Auction Madness!

We are finally in the midst of Summer Vacation here although you would never know it with the torrential downpour going on right now.  Oh well, we're in Oregon.  I shouldn't be surprised, right?
 
Hanna did a great job describing our first auction experience in her last post (thanks, Sister!).  I will have to agree and say that we are hooked!  I cannot wait to go to another one.  My dream is to go to one of those farm auctions that I hear about on the blogs all the time.  I should hopefully be able to find one of those this Summer.  Hey, I'm not against having to road trip for vintage goods so I should be checking all over the state and not just my little corner.

We woke up bright and early and were raring to go! 

Come on Sister!  Get a move on!!!  I was trying to sneak out before Miss Maddie woke up.  I love my girl but I knew she wouldn't have the patience for an auction.
 
Now, onto the goods!
 

 

 

 
I wasn't planning on bidding on this box lot of hankies and buttons.  The lady who brought it up at the end of the day ended up leaving so I bought it for 2 bucks.  Then she came back.  She asked to buy one of the hankies from me for her mother's 90th birthday. It was white with little Forget-Me-Nots embroidered on it along with "Happy Birthday Mother".  Of course I just gave it to her.  Gotta spread the vintage love.

 

 Along with the buttons, I got Maddie these little furry figurines for her collection.

I also won a box of books.  These were the ones that Maddie picked for her collection.  See, even when she isn't with me, I am still always looking for things for her! 

 
I'm really looking forward to having the time to sit down and go through this box of letters, cards, and photos.

So, no Pyrex at this auction but I was just as happy to find some vintage planters, especially the donkey!

There was a single small box of vintage Christmas that I was wanting to bid on.  But everything around it was being brought up to the block but never this box!  Finally, when the auctioneer told us to bring up things we were interested in bidding on, I grabbed the box and put it front and center.

These cute stockings are marked Made in Japan.

Lots of little pixies.  Check out the scary guy on the left!

A pixie planter!

Love this little bird bulb.  It's my first!

And what box lot of vintage Christmas would be complete without some beautiful Shiny Brites?

Want to hear a sad story that the auctioneer told us?  He and his partner had been invited to pick a house before the family had an estate sale.  They wanted to try and put some of the older collectibles on consignment with the auction house.  So Mike (the auctioneer) told them not to throw anything away until they got there.  But when they arrived at the house, there was a giant blue dumpster out front and this tiny box of Christmas was all they were able to salvage.  He told us that there were boxes upon boxes of vintage ornaments that the people had thrown away then thrown furniture and other heavy items on top of.  He said they spent a good hour digging for these.  So sad!  The worst part (for them) is that I bought the whole lot for two bucks.

I got up to grab a snack and this card catalog came up on the block.  Hanna knew I wanted it so she was ready to bid for me.  I was walking back to my seat and started bidding and almost ended up bidding against my sister!  Luckily the auctioneer caught on and told us what we were doing.  We really need to stop bidding against each other. Still not sure what I plan on doing with it but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

 

 

You'll see a couple of these old boxes in my 4th of July decorations.

 



 

 I won this box of Valentines

And was super excited to find this honeycomb in it!

This little planter is unmarked but I know I've seen it before.  Any ideas of its maker?

I am really liking the galvanized swirls on this washboard.  I haven't hung it in my laundry room yet because I am debating on whether or not I want to paint the wood trim.  What do you all think I should do?

My lone furniture purchase wasn't as extravagant or expensive as Sister's but I love it just the same!  I really loved this Formica counter top but wasn't sure exactly what I would do with it.  Then the auctioneer's assistant said that it would be great for an old camper fixer-upper project.  Well, that was all the motivation I needed! 

It was bound to happen that I would leave something behind as we were loading up my car.  I won this blue pitcher for my mother in law (she collects blue glass) and luckily Hanna was able to grab it for me when she went back for her bookshelf.  I ran into the auction guys at the flea market on Sunday and the first thing they said to me was "did you get your blue pitcher?".  Oh yes, the Thrifter Sisters leave quite an impression.  You will never forget us :-)

So this two tiered cake carrier is my reward for good karma.  At Farm Chicks, Rachel and I found the exact same one.  I really wanted it but knew that Rachel was wanting to start collecting them so I told her she needed to buy it.  I was rewarded with winning this one for $5 bucks!  Yippeee for me!!

So if there was anything I learned from my first auction experience, it's patience.  6 hours sitting on church pews was totally worth it.  I know that I would have paid at least 5 times as much for a lot of what I got had it been put on the block earlier in the day when the place was full of people.  As our dad used to say, Patience Darlin'.  He was right!

Linking up over at:

Rednesday
Junkin' Joe
Thrift Share Monday
Sunny Simple Monday
The Nifty Thrifty
Thriftasaurus
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

Have a great day!

Erica