Figuring Out What I have

For many years I've carried a "wish list", either in my mind or on an excel spreadsheet that I've emailed to myself and downloaded to my phone. For a while my wish list worked great, but recently, I started second guessing myself and "thinking" I knew better than what I had in front of me, plain as day on the list, I'd go ahead a buy the item or items, only to get home and see that I really did have that particular pattern in that exact size.

So, for the couple of days that we were snowbound and off work, I decided to to an inventory spreadsheet of everything that I have. I've gotten through the vintage Fiesta, the P86 Fiesta, the Fire King, Federal, Vintage linens (tablecloths, aprons, hankies, feed sacks, and quilts), the miscellaneous vintage kitchenware, the miscellaneous miscellaneous vintage goodies, the jadeite, and I am just finishing up the Vintage Pyrex.

It was actually kind of fun, even though it was a ton of work! I think it will stop me from ever purchasing something I already have, it helped me to see how much of a hoard collection I really have, and, if something happens to me, I think it will help my guys figure out what they have when they go to sell it.

Considering I've share my collections many times over the years...what do you think I have the most of? Vintage Fiesta/Harlequin/Riviera beat out Vintage Pyrex by quite a few pieces!  I was even surprised! What do you think I have the least of? I grouped Federal, Hazel Atlas and Glasbake into one category and that group is the least by about 90% less than the Fiesta! I even found out that I didn't have something that I thought I'd always had! A vintage Fiesta grill plate (or divided plate) in turquoise. All these years I was searching for the radio-active red color, thinking I only needed that color to complete my collection.

I found that I "need" a #1 vtg Fiesta mixing bowl to complete my last set, but I "found" a spare #5...does that mean I start looking for the other 6  bowls to complete that set, or do I just sit back and relax with what I have? I think I've decided to sit back and relax with what I have. I'm not going to go out of my way or search online for the other mixing bowls, but if I stumble on some at a garage or estate sale, I'll gladly pick them up-as long as they are in my super cheap price range.

I'd LOVE to have a set of the vintage Fiesta comports/compotes, but I won't break the bank or drive myself crazy hunting for them. I think I'm totally done with P86 Fiesta-other than a plum fluted vase, to replace the one I got several years ago online that had an undisclosed hairline (that I didn't find until it was long enough later that it might have looked like I did it and was trying to pull a fast one.)

I found that I have enough quilts and I'm going to try really hard to avoid them at all costs! The same with hankies, half aprons, chenille bedspreads and vintage dish towels. As far as jadeite goes, I'm only waiting for the tiny 5" swirl bowl to show up at a garage sale for $3 (I can dream, can't I?) and then I'm done with jadeite collecting.

For Pyrex, I'm still searching for charcoal snowflake space savers in both sizes, and a few odds and ends pieces in mixing bowl sets and casseroles to finish out what I've started, and then I'm done with Pyrex as well. I would never walk away from any of the rarer Pyrex or promotional Pyrex if I happened to stumble upon it, but I won't go out of my way searching for it.

.I don't think I'll ever get tired of wandering around antique malls, flea markets, festivals, garage sales and estate sales. There is just something about the treasure hunt-never knowing what you'll see, what you'll find and what will come home with you that I absolutely love.

I still need to work on an inventory sheet for all of my vintage amethyst glass items, but that seems so overwhelming to me because nothing has markings, so it will mean a LOT of research and after all of the hours I've already put in to the inventory sheets I've made for everything else, I'm a little burned out right now to tackle such a daunting task.

Have you ever tried an inventory spreadsheet? Were you surprised at what you had or didn't have?? Maybe some day I'll get ambitions and put in a value of what to sell it for, in case I'm no longer here to see that they go for a fair price...right now, I'm too busy enjoying looking at all of my vintage pretties!

Just as an aside, all of my collections are out where I can see them. I don't have anything packed away in boxes or bins, which is pretty amazing to me now that I know how much I really have!!!

Garage sale season is just around the corner!!! I can't wait!!! There are some big fun adventures just waiting to happen! :)

Great Estate Sale!!!

I've been planning for a little while to take my oldest son's gf to lunch today for her birthday.  I've been looking forward to having a girls day out with her, and today was finally the day. Since she lives about 40  minutes away, I decided to see if there were any estate sales in that area...kind of the icing on the day, so to speak.

I found one sale that looked really promising. It was listed by a company called Wonder Women Estate Sales, and it ended up being only 1 mile from my son's condo. The sale originally was supposed to start Thursday evening, but we got a ton of snow dumped on us last Wednesday, so the sale was postponed.

By the time they were able to plow the driveway and make room for shoppers, they decided to start the sale on Saturday morning. Numbers were going to be available starting at 12:30 on Friday. I convinced my son that he would LOVE to drive "just down the street" to sign my name on the list so I could get a good number when I noticed on their website that they have ONLINE sign up sheets!!! YAYYYY!!!

I didn't even have to leave home to get a number!!! There was a little glitch and it wasn't active at 12:30, but by 1:00 it was active and byy 1:02 I was #14 for the house and Mr was #12 for the barn. Simple as that!!! The instructions said we should be there at 8:50 to get lined up and ready to go in at 9:00. How sweet is that!?!?!

They emailed a list of names and numbers and everyone was super fine with it! Although there were about 20 people lined up ahead of me, I still got to go in at #14, and as far as I could tell, there weren't any complainers.

