Am I Crazy?

On Friday morning, I headed out to an estate sale about 25 miles out of town.  It didn't start until noon but I thought I would go and put my name on the list and then go run a couple of errands until it started.  This sale was out in the country and this is usually a pretty good indication that it will be a good sale.  When I went to put my name on the list, there was a sign on the door saying that once your name was on the list, you couldn't leave.  I added my name to the list (#6!) and silently thanked Miss Maddie for leaving the ipad in the car.  While I waited for the sale (3 hours & 15 minutes) I could catch up on some of my favorite tv shows that I was behind on.

Most of you are probably wondering what in the world could this sale possibly have that would warrant a 3+ hour wait.  Two days prior I was looking at the photos for this sale on the estate sale companies website and there was one particular thing that caught my eye. I dreamt about this item for two nights and was obsessed with snatching it up.

Finally it was time to line up.  This was a HUGE sale customer wise.  When I got in line, I glanced at the list and there were 182 names on it.  There was even a reporter and a photographer there from our local newspaper.  They interviewed me and took some pictures and then asked if they could shadow me once I was in the door.  Sure, why not?  It's not like I was on a top secret mission.

They let the first 30 people in and I knew exactly where to go.  I had been at the house long enough to study the layout and knew that my prized possession was in one of the bedrooms off to the right of the front door.  I had another lady hot on my heels but I out aged her by about 30 years so I wasn't worried.  Then, I spotted it.....

A Gene Autry Melody Ranch chenille bedspread!  I snatched it up and stuffed it in my tote bag.  I have seen these only at two auctions and they always go for ridiculous amounts of money.  I'm still not 100% sure of what I am going to do with it but I do know one thing....this is an excellent piece of collectible Americana.  I LOVE IT!  Evidently, I'm not the only one who was coveting this bedspread. The lady who was on my heels was going for it too and when I grabbed it all she said to me was "Good for you.  Keep it in that bag and don't let it out of your sight!"  Yes, mam!  Then when I was in line to pay, three different people came up to the cashiers and asked them where the bedspread was located. Then when I pulled it out of my bag, the guy behind me offered to buy it off of me. Nope, this treasure is staying with me.

So what do you think?  Am I crazy?  Have any of you ever gone to drastic measures to score that special piece?

I did pick up a few other items at this sale and I will share those with you next time.

Have a great Tuesday, Thrifter Pals!

One of My Stranger Days of Thrifting

I swear it is such torture hearing of all the fun Sister has all week, and I'm cooped up in my classroom teaching middle schoolers that don't realize how appreciative they should be that I'm there with them instead of doing what I love even more:  Some good, dirty thrift store digging.  Don't get me wrong, I do like my job on most days, but I dream of the day when I too will get to have some more free time to hit estate sales on a day other than Saturday.  Summer can't get here sooner.  Well enough complaining!  The husband and I did get out for a little bit today, and well, lets just say our loot was quite interesting.

At a thrift store down the coast, we quickly cruised through and came out empty handed.  When we walked out I noticed from the store front that we missed half the store, so I drug the husband back in.  There was nothing special in the second half of the store either, but as we walked out, something green and beer related caught my eye:

You may be asking, what is this?  Well it is a Heineken air force helmet thing.  The husband says it is the kind of helmet that people who work on a deck of an aircraft carrier wear.  I'm pretty sure I've never looked out the window on the runway and seen something like this, but whatever.  Did we buy it?  Yes.  What will we do with it?  I think I need to go to an air show and wear it for my own personal entertainment.  Or maybe the husband should wear it, since he is a little adventurous when drinking.  We will have to see.  So for now we will just use it so that all of you can laugh at what an idiot I look like in it.  Happy thrifting, I will show you my more traditional finds tomorrow!

Thrifter Sister Hanna

Taking A Break

Since we got home from our trip on Monday, it seems like all I have done is run around and try to get caught up.  By the time I get a chance to crawl into bed at night the last thing I want to do is try and use my brain and write a witty blog.  I would much rather watch The Real Housewives.  But after tripping over a Goodwill bag walking into my office this afternoon, I decided now was of good a time as any to get caught up on the blog.  Plus, the aforementioned Goodwill bag is only one of several bags littering my office floor.  The hubby did a little thrifting a few days ago and I managed to head to a couple stores today so before I can tell you about those finds, I need to fill you all in on my last ones.

