All The Pretty Colors ~ Estate Sale Finds

I love the colors of all these recently purchased Estate Sale items.



pretty reds and blues with yellows and greens...

old Christmas light reflectors, a tea tin



pen nibs..



handmade felt artichoke pincushions..



student watercolours, and a vintage toy shovel...

I LOVE being an antiques dealer.....

and if you like seeing what I find...

A Jam Packed Estate Sale

I haven't taken you Estate Sale-ing with me for a couple weeks ~ so let's go to last week's biggest sale ~ and have a look around.

When I got there 2 hours before opening there were already at least 50 people waiting on the front lawn.



Seeing stuff all over the front porch, I had a pretty good idea that there was ALOT inside.



No, I didn't buy that iron urn on a pedestal by the front door ~ it was $90.




The elves were cute ~ but were plastic and broken. That tent has hundreds of molds to make ceramics in it!



There were also hundreds frames all over this house. All pretty uninteresting. I know some of you who love to make things with frames would have been in heaven.



And then the stuff really started........It was a ranch style house with probably 12 rooms full of stuff including the basement.






That is a tote full of doll hair!






This was a pretty "sunroom/greenhouse". I found 2 pieces of ironstone out here.



Over the years when I start out to a sale I often have no idea what it is going to be like....now sometimes with Estate Sales.Net and Craig's List I have seen pictures.







With this sale I had seen pictures ~ but the extent of the stuff was not fully captured!



I did find 3 nice metal urns buried in all this stuff and a few other small things.

Looking at peoples' stuff I try to figure out their STORY?

Were these people in the gift business?

Did they own a ceramics store?

Why did they have all of these faux flowers?

What is up with the wall of unused Christmas stuff?

What do you think? Would you have loved or....



hated this sale?

What I was up to last Weekend.

I know it may seem that all I do lately is blog and craft, but NO I also Estate Sale shop for my antiques business. I went out Thursday morning and bought some neat old hardware, vintage tools, and iron garden edging.

Friday I started out in my hometown at this lovely home, with a lovely golf course view, with lovely stuff...but no lovely stuff for me. That is the lovely, good-natured home owner {in the pink} waving at us taking her picture.

Went to two other local sales..{bought a Victorian strap iron bench, garden cart, cool tools and old books} before heading about 30 miles west..



...to an "edge of town" farmette along the Fox River with several out buildings including this old barn. Note to readers: This cute little barn is actually a VERY BIG barn!



The old Ford truck is really just a front end sitting next to the barn...not coming out of it.



You can just see the top of the pretty, restored turn of the century farmhouse peaking over the top of the tent.



This is the surplus of a couple who are full time antiques dealers. The barn is FULL of ready to redo furniture projects.

Notes to self:

1. Don't bring home thousand pound things that no one else wants.
2. Don't leave indoor things OUTSIDE.



I asked the wife what was up with the sale, and her reply was that it was time "to do things differently."



I am walking toward one of the helpers who is picking up two of my purchases...some dress forms who are going to need "remodeling".

Bought some neat old silverware for a project. And a box full of vintage {but unused} folding, cardboard egg carriers with great graphics.



Saturday I was out again very, very early, and Sunday I was at this flea market shopping.



Saturday afternoon: Went to two Estate Sales in the morning. One in a house that had been closed up for 18 years! The handwritten sign: "DUCK" meant just that. I had to bend over in half to get into the very scary basement. The things I do for my customers.