One Good Sale and LOTS of Frogs!

I've really missed getting to shop on Thursdays.  Even if I have maxed out my hours on Monday-Wednesday, my boss wants me to make sure I have enough time left to be there on most of Thursday -- which means that I miss all the good stuff at the sales.  Yesterday, though, I found one that was pretty good even by the time I got to it.

The husband's mom had passed away and they were selling a lot of her household stuff.  I thought it would be a frog when I got there and a 1960s wood china cabinet (with lots of replaced sections) was priced at $300!  Once I got into the garage, though, I found a few treasures.

A Capitol album carrier

The cake carrier is a triple layer one -- can fit a cake plus 2 pies!

These are two large pictures from the 40s

A Hires rootbeer crate and an old 7UP carrier (with a metal frame)

A bunch of kitchen odds and ends.  The pyrex casserole has the original 2-burner warming frame!  I really like the drinks shaker with the olives painted on  and I've never seen a tiny Foley food mill like this, either.

These were a great find -- it took some research to figure out what they are:  muddlers!  I'd never heard of them, but a muddler is a masher or crusher used in bartending.  These spoons have flat edges to crush the fruit in a drink.  The smaller ones are new old stock, still in their original wraps in the box.  These would have been used with tea, to crush the sugar cubes!  Both sets are silver plate, made in Sheffield, England and have red knobs.  I'm sure that the longer ones' knobs are bakelite, but I need to test the shorter ones.

Today I slept in (a little), got some things ready for the booth and set out for garage sales.  They aren't my favorite way to shop -- I really hate all the short trips and going in and out of the car.  Like all  of the shopping trips, they're not as much fun when you're by yourself, too.  A local small town was having a city-wide garage sales so there were LOTS.  Unfortunately, besides lots of sales, there were lots of 'frogs' and lots of Little Tykes sets (no offense intended, moms of little ones, but when you don't have any littles in your life, there's only so much kid-stuff you can look at)!  I made lots of stops and only got a couple of good things.

The best buy of the day was this Argus 150 slide projector!  I recently bought a whole box of slides to sell on Etsy and it's really hard to see what they are with an old hand-held plastic slide viewer.  This projector is so cool (actually, it gets quite hot...) and it works perfectly!  It turns out that the slides I bought are from the 1950s and are from trips to Florida, some other coastal areas and Lapland, Finland and (I think) some Soviet bloc countries! 

The Argus 150 projector

 Here's a little of the slide show...

These are people at a lakeside in a central European country in the 50s -- I hope they aren't spy-slides!
Sorry for the blur -- my camera was confused by the light & dark exposure. 

Stylin' men from the 50s -- they really know how to 'loosen up' at the lake, don't they?

Check out the car!

After I visited so many 'froggy' garage sales that I couldn't stand it another minute, I went to the mall and worked on the booth.  That always cheers me up!  I love catching up with all of my friends who work there and I really enjoy talking to the shoppers, too.  It's so nice to hear their stories and talk about our common love of old stuff!

When I got home, I went out to do some 'farm' work (ha!)  Our lilacs are just coming on, the girls are laying like crazy (even Pee Wee -- see her tiny egg in the upper right?) and I had to pick ALL of the asparagus because we're going to get frost tonight.  Spring might just be my favorite season!

Well, now that I'm finding time to post again, I hope to keep it up -- I have so much to tell you!  We went on a trip to Holland, Michigan (the home of all things Dutch) and I won a giveaway (my first ever).  I've been doing some painting projects and, instead of straightening up the basement, making a bigger mess!  So much to share and so little time...

Have a great weekend!  I can't wait to see what you all did (and what you found) this week!

A little blue, a little tired and a LOT busy!

I just saw that I haven't posted since March 22... I think that's a (bad) record for me!  I've been so busy -- between my day job and the booth and Etsy, added to things to be done around the house and shopping for the booth and Etsy, I barely have a minute to breathe.  A few years ago one of our pastors did a teaching on margins and how we all need some margins (white space) in our lives.  Well, lately there isn't any margin! 

Being too busy makes me a little tired and also I've been a little blue.  I don't know if that's an expression used much anymore, but it exactly describes the funk I've been in.  I feel like I just need something (maybe a string of nice weather, a good sale or two, a few extra days off or a visit from a moved-away friend) to give me a lift! 

