Vintage Junk in My Trunk

Treasure Hunting Serendipity, Part 2

Back to our getaway weekend. I got some of these pretty dishes at yard sales we found using the igaragesale app. Vintage and technology goes hand in hand!

I immediately bought this stack of lovelies at the Galena Antique Center in Maryland. They were marked down, and the dealer took off another $10.

I love the olive-y transferware pattern.

When I got home, I realized I had a found a crescent-shaped bone dish in the exact same color and pattern last year on our getaway weekend a year ago. More serendipity!

Got another great deal on this purple velvet-covered Victorian photo album.

Nice illustrated pages and photos.

We also scored this cute little creamy dresser. I've been wanting to get an old bureau/dresser and turn it into a bathroom vanity, and this would fit perfectly in the room, but it's too nice to chop apart to get a sink into.

Look at the knobs and sweet carvings.

Looks like we’ll have to keep looking, and in the meantime we’ll have to find a spot for this one!

Still more getaway weekend treasures coming up!

Treasure Hunting Serendipity, Part 1

No local yard sales for me last weekend. Shocked, aren‘t you?

Well, ok, that's not entirely true -- there were yard sales, and I attended them, they just weren't my usual haunts. Instead of the lovely confines of the southern part of the Garden State, Mr. VJIMT and I headed to Maryland for the weekend to celebrate 15 years of wedded bliss.

And to buy stuff.

We headed first to Havre de Grace and the Seneca Cannery Antiques Mall. I knew I wanted to visit this post-Civil War brick and stone building (listed on the National Register) because Vintage Sue has a booth there.

Twenty thousand square feet of antiques and fully air-conditioned with sparkling bathrooms. I could live there.

Vintage karma smiled on us as there was also an avenue-wide antique flea market down the street from the Cannery. One guy was going out of business and had everything marked down 70%. Yippee!

Here are some of the things we got:

Mr. VJIMT likes these big group photos, although this one wasn't a yard-long. It's a scene from a school house in Amish country -- Paradise, Pennsylvania.

Wouldn't it be cool to say you lived in Paradise? Intercourse, not so much.

He also got that giant yellow cast iron jack.

Sue's booth was full of fun and whimsy, and where I found this sparkly rhinestone tiara.

Got these three vintage glass bird ornaments for a song. You know I love them. 

Is it a Bake - O - Meter or a bakometer? Either way it's cool.

Mr. VJIMT's company is going to be moving to the Philadelphia Navy Yard in a couple of years, so this pin was a serendipitous find.

Nice crackly green pitcher for me.

Big Replogle globe from the 1960s and blue seed box, closed…

… and opened.

More treasures from our getaway weekend coming up soon!

A Visit from the Vintage Fairy

This box was dropped off on my porch today by an anonymous benefactor. Well, maybe not exactly anonymous; just a little on the shy side.

Unexpected gifts are always fun. 

Especially unexpected VINTAGE gifts.

Like this lovely Japanese floral porcelain chocolate pot, cups and saucers. And a pretty mirror tray and vanity set.

I like this -- the vintage goodies are finding ME instead of the other way around.

All of you vintage fairies out there, feel free to stop on by. We’ll leave the light on. 

And the hot chocolate pot!

Like a Rat in a Yard Sale Maze

We tried to get to an advertised listing of five houses in the small town next to ours, but there were detours blocking our every turn. No matter how hard I tried, I could not find a way through-- even with a GPS! Although maybe the GPS was part of the problem, since it kept trying to send me back through the detour. And across inaccessible railroad tracks. I think I expect too much from technology.

I was frustrated, but imagine if you had taken the time to sort, price, and market your yard sale only to find all access to it blocked that morning! Arggghh!

After that rough start, we were nearly shut out. Other than the requisite toy bribes and some rosary beads, this vintage wicker rocker is all we got.

But what a beauty! I'm not sure what era it's from -- can you date it?

Look at all the detailing…

…love the woven top…

…and especially the arm rest.

That's it -- sometimes you get the cheese, and sometimes you get trapped in a corner. The life of a yard sale rat.

I'm going to link to Selena's Thrift Share Monday so you can see how successful some others were this weekend.

Yard Sale Finds by the Decade

I have to catch up -- it's another Saturday! Here's the rest of our booty from last weekend's yard sales, all headed to Etsy. 

Vintage Anchor Hocking Fire King Copper Tint custard bowls and pie plates from the 1950s.

Sweet cross-stitched linen napkins in green and brown.

Half of a Lincoln BeautyWare tin canister set, a Roseville crock, and a white ironstone pitcher.

Fun graphics on this "Game of the States" from the 1960s.

A bunch of sewing and embroidery patterns from the 1970s.

Oh, and even some vintage white wicker furniture for our front porch!

And you may not believe it, but not everything we get at yard sales is vintage. Check out Sophia's recent wardrobe:

Easter dress -- $3 yard sale find. Plus beads she found herself.

Family Communion Party dress -- $2.

As the brilliant Cosmo Kramer once said “Retail is for suckers!”

