2 Crazy Days of Shopping - Day Two: Davisburg Antiques

I thought I'd be posting this 'second day' post the day after my 'first day' one -- an entire week ago!  It seems like there just isn't enough time in the day (or enough days in the week) to keep up with everything.  When I do one task, I keep thinking about all the other ones that aren't getting done.

But enought whining...

Back to the 2 Crazy Days of Shopping.  On Saturday (a week ago, now) my friend Bargain Hunter and I went to the first Antiques Festival in Davisburg -- about an hour closer than Midland.  It was smaller than Midland, but I think that it will grow in size and popularity very quickly.

It was a miserable day, chilly and rainy, but the shopping was fantastic.  AND extra points to the Davisburg people:  they had crews going around with wood chips, putting them on all the really muddy places to make it easier to walk.  That's something they never do at Midland!  Even with the wood chips, our feet were covered with mud and we had mud up our jeans to our calves.  But when did a little mud ever stop a motivated junker?

I intended to take pictures of some of the staging and cool items, but got too busy shopping and forgot to.  Oh well, that's something to save for next time...  I found some real treasures and filled up my granny cart and part of Bargain Hunter's.  In my defense, my granny cart is one of the smaller ones I've seen...that must be why I always fill it before BH fills hers!

Here are some of the cool things I got:

I just LOVE these woven metal baskets (or are they purses?)  I don't know if I'll sell them on Etsy or in the booth -- they have such possibilities for display

Spaniel PBN

Bag lot of children's toy dishes.  I admit it -- I bought the entire bag lot just to get the little slotted spoon and the teal starburst plates!

Glass pitchers are on my 'do not buy' list.  I couldn't pass this one up, though -- it's now in my kitchen.  I replaced another pitcher and set of six glasses with this one piece though.  That should prove I'm not a hoarder!  

These complete my set of these Daisy Pyrex bowls.  I'd just told Bargain Hunter that they were on my wish list and there they were, in the first building we went into!

This octagonal tin is in great condition.  I priced it and took it to the booth and ended up bringing it home -- I can't part with it!

Art Deco spiral chrome bookends from the 1930s

This quilt is a cutter -- 3 of the 15 blocks are too frayed and rotted to use.  The other 12 are really nice, though, and the perfect size for seat covers or pillows (if I ever get time to sew them)

This set was my big splurge for myself -- I'd never seen this set of Tavern candles before.  I don't believe that Santa was original, but he's a cute add-on

The colors in ths Canada tablecloth are so bright!  I don't know if I'll be able to sell this, either, as I love all things Canadian...

This big Old West tea towel is really unusual and in mint, unused condition. There are dates and historical events all over the map and the principal people around the edges

I'll definitely go to Davisburg Antiques again (but probably get a bigger cart).  I'm already looking forward to the next one...think how much fun it will be without the mud!

2 Crazy Days of Shopping - Day One: Maumee Antique Mall

Last Friday, my friend Bargain Hunter and I went out for a little 'retail therapy'.  We had planned to go to the M-15 garage sale (about 46 miles of garage sales), but decided to skip it because it was so chilly and rainy.  Since it didn't officially start until the next day (Saturday), we thought the early-bird sellers might just decide to wait and hope that the weather improved.  

Instead, we went to Maumee Antiques near Toledo, which has quickly become one of my absolute favorite malls!  It's in an old grocery store so it's really big and most of the booths are very well staged with lots of interesting stuff.  They even have shopping carts, which is good, since they don't have many (or any) floor walkers.  

I found some great things, with a definite mid-century vibe...

Napco bobble-head cat with two kittens

Holt Howard Santa from 1963 and a boy birthday angel (always hard to find)

Spaghetti poodle planter in near-mint condition

I think clowns are creepy, but I always like these homemade yo-yo clowns with the celluloid faces.  This little guy is only about 7" high.  The large apple bowl is fired-on Flamingo Pink & in perfect condition.

1951 Dolly Toy wall hangings -- Little Boy Blue

I thought I'd put this planter on my front porch, but now I think it will end up in the booth

I loved this teal and basketweave train case!  

The mirror's gone and the seller has added this floral paper panel.  My friend Bargain Hunter likes it, but I think the panel has got to go -- how do you vote?

I loved this showboat musical jewelry box from 1965!  Do you think it's cool or tacky?

It plays 'Way Down Upon the Swanee River'

Six Vera Neumann napkins and a garden tote -- plus a wonderful little news brochure from 1950

Mr. KV says the news magazine, called Quick, was like the ipad of the 50s, because of its caption:  "Get Quick at your newstand each Thursday and carry it in your pocket or your purse...and read it wherever you are"  We could just imagine a bus or restaurant full of 1950s people all reading their Quicks, the way people are all busy on their phones now!

After all those fun finds, you might think I wouldn't want to shop any more.  NOT SO!  We were all geared up and ready to go to the Antiques Flea Market at Davisburg the next day.  That's the next post, though.  

Have a great evening, everyone!

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...

Northern Ohio Shopping Adventure

Yesterday my friend Bargain Hunter and I went on a shopping adventure in northern Ohio, about 1-1/2 hours from here.  We wanted to go to Jeffrey's in Findlay (where we'd both been before) and also visit Maumee, which lots of people we know had recommended.

It was a beautiful WARM (40 degrees!) day.  Yes, I said 40 degrees -- those of you from warmer climates won't appreciate how warm that can feel after a long sub-zero winter.  While we rode the hour and a half to Jeffrey's we talked about lots of stuff (and solved all the problems of the world) and she took me to task for not blogging enough.  BH told me that I'd been listing lots of really cool stuff in my Etsy shop that she didn't even know I'd bought because I don't blog about it.  To be honest, I've been feeling that, if my post isn't about that day's shopping (or maybe the day before), you won't want to hear about it.  She thinks I'm wrong (and maybe she's right). So you might be getting some 'old news' from now on!  I hope you don't mind if the post starts out with 'Two weeks ago I went to...'  

