I’m back with the latest thrift store haul! It’s rather small, but keep reading to see what I found when panning for treasure in an unlikely spot! If I gave you 3 guesses, you would never guess where! I haven’t been to many thrift stores or estate sales lately and I’m overdue for a fix, LOL. I get a bit twitchy when it’s been too long.
These are all picks from mostly one thrift store~
I got a kick out of this tea mug. It comes in 3 pieces with a loose leaf tea strainer inside. I’d never seen one like it. I bought it for me to keep, but reality is…I’m not much of a tea drinker, so I changed my mind about keeping it. Bought for $1.59. Available
Wood salt and pepper grinders in great shape, but if they don’t sell as is, I might paint & distress them. $3.18/set. Available
I thought these boho sun napkin rings were a fun looking set. $4.99. Available
This is one of those little buildings for a Christmas village. I have plans for it later in the year. $1.99
I loved this hat! I didn’t buy it for me, but I thought it was vintage. It isn’t, but it has that vintage look. Would you believe the original price tag was $80? Wish I could sell it for that! $3.99. Available
A cute size of a small apothecary jar~99¢. Available
And this cushion I bought for us~
I guess it must be comfy enough…”Wes” thinks so. 99¢
This is a recent find from the little town of Greensboro which we visited recently. We took a day trip to visit a restaurant called “Pie Lab.” Written up in magazines like “Southern Living,” it’s a place we’ve been wanting to visit.
For all my Alabama followers, have you ever been there? If you don’t know about it, they specialize in homemade pies, but they do a nice lunch too. It’s a really nice side trip.
This piece is a vintage tea tin, made in England. Bought for $1 & Available. I think it’s quite pretty.
That’s it for the thrift store finds. Ready for the true story?
My hubby works a lot on our old motorhome, which we keep stored in a public lot nearby. I was over there with him a couple of days last week. To give you a little history, a guy used to keep repo cars in the lot, and whenever he got in a new crop, he routinely cleaned out the junk, leaving it behind on the ground. One day, he and all his junky cars left for good, but the junk didn’t leave. It sat out in the wind and rain for weeks until everyone knew he wasn’t coming back.
If you don’t know me yet, I’m drawn to a pile of junk like a homing pigeon to his roost. I thought I’d have a look at it. Most of it was man stuff…screwdrivers, hammers, socket wrenches, etc, but there was a toolbox…the kind that’s mounted in the back of a truck.
The toolbox contained a few things I thought we could sell in our next garage sale. I got excited when I saw a handful of change in the bottom of a bag. I found a whole 89¢ in change! I get excited when I see a couple of pennies on the pavement, so 89¢ was a big deal!
The next day, I checked the junk again. This time I found a damp, yellow, pollen-covered zip bag containing a pool cue. A few more odds and ends came home with me. I spied an old beat-up, sunburned vacuum cleaner in the yard. “Why don’t you go pick up that vacuum?” I told my husband. “We could sell it for $5 in the garage sale.”
A couple of days later, the vacuum arrived. It was a lot worse off than I thought. It worked, but I don’t think we could even get 5 bucks for it. Hubby took the lid off and it was full of little glass shards…AND more money!
I had a lot of fun “panning for treasure”! Using a cat litter scoop, we took turns combing through the muck and glass shards and came up with $2.18 in change! It was like hunting for Easter eggs!
Any money I find goes into my “found coins jar” I keep for a ministry at our church called the “Pocket Change Ministry,” which goes into buying food for the poor.
As we were combing through the dirt, I saw a glint of gold.
It’s so tiny, it looks like a baby’s pinkie ring. Do they still make pinkie rings for babies? Does anyone know?
3 little clear stones are mounted in the center. Diamonds? With my jeweler’s loupe, which is the strongest magnification I have, I barely made out what looked like the date, 1914. I can’t be certain, but I intend to take it over to some appraisers. I’ll keep you posted.
What is your latest treasure?
Florence
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I love this story. I am drawn to a junk pile also, I mean people throw away such good stuff. Love the little ring!
They sure do Linda! The things people throw away are mind-boggling! Thanks for your comment!
Oh, wow! I can’t wait to hear the outcome of the ring! My grandmother had tiny hands and fingers. I have one of her rings and can’t wear it but I don’t remember if it won’t fit on my pinky or if it’s a bit too big.
Thanks Wanda…well, you can always wear the ring around your neck on a chain if it won’t fit.
