Instead of Dusting and Cleaning

Next Wednesday I have approximately 47 people coming to our home to see our collections. I started preparing for this a few weeks ago but unfortunately, much of the dusting and cleaning has to be done closer to the time. In an old house, it just comes back!

So in order to avoid this as much as possible, I have been out and about finding some great stuff for my etsy shop! For example, yesterday I awoke at 7am and decided if we threw on some clothes, makeup and pulled hair up in a clip, mom and I could make it to the estate sale across town that started at 8am. We got there right after it opened and the first ONE HUNDRED people had gone in! There were so many people, a long checkout line and some good stuff to be had! I totally forgot to take a picture at the sale even though I had my camera! Note: I did get a picture of a sunflower since I like them!

After leaving there an hour and a half later, we hit another estate sale that started the day before. So, while there wasn't much good stuff left, they were willing to deal and I got a whole box of stuff for $4. Important stuff, like ziploc bags, craft supplies, etc! The neighborhood this house was in happened to be having a neighborhood wide yard sale so we hit quite a few of them!

I got a picture of a guy buying the world's ugliest lamp which is sure to be a winner at Lynn's Ugly Lamp Contest at the KY State Fair in August! I mentioned that to him and he said that's exactly what he was buying it for! For $5 (a savings of $15 off the originally marked price), he walked away a happy camper with one ugly lamp in hand!

Then mom and I had a delicious lunch at The Cheddar Box in St. Matthews and stopped by A Reader's Corner bookstore where they were having an outdoor yard sale (by the time we arrived it was $5 a bag, I walked away with one overstuffed bag and two that didn't fit but he let me have anyway- no one except me wants old medical books anyway!). Inside, all books were 35% off and mom found some cookbooks.

So, we finally arrived home at 5pm with a car load and a mess in my foyer! Most of it's been put away and now it's definitely back to dusting and cleaning.

Happy Vintage Fourth of July

I have just a few vintage Fourth of July items in my holiday collection. I really got into the old boxes of sparklers for awhile! An old red white and blue telephone with the cord (ha ha), American Ball Blue bluing, True American Hand Lotion, an old paint box tin with Uncle Sam and friends, my folk art Uncle Sam from the shop days, and my most recent acquisition- the Dennison flag seals still in their original package! My favorite item has to be the set of paper dolls featuring a child-like Uncle Sam and not one piece has been cut from the book! A permanent patriotic/military display stays up year 'round in our library. The celluloid photo of the man is Tim's dad! Happy Fourth!

My Assistant

Always willing to help!

Antiquing in Springfield Ohio

Mom and I hit the road last Thursday night and headed to Springfield, Ohio for their June Antiques Show at the Fairgrounds Friday. We got up early Friday morning and arrived at the gate just after 8am. We were worried that it would get very hot and humid so we scoured the outdoor vendors first and then hit the three inside buildings.

It was a little smaller than the show last year but I still had a great time! Actually, it was just the right size for me. We were pleasantly surprised that it never did get too hot or uncomfortable, gotta love Ohio! Tim reported that it was miserable and too hot to even mow the overgrown grass back in IN.

After we finished up the show Friday afternoon, we had just enough time to hit the first antique mall (there are three large ones right near each other). We chose the AAA- I70 mall since it's the smallest. We found some treasures of course and closed them down at 5. Went back to the hotel briefly and had a great pizza at the Hickory Inn, a local restaurant in town that had the largest and most diverse menu I've ever seen! They were packed! After dinner, we made a quick stop at Big Lots but they didn't have any Thickers I hadn't already found in Louisville! Fell into bed exhausted and geared up for another big day of malling!

Saturday we did sleep in a bit and took the back roads in search of the junk shop we had discovered last year! Found it as we turned a corner and it was just as bad, worse actually, as last year! But bad can be good! I found some great stuff there and got a box full for a great price. The downstairs isn't too bad. The upstairs, well, they shouldn't even let customers up there! It literally is like going into someone's attic! The owner apparently buys out houses and estates and just throws the boxes of stuff up there. A toppled bookcase and about 15 boxes piled in front of the book area prevented me from getting to dig through their great books and magazines this time. That was disappointing! I managed to find a few on the floor though, including several wonderful old Book of Knowledge reference books!

I spent an hour there digging and then we went on to the Springfield Antique Center. It's always been a nice mall too and is right behind the AAA-I70 mall. We were in there about 4 hours! We were so hungry when we left! Headed down to the Heart of Ohio mall and had a quick and yummy lunch at their little cafe. Then shoppped till 7:10pm! We had just enough room left in the car for our purchases although I had to empty one box and stash books here and there in the car!

Then began the grueling trip home! Tired and weary, the last hour was the worst and poor mom admitted she was a little scared with my driving it! We did make it home safely though and fell into bed!

I have managed to sort through most of my treasures and get them somewhat organized! (thrown in the basement until further notice) No, actually I have put some things away and I can almost see the front parlor table again!

Most of my purchases will go in my etsy shop eventually! One small grouping (the one with the trims and Dennison label books) are definitely keepers. The other goodies I found for my collections went home with mom and will make a reappearance under the Christmas tree this December!

Mom did find some things for her collections too but I don't have any pictures! She found two beautiful wedding cake toppers, a mannequin head, some cookbooks, a white victorian lawn dress and some vintage hats!

I Hadn't Planned on Buying a New Cell Phone This Week

But that's exactly what I ended up doing! Mine decided to jump off my pjs Sunday night and go swimming in the (fortunately clean, or as clean as one gets) toilet! I quickly retrieved it and opened it out to dry it off. Nothing. The next day still nothing and when I called Verizon they suggested putting it in a bag of rice for 24 hrs as that might draw the moisture out. I tried it. It didn't work. Off to Costco I went today and now I'm the owner of a new cell phone. At least they had pretty eye candy flowers!

It's Polly Time!

Just up the interstate is a wonderful treasure from the past- Polly's Freeze! Located in Georgetown, IN, the walk up ice cream and sandwich stand has been around since 1952. Tim and I treated ourselves to soft serve cones last Saturday night and enjoyed the nostalgic atmosphere!

Friday Finds

Friday morning I ventured out to a yard sale nearby that sounded pretty good. Antiques, collectibles, etc....it wasn't bad but the lady must have once been a dealer as she had some good old stuff but her prices were way too high! I did pick up an old Clue game, children's tracing set and a set of paper dolls that didn't match the folder they came in! I paid way too much but I just couldn't seem to put them down! I wanted a 1930s boxing magazine/booklet with great ads and illustrations and a girl scout book but they were just too overpriced! I stopped by another sale and picked up the embroidery book.

Next stop, a favorite thrift store in town where I stumbled upon what I thought was an old Yahtzee game. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the crumpled paper bag inside and discovered a great set of old scrabble tiles! Woo hoo! At the same place I happened to peer into a box in a corner and discovered a huge lot of vintage wrapping paper! Mainly Christmas but a few bridal and general thrown in the mix! I'm keeping a lot of it but some may wind up in my etsy shop eventually!

During the Thickers hunting expedition, I managed to hit one more favorite shopping venue and found 4 boxes of scrabble jr! YAY!