Garage sale season is getting into gear and last weekend my husband and I went to a sale that was downright scary. "Eight bedroom residence with forty-plus years of accumulation" turned out to be a former church that I'm pretty sure was a cult or halfway house of some sort and if Hubby hadn't been with me, I would have bolted straight for the door. We wound up going through all of the rooms (because how could you not?) and I spent the rest of the day feeling so weirded out by the whole thing that I seriously thought it had killed my love for estate sales. I've been in weird and unsettling houses before, but that place took the cake.
Yesterday the sun was shining and I checked the ads and found some possibilities. We almost skipped the adoption fundraiser, but it was near the convenience store where we grab our caffeine for the day.
Oh, my gosh...
If you've been reading my blog for long, you know that I love old trunks. I've got two that are family pieces and Adult Daughter has one she picked up for a song and took with her when she moved. We've been looking for a third for our oldest son, but they tend to be either falling apart, or really expensive, or both.
This one was thirty bucks. It shows its age, but it's sturdy and doesn't reek of anything, and the interior is remarkably clean.
While we were looking, and old guy came up and asked if I'd checked to see if it had all four wheels. I'd tipped it up to see if the bottom looked nasty, but never knew that they had wheels. I'm pretty sure my own doesn't.
Old Guy says he used to restore them for a living and that this one probably dates to the mid-1800s. I don't know that I believe that, but it's definitely nicer than Great-Grandma's or my daughter's estate sale find. Aunt Molly's steamer trunk might have it beat...if we were keeping score.
I planted the boys on the trunk and went to pay for it and stumbled across a couple of other finds on the way. You know how much I love wooden ironing boards? And how I've been wishing I still had the toy ironing board that Mom or Grandma thrifted when I was a kid?
Look at this!! It's little and weathered and adorable and has all of the things I love about the big ironing boards except it's little girl sized.
And look at my two dollar vintage bread box...
I'd love one that was clean enough to store bread in, but this probably isn't a good candidate for that. It'll be great for sewing or knitting supplies.
I didn't buy a sewing machine. Assuming that it worked, the price was good, but I can't justify another one this week, no matter how gorgeous and blue and shiny it is.
Of the other three sales on my list, two didn't exist and the other one will get its own post. I'm feeling much better about the whole estate sale thing and knowing that the money we spent at this one went towards a good cause makes me feel even better.
2 comments:
You definitely were at a good sale with interesting things and good prices. What a great find in the old steamer trunk for that price! I have a couple of wooden ironing boards. Wish you lived closer and you could have them. I was going to turn one into a Christmas Santa that I saw one year to stand on the porch by the door at Christmas time. Never did do it. lol
Oooo, I wanted to know more about why the house creeped you out. Please elaborate - now you've got my curiosity piqued!
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