Sunday, January 31, 2010

A HOARDER'S ESTATE SALE - OH, MY GOODNESS!

You know that show, Hoarders? Have you ever watched it?
I have and it makes me so, so sad when I do.
Being a psych/soc major in college and keeping up with my reading, I know the pain a hoarder suffers and watching them have to go through the trauma of un-hoarding (un-hoarding? new word) just breaks my heart.

It's different when I go to a hoarder's estate sale.
Oh, hush. Someone has to buy that stuff.

I went to a hoarder's estate sale this past weekend. I dragged my poor 82 year old mother with me - I say "poor mother" but when I told her I could just go by myself she said absolutely not, she might miss something!
It had rained about 3" Thursday night so when we drove up on Friday it was a mushy, muddy mess. I'm surprised neither of us fell down. I told mom that if she fell down she'd be too muddy to get back in my car so she better hurt herself badly enough to require an ambulance.

We trudged through the mud and hit both the house and the barn.
Oh, my.
I forgot my camera to take pictures to show you the amazing amount of stuff, but, if you've seen the show Hoarders, just picture this house and barn having the same look except the trash has been shoveled out and the possessions are left.
It bothered me somewhat, it did, when I would look at ALL of the stuff/junk and think of whomever it was living that way. But, I knew they had to get rid of the "treasures" and that the money earned from the estate sale would go to whomever lived there or their children.

Okay, now for the treasures.
Treasure #1.) I met another estate sale shopper when she was standing there waiting to check out and I was checking out one of her items; I was just looking at it and we started kidding about "hey, back off!" and before I knew it we were laughing and having just the best time. We exchanged our business card information and planned on getting together. She lives pretty close and she's adorable and so much fun and she gets me - you other mixed media artists know what I mean. She gets me, lives close, is an antique/junk dealer, wants to work on her mixed media art skills, loves estate sales and, well, she's just great!
Her name is Anne Lorys and you will want to visit her blog and her etsy shop - both are worth the time! I love her blog - she writes like she talks, just like me:)

So, the next treasureS are the deals I got.
When mom and I went on Friday it was regular price, however, they were so wanting to get rid of her stuff that I was still able to deal - I loved that.
On Saturday it was what I would call, "It's a Steal" day because, not only was everything half price, but if it wasn't priced I was given such a good price (and most of it wasn't priced - too much stuff!).
Wanna see what I got?? (This is so much fun - sharing my finds with you!!)
I have to tell you the funniest story - y'all know that Craig, my oldest, is a police officer. I'm always buying him things to fill his books shelves on each side of his fireplace - I buy him books with titles like, oh, She Cried Murder, so this vintage framed embroidery piece was a given (mom thought the guy was a crossing guard and this girl standing near us overheard our conversation and saw the picture and said, "Who wants to grow up to be a crossing guard??" It was hysterical!!) Gosh, that was a great sale! And, the vintage plates will be used to make cake/cookie stands, the vintage hammered tin dish is for the Tank's remote control, and I'll use the book on pieces of art. Whoop!! (and did you see the wee little bisque doll and the wee white pitchers for my collection?)
Bases from vintage lamps. There were gazillions. I'm going to use these as bases for cake/dessert plates. They'll be for me or gifted and I'm soooo excited!
The copper pieces?? All of them for $8.50 - Whoop - they're going to be wonderful pounded and stamped for jewelry making! And the big doillies are just wonderful and I know exactly how I'm going to use the vintage dish!
This bowl is full of rusty wonders and wooden flourishes, black sequined trims, all vintage. I have so many ideas for this stuff, but you might find some of it in my Etsy shop - I got a LOT of stuff in this bowl!
Fun vintage metal pieces, hinges, and a great little vintage white ceramic blowl on a metal stand with wonderful metal trim which I want to make into a bird's nest. Oh, and a little jar that I thought was pretty cute!
A vintage clock for my clock collection and I want to use this lamp piece as a skirt in some kind of project. At least, that's my thought today!
A grouping of more fabulous finds. I tell ya, I was in heaven!!
Anne and I both dug through this file cabinet that had two drawers packed full of these fabulous vintage greeting cards. We had so much fun finding ones that were better than the last ones! The "Happy Anniversary Folks" card has a pop-up when you open it! Amazing. Whoop!!
This precious vintage picture is going to hang in the hall bathroom after I paint the frame either a dark cherry red or black. Probably black - you tell me! I got it for $1.50. .....I KNOW!!
This entire box of vintage earrings.............guess how much...............$8.50. Dying. I was dying!
A Bible from the late 1880's and four really beautiful trinket boxes that I plan on making even cuter than they already are! You'll find them in my Etsy shop
.
Won't this book cover make a great canvas??
Vintage jewelry, yum, vintage clock that says "NAP" on the face for my collection, old bottles, and a vintage coin purse.
Vintage heart shaped molds, vintage JELLO molds (see, you can see JELLO on the bottom of that one!), paint brushes for like nothing, brass stencils and a vintage bitty coin purse.
There were boxes and boxes and boxes of all different colors and hues of colors advertised. I missed them all by minutes. These two men bought all of the boxes..............but, they missed this one! Whoop!! The bottles are filled with powdered paint pigment. I know exactly what I'm going to do with all of these bottles. Well, some may be in my Etsy shop. Maybe. heeheehee