Remember a few posts ago I showed you the Arizona Barrel Cactus pitcher I picked up at the flea market?  Well evidently they sell for quite a lot of money.  I just found one that sold recently on eBay for $100.00!  There are also two sets of glasses that go with it that also sell for quite a bit.  Against my husbands wishes, I have decided not to sell my pitcher right now.  I really like it a lot.  It may be my favorite.  So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited to find another glass that goes with it at Goodwill.  I freaked out a little after I found it and to the detest of the other shoppers and employees, I proceeded to pull every single glass off the shelves looking for more.  But there were no more to be found.  I did find this etched Oregon CatStudio glass, though.  I got the Arizona one a few years ago from a fancy little boutique here in town.  I paid $18.00 for it!  This one was only 99 cents.  I also found these cute cut glass salt & pepper shakers with Bakelite tops.  They tried to charge me $1.99 apiece!  Who buys ONE salt & pepper shaker?  After arguing discussing it with the manager, she finally saw my point and let me have both for $1.99.  I'm pretty sure she just wanted me and my glass moving butt out of the store.

Yes, I know.  I am sure you are thinking "more coffee mugs, Thrifter Sister?  Really?".  In my defense, every single coffee mug that I have listed on eBay has sold.  You just have to know which ones to look for.  But I am pretty sure that some of the thrift stores are catching on to this trend.  One Goodwill I went to today had a plain Starbucks mug for $2.99 where as I can usually find them between 50 cents and a dollar.  The workers probably read our blogs and see what we are selling and/or collecting.  We bloggers should unite and invent a new blogspeak language.

Don't you love it when sellers at antique malls have no idea what they have?  I mean, seriously.  How hard is it to do a little online research and see that a set of 3 of these Corning Military Hand Warmer mugs just sold on eBay for $75.00?  Maybe then the lightbulb would go off and they would not sell the ones they have to me for $2.00 apiece. 

It must have been my day for antique mall scores because at the next one I went to I found this Fire King Jadeite batter bowl for $10.00 originally marked $38.00.  Jadeite for under $20.00 at an antique store?  Yes, please.

Don't ask.  Let's just pretend like you didn't see this.  I am wondering if it is at all possible for me to go a week without bringing home a beautiful vintage ice lip pitcher.  It's pretty rare to find one that has no chips in the lip so when I do, I feel like I have to bring it home.  Makes sense, right?  Right?!!!  Come on readers, reassure me!

Okie doke.  Enough mindless babbling.  Sorry about the long blog but if I don't act like I am doing something on the computer, no one in my house will leave me alone.  Tomorrow is Friday and you know what that means?  Estate Sales!  Woo hoo!! 

Until next time, Thriftaholics!

Viva La Thrifting!

Hi Readers!

I just posted to The Pyrex Collective II about my exciting Vegas finds so for those of you who are double readers, sorry for the redundancy.  This version will be a little longer and with some funny details.

Those of you who have been to Las Vegas know that the days can seem kind of long when you are stuck on the Strip with no way out.  This was the issue that Sister, the husbands and I were facing on Saturday morning after being there for two whole days.  So we decided to rent a car and go exploring.  Little did the husbands know that this exploring would include a couple thrift store stops.  Plus the fresh air would do our hangovers some good (along with the bottle of champagne that we drank at lunch).

Our first thrifting stop was at a Savers.  As Sister posted, we were very excited to go to our first Savers.  My husband thought it would be funny to park as far away from the entrance as he could and then lock Sister in the car.  He knew how excited we were to be thrifting in a new city.  But as you already know, Savers was a bust.  And not only this particular store.  On Sunday, after everybody else left, the husband and I hit up about 8 other Savers stores and found absolutely zilch.  Is it just us or is Savers the same exact store as Value Village just with a different name?

The next (and last) stop was the Goodwill just down Tropicana.  Sister and I raced to the Housewares department.  We weren't trying to beat each other though.  Our husbands like to find things before we do too and then my husband proceeds to brag about it NON-STOP for days (more on that later).  From a distance, I spotted a glimpse of turquoise goodness.  I literally shoved Sister aside (sorry, Sis) and grabbed not one but two of these beauties...

Sister was happy for me but sad that she didn't get to them first.  Don't worry, Sister.  You know I will give you one!  Normally she doesn't move that slow but she did admit that her reaction time was a little delayed due to all of the alcohol we had been consuming for the last 2 days.  When in Vegas, right?

So by now the husbands had caught up with us.  With all of the times that we have gone to Vegas, they have seen Sister and I shop while a little more than intoxicated but never at a Goodwill.  They just shook their heads in disbelief.  Next thing I hear is my husband saying to me "I'm going to get out of your way".  Good call, hubby.  Unfortunately, that gave him the advantage to move ahead of me and look what he found....

3 red refrigerator dishes!  All perfect and all with lids.  These babies have never seen the insides of a dishwasher, thank goodness!  Now, I am very happy that he found these because it is quite possible that in our current state and due to the fact that they were in the back of a very high shelf, Sister and I may have never found them.  The only disadvantage?  You would have thought that my husband found the Holy Grail.  He has told everybody about his "Pick" in Vegas.  You would have thought that these were the last 3 red Pyrex refrigerator dishes in existence. 

