Saturday, August 31, 2013

The Day Before Our Tikicue

We made it a four day weekend, taking a vacation day before the three day Labor Day weekend. We had some last minute preparations before our Tikicue tomorrow but we wanted to spend our day having fun too. There were not many sales going on (in fact, there are not many sales going on all weekend!) but we found two and off we went! 

Our first stop was a church tag sale not too far away from us. The people seemed nice but there was absolutely nothing of interest to us. Over the last few years, that is the way these church sales have gone. The congregations with an aging population can have some great things but that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.


This was our second (and final stop on our list). The outside did not look promising and the entire neighborhood looked very "Miami Viced out" but we went here with few expectations other than having fun because this sale was being run by a really fun Tag Sale company. The owner likes to make Rob do "Mr. Ed" impersonations and one of her employees, John,  is really funny so we were hoping for a few good things but expecting nothing more than fun. When we walked in, the owner said "happy anniversary" to us because she remembered that we first met at a Labor Day Weekend sale last year (we did not realize this) and it was great getting a friendly welcome!


Always a good sign...a downstairs pencil sharpener mounted to the wall!  It turned out to be a very good sale and we spent over an hour here digging! 

Some things we brought home today:
Lots and lots of vintage greetng cards

Some records

Some more records

Cookbooks and appliance manuals

A blow up reindeer

Miscellaneous items including a coloring book from 1960, some old books/guides, cocktail swizzlers, a cool birthday matchbook, a set of birthday earrings from the 1950's, a birthday caketopper and a Burger King yo-yo. 

A starburst towel holder, several Tiki items and a Keds Space frisbee! 


After a very fun sale, our goal was to have lunch at Hildebrandts which has been around forever! Neither of us had ever been here so off we went for lunch!


A close-up of the front sign! Very cool!


The side of the luncheon


We both had lime rickeys to drink!


ha ha...sign hanging in the back of the luncheonette!

The inside...a great counter!

We both ordered burgers which were great! Rob got the 8 ounce cheeseburger and added bacon. Monica got the 4 ounce hamburger. We both got fries and coleslaw on the side! Monica said the french fry on the top looks like a heart. <3 

It was a great day together and we spent the remainder of the day cleaning for tomorrow's Tikicue. Life is great together amongst the ducks! 

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Labor Day Weekend Tikicue Invitation!


Even though everyone was already told about the Tikicue party, Monica had to design and email invitations to the family.  We needed a name for the event and Monica was scouring the internet for Hawaiian names. Rob was also brainstorming a name for the party.  They went over Monica's sister Valerie's house and she came up with the name Tikicue!!!!  This time, a picture of Rob was included on the invite, serving up the drinks!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Venetian Blind Lamps

Our good friend in blogland, Living Vintage, recently posted about Venetian Blind lamps. Please check out her blog:  Living Vintage  if you have not already. You will be glad you did! 

These lamps are favorites of ours and we don't run into to them very often. We do have three displayed in our house now.

Green lampshade with a panther base

Red lampshade with an identical panther base.

Turquoise lampshade with a telephone base.

We do have a fourth one in storage (red lampshade with an oriental theme base) but it is a little damaged and restoration will be a project for another day.

Monday, August 26, 2013

The Last Full Weekend Of August

The last full weekend of August has arrived and we were hopeful that we could find some good sales. Next weekend, Labor Day weekend, is likely to be a slow one. People go away or have barbecues (less garage sales) and the Tag Sale Companies often skip running sales on the holiday weekends knowing less foot traffic means less money for them. We both took vacation days next Friday, making a three-day weekend a four-day weekend! We are having a family barbecue at our house on Saturday so we will be plenty busy (more on that later in the week). We compared our lists, put together our plan and off we went!

Our first stop was at a Church yard sale about 10 minutes from our house. They opened a Thrift Shop a few months ago but its hours of operation are limited and we had not been there yet. This church does have a big Christmas Tag Sale every December and we go to that. In fact, one of the ladies came over and said hello, recognizing us from past years. We looked at the outdoor things and visited the Thrift Shop and got a few fun items to take home with us. 


