Excuse Me While I Buy This Junk

Was good. Really good! There have been a few other sales that I didn’t go to. It’d be like one 60 miles away with nothing else going on, so I’ve stayed around home. But Saturday, the itch had just about done me in. I still didn’t want to drive over 100 miles round trip for one sale, so decided to go spend the day with Erin and go to all the thrift stores in her area. They’ve got some good ones. What they don’t normally have, is estate sales. My theory is that since they don’t have estate sales, people donate their estates to the thrifts. Of course that does not explain why our local thrift store is so crappy. We don’t have many estate sales here, either.

On the way, she called and said Chris had been out and saw a house with a sign in front of it. God Bless him! We’d have found it anyway, it was in our line of travels, but he told her about it. We do want to encourage that.

Small, unassuming house.

Looks prim and neat on the outside, doesn’t it? We got inside and, well, there wasn’t a lot of stuff, but the stuff it had was fun. The inside was definitely not as nice as the outside, though. The kitchen was tiny and icky, the other rooms tiny and in disrepair. Those homes always make my heart hurt a little to know someone actually lived there. I suppose it might have been vacant for awhile, but still… And this lady had been a home ec teacher.

Erin and I went in separate directions. I found the book room and left it before looking at the hundreds of books, thinking I’d go back. I forgot. Pooh. Erin, however, found the room with the vintage clothes. She got first pick and I took what she didn’t want.

Something happened to my brain. As I think back now, I wonder what I passed up. Why I didn’t just buy EVERYTHING? What was piled up on that bed? Might it have been good stuff and I was too sale-fuzzled to see it? It had been such a drought and to see all this fun, stuff… My kind of stuff! Are you sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting with baited breath to see what we bought? I know you are. LOL Now, keep in mind, we were 4 hours late, but here it is.

Oh, but first, here’s the trunk and back seat of the car loaded up.

There was an upstairs. One bedroom and an attic space upstairs. The bedroom had patterns and old fashion and sewing books. We think there were 5 boxes of patterns all from the 1940’s – the 1980’s. Erin actually spotted them first, but she didn’t have enough money to buy them all, so we split the price. But, God love her, she toted some of the boxes downstairs before one of the men there offered to help. When we got back to her house, we spilled them out and started sorting.

That’s not all the patterns. We estimate around 200 of them. What else did I get?

An intact, 1941, Art Deco calendar, pictures of what appears to be either a bridal party or something fancy, a fun, little, red plaid, file folder thingy, old box of colored pencils and two Vita Food, brewer’s yeast tins, one holding a small collection of old stamps. I didn’t know this until I opened it right before taking the picture to see what that was softly rattling inside. I though it was yeast. That was a nice surprise.

Most of the books are fashion and sewing related. One 1972, Spadea pattern catalog. The son said he’d sold some old Vogue catalogs on eBay. I’d have loved to have been the one to sell them, but I guess he should have first dibs. Hrmph. In this stack, you can even learn how to make your own shoes! There’s a book on draping design and one or two… or three… on flat design. One on making men’s suits. Some old weaving magazines from 1951 and 52. These will all start going up on auction tonight. I’ll be working hard on them today.

A bag for empty spools. How fun! (And already spoken for.)

One of the vintage dresses. I bought another and a nightgown, but they have stains and are still at home.

A bunch of old crepe paper roses. These are large, like about 4″ diameter!

And what am I keeping out the goodies? There’s always something. This time it’s this:

I can’t decide if the blue is some sort of plastic or if it’s enamel, but one of my spatulas broke and the other is lost. So now I have a cool, blue spatula!

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All that brings me back to the give-away. I’m adding one of the crepe paper flowers to the Vintage Valentine Give-away.

I’m also adding this 1964 letter to a friend:

So now, the giveaway has those two things added to the vintage Valentines and the old, heart, chocolates box.

Remember any and all comments made on any post this month enters you into the give-away. Good luck!

That Lena came back for a visit. For those new to the blog, Lena was my close friend and antiquing buddy who passed away last fall. So in my dream, someone from her family called and said she was at their home visiting, but could only stay a short while and if I wanted to see her I’d better come on. I did.

