Searching for Treasures One Yard Sale at a Time – Everything Coming up Roses

Posted on May 20, 2012 by

We had another gorgeous day for treasure hunting at yard sales. We focused on one end of town where there seemed to be a lot of yard sale signs. I love it when we can find treasures without having to travel too far.

This little bunny planter was my first purchase of the day. He has a cute face and looks vintage, even though I don’t think he is. For 50 cents, it wasn’t much of a risk.

This rolling pin is what got me going at another yard sale. When I asked how much and the owner said $1, I snatched it up immediately. It is a little smaller than most you see. She had a table full of nice items and  as I stood there tightly grasping my bargain rolling pin, I noticed the beautiful embroidered tablecloths. The two pictures above show the first tablecloth I picked up. It’s large enough to use on my dining room table.

This pink cross-stitched rose embroidered cloth is square and would probably be great used on a card table. I can really appreciate the amount of work that goes into creating these beautiful tablecloths.

Here is a close up of the corner designs.

I was intrigued by this little bag which the seller said her mother-in-law told her was for storing napkins. I’ve never run across one of these before, have you?

Inside were 12 napkins with a sweet floral design embroidered on each one. I didn’t even notice the matching tablecloth, can you believe it? Thankfully the seller pointed it out to me!

It is quite large and will look stunning on my dining room table. (It will look even better once I iron it, lol!)

Here is a close up of the large flower, which looks like a variegated rose in bloom. Now for the prices. Are you sitting down? I purchased the tablecloths for $1 each and the napkin with storage bag for 50 cents. I know. I know. I fully expected the yard sale police to arrest me. I can’t figure out if the seller really didn’t like her mother-in-law (who I assume owned and/or created these beauties) or they just weren’t her style. Either way, I was on cloud nine with these purchases and could have stopped treasure hunting for the day right then and there. But I didn’t. :)

I credit my YSCE for finding the next sale. As he was finding a parking spot, which involved driving down the street to turn around, he came upon another sale which had very little traffic. Based on what he could see from the road, he was eager for me to stop there.

This was a three-generation sale with mostly the grandmother’s things. She had recently moved into a condominium and didn’t have room for all of her treasures. The set of dishes above included many pieces by Rosenthal in the Aida-Winifred design. The rose design has almost a wild-rose look.

There were also four rose-patterned salad plates by L&M in their Pompadour Rose design.

This platter has a small chip in the edge, but is otherwise in beautiful condition. I have a fondness for platters so added this to the stack for $1. I found two Pyrex Cornflower pieces, too. A square 3-quart lidded casserole and a small saucepan. Earlier this same day I had found a large rectangular casserole dish in this same pattern. The size will be perfect to use in the silver-plated, lidded casserole stand I found earlier in the season.

This hand-crocheted doily called my name.

Here is the detail of the pansies on the edging. A little pressing and some mending and this will be a sweet accent on a tea tablescape, don’t you think?

I also bought a round mid-century modern side table. While I was gathering the dishes, the price had gone down from $10 to $5 so I added it to my bundle. After paying for my purchases I had to call it a day. I had spent all my allotted cash for treasures!

We passed a yard sale sign on the way to our neighborhood and decided to stop. Good thing I had my tiny change purse or I would have had to pass up this find.

A vintage West Bend “Buns” Serving Oven. The seller said it had been her granny’s. Four quarters from my little coin purse and this slightly grody treasure came home with me. With a little elbow grease (well, quite a bit of elbow grease actually), she is shiny and clean. While my family didn’t use a warmer such as this, the YSCE does remember one similar to this from his childhood. Who doesn’t love a warm roll?

I hope to visit the parties at Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures, Knick of Time’s Knick of Time Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Today’s Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, and The Penny Worthy Project at Hey, What’s for Dinner Mom?

Tammy

Posted in Dishes, Garage Sales, Linens, Tablescaping, Uncategorized, Vintage, Yard Sales | 8 Comments

Searching for Treasures One Yard Sale at a Time – Hot, Hot, Hot

Posted on May 13, 2012 by

We have the most interesting weather in our part of Virginia. One week we have sleet and the next it is hotter than normal. We rarely have normal Spring weather. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure I’d even recognize normal Spring weather since we so rarely see it.

There were so many yard sales this weekend that we couldn’t get to them all. One of the larger communities in our area had their annual sale and it was well attended. The families in this neighborhood definitely got the memo about participation.

My first purchase was for my YSCE who faithfully chauffeurs me around each weekend. A true Beatles fan, these were some books he didn’t already have.

I found this copper mold for $1. It is quite heavy which makes me think it might be an older mold.

I found a bag of vintage sewing items at a yard sale being held as a fund raiser for a local women’s garden club. I splurged and bought it for $4. There were some lovely vintage linens also for sale, but I had to leave them behind for other buyers.

I especially liked finding the vintage needle cards since they were perfect to display on one of my favorite finds of the day – an old flower frog. I really splurged on this purchase. I spent $5 which is way above my comfort zone. Yes, I am very frugal, but this is something that had been on my wish list so I parted with my fiver.

I got these brooches at a sale where the gentleman was selling quite a bit of his mother’s things. The flower brooch is a Monet; I don’t know the maker of the Christmas stocking.

For a little fun, I picked up some magnetic German poetry words. The little Batman is for the YSCE and the tiny Mary Englebreit books and hand-sewn notepad are for future gifts.

The tray these items are on was another of my favorites. I found this one at a church sale tucked in a box with loads of plastic trays. I love the size, pattern and pretty handles.

You never know what you might find in a box that looks like it contains nothing but junk, so don’t be afraid to dig through those boxes. I paid $1 for this lovely aluminum tray.

I think I got a good buy, don’t you?

We didn’t have time to visit half of the sales that were around, but the ones we did proved to be quite fun. It was a hot day for hot vintage finds!

I hope to join the parties at Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures, Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday, Knick of Time’s Knick of Time Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, and The Penny Worthy Project at Hey, What’s for Dinner Mom?

Tammy

Posted in Garage Sales, Uncategorized, Vintage, Yard Sales | 12 Comments

Searching for Treasures One Yard Sale at a Time – Baby It’s Cold Outside

Posted on May 6, 2012 by

I was supposed to participate in a yard sale with my friend and fellow thrifter “S” this past weekend. I am a fair weather yard saler, especially when I am in the seller’s chair. Due to the threat of rain, I begged out of these plans. Boy, am I glad I did. The rain held off until late morning, but it was cold enough to sleet. Definitely not my kind of weather.

Now, did that stop me from attending a few yard sales? Heavens, no! After a lovely morning spent at breakfast with my darling husband (aka, yard sale chauffeur extraordinaire or YSCE) and many of his childhood friends, there were yard sales to find.

On our way home, we passed by a sale at a local assisted living facility. After applying the brakes, my YSCE found a close-by parking spot so I could explore. I believe the participants in this sale are employees of the facility. I found a few things at their sale last year and hoped to do the same this year. My timing was spot on today as the table at which I noticed the most interesting things was packing up to leave. One of the items left on the table was a red-lidded glass spice bottle priced at $1. When I expressed an interest, she pulled out five more glass spice bottles. Her husband called them Hoosier spice bottles. Two have a sliding lid, two have open-holed shaker lids, two have solid lids. I got all six for $6. I believe five of them are Triple-Skip Hoosier glass spice jars which I determined after I got them home and researched them.

She didn’t have a bag, so picture me with my winter coat pockets stuffed with two jars each and me holding two jars. Before I left, I stopped at another table. In a cardboard box filled with kitchen utensils, I found three Court silver plated iced tea spoons, a random Rogers silver plate teaspoon, a red wooden-handled scoop, an old cheese slicer, and a small server with what is possibly a Bakelite handle. I got the lot for $2.

I happily waddled back to the car with my pockets stuffed with spice jars and my hands filled with kitchen utensils and jars.

The next stop was a multi-family sale. We were here a while so we could visit with the families and their neighbors, once we realized they were acquaintances of ours. Here I scored goodies from the Free pile. I found a square wooden tray which will look great once refreshed with some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, a giraffe mug for someone I know who likes giraffes, and what I believe is a pewter vase. The vase is marked “1975″ on the base and stamped “Clinton” on the side. Anyone know anything about this piece or the maker?

It was getting colder by the minute, so we headed out to go home and the sellers started to pack up their items. On the way, we saw another yard sale sign and decided to stop there as well. The man of the house was on duty and instantly recognized my YSCE as we pulled up. He told me to make an offer if there was anything I was interested in. I found a silver plated casserole holder with lid and two cool old frames.

Here is some detail of the corner of the larger frame. Beautiful for $1, wouldn’t you agree?

I happily paid the full price for these items as I felt they were fairly priced. And also because I didn’t want this guy to think my YSCE was married to a yard sale cheapskate, especially since that is exactly how YSCE had just depicted me to our many friends during breakfast.

I think I found some fun things and made some good buys and also managed not to embarrass my YSCE so he’ll drive me again next time.

I hope to visits the parties at Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures, Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday, Knick of Time’s Knick of Time Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, and The Penny Worthy Project at Hey, What’s for Dinner Mom?

Tammy

Posted in Garage Sales, Pewter, Salt & Pepper Shakers, Silver, Thrifting, Uncategorized, Vintage, Yard Sales | 15 Comments

Spring Tweet

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

We did have some spring-like weather in our area for a while. It has certainly disappeared this week with freeze warnings, sleet and snow. However, I have been enjoying the spring-like tablescape to which some of my birdies were invited.

This ‘scape was set for two to enjoy a small, romantic dinner. I brought out the birdcage I picked up at a yard sale last year and then added several of my white birds to keep us company.

Here is a close up of the little bird who perched on his branch outside the birdcage.

I used my Bordallo Pinheiro large cabbage plates on top of woven chargers. I topped these with these beautiful Homer Laughlin plates.

I love the central floral design as well as the raised edging on these plates. These compote/champagne glasses are still some of my favorites. They were a great find at one of the best yard sales I visited last summer.

I used my grandmother’s silver-plate flatware, nest-brown napkins and some yard sale white floral napkin rings.

I think this little guy invited his bunny friend to come enjoy the cabbage plates. The bunny was hand-painted by my mother during her ceramics phase. Did any of your mothers participate in the ceramic craze of the 70′s?

While in a nesting mood, I also decided to change up the plates in my plate holder. I used nest votives I found at Michael’s this year on top of plates from Home Goods and yard sale Ironstone saucers.

I am hoping for warmer weather to revisit us soon. It has almost been too cold even to go yard sailing….I did say almost. :)

I plan to join Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Let’s Dish at Cuisine Kathleen’s and Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch. I hope you have a chance to visit them, too.

Tammy

Posted in Dishes, Garage Sales, Ironstone, Silver, Tablescaping, Thrifting, Uncategorized, Vintage, Yard Sales | 9 Comments

Seal the Deal

Posted on April 22, 2012 by

With warmer weather comes the return of yard sales! I just love this time of year. Spring holds the promise of Summer just around the corner. I am a warm weather gal. Snow and ice do not excite me one bit, unless the ice is in the sweet iced tea I’m drinkin’ on a warm summer afternoon.

My yard sale chauffeur extraordinaire, aka my dear husband, grabbed the wheel and off we went this past Saturday. When a yard sale advertises it is selling “Grandma’s stuff”, I am there. This was our first stop of the day. They did indeed have a driveway full of Grandma’s stuff. Someone had spent some time online, too, getting prices for Grandma’s stuff. A single vintage suitcase was $80. Thanks, but no thanks. I was fortunate to find a few things within my price comfort zone.

This little beret-wearing red seal was too cute to leave behind. His nose is a little dis-jointed, but otherwise, he is in great condition. Does anyone recognize him? I can’t place him and would love to know if he looks familiar to you.

This isn’t the best picture, but I wanted you to see his darling little red bow tie.

I also found a vintage box of Parker Brothers Double Pick Up Sticks. I was excited to find this at such a reasonable price.

And lastly I found this glass pitcher with a label that says Krosno Poland. I liked both the size and shape of this heavy pitcher. This might be one of the products sold at Crate and Barrel, but I’m not sure about that. I can picture this beauty in future tablescapes, serving  warm maple syrup for pancakes and waffles or warm lemon sauce for gingerbread.

We were disappointed at the other sales we attended. We did a lot of driving through a very upscale neighborhood looking for their “community” yard sales. It appeared that only a handful of the community got the memo. I did enjoy seeing the lovely homes with their extensive landscaping, swimming pools and tennis courts so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

I’ll leave you with pictures of a chest of drawers that I rescued from the curb of my neighbor. It is a nice old chest with dove-tailed joints. I will give it a good scrub and then it will be a test subject for my first venture into the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint world of painting. I think she will be a gorgeous piece once I finish with her.

