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!
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
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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
