The Week in Junk 4/23

Usually on Sundays I take out all the junk I have bought over the past week and take photos of it for the Week in Junk post.  That didn't happen this Sunday because I saw an ad on Craigslist:  We are opening up the house and shop and selling everything. Furniture, curio cabinets, arts & craft supplies, tons of fabric and sewing supplies, tools, safe, office equipment, kitchen supplies, and collectibles. Sunday starting at 8 am. Don't miss this one! Moving after 36 years and there is a lot of stuff. The sale was only about five miles from me, so I decided to make a very quick run to it before I came back home and cleaned house and helped the boys mow the yard.  That quick run turned into four hours of digging in JUNK!  

I started at the house where each room was packed with little stuff - miniatures, craft supplies, books, sewing supplies, holiday stuff - just stuff, stuff, stuff.  Nothing was priced and that always leaves me wondering.  Cheap or expensive or who knows?  There was another lady shopping and she told me that she had been there yesterday and earlier today too.  I asked her how the prices were and she said, "Good.  Just gather it up and it will be one price -like $5.00 for a huge box full."  Okay, that made me feel better.  I was glad to have talked to her, although I wish I wouldn't have seen the literally hundreds of new in the package vintage miniatures she had under her arm in a big box.  

The lady that had lived in the house was a crafter and she had several flea market booths and she specialized in smalls.  Oh-Uh.  That's me in a nutshell!  As I looked around, I noticed that everything was in Ziplocs bags.  In the things I brought home, I threw away over 100 Ziploc bags.  I was looking in each Ziploc bag to see if it was worth buying, but then I decided if I saw one thing that I liked, the whole bag went in my box.  Actually, not a box, but a huge Rubbermaid tub that I quickly filled up.  I got hundreds of new vintage packages of RicRac.  More RicRac than I can ever use.  Ricrack in every color of the rainbow.  Miles of it.  I sorted out the lave and trims that I don't want and they will go to Goodwill.  

As I was paying for my first round, they told me that there was a big shop building down the hill and everything in it was FREE.  I suppose you can see my short legs running to the car to drive down to the shop, can't you?  When I heard "shop" I assumed it was going to be tools and man stuff.  Wrong!  It was all her crafts and holiday things.  It was a mess, people had been digging and throwing htings like crazy.  Things had been stored in there for 36 years so there was all sorts of things from old to new.  There had been mice at one point so there were nests of shredded paper and I saw one of the gnarliest spiders I have EVER seen - HUGE!  Having said all that, you would think that I ran away.  But, Nooooooooo.  Mice and spiders do not scare me when it comes to FREE vintage goodies!  I was selective in what I took, but I took a lot!  I found tons of vintage Christmas including Shiny Brites in big boxes that I have never seen, blue aluminum Evergleam branches, Mercury glass and aluminum ball garland, tree toppers, angels and so, so much more.  I have one big cardboard box over-brimming with vintage Christmas.  

I haven't had time to take any photos except these few quickies:

This McCoy vase is beautiful.  It is about 18" tall and weighs a ton.  I know it is an very expensive vase.  Sadly, this one has a chunk out of the lip on the back.  But, you can't see it from this side, so for $1.00 - it was good enough for me.  I won't tell, if you won't tell.

It is the real McCoy!  For a buck!

This pretty piece of art pottery was in my hands when a man spotted it and took it out of my hands.  It was funny, I could tell he liked it, but he wasn't trying to take it.  He just wanted to touch it.  I can relate.  He even took it outside into the sun to try and make out the makers mark.  When he brought it in, he told me to "hold on to that one."  I paid $1.00.

I paid $3.00 for all of these books including a Betty Crocker Cooky Book.  I love reading price guides - not that I believe the prices, but I learn a lot about things that way.  I'm looking forward to the Kitchen Collectibles and Roseville Pottery books.

Here is one very blurry iphone shot of a box of miscellaneous - Christmas, sewing, beads, old jewelry, vintage glitter, and lots of other things. 

Better photos will come - eventually!  I got to the sale at noon and it is 11:00 now and I have been dealing with all if it pretty much all that time.  I am sort of SICK of it all right now.  But, tomorrow is a NEW DAY!