So Far, It’s a Happy New Year!

Hooray! It's January and we found some sales!

Judy & KK & I headed out bright and early Friday morning to an estate sale east of town. When we got there, Judy looked around and said, "Oh look, there's a rabbit." Took me a minute to spot it, I was expecting something hopping about on the ground.

It was advertised as a farm sale with something like 67 years accumulation. I guess the couple who lived there were married about that long (they said the husband was 95). I expected huge amounts of worldly goods in the house and the barn, but either the family had already taken away a lot of stuff, or this couple was the opposite of the hoarders we’re been running across. Still, Judy found a cute little vintage metal table, and KK picked up something. Can’t remember what. Sorry.

I found a necktie.

Just a regular old necktie. See, my BIL, Biker Bob, works in a program with teenage boys. Recently the boys decided they wanted to institute Dress Up Wednesdays, which we all thought was quite interesting. My guess is it helps them feel special to dress up (how many opportunities do we have to dress up these days?) and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to feel special. So the boys—and Bob—started dressing up on Wednesdays, and a few more staff are starting to do it as well. But not all the boys own a tie, so I said I would keep an eye out. When I saw some fifty cent ties at this sale, I picked out one, figuring I see ties often enough I would get a variety as I go along.

I stepped up to pay my fifty cents, and mentioned why I was buying a tie, and the guy said, “Just take it. In fact, go get the rest of them.” So I did.

The resale value of old neckties is pretty negligible, but it was still nice of him.

We finished out Friday with a couple of thrift stores, including a rummage through the Goodwill bins. KK’s cashmere sweater was the best find there.

A couple more estate sales were advertised for Saturday, including one for a couple who had been Model T owners. Guess they belonged to one of those clubs where they dress up, because there were some cool vintage clothing items. None of which I bought. 

This sale was run by the nice young woman who has been doing a lot of the estate sales around here lately. She came into the room where I was looking for treasure, gave me a big hello and grabbed me for a hug. I'm pretty much always ready for a hug, but in our enthusiasm we clunked our skulls together, which had us both laughing. When I asked her the price of an unmarked little whisk broom a few minutes later

she said, “Fifty cents. That’s the least I can do after smashing your head.”

Hopefully this will work to replace the broom part of our fireplace tools. The original one is shot, and I’d be awfully happy to replace it for fifty cents.

I also picked up some fireplace matches.

Functional (we’ve used up half a cord of wood so far this winter having cozy fires) but decidedly not vintage!

I found a couple of sewing things. Don’t know if I'll ever use a pleater, but for fifty cents I will be ready. 

And pins are always useful, especially when they come with a couple of bonus needle threaders!

Earlier in the week I put away the holiday decorations and did some rather ruthless weeding. Some of the ornaments I've picked up at sales were colorful but upon closer inspection pretty crappy quality, and I decided that since I see so much all through the year, I'm going to get rid of the tat and go for better pieces. I weeded out so much that it freed up an entire large Rubbermaid container. So I felt pretty good about getting a few replacements. I know exactly how I'll be using these tiny glass balls next year.

And this angel looks to be hand painted. 

Though I may have to go in with one of my micron pens and give her eyes some pupils.

I don’t know what you call this kind of toy, but the froggy bounces down and around the rod. He's from Japan.

And these are my faves, four vintage Shiny Brites for a dollar. Love the colors!

All told I spent $8.47. Not bad for two mornings of fun!