The One Wherein I Have Stress Dreams

Two weeks ago Ann and I went to day two (half off day) of a "digger" sale. A digger sale is when there are just heaps of items, and box after box to dig through. Pre-sale photos do not do these types of sales justice. Much of the items are stored in boxes, or heaped in piles, just too much stuff to display properly.  These sales are a lot of fun!

Look at these gorgeous hand painted Florida plates I unearthed!  They are from Cypress Gardens, FL, which apparently closed in 2009. Sadness! The colors in these plates are lucious.  I feel so lucky!  I can't wait to hang them in my someday tiki bedroom.  $3 for the set! The flower frogs were 50 cents each.

I found a huge box of vintage Christmas stuff languishing in the basement. I bought it for $2.50 without knowing exactly what was inside.  I have very limited space for storing more Christmas stuff, so I had to be very picky.  I gave a few items to friends and my mom, will sell some, and decided to keep this heap for myself.  Glass garland! Mercury bulb picks!  A gorgeous glob of heaven!

Last weekend I was stalking some estate sales online, like ya do.  Estatesales.net is the best.  Tons of pre-sale pictures, so you can decide which sales are worth hitting. Unfortunately / fortunately I saw that one of the sales was at the home of a frog collector.  Yes, someone who collected frog stuff.  All of the frog stuff.  So much so that there was a sign in one room that had been used as an office that read, "Frog Free Zone".  (Oddly, not the first frog collector sale I've been to.  People really like frogs, apparently.) Can you deduce where this is going?

Kermit items.  Kermit the frog. And one of the items was a Kermit Christmas ornament that was not already amongst my ample Muppet Christmas ornament collection!  Instant sweats.  Twist in stomach. Image burned into brain.

The problem was that this sale didn't start until 10am (suuuuper late in my estate sale-ing day) but I still wanted to be among the first to get in, so I could elbow everyone out of the way and get to MY ONE TRUE LOVE.  There were several other sales we wanted to hit that started earlier.  What to do? What to do?  I mean, Kermit clearly takes priority, but the other sales started way earlier and had great stuff that I didn't want to miss out on! Could I make it to the earlier sales early enough to be among the first to enter, thereby allowing us to be shopping when we would normally be standing in line, waiting to get in?  Then we could get to the Kermit Sale early and get a good number for that, too? The agony!

Ann (@magicsummervintage) and I decided that this was doable. We would arrive at the first sale a half hour before it started, secure a good entry number, and then be free to get to the Kermit Sale a half hour before it started.  Two other friends were joining us for this Friday adventure, as well. Go team!

This is what I found at the first sale. $5 total. The straw purse will be super fun for beach vacations.  I change purses at least once a week for special events.  Sometimes going out to dinner is a special event.  If you change your purse for it.

We did the first sale rather quickly.  It was a very "clean" sale.  Meaning, all the items are in good condition, but there aren't a ton of them.  We were able to get to the Kermit Sale in time to get a number below 20, which was good enough for me.  We still had a half an hour before the sale opened, and having secured numbers, we didn't have to wait in line.

There was a yard sale about a block away.  We decided to walk over and browse.  I wasn't super excited about it since it was a driveway full of baby stuff from what I could see.  Boy.  I could not have been more wrong.

One of the first things I found was this set of shakers.  I think they are lovely, and hysterical, a bit.  Sailing is technically a thing you can do in Rochester, though for only about 3 months of the year.  Because, cold.  It totally leads you to believe Rochester is a beach town.  Ha! 

I picked up these clip earrings.  They are a little scratched, but still pretty, and made from the lightest metal, ever.  Aluminum probably.

But, here's the real jewels:

Can you even? I got all these yard sale goodies for $13 total.  TOTAL. Including the clam broth jadeite lamp!  Mind blowing deals! @magicsummervintage pointed out the flower frog and said, "I assume you want this?" Yes. Yes, I do. I scored the Haunted Mansion puzzle for a freaking quarter.  I cannot wait to set it up with my graveyard scene Halloween decorations!  Just a few more days before I can start decorating for fall!

