Digger Sale!

When I was done with work today I had to have Mr.BHTS pick me up because my boys took my car at 7:30 this morning (before I was even ready to leave for work) to be detailed-a Mother's Day present to me! In an effort to save them their hard earned money, I suggested to them in lieu of "buying" me something for Mother's Day, they could vacuum out my car and wipe it down on the inside. They said they'd rather pay someone else to do it and have it done really well. So, that's why I was without my car after work.

We ran a couple of errands and then went to a sale that I found in our local paper that looked interesting. When we walked up, it looked like many other garage sales with tons of stuff on tables and items were priced by the table. So, on one table, everything that was on the table was $2 each-the other table was $5 and the last one was $10. the stuff under the table was the same price as the stuff on the top.

I found two things inside, then I noticed a canopy outside with tons of boxes under it and people digging through the boxes.There were three sections, $1, 50¢, and 25¢. Each section had about 10-12 boxes filled with all kinds of stuff.

At first I didn't feel like bending over and digging, but then I saw this...for 50¢!!!

So, I felt spurred on and kept digging, because you never know what you might find! There was a man digging like crazy and making piles like crazy when I first wandered over there, so I asked him if he found any mixing bowls in any of the boxes while he was searching. He said he didn't even know what that was! Who doesn't know what a mixing bowl is?? Maybe he just didn't want to be bothered.
I dug around for quite a while, my back was screaming when I finally stood up, but I think I got some great treasures. We went to one more sale before heading home. It's a soggy, misty, gloomy day and it's not fun to be out in it. The second sale wasn't even close to what they advertised in the paper.
There are 19 sub sales in our area this weekend. That has to be some sort of record! I'm planning to go to the Springfield Extravaganza tomorrow. It opens at noon, and I plan to stay until it closes at 6pm. They are saying there will be 2000 vendors this weekend-I can't wait! Have you ever been to it? I've wanted to go for a few years, but never just did it-until now!
I hope my phone battery holds out so I can take lots of pictures! I'm excited for a new adventure!!





Here are the things I picked up today...

 I splurged on the old rolling pin, $5. The covered butter dish is for a co-worker $2.

 The Pyrex pie plate is etched on the sides, I've never seen clear etched Pyrex before. I remember my mom shopping with the little red clicker thing.

  Are these corn cob holders bakelite? They were in the quarter box-so it was a quarter for all of them!

 My first ever bone dishes-I've always been fascinated by all kinds of vintage dishes-so I couldn't pass them up for a quarter each.

Clear glassware for future projects! The price was right. More yardsticks...can't...stop...bringing...them...home! 

I have no idea what I will find tomorrow-if i find anything! I hope it's a fun adventure!

Staycation Adventures...

I am on vacation from work all week. I started my adventures last week at the end of the week with a quick trip to our local Salvation Army, a tiny antique shop called Mart's Treasures, and a little consignment shop called the Seagull's Nest. I didn't end up buying anything at any of those places, but it was nice to get out-especially since we had a guy in the house working on our bathroom drywall.

I always find it awkward to have someone in the house working on something. I feel like I need to be friendly  and talk to them, but if I talk to them, they can't work, and I'm sure they'd like to get the job done and be gone as quickly as possible-but if I don't talk to them, I feel like I'm being rude. So, for me, it's easier if I just leave and let Mr. BHTS deal with it.

On Saturday, I spent a few hours with some volunteers at our church making fresh fruit salad for our big Easter Breakfast. Sunday was the actual breakfast and then dinner for my family. Yesterday, my only adventure was to go to the store to pick up a birthday cake and ice cream to take to my youngest at work (I took it to him when I went there for my volleyball game). It was his 20th birthday. No more teenagers in our house! I think I felt older when he turned 10 than I do now that he is 20.

Today, I went to the Swan Creek Candle Outlet in Dundee, Blissfield Antiques in Blissfield, The Gallery Antiques in Tecumseh, The Hitching Post Antiques in Tecumseh, an antique store in Manchester that was closed, The Chelsea Antique Mall, and Treasuremart in Ann Arbor.

