The Other Items I had to Pick Up...

A lesson learned from auctions. Get there in time to preview and make a list of the items you are willing to bid on and ONLY bid on those items!

So here are the items I had to go back and pick up. This is a great side table, with an unfortunately piece of veneer missing right smack dab in the front. I will just have to learn how to fix that. That's why we have the Internet right?

Another great piece (the top mirror is in the chair below). However it is a weird surface, very shiny and there is a crack in the veneer. Again, I will have to learn how to fix that as well.

Chair is FABULOUS! Will need to be painted and recovered but so comfortable and great lines.

My sentimental purchase. Not sure yet how much work this is going to be or not but I am looking forward to figuring it out!

So, I know, I need to get some projects going. Now that I am through my client presentation with only a few changes, I have Halloween and my oldest daughter is turning TEN, hard to believe, on Saturday. We will be hosting our first birthday sleepover. Wish me luck! Once I am on the other side of these joyous events I will be full blown into projects.

Dream a Little Dream of Me...

Hey, a girl can dream can't she? This sure would be a fun way to go treasure hunting, but probably not the most practical. Could it be more fun and beautiful?

Presentation is done, wish me luck that they like what I have put together!

This Time it is Auction Bliss

As I said in my post last night, I went to 2 auctions over the last two nights and I thought I would share with you some of my finds. This first picture is quite interesting. Although I know it is impossible to tell, these are all the pieces to a three section armoire. If I ever figure out how to put it together I think it is about 24" deep, 80" high and 80" long. Not sure where I am going to put it and I am not sure if it is even in that great of state. However, for the bargain price of $2.50, even if I just use the wood it is worth. The mirror in itself is great. Like I say, it is all about the journey and trying to put this together should be an interesting one!

These are some assorted frames and artwork that came as part of lots that I purchased.

A great piece that just needs some love.

This is a vintage chandelier that was never actually used, the crystals are still covered. It will need to be rewired but it is actually only one light so I think it should be doable. If not, it is so pretty it will work great even with a candle. This was a lot of pewter that I couldn't pass up and no one was bidding. They sure were glad I showed up to take a bunch of the junk no one else wanted! Some more assorted artwork and a set of Italian nesting tables. They need to be painted which is no big deal but they are also wobbly. Hopefully I will be able to fix that. This falls in the category of junk. I will have to figure something interesting out. A whole lot of frames.

Again, falling into the "What I am going to do with this?" category, I came home with vintage tin children's items including a doll bunk bed, a stove and a bassinet type of thing.

The real reason I went to the second auction was for these...

They were the LAST thing sold and I was worried the prices were just going to go too high. The watches were going for hundreds and hundreds of dollars so I thought the big spenders would be going for the clock faces also. Fortunately, there were only two other bidders that were doing anything by that point and I got them. Woo Hoo! My sister and I tried to be very low key but we were pretty psyched! These two are my favorites.

I also will be going this weekend to pick up the pieces that wouldn't fit in the truck! I got a giant old desk (like my Grandfather had - I know an emotional bid but it was only $15. Now I have to figure out where I am going to put it!), two beds, a beautiful french provincial arm chair, a nice side table and a beautiful dresser! Each of them were $15 because no one else was bidding on them. I am telling you, auctions are the way to go! I will post pictures when we manage to get them home! I am sharing this post at:

Oh, I have been busy...

For the last two nights I have been busy at auctions. It was very funny how contrasting each of them were. One was very low key casual, a little disorganized, fun (down home type of fun) and CHEAP! The other was very organized and formal, still fun but a different kind of fun (more like it was run so smoothly and there was so much too look at and they just paid $600 for a box of watches?!). Anyway, after finishing the auction, loading the car and unloading the car it is late and I did not take pictures . I will post tomorrow the great finds. Just know that I managed to walk away with the main thing I went after and a few things I should have left behind!

Thanks to my sister Lisa for coming and helping with all of the packing and unpacking! Also, as you saw me mention a little ways back, I sent off a whole bunch of sheet music to Miss Mustard Seed. She actually took a picture of my package and posted it on her blog! See her posting here. I am looking forward to seeing what other great projects she has in store for her sheet music.

Goodnight to all who are still up at this hour!

Where Did It All Come From?

Just for a little bit of fun, I thought I would show where the treasures from the antique sale came from last week.

This was the basement

This was one of the rooms inside. There was some really nice stuff in here, just too expensive.

This was my favorite part, the driveway. So much stuff, so much treasure hunting

Looking forward to my next sale!

Yard Sale Company, Part 2

The week after I was able to journey around with my friend Julie, I headed to NH for my mother-in-law's 70th birthday. It was a tough job, but I was responsible, along with my sister-in-law to get her out of the house so the surprise could be put in place. So what is a girl do to but hit antique shops.

This picture is terrible, but I this place was so fun I thought I would try to show you anyway. I was able to get some great finds.

All of these signs outside were an amazing collection. He was "going out of business". However what I heard from locals was that he goes "out of business" every year at this time. I wonder if he would sell any of his signs?

