Junk Bonanza with a Friendly Surprise

We had planned on going to the San Diego Junk Bonanza for several weeks. We tend to be a bit spontaneous so what we "plan" and what we actually end up doing can be two different stories. Luckily this story had a happy ending and not only did I find more treasures but I was also pleasantly surprised to see a friendly face.

Jo Packham was signing copies of her magazine at the show. I worked with Jo designing the packaging for her first line of Sizzix craft dies. More recently, I shared a Sizzix demonstration booth next to hers at the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. So it was a wonderful surprise to see her listed as the special guest signing autographs at the show.

My Childhood Memories were Featured

I received an email telling me that MegaEstateSales.com had featured one of my previous posts. Of course this made me curious so I just had to check this out.

The post they featured was about how I had found items at an estate sale that brought back memories of my childhood. My father had a similar airplane wing lamp in brown. The Bakelite adding machine makes the most amazing clicking, cranking, snapping sounds that reminds me of Sunday mornings when my father would do his bookkeeping.

If you get a chance, check out MegaEstateSales and read their 101 Reasons to Love Estate Sales. The reasons are all so interesting.

Personally, I don't need all 101 reasons to love estate sales. I would go to them just for the fun of it.

Have fun!

Happy Serendipity Thrifting Day!

I had a planned vacation day off from work last Friday and was fortunate to find an estate sale listing vintage buttons. It was truly a stroke of serendipity and it even got better!

While searching for the buttons I came across the most awesome stash of more Pyrex bowls. Not just any Pyrex bowls but a Green Dot Pyrex bowl, two yellow Rainbow Stripe bowls and one blue Rainbow Stripe bowl. You might remember my estate sale horror story of another buyer grabbing two Pyrex Dot bowls from me last year. The bowl that the seller took away from me was a Green Dot Pyrex bowl just like this one.

Wasn't it just last week that I said that I needed to stop buying so much Pyrex? This was an example of true serendipity though. Another buyer was standing near these and just walked away uninterested so I casually swooped in and happily bought them.

Tim Holtz and Pyrex in One Week!

This has been an awesome week which included a mini-workshop with Tim Holtz. He had us playing with all of his different surface materials to see how they perform. My absolute favorite was the Shiny Foil Transfer Sheets, the Distress Specialty Stamping Paper and Clearly for Art {moldable plastic film}.

He explained the surfaces and then let us play. We weren't supposed to create a final project but I ended up composing this quick piece using the Sizzix Layered Bee die and Texture Fade. Behind the large bee is a stamped butterfly using the gold transfer foil. The horizontal band is a piece of thin wood. The center of the background is embossed vellum. All of this is mounted on corrugated paper.

But wait! There's more fun to this week!

Valentine's Day - Thrifting Style

It has been a busy week here. We decided to have a low-key Valentine's Day although my Dear Handyman does tend to spoil me all year long.

The weekend before Valentine's Day he took me to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena. It was awesome and the weather was perfect.

We only walked about a third of the flea market before we were too exhausted to keep going. Since we live relatively close to the Rose Bowl we can always come back the following month for more discoveries.

I am trying to only purchase the things that I want for my personal collection. I was thrilled to find another vintage glove mold. It is the one laying down in front. It was just slightly too tall for the shelf. I need to adjust the shelves but for right now it will lay flat.

Southern California Thrifting

We woke on Saturday to the most beautiful weather. The warm winds that we call the Santa Ana's, were blowing and the day seemed full of possibilities. We needed to get out of the house and enjoy this beautiful day. Our destination ended up being South along the California Coast then inland towards Fallbrook and Valley Center.

The Pacific Ocean was so lovely in the distance.

Counting My Blessings, Enjoying My Life

I needed a little time to stop and count my blessings. I realized that I am blessed with so much right now and sometimes I need to slow down and enjoy my life.

A week ago I went to the Carson Rubber Stamp Convention. It is about a 45 minute drive via the freeway so I kind of take it for granted that I can always attend it when it comes to town.

But what I am truly blessed with is that I had the opportunity to spend some time with Tim Holtz. Back in August, Tim sent me a box full of goodies to play with. Oh the joy! But then I began to stress about what I could possibly do to thank him for his thoughtfulness and generosity.

Awesome Labor Day Weekend Digger Sale

We found an awesome digger sale that looked promising. It was a bit of a drive but since we hadn't been out for a while we decided to splurge.

My favorite find, and I have to credit Dear Handyman for snagging this treasure, was this small 7 1/2 inch metal globe. I collect globes but I didn't realize the significance of this one particular one. In fact, while waiting to pay, two people offered to buy it from me. With a little research I discovered that small globes like this are a little scarce so they are more valuable. A great addition to my collection!

I found this old green Climax Family Scale by Landers, Frary & Clark. The glass front is intact and it still works.

Found a three piece canister set in the same shade of 1940's green.

I have never seen an anodized aluminum salad serving set before so this was kind of fun. There is a large serving bowl and eight colorful individual bowls.

I also found a small wooden box filled with toys and other bits. I liked the printing on the side of the box. What better way to organize art supplies than in a vintage school crayon box!

