Some Finds, A Souvenir, & A Surprise Gift

Hi, Everyone!

Less than 24 hours to go and I will be on the road to Farm Chicks.  I know, you are all probably getting pretty sick of me mentioning it (or a little jealous, maybe?) but who else can I share my excitement with but my vintage loving blog friends?

As I mentioned in my previous post, last weekend was a little slow sale wise but I did manage to scrounge up a few things to get my vintage fix.

One of my stops yielded a pretty good stash of vintage wrapping paper, some still in the packaging!

 

So cute and only a quarter per package!

 

 

At the same sale, I picked up this cute little tin set and Maddie found a Rand McNally Elf Book for her collection.

 

We thought that we were done for the day when on the way to St. Vincent's, we saw a sign for a garage sale in an older neighborhood.  The houses in this particular area were built in the late 1940's and early 1950's.  I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a drive by.

 

 

I spotted all this pottery from my car and couldn't get parked fast enough (even though we were the only ones there).  AMAZING prices!  The yellow USA and pink McCoy were 50 cents apiece and the taller USA turquoise piece was a dollar.  They are all in perfect condition.

 

 

 

 
The lady also had a table full of vintage linens.  Most of them were lace and crocheted but I did manage to find three printed tablecloths.  It's a good garage sale-ing day for me when I find either Pyrex or vintage tablecloths!  I didn't see this particular sale on Craigslist or in the classifieds (I double checked when I got home) so these finds were definitely unexpected!

Then it was off to St. Vincent's for a little thrifting.  There are several St. Vinny's in our area but the one I like the most takes all of their vintage items and puts them in a little vignette in one area of the store.  It's so nice to not have to hunt the things that I love down in different departments.

The Foley sifter is a little too worn to be used for it's original purpose so I am going to have Brian plant some flowers in it.  I cannot ever seem to have enough old jars.  This one even has it's original "Delicious Strawberry Jam" label on it.  Maddie found the molds and wants to try to do some of her own little Magpie Ethel-ish projects with them this Summer. 

 

I went back and forth over whether or not I should buy this old plunger.  Maddie convinced me I needed it because of the pink handle.  It definitely looks like it has been repainted from the original finish because it's just too perfect.  I plan on roughing it up a bit and making it a little less shiny.

Brian and I went to Las Vegas the weekend before last to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.  We were married in Vegas so we always like to go back around our anniversary each year. I picked myself up a little souvenir.

You all know how much I love these Cat Studio souvenir glasses.  They are not considered a vintage collectible but they will be someday!  Now I have Las Vegas to go along with Arizona, Austin, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, & Florida!  I have a ways to go.

Speaking of souvenir glasses...

The lovely Jill from A Little Bit of Everything knows just how much I adore vintage souvenir glasses and surprised me with this one that she found at a yard sale.  It's from the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan.  This glass is the same style and size as my Blakely Arizona Cactus glasses.  I love it!  Thanks, Jill :-)

That's all for now, blog friends.  Wish me luck at Farm Chicks this weekend!  Even if I don't bring home tons of stuff, I'm sure the experience will be worth it.

Linking up over at:

The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday & Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson for Share Your Cup Thursday

Have a great weekend,

Erica

 







3 Days & Counting!

3 days and counting to what, you may ask?

FARM CHICKS!  This will be the first time that I have attended this show and I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  Sister won't be able to make it this year so I enlisted my BFF Rachel to go with me. When I texted her about it a couple of months ago, she said yes before she even knew what it was!  She saw the words "Farm Chicks" and knew it had to be something fun so she was in. 

With it being a holiday last weekend, Maddie & I didn't go to too many sales but we did manage to find some stuff that made our early, rainy morning worth it.

Our first stop was an annual church sale that I had some Pyrex luck at last year.  Well, no Pyrex this year but I did find Maddie these cute little Made in Japan furry skunk figurines for her collection.

I also found some little plastic deer for crafting

Along with some bottle brush trees & wreaths

A box of red and blue ornaments for the 4th of July wreath I plan on making.  Holy moly!  I'd better get a move on.  Sister, maybe this could be our project when you are here for my birthday?

