I really wanted to go to an auction today, but couldn't get anyone to go with me. It's an all day and all night thing if you stay for the whole auction, and nearly 100 miles from here. I rarely go alone. I was in the mood for either an auction or estate sales. No regular yard/garage sales for me today. Just didn't want those. Lena, on the other hand, didn't want to go out of town. She preferred to cruise the local yard sales, so we went our separate ways today. Turns out she did pretty well. (I'm trying to talk her into getting her own blog. She has a lot to offer.) My finds were just so-so, but the hunt and few purchases satisfied my hunger.
My big purchase of the day, $15.00, was a frame for my yard long print. You may remember I was going to get it professionally framed until I heard the cost. I've bought a couple of frames from Hobby Lobby and Michaels that were too big and I'd planned to cut one of them down and paint it and.....whatever. The frame I bought today is just right. It actually has a new, Victorian girls, yard long print in it. All I'll have to do is shave a bit off my print and pop it in. I'm happy.
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One of the few things I could actually sell on the internet is this Denby bowl, but the blue is a perfect match for my 1950s bathroom tile and a roll of toilet paper just fits. It's already in it's new home.
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Got this rusty, iron, ashtray stand:
I'm thinking it'll make a great candle stand.
This seems to be worth exactly what I paid for it, so since it goes well in my dining room, looks like I'll be keeping it. For awhile, at least.
The first two estate sales were in newish town homes. The previous inhabitants got rid of all their junk...I mean good stuff.... before moving into the new dwelling. They then bought new decorative items for their new home. Don't-cha just hate that? But at this sale, I bought a few cookbooks and the blue bowl I'm keeping for my bathroom. As I was leaving, I noticed piles of boxes by the garbage can. The one on top had these smoking stand pieces in it. Yes, they were to be thrown away. It was missing two legs. Some of the boards are broken, so I probably won't put it back together, but what can I do with these neat pieces? What would Sue and Ki do with them? I think perhaps the three pieces on the right should be hinged together to form a triptych. Mirrors, ya think? That'll get done months or even years from now. LOL
Do you love it? The photo, naturally, doesn't look as good as it really does. It is, however in bad shape. But it's OLD! Very old! And seems to be a painting! It's awfully smooth and I thought it was a print, but I'll be danged if the flower center dots aren't raised! The backing is rough pine boards. I haven't taken it apart to see what the painting is on. Cardboard, it looks like. Toward the bottom, the paint has flecked off in a couple of pretty big chunks. The frame is disintegrating. Just picking it up, a piece of the fancy molding crumbled off. But the whole thing is charming. And nearly three feet tall!
It was found in the last couple of hours of a three day old sale I didn't know about. Didn't see it in the paper. Just saw some signs and followed them. There was no date on the signs, so I didn't even know if was this weekend. Following those signs turned out to be the right thing to do. I also got this mid century modern wall clock and candle set.
If you're not into MCM at all, that won't be appealing, but I should be able to sell it on eBay. Not for big bucks, but a little more than I paid for it.
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So there you have it. My few finds for the day. Erin is supposed to be coming up to go to church with me tomorrow. Our church participates in a community wide communion. Four churches near each other walk to a nearby empty lot, and have communion together. Erin's always enjoyed it too, so last I heard she's going to come up for it. We need to think of some adventure for the afternoon.