A “Wow!” Moment

This week has been full of great vintage karma -- not the least of which was American Picker Mike Wolfe responding to my Facebook comment regarding the recent infestation of vintage dress forms. Now if I could just get George Clooney to notice me, life would be complete.

But even better than that -- yesterday our zinc table makeover was featured on Design*Sponge!

Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design, and was declared a “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials”. It features store and product reviews, city, product, and gift guides, diy projects, before & after furniture and home makeovers, recipes, and more!

It's like the artsy equivalent of having your book promoted by Oprah. Without all of the couch-jumping.

And even though I inadvertently got all of the credit, Mr. VJIMT is sort of famous! How cool is that?

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I answered some of the comments on the Design*Sponge site, but for those of you who wanted more information, we purchased the adhesive, solution, and zinc sheets from http://www.rotometals.com.

They’re Coming out of Hibernation!*

*stolen from attributed to Vintage Rescue Squad Sue

Remember the gorgeous vintage dress form I found last week? I already told you that Gypsy Brocante Jill had discovered one too, but I spaced out on Vintage Rescue Squad Sue's post about her acquisition (I think I was too busy drooling over the metal letters she scored).

So check out Mike Wolfe’s (@AmericanPicker) tweet Tuesday night:

“Chick pick 2 Wolf Mannequins for 100.00 

http://twitpic.com/4w0vya”

Be on the lookout -- they’re coming out of the woodwork!

St. Teresa and a Cocktail Shaker

I did get some other fabulous things at that estate sale on Friday. Not as spectacular as the vintage dress form, but still. And unlike the vintage dress form, these will be for resale in my Etsy shop.

First find is a wonderful vintage St. Teresa chalkware statue. Every religious chalkware statue I have found and listed on Etsy has sold quickly and well. Good thing I don't personally collect them, but I am loving the look.

Spectacular elongated, multi-color, striped, made-in-Poland, Christmas ornaments. Yes, I'm selling them. I love the elongated shape, but I prefer the solid color ones. Especially pink or aqua. And there's no more room in the hallway for my ornament collection. Just ask Mr. VJIMT.

Another religious statue -- the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Not chalk this time, but ceramic, made in Italy. She's quite lovely.

Ok, I'm not sure if I'm going to sell this 1937 Medco NYC glass art deco cocktail shaker with red plastic (bakelite?) dial lid. I think it's kinda awesome. And can hold quite a few cocktails.

It is really tall and was known as "The Skyscraper". You may remember this one with the green dial lid. Which I kept. I may now reverse my decision -- put that one on Etsy and keep this one instead.

A great old ledger from a Philadelphia business circa 1898-1902.

There was also a SECOND estate sale I was able to hit at the end of the same day. I got an industrial-look rubber stamp carousel (with stamps), a jewelry box (with a project in mind), another chalk wedding cake topper, and bunch of old broken rosary beads.

It was such a great day I almost didn't want to ruin my high on Saturday with the possibility of disappointing yard sales.

Almost.

Estate Sale Fabulosities, Episode One

Sometimes you see fabulous things at estate sales.

Sometimes you realize you were fortunate enough that the fabulous thing you found was still there an hour after the estate sale began, and even though it was priced a little higher than you would normally pay and would not be discounted since it was still early in the first day of the 2-day sale, you know it is valued at about four times as much and worth every serendipitous penny.

Not that I will be selling her. Ever. 

Here she awaits entrance to her new home.

Come on in, we've been waiting for you!

A little dusty around the shoulders, but she should clean up pretty nicely.

Does the model number mean she was born in 1927? (fun fact: our house was built in 1926). A little further up is the number 14, which I'm guessing is the size. A fourteen. With that waist. Yikes.

I'll have to inspect a little further for a manufacturer or at least a location. Do you think she's French? Or a native New Yorker?

Lovely claw feet.

She looks right at home!

There must have been something in the Jersey air since Jill of Gypsy Brocante found one last month. And, like her, I am also trying to come up with an appropriate name, although I'm thinking something to reflect our Italian heritage would be preferable. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards Graziella…

Hope everyone is having a glorious Mother's Day!

Estate Sale Monstrosities, Episode One

Sometimes you see weird things at estate sales.

Like giant industrial-sized hair dryers from the 1950s.

Or a bedroom covered in flocked wallpaper. (Can you imagine sleeping in here?)

Or an attic room in the same house covered in flocked wallpaper.

But especially a bathroom in the same house covered in flocked wallpaper.

With matching door.

(pardon the grainy iphone photos; I just couldn't not share)

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Hey, how cool is this? Vintage Junk in My Trunk got a mention in The Detroit News in an article featuring antique and collecting blogs. Read all about it here. It's pretty amazing to find people all over the place are reading about your little weekend yard sale jaunts!

Thanks to Khristi for writing it and including me in the fine company of other vintage bloggers like Lisa of Urban Farmhouse, Tricia of Red Door Antiques, and Mitzi of Vintage Goodness.