Unusually Inconsiderate Sellers

I experienced two odd situations today while out thrifting. It made me understand why some thrifters are rude and inconsiderate.

We arrived at the first sale early while the people were still setting up. I politely asked if they were open yet and the seller replied that they weren't ready yet. I went back to wait in my car. Meanwhile some other buyers walked up and started rummaging through some boxes and started grabbing what they wanted. The sellers did not stop them. I hurried back to the sale but the few choice pieces were already taken.

The second situation was even odder. We arrived at the next sale and there was a buyer already making a pile of items to purchase. The seller was still pulling out boxes and allowing the other buyer to go through them before she unpacked them. I asked if I could go through the boxes and she said that she would unpack them so I waited. Then her husband took the other buyer into the garage to show him more stuff which caused her to completely stop unpacking. I asked if I could see what else she had in the boxes and she said that she "didn't want to unpack anything else because her husband was going to go put up signs". I failed to see the logic in that statement so I just stood there waiting and she just stood there doing nothing. Now I assume that she wanted to give the other buyer first pick of everything that she had. Maybe I should have been more pushy and just started going through the boxes like the first buyer had.

I am way too polite so I missed out on some cool stuff. But I once read a quote that went something like this: "Would the child that you were, be proud of the grownup that you are?" I may not have gotten the best stuff today but at least I know that my polite behavior was correct.

So on to the treasures that I did find...

My favorite find was this beautiful aqua or turquoise glass Tiered Tidbit Stand. I'm not sure of the manufacturer but it has dots similar to Fenton Hobnail glass. It is in the most lovely teal/aqua/turquoise glass color.

Thrifting Therapy

I finally had a chance to catch up on some thrifting. Last weekend I had my own garage sale. It was interesting to experience the garage sale from the selling side. The week before that I could only do a local sale. And the weekend before that was my son's driving event. I was in desperate need of some Thrifting Therapy!

We went to several sales today. One sale was a hoarder's house... and yard and outbuildings and garages and storage unit. Large property + Hoarder = Disaster. This was the second day of the second sale. There must have been a previous sale of just the house contents several weeks ago. The house was still full of stuff.

My favorite find was this little red vintage travel train case. It is in really nice condition and I love the color. It even has an old sticker from United Airlines.

Can I Possibly Be Any Busier?...

My intentions are good; I want to create stuff, I want to hunt for vintage treasures, I want to spend time with my family, but sometimes it just becomes overwhelming.

At work we are currently in a time crunch to get everything ready for the Craft and Hobby Association {CHA} Summer trade show in the Chicago area. I am thrilled that I was able to design Tim Holtz's Alterations catalogs and get them printed, bound and on the truck heading out to the show ON TIME! This took quite a bit of overtime at work.

Then there was a blessing of freelance design work that suddenly came my way. I love doing freelance but it was kind of hard staying up late every night after a long day at work.

Then last weekend was another driving event for my son. I really enjoy supporting him but it meant that there was no time for me to do any thrifting or freelance or overtime.

Today I squeezed in just a bit of thrifting...

My favorite find was another vintage doll suitcase. These are just so sweet when stacked together in a group. The new one is at the top.

The Serendipity Sale

serendipitya talent for making fortunate discoveries while searching for other things. — serendipitous, adj
We started off with high expectations today. There was an amazing advertised sale but today was the second day so we hoped to find some bargains. We got to the house early and it looked like it was empty. Perhaps it was cleaned out by dealers on the first day. I didn't want to wait around.

We went to the second sale and found a large, messy pile of stuff sitting on the front lawn and no seller in sight. It did not look promising so we left.

I was feeling very disappointed as we drove to the third sale on my list. On the way we saw a sign for an estate sale. We decided to check it out. It turned out to be an estate sale held by the family. Their parents must have been avid collectors over the years so the house was packed with vintage treasures and the prices were good {insert squeals of joy here}.

I found this chalkware dog tucked away on a back shelf.

An Odd Day in L.A.

I was able to convince Dear Handyman to get up really, really early today so that we could go into Los Angeles for an interesting sale. The drive up was uneventful and although we were there early, we were still number 30 & 31 on the sign up sheet.

We did find some absolutely amazing things. I found several favorite items but this child's chair has to be the best. The seat is wood, the legs are thick and the color is a chippy blue. Love it!

My other favorite find is this vintage 1960s era Color Wheel to light up aluminum Christmas trees. I've always been in search of one of these and this one works perfectly and came with the box.