Holiday Weekend Junking...

In between grad parties, 40th birthday parties, bbq's and more grad parties we managed to sneak in some junking...We hit Elko/New Market's flea on Saturday morning (but of course were on a strict schedule so as not to be late to one of the parties.) I didn't take pictures of everything I got but the dealers must have been good moods (or my flirting skills were working overtime) because I got some of the greatest deals. I was browsing through an old blue truck full of linens, textiles and trims when the dealer came running over to tell me I can have the whole darn thing for $10 (even the trunk!)...who could pass that up? When I got home and could take everything out I was so thrilled to find all this stuff...

Spools of bead trim, spools of delicate flower trim, old velvet leaves, skeins of old embroidery floss, oodles of crocheted trim and this fancy fancy beaded trim that looks like it came off an old 20's flapper gown...if anyone needs some fancy beaded trim just let me know!

Here's the rest of the contents of the trunk...old baby clothes, an old underskirt that looks like something Laura Ingall's might have worn, felted wool baby blankets, pillowcases, yards of lace and yards of fabulous wheat colored linen.

Here's what Sebastian did while we were junking...

Then...to top it all off, Goodwill had 50% everything in the store except for red ticketed items (today only)...I think I bought every vintage book they had! Happy Hollister's anyone?

Here's more of the Goodwill haul...Jewelry boxes, mirrored trays, framed embroidery, china, wooden sewing boxes...

and my favorite little lamb planter from 1961

...and we even grabbed this chair for a mere $2.50!

The only thing I missed out on was an absolutely fabulous vintage vanity with folding mirrors and two drawers...it sold just before we arrived...sniffle, sniffle. Oh well, you can't win them all! Hope you all found treasures of your own this weekend!

Junking in Stillwater

Stillwater is considered the "birth place" of Minnesota, it's a very old city that was settled around 1845...and...it's just a hop, skip and a jump from good ol' Woodbury. This weekend was sort of the Stillwater "garage sale/yard sale" weekend so I thought we'd see how lucky we could get finding treasures in all those fancy old houses. We didn't have anything mapped out but you really can't get lost in Stillwater; as long as you find one of the four main roads you can always find your way out. Tom was getting a little irritated with me though because I wasn't paying attention to the sales signs as much as I was to all the old houses...with their leaded windows, turrets and wrap around porches...I dream of living in an old house like that...with the creaky wooden floors and the built in pantries, brings back memories of my childhood house...oh how I loved that house! Anyway, we didn't find a ton of stuff but I love what we did find...

Sadly I think I'm addicted to old books...that one in the very back is an old plumbing book. Who buys a plumbing book? But hey, don't pick on me, the graphics are really cool!
And here's my favorite find...Friday morning Sebastian and I were talking about catching fire flies this summer with the cousins (from Virginia) and I thought this old jar would be perfect...except that the lid is missing. We can tie a piece of old burlap over the top and it'll be just fine.

I'm not sure what we have planned for today but I'm sure we'll sneak in a little junking...after all, today at Goodwill the green tagged items are half off! Happy Junking!

Occasional Sale Debut (and Finale)

I've been hearing a lot of talk about occasional sales and how fantastic they are so I knew I had to check a few of them out. This weekend was the one in particular that everyone was ranting and raving about. It was in Anoka., MN (the Halloween Capital of the World)...one of my favorite cities for junking so the 45 minute drive from our house didn't bother me at all, I was ready for a whole morning of treasure hunting. Tom and I found the "market" and headed in...I knew as soon as we were two steps inside the door that I would be disappointed. We looked around for a minute then exchanged the old "really? this-is-it?" look and left without finding anything we were remotely interested in, it's not that they were selling garbage, it was just household "decorations" you can really find anywhere. Oh well, at least we had four more antique shops to pick through. Shelby and I visited a different occasional sale in Hudson last weekend and found the same disappointment...alas, no more occasional sales for this junkaholic!

The excursion wasn't a complete loss however...Tom found some goodies (I swear he's turning into Frank from American Pickers...seems he's REALLY into tobacco tins lately) and here's my haul (I even found my next Trash to Treasure item!)


The pictures aren't as nice as I had hoped...I'm going to blame it on the gray and gloomy weather we've had the past few days.


I can never seem to have quite enough buttons, especially the ones with rhinestones in the center. All but one of the shops we visted were having big sales, anywhere from 15% - 50% off unless the item was marked "firm".

We got this adorable Googy glass for Matthew who has taken to collecting vintage disney memorabilia.
I couldn't pass up this photograph...the caption reads "Refugees In Line For Red Cross Food." It's apparently from 1928.

I got the cute little jewelry box to hold all my vintage rhinestone jewelry...one of these days I'm going to try my hand at turning some of it into a rejuvenated necklace or perhaps even a bracelet. If any of you have frequented the occasional sale in your area I sure hope you had better luck I did!

Saturday's Finds...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! This was the first year, in more years than I can remember, that I had both my sisters and my brother (and their families) here for the holiday. My oldest sister lives in Virginia but recently bought a house two streets east of us so they moved some of their belongings in on Wednesday. Since she doesn't get to do much treasure hunting, Saturday I took her to a few shops Tom and I discovered last summer...for those of you in MN there's a stretch along highway 8 between Forest Lake and Taylors Falls with quite a few really good shops...My sister filled up my truck with her finds and this is what I brought home... Never can have too much vintage lace and millinery! I'm a BIG collector of religious (christian) memorbilia and my niece, Madison, surprised me with the vintage crucifix in the bottom right corner. I've been looking for a composition doll for quite some time and found this one in a box with another doll and 5 doll heads for $15...she needs a little work but the price was too good to pass up! Some of the doll heads will be perfect for spooking my niece Jordan...one of them just might end up under her bed (don't worry, she's 14 so it's not as mean as it might sound)!