So after that amazing high, we went to wait for the Kermit Sale to start.  They were, of course, late opening, which nearly gave me fits.  I had literally been having stress dreams about this damn Kermit Sale for a week.  Not fun, people! Open the @#*$^#ing door! I passed the time by mentally assessing each person that would be going into the sale before me, and the likelihood that they would be in the market for Kermit.  I figured that I could probably knock most of them down, if I had to.  Thankfully, I was also able to ask a sale worker where the Christmas items were located, so that I didn't have to waste time looking for the room once I was inside.

Then, it was go time.  I ran up the stairs and landed in the Christmas room.  I was the only one in there.  I went to the table I had seen in the pre-sale pictures.  I found one of the three Kermit ornaments right away.  It was one I already had.  The Holy Grail was not present!  Agony!  Could someone have swooped it already?  I couldn't imagine that they would take one and not the others.  There was a box of random ornaments for $1 each.  I picked it up and walked around the room with it, looking everywhere, just in case.  Then I dug around inside the box.  BAM!

Finally!

It is MINE!

I cannot tell you the relief I felt to have it in my bag.  Mine.  MINE. Ah-hem.  Sorry.  I like the Muppets, OK?  I was now free to enjoy the rest of the sale like a regular person and not a rabid animal.  The Kermit high made it feel like I was floating around the sale in a cloud of joy.

I found these amazing Hawaiian picks.  Gorgeous metal toppers!  Can't wait to use them in some delicious drink!

I also grabbed all of these beautiful millinery fruits.  The colors are just luscious. I like to display them in vases.  The pink will look particularly lovely in a jadeite vase.

Because our luck had held out for so long, we decided to hit another nearby estate sale.  It was half price day there!  I nabbed some vintage Christmas stuff.  Because I obviously need more of that.  And I obviously have a lot of spots to store more of that.  At least the owl will be going into a "fall decorations" bin.  :)

Now it's time for

New In My Etsy Shop

Just a quick reminder that I have a coupon for your use, until the end of August.  Enter code FIRST1 at checkout for $5 off your order of $25 or more.

Click on a photo to be taken to that item in my shop.

Vintage Gund Creation Lamb

Most of these rubber faced vintage dolls and animals scare the crapola out of me, I'm not going to lie.  But this little dude is just darling. Her fur is so soft and she has glitter eyeshadow!  I hear littlelambseativy.

Here's another one.  Not quite nightmare inducing. Pluto, Mickey's pal.  In all his rubber-faced glory.  He's in great condition.

This vintage scarf is fab! Cats, and dogs, and stars, and moons! All the awesome sauce.  I keep thinking that it would be pretty cool in a Halloween display. Not that I'm obsessed with the thought of decorating for fall, or anything.  At all.

I also added a bunch of teenage mutant ninja turtles. And will be adding more this week. The boys have joined the military, become beach bums, and started practicing the ways of the samurai!

Until next time - happy hunting!

Victorious

What happens when you beat The One To Beat?  You reign victorious, that's what.  Let me tell you, Heather (@hmcamma) and I are reigning, baby.

We were stalking a Saturday Estate sale online.  Poring over the pictures time and time again.  This sale was jam packed and it seems like every time we checked over the photos, we found something new we needed to add to the "grab it quick" list.

My list was pretty short: Holt Howard Santa driving a car candlestick holders, Christmas girl head vase, Dream Pets-ish Santa mouse, red tin tray with fall leaves, Buffalo Bills mug for my mom's husband.  In the past Christmas ceramics have been a hot commodity, so I always have a lot of anxiety over nabbing them before anyone else does.  But as I've said before, there aren't that many people who are still into Christmas. (With a few small exceptions, none of which I'm into, thankfully!)

Heather's list was something like: Oshit (a melty plastic pieces art ....what are those things called, anyway??), table top vintage tinsel tree in original box, and Genesee Beer stuff for her hubs.

