Estate Sale

I love estate sales, but sometimes they are depressing because you know that a family has just lost a parent. You can get a feel for who they were and what they were like by digging through clothes, records, books etc. The one I went to today, I would have loved to meet this lady. Her clothes were amazing, and the lady working told me, you should have seen the stuff that left already! Tons of vintage Talbots, she loved tartans of every hue, scarves, scarves and more scarves....and her book collection? C'mon! I think we would have been friends. I had to stop myself from piling up every single book she had. My total expenditure for all below?  $5.00 - and Matt was nervous I was going to an estate sale....

This is what I narrowed it down to

Love

o

All three of these?  $0.25

Under the lid of the desk caddy- oh, how the times have changed

Queen Mary Bookmark.  Why?  I don't know- it was also only $0.25 That's Charlie's little fingers barging in on the picture

I also bought these two t-shirts. This must have been very fun for her to keep this shirt so long- excuse Charlie's head

Charlie approves

Record Collection Wall Hanging

Remember the auction  I went to back in April?  At the end, anything that didn't sell, they let the neighbors dig through.  I found this stack of old records.  These are really old.  I broke 3-4 of them before I realized they weren't like regular vinyl, these things were like glass

Matt is the one who is good with spacing, so he configured the layout and then Ethan and he put them up

After- whatdayathink?

The records include Rosemary Clooney, Tony Bennett and Bud Messner, so probably about 1950

See those football players on the other wall?  I love these guys.  These are from Matt's room when he was a kid.  They are solid metal.

Funny story, if you look in Eric Foreman's bedroom from That 70's show, he has the same ones

See??

Utensil Holder

I've had the same utensil holder for about 15 years.  The only reason I know that is my sister gave it to me, and if I remember, she got it as a wedding gift and didn't want it?  Melinda, you'll need to clarify that for me.  They are coming up on their 15th anniversary so it's about that old.  The utensil holder was small and had chili peppers on it, not really my style, but it served me well for a very long time.  I have been looking for a utensil holder forever.  Every one I saw was either too small or too expensive.  I had my eye on one down at Prydes, but at $25, I was waiting.  This is more perfect than I ever imagined and it was $1

Bonus?  Since it's an enamel pot, not an actual utensil holder, it fits like, twice the schtuff
Matt's response? 'Well, it's very Mollie...' and 'oh great, more room to stick your crap!'
It'll grow on him, along with all the other stuff

Auction- Sunday, April 29th- The Jewelry

I bid on the jewelry box.  I knew anything of real value would have been taken out and I didn't know what was in it, but I paid $15 for it and got all of the stuff below.  I gave the jewelry box to the neighbor.   She has a teenager and she said it matched her bedroom (it was quite ugly and I happily obliged)  I'm pleased with the contents!  I will be giving some of this away, selling others and commissioning Carly to turn the clip earrings into pierced. Okay, so there are a lot of pics coming....

You can see the way this looks in different light.  Very cool and look at the clasp!?!

These are so weird

Very strange how the rest on the ear.  Excuse the hair, I had been out in the rain and cold all day

Choker- faux pearls and beads on velvet

These I will probably keep- love

I think these are supposed to be nests?  My grandmother used to have a whole Rosary made out of these brown beads

This will go to Sheila to have or dissect

Tiniest flag pin I've ever seen

There were actual antiquers there and no one could seem to tell me what this was. One lady said it was a book mark, but I call bs on that one. If it is, it's the non-page-holdingnest book mark I ever saw.

This is what made it all worth it. It's AMAZING, this picture does it no justice

Auction- Sunday, April 29th

The house next to us has been vacant for many years. The husband passed quite a few years back and the wife has been in a nursing home. Betty was a crazy collector...of everything. The woman had over 400 Longaberger baskets for pete's sake. The children finally decided to clear out the mountains of stuff Betty had in the house and have an auction.  I couldn't believe how much stuff they pulled out of this tiny little house.  I felt bad for the kids.  It was a hard day and an end of an era for them.  On top of that, it was cold and poured most of the morning, ruining a lot of the stuff and killing the crowds.  Good for the bidders, not so good for the sellers. I contacted a bloggie buddy over at The Hunt for Vintage.  You may know her as the woman with this unbelievable kitchen that was featured in BH and G  

I have followed her blog for years, but I had never met her. She was just as wonderful in person as she is online and really knows her stuff. I think I broke about 100 auction etiquette rules. She was very tolerant when really she should have probably swatted me. I finally caught on about 7 hours in on how the whole thing works. It's really fun and a total rush when you get what you want for a good price.

Here are some of the miscellaneous finds.  I will post the jewelry tomorrow



I freaked out when I saw these and knew I had to have them.  For an auction, I probably overpaid, but I had to have them.  I paid $15.  I was so excited about my bronze Scottie bookends. Matt did not share my enthusiasm, as usual



After a Brasso Bath

The aftermath of the auction.  I should have taken a picture of the action, but I was too busy in there!  They had three huge trailers full of stuff, plus boxes, furniture, shelving lining the perimeter, plus the house was full of furniture and some of the most amazing quilts I have ever seen.  They were too rich for my blood, going for $40-$100 EACH.  And those were the leftovers!  I talked to the son and he said all the really nice ones were picked out!

Canisters.  I got these for $2.  I will probably re-sell these as I don't need them, but the tea is damaged a bit.

How cool are the labels though?

This cool, amazing tin platter I got for $1

A Tonka for Charlie

Ammo Box

Tobacco tin- I have no idea why I bought this.  I think it's because it kinda looks like my Aunt Joyce's?  I don't know, I got swept up, but I only paid $1 and got a pencil sharpener with it (that's how auctions work)

Matt spotted this flipping awesome chair $2

This is what made my whole day worth it.  They don't make iced tea jars without spouts anymore.  And the spouts always leak!  You can find the spout less glass ones online, but they go for $25 or so.  I've had my aunt, my sister, everyone on the lookout for these (PS, keep looking-  I'd like another one!)  I spotted it on the trailer and just about had a heart attack.  I told Nikki  'I don't care if I have to pay $50, it's mine'.  I paid $3