Friday of Fun

Yesterday was my birthday and my hubby took the day off of work, so I got to go Estate/Garage Saling all by myself. It was a blast! I found many treasures and great deals. I had mapped out about seven sales in the paper and found more along the way.

My first stop was at a moving sale where I found a plant stand for the patio and two hard cover books for five dollars total. The second stop was not open even though the ad stated they would be. Very frustrating and inconsiderate! The third stop had nice things, but nothing that interested me. The fourth stop was the payday! I found a great vintage purse that was made in Italy for six dollars, a set of candlestick holders for fifty cents, a depression glass dish (Fire King) for two dollars, a DVD movie for two dollars, Mr. Potato Head with two zip lock bags full of accessories for two dollars, and the greatest find was the Thomas the Train pieces for fifty cents each. I found Cranky the Crane, the Sodor Airport tower, a bridge, two engines, two coaches, Bertie the Bus, Sir Topman Hat and a stop signal. When I paid for everything, the lady did not charge me for the smaller pieces of the Thomas items so I ended up paying $13.50 for the whole lot. What fun.

I plan on using the Thomas the Train items as rewards for potty training which I have started with my two year old son. You have to love bribery.

I stopped at a few more sales before my last find of a walking golf bag cart for, are you ready for this, one dollar!! The cheapest I have ever seen these for in the past as been ten dollars. I was quite proud and giddy with myself walking away with cart in tow.

All in all, I spent $19.50 and brought home many fun, useful treasures. Not a bad birthday!

How it All Started

I have to give credit to my sister who has been going to Estate/Garage sales for many, many years! She has found so many treasures over the years (even her house is an estate sale find) that she just makes it contagious. I could go on and on telling you of all her finds. She has a gift.

Each year since 2002 she has come to my house for the summer Antique & Collectibles Show. We have missed only three years in the past eight. She comes up a day or two early so that we can go to estate/garage sales throughout the area first.

It is the highlight of my summer. I always look forward to that weekend in July when I know my sister will be coming up to treasure hunt with me.

The Beginning

I have been to garage sales before. I have even held two, but it wasn't until recently that I really caught the bug. It was right after I made $113.00 going to one. I bought a box of silver plated silverware that matched my grandmother's set that I now own. My intent was to keep it because my sister and I thought it was the dinner set and that my grandmother's was the luncheon set. Well, as luck would have it, it was the set I already had twelve place settings for so what would I do with eight more? We were headed to the Antique & Collectibles Show two days later, so my sister suggested that I take it with and try to sell it to a silver dealer. Well, that is exactly what I did. I paid $10.00 for a shoebox with 55 pieces in it. I kept nine ice tea spoons and one master butter knife. Traded the two serving spoons and two teaspoons out of my set and sold 41 pieces at $3.00 each to a dealer. I was bitten!