Anyway, I've got LOTS of blog posts in my head!  There are so many things I need to tell about -- when I finally start putting them up, it will be day after day and most of them ought to start with "This should have been posted on...(fill in the date in the past 3 weeks).  So, no pictures yet, or posts about shopping or things I've been doing, but they'll be coming soon (I hope)! 

Thanks for stopping by, even though there hasn't been anything to read.  More to come...

I Hate Change!

A few weeks ago, I got this email from Junker Newbie, one of the blogs that I follow:

 "As you may know, Google is retiring Google Friend Connect, which means that after March 1, 2012 many blogs will no longer support the Google Friend Connect community"

 She goes on to explain how we can follow her in the future.
"If you would like to continue being a part of my blog's community there are two super easy FREE options!

• Follow me on Google+
• Follow the Junker Newbie blog via Linky Followers..."

Since my followers are all through Google Friend Connect, I'm going to have to find a new way to have followers, too.  Apparently, Blogger is going to take over the following procedure from Google Friend Connect, but no one (at least the places I've checked online) seems to know if followers will be automatically converted or if they'll be lost and have to 're-follow'.  I'll keep Google Friend Connect there as long as it will stay.  I've also added a Linky link to the sidebar.  I've hesitated to join Google+ because I just feel like I don't need one more social network to follow), but it seems inevitable now. 

If you're one of my followers, thank you very much!  I love you all & appreciate your comments and feedback!  Please look for the Linky link on the sidebar.

Have a happy thrifty Friday!

A little shopping . . Lots of bargains

It's been an odd (and very busy) couple of weeks.  I've decided that I have enough stuff and have resolved to buy less and destash.  Those are famous last words...

I haven't been to a good estate sale in a long time and I've really missed them.  It seems like the best ones often start on Thursday and I don't get out of my day job in time to go to them.   The ones on Fridays are too far away or don't look good enough to spend the gas.  So most of my shopping has been at thrift stores.

I went to one family-run estate sale last week that was just a few miles away.  It didn't look like anything I really wanted, but when they're local, I go.  The cheapest thing there was $15  and it was a wooden file/recipe box with pre-printed Betty Crocker recipes inside. The tag said '$15 - Complete Set', as though this was a great bargain!  One man who went in with me was there specifically to see some silverplate flatware.  It was in a silver chest and I couldn't see the price, but the seller  started 'selling' him -- HARD!  She said that it was in the top ten most popular patterns ever (I don't know how she knew that...) and that she'd looked that flatware up on Ebay and 'just a fork was selling for $125'.  She said she'd priced it as she had because 'just a fork was selling for $125' -- I wish I could have seen how much the entire set was!  I didn't want to point out that a person can put any price they want to on an Ebay item -- the trick is to get someone else to pay it!

My next stop was a rummage sale at a church in our next town over.  It was so much fun!  All the little older ladies working there were friendly and just happy to be there -- it was a delight.  I got a few bargains there, too.

Then I came home and cleaned, cleaned, cleaned dishes!  I had been to a thrift and gotten two large lots of dinnerware at an unbelievable price, but they were pretty dirty.  As I was cleaning them up, I realized I'd left all of the coffee cups of one of the sets at the thrift store.  There's no way I'm going to drive all the way back to get them with gas at almost $4 a gallon!  I called them and told them to reprice and resell the coffee cups.  Actually, no one really uses them any more anyway.

Here are some of my thrift store & rummage sale treasures. . .

One of the dinnerware sets

Salem dinnerware -- minus all of the coffee cups!

Pyrex!

I love this 8mm movie camera -- with original box & instruction manual

I've never seen Pyrex bowls this size before -- they're bigger than a ramekin, but not as big as a cereal or soup bowl.

 Last Saturday, I went to a moving sale at a local antique shop -- everything was either 50% off or just $1!  I got lots of stuff and saw several other dealers from our mall there.  It was really fun, but insanely crowded and busy.  So I went back today to see what else might be there that I missed in the crowds.  I picked up a few more things, but a lot of it was gone.  If I get pictures of it all, I post them later. 

So you can see that my destashing 'good intentions' haven't exactly paid off!  Maybe I'd do less shopping if I don't resolve not to shop -- what do you think?

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...

