Friday Finds...from Downtown Detroit!

Yesterday Auntie and I set off on another treasure seeking adventure. We went to downtown Detroit. Not to the areas that are being renewed...but to a kind of iffy area. There were some really beautiful homes that were taken care of, and right next door, there were homes that were burned out and boarded up.

It was a lot different from any other areas we have been to for estate sales. We live in the suburbs, about an hour west of Detroit. In our neck of the woods, the houses aren't so close together and we don't have whole rows of abandoned and/or burned out houses near us.

We decided that we would check out the neighborhood where the sale was, and if it didn't look safe, we would just keep on driving and head back toward home. It ended up being fine, and we did stop. I'm glad we did!! We got to go into a home that in its younger years, I'm sure, would have been quite a beauty! It had been let go, and needed some work to freshen it up.

It wasn't in such bad shape that it should be torn down. It was just worn down and tired. The plaster walls were cracked all over and needed repairs, the floors needed attention and the kitchen needed updates. Overall, if someone was willing to put in some sweat equity-they will have a beautiful home. I really loved the cove ceilings, the solid wood original doors with crystal knobs. The fireplace was pretty awesome too-with the original woodwork.

I think I have enjoyed going in to these older homes and seeing all the original workmanship, as much as I have enjoyed the treasure hunt-it all makes the experience special. Sometimes I wish the walls could talk-and share their stories of the history of the people who lived there once upon a time. I also wish I would have snapped a few pictures of the inside.

We stopped at a couple of other sales on the way toward home, and our final stop was Knightsbridge Antique Mall in Northville. We both LOVE this place-and since they were having a 15%-50% off sale...we just had to work it into our itinerary.

These are the treasures I came home with:

A set of 3 Glassbake individual casserole dishes for $1 each. They were very filthy, I wasn't sure if they would clean up or not-I'm glad they did! Aren't they cheery?

 A Glassbake covered casserole dish, and a covered refrigerator dish-both in excellent condition-no chips or cracks.

I got these two ornaments at Knightsbridge-Auntie picked one up too.

I just LOVE this measuring cup/chopper-it was from the Detroit house.

The three larger glasses were from a sale in Dearborn Heights-all three for $2. Later that day, I saw one at the antique store for $5 for one!! The pink and green flowered glass is from a sale in Plymouth, and the two Swanky Swigs (YAY!!! I finally found some in my price range!!!) are from Knightsbridge. I also picked up an old umbrella for $1 for a co-worker who wants some for her antique umbrella stand, and some more knitting needles for my mom.

It was a beautiful day too-it got up to 69 degrees-can you believe it? I can remember when Kevin and I were dating and he was home on leave from the Navy (on his birthday-November 12) and it had snowed so much he couldn't get his car up the driveway at my parents house-he had to park on the road and walk up!!!

Fun on a Friday in March...

I can't believe I forgot my camera today! Grrr...how frustrating! It was a fun day, even though I don't have any photos to prove it!

Chicken's Auntie and I went on a short little road trip to Knightsbridge Antique Mall because they were having a big sale-15-50% off store wide! While she found a couple treasures, I didn't find anything this time that I couldn't live without...although I did come really close to purchasing a pretty vintage linen tablecloth with pink hyacinths on it.

We also stopped at Green's Consignment and tried to find a garage sale, but it was already closed when we got there.

After we went our separate ways, while I was driving home, I followed a moving sale sign to a frog of a sale-they really didn't even have enough stuff to even warrant the work of the sale. Then I stopped at Trading Closets a consignment store that carries everything you could need for your home as well as clothes and designer purses.

My only purchase of the day was from Green's a striped linen tablecloth that has most of the Fiesta colors in it.

I found a HUGE bargain when I went grocery shopping today! I bought 2 loaves of pumpernickel bread to use with spinach dip. They were both marked $2.50. When the cashier scanned them, they scanned at 2 cents each! She called the manager over and the manager said to give them to me at that price and she'd tell them in the deli department that the bar code was messed up. What a bargain! That spinach dip is going to taste so  yummy when I think of the great deal I got on the bread-2 loaves for 4 cents!!

I'm trying to decide if I am going to go to an Estate sale tomorrow or just stay home and clean the house and do the laundry---but what fun is that!?!?

Treasures Antiques in Owosso...

I live in a really great area! There are lots of antique stores and malls, all within a short drive. There are so many, I wonder if I'll be able to visit them all! I sure hope to give it a good try!

Some of my favorite places to wander through are: Livingston Antiques in Howell, Williamston Antiques in (you guessed it!) Williamston, Knightsbridge Antiques in Northville, and a new favorite...Lamb's Gate Antiques in Grand Ledge. All of these places have a great variety of items, nice displays and their prices are very reasonable.

My favorite booth at Williamston

Another shot of the same booth, who's owner has
a very informative, and fun blog Mitzi's Collectibles

Williamston Antiques

I fell in love with a couch that was at Lamb's Gate, that I am regretting not getting! It was chartreuse green and kinda nubby, 50's or 60's style, in great shape-no rips, tears or stains and it was only $60!! It would have been fun in our basement family room-and who could beat that price!!

My photography skills could use some work!
This is a new "Keeper" Lamb's Gate

My youngest son likes to tag along to Williamston when they have their open houses-because they have great food-and lots of it!

Over Christmas break, suffering from cabin fever, I went on line, searched out a bunch of antique shops, planned the route with Mapquest, and took off for a fun adventure! The first trip was with my husband to the Owosso/Flint/Fenton area.

Our first stop was Treasures in Downtown Owosso. I had read about it on a blog and thought I'd like to check it out. It is part restaurant and part antiques store. You enter the same door for both. In fact, you walk past people at their tables while they are eating (kind of off to the left side) while you are browsing the antiques! I'll have to go and check it out again sometime-the prices seemed pretty reasonable, but I just didn't find anything I couldn't live without. I did pay a visit to the ladies room, and it was an eye-popping hot pink-which I thought was really fun!

This will wake you up in a hurry!

This is just a funny shot to show how close this person parked! Of all the open spots, they had to park so closely that I had to really squeeze to get back into my car!


Neat clock in downtown Owosso.

Interesting historic building-it's twin (the Woodward Furniture Company) was right next door, but it was too hard to get a shot of it because there was a lot of workers doing remodeling work.

I was hoping to see the famous Curwood Castle in Owosso, but didn't find it (didn't really look very hard either though)...that will have to be for another trip...maybe this summer! :)