Vintage Junk in My Trunk

Vintage Wedding Cake Toppers

Have you seen the latest blog post from Flea Market Style magazine? A lovely compilation of vintage wedding cake toppers is featured today.

But to take a page from Vintage Rescue Squad Sue’s fun series, I'm Way Ahead of Ya! 

This was my first Etsy sale -- purchased by the effervescent Tamarah of Shabby Vintage Junk, who featured it on her blog the other day.

I have a whole wedding section devoted to them in my Etsy shop. These two have also sold:

But I still have some left –– this heart-framed one:

And this ribboned-arch one:

And this one dated 1949:

I also still have a couple more to list -- in particular, this whole wedding party set that I've been dragging my (cold?) feet on.

And although I think it's a spectacular set, Emily’s (I Like Collecting) collection is by far the most amazing I've seen! She was definitely way ahead of this trend!

A Girl After my Own Heart

This is my soon-to-be-7 year old‘s weekly calendar. I've trained her well.

A Tale of Two Junkers

Last week, while I was scoring at the local yard sales, Mr. VJIMT opted for an outdoor antique show a little further away.

Yard sale prices are more my speed.

But he got some good scores of his own.

He bought me this awesome ledger -- It's huge, and full of school records from 1904.

Of course, he also got a little something for himself -- this fabulous vintage sign to add to his collection.

The Kutztown Summer Extravaganza starts this week. Mr. VJIMT will be there on Thursday.

I think I'm going to hit an auction on Thursday night that I've been neglecting, and there’s an interesting estate sale starting on Friday that I’d like to check out. Hopefully there will be lots of good stuff for me to show you from our junking week!

Yard Sale Transformation

I found this grubby mirror a couple of weeks back during one of my yard sale adventures. 

I knew Mr. VJIMT would be able to transform it, so I waited to show you the before and after.

BEFORE…

AFTER!

Happy Father's Day to one handy dandy dad!

The Flip Side

And then there are the days you drive around for three hours to the yard sales in your ’hood, and all you spend is ONE DOLLAR.

St. Francis and the Pink Panther

I don't want to shock you or anything, but I am a big fan of yard sales. Especially those that feature the occasional vintage item. I have found some lovely vintage items at yard sales.

But do you know what is frustrating about yard sales? The yard sale where nothing is marked. Where not only is not a thing marked, but the people running the yard sale have noooo idea of what they would like to charge for their yard sale item.

So you have to go up to them and inquire into the item’s price. To which they give you a quizzical look that says “What, I need to give you some idea of what you should pay me for my item? Really? I'm responsible for that?”

After the quizzical look, the actual spoken words are:

"I don’t know; what do YOU want to pay for it?"

(Which is really sort of a ridiculous question, because my answer always and forever will be "A DOLLAR". I don't care what it is, a lucite tortoiseshell 1950s handbag or a martini needle, I really would like to pay a dollar. Who wouldn’t?)

So I'm at this yard sale, where nothing is marked, and there are all sorts of quizzical looks, and I've asked the price on a number of items -- one of which was an industrial-looking lamp, and to my query the guy says “Ten dollars?” Pause. “Twenty dollars?”

Um, dude, you're supposed to go DOWN in price, not up -- because I'm not going to say “Hmm, let me think about this, you said ten dollars, then you said twenty, so I think I'd rather pay you TWENTY than ten.”

I am still shaking my head.

Ack. I passed on the industrial lamp, and then didn't inquire about a couple of other things, including a concrete Blessed Mother statue -- mainly because I was frustrated, but also because I didn't want to get into another endless loop of backwards negotiations.

But I did get this whole case of unused vintage pharmacy bottles. Eight dozen of them. To sell on Etsy as supplies.

And these (also unused) vintage apothecary bottles.

And these lovely mercury glass beads and plastic tree topper -- that were PRICED!

For guess how much?

A DOLLAR!

Now we're getting somewhere.

There did seem to be a theme to this weekend's finds. I’m loving this cool old olive bottle -- it reminded me of my favorite vintage perfume bottle.

And this sweet vintage chopper with aqua lid -- also got a red one but the photo was too blurry to post.

Also these not-vintage-but-great-for-outside-candle-display hanging glass jars.

And what’s a yard sale without a stack of pretty dishes?

… or a 1978 (with tag) Cap’n Crunch stuffed doll for that matter!