 Great view at the rear entrance to Swan Creek Candle.

 The basement and upper floor is rented out as antique mall space. The main floor is the candle store. 

Blissfield Antiques...a lot of changes since I was there last. Looks like new dealers, and new displays. It was a very pleasant surprise. In years past you could go years and see the same things in the same places. I was sad to see that the cafe between the two malls is closed. I loved to eat there because they served their food on Fiesta.

 The Gallery in Tecumseh-soon to move across the street to a bigger store. 

Hitching Post, Tecumseh

 Manchester Antiques-too bad they were closed!

 Chelsea Antiques Mall-small but very friendly staff.

Treasure Mart!

It was a great day to be out and about-lots of blue skies and sunshine, and it even got up 55 degrees!! I only bought things at the first stop and the last stop. I found out about The Gallery from a blog friend. They are moving across the street in the next month or so, to a bigger location-I hope to make another trip later this summer to check it out.

Tonight is more volleyball, and tomorrow is another adventure! I almost went to the Maumee Antique Mall today, but decided to wait until Auntie is able to go with me.

These are some of the fun things I saw today...

 Fork easel-I think I'm going to try to make some of these!

 What a fun suitcase! 

 This actually looked much better in person-it was a great display-it twinkled.

 WOW! $90 for the set...that's wayy too high!

 I didn't see a price tag-I wonder if someone rode it to work today?!?

 Interesting way to attach glassware to the post for repurposed vintage glassware flowers.

 So true-the time to buy is when you see it!

 Largest collection of this pattern I've ever seen!

 LOVE the little guy on the top!

 My wishlist-collapsible metal laundry basket.

 Oh, if only I had the room!!!

 Super mint condition with the mini accessories!!

Hoping to make some of these this summer!

This is what came home with me today...

Is the Gooseberry Drought Ending??

What do you do when you've had a really bad week? I like to wander around junk stores and antique shops, so that is what I did today. It didn't make all the bad stuff go away, but it did take my mind off of it for a while-which was desperately needed.

I went to my booth for one last straightening, organizing/price reducing trip. I was shocked to walk in to it and see how empty it is! I know I've sold a lot this month-50% off is a good motivator for people to buy! I just wasn't prepared for how bare it looked.

I spent about an hour there, I shopped after I was done. I saw three ladies who were acting suspiciously-I think I walked up on one of them as she was shoving something into her bag, but I couldn't prove it. I told an employee what I saw, and stressed that I didn't see her take anything, but she was standing up against the back of a cabinet in a booth, really tight to the cabinet when I walked within 2 feet to throw some stuff in the trash. It was obvious that I startled her and her friends. I hope she wasn't taking anything-I hope it was all innocent, but you never know.

My next stop was the Maple Street Mall in Mason. The pink Butterprint casserole dishes were still there. They are pretty rare and hard to find, but for $29 & $39, and how small they are...they might be there for a while yet. I enjoyed my visit, but didn't find anything that had to come home with me.

I stopped at the Columbia Street Mall next. The same guy was working the front desk that was working it when I visited last time. He was so kind and friendly-he made me feel like we were old friends. I plan to keep both of these malls on my must visit list, and hope to visit them a few times over the summer.

The next stop was Mega Mall. I picked up my mom's Mother's Day present, and birthday present, along with a little gooseberry Pyrex casserole, a Fiesta ornament and a green handled vintage rolling pin. Most of the booths were having sales, so it was fun to hunt for treasures and have the possibility of a discount!

After Mega Mall, I went to The Little Red Schoolhouse. I found some Meyercord decals (I think I'm going to use the flower decal for the light green tray I bought at Ikea), a turquoise Pyrex mini fridgie, and a scarlet Fiesta juice tumbler. Everything was super cheap, and I was thrilled to find it all!

