Friday Finds

I went to the mall today to fill in and re-arrange my booth.   I'd sold a table and a laundry cart while I was out of town and I knew that everything would be scattered all over.  The floor walkers do their best at putting things in good places and doing a little staging when they empty a cart or table for a customer, but there's only so much they could do.  Usually I can get in there in a day or two to fill the hole, but this time it had to sit that way for over a week.

I stopped at a sale or two on my way in to the mall.
At one of them, I found a few mid-century goodies and then saw some large pictures.  I bought 2 large framed crewel embroideries, a framed paint by number and a framed watercolor.  I negotiated with the husband and he asked if I was sure I wanted them.  His wife started laughing and told me she was already getting the "I told you so" look from him.  SHE thought they were junk and no one would want them!  She said "Those old things?" -- EXACTLY right!

The sweetest part was when the wife and her daughter helped me take them to the van and her daughter said that Grandma would be really happy that someone wanted her artwork!  It was really nice to think that something that might have been thrown away will now make a great addition to someone's mid-century decor.  One man's trash...

Here's what I found at that sale:

These beautiful sherry or liqueur glasses -- they're really delicate

The jewelry box belonged to the lady's mother

She threw in the Baptist Sunday School pins for free -- they'd been hers when she was a child. I remember getting similar ones for perfect attendance & being really excited about them!

8 Made-in-Japan lacquered paper trays.  They're really beautiful!

Here are 'those old things' -- I really like them! (I couldn't get Leo the cat to get out of the picture)

At another sale, the garage was so dark you could hardly see what you were buying.  I found a complete set of Pyrex Butterprint fridge dishes and was pretty excited -- until I got them home and unwrapped and realized that the two smallest ones had lime etching on the lids (ruined), the medium one had an etched lid AND the pattern was almost completely gone and only the large one was really sellable.  I know there will always be things I'll buy that I'll regret, but I hate when it happens.

At the dark, cave-like sale, I also found these:

A 'mammy' apron and a tea towel

3 boxes of unused assorted greeting cards from the 50s and 60s

A doctor's-bag-sized leather suitcase or briefcase

At the last sale I went to, I found these in 50 cents each box:

They're 4 plates, 4 bowls and 4 cups in the Monterrey Western Ware pattern from the 1950s or 60s.  I think they used to give them away as a bonus at the grocery store or in soap.  They're pretty collectable right now and these are in near mint condition!  I guess they redeem the bad Pyrex buy in the weekend shopping tally.

Now I have to decide if I'm going to drive up to Midland Antiques tomorrow.  My shopping buddy, Bargain Hunter, hasn't mentioned it -- I've barely had time to talk to anyone at work all week -- so she might be going with someone else, or skipping it.  I've got so much work to do here, I could use the day at home...

Greenmead Finds

Greenmead Flea Market in Livonia is always fun!   It only happens in June and September and I think I look forward to it more than any other one I go to, except perhaps Midland (which I'd like more if it wasn't almost 2 hours away).  I went last Sunday and had a wonderful time.  The weather was ideal -- low 70s and sunny -- and it was a perfect day to shop!

This is the only picture I took of the market -- I guess I was too busy shopping...

Mr. KV went with me and it's a good thing he did, because I filled up the granny cart and had lots of extra stuff to carry besides.

Here's most of what I found...

A shabby birdcage with cool pink accents

White painted breadbox

This pillow cover is hand embroidered and painted.  It's in perfect condition!

Souvenir linens

Lots of tea towels and a tablecloth

Lots of RED -- a metal bin with wood handles, a metal watering can, tin tray and a 48-star flag

A collection of kitchen items, including to fired-on individual bakers

I love this little cat & kitten pot holder holder!  It needs new hooks and then it's ready to sell

A collection of glassware, some burlap & melmac bowls and a wood wall plaque for a child's room that has animals & circus people on it.  I have another one like this that's orange and white that I added coat hooks to, but when I took it to the mall, I ended up bringing it right home -- I can't part with it!

