Aloha 'oe, 'Apelila ("Farewell To You, April" in Hawaiian)

We always find it so intriguing that our saling "finds" take on such unpredictable patterns. There are weeks that we find lots of vintage Christmas items and not just from one stop. We will go to four or five sales and find vintage Christmas items at three of them. Other weeks, we never even see anything that even resembles a Santa Claus or an angel. We have weeks where we bring home lots of records. Other weeks...none. We have had weeks where every stop yields some books whether they be vintage cookbooks or old "how to" guides or children's books or old appliance guides. Then, we will not see another book that we like for weeks! The unpredictability make things extremely exciting. Granted, when we see the ads for the sales we target, we sometimes know what to expect. Phrases like "Vintage Christmas" give us a hint at what we might find and, of course, some of the ads even have pictures (not that those items are guaranteed to be there when we arrive).  We like finding things that make us smile but the search through old houses and the thrill of uncovering an unexpected treasure really adds a lot to the excitement of the day!

This was one of those days that would surprise us. We did see the words "records" and "Christmas" each used once in an ad but nothing else was that specific. In the ads that did have pictures, we did not see anything that might indicate what we might find. We did list nine potential sales which is the most we have found in some time. We knew we would not be able to visit all of them because of their distance from one another. We would have to pick and choose based on their proximity to one another and our instincts...and so we did. The closest sale to us didn't begin until 10 am and that is a late start for us. We made the most of it by stopping for breakfast first. By the time we were done and in front of our first house, it was just a few minutes past 10 am. We timed it well

This first sale really didn't advertise anything other than "records" but it was an estate sale, it was close to us and you just never know! It was a quick stop. We came home with one record. Hopefully, our next stop would bring us better results.

Stop #2 was on its second day of their sale. We knew that we may have missed out on things but we have had some great luck with second day sales recently. We think that maybe the dealers don't like a lot of what we like. 

The bathroom inside was pretty old. It had a mint green sink and toilet. 

Another view of the bathroom. It also had a mint green bathtub and a cool floor.

Nothing says "I haven't updated my den in some time" quite like a sailfish mounted on a knotty pine wall! 

The sale was run by the family of the deceased and there was hardly anyone searching the house when we were there. We found a Tiki idol, four Don Ho glasses, two records (including a Hawaiian record), some vintage aprons, a die cut drink menu card from the Polynesian Palace (home of The Don Ho Show!) and a few other things and all for $4. They just wanted things gone...and we wanted to take them home! 

Our next stop was 25 minutes away and boasted "50 years of accumulation". It was worth a shot.

As we got closer, we saw this sign on a pole. Handwritten signs do not have spell check. Luckily, it was not a sign advertising our stop!

This was our next stop and Monica was happy that we had arrived!

There was this great old cabinet in the basement that had seen better days but it was still cool!

It was cooler still because it had a boomerang countertop!

There was a lot to search through but, alas, no attic. We did find a New Year's honeycomb decoration, a Christmas popcorn decoration, some old gift tags, a couple of books, a wooden pineapple bowl (made in Hawaii) and a Tiki bowl. It was another good stop

Stop #4 was advertised as "Grandma's house" and we were hoping Grandma had some nice stuff. 

Grandma had a pencil sharpener mounted in the basement. That's always a good sign! Grandma also had some vintage melmac bowls (there was no sign of ALF) , a couple of Mica houses and a honeycomb Halloween decoration. The people in charge of Grandma's belongings let us have all of this for $3. 

Stop #5 was listed as an estate and mentioned "Christmas". That was not much to go on but it was only eight minutes from the previous stop. There were a few items out on the lawn which fully explains why Monica didn't pose for this picture. She was already saling! It was an extremely quick stop and there was very little here. We did take home one record and a 10 inch fan. It is a new fan but it is something we talked about needing. This particular fan normally goes for $25 in the store and it was marked $5. 

We decided we would just go to one more sale and it was run by a tag sale company we know. Their sales are usually pretty good but always seem to have lines outside for the first couple of hours. This was mid-afternoon and we figured we would avoid the lines. We did. There was no sale. They listed this on their website but did not advertise anywhere else (unusual for them). We are guessing that the sale was postponed and they forget to update their site. That's okay. It was a beautiful day and the ride was nice.

Around the corner from the non-existent sale was this sign. We heeded its warning. We drove slowly. The ducks are our friends.

There they were. They were enjoying their day too!

Here are some of the things we took home with us today:

Some records

Some books

An apron for Monica

Another apron for Monica

Old gift tags

Some Christmas things

Holiday honeycomb decorations

Birthday cake toppers and candle holders

Some vintage melmac bowls

This salt and pepper shaker...

He splits into two parts

An old Halloween make up kit still in its original package (Rob had this as a kid), a vintage zipper pull for Monica, a small Tupperware container and a package of old birthday candles

An old postcard pack from Hawaii

A monkey pod bowl made in Hawaii, a Tiki idol and a wooden Tiki bowl

Four Don Ho glasses from the Polynesian Palace. It's funny that we found these because we discovered that one of ours was broken this week!

The front of a die-cut drink menu from the Polynesian Palace

The back of the Polynesian Palace drink menu. It is the home of The Don Ho Show!!!

When the day began, we had no idea what to expect and what the theme of the day would be. There was no hint from the description of the sales at all. At the end of the day, we knew it was Hawaiian Day with monkey pod bowls, Tiki idols and lots of remembrances of Don Ho waiting to be found

Aloha 'oe, 'Apelila! That means "Farewell to you" in Hawaiian. We'll see you in May!