Weekend Finds...

I know the weekend is just beginning, but usually by Friday afternoon, my weekend finds are already found. I usually make my way to a couple of sales after work on Thursday, and then a few in the morning on Friday. Once in a great while I'll head out on a Saturday-if I see something that piques my interest. So, I'm ready to clean up and put away my weekend finds even though it's only Friday evening.

The sales are dwindling as the leaves get drier, and the sales that are out there (at least in my area), really aren't that great. I might get one thing here, and one thing there, or a couple things at another sale, but no big hauls for a long time now.

I guess that is what keeps us going-the thrill of the hunt and the expectation that the next big haul is going to be in the next driveway, and we'd hate to miss it! It's this obsession thrill of the hunt that is filling my house too full! Why can't I just say no??

I think I've been doing this too long and it's just a part of who I am. I started going to sales with my parents when I was little. Then when my boys were little, and money was tight, I would map out my quest, pack some snacks, strap them in their car seats and head out for the morning searching for kids toys and clothes.

I did very well for them, and I even found  a few small, cheap trinkets for myself each week. Now, they only have requests once in a while (like Eric's grill request), so now it's all about me. I wonder how many sales I've been to over the years. Do you ever wonder that? Or do you keep track and already know? I think I would be blown away if I really sat down and figured it out...maybe ignorance is bliss!

Here are the things that came home with me...plus an old pine storage chest, an old dark kiddie rocker, and a vintage blue suitcase that got put away in the garage before I got the camera out. It is strategically stashed, so I don't want to upset the apple cart, so to speak to get a picture-you understand right? :)

Since there is a LOT going on in the picture...  a quilt top (do you know the pattern)-machine stitched (all seams pressed!) with vintage material and enough squares to make a second 6x6 quilt, a red Christmas tablecloth, a blue and white tablecloth (that's a second one for me in this design-remember a couple years ago the one I got that had the sharpie stain?), a free painting of birch trees and a lake, an embroidered tablecloth, a cracker tin, a few hankies, a jar of small nails, and 3 sets of vintage appetizer forks.

I actually went back to the sale with the quilt a second time. I bought the sewn together quilt top the first time, and passed on the extra squares. It nagged me all afternoon, so I went back, holding my breath that they were still there, and they were!!! The ladies holding the sale told me their mother started it many years ago, but never finished. They looked to be in their 70's, so mama had to have been up there. It's sad that they sold her hard work for $6!

It really wasn't such a great idea for me to buy them, because I don't really like to sew...(another little secret about me!) So, unless my Mom tells me her life won't be complete if she doesn't get to sew these squares into a quilt, it will probably go into the booth as-is. Although, the more I look at it draped over my couch...the more I am falling in love with it! I might have to "foster" it for a bit!

I kind of like the painting...it reminds me of my parent's lake. It is marked 1946 on the back-it proves the statement, "One man's junk, is another man's treasure", since it was in the free box!

Something I've noticed more and more lately, is sellers printing out Ebay comparisons and taping them to their garage sale items. I've started turning around and walking away as soon as I see them. Do you ever see that when you're out shopping sales? Every sale that has done this has prices that are wayyyy too high, so it's not worth my time to continue shopping those sales.

Tomorrow I'll be working on the spare bedroom/treasures storage room. My Mom will be staying a few days in October and my in-laws will be staying one night in November before they fly to Florida, and right now, they wouldn't fit in the room with all the junk treasures I have in there!

This weekend is the last weekend for the Midland Antiques Festival. I thought about going...part of me would LOVE to go...part of me knows how tired I would be for Volleyball tomorrow night...part of me knows how much I have to do at home...so the practical side won, and I'm staying home! It'll give me more to look forward to in June for the next one!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend! If you're going to Midland-have FUN for me too!!!