5 Reasons I Go Picking Out of Town and Favorite Junking Finds

March 19, 2017 by Florence 36 Comments

5 Reasons I Go Picking Out of Town:

*Not as much competition, although there’s still a lot. More locals come out of curiosity. Fewer dealers and re-sellers.

*Usually more vintage items

*Enjoying the outing as well as the sale

*It’s often better priced, (but not always)

*You can hit off-the-beaten-path thrift stores which are usually a little cheaper

The 5 reasons I go picking out of town is a new thing for us. We enjoy the drive as well as the sale! I’m sorry I didn’t start earlier! First stop, an estate sale in Blountsville, Alabama, known as an early source of healing mineral springs, the site of a historic hotel, and several caves. One of the nearby caves, called Bangor Cave, was a nightclub at one time. Some remains of the honky-tonk are still visible, and it’s definitely off the beaten path.

So on to the estate sale. Arrived a bit late, but still left with some amazing finds!

I grabbed this vintage Hollywood Regency tissue box cover first. I know it looks awful, which is why it was so cheap at $1.

First a bath, then those nasty black water spots instantly disappeared with a little light spray of gold paint…good as new and sold quickly for $19.64!

I know you remember my other Hollywood Regency makeover…vintage trash can cover? Shabby Chic Makeover Hollywood Regency Trash Can Cover.

Old Bible…KJV…these do sell, but it was a bit pricey at $5. Sometimes Bibles are free. It depends on the people running the sale.

The basement was the real treasure trove!

Hubby picked up this oddity. Do you know what it is? I’m not going to make you guess. I thought it was a letter opener. If it hadn’t said “floating fish knife,”on the blade, I wouldn’t have known. $1

Question for all you fishing people out there…it just floats? That’s it? Is it for filleting/descaling while you’re still on the boat? You can tell I don’t fish, but I thought all that happened back on land.

Obviously, whoever lived there had been a fisherman. Here’s another fishing-related item…hot in farmhouse decor….a large galvanized minnow bucket $4.

A vintage kitchen scale $5….

Now isn’t this the ultimate in farmhouse kitsch? Made in Japan, so I know it’s vintage. A wooden spice set…25¢ Look at those painted faces on the spices! Isn’t it adorable?

And my favorite find of the day………………………………Vintage Bird Cage! $4. I know it doesn’t look like much now, but stay tuned for a makeover. It has a good bit of rust now, but wait to see!

Hitting a nearby thrift store yielded these items…..

Brown and aqua dresser drawer set. $3.99 I have a thing for boxes of all types! I just love those snazzy drawer pulls too.

Glass Christmas Tree Oil Lamp $3.99…notice the “crown” cap. This is a keeper for my Christmas decor.

These are all my weekend finds and hopefully you can see the 5 reasons I go picking out of town! Hope you took away some info you can use!

Mystery Items What Is It 2

March 4, 2017 by Florence 22 Comments

Another installment of mystery Items what is it 2. If you’re new here, I publish a mystery item post from time to time when I’m stumped and need answers. In my last mystery post, these three items were up for identification and the general consensus was:

Yellow clown bottles were a promotional circus item originally holding candy…

This little pile of lead is melted bullets, and/or pie weights….

mystery items what is it 2 — Lead pellets

And this is a punch tool for making loop rugs….

…and if you have a burning desire to possess any one of these lovelies, just check out my Etsy shop now!

I carry vintage items in my shop, vintagesouthernpicks.etsy.com. Surprise, surprise! Betcha couldn’t tell! (wink wink) I go to yard sales, estate sales and thrift stores every week.

I found the mystery items at an estate sale several years ago. Bought without having a clue what they were, but figured it would be easy to find out. WRONG! They must be relatively rare because in 4 years, I STILL don’t know what they are. And ya gotta know what something is called to sell it. You can’t just call it “little white china thingies.”

Case in point:

A couple of years ago, I had the below item for sale in my Etsy shop.

It wouldn’t sell. It was dainty and pretty, porcelain, obviously old, not a thing wrong with it and something very appealing. But it wouldn’t sell…and it wouldn’t sell. Like for a year it wouldn’t sell. I couldn’t understand it.

I called it an “Egg Strainer.” It looked like an egg strainer to me. And I thought it was lovely.

One day some kind soul pointed out that it was probably a tea strainer instead. Oh! (head slap). Of course! I changed the title to “tea strainer,” and it sold within a week.

So you see you gotta know what something is called to sell it.

You can do descriptive searches on Etsy or Ebay and often find what you are looking for, but THIS was a little hard for me. How to describe it…”cup with lid that has holes in it”? Well, frankly I never tried.

It was an egg strainer.

OK, you ready to see the mystery item yet??? I’ve probably blathered on long enough.

Here it is! What in the world is it??

It is helpfully marked “Belleek Willets.” Willets Belleek is an older form of the Irish-made porcelain. Supposedly more valuable. 2″T x 2.5″W

If anyone knows, please enlighten me!

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Incredible Thrift Store Haul

February 13, 2017 by Florence 24 Comments

Hello friends!

What happens when you’re a little dry, a little blue, and a little bored? And you got lots of stuff to do, but don’t want to do it? And you need some inspiration and a little change of scene?? And your hubby is having surgery in a few days, and you better get out now while you can? You head to the thrift store!! Or at least I do anyway. Trekking to the thrift store just about cures all ills. Junkers, am I right?