She was sitting there with a child in her lap. She loved children, oh how she loved them! This, in my dream, was her grandchild, but was a little boy of 3 or 4 years. Her only grandchild, a little girl, was born shortly after Lena’s death. We asked her if she remembered anything about the time she’d spent away from us, but she just smiled and said no.

I don’t remember much more about the dream. It faded fast, but I wanted to get it down before forgetting all of it.

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The sofa is still a work in progress.

What a mess! Am I really the Peanuts character Pigpen? Why are half my pictures pictures of messes? Maybe my mission in life is to make other people feel good about themselves.

Here’s what happened to the other side of the room:

Yesterday was interrupted by an emergency hair appointment. I push my coloring appointments to every 6 weeks, which is about a week past when it should be. My hair grows fast and I’m covering a whole lotta gray. Like 95%. I’m just not ready to let it go. I try to talk myself into going natural. I’ll see Emmy Lou Harris and see how great she looks. She’s just a few years older than I. But I still see myself, or at least think of myself, as a 30 year old. I cannot be gray! I just can’t. So I color.

My appointment was last week, but I had to cancel and hadn’t got around to making another. When I washed my hair yesterday morning and tried to fix it, all I could see was those gray roots. Horrors!!! So I called and there was an opening at 3:00. Which meant I had to leave here before 2:00. It took an hour and a half to do my hair, then an hour back home. Very little was done besides that yesterday.

There are no sales today, but I’m itching to go to a junk store. I’m trying to force myself to get the sofa area done before I cave and go junking. We’ll see.

A couple of years ago, Erin found a sofa on the side of the road. It’s an antique with a very pretty shape. Rolled arms, three legs. Three legs? Yes. It’s missing a back leg. Shouldn’t be a problem. Ricky wanted to get, or duplicate, the leg. I wanted to just buy some straight ones to put on the back. Erin and I wanted to recover it and she wanted to use it in her house. Did I say that was two years ago? Yes? It’s been stored here at the shop, in the back, ever since. So when I cleaned out the back, it came out. And now it’s taking up valuable floor space, not to mention becoming a surface to pile things on! A flat surface is my enemy disguised as a friend.

That rip is unpleasant and there is no seat cushion. I threatened to put it back out on the street, but that takes a lot of effort. And I don’t have the heart. Now I’m thinking how I can use it in the shop, where it can go, what would have to be moved, how much effort that will take… But it’s clear it simply cannot stay where it is. My thought is to clear off a wall and pile it with quilts and linens and anything else that might look, ahem, attractive.

So what do I do today? Work on internet stuff – stuff that helps pay the bills? Or work with that stinkin’ fabulous sofa?

To be continued…..

And don’t forget your comment enters you into the drawing for the Vintage Valentine Giveaway!

I finally have a few pictures of The Wedding to share. There will be more in the months to follow, but I thought this was a good way to get a jump on Valentine’s Day. Young love. Nothing’s better. ‘Cept maybe old love. It’s all good!

Erin and Chris on the beach

They say it's good luck for it to rain on your wedding day. It STORMED!

The obligitory, lined up, family group shot.

That’s little ol’, chunky me next to the bride. The tall beauty to my right, in the turquoise is our daughter-in-law, Lisa and to her right our son, Philip. My husband, Ricky, is to the left of the groom. (He and I have both lost a few pounds since then. Don’t know why we seemed incapable of doing that before the wedding. The rest is Ricky’s family. Bet’cha can’t pick out his brother.

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This post will also mark the blog’s first give-away! I missed all the milestones. 100th post, one year anniversary, etc. But I’m going to try to have a monthly give-away. You’ll have all month to enter. Each comment you leave on any post made in January will give you an entry. So, in celebration of Valentine’s Day, I’m giving away an old Whitman’s candy box, my favorite of the heart boxes I have by the way, and some old Valentines. And who knows? I might add to it through the month. So let’s get this party started!