The next stop was about 30 minutes away and was an estate sale run by the family of the deceased. The first thing we looked through was the records and, after picking out five, Rob was told they were $3 apiece. Rob quickly put them back. They asked what the going price was on records and we told them honestly that the typical price was no more than $1. They said they would sell the records we wanted for $1 each so we took them along with a few cool Christmas items and some cocktail swizzle sticks.

After our usual stop for breakfast, we went to the next two sales on our list and they were very quick stops. Both were outdoor garage sales with very little of interest to us. We did manage to get a record, a newer Pez dispenser, a Kool-Aid mixing spoon and a few rubber ducks between the two stops so neither was a total loss.

Our fifth stop was here...well...maybe not. Monica is pointing at the house Rob should have been capturing on film.  


THIS was the fifth stop! It was another estate sale run by the family and there was a lot to look through. The furniture was practically all from the 1950's and, while some pieces definitely showed years and years of love, they were really great.


Monica posing in front of a Heywood Wakefield Vanity Makeup table with mirror. The whole bedroom set was Heywood Wakefield (including the dresser to Monica's left) and was in pretty good shape and pretty reasonably priced but, alas,  the set was not in our budget at the moment. We spent about an hour at this house and came away with some cookbooks, tupperware, a pink phone and a few other cool items. 

Our last stop was a complete bust. It was an "estate" garage sale but it looked like the items being sold were willed to them and they were putting it out for sale. There were definitely some quality items (lots of old silver) but nothing that interested us. On the bright side, it was only five minutes from our house, on the way home anyway and we only spent three minutes of our time here!



Here are some of the things we brought home with us:
Some records


A few more records


Lots of cookbooks


Some miscellaneous items including a pink phone, some old Tupperware pieces, some old holiday Gurley candles, two recent bobbleheads from The Simpsons (which Rob will put on the top of his dresser) and more.


A Kool-Aid mixing spoon, Tupperware measuring spoons and some cocktail swizzle sticks with whistles.


Holiday decorations


Christmas decorations!

Sunday was spent getting ready for next weekend's Tikicue at our house. We did a lot and are now ahead of pace and we can take our time with our remaining preparations and, with our four day weekend coming up, we will have time for us too as we enjoy each other and our adventures amongst the ducks.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

The Starbursts Were Aligned

Another Saturday...another great opportunity to go saling. We usually choose our spots on Friday night when we compare the lists we have individually put together. Many are duplicates but sometimes we find sales that the other did not find so this is a fun way to plot our course. Although nothing looked like a sure thing, there were a few more choices than we had the last few weeks so that was a good thing! Our course set...five sales (we ruled out a sixth one because it was a little too far away from the other five stops)..off we went!


This was the door at the first stop...a great sign! It was an estate sale run by the family of the recently departed. It had an angled car port like so many houses built in the 1950's and early 1960's did and we loved that! We did not take a picture of it because there was too much commotion outside. There were many rooms to dig in and we got several items we liked at a very cheap price. Stop #1 was a success!


This was our second stop and we were surprised to see that this one was run by a small Tag Sale Company we know. They do not have a website and their ads in craigslist don't really identify the company so it is always a surprise to see the owner but always a pleasant surprise because, although many of his sales don't have a lot to offer but, when they do, he gives us a great price. Many cookbooks and some other interesting items were taken home at another great price. Stop #2 was a success! 


Having a mounted pencil sharpener on the wall is always a good sign!

We decided to stop for a late breakfast before moving on to stop #3. It was later than our usual breakfast break because we spent a lot of time at each of the first two sales so we were hungry! After re-fueling, it was time to move on.


Not much to say about stop #3. There was almost nothing...NOTHING in this house. A few pieces of furniture and a few knick knacks. We spent about four minutes here. While looking through craigslist on Sunday morning, this sale was listed again as having a packed house! 

