condition), a Fire King casserole, 4 cool plastic egg cups, a turquoise coffee canister and even a turquoise bottle opener.  The 'turquoise fairy' definitely visited my house this weekend!

A bunch of hankies and some odds & ends.  The old birthday candles (from the 50s) were inside the coffee canister.

A cool galvanized basket and some linens -- not in good condition, at all, but at $2 for the whole lot, it's worth taking a chance

A shabby cream colored train case -- beat up, but I like it!

A Syracuse Carefree china sugar bowl and Boonton melmac platter

A pair of 1950s souvenir salt & peppers from Florida -- Flamingos!

And here's the best buy of the weekend (maybe of the whole year -- and the year is young!)  I just LOVE this stereo & cabinet!  It's a Magnavox and sounds wonderful.  It comes with all the records that were stored inside of it (on the closed left side) and even has the original maintenance & use instructions.  I'm hoping it will fit in the living room where I have my other turntable right now, but we haven't picked it up yet.  My friends and her sisters really wanted me to leave it so they could listen to it on the day of the sale.  What do you think -- would you have bought it?

1950s-60s Magnavox stereo

On Saturday, I sold a metal utility cabinet at the mall and had to hustle something over there to fill its spot on Sunday afternoon.  That forced me to finish up a project I'd started, which will be tomorrow's post.  Right now, it's time for bed!

One Year Anniversary!

I've been really busy straightening up, organizing and getting things ready for the booth and to list on Etsy.  I'm finally getting to the bottom of the piles UNDER the table that I first started my 'inventory' on a year ago.  Can you believe it's been an entire year since Bargain Hunter and I start our booth at the antique mall?  I'd been selling on Ebay for years & had just opened my shop on  Etsy, but she really had to talk me into the booth at the mall.  I'm so glad that she did.  Those 12 months have flown by -- it's been LOTS of work, but LOTS of fun!

Remember the booth that Bargain Hunter started out with (a pretty scary first step!)?

The original booth -- day 3

That was a great booth!  I struck out on my own in July...

My booth -- two weeks ago

 I was thinking today (as I was getting things ready to take to the booth tomorrow) that thrift shopping and selling, both in the mall and on Etsy, is the most fun thing I've ever done -- it literally is a dream fulfilled.  When I coordinated our church's membership classes, the spiritual gifts section's first question always was, "If you could do anything in the world and would be guaranteed not to fail (they add that part so you won't be afraid to dream BIG), what would you most like to do?"  My answer has always been "to sell antiques" (NOT a very spiritual answer, but an honest one) and now that's what I get to do in my spare time.  It doesn't get any better than that!

I'm hoping to take a few pictures tomorrow and catch up with my blog.  In the meantime -- GOOD NEWS!  The newest issue of Flea Market Style is on its way!   I'm excited to get it -- it looks like it will be a good one!