Flea Markets and Barn Sales...Oh, and an Upcoming Sale!

One thing I just love about the warmer weather is getting out to sales...yard sales, garage sales, flea markets, and barn sales. 

Thanks to CTheWritingOnTheWall  for their fabulous "Flea Market" sign.  Check out their Esty shop HERE. 

~~~

This past weekend Mom and I went to two flea markets and three barn sales.  *whew*  We were really tired out, and, yes, I spent all of my money I had to spend (and then a little bit more).  Some of the sales were pathetic or too expensive, but a few (especially one) were fantastic.  I could have spent hundreds of dollars.  At one barn sale there was a lady taking pictures on her I-phone...sending them to a friend...and getting answers back from the friend to buy things for her.  The lady had a huge pile of stuff she was buying (and this was on the second day of the sale!).  It was all great fun. 

~~~

I'm eager to take pictures and list the many goodies that were found.  First of all, the weather needs to cooperate so that my pictures will come out looking nice, AND I need to list things that I've already taken pictures of and just haven't gotten listed yet.  I'm in the process of doing that now.  I'm going to have a big, big sale on July 4th...okay, since you've read down this far I'll tell you what the sale will be.  It is going to be 40%...yes, that's 40% off everything in my Etsy store on July 4th.  This sale will be for one day only.  Come back at the end of the week for a blog post on the specs and for the discount coupon code. 

My First Auction

I had really enjoyed reading Vintage & Victorian's  article on auctions.  The article was very informative and encouraged anyone who had never been to an auction before to at least give it a try.  I had never been to an auction and mentioned to my husband that "someday" we should try one just to see what it was like.  Well, I saw a "tag sale" listed on Craigslist at an auction house.  I thought it was, well, like a garage sale...and should have known that any sale at any auction house is going to be an auction.  We arrived and figured this out very quickly.  Of course, while we were there I just had to look around and noticed three boxes of lots that looked like something I wanted.   I was pretty nervous actually worrying that I'd scratch my nose at the wrong time or wouldn't be able to understand what the guy up front was saying.  A very kind lady knew it was my first auction and gave me the advice not to bid on the first price but wait until the auctioneer went down in price before I started to bid on anything.  There were tons of little things to auction off--a set of plates, knick knacks, you name it.  Because dear patient husband and kids were waiting...and waiting, I nervously went up and asked one of the helpers if they could ask for bidding on two of the boxes I really wanted since that was all I was really interested in.  He kindly said yes.  Of course, I waited to bid once the first price was called out (since that was what the kind lady said to do!) but quickly learned that if I request something I need to bid on the first price.  Note to self!  I was pretty nervous but did bid on the two lots (ran out of money for the third lot which is okay--didn't bring as much as I should have with me thinking it was like a yard sale)....and won them!  How exciting!

One had very old things in it like an antique purse, glass jet buttons, a black mourning jacket/blouse, etc., and the other had fun vintage jewelry.  I'm not sure if I'll go to too many auctions in the future, but I finally went to one, had a great time, and found some fun treasures.

Birthday Fun

Well, it was a rather *sad* week as we came off of Gram's memorial service last weekend and went through her things this past week. So many memories. Mom was kind enough to give me some special things that were Gram's which I shall enjoy. More pictures on those things some other day. A dear lady from church bought me a perm for my birthday, so I spent Friday morning to get that. Wasn't that thoughtful? Since I usually give myself a home perm to save money, I felt totally spoiled having this. On Saturday (my actual birthday), Mom and I went out for a cinnamon roll and tea for breakfast then on to two antique malls (without children!) for some looking around for the afternoon. Thankfully, there were lots of sales going on as well as customer appreciation snacks and specials. We had great fun. I got this little pile of goodies to resell and/or create with. We had great fun. My parents, husband, and kids went out for supper then later came back to our house for cheesecake. Yum! My husband got one of those sampler cheesecakes which was a wonderful twist to the regular birthday cake. He certainly had a great idea!

My dear brother sent me these beautiful flowers. They are certainly a nice perk to the kitchen table. It was a nice, relaxed birthday, and I'm truly thankful to be with my family and have some relaxed enjoyment.

Just Can't Give it Up!

This past Saturday Mom and I got up very early for the first time since her accident in August to go to a large church tag sale, two thrift stores, and an antique mall. She got right up and was eager to go which is amazingly GREAT progress for her. We went slowly with breaks, and she was tired in the afternoon. However, we had a super fun time and got some nice goodies. It was such fun to get up and go with her again. We have BOTH missed estate sales and shopping early. Anyway, I bought this little crown brooch for a song...I love crown brooches. You know, I went to list it in my shop and just couldn't! There have been several pieces that have been hard to part with--gorgeous vintage pieces--but this one I just couldn't break with. It is gold tone metal with both deep purple and clear rhinestones. It was a fun day with even a rare treat for myself!

Antiquing and Thrift Store Hopping

Since Mom and Dad have moved closer--much closer--to us, it has been great fun "buzzing" about with Mom. During the short time that they have been around, we have hit thrift stores and antique stores, and it has been such fun. Sometimes just Mom and I go, and it has been nice to have a little "breather", so to speak--to have a few hours away, from the kids who I am around basically 24/7 (remember, they are homeschooled). While I love my children dearly, it is nice once in awhile to look at things in an antique shop and actually be able to concentrate on what I'm looking at! Anyway, yesterday Mom and I discovered a new antique mall where I found this little heart box and fell in love! It is vintage and was made by Dennison and even had the jeweler's box that the heart box came in with it. It is a ring box and is in great condition. I am just imagining what the ring was that came in this box and how the recipient reacted and what the occasion was. Although I'm trying to resell it, I won't mind if it doesn't sell because I DO like it. While antiquing I also found another little box of treasures, but I'll have to post about that at another time after I get a good picture (too cloudy out today).

A few Goodies from Yard Sale and Antique Shopping

We needed to travel light because, well, now that you have to pay for each piece of luggage, I was determined to be frugal and pack light. One thing I love to do while visiting my parents in Maine is going to yard sales and looking through antique stores. Not that I buy much, but the items seem to be different there than in the Midwest--older houses, older "stuff" to find. With a promise from my dear mom that we could do laundry whenever necessary, I packed particularly light (a hard task for me!) with room and weight to spare in each suitcase in order to fill them to the brim with good deals. My mom and I love to yard sale and peak into antiques stores together, so off we went bright and early four different days. I found some great deals on winter coats for both of the children and winter boots for one--even though it was a challenge squishing them all into a suitcase. How could I resist $1.00 for a warm coat and 25 cents for a decent, warm pair of winter boots?! Most of my finds were shoes and clothing for the children...but there were a few treasures for me that were inexpensive (all of these below cost less than $5.00) and quite irresistible.
One is the talc tin (and box!) above. It is in perfect condition and beautiful in every way. I don't know why some people sell such pretty things...but I'm tickled to have found it.
I found this book on Victorian crafts for 25 cents. I'm helplessly stuck in the romantic Victorian era because I can't resist its pages full of beautiful ideas. What a deal!
I love candle holders, and this brass one is from Italy. It features a thistle and should polish up well with my husband's Brasso.
Finally I'm a sucker for little cottages and have a collection of them in various forms and sizes on our mantle. This one turned out to be a Thomas Kinkade's Swanbrook Cottage for only $1.00.