We arrived at the sale about a half hour before it started, in time to get numbers.  18 and 19. Not too shabby.  I don't really have the gumption to show up an hour and a half early to get number 1. The one time I did that the (*%&#^!@ing) company did not stick to their posted rules and had already put the numbers out so I got 14 or some crap.  Not worth it.  There isn't anything I need THAT much.

It was super hot out.  And humid.  It's been hot here all summer, like, in the 90s, which is unheard of, but not muggy at all, which is also unheard of.  But the muggs came out just for us and we sweated in line for a half an hour trying to quell our grabby anxiety by going over our plan one more time: Attic first, which, by the photos, seemed to be where all the Christmas stuff had been stashed. Then work our way down through the house and to the garage out back. Ready team?

We were let in within a minute or two of the sale opening.  The stairs up were basically right in front of us, so we ran up there, and luckily I saw that the stairs to the attic were hidden in the bathroom so I yelled to Heather who had already passed them by.  We scurried up into the attic (Can we just talk about stairs in these old houses?  If my tiny, child-sized foot has trouble navigating your weird, tall, skinny stairs, that means they are too damn small and quite a heath hazard, really. Thank goodness for building codes! Before buying an old house - check the stairs!)

The attic was wee.  A very tiny space. Most of it required people to crouch. (Maybe not Heather and I as we are rather vertically challenged...) It was a bazillion degrees up there, and the tension was palpable.  Because everyone had needs and wants, and nobody could freaking move.  Luckily I was able to slip past the lady stationed up there to write up slips (WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE? THERE ISN'T ANY ROOM. GO AWAY.) and snag the Holt Howard Santa cars and the Santa mouse guy, which were on the same table.  

The Christmas girl head vase was on a table that had been pretty picked over by the time I got up there. (Someone bought a giant basket of 45 elf knee-huggers at $4 a pop) An older gentleman was standing RIGHT in my way holding a ceramic light up tree, having a conversation with his wife, one floor down.  People were pressed against people on every side.  It was ugly and hot and I'm sure got smelly at some point.  Everyone was frustrated and trying to inch by every other frustrated person.  I was finally able to squeeze my hand through the crowd and gently nab the head vase!

Heather was in another part of the attic. I'd nabbed the Oshit for her on my way to the Holt Howard cars, so that was safe in our possession. I thought that the table top tree had been on the same table and was disappointed when I didn't see it there, thinking someone else had grabbed it.  Not so!  It had been in the other part of the attic and she'd scooped it up right before the girl who was behind her, who also wanted it.  BAM!  Not our first time at the rodeo, kids!

(Because when you get the chance to own a plastic Oshit, you jump on it.)

She was able to grab a vintage Genesee Beer (a local Brewery) tray on the second floor, I scored the vintage Buffalo Bills mug on the first floor in the kitchen, where she grabbed a vintage art-deco-ish set of shot glasses with a handled tray, and then we went to the basement, which was just jam packed with stuff, and shoppers.

I was amazed that nobody had scooped up the red fall leaf tray! Huzzah! And I found a surprise (not in any of the sale photos) jadeite restaurantware plate!  The sale sweats, I got the sale sweats!  Poker face was out the window!  Too much excitement and joy!

A lady near us started to notice.  When Heather found the lucite lazy Susan with embedded shells (for her sister, who was watching Baby C so that Heather could enjoy a morning of digging through dusty crap in someone else's house.) things kicked up to a new level and the lady couldn't help herself anymore.  

"Do you like that??" She asked.

"Hell yes! What isn't to like?! It's beautiful, has shells, and is a lazy Susan!" Heather gives zero shits if you don't like what she likes.

The lady laughed and said, "You guys are just like me and my bestie! (I love that a woman over 60 was using the term "bestie".)  We always go to sales together and if we can't, we text each other the whole time about what we are finding.

Been there.  Tell ya what.