Want to know something crazy besides the $14.00 price tag for all 5 dishes and lids?  We found these late on Saturday afternoon.  I don't know about you, but these would NEVER still be on the shelf at my local Goodwill this late in the day on a weekday or a weekend. 

There is definitely more Vegas thrifting in my future.  How about yours, Sister?

Happy Thrifting!!

The Other Sister is Back

Yes readers, I did manage to make it back from Vegas in one piece (barely).  I am still tackling the HUGE pile of laundry that awaited my return as well as trying to get everybody back on their regular schedule.  As Sister told you in her last blog, I did manage to find a few exciting things while in Vegas but those will have to wait.  I still need to clean them up and photograph them before I can share them with you.  So until then, here are the last of my picks from the week before I left.

Pyrex Red 4 Quart 404 from the Friendship Mixing Bowl Set

As I was out at some estate sales on Friday morning, I checked Craigslist and found one that had posted that morning for a 12:30 pm start time.  It was being given by a local estate sales company that usually has some really good prices and pretty nice stuff.  I was number 29 in line and lucky for me they let the first 30 people in at the beginning.  Of course, I went straight to the kitchen.  I already got this red 404 for Christmas (thanks, Sister!).  But I never have come across another one.  I find the yellow 404's ALL THE TIME.  So of course I bought it.  I just couldn't leave it behind.

Here are a few of the other things I found while in the kitchen.  See the Bakelite utensil?  It's an angel food cake cutter.  Who would have ever thought that they made a specific kitchen tool to cut angel food cake?  Those vintage kitchen utensil designers sure were smart. 

Check out how cute the label is on this little jar of sprinkles.  How could I pass her up?

More pottery.  In my defense it was almost 48 hours since I had bought my last piece.



And some cute vintage Christmas linens.  I don't think it's ever too early to pick up these kind of things.

The next morning, Miss Maddy and I headed off to another sale that started early in the morning.  She is my little trooper! 

I picked up this aqua Tupperware colander, Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book, two Swanky Swigs, and an extra refrigerator dish lid.  You just never know when you might come across a 502 refrigerator dish without a lid.  I also got a couple of vintage tablecloths with super cute patterns.  They did have some stains on them but lucky for me, my aunt was also at the sale so she gave me a tip on how to get the stains out.  I will be sure to post those pics when I get around to washing them.

Just heard the dryer go off.  Time to fold ANOTHER load.  I swear my kids wore every item of clothing they owned while I was gone.  Check back in the next day or so for what Miss Maddy and I found while we did a little thrifting after the early morning estate sale. 

Happy Tuesday, Thrifter Buddies!

One Sister Makes it Home

Well, I headed home this morning, but Sister is staying an additional day in Las Vegas.  Yesterday we talked the guys into going to a few thrift stores in hopes they would stop loosing all their money at the casino.  Sister and I had never been to a Saver's, so we decided to check it out.  We were unfortunately disappointed!  I know we both have read about peoples' great finds at the Saver's stores, but we started having a flash back to Value Village, which we also don't seem to have a lot of luck at.  
   Next we headed to Goodwill where Sister had a great find (I am going to let her tell this comical story when she gets home.)  I, on the other hand did not find anything.  Was it the over-stimulation from Las Vegas, or have I lost my touch?  Lets just say, I really needed a pick me up, and thats exactly what I got.
   The Husband and I had to go pick up our fur child aka Piper from my sister-in-laws' when we flew into Portland today.  We just so happened to drive right by my favorite Goodwill in Portland and with a little begging I convinced him to stop.  I ran inside, and a tear came to my eye when I found these 3 gems:

I didn't even bother to look at the price, I just knew I HAD to have these.  When I checked out, I could barely contain my excitement when my total came to $5.97!  They were really dirty, so I had some work to do when I got home.  The yellow bowl was pretty scratched, but lucky me, Sister had given me a yellow bowl on her last visit.  I also did a little searching through my cabinets and low and behold, I had a red bowl too!  Here is my new addition, and actually MY FIRST COMPLETE SET!

So, although I thought Vegas had robbed me of my luck, it just so turns out I was saving it for home!  Sister, you need to come home so you can tell everyone about your exciting Vegas pick!

No thrifting yet but lots of fun!

Sister & I haven't made it off the strip, because our God-dad is here on his first visit. We've had a great time showing him around & with our new love of thrifting, we aren't binge shopping & buying expensive handbags & jeans. The only downside is that he makes us take corny pictures like these: