Found Treasures

What a great day I had last Friday garage sale-ing! It really is a great way to find vintage treasures and hear some stories to go along with the found treasure. There seemed to be a Mom theme for the day.

I started out towards a little town near me, Marion, New York, to a barn sale. I LOVE barn sales. There are just all kinds of vintage, antique-y treasures to be found. I had to have this vintage folding yardstick. There is just something about these old yardsticks that brings me back to thinking of the basics of life. Like working with your hands, being precise and accurate to get the job done right. When I told the woman who sold it to me that it just gets me right here (pointing to my heart) and maybe I am just weird, she said no, I know exactly what you mean. I guess that is what a true vintage junkie is!

I met up with my daughter Jena, baby granddaughter Chloe and we set out west to hit some advertised sales. Chloe promptly fell asleep in her car seat and we were able to pull up the driveway to most of the sales and just run in and out while she napped. A quick look is sometimes all you need to find your treasures, pay and run! At the first sale I found a wonderful old chocolate tin with a poem for Mother on the top. The woman said it was her mother's and that she had had it probably 60 years! I also got a sweet little Gibsons China teapot in ivory, pink and gold gilt.

At another garage sale the gentleman told us how all the things he was selling were his Mother's, that she had died at 88 the year before. I found a reversed glass painted silhouette picture, an old wooden shoe stretcher and a 1950's button style picture of the Blessed Mary, mother of Jesus. He spoke fondly of it, being that it was his mothers. Her eyes just draw you in.....

I was so excited with my finds that I went out Saturday morning and found an old tool/tackle box with a push button latch painted and rusted in a pretty cornflower blue. A local thrift store in my town is open on Tuesdays and I couldn't resist stopping today to see what she had that was new.  My finds are in the picture below and I will be working all this week on getting them listed in NaNa's Things.

I saved the best treasure for last. This ceramic figurine of the Blessed Mary, the mother of Jesus, is so beautiful in person and it is musical. It winds up to play Ava Maria. In it's simplicity, it portrays such a reverent, humble servant of the Lord's. The woman at the sale said it was her aunt's. I researched the ceramic company inscribed on the bottom from  Paramus, NJ and found out that the couple who ran it taught ceramics to the elderly.

The anticipation of the hunt for vintage treasures is fun but the rewards come when you realize that an item truly is a treasure because it meant something to someone else at one time. I get to have it for a little while and then pass it on to you. Maybe you'll buy it because it just gets you right there and you have to have it.....

AnnMarie :)