BIG Auction

We had two or three auction options this past Saturday, but we wanted to stay on a pretty small budget, so we chose the farm auction close to home. When we first arrived, we were pretty sure we weren't going to stay. Although the ad had said there would be some household items, there really wasn't much. However, we did find a handful of items that looked pretty good and we figured the entire auction wouldn't take more than three hours, so we decided to stick it out. I'm glad we did, because we walked away with some bargains! BIG bargains.



We ended up with this pair of steel wagon wheels for only $25. That was a steal! We're still regretting the fact that we didn't pick up another pair for the same price. These are going to stay with us to decorate our garage. It would be nice to have a second pair to sell for a tidy profit, but we just weren't thinking at the time.



This wardrobe is GINORMOUS! It stands nearly seven feet tall, and it's very deep, too. Our house has minimal storage, so we're always looking for nice looking ways to tuck away all our junk. I think the contact papered panels really threw off a lot of folks, because we walked away with this baby for $25.



And check out the "after" pic! Fastest before and after pictures ever! We were fully expecting to have to do some kind of repair to those panels, but the contact paper pulled off with minimal damage and voila! Gorgeous old wardrobe! We're thinking that we will add some kind of hardware to the front - knobs or handles.



The very last thing we bought was this little table. I'm a sucker for these chrome and laminate tables. This one is super cool, because it has a drawer and leafs that pull out from the sides. It needs some clean up and maybe a little repair, but I don't think it will be hard to find a home for it.

Our poor van didn't have room for all these large pieces, so we had to recruit my brother to drive out to the auction site to pick up the wardrobe and table. That's what little brothers are for, right?

See more great finds from last week at Her Library Adventures and Apron Thrift Girl.

925 Milk Caps

I counted my milk caps the other night. It was kind of funny, because I was grouping them in stacks of 10. After the first 100, I said to Roger, "Oh my gosh! There's got to be at least 200 of these things!"

After the next 100, I was laughing. Maybe more like a thousand!

This is what 925 cardboard milk caps look like when neatly stacked in groups and rows of ten. I had to wonder what kind of person collects nearly a thousand milk caps, but Roger pointed out it was more likely that the person was a milk man and these were just left over and thrown in a box. He's probably right, because they certainly don't look as though they've been used. And they're all exactly the same.

I plan to sell them in packs of ten. I think they'll be fun for crafters. Magnets, papercrafting, scrapbooking...

Estate Sale Finds

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am NOT a morning person. I would much rather sleep in. However, given enough motivation, I am capable of getting up early. I got up a bit earlier on Friday morning so I could attend a couple of sales before I had to be at work.



The first sale was a true estate sale, and most of the prices were a bit high for my nature, but I still walked away with a couple armloads. The second sale was a garage sale advertising "antiques". Oh my word! We're talking antiques at garage sale prices!!



Roger has been buying old school desks and restoring them. They look great when he's done, partly because he still leaves the old marks and scars in the wood. The ones he has been working with are wood desks and seats with metal legs and bases. When I saw this old school desk, I knew it was special. I have never seen one completely made out of wood. I practically wrapped my arms around it and said, "MINE!" As the seller was loading it into my van, he told me that it had come out of a Black school house down in Mississippi.



I'm not much of a vintage jewelry expert, but I saw these two pins and bought them for their subject matter. So cute!



A dancing lady in a yellow skirt. Another thing that just caught my fancy!



An entire army of legs. Roger doesn't think I'll be able to sell these.



Thanks to some vintage savvy friends, I've identified these as the caps that were put on top of milk bottles back in the day when it was delivered fresh to your door. I now own an entire shoebox full of them! About a million of them!

What else did I find? Old rubber squeak toys, Betty Crocker kids cookbook, old brown bottles, Pyrex caraffe, Haeger pots, a wooden bowl painted with cherries and an old filing box. Great, great weekend!

See more great finds here!

Blue June at Newton Antique Mall

We opened our booth at Newton Antique Mall at the beginning of July. After a few weeks, we knew we really need a larger booth! So, as of August 1, we have expanded! Lots more room for lots more stuff!

Here's what the booth looked like before:



That actually kind of embarrasses me, a little! It looks SO much better now! Here's hoping for lots of sales in August to justify the new space!

Trench Art

Roger is a World War I history buff and likes to collect militaria from that era, particularly helmets. He had been looking for some pieces of trench art to add to his collection, and this year he struck gold.

Trench art can be a pretty broad category, but Roger was specifically looking for items that were made from shell casings or the other detritus of war.

The lamp on the right came up at an auction earlier this summer. It is marked "Verdun" and is really a gorgeous piece. It did not have a shade when Roger bought it, so he added a period helmet from his collection to complete the piece. I have to chuckle, because the auction card showing what we paid has it described as "art deco lamp".

The vase on the left is new to his collection. We attended an auction a couple weeks ago that had three of these vases. Roger was positively dying to have at least one of them.

After a few hours of sitting, Roger needed to visit the restroom. Wouldn't you know? That's when they decided to bring the trench art pieces up to the block! My heart was in my throat. I knew I couldn't let them get away! I immediately started bidding with no idea what my maximum should be, let alone which of the three items I should choose if I won! Fortunately, Roger arrived part way through and took over. I asked him later why he chose the vase that he did. "I picked the one that looked the best." Well, shoot! I could have done that!

This piece is marked Reims and also has a floral design. It is also made from a shell casing. I can't really complain about either piece. They're both very attractive. (The flowers in the vase were Roger's doing. And, I have to giggle at the idea of him in Michael's trying to find poppies, when he wasn't really sure what poppies looked like, anyway!)

Prized Object

Quite often at an auction, I will come across one particular item that just seizes my attention and won't let go. I was able to preview the last auction we attended the day before it actually occurred and came across this interesting milk glass plate. It was lumped in with a bunch of other handpainted plates. Upon close inspection of it, my imagination was sparked, and I couldn't stop thinking about it! I must have it!

At the auction the next day, I had a moment of panic when I couldn't find the box holding my precious treasure. I was afraid that it had been pulled to be sold alone, and I had missed it! After a bit further searching, though, I located the box and breathed a sigh of relief. I was eventually able to buy my box of plates and take them home. Now, I don't collect plates or milk glass, so I am putting this in our Etsy shop, but sometimes there are items that won't hurt my feelings if they decide to live with me indefinitely...

The plate depicts three gentleman in old-fashioned attire. One of the men is a bear and the other two are wolves! They appear to be enjoying an evening of storytelling, as the wolf in the middle has a large book open in front of him. It's almost like a depiction of a fairy tale or perhaps, this is what it looks like when the characters from our stories share their own tales!

See more vintage finds at Her Library Adventures.

Comments

I want you all to know that I read a lot of vintage and thrift blogs, and so often I want to comment on them. Unfortunately, I am having a heck of a time with Blogger letting me leave comments on some blogs. I try to log in with my Google account, and it just throws me into the endless loop of log-ins and captchas!!

So, please know that I am reading your blogs, too! I just can't always comment! Even when I really, really want to!

Huge Haul

This week's auction haul reminds me of one of those hidden object puzzles! Here's a sampling of what we brought home with us. See if you can find them in the picture!

Frankoma honey pot
red Pyrex covered dish
3 lanterns
Frankoma teapot
2 cherry pitter/stoners
2 glass washboards
2 duck decoys
blue Pyrex refrigerator dish
Limoges seashell dish
printing plates
scale
5 rolling pins
3 sifters
owl cookie jar

And various other odds and ends!! I'll try to post some individual pictures of the good stuff later this week, if I get a chance to take some photos.

See more great finds at Her Library Adventures!