Boy, you are rolling in the dough on this junkin adventure. I know what you mean about finding money and nowadays everyone uses a debit card! My favorite find is the baby ring and I do think the napkin rings are cool.
Yes I am! A whole $3 and something! Thanks for the comment. Glad you like the napkin rings.
Oh, you’ll have to keep us posted about that ring. I love a mystery! I’m eager to find out what it’s worth.
Me too. As soon as I get back in town, I’m going to go by a jeweler that I take stuff to. I’ll let everyone know. Thanks for the comment Kim!
Very cool find on the ring. Wow!!
I have to tell you this story because I think you’ll appreciate it. My husband is helping a customer of ours clean out his house because he’s moving. So today he brings our flat bed truck home before he went to the dump with it and told me I had better go outside and climb inside. OMG, was I glad I did.
Here’s a list of stuff I picked out and what I am pricing it all at…
1960’s typewriter $ 100.00
1920’s typewriter – beautiful and I’d love to keep it…. $ 100.00
Cypress Gardens water ski $ 145.00
2 fishing nets $ 40.00
large fish basket $ 20.00
brand new orange life jacket in the package $ 6.00
Reindeer crossing blow mold $ 70.00
2 snowman blow molds $ 120.00
canoe paddle that I’m repurposing $ 25.00
horse weather vane $ 50.00
Disney necklace $ 6.00
Queen size Christmas quilt – looks new $ 20.00
17 trophy’s – swimming, baseball, wrestling – took the tops off and selling for $ 9.00 each
Christmas tree stand $ 20.00
Plus 3 – 10 ft. lengths of copper that we’ll take to the recycling center
I’m still giddy….. 🙂
WOW Kim! Now you really did find some treasure!! Can you see me turning green with envy??? I would have loved to find all that! Do you have a booth to put it in, or do you sell online? You’ll have fun selling all that. Hope it goes good for you!
I do both – I have 3 booths at an antique mall in Benton, KY and I sell on Etsy. I have junk all over the house. LOL
That’s me. Junk.All.Over.The.House! With 3 antique booths to manage & Etsy too, I know you’re one busy woman!
OMW Florence, 1914!!!! And it’s soooo tiny. Wouldn’t you just love to know the story behind the ring? I suppose you do get rings for babies although I’d be so worried they’d swallow it by accident. Can’t wait to hear what the appraiser says. Will you do a follow up on the blog?
Yes I will do a follow up on it as soon as I find out! Hope I wasn’t wrong about the date. I’m as excited about that as anything!
Lots of great finds Florence! My favorite is the small apothecary jar, I can’t help myself when it comes to cute little jars. I love digging through rusty old junk for treasures. That’s cool you found that baby ring, can’t wait to hear what you find out about it.
I love jars too, and boxes! You & me would do good going out together. We like the same things. Hubby goes to be nice and accommodating, but he doesn’t have a passion for it, LOL.
Florence my favorite piece was the English tin. It has so many pretty colors on it. And of course I can’t wait to see what is up with that pretty little ring. Happy Easter to you!
Glad you liked the tin Mary! It’s one of my faves too! Thanks for the comment!
You found an antique ring in an old vacuum!? That’s awesome sauce! I’m the same way about being drawn to junk. We bought our property a couple of years ago and it seems the previous owners were fond of just throwing stuff out in the yard. I haven’t found anything of value yet, but I value all that I find! We hope to make art installations out of some of it at some point. I can’t wait to hear what the appraisers say!
Thanks so much for your comment! Wouldn’t it be cool to make something artsy out of your found junk? I’d like to do that too, but still waiting on inspiration to hit.
You have such an eye Florence when you go hunting! I love this English tea tin! Great finds as always!
Thank you Christina! I appreciate your sweet comment.
Hello Florence, wow!
I’m glad you found that sweet little ring! It probably is from back then. My husband’s grandmother’s wedding band (1930) was so thin and worn by the time she passed that it looked a lot like the one you found. It was definitely worn by somebody with tiny hands! 🙂
p.s. Love all the goodies you found at your last thriftshop trip!
Barb 🙂
Thanks for dropping by Barb! I appreciate your sweet comment. Yes, it was such a fun find! Sadly it didn’t have a date like I thought. I was seeing 10K. Probably upside down or something. My eyes aren’t good anymore for tiny print. It wasn’t worth much, but I was glad I found it.