Nearly Missed

I've been so gung-ho about estate sales this winter that I'd forgotten that the sale season has started in earnest!  I've just been clinging to my estate sale ads and haven't looked for or at any other types of sales.  Blasphemy!  My friend at work told me about an annual church sale on the day it was happening, to think, I nearly missed it!

It would have been a real shame, too. Because church sales are the best.  So much vintage and ridiculously good prices.  This sale is held in a hall, and the entire thing is stuffed with items.

Look at all these mint beauties!  I stopped at an estate sale before the church sale and the lily of the valley pillowcase is from that. (50 cents)  It needs a good washing, but the fabric isn't worn and the graphics are just gorgeous.  I love lily of the valley.  One of my most favorite flowers.  I cannot resist a plastic jadeite colored scoop.  There have been studies done, and it's just futile to resist. Especially at 25 cents.  The striped boxes hold candles. I almost never buy things because of the packaging, but these were too good to pass up!  They remind me of the boxes of taffy we get at the boardwalk.  Beautiful design!  Can't wait to display them. (In order to do that I have to take down my Easter decor.  I know, I know!  I'll be working on it starting this weekend.)

The weird plastic eggs are from the estate sale.  They originally came from Christmas Tree Shop, so they aren't vintage.  Just cute.  The tiny French artist bunny is Lefton and was scored for 50 cents!  Ee weel paint you a nice eastair egg, non? The palm tree and coconut salt and pepper (Yes, that's a coconut.  It is not a turd. Probably.) are "souvenirs of Florida" and will be headed to my someday tiki bedroom. They might have been all of a dollar.

You know I'm hot on the trail of candy striped and tartan tins.  I got two tins for my Christmas display! 50 cents each.  I'm telling you, I was trembling with joy at this sale!

These items both came from the estate sale.  The little mesh change purse is worn, but it has life in it yet, and I love the way it feels and it was only 50 cents.  As was the tiny metal tape measure.  I use them a lot while I'm out sale-ing or when I'm listing items in my Etsy shop.

These are the best things I got at the church sale.  I've been lusting after vintage felt icicle trim for simply years now.  Every time you find it in the wild it's all mangled and heinous.  Super old, falling apart, with bits of gawd only knows what stuck to it.  I found TWO packs for a quarter each, never been opened!  I know I gasped out loud.  I don't even care.  You don't need poker face when the prices are clearly marked.  Plus, I mean, PLUS, just look at how ridiculously cute the packages are!  It's going to be hard for me to even open them.  We'll see what ends up happening in the heat of the Christmas moment.

The red plaid blanket is wool.  Made by Faribo in Faribault, Minnesota.  It is in gorgeous condition!  While I was looking at it, the lady who was tending the linens area came up to me and confessed that it was her favorite item.  Not like, "I'm buying, that so back off" more like "you have great taste, I love that blanket, too".  I told her that it was gorgeous and I thought it wanted to come home with me, since red plaid is one of my favorite things.  She raised her arms and said "Hooray!  It has a home!"  Then while I was checking out the guy who was tallying up my purchases stopped at the blanket and gave me a very serious look. "This is a really nice blanket."  I looked at him with equal sincerity. "I agree."  The very nice wool blanket was $2.

Another guy was wrapping up all of my breakables and he stopped to tell me, "Now, I want you to know that I watched how they wrapped things at the Pfaltzgraff store, and you are getting a really professional job here."  :)  Oh man, that made me chuckle.  I love when the people running a sale are having a great time and trying to make each other and the customers laugh.

Last weekend was a time of triumph.  Which is good, because today was a day of defeat. I found a listing for an estate sale that was a mile from my house and had a literal pile of Jadeite for sale.  Also delphite and any other type of vintage Fire King, Pyrex, etc. that you could ever want.  So, I thought I'd go early, when they started handing out numbers. I don't usually play that game at all.  I'm not generally all about one specific item and I don't generally want to put in the effort to throw the elbows and whatnot.  But this was so close to my house, it seemed worth it.  Fun even.  Admittedly I was a little anxious about it.  Clenching of the stomach, stock straight back that never relaxes.  

I just wanted a few Jadeite pieces.  I'm not greedy!  I don't have room in my house to get greedy.  I can't hoard billions of one item.  I only have room for a few of each thing and I already have quite a sizable collection.  Maybe an egg cup? Or a refrigerator box?  Just a few things I don't already have, that's all I'm looking for.

I was there 4 minutes before they were supposed to start handing out numbers.  There was nobody around, and the numbers up to 14 were already gone. Nooooowww, here's the thing.  I'm not the one making the rules.  Because if I WAS, I'd STICK to the rules.  Because if you don't, why the hell make rules in the first place?  This company does not follow their own rules.  They also started the sale 10 minutes early and only let 7 people in for the first wave.  Which is UNHEARD of.  Usually the first 20 get in, no problem.  With #14 I was in the THIRD wave.  Whaaaatt?  

By the time the first wave had been in there for three minutes, the word got back to us that the Jadeite had been bought.  EVERY last bit of it.  When I got in I saw a girl about my age, maybe younger, wrapping every piece up.  I felt sort of bad for her, because people were actually very pissed.  She just walked in and said "I want all of it." And that was that.  All of the old vendors/sellers were fit to be tied.  Secretly I love seeing them suffer.  And they would have done the same exact thing if they'd gotten there first.  I mean, who knows how early this girl got up to get this Jadeite first!  You put in the time, you get the benefits.  

She also bought pretty much all the Pyrex and the swanky swigs and just pretty much everything. I liked her attitude though.  People kept asking her if she was a vendor and she said "No! I collect all of this stuff.  All of it! I just love it!"  She had her dad with her, and it was his first estate sale, and you could see that he was tickled and maybe a little proud of his daughter's haul.

I ended up scoring a bunch of Delphite and some translucent white milkglass plates for Heather, but got very few things for myself.

Just these. A Fire King red sunset saucer.  I have a very meager collection of these dishes.  I love them, but never, ever see them. ($1.25) and a black cat figurine which I'll put out at Halloween, obvs. ($3) and a cute $1 Scottie dog hankie.  The prices were more than fair, and had I had a shot at the Jadeite, I would have come home a very happy camper.

I'm trying to keep my eye on the prize, though.  The Ronald McDonald Charity Household Sale is next Tuesday!  I take the day off.  We all do.  Then we tailgate for an hour, shop for three hours, and reconvene at a German pub down the street for some food, brews, and a rehashing of every thrilling moment of the sale.  It's friggin' epic.

So, In Summary:

RMD! RMD!