Stop #4 was an outdoor garage sale that boasted having many vintage items and they did but the prices were a little on the high side. Luckily, they had reduced their prices by 50% (since it was later in the day) and we did come away with three vintage cookbooks and a package of vintage clown cake toppers (a Rob weakness) for $5 so we did not leave empty handed. 

At this point, it was getting a little late and our planned stop #5 was 30 minutes away. On some days, we might have just decided to head back home but not today. This sale had one key phrase in their advertisement that put this stop on our list... "Franciscan Starburst Dish Set". We could have gone to this sale first but we figured that the set would be scooped by a dealer first, overpriced or in poor condition so to abandon a more sensible route would not be a good idea. Plus, we did not know what "set" meant. With the words running through our heads and the hope that the house would have other items of interest and similar age, we set a course for planned stop #5. 
Stop #5... Big front yard! 

When we walked in, we were greeted by familiar faces...another Tag sale Company that we know pretty well and we were greeted with smiles! The name of their Tag Sale Company was not in their craigslist ad and their website was not updated with this sale until after we had both checked it so we were surprised again! 


Monica in the basement, searching for treasures!

Oh yes, that Franciscan Starburst Dish Set they mentioned...it was still there and it was it great condition!!! 60 pieces in all! It was still there because they would not sell them as separates, just a full set. Their price was $125 (which actually was pretty good) but they immediately told Rob, since it was late in the day, that they would sell it for $75 and then, without taking a breath, told him they could even do better. We looked it over with starbursts in our eyes! They dropped the price to $50. Sold! We have several separates from this set but not a whole set and, aside from two pieces which each had a very, very small chip, and some utensil marks, it was great! When we put together a bridal registry, we will not have to list a fine china set...we have ours now! 

There were some other great things that we bought at this sale too! We found a genuine Hawaiian charm bracelet from the late 1950's/early 1960's, a few great Christmas items, a record and the Imperial Gorilla! 



Here are some of the items we brought home:
A couple of records


Lots of great cookbooks!


Some Christmas items


A book on bowling, the Imperial Gorilla, an unopened bag of Halloween trick or treat bags from the 1970's, clown cake toppers, an old bowling trophy and other things


An atomic stand of some sort that we cannot identify (but we can put it to use for something cool), a Hazel Atlas Glass Circus Carousel Ice Bucket  from the 1940's (wish we had the tumblers too), some Tupperware spoons (and an old  long Carvel spoon mixed in) and a Tupperware lid holder to mount inside a cabinet.


A genuine Hawaiian charm bracelet for Monica from the 1950's or 1960's with a pineapple, hula girl, Tiki guy, King Kamehameha and ukelele charm. Monica also got a couple of dresses that we may post at a later date


Our new Fransciscan Starburst 60-piece China set! There were some utensil marks on some of the pieces which came out pretty easily with a $1.99 container of Bar Keepers Friend cleansing powder/polisher! 

We had a few separates from the Franciscan Starburst set before this:
Some dishes, salt and pepper shakers and a plate. Two of the bowls in this picture are not Franciscan Starburst but everything else is. The salt and pepper shakers in this picture are larger than the ones in the new set.


A couple of teacups are on the top shelf of our downstairs shadow box. We have a few additional pieces packed in boxes (but not many).

We spent Sunday relaxing. We did do a couple of loads of laundry and visited Monica's nephew who was in town for the weekend and then we barbecued at home but, for the most part, it was a lazy Sunday which I guess we are entitled to have now and then. We can smile...we now have our permanent fancy china and we always have each other.

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

A Garage Saling Type Of Day

Garage saling is something that we have really not done a lot of lately. Well, we do go to garage sales but it is usually an afterthought .The number of professional Tag Sale Companies has grown so much in recent years and new ones seem to pop up every few weeks. So many of them have their own websites and, even for those that don't, there is Craigslist which lets them advertise for free. Not as many people even donate their loved one's worldly possessions to Thrift Shops any more. They hire professional Tag Sale Companies to sell off the estate. There's money to be made! And, of course, garage sales are very, very hit or miss! With tag sales and estate sales, you can sometimes see the pictures and read more detailed descriptions and hope for the best! 