Those are my treasures:)
And, there's going to be a Part II to the  barn sale - the entire "loft" area which is as big as the downstairs (four rooms), is packed with so much that you can't even walk up there! The sale will be in about a month and you can bet that Anne and I will be there - together, I'll bet!!

Thanks for sharing my treasures!! I love you all, readers!
Jan

28 comments:

the wild raspberry said...

cute treasures.

when i watch the hoarders show, i immediately freak out and start cleaning like mad!

:)

The Vintage Vagablonde said...

How fun was that...I headed over to see who you were talking about....I LOVE Fiona & Twig. She got a lot of great stuff.

So nice that you two live close and can get together :)

The little policeman is adorable and perfect for your son...love the crossing guard story though.

Oh and my bedroom....could be on an episode of hoarders...well almost~lol

I have an extra sitting room in my bedroom and it is full of misplaced stuff. I should just have a hoarders sale myself :)

summersundays-jw said...

I'm so jealous!!!! I so miss garage and estate sales. They're almost non-existent here in the winter but next week-end there's a huge auction. I'm so excited. Love all your goodies. Jan

Unknown said...

WOW! It's like you struck gold! Lucky you! My MIL is a hoarder. It's pretty sad.

Anne Lorys said...

I keep looking at your pics and going "Hey! Where did she find THAT???" in an almost indignant tone! ;-)

I seriously love all the wonderful treasures you grabbed when I wasn't looking, but more than that, I loved meeting YOU. I've spent the afternoon going back over many of your old posts, and it really is scary how much we have in common.

I can't wait to get together this next week and plan our next adventure! :-)

XO,
Anne

Dayna Collins said...

SCORE! Lucky you - thanks for sharing your treasures with us!

Shabby Cottage Studio said...

Oh. My. Word. I am SO jealous! We never have anythign good around here that I can find, let alone something like that! Love the lamp bases as they can be used for so many things but all those earrings are to die for. HOw wonderful for you. And also to meet someone who gets you?! What a wonderful weekend you had.

Anonymous said...

do you need my address to send all that stuff to?
seriously, love the alarm clocks...I also collect them! who knew?
lucky duck to find a new friend too! I don't think anyone does AA around here :(
love ya
Kath

Debby said...

WOW!!! What a treasure trove of goodies. You are a lucky girl..

Mad Red Hare said...

I watch that show Hoarders too. It helps remind me to clean out my junk. I am so jealous of your finds at the estate sale. I can never find any good stuff like that.

beautifullybrokenme said...

Oh my goodness!!! The copper! The vintage jewelry! The vintage "Little Women"! the Jello molds! The plates! The rusty stuff! I've GOTTA get out to your neck of the woods - we don't ever have stuff like that out here - I'm drooling with jealousy!

:-) Molly

Danielle Muller said...

holy moly...you hit the mother load!!! good for you!!

blessings,
danielle
www.thevintagedragonfly.typepad.com

La Petite Maison Blanche said...

Cowabunga! You really did hit pay dirt! I, too, watch 'Hoarders'. If you go into my FB profile pictures, you will see a note my DD left me. It's a hoot!

Can't wait to see what you do with it all!

Bettyann said...

LOVE LOVE the treasure you found..I watched a few Hoarder shows..I am stunned by the stuff piled to the roof in some instances..I am helping my friend with this issue..I have been offering for years and she was finally ready..we are cleaning one space at a time..hard for her to do..each item means too much to her!! take care...I am running to clean MY CRAFT ROOM.....

SweetAnnee said...

Oh my..you are sooooo lucky.

I love the brushes and the
stencils too.

You got soooo lucky.. Good thing
you got some of those lil paint vials

I LOVE those.. let me know if you sell some
so I can RUN to etsy

LiLi M. said...