I also found this nice, bright tablecloth with surprisingly no stains.  I love this particular church sale.  The prices are very good and they don't have a specific "Antique" section like some other church sales I've attended.  I got all of this great stuff for $3.50!  I'd say I scored pretty well.

I also got pretty lucky at the thrifts this week.  I'll share the rest later but for now I couldn't wait to show you the Americana Blue 401 and old pie bird I found at SVDP.  I cackled to myself when I saw this pie bird on the shelf because this is the same SVDP that thinks everything that is vintage should be put in a display case and marked up a thousand percent.  Guess their "vintage expert" was off that day because I found this bird in the figurine aisle for $2. 

But my real excitement came from the Pyrex bowl. Want to know why?

Because it completed my Americana Blue set & just in time for the patriotic holiday season!  It's been a while since I've shared over at The Pyrex Collective 2 so I will be heading over there next with the full story.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend.  What should have been a long, quiet weekend for me turned into playing house mom to 6 teenage boys.  Oh well, someday they will all grow up and I will miss these times, right?

Linking up over at:

Sir Thrift-A-Lot
Apron Thrift Girl
A Living Space
Knick of Time
Coastal Charm

And did you know that Lil over at Cottage Sweet Cottage is hosting Rednesday now?  I will be heading over there too.

Until next time,

Erica

Where There is a Will There is a Way

Hanna here!  Life has been insane lately between the end of the school year and some big changes that could be happening in my personal life in the near future.  I will share the details as soon as I know, but in the mean time I will just say things have been STRESSFUL!  Aside from that, I haven't had a lot of time to shop, but I got lucky and had an estate sale to attend this weekend.  Sister called me up on Thursday and said there was an estate sale listed for Astoria, she is so awesome that she checks for me. The pictures showed a lot of furniture, which I really don't need.  It said it was a 4-story house though, so I figured, why not?

I got to the sale right as it was opening and figured if there was any vintage goodies the dealers in the area would already be all over it.  I could have strangled my husband as we walked in.  To get inside was this weird pathway that wove through the yard.  I was stuck behind like 5 people and he decided to go the other way and low and behold it was short cut.  He beat me into the house and quickly disappeared.  Right when I walked in I saw a china cabinet and remembered it was the one piece of furniture I had any interest in.  I walked up to it and saw it wasn't sold and it was priced REALLY reasonably.  I quickly had it marked as sold and then went to wander.  There were a ton of stained glass windows that had been removed from the house but that was about it.  When I found my husband and told him about the cabinet he was fine with me getting it so I paid and said we would come back for it in the afternoon.

Well, I guess I failed to mention this cabinet was one of those meant for real fancy displays with a mirrored back, glass shelves and sides, and lighting.  When we went back for it I also realized it was a lot bigger than I thought.  By the time we got it home and amazingly in one piece I realized it was going to be hard to find it a place in our tiny little house.  As my mother in law says, "Where there is a will, there is a way," and with a lot of rearranging it now has a new home and so does my Pyrex!

 It is super hard to picture!  But when my Pyrex feels fancy, I can light it up!

 The husband is happy because he doesn't feel like he is going to break any of it now that my favorite pieces are confined to one place in the house.

If you looked closely you would see my newest edition, Saxony!!!  I splurged big time, which is not like me.  I couldn't help it though, this is definitely my all time favorite piece.

It was also the longest garage sale weekend across the river from me.  I picked up just two things.  

 A Relpo goldfinch planter.

And my first picnic basket.  The couple at this sale were really interesting.  I bartered with the husband, he seemed a little easier to work with and I liked him especially after he told me I had a good eye.

I've been ordering things here an there off Ebay for Sisterita's b-day.  One of my items got mixed up with someone else's and so the other buyer and I ended up arranging a swap.  This lady was so sweet and sent me a gift because she said I was so easy to work with.  She sent me these:

 Super cute cocktail napkins.  These are something I would totally buy.  Sometimes you just meet the sweetest people online.  I like the one with the dog that says, "Sniffer."

Last but not least, I went back to the sale this morning and bought myself one of the windows now that they were half off.  I wanted to buy them all, but I practiced restraint.  Lets hope I keep getting lucky on these sales and that my house doubles in size so I have more room!