And here's another journal I made for myself. I've got about five of them now (one of my New Year's "plans" is to keep journals)...I can't decide just how I'm going to do it, I might use one journal for each quarter of the year. It would be nice if I could just wing-it but I must have a touch of OCD because everything has to be carefully thought out and planned. We'll see what happens!

Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday break. Sebastian and I got out to play in the 14 inches of snow that fell over the past couple days...it's back to work for me for a few days before the New Year's celebration.

Sugar & Spice

Yesterday I ran to a few estate sales (no Tom this time) that were really close to the house. One was in the most fabulous old farmhouse I've ever seen...most of the people there were more interested in house and the four out-buildings than in the estate sale, unfortunately the house had already been sold but I did find a few treasures! I hadn't realized that the sale started on Thursday so everything was half off but there wasn't really anything left. I got the two Santa mugs and the two vintage books at that sale...spent a whopping $2.25.

I'm not sure if the ledger book is actually "vintage" but the yellow-ish pages certainly make it look old...and I just can't seem to get enough of the old Christmas tags and seals.

My Santa mug collection is now up to 6 pieces...the one on my right is my favorite so far due to the cracks and crazing (doesn't show up in the pic)

And finally, I listed this little girly file-folder album in my shop this morning and promised to show pictures of the entire album here since pictures are limited on Etsy...

Now I'm onto my next project (after I run to Goodwill to do some treasure hunting). Tom found two old mahogony chairs FOR FREE on the curb in a surrounding neighborhood and knew I would love them so brought them home. They are in pretty bad shape so I'm determined to make them lovely again...and determined to get it done today!

My Trinket Jar...refurbished

If you visit my blog regularly you know how much I like junking at my local Goodwill stores, you can really find some great vintage treasures if you hunt regularly. Well, a few weeks ago I stumbled upon this tiny little felt treasure and snatched it up. I love felt and what could be better than vintage felt? It measures about 5 1/2 x 6...the frame isn't the greatest but the felt work is so adorable that it makes up for the frame's lack of cuteness...


Last Sunday I found this old lidded jar...possibly used to hold cold cream? Sort of reminds me of my mother's old Avon jars full of perfumed creams. I've seen these in Antique shops so I know it's missing a floral glass insert for the lid but I knew it had possibilities so purchased it anyway.

It didn't take me long to figure out what I would do to replace the glass that was missing from the lid...I used my framed felt flowers as inspiration.

The hardest part was making a little flower pattern for the yellow flowers, I had to try a few times before I finally created one I was pleased with. I traced the lid on some plain white paper and used that to cut a circle out of white felt. I Cut all the flowers and leaves from yellow, green and turquoise felt and stitched it all into place. Added a few rhinestone centers to the flowers and glues it to the lid...the lid had a little lip around the inside so the felt tucked nicely underneath to give the edge a smooth look.

I love the way it turned out! Ok...now onto my next project, check back tomorrow to find out more.

Obsessed!

Lately I haven't felt much like crafting (my store can attest to that)...I've been spending all my free time junking and re-decorating the house. Every Saturday morning for the past few weekends we've gotten up at the crack of dawn to treasure hunt at various estate sales and the occasional garage sale that boasts antiques. This Saturday I hit the jackpot (at least in my opinion I hit the jackpot)...first we drove over to Wisconsin to an estate sale in an old farmhouse that was supposed to be busting at the seams with loot. We got lost (a few times) trying to find it...but when we finally arrived we were delighted to find everything was already half off the marked price. Here is what we (ok...I) found:

A tattered old lampshade for $.50, I've already got plans for it...a whole bag of old wooden and plastic clothespins, valentines, playing cards, an old tattered pincushion, an old curtain panel for $.50, an old box of puzzles, an old photo holder and two old metal compacts.
(I really need work on my photography skills!). The boys had plans to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs so I headed to the second estate sale alone. I saw a vintage Christmas angel and immediately fell in love with her...she was marked $12 but I just couldn't bring myself to spend that much. I left without purchasing anything although there were dozens of things I really wanted. I thought about that angel all day kicking myself for not buying her...I knew If I went back on Sunday she'd be gone but since everything would be half off I decided to go back. I got there right when they opened (along with about 20 other people) and the angel was right where I left her, I had planned on spending the $6 but found that the price had changed $12 to $2 (or did I misread it the day before?) so she was only $1. What a bargain...and her candle still lights up! Do you think it would be wrong to display her all year round?

Here's the other loot I bought for half off as well...I seem to have a Christmas theme going...

(again, my photography is crappy at best)
To top off my lucky weekend I headed to Goodwill to see what they had for the half off Sunday/Monday tag sale and found this absolutely ADORABLE vintage writing desk...I sat there staring at it, opening the top drawer, opening the bottom drawer, opening the little screened doors, back and forth, back and forth, trying to decide if I wanted to spend the money on it (although it was dirt cheap but hey, I didn't even want to spend $12 on that vintage angel), called Tom to get his opinion (he was no help)...I knew I had to make a quick decision because two other vultures were circling waiting for me to walk away so they could swoop in...so I grabbed the price tag off and ran to the check-out. I'm so glad I decided to get it! I'm not quite sure what else I'm going to add to it but everytime I walk past it I do a little happy dance.

Unfortunately I won't be doing any treasure hunting next Saturday, I'll be running the Boston Scientific 5K. Maybe I'll have time to check out some sales after the race???