Let the Garage Sales Begin!!

And they have in my area.....

It only takes a few good sales to get those "picker junker antique hunter" cells moving again and getting into it full swing for the most wonderful time of the year :-)

When two garage sales happen to be next door to each other, it's even better!

This past weekend was a score for me and I have been furiously listing my treasures in my Etsy shop since then.
(If you see something you want without it being highlighted, send me a message).

These were all from one sale, run by three generations of the family. The eldest lady there had an eye for vintage!

I fell in love with this sweet mirror made in Italy in the 1800's.

And the crate/box it is sitting on was a last minute 'gotta have it' buy. It is painted aqua with shelves and a really nice label on the top.

She was parting with her jadeite swirl mixing bowl and McCoy blue and pink pasta bowl,

and I was glad to take them home with me.

What vintage lover could resist chippy, rusty metal plant holders? Not me! I scooped both up.

These cedar cigar boxes are always good sellers in my shop. This one is in excellent condition and perfect for keepsakes, trinkets and jewelry.

She had a box full of vintage cigar boxes, which are quite collectible, but I resisted taking them all except the White Owl Invincibles cigar box.

I never pass up a tool box, especially when it is aqua! 

I never pass up galvanized buckets or enamel graniteware pans either. The rustier the better! They make great planters or fairy gardens.

This next item is for me. I am going to try this in my garden this year. I love the idea of an old drawer filled to the brim with flowers. I have to plan my colors and varieties still.....ya know we shouldn't plant anything here in the Northeast till Memorial Day, so I have time. I really try to stick with that. I wouldn't want to have to crush this drawer full of flowers by covering it for an impending frost.

Also great as planters and lots of other things, are these wooden advertising boxes.

This one held Libby's cooked corned beef...blech. It's a cute box though!

On to two other sales where I found these Holt Howard roosters.....

this cute anthropomorphic (defined as something having human characteristics) teabag holder

a 1960ish set of vanity containers...

and this set of really cool 1950's pennants.

I have been thrifting all winter but there is something about the hunt at garage sales when the weather turns warmer that makes me want to share what I found.

Gotta go finish listing all this stuff so I can go buy some more!

AnnMarie xoxo

One more thing.....I think I have a new collection starting.....

You may have noticed that I consistently sign my name with an xoxo after it. 

Before Christmas last year I found these cute sterling xo earrings from a local jewelry artist. I wear them almost everyday.

Then at one of the garage sales this past weekend I found these XO letters and of course I had to have them....

I guess that's how it all starts!

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This post is featured at Share Your Cup!!

Unbridled Passion

 I just can't help myself.

I have over 300 vintage items in my Etsy shop, (not to mention the collection I have in my drafts, expired and inactive files) plus the hundreds of items around my home that I decorate with and am not parting with!

But when Friday and Saturday come around this time of year, I just have to see what is out there. I have to decide whether to go to the garage sales, or thrift stores, or both? Yard sales or flea markets?

Today I went to the most unlikely place you'd ever find myself and especially my husband, ever on a Saturday afternoon.......

The Pioneer Gas Engine 48th Annual Show in Marion, NY.

You see, I recently joined the Rusty Dusty Treasury Team on Etsy which is all about vintage and rusty, recycled and upcycled and just plain fabulous items. It has helped increase my passion for all of that and more!

So when my daughter called me saying "Mom, you gotta get here, there is a lot of rusty, old stuff", I had to go. I was going to hit just a few garage sales anyways.....wink, wink.

As soon as we got there my husband felt out of his element. He joined me because I didn't want to go alone not knowing what I was walking into, and then we ran into an old friend, Dean.

That's my husband Frank on the left near Dean's booth with all the mammoth chain saws. Frank is from Spanish Harlem in New York City. There were tractors and engines and rusty farm tools, long beards, John Deere shirts and a few missing teeth! Yeah, out of his element!

I had a great time! There was a lot of old, rusty, greasy, oily stuff around to buy. Most too high priced for me but I did get some things.

The large bucket is a cardboard and metal candy bucket from the Bunte Brothers of Chicago. It was once filled with 15 pounds of Extra Fine Early American Chocolate Drops. It is a great vintage advertising piece for display, from the early 1950's.

I have a thing for oil cans. Especially the small, cute ones with the long spout. I actually sold one once suggesting to use it as a ring holder. Very cute idea!

These would fall into the rusty, oily category of vintage!

 

 

I am not totally sure of what this next item is, but it is so unique and rusty that I had to have it. It must be some kind of percussion instrument. It has a cow bell sound, each side having a different tone.

 

 

There was so much more I wanted to buy, but the last item I got was this coal shovel, probably from the 1930's. Very unique decoration for near a wood stove or fireplace.

 

 

So I did really good, right? I must mention that my husband didn't get anything! He likes to go thrifting for props for the community theatre we run. No luck here!

I really wanted to hit at least one of the garage sales on my list so we went. It was a memorable time because of the cute elderly couple that was holding the sale.

 

The husband was sitting outside the garage with a friend and the wife was inside the garage with her grandson. I asked him about the age of the cow jar and he said "You have to ask my wife, that's her department".

 

 

Then I was looking at the old tool box and he cut the price in half without me even asking!

 

I asked her for the price on the framed picture and she said "You have to ask my husband, it's his". He told me the price and then mentioned that it was a relative of his. I asked him if he was sure he wanted to sell it to me and he said, no problem, he had others! Relatives or pictures?!

 

I almost walked away from the prize item of the day. I was halfway down the driveway when I just had to go back for the big, red, chippy, rusty gas can. The husband ran over to make sure he told me that it didn't leak and showed me the bottom. I asked him how old it was and he said he bought it in 1968. The wife was giggling that I came back and her grandson looked at me like I was crazy for wanting all this stuff!

 

Days like these make thrifting all the more fun. Sometimes it is just in and out of the car, from garage sale to garage sale with no luck and no fun included.

Now I get to photograph and list all these great items in my NaNa's Things shop. Which is part of the fun too!

What did you do on this beautiful Saturday afternoon?

AnnMarie  :)

P.S. I have this same unbridled passion for that guy on the left in the picture too!!

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