A Pyrex tulip pattern casserole with rack

A 1943 boxed set of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights with woodcut illustrations.  I have this one  myself (it was my mom & my aunt's) and I've always liked it a lot, though the illustrations used to scare me

This yellow formica table is in really nice condition!  I've never bought furniture at Greenmead before, but it was a terrific bargain

These guys are the only thing I bought for myself -- I'm really on a flamingo kick lately

The conference I'm at is at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island -- a wonderful historic all-wood hotel, built in the 1887.  It has the world's longest porch, is quite posh and is a bucket-list destination for lots of people.  It's a little TOO posh for me -- has a strict dress code for dinner in the main dining room and hanging out in the main lobby after dinner.  I'm more of a jeans and gym shoes girl, but I'm managing.

The 1980s movie Somewhere in Time was filmed here and there's even a Somewhere in Time weekend --I've never seen the movie, but it seems to have a cult following.  So far -- in a day & a half, we haven't been out of the building (training sessions all day and all meals provided in-house), but if I get outside and get a chance to play the tourist, I'll be sure to post some pictures to the blog.  In the meantime, check out the Grand Hotel website to learn more about it.

I hope you had a fun weekend and are busily mapping out your thrift shopping route for the coming weekend! 

Treasures from the Little Prince

Yesterday, I reported on the frog-sale and promised pictures of the things I got from the fun yard sale that followed.  Here they are!

A collection of Civil War bullets and a button or two -- now I have something new to research!.

A pair of Holt Howard mouse salt and peppers and some other fun plastic shakers.  Penguins seem to be very hot right now.

Some cool flash cards -- some with illustrations

Asian pictures -- in need of a good cleaning!  The pictures are okay, but I really liked the red mats and white box frames (so mid-century)

A 1960s chinese checkers game.  A regular checker board is on the back

This enamelware double boiler is in GREAT shape!

An old desk lamp -- also in need of cleaning.  It doesn't work (though they told me it did) and I don't know if I'll have to rewire it or just replace the fluorescent bulb

Some cool old snack/lunch trays

An OLD Pepsi bottle and some paperweights. The pink bowl has a chip, so the seller threw it in for free. I really like the mid-century look of it, though

This is a short post and the pictures aren't great, but I've been really rushed!  We're going to a week-long conference where there will be lots of meetings and dinners (which means lots of wardrobe changes) and I've been letting my junking get in the way of my laundry and packing!  It's time to get to work.

 I went to Greenmead Flea Market today and brought home LOTS of vintage goodies.  I spent most of the afternoon sorting and finding basement space for all of it. That's a story for another day...

I hope you all had a great thrifting weekend!

I FINALLY Met a Sale I Didn't Like

I went to the mall yesterday to fluff the booth (we've had a sale this week and I had LOTS of holes to fill -- what a wonderful problem to have).  I saw an estate sale in the same town as the mall and planned my morning to stop there first.  There were 3 possible sales to go to and, true to Murphy's Law, they were in 3 different directions so there was no way to get to them all without spending most of the day in the car.

I chose poorly...

I was number 20 and the first 15 people went in first.  I should have known it was going to be bad when they all began trickling out either empty-handed or with only one or two purchases.

The prices were the highest I've ever seen at any sale!  I've never been to a sale before where every item (large and small) was priced at or above mall prices.  Some things were 2 or 3 times higher!  As I looked over the stuff in the kitchen ($250 for an oil lamp - without a shade - that would retail for $40...) an acquaintance who was there told me about a yard sale three blocks over -- "It's just your kind of stuff and I know you'll love it."

I couldn't wait to shake the dust from that frog-sale off my feet!  I don't think I've ever left a sale without buying something or at least seeing something I wished I could have had.  Beware of Dumar Estate Sales... What a waste!

