A Soggy Start to Sales

It's been such a long, hard winter.  Everyone's been complaining about it and we all appreciate spring even more, now that it's finally here.  We can see grass on the lawn and the snow is down to just 3 feet high (not kidding) in my fern bed on the north side of the barn.  As the weather's warming up and the spring peepers starting to sing at night, I'm thinking about how much I want yard sales to start!

With that in mind, I went out last Friday to the only sales that were advertised -- a garage sale and two 'proceeds for charity' sales.  It rained the whole day with a chilly, almost freezing rain.  The pickins' were slim at the sales, too.  At one of the charity sales (which was supposed to be a 'donate whatever you want to for your items' sale), the cash-lady tried to get me to pay a ridiculous price for the only thing I bought.  When her friend looked at her and said  'Are you kidding?  That should be only $4 at the most', cash-lady gave ME the stink-eye because I paid only $4 for it!  I think she thought I should have insisted on paying $20...  If she hadn't tried to railroad me, I probably would have donated more anyway.

At any rate, I got a few things.

This cool Mad Men wine set was the find of the day

A couple of cameras and some books

Didn't everyone have a set of these insulated cups back in the day?

At the garage sale, I got a really dirty Remington Skywriter portable typewriter in a leather case.  I haven't taken a picture of it yet -- it's just too yucky to even touch.  I'll show it to you after it's cleaned up.

That's it for the soggy Friday sales -- I guess even a little bit is better than nothing!  There are only 2 listed for this week, too.  I hope this doesn't mark the beginning of a yard sale drought...

Etsy Every Day Project - Made it through January!

Well, as usual time has flown by and January is over!  The days just melt away (even though the snow doesn't)  I managed to list at least one item every day and sometimes several more...now to keep the momentum going...

Here are the rest of the January items:

#22 - Polka Dot Half Apron

#23 - Indianapolis Speedway Souvenir Pennant

#24 - Mid-Century Mad Men Roly Poly Glasses

#25 - 1929 Honeycomb Valentine

#26 - Kittens in a Basket Plate

#27 - Watkins Glen, New York Souvenir Postcard Folder

#28 - 'My Recipes' Recipe Binder - never used

#29 - Mid-Century Bamboo Glasses

#30 - Missions and Landmarks of Southern California Postcard Folder

#31 - Nova Scotia, Canada Souvenir Pennant

That wraps up January -- 31 down, just 334 to go (gosh, that sounds overwhelming)!

On an equally fun note, the shop went past the 400 sale mark, so I'm busy pulling together items for a giveaway to celebrate.  I think I'll theme it 'My favorite things', which guarantees that there will be at least one postcard folder, one souvenir pennant and some kind of vintage Christmas in the mix.  More on that soom...

Better Late than Never

I went to a sale last week after work because I hadn't been to a good sale in such a long time!  I knew I wouldn't get there until it had been going on for most of the day, but figured I'd see what was left -- if I was meant to have something, it would still be there.

It had been advertised as a pickers' sale and the pictures showed that it was packed with stuff.  By the time I walked in (about 5 hours after start), almost everything was gone!  I was disappointed, but went through the house anyway (hope springs eternal...)

I found a few fun things.
This yellow and blue blanket is old -- the pattern is woven in.

The main part you can see is the back -- the plaid pattern is on the right

When I took it to the checkout and asked if it was double, they thought it was twin.  So we opened it up and I was surprised. . . it's twin width (or just a topper for a double) but is double length!

The rumpled part at the end is the triple-folded extra length!

I figure I can cut the bottom off, add a satin blanket binding and then make some great throw pillows from the remainder.  It looks so good with the yellow chenille bedspread in our guest room!

I really liked these mirrored base vanity lamps -- especially when I saw the pretty pink original shades with them! They're micro-pleated rayon shades.

Aren't the shades beautiful?

I want to keep these, but know I'll need to swap them out with some other favorites, because I don't have room for another set of lamps in our room. 

This was my good deed of the day (not a big deal at all...)  I saw another dealer from the mall at the sale -- she's just moved in across from me and I've gotten to know her a little.  I'd just picked up this cake plate and another just like it when she got there.  She told me they were Fenton Silver Crest and that they were worth well over what the sellers were asking for them.   Glass is much more her thing than mine; she's got lots of it and more 'classic' stuff in her booth.  I offered her one, but she wouldn't take it, no matter how much I insisted.  So, when I got ready to check out, I took it to her and told her I wasn't going to take it and was putting it back and did she want it -- of course, she did!  Since she was the one who helped me know what it was, it was only fair, after all...

I also got these souvenir pennants.  I pick these up whenever I can find them and they always sell well on Etsy.  I especially like the United Nations one, though it has a lot of soil and I'm afraid to wash it.

Here are some other little goodies I've picked up in the past two weeks:

Made in Japan chintz tidbit tray

Skinny 1950s rose picture

An assortment of stuff -- I'm keeping the Fred Press turquoise & gold glass

A WEIRD baby picture!

The babies are paper and all the rest is real -- satin, lace, crocheted booties and sewn garments.  SO  peculiar!

A travel bar from the 1950s or 60s  -- so Mad Men!

Pretty much complete!

I also found this clear Pyrex Colonial Mist mixing bowl.  I'd seen pictures, but never saw one in person.  I don't really love it, so I'll put it in the booth and hope someone else does.

I know I'm a week behind on this post, but I'll just have to catch up to this week's finds (if there are any) over the weekend.  We're supposed to get some ice and snow tomorrow, so there might not be any shopping for me!