The weather around here is finally getting springlike. Gone is the threat of snow. Temperatures have been in their historical range all month. While it is not reminding us of summer very much, it is letting us put this winter in the past. Warmer weather will soon be bringing more opportunities as garage sale season gets under way. We have already started seeing the signs.
Our list, as of Friday night, consisted of five potential sales on Saturday. That's the biggest list we've had in a long time! We usually don't check the ads again on Saturday morning but we did this week and came up with one more; a newly listed ad that we hoped would remain under the radar for everyone else. It sounded like it had a lot of potential and it was just fifteen minutes from our house. It would be our first destination. Our fingers were crossed.
The basement had this great wallpaper lining the walls heading downstairs.
The basement also had a mounted pencil sharpener which is always a good sign!
There was lots to search through in the basement. Digging always makes us happy. Spoiler alert...the blow mold candles came home with us.
The other side of the basement had some great, old metal cabinets and an old wooden airplane hanging from the ceiling!
Look at this great box! Unfortunately, it did not contain the service station inside. It was used to house Christmas bulbs
This box was in a bedroom upstairs. This, too, was just a box without its original contents...but what a cool box!
The bathroom upstairs was pink with its original bathtub, toilet, tiled walls and radiator!
Sale #2 was run by a tag sale company who runs a lot of estate sales and we have been to many of them. It was the second day of this sale but we knew it was an old house and we knew, from the pictures, that there were Christmas things here the day before. It was worth a shot
And look at the sparkly floor in the upstairs bedroom!
It was a great house and so much fun to traipse through! It was a great last second find and we found so many cool things here. We became the proud new owners of some old Tupperware, old pennants, a great corner shelf unit, some Christmas things and so much more by the time we left and all for almost nothing!
The kitchen had many of its original appliances. We loved that!
There was a great stereo set in the garage.
When we made our way down to the basement, we encountered the mounted pencil sharpener. We took that as a good sign!
Creepy doll alert! She seemed to be a resident of the basement and far be it from us to disturb her!
This great intercom/radio was mounted in the wall on the main floor. The radio was playing and we were told that the intercom system was still working too!
We realize that there was probably much that made its way out the door on the first day of the sale but we still managed to find two more Christmas blow mold decorations, an old Halloween blow mold pumpkin, some records, some Christmas things and a few other items.
After a stop for lunch, we made our way to sale #3. We had come to realize that we would not make all six sales since we had spent a lot of time at the first two stops. We prioritized. We were comfortable with our choices. This third sale was run by one our favorite tag sale companies. They only have sales a couple of times per month but we try to make them all. besides, this one was described as "vintage items". That sounded pretty good to us!
It was now the afternoon and any crowds that had gathered earlier were long since gone. There was plenty to search and we have found, in so many cases, that what we want is often still there no matter when we arrive. We are good diggers...and, quite frankly, some of the things we like appear to be of no interest to anyone else! We spent almost an hour here digging through boxes. By the end of our search, we had gathered several popcorn holiday decorations, a few Christmas things and a few miscellaneous items. All three stops thus far were productive!
A few houses down from the third sale, there was a garage sale and we decided to make it our first garage sale of the season. It was a pretty good one. We picked up a vintage apron, vintage handkerchief, a record, a Plaid Stamp catalog from 1964, an old Boys Life magazine and a few other things
Our fourth and final planned sale of the day was of great interest to us. It was listed as "Grandma's house" and had a picture of some great vintage wall hangings on the wall. We have a pair of similar ones but we would love to have some more. We didn't make it our first stop because it was the second day of the sale and we thought they would be long gone. Still, it was "Grandma's house" and we wanted to see what was left.
There was a mounted pencil sharpener in the basement. Grandma left behind a sure sign that she had some good stuff!
This great metal cabinet in the basement was only $5. We have one already but could always use a second at that price. Unfortunately, it was warped and we passed on it.
Grandma had a pink bathroom and she had the original bathtub, toilet and sink...