Here we don't have estate sales (a few moments silence for impact please) and the season for flea markets hasn't started yet, so I love to go with anybody who likes to buy eh junk! Ah you bought so many lovely things, I love the small bisque doll! And all the cards, the book cover, well I guess I'll take the short cut now: I love it all! The best part is that you found a friend and what you told you mother, XD!
Have a great start of the week, making your beautiful art and making friends happy when you fill your Etsy shop!

Kathy said...

I went along this trip with you and your sweet mama. I was hanging on every word, and I must say...I am green with envy! Oh the fun I would have had going with you. You have lots of goodies, and the lamp bases...OMG, can't wait to see what you do with them.
So, when I watch Hoarders tonight...I will giggle and think of you!
~xx~

deb christensen said...

oh my gosh. that was so exciting i had to walk away from the computer and go pee. so many treasures. i have never been to an estate sale, have only heard about them on other folks' blogs. i think i would probably need oxygen. wow.
ps, congrats on your new baby! another great story!!

Kenda said...

Just an idea for your vintage lamp bases, only because I purchased one at a store and I absolutely love it! Attach an old ceiling light fixture right side up, so it looks like a bowl sitting on top of the lamp base. The fixture has to have a hole in the center of it to attach properly. I have always wanted to find a use for these vintage ceiling fixtures! I filled mine up with dried hydrangeas and it's sitting on my coffee table.

CEDAR JUNCTION said...

I gotta go find a mop 'cause I am droolin' all over the place! That's MY kind of sale. I wish I could have hit it. You found some wonderful treasures. I am particularly Jonesin' over those wonderful brass basses.

Happy hunting,
Teresa

alteredstatesstudio said...

OMG!!! i don't know where you are...but, i WANT to be there! you got the absolutely most cool stuff! i really like your blog, and its voice...i'm a mixed media artist as well, and totally know what i could do with some of your stuff! good job buying and i look forward to what the loft brought!!

Susie said...

Wow Wee! What a stash of goodies syou found. I was holding my breath reading your finds. I could feel your excitment! Thanks for sharing your bliss. One man's junk, another man's treasures....
Susie
The Polka Dot Rose
www.thepolkadotrose.com

Robin said...

I WANT some of those earrings... and some of those pigments... and and and I WANNA GO WITH YOU NEXT TIME!!!!!

Pleeeeeeease!!!

Pam Mattick Art and Stuff said...

I'm wishing for the paint brushes...will they go on your etsy? Are they good brushes? I love old brushes that are still good. Great finds. I hate all the dead cats they always show on Hoarders. Was this place like that?
Good job Jan, fun stuff.

nancy lee said...

Oh Janny girl..... I am in trouble with a capital T. First of all, I'm back-tracking your past blogs since I am so new to all of this. Anywho, this post about one of your many junkin' trips has given me so many ideas and inspirations that I am going to want to buy even more stuff than I already do. So the trouble I refer to is that I really don't think this house I just bought is going to be big enough for it all. Not even if I stuff the basement and the 3rd floor. So much for Spencer's attic bedroom and the man cave up there. Some day (hopefully decades away) someone will be standing in line for my Hoarder's Sale! YIKES! I am so glad you photograph all your finds. I have been following Fiona and Twig for a couple months, probably because I saw it on your list. I did not know you personally knew her. You too must be a riot to watch trying to push past each other to get those deals. I hope you're getting back into the "swang" of things. Tell Junie I said hello!

Judy said...

OMG...I love a good estate sale! You found some incredible finds, and those child's shoes were to die for!

Erica of Golden Egg Vintage said...

I know this is an older post of yours, but I just had to comment! I hopped on your blog because you had left a comment (where I can't remember now) that you have R.A and fibromyalgia. I have them both too. I'm having a rough night with it, but your post made me laugh! The part where your mom thought the little embroidered police man looked like a crossing gaurd...and who whould want to grow up to be a crossing gaurd??? That just gave me the giggles!!
Anyway, I'm so so sorry that you have R.A too. It can almost be more emotionally challenging than physical, because it limits us in so many ways.
And it sounds like you are facing a very challenging time with your dear mother. I hope all is going well now that she's lving with you.
Thank you for making me laugh a little tonight. :)
Take Care, Erica

Lululiz said...

What a great haul of treasures! I would have snapped all of those up as well. It was funny seeing Ann's pic on your blog, I have been following her blog for, ermm, probably two or three years now and love it. Great gal.

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