I LOVE Rummage Sales!

I'm still catching up on old posts, so jump into the Wayback Machine and pretend that this one was posted 2 weeks ago (if you're too young to get that reference, click here ).   

I have to admit, I never met a junk vintage sale I didn't like, but it seems like the best bargains are at rummage sales (and church sales are my favorites)! 

Two weeks ago, I went to a local church's big fundraising sale of the year -- billed as the BIG Barn sale.  I've gone there the past few years and always find some good stuff.   This year, I got there before they opened and stood in line -- there were already 30-40 people in front of me!    It's always hard to know where to go first -- they have the stuff divided into the usual sections (holiday, books, linens, etc), but they also have a 'collectables' (translate: more expensive) section and a back tent that's the 'bargain basement' of the sale.  I headed there first, rather than the collectables.  Except for collectables, everything was priced at $7 a bag and I loaded up one bag pretty quickly.   The second bag was barely full, so they gave that one to me for $2.  I got some good buys -- some of it has already gone to the booth, but here are a few of the goodies:

4 place-settings of Harmony House melmac dishes -- square (so cool)!

Some Christmas napkins and a FILTHY DIRTY rotary phone (the cord didn't match -- it was black, not tan -- so I took it off)

A super slim Pyrex starburst carafe and a large strainer

 These were from the collectable area, along with a bakelite-handled frosting spreader,  a vitrock shaker and some Made in Japan salt & peppers (all already gone to the booth):

Two celluloid picture frames -- the monogram is either a J or an I.

I was heading to the checkout when I saw the box for this beauty under the holiday table!

A 6' aluminum pom-pom tipped tree!  The ladies gave it to me for a super-good price, too!

Right above it was a box with these 12 Made in Japan Putz houses in it.  I'm a little addicted to Putz houses, so I'm not sure that all of them will make it to the booth or Etsy this year...

They're tiny (each about 2-1/2" wide) -- they came with a white light cord and I think were supposed to be hung on a tree.

It's never too early to think about vintage Christmas!