As they were opening the doors this morning, a woman (I'm assuming she was the company owner) announced to us that her company was the only company in Michigan to use this numbering system and that her husband wrote the software for it! I bet he makes some serious money off of his program!!!

I absolutely LOVED not having to get there an hour early just to sit and wait. Time is important, and I hate waiting outside of sales for them to open. If every estate sale company in Michigan did this number system, I think I'd get to more sales! What do you think about this? Have you ever been to a sale that did something like this? How did it go for you??

The only bad thing...while I was waiting in line to get in, one man told everyone that we had better not have parked on the road in front of the house because it was against the community ordinance to park on the road, and if the police came, it was an automatic $75 ticket!!!

Guess who parked on the road...me and about 20 other people!!! I forgot my phone in the car, so I had no way to contact Mr, to tell him to hurry up-so we wouldn't get a ticket, and he had the keys!! I raced through the house and picked up a couple things, but couldn't relax enough to really shop with the memories of the parking ticket I got a few years back in Ann Arbor rolling through my head. That parking ticket was only $20 but still, it took all the fun out of the finds that day. I didn't want a repeat-especially at the much higher price!!

I found him in the basement/garage and we bolted to the car. Whew!! No police around and not ticket!!! We left and went to a few other shops in a nearby strip mall before heading back to our son's condo. We waited about an hour for me to leave to meet our girl for lunch and for the guys to catch a movie. When we drove by the sale there were a ton more cars parked on the road-both sides this time, and still no police and no tickets. I'm glad. It wasn't a super busy road, but busy enough. The cars were able to be off on the shoulder even with the snow, so no one was blocking traffic.

Now I wish I would have taken longer to look around!!! We were in and out and driving away in 15 minutes! I got two of the things I saw in the pictures online, and I saw the other things I was interested in-one was an 11" (or #7) cobalt Fiesta mixing bowl-but it was $395.00---not even close to my ballpark! Mr got a couple of old rusty tools for $1 each. We both were happy, we had a junkin fix and it was part of the adventure!


Here is what I picked up today...

We also stopped at Home Goods, TJ Maxx, Kirkland and Mr's favorite coin shop. These are the other things I picked up at Home Goods:

 Fiesta brand Tablecloth!

A couple of really big platters that  I couldn't leave behind!


Oh, by the way...Lunch was fun, and I finally got to meet her mom! Mr got taken to a movie where the seats recline and a server brings you lunch while you watch the move, and free popcorn! Now we're just getting ready to head out to play some volleyball-what a great day today has been, and we've had blue skies and sunshine ALL day!!!

Happy Weekend!!!

Cabin Fever!

What better reason to get out and do some treasure hunting, than Cabin Fever Days at Mega Mall!!! The temperature has been dropping, and the snow has been falling, along with a lot of people's spirits. The gray skies can really get to you! So imagine how fun a special sale at local antique mall could be to break up the drearies!

Since I don't have the booth any more, the amount of things I am buying is very limited. I see all kinds of things that I'd love to get, but in order to keep the peace at home, I try really hard to keep to my "wish list". My only problem...I start to second guess my wish list when I find something at a great price, that is also in great shape. 

So, today I spent several hours working on an inventory spreadsheet. That way I can have both my wish list, and my inventory list on my phone, and I won't come home with any more duplicates (hopefully). 

After a fun morning of wandering around Mega Mall and The Little Red School House on Saturday, the evening was a blast! My oldest came over with his gf for dinner, and we played Mexican Train dominoes. It was so much fun to just hang out and laugh!! They had fun too, and we're all looking forward to many more nights of good times!

Today at church, I found out one of my coworkers was in the hospital with pneumonia! I surprised her with a bouquet of light and dark purple (my favorite color) carnations, and a quick visit. She was one sick lady a couple of days ago, but is on the mend, and will hopefully be released tomorrow to go home and rest. 

Last week, my MIL fell and broke her hip. She lives in Florida, and we're in Michigan. There's not much we can do from so far away. We've been calling her and/or her husband every other day for updates and to see how they are doing. They both seem to be doing better than I ever expected. We're ,taking one day at a time, and waiting for them to let us know when they need us-easier said than done, but we are trying to honor their wishes. I'm just glad to hear their voices and hear that they are both doing reasonably well. 

In my spare time from all of my volleyball and family commitments, I've been binge watching Heartland on Netflix. I've really gotten hooked, and can't wait to watch it along with the rest of the world tonight on their regular air time. Then, later on another episode of Downton Abbey. What a great way to end a great weekend!!!

Here are some pics from the last few days...

Notice anything missing? Mr. accidentally broke the 401...good thing this isn't my "true" opal set!

Fakes found at Gordman's...they look an awful lot like the real deal-except for the "made in China" sticker on the bottom.

We were having pretty mild weather for a few days

Then this!

Fun times decorating a coworker's cubicle for her birthday!

Fiesta bedding found at Kohl's-I love the colors!

I wish these would come down in price! I've been watching them for a couple of months, hoping!

wooden phone booth

Then our weather switched to this

Somebody is catching some rays!

 This is what came home with me...The bowl was a great deal, but since I second guessed myself, and it was a great price...it was the last straw and the reason for the inventory spreadsheet!

Some visitors to our feeder!

I hope you've been having a great weekend!!! Stay warm-spring is on the way!!!