Incredible Thrift Store Haul~

I’m so glad I got a good day for once. Too many times I go out empty-handed.

Off to the newest Salvation Army in town. Ordinarily I find them a little pricey, but heck, you gotta do what you gotta do. Thrift store prices are not garage sale prices….unfortunately.

Today I found a bunch of good stuff, and I’m thrilled.

Can you believe this gorgeous frame was only $2.99?? I think I will paint it, but it is lovely as is.

A beautiful wall mirror in another ornate frame. Only $1.99. (Hmm, maybe Salvation Army is not so bad after all.) I will probably market it as a tray also. It could be used as a perfume or jewelry tray.

Recipe box, $2.99, marked “Kamenstein” on the bottom, is a company making higher end kitchen products.

I sold one very similar to this before Christmas. I probably will not paint it as it looks so nice…plain, but nice.

In general, recipe boxes sell well for me, so I always look for them. Available now.

These tin wall tiles were only 99¢ each, a deal I couldn’t pass up. Not old, but vintage style. Marked “Hosley” on the back, they can be hung straight or diagonally. I will definitely be painting these.

A drawer divider, really nice quality, lined with a rubbery material. Only $1.99! This caught my husband’s eye. He wants to use it to continue his bathroom drawer reorganization, and I’m saying “Hallelujah.”

And right across the highway is another favorite thrift store…Jimmy Hale Mission Possible….

I buy expanding wall racks ($1.99)…sometimes…when the mood strikes. They can take a while to sell because there are so many on Etsy. But I must say I’ve sold all the ones I’ve ever had. Just price competitively, and make sure you have good photos.

This guy was kinda pricey ($5.99), but I need Halloween decor. Before I started blogging, I sold off all my vintage ceramic pieces.

I also buy these rattan trivets (59¢ ea.) when I see them. People buy these for some reason…maybe as wall decor? I usually sell them in groupings.

I hope I don’t step on anyone’s toes when I say this, but these have got to be the ultimate in ~~tacky~~ vintage home decor! (99¢ each) I really thought long and hard before buying them, but people do like ornate, and they are vintage. I think I’m going to paint them too. Agree or not?

I’ve never tried these before, and I rarely see them, so it will be an experiment to see if they sell in my Etsy shop….vintagesouthernpicks.etsy.com

Thanks for sticking with me to see all of the incredible thrift store haul. Don’t forget, your opinion on whether I should paint the plug and light fixture plates.

Until next time,

Florence

Catch the Latest Vintage Estate Finds

January 28, 2017 by Florence 18 Comments

Catch up on the latest vintage estate finds from a small sale the weekend before Christmas, and yes, I’m behind on showing recent hauls. There have been a few even though I’m not going to many due to having a lot on hand. But who can resist when it’s close to home (and sometimes I just gotta have an estate or yard sale fix)!? I was disappointed it was the 2nd day, and it was very picked over, but I still found a few items.

The Finds~

A Kid’s Band set of percussion instruments…toys, but educational and fun. (Paid $5/Sold $22-25)

Before Christmas I sold a similar set on Etsy….and THIS sold very quickly!

I berated myself for buying it because of all the missing pieces…no striker for the triangle, missing key on xylophone, missing cymbal.

What in the heck are these long red wooden rods?

And these hardwood roller things?

This is an interesting pair~

Hubby says “those are sandpaper blocks.” And yes, they look exactly like that, but with the red knobs, they match the set. I believe these are percussion thingies. Imagine rubbing 2 sandpaper blocks together for a neat sound.

I also found this OLD pair of oil lamps…I haven’t had a chance to clean them up yet. The glass bowls are quite unusual. I’ve never seen any this decorative. I might keep them for a while. I’m trying to think of a repurpose project for them. Any ideas? (paid $4 for both)

A small brass cannon~SOLD (paid $2/Sold $16)

and a set of 6 Stovetop Covers~not really vintage but pretty. (paid $2)

All these will be going to my Etsy shop~http://vintagesouthernpicks.etsy.com

TIP: When I’m on the hunt for stuff to sell online, I tend to look for smaller items, due to ever-increasing shipping costs.

Hope you enjoyed the latest vintage estate finds! I’ll continue sharing amounts I paid and sold if you find this as interesting as I do! Until next time~

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Mystery Items What is it?

January 19, 2017 by Florence 26 Comments

“Mystery Items What is it?” is a post I’ve had on the back burner for a while. All of the items below are mysteries to me which I will be showing from time to time for help in identification.

I have no idea what these are. Can you help me with a clue? Or two?

Mystery Items What is it?

The clown bottles are about 2-3″ tall. Note the caps/hats (navy blue) in the shape of a big top. If they had a slight smell inside, I think that would give me a clue, but no smell. I’m thinking these date from the 60’s-70’s.

Has anyone seen these before?

mystery items what is it

I have a whole zip lock bag full of these lead pellets. They were found in a kitchen at an estate sale, but what are they used for? They are about the size of mini chocolate chips.

I believe this is some kind of a crafting tool with interchangeable ends, but what is it, and what is the little thingy to the right of the big tool? mystery items what is it