We hit another place. Fun, WAY too expensive! These tubes are actually from an old textile mill and they had great labels on them. Again, very expensive.

These were out front, there was probably 8 of them. They were actually only $65 which was not too bad for the size. They were numbered bins from a textile mill as well. However, they were so big, I am not sure where I would fit one.

On the ride up, my dear sweet husband let me stop at many different places along the way. I even embarressed my daughter by stopping for a great crate off the side of the road. By the time we filled up with my treasures, pumpkins and maple syrup, there was only a little room left for the four of us! It is a good thing I did not try to buy one of those signs.

Yard Sale Company

Usually when I hit the road for yard sales, I am a one woman show. A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to hit the road with one of my dearest friends, Julie. We actually were trying to make our way to Homegoods, but never got there because there were so many sales along the way.

Before I show you some of the treasures we found, I must show you where she lives. Can you imagine waking up to this everyday? Julie found this great chair for $5 and is working having some cushions made for it. Other than a little wipe down, it is in great shape.

Another $5 find was this trunk. Once I finalize how I am going to make the two I found the week before into a coffee table, I will give her the low down to do the same.

These were some great doors I found that I am planning to make into signs down the road.

And here is Julie, isn't she just too cute! She has an amazing home that she has pulled together very quickly and beautifully. I hoping at some point in the future she will be a guest blogger and show you some of her home.

Looking forward to another opportunity to treasure hunt with friends!

Oh the Joy of Estate Sales

So I had the pleasure of hitting another estate sale today. There was a lot of stuff inside that was organized and had price tags on it. BORING! I was in the garage, driveway and basement where it was kind of a dive in approach. There were no price tags, it was cold and quite frankly, smelly.

The actually had to put a cover over my pile because once I pulled stuff out people were trying to shop out of my pile. Twice someone tried to walk off with my basket. And don't even get me started on the lady who started letting them know she would take the orchard ladder if I didn't. I had not even had a chance to negoiate yet! Bad estate sale etiquette!

I am sorry the pictures aren't better but the wind really started picking up so I decided to get my stuff and my tush inside. There is some neat small stuff and some shutters that you can't see very well. I thought I was so fancy figuring out Picasa the other day. Turns out, I'm not so fancy and I could only get a few pictures to load.

Here are a few of my favorites.

These chairs are amazing. They are actually leather with gold trim printed on the leather. Great carved details as well. Originally they had it marked that they wanted $100 for the four chairs. In the end, I walked away with all of this (with the exception of the ladder) for $100. Plus I got about 10 boxes of vintage ornaments.

This stool is metal with a wood top and probably my favorite find of the day.

At a certain point I think I was buying this orchard ladder whether I wanted it or not, just on principal. But in the end, I think it looks quite perfect in its new home.

Schedules for the weekend lead me to think that I will not be able to hit any more sales till next week. But I am sure I will find a way to sneak one in!

Happy Hunting!

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First Day of School, Thursday Yard Sale and the Garden's Bounty

So I haven't been back here since January 24th.... I guess I was still trying to figure out if this is something I really wanted to do. I spent the last few days really being inspired by all the incredible blogs that are out there and they gave me the kick in the pants I truly needed. I realize that the blog is far from pretty at this point, I will have to ramp up my education on managing a blog.

Today has already been such a great day it seemed that this would be the best day to start committing to my blog...

First, it was the first day of school for my girls. M is starting 5th grade (ugh) and E is starting 3rd (ugh, ugh).

With them off to school, (sniff, sniff) I read the paper and found that of all things there was a "vintage" yard sale, on a Thursday!!! That never happens. I ventured over and found some great treasures for a great deal. I spoke with the couple for a bit and got her story. Her father was a collector of "everything but the kitchen sink". The rest of her family thinks it is all junk so she is slowly going through it but keeps getting side tracked by memories. They have been hit hard by the economy so they are only down to one car making it difficult to move all the stuff back to their house. I am going to check back in with them on Saturday, but I also gave her my name and number and asked her to call me when she had more stuff in. The best part is she is about 2 miles away! Here some pictures of the items I was able to get this time, all for $26!

There are three great crates, an oval picture frame, two bottles and some porcelain and wood door knobs. Two of the crates are local which I think makes them even more interesting. Maybe this will hold me over since I am unable to go to Brimfield this fall, but I will probably still be tortured that whole weekend knowing I am not there...

The knobs really are a great find.

There was also a street sign from Brooklyn. She only wanted a dollar for it which actually made me feel bad, then I got over it.

After returning from the sale I headed out to garden to gather as much as I could since we are expected to get some rain and the heat is finally suppose to break. Unfortunately, that has not happened yet so I pretty much melted out there. Our garden was greatly neglected this year so I almost feel I don't deserve all that she gave me today. I will accept her gifts and make promises to her for next year that I will hopefully be able to keep.

Tomorrow is an exciting day as well, I am actually going to see a taping of the new Nake Berkus show debuting on CBS later this month. Hopefully his show is successful. I am not sure what the format will be, but hopefully it will be about decorating! I will let you know...