Christmas Village Find

A few weeks ago I went to an Estate Sale down the road from my house. I wasn't sure that I would find anything since there was already a sale at this same house a few months earlier. But what the heck, why not look.

What I found was rather surprising. I found the pictured Christmas Village pieces for $3.00 each. What was surprising is that after doing some research, they appear to be Department 56 pieces. The village name is Mickey's Village. I have the complete Disney Village from Department 56 and was under the assumption that there were no other Disney/Mickey pieces since Disney and Department 56 had a falling out in 1998. To my amazement, they are back to making a village related to Mickey/Disney. This could turn out bad for me since I have a problem with needing to have the complete set of things and I only just found out about this village. Whether I find out when it started and how many pieces there are or not, I got a good buy and I can use them with my older Disney Village. Christmas at my house will be quite festive this year.

I also found these three plates for my sister for $5.00. They are ironstone plates in a really cool shape. I have seen this pattern only one other time at a friend's booth at the Expo show. http://kindredroses.blogspot.com/ They will make a great stocking stuffer.

Treasures from the past month or so!

I have found some good treasures in the past two months. Some for myself, some for others, some for the yard and some in the way of people! Here there are:


Last month I traveled to California for my 20th High School Reunion. While I was there, my sister, father and I went to an estate sale that turned out to be that of my first grade teacher who had pasted away in 2008. I found this cute little beaded purse that I took with me for the reunion dinner. More sentimental than anything being my first grade teacher's.

This threesome was my very first purchase at an auction at the beginning of this month. It is a gift for my sister who collects ironstone pieces. The two creamers are USA and the sugar is England. I am hoping she hasn't found the time to read my blog and give away the Christmas surprise. There were many other wonderful treasures at the auction, I was simply overwhelmed with the items and really don't know yet what a good deal is. I am learning quickly though which will help for the next auction on November 14th!

I also met a wonderful collector/dealer (http://kindredroses.blogspot.com/) who helped me a lot with both items and telling me who in the crowd was a dealer or collector.

This pretty little maple was our next purchase at a nursery auction the following Saturday. (Kindredroses was there too and got some great wired tree baskets). We also got one Burning Bush for the back yard. We (Mark & I) should have visited a nursery beforehand to check prices because there were a lot of good deals being had that we were not aware of. Again, learning as I go!

The following week I hit several estate/garage sales. I found a butter crock (has some cracks and breakage that was repaired) and a shoe box of silverplate at one sale. Some old Hop Along Cassidy books and a jewelry box at another. And Conor (my soon to be three year old) found a Radio Flyer wagon at the last one.

This past weekend was the Antique/Collector's Show at the Portland Expo. I did get to go, but I only went to sell the box of silverplate I got the week before. I didn't sell the whole box, but did get my investment back plus a little for future treasure hunts.

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!