Dear December

Dear December,

Hurry up and get here.  I've already got a crap load of new delights to display!

Last week I went to a sale not knowing what to expect.  It was a "digger" sale.  A sale where there are lots of boxes of who knows what all piled up and you dig through and make a pile of stuff you want and they give you a price for it.  A very cheap price.  I went to the second day of a digger sale.  They are pretty much giving stuff away, at that point.

Some of the great stuff I got, I can't show, because they are presents for the two people who actually read this. (Hi Mom!)

But here is what I can show you:

This opaque cellophane faux feather tree was coated in old (gross) tinsel, garland, and lights.  The stuff was stained, sticky, and super dusty.  You couldn't tell what a gem was underneath.  If you were a chump, that is.  Because I could tell and snagged that gross tree in three seconds flat.  Everything was half price, might I remind you, so this tree cost me fifty whole cents.  (!!!)

The deer is rubber (Rubbery-plastic?) and has jewel eyes!  I have a friend who will go (lady) ga-ga for this.  This gem cost $1.50.  My most expensive purchase by far.

This might seem boring to you, but I really needed this picture hanging set.  We are constantly hanging up new pictures and rearranging the art on our walls.  I never have enough of these.  50 cents!!  Take that Home Depot!  (No, seriously, Home Depot, please know that I didn't mean that in a jerk kind of a way.  I really love you.  Never leave me.)

Here is a close up of the earrings.  They are clear plastic with black...bits (not glitter) and gold glitter stars!  I saw them in a bag of terrible jewelry that they were trying to hock for $15.  Even on half price day I'm not paying $7.50 for a bag of jewelry I don't want.  I asked them if they would let me buy just the one pair of earrings and they said yes!  For ONE whole dollar.  They are clip on and hurt like hell, but sometimes hell is worth it.  Because look how fabulous!!

So, In Summary:

There are no rules on half price day!

Some Small Bits

One of the things that I love about estate sales, and one of the reasons that I sort of ditched yard sales for them, is that they go all year.  Up here in the frozen north, that counts for a lot.  The bad thing about estate sales in the winter is that everyone and their neighbor turns out. Nobody has anything else to do.  The first day lines are terribly long, and most of the stuff is gone by the second day.

Basically as soon as I remarked that people weren't scooping up vintage Christmas stuff like in years past, they started doing it again.  I jinxed it.  For some reason they are leaving behind the mercury glass garlands, which I'm grateful for.  Vintage Christmas is one of my main reasons to haunt estate sales.  Attested to by the fact that I still have 50% of my Christmas decorations up.  In February.

But this whole winter has been whacked out anyway.  Last week we went to the park for a walk without jackets.  Today it's going to reach 60 degrees. Tomorrow it will snow.  This crazy, windy, bi-polar weather generally doesn't happen until the end of March.  I'm very excited about what that might mean for the start of spring!  Shhhhh!  Don't jinx it!

Anywho.  I've been faithfully going to sales and the thrift store, and am coming up pretty empty handed.  Just a bauble here or there.

I got these strings of vintage mercury glass garland for a buck each and the silver plated spreader for a quarter.  I remember when everyone was hot on the trail of silver.  People would run to the silver, push each other out of the way, scoop it into their arms, and run for the checkout.  Now it's all going for a quarter.  I like having mismatched silver.  Like a (super cheap) treasure I've amassed through many adventures.

This was the bounty from another sale.  Pretty slim pickings.  The earrings (beach/tiki) were $2, the silver spreader was a quarter, the pillbox was $1, and the Christmas flower was thrown in for free.  There was a pair of ridiculously obnoxious wooden watermelon earrings that I passed up and now cannot stop thinking about.  #regretsy

This gorgeous little gift box is from my mom.  It's vintage, of course, and will look spectacular displayed with my stuff.

On a trip to the thrift store I picked up these rad plastic sweet pea flowers.  Man, I love a plastic flower.  I want a fake flower that knows it's fake.  I like the ones that aren't out to fool anyone.  The ones that revel in their fakeness. Plus, look how great they look in my pink shell vase!

So, In Summary:

#getherespring