Included in the box were two old glass bottles containing French art adhesive, two small metal fish, a tintype photo, bone objects, wooden climbing monkey toy, handmade wooden toy with compartment holding a Mason's pin, metal bird claw, cardboard goat, glass cross, old ceramic dish and tiny metal boat.

I will add some of these items to my store at StufftoTreasure so please stop by to browse.

Hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful Labor Day Weekend.

An Amazing Week!

It has been an amazing week with lots of high points and one low point. And looking back, the low point wasn't really all that bad but it did shake my faith in the honesty of people.

My week started last Friday. I had the day off from work so we went to an estate sale. I have been doing a lot of freelance lately so this was my first opportunity to go thrifting in a while. I witnessed lying, cheating and stealing and that was the conduct of the estate sale company!

I was on the hunt for a set of these Pyrex Dot bowls.

Reading the Fine Print

During our thrifting adventures, we went to an estate sale that was advertised as "One Day Only" but buried in the text of the listing was the fact that this was "one day only" of the clearing out after two days of selling. Very confusing and disappointing since they had advertised photos of things that they must have sold many days before. But on a positive note, we had a wonderful conversation with a retired Navy man who was very inspirational.

We started the day at a fun sale and my favorite find were these vintage Gurley Halloween Witch candles. I had learned about Gurley candles after finding these Christmas candles a while back.

We also found a large number of Knee hugger elves, gnomes and pixies. Not quite sure which ones are which but most of them still have their "made in Japan" stickers.

I couldn't resist these Rooster glasses. The images are so playful.

Later, at the "One Day Only" sale I found a set of small tart pans that looked like sunflowers. Won't these make a cute Summer project!

The last thing we found was another working Westclox Baby Ben clock to add to my collection.

So the moral of this week's message is to read the fine print of any advertised sale if you want to avoid disappointments. And if you happen to meet a retired Navy man {with nine children} while waiting for a sale, strike up a conversation with him because he will inspire your dreams.

I will be adding some of these items to my Stuff to Treasure store so please check back often for more interesting vintage finds.

Hope everyone had a great day of Thrifting.

Bucket Lists and Wish Lists

I love horses. One thing on my Bucket List was to learn to ride a horse. I rode for a few years until I fell off {my fault: my instructor said something, I said "What?", the horse heard "Whoa", the horse whoa-d and off I went over the shoulder but didn't get hurt.} So I don't need to ride anymore but I still love horses.

And one of the many things on my Thrifting Wish List is Trophies. I like old engraved trophies. I also look for award ribbons. So imagine my joy when I found a 1955 award ribbon for a Horse Show. Cool right? But it gets better. The ribbon is for "Victor McLaglen Light Horse "A" Troop Horse Show". Victor McLaglen was an Oscar-winning English-born actor who starred alongside such big Hollywood names as John Wayne and Shirley Temple. He even has his handprints in the cement outside of  Grauman's Chinese Theatre. He later went on to form a semi-militaristic Light Horse Brigade here in California. This is an horse show ribbon from a 1955 event. Oh-so-cool!

Other fun finds this weekend was a nice Town and Country Pyrex Cinderella bowl. 

A pair of Danish Modern salad serving tools.

And some vintage, real glass glitter and decorative bits.

Learning about history is one of the thrills I get from Thrifting. It is so much fun to find treasures on my Thrifting Wish List. All of this is what keeps me going especially at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning.

I even went to a local Button Show to get a little education on the value of various buttons. So much to learn, so little time. Hope everyone had a great day of Thrifting.

Spring Thrifting and Hummingbird Rescue Service

The Spring weather this weekend was beautiful. We attended a few sale and Dear Handyman had to work so I spent some time helping him. While working on a house, a hummingbird flew in and was stuck between a window and the shutters. I had to climb a ladder, gently catch the hummingbird in a towel, climb back down the ladder {while gently holding the towel} then release the bird outside. For one brief moment it sat on my hand before it took flight. What an awesome creature!

My favorite find at the sales were these Spun Cotton Birds that kind of look like hummingbirds and an old velvet floral Corsage.

We also found a large stash of vintage Disneyland tickets. The earliest ones date from 1965 and the latest are from 1980. These tickets bring back such fond memories of trips to Disneyland as a child.

I love finding vintage Christmas decorations. These are two corsages, a large mercury glass candle and bottlebrush table decoration and three sets of mercury glass and bottlebrush wreath earrings.

We found several old handkerchiefs. My favorite is one that I believe is designed by Tom Lamb but isn't signed. It is of a Duck that looks progressively more wild as the poem describes: "Oh! Henny is a wild duck, as wild as wild can be! wilder than any duck you ever did see! I love wild ducks.

Other hankies include Disney's Seven Dwarfs, Howdy Doody and some Valentine hankies. Also found some lovely German Scrap.

I hope everyone had a great day of thrifting. And I hope everyone is starting to enjoy some lovely Spring weather. As always, I will get some of these items into my Stuff to Treasure store.