On Saturday, Monica's car was getting an inspection which meant that we would have to be back at our mechanic by 2 pm at the latest. This would restrict our travels to a certain extent normally but there really were not a lot of good sales listed anyway. We decided to choose a few, get back to get Monica's car and then cruise the general area for garage sales. 


Our first stop of the day was at an estate sale. It was run by a Tag Sale Company that we did not know at all. We think they were new because they did not even have any signs out front advertising the name of their company. It was a fun house to rummage through and we got a few records and some glassware at a reasonable price. 


 Our second stop was also an an estate sale run by a company whose sales we have not visited in awhile. They are nice people and they are reasonable but they just don't hold that many sales. We had a nice time talking with them and searching the house and we came away with a few good items and a couple of great items, all at a very reasonable price. 

Our next stop was, well, for breakfast (which we always do on Saturdays) and then off we went to the third sale which was about 30 minutes away. It was an outdoor garage sale that advertised many vintage items. Our stop was pretty quick, as there was not a lot there, but we found a few great things. 

We had one more potential stop which was about 30 minutes away but we only had about two hours to pick up Monica's car and chose to drive home and pick it up rather than feel pressured to rush through the next sale. It was on the way home that we decided not to make the trip to the fourth sale (about 45 minutes away from home) and to just cruise around for garage sales in the neighborhood. So, we picked up Monica's car and, on the way home, found a garage sale at an old house that looked interesting...and it was! The people were funny and, we suspect, hoarders, and we found a few amazing things...two vintage magazine racks with atomic bases, a package of old Valentine's Day stuff (a pin-the heart on the Cupid game and 4 vintage Valentine's Day cards), some small vintage Easter Bunny die-cuts in their package and an old kid's musical pocketbook that still played...and all for $5! 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon, cruising for garage sales and even stopped at the local Salvation Army and came away with a few nice things. It was a nice afternoon together!

On Sunday, normally a day to run some errands and do some housework together, we decided to go to an estate sale that had a pretty good description..."50 years of accumulation" and "digger". We went!


Three signs...two on each side of the driveway and one posted on the pickup truck just to make sure you knew you were in the right place!


"Take It Away" is the name of the Tag Sale Company

There were things all over the place and we had to wait on line to get in but the wait was only 15 minutes.

The creepy plastic baby in the baby carriage looked shocked to see so many people at her house!

The sale was definitely as advertised. Lots of old stuff (though not necessarily our style) and a real digger! We were covered with dust by the time we were done. We got some records and a lot of holiday die-cuts here.



Here are some of the things we got this weekend:
Some records


Some more records


Some books; mostly cookbooks and appliance guides


Some vintage greeting cards, gift tags, mini die-cuts and a cardboard Halloween mask


Playing cards, glasses, mugs and googly eyed shot glasses as well as an old musical kid's pocketbook, whistle swizzle sticks and a rubber Fred Flintstone


Some Christmas stuff including a set of Mr and Mrs Claus mugs whose covers are ashtrays (made in Japan)


Some Christmas die-cut decorations


Some Thanksgiving die-cut decorations. The one at the bottom is a honeycomb Turkey


George Washington and Abraham Lincoln die-cut decorations. Remember when their birthdays were celebrated separately instead of as a combined President's Day?


A few more die-cuts, a vintage birthday card and a photograph envelope when astronauts were big news!


A pin-the-heart on the Cupid game for Valentine's Day


A pair of old magazine racks



On Friday night,  to start the weekend, we went into town. 
We had dinner at a newer cafe-style restaurant called Swell Taco. It has a surfer theme but they played reggae music which we liked and the food was pretty good! We each had a marguerita with dinner


We walked around town after dinner. This is our favorite sign in town because it is so old!

Rob posing with the wooden Indian outside of the town's cigar shop. Rob is one-sixteenth Cherokee Indian so this was "his people". 

It was a beautiful weekend and the evenings were nice and not too humid. Perfect for walking around town, hand in hand, and enjoying our life together amongst the ducks.