Anyway, Jeffrey's was great fun, as always.  All of our family lives in central and southwestern Ohio, so I make the trip up and down 75 very often.  There are 2 stops Mr. KV and I are guaranteed to make:  Skyline Chili for lunch or dinner and Jeffrey's for antiquing.  Both NEVER disappoint! If you're ever by Findlay, Ohio be sure to stop at Jeffrey's and allow at least an hour and a half (or more) to shop -- it's that big!

I've gotten some great deals at Jeffrey's and yesterday, I found these little goodies:

A Federal Glass black diamonds covered bowl with 8 custards

A tinware ice holder from a  'portable refrigerator' (cooler) from the 1950s.  It's has the most outstanding gray, black and white design!

Here are the instructions on the other side for using your portable refrigerator.  

 After Jeffrey's we made our way to Delta, Ohio and a pair of antique shops that BH had found online.  They were nice little adjoining shops, Bad Creek Antiques and the Vintage Barn Market.

On the way there, we saw a sign for an estate sale so (of course) we stopped.  It was in a heated garage == but the entire place reeked of cigarette smoke!  We could hardly breathe, it was so thick inside.  That didn't stop BH from getting an aluminum pitcher and me from getting this sweet hamper though...

I love the sparkle lucite handles on this hamper!

When we got to the Delta antique stores, seemed like they were phasing out their antiques and focusing more on repainted & repurposed furniture, as most items were 30% off -- fine with us, as we got some good stuff.  BH got a cool white iron twin bed frame and I got a farm table painted gray with old linoleum nailed on.  You could tell that the owner had done this -- it wasn't repurposed.  I'd love to keep it, but I think it will have to go into the booth (you just can't keep everything!)  I don't have a picture of it yet, as it's still upside-down in the back of my car.  There's just too much snow and ice to unpack it all and take it to the barn.

The gray table is on the right.

I also got this sweet little Samsonite smooth-sided train case at 30% off.  Train cases are so good for storage and totes, as well as actually using for travel, that they always sell well.

Next stop was Maumee Antiques, just outside of Toledo.  So many people had said that we had to go there and they were exactly right!  It was big and there was a good mix of the traditional and the unusual, plus lots of mid-century, which is what I look for.  The employees were very friendly, too -- always a plus!

We spent a couple of hours at Maumee.  Here's what I found...

Two sweet pink and gray canisters -- could these be the start of a new collection?

Aluminum trays -- six small and one medium-sized (that can all use a good cleaning).  They'll go great with my colored aluminum pitcher and glasses

I really like this Androck sifter -- it's a pretty unusual style.  The turquoise and white is a do-over.... I had a chance to buy this California Pottery lazy susan center piece for my apple dishes and I stupidly passed on it.  There was one a Maumee, so now I have all the pieces except the base.

This sweet little tv tray is kid-sized...or it was meant to be a side table.  It's very short and the tray is only about 11x14".  

I also got a cute little formica kids' table with mid-century legs and a formica covered folding table that was labeled 'The Best Folding Table Ever'!  I don't know about that, but it will definitely come in handy down in the basement.

All in all, we had a great time and got lots of treasures!  I don't know if I'd make the trip to Delta again, but Maumee is definitely on my return-trip list!  I'll post pictures of the tables I bought when I finally can get them out of the car.

A Rare Tuesday Estate Sale

Most estate sales around here start on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.  Today there was one in a nearby town and I've had cabin fever, so I decided to go.  The pictures and ads were all about the primitives, Civil War stuff and things from the late 1800s, so I didn't expect to find much.

I was number 30 and as we 'extras' (they usually only let the first 20 in to start) waited in line, several of the poeple talked about how high this dealer's prices were.  So, I figured that not only wouldn't I find anything I wanted, but if I did it would be too expensive for me!

They were right -- it was ridiculously high.  Now, I'll be the first to admit that I don't know anything about Civil War memorabilia or primitives, but I know that a fairly common glass & zinc lidded mason jar shouldn't sell for $20.  There was so much stuff and there were so many people NOT buying much!  

Upstairs, though, was the sewing room and wadded up in a pile on a chair was a crazy quilt top made out of feedsack fabric and dated 1935.  It was so pretty and the colors were amazingly bright.  I cringed as I looked for the price on it...and was pleasantly surprised (AND did the happy dance with it all the way down the stairs.  

Isn't it beautiful?

Apparently the dealer doesn't know how to price linens or vintage handwork!  Tucked in a closet in the same room was a bag lot of feedsack hexagon pieces and blocks for a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt AND a bag lot of 13x13 feedsack crazy quilt blocks.  They were priced really low -- unbelievable!  

Crazy quilt blocks -- 24 of them!  Plus some darning cotton and a darning egg

Grandmother's Flower Garden pieces and blocks

Here are closeups of some of the blocks from the friendship quilt...

This little house is so sweet!

In case you can't read this, it says 'Ernie Rogers 1935'

I added in a few books and a few more things from the kitchen (largely ignored by the primitives folk) and I was on my way home with my treasures.

I especially like the Torte and Cake cookbook and the Edgemont tin.  The green bowl is a mid-century design that I usually see in plastic -- this one is enamelware!

I've never heard of this 'Bezique' game before, but it's quite old (looks like early 1900s or even late 1800s).  The little books are butterfly and flower field guides.  The bigger red one is all photos from the Spanish American War

Here's what the field guides look like

I've seen this print several times before in different sizes and colors.  This one is 8x10