In her sale delirium Heather found a vintage metal cabinet (tall & skinny) for $12. She swears she's going to use it for something-or-other.  Sometimes when you get the sale sweats, you buy all the things.  So what?

We picked up some jewelry while checking out, and loaded all of our treasure into the car.  Stupid grins, the whole way home. It's what is known as "after glow".

This is most of Heather's stuff, minus the cabinet, and Oshit.

(The jadeite plate, Santas, and pearl earrings are mine.)

Jadeite plate: $3. Hold Howard Santas: $6 (one was missing the ball on his hat, that I replaced with a little white pompom) Big clip-on earrings with huge "pearls" and pink aurora borealis rhinestones: $3.

Slightly rusty fall leaf tray: $6. Dream Pets (ish?) Mouse Santa: $4.  Napco Christmas Girl Head Vase: $8. 

To see more pictures, and more adventures, head over to Instagram and follow 

Heather: @hmcamma

and me: @thesnugbungalow and my shop account: @thesnugbungalowshop

New In My Etsy Shop

A Coupon!!

A coupon for my Etsy shop! (Click the above image to be take to my shop!)

$5 off a purchase of $25 or more (pre-shipping price

 Coupon code: FIRST1

Enter coupon code at checkout.

This coupon will remain in effect until 8/31

Until next time, happy hunting!

She Sells Sea Shells

This past week I found a few delightful shell themed items. I do love me some tropical goodness!

The night light looks great when lit and the other thing is a "decorative dish to hold trinkets".  You know I can't resist resin with stuff in it. A gorgeous little beach scene what is shaped like a shell! It's meta. These were $1 each.

I got the tiny flamingo on the right for $2 at this sale.  He is living happily with this other guy I've had for years and years.  They are ceramic and about an inch tall.

Scarves for $2 each.  The orange and black one will be part of my fall decor, and the one that is "my colors" will get worn when the weather turns on us and stabs us in the back.  Can't wait.

This happy stack of vintage bangles was found at the Raleigh Flea Market in N.C.  I just love how they look together.  And of course I'm swooning over the confetti one! Resin with bits inside!

New In My Etsy Shop

(Find items, at lower prices, before they hit my Etsy store on my shop Instagram account:@thesnugbungalowshop )

Click on a photo to be taken to that item in my Etsy shop!

Vintage Balloon Wall Art

You remember these, right? I myself had a large rainbow hot air balloon complete with a teddy bear riding inside the basket. Fabric wall hangings. Mostly balloon and rainbow themed. Art for your funky cool bedroom! Totally! Relive the good times, when having fabric crafts hung on your walls made you cool.

Vintage Fisher Price Puffalumps Wild Thing Monkey

Stuffed animals made from nylon parachute-esque material was a thing. A very popular thing. This particular line of Puffalumps featured animals from the jungle (Monkey, Rhino, Parrot, etc.) wearing Hawaiian print shirts and plastic sunglasses which you, maddeningly, could not see though! This guy is missing his (so cool and so useless) sunglasses, unfortunately. Seriously though. How many times did we try on those child sized sunglasses and pretend we could see through them?? Design flaw, Fisher Price. Design Flaw.

Vintage Cherry Merry Muffin Doll Banancy

I never had a Cherry Merry Muffin doll, but I did get super annoyed at the commercials. As far as I was concerned, she was nothing more than a Strawberry Shortcake wannabe.  We do not need another smelly, fruit themed baker lady in town, mmmmkay?  Beat it, sister. (Although I do have to admit, that Banancy is a pretty awesome name.)

Vintage Maddie Mod Mannequin Doll

I'm going to be honest and tell you that this thing is creepy.  Straight up. Severed head in a plastic container? Blinking eyes?  Yeah. Not for me.  When I was little there was a Barbie head you could buy. You could style her hair and do her make up.  What are we preparing girls for, with this?  Life as a mortician?  Style the dead up nice? The things little Sally can do with a severed head!  I tell you, fantastic!

Until next time, kids!  Happy Hunting!