A few houses down from the third sale, there was a garage sale and we decided to make it our first garage sale of the season. It was a pretty good one. We picked up a vintage apron, vintage handkerchief, a record, a Plaid Stamp catalog from 1964, an old Boys Life magazine and a few other things
...and the pink floor was unchanged too!
The sale was run by two of Grandma's relatives and they were very anxious to clear out the house. We had a fun time here and found some great things including a metal kitchen cart that has been on our "shopping list" for a long time. Whenever we see them, they are either being sold for too much money or are damaged beyond repair. We found one here with surface rust but no major damage. It can be easily restored by us with a little sandpaper. We can then paint it whatever color we want...and we got it for only $2!
The two wall hangings that we saw in the picture were bought just a short time before we arrived. We would have loved them but we got some good things here anyway. Aside from the cart, we also found a tiki mug (marked Japan), a vintage guitar player bottle opener, a Caspar salt and pepper set and a few other cool things.
At this point, we usually show you some of the things we got on our day of saling but...we decided to go back out on Sunday. There were two sales that intrigued us enough to make us change our Sunday routine and venture back into the estate saling world. With a short, but interesting, list, off we went!
Sunday's first stop was about 45 minutes from home and when we arrived, we encountered the dreaded line. As you can tell from Monica's face, we were thrilled.
The sale was advertised as being "overloaded" and "vintage" and was being run by a tag sale company whose sale we visited on Saturday too. It was a pretty packed house and there were loads of items throughout the house that screamed "vintage", Look at the handles on those cabinets!
Some 7 inch records
Some 10 inch records
A balloon inflato-pump, a tiki mug (marked Japan), a vintage guitar player bottle opener, a squirrel thermometer plaque and a Caspar salt and pepper set
An old orange plate, a turquoise sugar cannister, chicken salt and pepper shakers and a ceramic breadstick holder. The salt and ppepper shakers and breadstick holder are marked Japan.
Christmas stuff
More Christmas stuff
Even more Christmas stuff!
The kitchen countertop was boomerang!
The house had two floors to explore and, while we didn't find a lot of things we wanted, we did come home with a pair of Christmas pixie candle sitters, an old plate and some old sports books
Our second and final sale of the day was also run by the same tag sale company (they had four over the weekend). It was in Monica's hometown and, while there was nothing that specifically drew us to this house, we knew that it was old and it would be a nice stop before going to visit Monica's dad.
The appliances and the cabinets were great inside
There was a guest house that was also open for exploration.
There wasn't a whole lot of rooms to explore between the two houses but we managed to find some old greeting cards, a couple of Christmas things and a few other items that we wound up bringing home. After this, we went to Monica's old house and spent some great time with her dad.
Here are some of the things that we brought home this weekend:
Some 10 inch Christmas records. The sleeve of the Jimmy Durante record definitely has some flaws but hey...it's Jimmy Durante and we had to have it!
Some 12 inch records
Some 12 inch Christmas records
Some more 12 inch Christmas records
Some books
Some sports books
Vintage greeting cards. The Easter card is a postcard dated 1925
A cocktail stirrer, old holiday cake toppers and an old Easter decoration that was probably originally from an Easter plant
A vintage handkerchief
A vintage apron
Vintage Tupperware
A bamboo handled nutcracker, an Easter cake topper, some St. Patrick's Day decorations, an old game of Tiddly Winks, an old matchbook from Bali Kai and lots of old hard stock coasters
More miscellaneous things
A hat for Monica. Well, it is a plant holder but Monica will turn it into a hat
An old blow mold Jack O'Lantern
Some pennants and a Niagara Falls bumper sticker, all from the 1960's
Boys' Life from 1962 and the Plaid Stamps catalog from 1964
The Plaid Stamp book had this great corner shelf unit which...
...we, ironically, found at an earlier sale that day!
An old metal kitchen cart
Blow mold Christmas candles
Popcorn holiday decorations
It was a great weekend of saling and a great weekend spent together. Sometimes, we find useful things. Sometimes, just fun things but, always and most importantly, it is the thrill of finding things together that counts the most.