Sunday is my last day as a booth renter. It's kind of bitter-sweet. I'm glad I tried it 3 years ago. I had a blast doing it, but I'm glad to be done with it. Both Mega Mall and The Little Red Schoolhouse have summer flea markets that I'm considering as other options for selling stuff. I'll have to wait and see how some of the junk from this week shakes out before I can make a decision about them. I think it would be a really fun adventure selling at a flea market...well see!

I picked up a vintage yellow Fiesta casserole with lid for less than $20 this week online-it is beautiful! I guess all the other Fiesta fanatic either already have one, or they were sleeping! I can't believe I got it, and got it so cheap!! All I need now is the ivory casserole, and a red casserole lid and my set will be complete.

This is what my booth looked like when I left today:

These are my finds for today-it was a good day! I'm hoping today marks the beginning of finding Gooseberry Pyrex all over the place! I hope the Gooseberry Pyrex drought is finally over!!

I'm thinking of using the flower decal in the middle of this tray-what do you think?

Here is how the Fiesta casserole arrived the other day:

I was thrilled to find it very well protected and not a bit of damage-whew!

Jeffrey's, Bad Creek, Maumee...OH MY!!!

Yesterday my junkin buddy, Auntie from Kitschy Vintage and I took off on a southern adventure that included stops to Jeffrey's Antiques in Findlay, Ohio, A Swan Creek Candle/Antique store, Bad Creek Antiques in Delta, Ohio, and the Maumee Antique Mall in Maumee, Ohio.

WoW! What a FUN day!!! We pretty much shopped til we dropped! We had one more place on our list to hit on the way home and we were both too tired to even think about getting out of the car. So, I think we'll have to plan a trip to Blissfield so that we can hit the Swan Creek Candle/Antique store in Dundee since we missed it on this trip!

I didn't realize that Jeffrey's is only about an hour and a half away. I've only ever gone to it on the way to Florida or on the way home. Now that I know how close it is, we'll have to make plans to visit it a few times a year-at least!

The dealers at Jeffrey's all pretty much seemed to have full, well-stocked booths. Although, some dealers had stuff just laying on the floor, or sitting on the floor-no tables! It didn't look like they had a table at one point and someone bought it. It looked like that was just how they chose to display their stuff. Dishes, linens, kitcheware, all just on the floor. I don't get that! My way of thinking is, how can you expect people to value your stuff enough to buy it if you don't value it enough to put in on a table or display it in a way that shows it off to its best advantage? You've seen me complain about this before. What are your thoughts on this? Do you mind going into crowded booths with stuff all over the floor?

We had a great visit, but I am afraid I might have pushed Auntie a bit faster than she wanted to go. She was a great sport about it, but I know she likes to take her time and go through things at a much slower pace than I do. We both got some good things at Jeffrey's, and I think we both really enjoyed our time there-time well spent!

Look at this AMAZING tub-for sale at Jeffrey's! I don't love what they did to the feet, but the rest of it is pretty sweet!!!

Then we started back north toward home and a few stops along the way. First stop was at  a Swan Creek Candle/Antique shop, where we raced to the antiques and then back out as quickly as possible. The candle smell is so over-powering, and with my cold-it really hit me hard!! Then we stopped at a little estate sale in a heated garage. We found a few fun things we couldn't leave behind, but the cigarette smoke from the person holding the sale, pushed us out the door pretty quickly! I did manage to grab a pair of giant pearl-like, clip-on earrings for a friend's daughter for only $2-I hope this is what she was talking about when she asked me to look for them.

A couple of months ago, I found an antique shop on Facebook called Bad Creek Antiques in Delta, and I've been dying to check it out in person. I almost hopped in the car one Sunday not to long ago after church, but I stopped to look them up really quickly to see what their hours were, and found out they aren't open on Sunday or Monday-whew! That would have been a very long, wasted trip!

They seem to specialize in repurposed or repainted furniture, with a few household antiques tucked in here and there. I'm not even sure how I found their Facebook page, but I think it had something to do with the gorgeous white outside, turquoise inside corner cupboard! As I was looking at their pictures, I noticed an iron bed. Guess what!?! It was still there!!! AND...it was 30% off!!!