I'm headed over to Sir Thrift A Lot's Thriftasaurus.

Happy Sunday!

Hanna

A Couple of Quick Stops

Hello, Blog Friends!

We are on the first day of a 5 day weekend here at the Rogers house.  I had thoughts of drinking my coffee while leisurely browsing the Internet.  I planned on working out then getting ready to head out the door with Maddie to do a little thrifting.  Notice how I said "thoughts" and "planned"?

Fast forward to the actual morning where I had not one but five teenage boys (including my own) spread about various couches and floors throughout my house.  Evidently, after attending the midnight showing of "The Hangover 3", they all decided to head back here for an all night video game fest. Being the nice mom that I am, I didn't want to wake them so Maddie & I hurried out the door and started our day a little earlier than planned.

There aren't usually too many sales on Thursdays around here.  But I guess with Memorial Day Weekend approaching, some people were wanting to get an early start.  We went to 3 sales near my house.  The ads didn't seem promising. None of them promised "antiques" or "collectibles" but since we were out and about, I figured it didn't hurt to check them out.

I found the Fire King 7 1/2" Tulip bowl at the first sale.  I am working hard on getting a full set of these!

This Dr Pepper crate was full of rusty old junk (not the good kind).  When I asked the guy if it was for sale, he told me that I could have it for 2 bucks but I had to empty the "crap" out of it myself.  Awesome customer service, huh?

I love dresser scarves and use them quite a bit.  I got these for a quarter apiece.  The lady running the sale made them herself and had tons to choose from.  She could have asked for more money for sure!  The pot holder was in the free box.  Always check the free box!

I have a nice little collection of vintage evening bags so I was happy to add these two to it.  Maybe someday I will get to use them!

I actually found this pink ball pitcher at a Thursday sale a few weeks ago.  This has been on my wish list forever.  This particular sale was a pop-up type of sale.  The couple hosting it decided that very morning to have a sale because the weather was so nice.  Needless to say, it wasn't very organized and nothing was priced.  The guy told me to make an offer.  I offered $3.  He said ok!  There was a dealer there and he told me that I scored  Doesn't he think I know that?!

I picked up this snowman blow mold a couple of weeks ago.  It's HUGE!  I had to take a picture of Maddie next to it just so you could see how big he really is.

Normally I pass up Butterfly Gold Pyrex.  It's just not a pattern I collect and it's pretty common around here. But I have been having zero luck in the Pyrex department while thrifting lately so I guess I got a little desperate. Plus these look to have never been used and they were $2 for the pair.  What was I supposed to do? 

On a side note, that photo in the background is of my grandparents.  It was taken right after my grandpa got home from the navy and my grandma thought she would be cute and sassy and put his hat on.

I adore this picture.

Tomorrow is another no school day & Maddie has informed me that I better not leave for sales without her!  Wish us luck:-)

Linking up at:

The Thrifty Groove
Coloradolady
Have A Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Until next time...

Erica

I'm Back!

Hi Everyone!

I've been away from our little blog for the past week now.  Brian and I went to Vegas on Friday and didn't get back until late last night.  So the week leading up to our trip was of course filled with cleaning, getting caught up on paperwork, grocery shopping, etc..  So once again, the blog and thrifting had to take a backseat to life.  But I'm back now so all is good!

We didn't fly out to Vegas until Friday night so I had time to head to some sales, IF THERE WERE ANY!  The weather was cold and drizzly, not ideal for treasure hunting.  But I do have a few things that I haven't shown you from my last couple of weekends. 

I was pretty excited to find this set of 3 Fire King swirl bowls from a garage sale, especially because I needed the two smallest to complete my set.

A while back, I posted here about finding some of these Made in Japan fruit cups at SVDP.  Imagine my surprise when I found 4 more at a new Goodwill last week!

I was at SVDP the other day and this quilt caught my eye from across the way.  My room is decorated in a shabby chic style so I was thrilled to find out that this quilt was a king sized.  Plus, it's 100% cotton!  I hate polyester fill on quilts.  This quilt is in perfect condition and appears to have never been used.  It's made by Laura Ashley and when I looked online at other bedding by this brand, I was shocked to see that my quilt goes for $400.00 brand new!  I paid twenty bucks.  I'd say I got a steal, wouldn't you?

