Today's Estate Sale finds!

I have some good news and some bad news.

I'll start with the bad news.

Ready?

First: I was only able to go to 2 estate sales.  Out of the 40 or so estate sales listed on www.estatesales.net (one of my favorite web-sites), I only got to go to 2.

Yeah, I know. It's disappointing.

Second: I spent all my money. 

That's even sadder, isn't it?  At only 2 sales, I spent all my money.  I'm a grown woman, I should know how to pace myself, you think?

So let's have a moment of silence for my money and my inability to go to more than 2 places this weekend.

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Aaand, now.  Here's the good news!

The first estate sale was for a teacher with some neat stuff.  She had loads of opals, damascene and cameos.  So I got a bunch of mid-range stuff to put in my shop and take to the next Randolph Street Market.

The second estate sale was for an OLD storefront and the apartment above it.  The shop used to be some sort of gift shop / party store / much more than that.  It had all sorts of old vintage wrapping papers and decorations, etc.  The basement even had 2 huge printing presses and all the type pieces for it as well as other old machines.  The apartment upstairs was chock full of old clocks, instruments, and other tchochkes.  Hubby and I wore gloves and carried flashlights going through this place.  It was really a treasure hunt.

But what truly excited me was the NOS (New Old Stock) jewelry I found in boxes in a corner!!!

 

In these boxes was a bunch of West Germany Transfer brooches and necklaces, some Japanese beaded collar necklace and other pieces of jewelry.  But what most excited me were the pieces of Whiting and Davis!  I found 6 different Whiting and Davis Necklaces, with original Whiting and Davis Price tags, in original Whiting and Davis boxes.  I am stoked!

I almost wished I hadn't went to the first sale so that I could have bought the rest of the Western Germany pieces and some other things we saw there.... but what would I have done with a 1940s "scientific" book about improving sex lives? (I am DEAD serious!  It was only $12, but hubby wouldn't let me buy it.)

Now, most of this stuff is pretty grungy with loads of dust.  The store had to have been closed for YEARS!  I will be taking my time and cleaning it so it will be ready for the Market next weekend.

Run-Away Vacation

My husband has recently started his own business. Which is hard. It's hard on him; he's been putting in 13 hour days 5 or 6 days a week now for months.  It's hard on me; he's not around much anymore. It's hard on our marriage; see previously mentioned reasons.

Now don't get me wrong. So far, his business has been quite successful, and I am very proud of him.  We're just adjusting to a new reality.

Anyhow, with Monday's Columbus Day holiday, I had a long weekend.  AND hubby can set his own schedule.  We found ourselves Saturday morning, staring at each other and both desperately wanting to take work and shove it... so we did!  I got on hotwire and found a great deal on a hotel room in a small town on the other side of Lake Michigan from us.  A three hour drive later, we found ourselves far enough away from home to call it a vacation and the perfect reason for hubby to abandon his cell phone and computer.

We had NO plans.

NONE whatsoever.

And it just so happened that right near the hotel was an antique mall. And in that antique mall was a map that the local antique dealers had put together called "The Antique Trail."

I was able to bat my eyes and smile sweetly, and a good portion of our weekend was spent visiting antique mall after antique mall.

I had so much fun, and hubby tolerated it. Thankfully, all the malls had a good selection of "Man-tiques" in the form of militaria, weaponry, industrial tools, and unrecognizeable jumbles of cast iron and wood.

I made quite a few finds, and assuredly paid too much for several items.  On the whole, though, I think I got a good deal.

I am WELL aware of the fact that antique stores are not the place to buy stuff if you're planning to re-sell. They aren't my first choice of purchasing locales, as you're paying pretty close to retail there.  I much prefer estate sales (I checked, they didn't have any that weekend) and flea markets (again, I checked, none in the area.) Good deals are to be had at Antique Stores though, if you're willing to dig!

And dig I did!  I found several verified Juliana pieces that were marked WAY below retail (very surprising), some great thermoset pieces, and a Whiting and Davis bracelet.  I have the necklace and earrings that match so now I can put together a full parure!  I was also able to pick up several other fun and funky pieces!