Tag…I’m it!

So Martha Stewart was telling the truth – they really are called tag sales in the East.

Wasn’t it thoughtful of my niece Kim to move into a new place just before her mom and I arrived in New England, so we’d have an excuse for tag sales and thrift stores? It was perfect – we could drive around, ooh and aah over the beautiful fall colors, and hunt for bargains at the same time. A perfect weekend! Of course I did miss having Judy with me to try on all the hats. This is the only one I could get Kim to model.

We found a bunch of items on Kim’s list, including some furniture. This was my favorite piece – a little metal cabinet from the Fifties. (Ignore the dirt, it will be clean and probably painted soon.) If I’d been able to get it in my carry-on bag for the flight home, we might have had to arm wrestle over it.

We felt right at home at tag sales. They have dogs at them.

This is Bailey, isn’t she a beaut? Lab/Doberman mix. My favorite thing that happened at her sale was this: I had told my SIL Linda that she was NOT to allow me to buy any yarn as souvenirs on this trip. Not after that big score at the estate sale recently. So we bravely passed up every yarn shop in four states. The Linda spotted some great yarn at Bailey’s sale – and she bought it for me to knit!

But that’s okay. The yarn had a great story – the lady bought it at the mill where it was made in Newfoundland and brought it home riding on the back of a motorcycle! (Her husband was rolling his eyes – but fondly - as  she told us this story.) And it came in handy for packing my souvenirs. Yes, I managed to come away with breakables. But how could I resist this wonderful addition to my midcentury coffee carafe collection

or this tiny one?

or a couple of Modern Star cups and saucers?

I believe you used to be able to order these from the Quaker Oats company for two box tops and some cash.

And how could I resist this cranberry glass vase for the skinny glass collection in the kitchen window?

The handle is attached with a little leaf shape.

At least none of it was very heavy, and packed in the yarn everything got home just fine in the bottom of my carry-on bag. I noticed though that the x-ray inspection of my bag went on quite a long time at the airport!

At another sale I picked up this wool throw. It’s so soft it might be cashmere.

I noticed a few little moth holes and asked the price. “Oh, just take it,” they said. One more thing to pack, but I love it. Might use it on a side table this winter. I think we had the most fun in the small town having a fall festival. On that side of the street were tents and booths with crafts and food and such. On this side of the street was a fair size rummage sale – and they really wanted to get rid of everything. The day was getting along when we arrived, and soon we heard the people working the sale calling out, “Two dollars a bag! Anything you can get in a bag for two dollars! Get your bag here!” A few minutes later they were offering bigger bags, then boxes, then “We’ll help you carry everything!” We started going through all the tables for the items on Kim’s list. Just the curtain rods she found would be worth $2 and she ended up with lots more – bowls and a vintage tablecloth and a hand-spun, hand-woven antique wool blanket – can’t remember most of it.

We found a plastic bin to pile things in. I added a few things of my own – the small carafe and the teacups, a linen tea towel, half a dozen CDs.

By the time we finished spending two bucks, the festival was over and they were packing up the tents. But just think of all the money we saved starting on the two dollar side of the road!