January 2010 Giveaway

There’s this fellow who brings me stuff. No, not Santa. He’s a wiry, grizzled little man. But he can find some of the best things and some of the junkiest junk. He picks up odd jobs here and there and some of those are helping tear down houses or cleaning up after a house has been torn down. He brought me about 30 glass doorknobs once. With the back plates! I paid more than I was comfortable paying, but made sufficient money off them. Did quite well, actually.

The latest thing he brought – Well, not the latest. The latest was junky junk. – But the latest good thing was this mantle.

Isn’t that neat? It was in pieces and I had to put it back together. Let me tell you, I was quite proud of myself. I’m not a putter-back-together person. Not a builder or a mechanically inclined person. I can tear out pretty well, but can’t build anything. I’m looking forward to arranging around it but that will have to come later. No time right now. But if you live somewhere in the vicinity of Sylacauga, Alabama, this mantle can be yours for $50.00.

Some of you know I’ve been working hard putting the inventory on the web site and eBay store. That’s pretty much consumed me for the past buncha months. I work so slow. On a good day, a really good day, I might manage 10 items. Most days it’s 5 or so. And those, only the days I’m at the computer. If  it’s a shopping day, forget it. So the other day I got curious just how much I had left to do. Printed out inventory sheets. Thirty seven pages!!!!! Ack! I’ll be trying to get my great grandchildren to finish this up for me and I don’t even have any grandchildren, yet! No, I will not be daunted. I will keep at this task. It will get “finished”. Dare I say, within the next few months? I will say there’s some neat stuff waiting. Keep a watch. I haven’t been diligently updating that little scrolly thing on the left that shows new items added. That’s another resolution. Remember to update that thing! Maybe it’ll be current when you read this. But the home page of the web site always shows what’s new.

So I want to know. You gals who sell on the internet. How do you keep up with the work to be done? Everyone seems so much more put together than I. I feel like everyone gets so much more done while I’m putzing around getting further and further behind. Got any hints? Let’s hear them!

Determined to start the new work year off with a reasonably clean, less chaotic environment, I’ve worked and worked and worked the past couple of weeks, only stopping Christmas Day and New Year’s Day for a break. The back room of the shop has never been organized. Oh, I’ve pushed a path a few times, but never took the time to really place and organize and it was the catch-all. Do you do that? Hopefully not to the extent I do. A table top or counter isn’t so bad, but when you keep piling things in a space, piling stuff on top of stuff, shoving into every little crevice, never taking the time to find or make a place for it, it begins to look like this:

And when you’ve boxed up household overflow and the kids’ toys they say “don’t get rid of this, but I don’t have room for it” — OK. I’ll admit to being one of the main ones hanging onto their childhood, but I know what it’s like to get a little older and to have to buy back your toys. Anyway to box all that crap up and stack boxes of things waiting to be offered for sale in front of those stacks, it begins to look like this blurry mess  :

After two solid weeks of back breaking, exhausting work, literally skipping Christmas festivities, I’ve ended up with this:

Still not perfect, it’ll never be in Where Women Create, but oh, so much better! The shades on the sofa will be made into hanging lights and I want to use the cornices at home, but in the meantime, the cornices stay at the shop awaiting being hung from the ceiling somehow since they’re too tall to stand. Just to the left, almost out of the picture is a teetering tower of boxes slated for a yard sale.

I (Actually Ricky helped with this one thing) moved the household and kids’ boxes to the far back corner, as you look straight on in the above picture, to free up that space and make a more efficient computer work station for me. I’m most excited about this achievement.

I’m so ready to get back to work! There are just a few more things to do today. I took pictures of the things I pulled out of the back, but don’t know what happened to them. They’re lost. Gone. The pictures, that is. Most of the stuff is worked out into the shop already, but there’s this couch…. Later on that. Someone brought me a mantle the other day that I’ll have to figure out where to put and there’s this little problem of mice. Yes, mice!

We’ve been seeing them off and on for several months now, but yesterday they were out and busy. The business next door has been remodeling and I think that has them stirred up. I was willing to co-exist with the little fellows. I’m so tenderhearted, I scoop up spiders on paper or something large and take them outside. I won’t even step on a roach. Yech! So I really didn’t want to kill these little guys. Lisa said kill ‘em, but I couldn’t do it. But yesterday, as I sat in the front setting up the laptop there, I felt something tickling the front of my ankle. When I moved my foot, the mouse shot across the room away from me!! He was going to crawl up my pants leg!!!!!