The drawer pieces need to be reassembled and glued. Even the sides of this piece have nice added detail.

Not bad for free!

I plan to visit the following parties. I hope you have a chance to do so as well:

Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures, Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday, Knick of Time’s Knick of Time Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Southern Hospitality’s Thrifty Treasures, Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, and The Penny Worthy Project at Hey, What’s for Dinner Mom?

Tammy

Posted in Dishes, Garage Sales, Tablescaping, Thrifting, Uncategorized, Vintage, Yard Sales | 9 Comments

Happy Easter!

Posted on April 8, 2012 by

Mr. Easter Bunny is tipping his hat to say, “Happy Easter!”

I got this hand-crafted pillow and its mate at a church sale last year. You can read about my finds here.

They look perfect sitting on the chairs I picked up at the thrift store last year. Here is what the chairs looked like when I brought them home.

And now, thanks to inspiration and a great thrifty tip from BJ at Sweet Nothings, they look wonderful dressed in their black and white checked slip covers.

Wishing a blessed day to all.

If you get a chance, stop by these fun blogs, too:

Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures, Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday, Knick of Time’s Knick of Time Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, and The Penny Worthy Project at Hey, What’s for Dinner Mom?

Tammy

Posted in Garage Sales, Linens, Thrifting, Uncategorized, Yard Sales | 7 Comments

A Winning Week!

Posted on March 18, 2012 by

I was the lucky winner of The Thrifty Groove‘s anniversary giveaway. I chose to receive Better Homes and Gardens as the subscription I will enjoy for the next 12 months. Thank you, Diann!

I also won some bids at an auction we attended in our neighboring town. The estate of some life-long community members was up for auction. My husband had a connection to this family. We spent the entire sunny day watching the lovely items from the household go to the highest bidder.

She was a true southern belle. She was always dressed to the nines, grew and arranged beautiful flowers and had a home filled with fine furniture and china. She was best of friends with her sister (who was married to my husband’s uncle). They could often be seen about town together, sharing coffee and shopping excursions.  They even competed against one another in the annual 4-H Fair. One of the lots that I won included many of her First Place and Best in Show ribbons for her gladiolas, flower arrangements, apple pie, and even one for furniture restoration. She also collected post cards and there were several of these in the same lot.

I bid on many items unsuccessfully. I had a limited budget and was determined to stick to it and not get auction fever. This was my first time bidding at an auction so I was a little nervous in the beginning. Some of the items I lost bids on were a lovely sterling plate flatware set in its box (sold to a silver dealer), a set of aqua snack plates (I’m a little sorry I didn’t go higher on them), a tole-painted tray, a sewing tin, and an empty flatware box. You can really tell the dealers at these sales, can’t you?

I did win these lovely amber glass salad/desert plates.

Also included with this lot was this Grandma Moses scene plate.

I’m not familiar with these plates so will have to do some research on it. I didn’t see this plate until we were home. It was a happy surprise. The nursery rhyme is written on the back of the plate.

I put a bid on a box lot when I saw these little Scotties peaking out.

This little pin cushion needs a a bit of clean up, but isn’t it adorable? In the box with the pincushion were several other fun things, including this teacup and saucer. It is from the Royal Albert Flower of the Month Series, November Chrysanthemum.

This double-handled teacup was also in the box. She has a few chips, but I think I can still put her to use as a container or maybe even turn her into a pin cushion.

These items were in the box as well. I don’t know anything about them and there are no markings. If you have any information to share, I’ll be happy to listen.

Another plate that appeared in one of my boxes was a 1964-65 World’s Fair souvenir plate. My husband was especially pleased with this find as he attended this fair.

We spent most of the day in the back yard where the man of the house used to grow the best tomatoes in the county. Each year we would anxiously await those harbingers of summer which he gifted to my in-laws. We all loved Mr. W’s tomatoes!

We had such a fun day, visiting with many old friends. And to think I spent less on my total purchases than my husband spent at the food truck. It was a win-win kind of day.

I hope you will visit the parties at Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures, Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday, Knick of Time’s Knick of Time Tuesday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal Charm, Thrifty Thursday at Tales from Bloggeritaville, Thrifty Things Friday at The Thrifty Groove, and The Penny Worthy Project at Hey, What’s for Dinner Mom?

Tammy

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 15 Comments