There is a family run farm up the road from my house.  Every year, they have a multi-family sale.  This year, they advertised chenille bedspreads so I knew I had to take a look.  I got this twin size pink striped one from a lady who collected them but was downsizing.  Well lucky for her, I also collect them but AM NOT DOWNSIZING!  She was also selling off a ton of her vintage fabrics. 

 

 

 

Aren't the prints on these amazing?

I also picked up these little bundles.  Does anybody know if they are feed sack material?  They appear to be but I am no expert.

There was no way that I was leaving this bag of vintage tablecloth scraps behind.  Sister & I have got to be able to come up with something to do with them!

I don't know if I have mentioned this before but I cannot sew.  Well, maybe I can but I have never given it a shot.  This fabric haul definitely has inspired me to!

I'll be heading over to the following parties:

Thriftasaurus
The Nifty Thrifty
Knick of Time Tuesday
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Junkin' Joe

Have A Great Week!

Erica

Just A Few Sales....

There weren't too many sales on Friday for me to head to, but I couldn't stay home!  I was craving a major junk fix so I had to find something!

The first couple of sales were total duds.  They had some pretty decent stuff but most of it was marked retail.  I found this Lincoln Beautyware paper towel/foil/Saran Wrap/wax paper holder at the 4th sale I hit.  Woo-hoo!  The first find of the day!  I am definitely going to repaint it but haven't decided what color yet.

I picked up these old metal frames at the same sale.  These will be painted too and possibly turned into trays or chalkboards.

The second to last sale I went to was advertised as a "Vintage Sale".  The lady had really cute decorated signs and the house was in an established neighborhood where most of the houses were built in the late 1950's.  She had three tables.  Full of overpriced CRAP!  She was frantically running around changing prices on things because she said her mom had overpriced everything.  Well, she wasn't doing a much better job.  I saw the absolute worst condition Pyrex refrigerator dishes that I had ever seen.  One was a 502 blue from the Primary set.  The only way I know this is that there was a tiny bit of blue left around the rim.  It was so badly dishwashered that it was more white.  There was also a red 501 in the same condition.  I contemplated buying them (before I saw the prices) just for their lids but those too where horribly chipped.  SHE WAS ASKING $10 FOR THE BLUE AND $8 FOR THE RED!!!!  I'm pretty sure I bought the only reasonably priced thing there.  She wanted $5 for this old mailbox but I got her down to $3.  I think it will make the cutest planter.

My last stop of the day was an estate sale that started about 20 minutes before I got to it.  This company is notorious for overwriting their ads plus they never post pictures.  Going to their sales is definitely a gamble.  But I needed some junk!  When I walked up the driveway, I scanned the hold piles and saw that someone had grabbed all the Pyrex.  I wasn't dismayed because A) I either already had the piece or B) It wasn't a pattern I collected.  Whew!

I went right into the kitchen and grabbed these two cookbooks and this adorable little tin.

 It's been awhile since I have found any vintage sheets so I was pretty pleased with this.

My name is Erica & I hoard vintage pillowcases.  HA!!

So it never ceases to amaze me when I head into a sale that has either just started or started hours ago and there are still vintage tablecloths.

I just don't understand some people.  This sale was swarming with dealers.  The lady who bought up all the Pyrex has a booth in a local mall that mainly just carries vintage kitchen.  You would think she would have snatched these up!

Before I headed home, I stopped and met my BFF Rachel for lunch.  We needed to exchange birthday gifts.  Rachel is in nursing school so I haven't got to see her a whole heck of a lot so these gifts were from last years birthdays!

Can you believe that she bought me the turquoise Chip & Dip set?  There is a reason this girl has been my best friend for over 15 years!  Plus I am pretty sure we share the same brain.  I bought her the large yellow Hostess bowl with lid plus the Butterprint 402 mixing bowl.  How funny that we both gave each other Pyrex :-)

I'm heading over to the following parties today:

Thriftasaurus with Sir Thrift-A-Lot
The Nifty Thrifty with A Living Space
Knick of Time Tuesday with A Knick of Time
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday with Coastal Charm

Talk to you all soon!

Erica