I went home and got my cat. She spent the rest of the day with me, but never saw the mice. I saw them, but she was too curious about the mess. So, traps it will be. I hate it, but people have been telling me how fast they breed and we’ll be overrun if we’re not careful. There seem to be only two, but I’ve got a feeling there are many more. More on that later, too.

Hope the new year is healthy and prosperous for us all!

So how was your Christmas? Hectic? Relaxed? (If  it was relaxed you need to write a book. Tell us how you did it.) Mine went by in a blur. This business is taking all I’ve got. I didn’t get to decorate at home. Didn’t even get a tree up! Can you believe that? As much as I love to decorate for the holidays. I got started and did put up the gold tree, but it got no ornaments. Does that count? At least I don’t have to worry about putting it all away. Next year, I vow it will be different. So there! Hmph.

When we were helping to clean up after Lena died – that is still surreal to say or even think – we found a dirty, ratty, cat stinky, quilt in the garage. It was destined for the garbage, but Melanie saved it thinking there should be something she could do with it. Also found were some Fire King, peach luster cups. She took the quilt and the cups and made us all, our little group of junk lovers, pin cushions. She admits the idea is not an original one. I think she bought one from Etsy and copied it.

I think she did a bang up job, don’t you? She felted the wool for the bird. I can’t imagine how she got the mounded pin cushion so perfectly round. She said it’s just stuffing. I’ll tell ya right now. If I’d done it, it would be all lumpy and whonky Joed.

The quote or saying, “Life life joyfully” is one we can imagine Lena personally handing to each of us. Perfect.

I wanted to take time out from all the business and mention, if you don’t know already, the giveaway going on over at Where Women Create. Have you seen their blog? I’m loving it!

They’re giving away one fabulous, handmade item every day for 12 days. December 1-12.

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Now, as for me… I was trying to get through the hundreds of posts you, my friends, have put on your blogs. Tried to discipline myself and go strictly alphabetical. Got about midway and was distracted. For days. And days. And days. It seems like all I have time for is work, work, work. I’ve barely started with Christmas decorating. Got the gold tree out, but not decorated. Got out a couple of wreaths. But that’s it. How about you? Do you have it all done, yet? Or or you like me and your intentions are good, but have produced no results?

I’ll try to get caught back up with reading. And my New Year’s resolution, yes I’m already thinking about that, is to be a more diligent and responsible blogger. I used to. I can do it again!

I haven’t brought in much of interest lately. Didn’t go to any sales last weekend. I did go to a new to me thrift store close to Erin. It’s actually just an older store that changed locations, but it sure looks nice and had some good stuff. But I didn’t have time to shop it properly. Boo, hiss! I think I’ll run by our little crappy thrift this morning before opening up the shop.

Hey, if you have anyone on your Christmas list who’d like die cast John Deere tractors, I’ve got a bunch of John Deere tractors on eBay.  <- Click there. They’re on the site, too, Just Vintage, in Toys and Childrens Items. These are from my husband’s buying spree a year or two ago. I think he’s OCD. He’s not a collector who enjoys the hunt and finding a treasure hidden in a box of junk. He’s the type who decides he wants to collect something and goes after it in a fury, buying all the “bargains” he can find in as short amount of time as he can. These I’m listing are not even a drop in the bucket. They’re mostly duplicates and there have got to be a lot more. He needs to cull some more. His shop looks like a toy store. He wanted to decorate the house with them, but I managed to put a stop to that.

So, off to work. Gotta list me some tractors and trucks. It’s the time of year to do that. And fancy, party clothes. Tractors and party clothes. Those are my focus today.

I’ll be seeing ya,

Wanda

We know how lucky we around here to have yard and estate sales basically year round. Things slow up after Thanksgiving and dry up around Christmas, but pick back up a little in January and are pretty much back in full swing by March.  I haven’t been to many lately, not because there aren’t any, but I just haven’t had a lot of time. Or money. Always a problem that.

