Weekend Finds - Tablecloth & Pottery......Yes, Please!

It was a nice weekend here - lots of sun and it got into the high 80's. I hit quite a few sales on Friday, traveled in the opposite direction than I like to travel on Saturday in search of an Estate Sale that turned out to be a big DUD and to one sale late in the day on Saturday while the people were starting to shut down. Back when the Bean was in school and I had to have him there at 7:30, I was one of the first people to arrive at a yard sale when it opened. Now, I am not so much of a morning person and especially not on Saturday mornings.  I have found that the best things are available early in the day, but the best prices are at the end of the day.  So, I used to find killer things early, now I still find good deals late in the day.

I bought quite a bit this weekend, but I am only going to show what I bought to keep.  Or keep for now anyway.  At the sale I went to as they were closing, I found a big basket full of vintage stuffed animals old sawdust filled carnival animals, 1960's Muppets, Super Banana, Super Hot Dog, Super Pickle (Come on..you remember Super Pickle, don't you?) and a few other vintage stuffed characters.  I have already priced them and put them in the booth, so no photos.  The guy quoted me 50¢ each, but he only charged me $5.00 for 14 stuffed animals and 27 Boy Scout Books.  So, late in the day does equal good prices!

A really interesting and quite old oak splint basket - 50¢, a wee bear with snap off limbs to join my collection - $1.00, a pair of old spectacles - $2.00, four glass Hummingbirds (my Cherokee name "Walela" means Hummingbird, so I occasionally pick up Hummingbirds) - 50¢ each, a tiny Matte White USA vase - 25¢, folk art Santa for my collection - $1.00 and a vintage Happy Anniversary Vase worthy of its own photo.



This vintage vase was actually the very first thing I bought on Friday morning, and if I wouldn't have found another item all day, I still would have been a happy camper.  It is adorable with the bluebirds and graphics.  Things used to be so darned cute!  I bought this at a sale with a) lots of clothes b) lots of baby stuff and c) lots of new items from one of those pallet places where you buy a pallet of new returned items for resell.  I spotted this vase in a box under a table and I got weak in the knees when I saw it was only 50¢.  That is why I stop at every sale.  You just never know what you will find!

At the second sale I spotted this old glass case on a table.  I picked it up and the lady beside me sucked in her breath and said, "Oh, those are oooooooooooooooold.  You have found a treasure!"  I knew they were certainly not new and I thought they were neat, but I didn't think they were all that, if you know what I mean.  When I went to pay, of course, they didn't have a price on them and no one having the sale had ever seen them and no one knew who they belonged to and no one knew who to give the money to if and when they ever decided who much they were worth because "those are so old, those are antiques, those ought to be worth quite a bit, yadda yadda."  *sigh*  I showed them the date of 1944 inside the case and said that date wasn't all that terribly old (right Mumsie?) So, I waited and waited and let them talk it out and finally they all agreed that $2.00 would be a good price.  I said that was fine and then a man behind me in line said quite loudly, "When they see you on the Anteakes Roadshow with them glasses be'un worth a mill-yun dollars, they are gonna come a'lookin' for you!"  Sheesh.  I grabbed my stuff and got the heck out of there. 

An old red enamel teapot sans a lid 50¢ - already filled with red Impatiens and on the porch, a red Lustroware canister - 25¢, again sans a lid - I am piece by piece collecting a set of these canisters.  Now all I need is a lid for this one and I will be done!  A ten pound popcorn can (which was stuffed with over 100 new Ziploc bags) for 25¢, an old tape measure - 50¢, a mod ring necklace - 50¢ and a feedsack apron - 25¢.

A couple old books, an Alphabet BINGO game, manuscript flashcard set, fun letter cards, an aqua tin and a sawdust filled puppy.  Most of these things cost about 25¢ or less.  How about that elephant?  He is to be sold, but I had to show him to you all.  A pin bead elephant!  I've seen fruit and I've seen Christmas ornaments.  But, an elephant?  I've never seen anything like that!  There is a row of beads missing on his neck, but I think he used to have a ribbon there.  I will fashion him a jaunty bowtie out of vintage Sasheen ribbon and he will be good as new.

I got this tablecloth at the sale with the eyeglasses.  In my eye, this tablecloth was worth all the hubbub I went through to get the glasses.  It's pink, it's a Simtex and it's perfect.  It wasn't priced and no one had ever seen it (well, you know the rest) and I thought, "here we go again", but they decided it was $1.00 and they would figure out who it belonged to later.  Whew!  This is the first tablecloth I have found in a good long while, so I am happy that maybe the drought is over.  I hadn't found one in so long that I was beginning to wonder if I still loved vintage tablecloths.  Now I know the answer.  "YES!  I DO!"

This weekend there is a big rummage sale at the Boys & Girl's Club which is just behind my neighborhood and a Swap Meet at the Fairgrounds.  I am excited about both of these as they should provide a good eclectic mix of junk.  It's funny because this morning I decided it was time to "reclaim our house" and get rid of a lot of STUFF that is weighing us down.  I have so much that I intended to put on ebay, but with the new rules, fees and high shipping, it just isn't going to happen.  So, it needs to GO.  If it is valuable, I will sell it.  If I LOVE it, I will keep it.  Otherwise, "Hasta la vista, baby".  I will still go to sales, because there are things I am looking for and you never know when you might find that 25¢ treasure that sells for $500.00!  Besides, it is FUN!