I got a few fun things at the yard sale, but haven't had a chance to get pictures yet -- hopefully I'll post those tomorrow.

Mid-century Sweetness!

Last week I drove to many sales and found all frogs, until the very end.  I had worked through the entire list of ones from the paper and craigslist and found almost nothing, but was making my way to the mall to fluff my booth.  At the end, I passed one pretty close to the mall and it turned out to be a prince!

The family was selling many items from their mom, who had passed away about 3 years ago.  She must have been a lover of mid-century or just a lady who couldn't throw anything away, because they had some very nice stuff.

Odds & ends -- Melmac, chartreuse china, bakelite handled pickle forks

Some cool 1960s ivy painted glasses and a tiny pitcher

A covered casserole with great decoration

A very unusual tall triangle lucite pitcher -- with a handle at the bottom and turquoise & yellow plaid side.  

A kitty cookie jar -- no maker's mark or identifier

I showed this to you yesterday, but it deserves a second mention in the mid-century sweetness post because it's so totally sweet:  a dark turquoise beverage set with hand-blown stir stick & 4 little glasses.  There's no maker's mark, but the shape of the pitcher and handle placement is so much like Blendo that I think it must be West Virginia Glass.

Here are the day's best mid-century finds -- a Metlox Poppytrail Swordfish vase (art pottery designed and signed by Romanelli) and 2 Poppytrail spiral candleholders.  They're so fine!  The only flaw is a VERY tiny flea bite on the end of the swordfish's nose (bill? sword? -- whatever it's called).  I just love these!

Another great find was this glass ceiling light cover with cowboys on bucking broncos.  It's also in near-mint condition with no color loss.  It had hung in the seller's brother's bedroom the whole time they were growing up, was taken down and immediately packed away.  Lucky for me!

Lots of Little Sales

I haven't been to a great sale in a very long time.  On Thursdays after work (usually around 2:00) I go to some local garage sales, but they've always been really picked over so all the good finds and great deals are gone.  I usually try to find some good ones on Fridays before I go to the mall, but even those have been more frogs than princes.

That said, I did go to an interesting sale last Saturday.  It was advertised as 'Cleaning out grandma & grandpa's place, lots of household and linens and barn stuff.  Much of it will be free'.  Seriously -- who can pass up a sale that advertises FREE?

It was about 45 minutes from my house, down lots of country back roads.  It was really a pretty drive on a sunny day and I got there about 20 minutes before it was open.  I saw a lady in the garage and she said she was open and I should come on in.  No kidding -- most of it was free!  Nothing was spectacular and some bordered on junk, but I did get a couple of metal utility carts and a chest of drawers that need to be painted, a mid-century coffee table, small side table, some linens and many games.  There were two great finds:  a mid-century wall shelf unit (one of the geometric ones) and a Hasko Mystic Board.  My van was completely packed (one of the men there had to help me arrange it all to get everything in) and I only spent $12!  That's fun!

Unfortunately, Mr. KV helped me unload it before I remembered to take pictures.  Here's the Mystic Board, though.

It's like a Ouija board and is from the 1940s.
I'd never heard of them, but it's an interesting piece

Here are some other treasures I've picked up in the past few weeks.

Collie bookends.  They've been mended, but are still cool

A hodge-podge of glasses and cups

Linens and Cookbooks

A tidbit tray made from china (I've often wondered if the manufacturers made these or if kits were sold for do-it-your-selfers, as they're obviously made from plates & bowls)

Irmi child's step chair

Pyrex!

Child's tinware

Vintage birthday candle holders in their original boxes

A MARVELOUS mid-century drink set.
It even has a blown-glass stirrer!

Some of these treasures went to the mall and others to Etsy -- some are already sold!   It's a good thing, too, because there are gallons and gallons of gas represented in those few pictures.  I'm really looking forward to the end of garage sale season, so I can go back to estate sales without feeling like I'm missing something by not hitting the road and going from yard sale to yard sale.