Last weekend there was a sale that said in the ad to go around to the back. I get to the house and there are two signs on the mailbox. “Yard Sale” and “Inside”. Well…. I go to so many estate sales, I’m used to sales being in the house. I didn’t see any sign of anything outside and thought they’d changed their minds because it was so cold that morning. I walked up to the front door and would have walked in — if there’d been a door knob. We’ve heard about me walking on in before. Not always wise. Anyway, I knocked. A man opened the door a crack and said,

“You here for the sale? It’s around to the side.”
“Oh, the sign said inside. That’s why I came to the door.”
“Yeah. Inside, around to the side.”
“Oh, I didn’t see anything and when the sign said inside I just thought….”
“Yeah. Around the side.”
“Oh. OK”

I walked around the side and sure ’nuff. There was some stuff out there and inside. So I stepped in the door. Nobody’s there. I’m uncomfortable. Then a lady showed up. Did she just come out from behind plastic hanging between that room and the rest of the house? Hmmm. I asked, “Have people had been coming to the front door?” She looked at me funny. “Because the sign says ‘Inside’.” She looked funny still. “You can’t really see anything out on the side.” She said, “But the ad said to go around back.” And looked at me funny. It was all too weird for me. The more I talked the worse it got. And I couldn’t stop!! I looked at the junk and left.

Then yesterday I headed to Birmingham. Had three estate sales marked and one yard sale. Later added another yard sale. All sales were lack luster. The last sale I went to should have been the first sale. If I’d only known. It was advertised as an estate sale. Turned out to be some things from “Momma’s”. Just stuff. Boring stuff. Then I spied a box under a table with things wrapped in newspaper. Of course I looked. Whoa! They haven’t even put out the best stuff! Look at this lamp! That double, Depression Glass candlestick! This green Depression Glass creamer! I’m making a pile. It was just about then that the bubble was burst. I was told that “”all that is already sold. The lady had to go…..” In my disappointment I didn’t hear the rest. I wanted to cry. Such an unfruitful day.

Below is a picture, yes, “A” picture of the interesting things I’ve bought the past two weeks. I also found four glass, clock domes. Broke two, one of them thirty minutes after I paid five stinkin’ dollars for it. And some candle cups that work well for small cloches. Also got a few cookbooks and other piddly things. But here’s the fun stuff:

Had to put about 400 miles on the car for that itty bitty pile.

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Oh! I’ve got a sale going on the site! 10% off everything now through Christmas. Even the new stuff that’s added every week. And there will be special, after Thanksgiving sales to watch for. Keep an eye out!

Just Vintage

I’m neglecting things again, aren’t I? Been working hard trying to get the site ready for Christmas. Working late and more days than usual. I haven’t even been out as much as I normally go.  But two weeks ago, I did go to a pink lady’s estate sale. And I’m not talking about hospital helper Pink Lady. This lady loved pink. She painted everything pink.

At first I thought, “How nice. I like her. She must have been a little ahead of her time. That’s nice painted pink. And that. And that… and … that….. and ……that …. and….. Oh, I feel nauseous.” It all started to look like Pepto.  Now, far be it from me to criticize pink. I love it, too.  But things were painted pink that should not have been. Too many things. And Lordy, she had the stuff! Some really good stuff, too. You just had to see past the Pepto Ocean. Here are some of the things I found. The swan and maybe the trim didn’t come from that sale, but the rest did. All of this is for sale on the web site in case you’re interested. (Shameless plug)

What’s that you say? There’s nothing pink in those pictures? How did that happen? Here’s my favorite purchase from there. A pink wall mailbox. I played around with it to show different things we can do with it.

I had to have bought more than that, but I can’t think what at the moment. I did poke around with everybody else in the pile of garbage on the street, though. Other people were finding some cool things. I did not. Every time I’d start to give up, someone would find a minor treasure and I’d start digging again. But I was coming up with nothing, so I left to meet a friend for lunch.

Oh, I did get a small, chippy, rusty cabinet that’s still riding in my trunk and a loving cup I think I’ll keep.

Until next time,

Wanda