 Oh, if I only had the room!!! LOVE this cupboard!!!

Look at this chair shelf! We both commented on it-we've seen them before with the whole seat at the shelf-I like this a lot better!

 I've been looking for a few years for a second white, iron, twin bed for our spare bedroom., and I was THRILLED to get this one-it goes really well with the one I already had.Now, I just need to get rid of all the excess junk treasures from that room, and not use it as a storage room, so it's more comfortable for guests!

I also picked up a Fire King, Tulip splash proof mixing bowl in wonderful shape (it's in even better shape than the large one I got a few years ago at Greenmead. I had no idea the one I had was so yellow until I put the one I got yesterday with it), and an old rolling pin with red handles. I'm looking for one with green handles and one with black handles now. I'd love to find one with turquoise handles and one with pink handles too.

We asked the lady who was working there if there was a good place around for lunch and she recommended a place right across the street called 109 Tavern and Restaurant. So, that's where we went. Our food was really good and the atmosphere was interesting. If I ever go back to Bad Creek around meal time again, I would definitely go back! It was pretty reasonable and I enjoyed what I got.

After that we were supposed to stop at another place on they way to the Maumee Antique Mall, but even though their sign said they were OPEN, they had a big metal gate across their door and it was padlocked. It was a tiny little place, that I won't make a special trip to go to, but it was frustrating to once again go to a place that wasn't open when it was supposed to be.

Our last stop of the day, and probably the longest stop of the day was at the Maumee Antique Mall, in Maumee, Ohio (near Toledo). WOW! I can't understand why it has taken me so long to go there!! It was AWESOME!!! TONS and tons of booths with a wonderful variety of items to look at and buy. Great prices for the most part-some were too high, but you get that at any antique/collectibles place. They even had shopping carts that you could push around so you wouldn't need to make any trips to the front to hold the stuff you want to buy. We didn't take a cart, but we probably should have, we both made several trips to the front.

I feel bad because I coughed sooooo much while we were in there that Auntie said she never had to wonder where I was when we got separated, because she could hear me coughing-ugh!!! How embarrassing!!! We filled up my car with all of our finds-good thing my seats were all out from Monday when Mr BHTS picked up our new stove!

I'm looking forward to another trip, hopefully early summer to Maumee. It is very worth the trip! I just hope that when I go back the workers don't say, "hey, aren't you that lady that coughed non-stop last winter?"

My treasures for the day include: a fuschia and white tablecloth and two vintage hat pins from Jeffrey's, a blue aluminum pitcher from the estate sale (it was in really rough shape-the outside was all frosty looking, but I took a chance for $2), the iron bed, tulip bowl and rolling pin, from Bad Creek, a Fiesta green covered casserole with a very small chip on the base, a multi-colored drink shaker, a glass orange drink bottle with cardboard lid, and a Kitchen Kraft green teapot from Maumee Antiques.

I saw the Kitchen Kraft teapot out of the corner of my eye as I was hacking up my lungs, and trying to get away from other shoppers but on my quick, glance I noted no "rings" even though it was the right color to be Fiesta, and by that point I was just rushing to get past the people I was irritating with my coughing. Auntie came by after me and picked it up. She was going to buy it, but graciously gave it up to me to buy-isn't that a sweet friend!?! When I was paying for my stuff, the cashier told me green must be my color. I didn't even realize I was getting two things in the same color. Must have been from lack of oxygen from coughing so much!

The lid on the casserole is mint! I got both pieces for less than the lid alone. I am one happy treasure hunter after finding the casserole dish and lid at the price I got it for!!! Now the hunt begins for the lid for the Kitchen Kraft teapot!

I'm glad I took a chance on the blue aluminum pitcher! After some elbow grease with Bar Keeper's Friend and some stainless steel wipes, it looks like it will look pretty mint once I get the whole thing done!

Bottom side is done, top side is all frosty still.It was hard to capture how much of a difference there was-but believe me, it looks like night and day different!

What a FUN day!!! I can't wait for our next adventure!! How about you? Have you been on any fun adventures lately??