Linked to:

Sir ThriftaLot

Don't Judge a Sale by its Description

In my search for interesting sales this weekend, I overlooked a sale that was advertised as "Plants Yard Decoration". I wasn't interested in those items so I didn't look at the photos. It wasn't until I ran a search using keywords on Craigslist that I found a much more intriguing list of items at this sale.

The moral of this lesson is that it is always a good idea to check out the listing of all sales that are in your area and within the timeframe of your day.

My favorite find were these vintage Christmas pieces. I love the Empire Plastic Santa but the oddly shaped Mercury glass ornaments in the front are interesting as well. I have never seen this shape before.

We don't usually buy purses at estate sales but this one was in such good condition and unique. It is made from strips of metal in a basket weave pattern. 

I thought this copper enamel bowl was such a unique shape and I liked the bright sunflower design. It is made by Bovano from the 1960s.

Found a Fenton Hobnail turquoise blue small vase. So petite and pretty.

I like these accordion style sewing boxes. This one is in such great condition and it has these rounded knobs on top that look so 50s. Wouldn't it be fun to fill it with all kinds of Tim Holtz's inks and embellishments to have handy for crafting? 

I hope everyone has a great weekend of thrifting. Check out my Stuff to Treasure store for many of these and other treasured finds.

Linked to:
Coastal Charm, Ladybug Blessings, Mod Vintage Life, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia and SirThriftaLot

A Good Thrifting Day and A Very Busy New Year

We haven't had a chance to go thifting in quite a while. I missed the thrill of the hunt. I totally forgot about how rude some people can be but I didn't let that spoil my day.

My favorite find was this old, wooden step ladder. What a perfectly distressed way to display things. It is such a great size to display books or other collections.

I found these sweet little cards with some cute pictures and funny rhymes. This little cat has a piece of string tied to its "tail. And another card has a small paper doll.

We found a pair of Tipp City milk glass rooster spice jars and an old glass rolling pin.

I love researching about old milk bottles. We found three old bottles and I have been able to determine the approximate date when the bottles were made and in some cases, the city where they were made. These are from the 1930s and 40s. The brown bottle is even earlier.

I found more Pyrex bowls. I sold all of my Pyrex so I am slowly gathering more again.

I couldn't resist a few more Shiny Brite ornaments.

I found some quilt fabric that was of vintage Valentine cards and project yardage to make a cute cherry pattern apron.

I am working hard to get most of these items into my Stuff to Treasure store.

It has been an extremely busy start to the new year. Since the first day of January, I have been doing the following: I decluttered and prepped my entire home to be tented for termites, I lived in my RV parked outside of my home for three days while I attended the Craft and Hobby trade show twice, attended a dinner with Tim Holtz, then moved back into my home and cleaned and washed everything. One day later, my son had his first race event so I was back in the RV for a few more days, came home to find a notice that all of the garage driveways were going to be resurfaced the next day so we had to find parking for all of our vehicles. That was 21 days ago and they still haven't resurfaced our driveway. Meanwhile we got a parking ticket on the RV. And work has been exceptionally busy because my dear friend and co-worker was in a serious {but not life-threatening} car accident and I am covering her work load while she mends. And at the same time I have been given the exciting opportunity to do two things that I absolutely love; create a branding campaign and design my own craft dies. And on top of all of this I am doing a ton of freelance design. Yes, it has certainly been an extremely busy start to a new year!

Hope everyone had a great day of thrifting. Like I said, I am working to get new items into my store. Thanks for your patience.

Thanksgiving Thrifting

Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!

I am so thankful for my Dear Handyman. What a trooper! After a Thanksgiving feast he drove me to a house that was scheduled for an estate sale the following morning. We left a box at the door as a placeholder to show that we were first in line {which is the custom at this particular estate sale company's sales}. We woke at 4:45 a.m. the following morning and drove to the sale only to find that someone else had come after us and removed our box. There was nothing we could do to prove our case so we ended up 46th on the signup sheet and the seller took in the first 40 to the sale. By the time we got inside the dealers had bought all of the items we wanted. Oh well, you win some and you lose some.

We did find a very early Monopoly set probably made between 1939 - 1940. The game pieces are made of a composition material, possibly Bakelite. The shapes are crude but they include a horse and rider, train, elephant, car, bathtub, shoe, lamb and iron {the handle of the iron is broken and it seems to be made of a dry composition material}. The wooden hotels have printing that say "Grand Hotel". The old board and pieces were in a newer Monopoly box which also included a set of old dice. These were a fun old find.

More fun finds...

More Pyrex and Vintage Christmas... Oh Happy Heart!

I admit that my heart skips a beat when I see Pyrex or old Christmas ornaments at a garage sale. And my heart sings with joy when the prices are reasonable. Today I have a really happy heart!

I had three favorite finds today. The first was a good stash of vintage Pyrex. The sellers laughed at how happy I was when I saw the Pyrex.

More favorite finds...

Recycled Crow

Sometimes a creative thrifter has a vision of an object's potential that only they can see. Such is the case with my Recycled Crow.

I am working on my Halloween display and added my recycled crow. I first found the tattered crow at Goodwill back in March. The original photo below shows that it was kind of sad looking. The wings looked really bad and it was missing its tail but it had Halloween potential.