Even better, a 1964 (with tag) stuffed Pink Panther doll!

Somebody was looking out for me -- maybe this guy? A wonderfully chippy St. Francis statue -- I would have quite the collection of vintage saint statues had I not been listing them all in my Etsy shop.

And finally, this large and quite heavy Mother Mary statue. Much better than the unpriced concrete one I chose not to inquire about. Thank heavens.

Linking to Thrift Share Monday and Her Library Adventures.

Of Lucite Purses and Celluloid Albums

Boy, am I glad I had to get up super early to drive my son to his PSAT testing this weekend. I think if I had been just a little later, I would have missed all of this great stuff at the Saturday yard sales.

I bought this adorable little white chair to sell as a photographer's prop, and it was resold by the time I pulled back into my driveway!

I can't even decide which is my favorite…

Maybe this fab-u-lous 1950s lucite tortoise shell box purse? It's missing its four half-round feet, so doesn't sit flat, but I still think it will sell well on Etsy. I have to stop looking at it because I'm getting kind of attached.

Or maybe this sweet Victorian photo album with embossed floral celluloid cover and velvet back and spine? 

Even better, it's miniature and measures only 4 x 5 inches. So cute!

How about these rosaries (some whole, some broken) for the elusive jewelry-making projects?

I especially like the sepia color of this one from Italy.

Or what about this darling metal dolly stroller?

This one is definitely little Miss VJIMT’s favorite! I think she’s even happier that I got out of the house early this morning.

So which one of my yard sale finds is your favorite? And what did you get this weekend that you adore?

Link up with Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday to see what everyone else got!

Mooooove it Out, Baaaack up the Truck

We had a barn sale this weekend. 

We don't really have a barn.

Only a garage with delusions of grandeur.

But antiques and vintage, that we have. Too many, in fact.

The house (and the addition, put on to the house to hold the vintage) is packed, and so was the “barn”.

(The drawing easel is not vintage, and regretfully, not for sale.)

Leftovers from Clover Market, smalls from my Etsy shop, recently found items, and stuff that had been replaced with different stuff.

Some things actually sold on Etsy while the barn sale was going on -- that was interesting, as I was at my job and Mr. VJIMT worked the sale alone, but the powers of modern technology -- specifically, texting and online access -- saved us from double dipping disaster!

Friends came from far and wide, and some not-so-local peeps saw the photos on my Facebook fan page and purchased via that outlet. Social media at work! 

A certain Gypsy girl showed up with a big bill. Why does she always looks so stinking cute?

So now that the “barn” is sort of cleared out, does that mean I can get some goats? Or at the very least, some barn cats?

Treasure Hunting Serendipity, Part 3

So what was Mr. VJIMT’s special treasure?

If you guessed “clock”, you were right!

He lurvvvves it! This magnificent piece is a Session’s Eclipse Store Regulator 8-day time and strike clock circa 1905.

But he almost never saw it.

We started our getaway weekend in a small town in Maryland looking for an advertised antique center. We found the building, but the sign on the door said they had moved across the street.

So we went across the street and couldn't find it. We repeated our steps twice and still no sign of it. I tried calling the phone number, but it just rang and rang with no answer.

We decided to continue on our way to our other stops and on the way back to our B&B tried again to find the antique center. Now we were on a mission, and somehow found it hidden in an out-of-the-way corner of a strip mall.

The place was kind of stinky, but he saw this clock and really wanted it. However, since it was our first day out, he didn't want to blow most of his budget on one big-ticket item.

So we left without it.

Breaking the cardinal antiquing rule -- the time to buy an antique is when you see it.

He thought about that clock all weekend and the morning of our departure decided he had to have it. We decided that if the store was open when we left at 10:00 that Sunday morning, he would get it.

And it was, and he did. Serendipity.

The End.

Oh, the Things We Saw while Treasure Hunting in Maryland

We saw some interesting things while we were away (excuse poor quality iphone spur-of-the-moment photos).

Boats that looked like vintage cars.

Gorgeously painted ceilings at the B&B we were staying.

And parked trailers full of junking opportunities. There were about ten of them. Wacky.

I'm going to keep you in suspense a bit as I show you Mr. VJIMT with his favorite treasure. We went back and forth across the road four times trying to get to this shop.

What do you think he got?

I'll show you what it was in the final post about our getaway weekend coming soon!