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.