Snowed In

If I'm honest, I'd re-title this post  "Snowed In...well, not really",  The snowpocalypse they promised us last night (6-8") didn't really materialize -- at least not until it had continued to snow all day.  So I could have gone out and done some shopping or gone to the booth this morning, when we only had 2 or 3".  But there's something psychological about snow days and, once you've gotten in the mood to be snowed in, you just stay in!

So I've been catching up on projects around here -- you can almost see the entire top of the pool table in the basement!  Once I have it completely emptied off, I'm going to get out the SEVERAL bushel baskets of linens I've acquired and sort them out by type and whether they need work or not.  THOSE pictures should be entertaining!  I keep finding aprons, dish towels and tablecloths in odd places -- I'm just like a squirrel burying nuts for the winter, I guess.

I wanted to catch you up on a completed project and on a new arrival.  First the project!

Remember when I bought the nasty, smelly & moldy old 4-drawer chest full of sewing supplies?

You can just about see how filthy the bottom drawer is compared to the others (and they were nasty, too)

Well, I sold a white utility cabinet at the booth that I really wasn't expecting to sell, so I had to get something there fast.  I would have normally just kept looking at it and dithering around until FINALLY I worked on it, but necessity got me to get it clean in one hour.  It came out beautifully (Soft Scrub and pad scrubbers worked their magic again)!  The great mid-century knobs really cleaned up well and you could really see the gold starbursts on them.   

Doesn't it look cute with the black & white floor?

There was just a little paint loss on the feet

I know I priced it too low because it was gone in 3 days and that NEVER happens with furniture.  Oh, well -- live and learn.

Now to show you the new arrival!  Mr. KV & I went last weekend and picked up the stereo I'd bought at a friend's estate sale.

I love the turntable & radio combo.  It's SO mid-century!

 I'm so excited to have it here in my 1960s living room!  It sounds fantastic, too.  Don't you think it fits right in?

Hope you're having a great Friday -- maybe you're having a snow day, too!

Mid-Michigan's Largest Indoor Flea Market?

I had a free day on Saturday, so I decided to drive about an hour northwest to a sale in a K of C (Knights of Columbus) hall.  The sale was billed as 'Mid-Michigan's Largest Indoor Flea Market'.  It wasn't a total frog, but it certainly wasn't a prince, either!  If it's the largest indoor flea market, mid-Michigan is setting the bar pretty low and stepping right over it!

They said there were 100 dealers -- I think there were more like 50 -- and 2/3 of them were selling new things like cheap college logo throw-blankets, $1 Made in China flashlights, and Beanie Babies (which I just lump together under the heading 'tube socks').  There were LOTS of 'tube socks'!  Of the 1/3 vintage dealers, most were WAY overpriced!  I got a few things, though -- especially from one dealer who has a booth at Williamston Antiques, I think. 

I like the A.H. Perfect Coffee can -- I've never heard of that company (midwest-based), but it's still pretty.  I think the bank in the front might turn out to be the buy of the day!  I found a similar one online that an antique dealer wants $130 for, claiming it's from the mid to late 1800s.  I think that's a ridiculous price (and they OBVIOUSLY hadn't found anyone to buy it for that much), but who knows?  My favorite thing is the white poppies California Pottery teapot.

A lot of old spice tins, 2 ink bottles a waxed cardboard cottage cheese container, an old Pabst-ette Cheese container and a Royal Winton plate.  I really like the plate, with its tartan bow in the corner. The pattern is called Ye Olde Innes -- how very Scottish!

Some very pretty yellow & white dishware -- no maker's mark

  After the flea market, I went to a private estate sale that was right up the road.  I was almost afraid to go into the house, because the only sign was a hand-written one with marker on a piece of poster board right between 2 driveways.  I was worried that I'd go to the wrong house, but in the end the thrill of the hunt overpowered my possible embarrassment.  It was the right house, but the wrong stuff!   It sounded like most of the good buys had gone out the door early (though I got there about 2 hours after it opened) and almost everything left was also overpriced.   I think too many people watch Antiques Roadshow!  I got a metal canister set that needs LOTS of work, though, a few things from the 25¢ bin and 2 old suitcases that are both a little flawed (super cheap). 

They look nicer than they are...

After the flea market and estate sale, I took the long way back to the antique mall and fluffed my booth and still got home by about 3:00.  All in all, I'd driven about 120 miles round trip and I'd say I'd almost kissed a frog and never found a prince -- BUT the sun was out and it was a pretty drive over the back roads.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday at all!