Dig This Treasure!

Yo dawgs! Someone called me a c#nt tonight! Twice! 

Aww… Buddy! You messed that sh*t up at the end! 

This person is referring to the post I wrote today about the woman who asked me 1000 questions about some dolls I had for sale on eBay. 

Erin texted me about this anonymous “question” before I saw it in my inbox. 

So the icing on the cake is that I received ANOTHER annoying message about those stupid dolls earlier tonight!!  

Raggedy Ann Police in the hizzy! I like how she acknowledges their cuteness in the middle of her tirade. 

For the record, I actually wasn’t very nice in response to this eBay user because clearly she is a bully. So that C#nt-Caller probably should have saved his insult for now. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: Ebay has definitely weathered us.  Our tolerance is low.  We are beat down and broken.  

That said, I am SO GLAD this person won’t be shopping from Sarah (and hopefully not from me either).  They sound like the type of person who would buy a $5 item, say that it broke in transit, and then ask if we bought insurance on it.  No, we didn’t buy insurance BECAUSE THE ITEM COST FIVE DOLLARS.  Then you ask them for a photo of the broken piece so that you can confirm it is in fact broken (and then you refund their money), and they never send a pic because they are actually lying.

Of course, this is all contingent on them actually paying you for the item in the first place when they win the auction, which lots of people don’t.  

Warning, I’m feelin’ a little sassy today, folks.  

It’s been a while since either of us complained about a buyer on eBay. Remember when Erin pwned that crazy guy who tried to buy her Apple Newtons? I just re-read that and LOLed at her message back to him, so be sure to read it if you’re new to this blog. 

Anyway, (potential) buyers do lots of annoying things on eBay, but this one put me over the edge today. 

I found these dolls at a garage sale the same day Erin freaked out about seeing nachos. 

I actually noticed them and couldn’t decide if I wanted them, but then when I got back to the car, I decided that I did want them, and I made Erin go back and buy them for me. Say what you want about these cuties, but I love their little expressions and they are SO soft. 

Anyway, they’re up on eBay now, they end later tonight, and I received this message this morning: 

Normally, I’ll have someone ask me ONE of these questions (Can I pay later than the terms of the auction? Can you ship a different way? Etc.), but the fact that she asked me approximately 100 questions just made me crazy. For sh*ts and giggles, let’s make a list of what she asked me: 

1. Do the dolls have rips?
2. Do the dolls have mends?
3. Do the dolls have stains? 
4. Do the dolls have fading?
5. Basically, can you describe these dolls to me as if I am Helen Keller, since my computer is so old that it does not show images? 
6. Can I pay you a week later than you explicitly say you need payment in your listing? 
7. Can you ship these dolls USPS priority, which you do not offer in your listing?
8. Can you tell me how much it will cost to ship these dolls USPS priority (which you do not offer) to my specific address? 

I’m glad you have 100% feedback. You should not. 

Shockingly, I was very kind to her in my response, but please, if you buy things on eBay, don’t do this to a seller. 

-Sarah

Last week was 4th of July and, with our extra days off, Zach and I decided to take a day trip up to the Livingston Antique Outlet.  I had actually never heard of this antique mall, but the Google reviews gave me lots of hope.

We got there early in the day so we had plenty of time to leisurely stroll through this place.  It was pretty huge.

The first thing I noticed was that the prices were really fair.  This is always surprising for an antique mall, but made me very, very happy.

The second thing I noticed was this dog sculpture that looks just like one of Sarah’s dogs:

Amazing, right?

I also noticed many, many cute things.  I wanted this Mobo pedal horse so badly for the baby nursery.  I thought it would look so baller sitting in a corner.  Sure, it’s a serious tetanus hazard, but still worth it.  The price on this was too high though ($185).  Turns out that they sell for WAY cheaper on ebay, even with shipping.  And you can find restored ones on ebay too.

And check out this German folk art sleigh.  I’ve never seen anything like it!  So beautiful, even with that lady’s boobie hanging out.  

I literally just texted Sarah to ask her if I could even say “boobie” on here.  So if you are offended, my apologies, and also, blame Sarah.

I saw two of these Tammany mechanical banks.  One was priced $495 and the other was $299.  They are really adorable and I assume highly collectible.  The price though made me wish they made reproductions so I could enjoy this without breaking the bank.  

That little dude is like my soul sister now that I’m pregnant.  I pretty much enjoy sitting in a chair all day.  And I exclusively wear fancy suits now.  Just kidding, I wear pajamas all day.

Look at this buddy:

Give me all of these egg cups.  I don’t eat hardboiled eggs, but still, give me all of them.

These mugs accurately represent my face pretty much anytime Sarah buys something at a sale with stains all over it, or made out of glass window blocks:

Ok ok, so what did we buy?  A few things!  Zach found these great paintings first.  They seem kind of newish, so for all I know, they are from Pier One.  We still love them.  They are painted on wood and were only $10 each.

Zach also found a lead figure of a mailman.  Very cute.  $9.

His face is so contemplative.

I found this old tin wind-up toy of Peter Cottontail.  I got it to put on a shelf in the baby’s room.  $15.

Also, is there a difference between Peter Rabbit and Peter Cottontail?  I just realized I have no clue.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: Wow. So many burns and I wasn’t even invited to come along. 

And let’s be frank. That mailman is making that face because he just tried to deliver mail to Erin’s house but George scared him away. (Which actually happened in real life–not just in the world of lead soldiers.) 

Oh also, yes there is a difference between the two rabbits. Peter Rabbit is Beatrix Potter’s rabbit:

And Peter Cottontail is Thornton Burgess’ rabbit.

But Thornton Burgess’ rabbit was also named Peter Rabbit before he decided that he needed a more exciting name. TRUE STORY.  

A few weeks ago at our revisit to the DJ sale, Erin and I spotted two items that were really hard to not purchase. 

First, this award-winning best-seller: 

I think it won a Pulitzer Prize.

And a wind-up micro-penis: 

It hops. I’m not sure there’s much else to say. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: And how could we not include this other highly-acclaimed read:

Or this totally-hilarious-and-not-horrifying-at-all-pin:

Wear that to your next family gathering.  You’ll get a whole bucket of laughs, you sly fox you.

dukepommelhorse said: Ooh, Sarah, what are your shoes?

My shoes were purchased in San Francisco two years ago, at a place called Shoe Biz in the Mission. They’re by a brand called SUTRO (Violetta is the name of the shoe), that, as far as I can tell, only makes shoes for Shoe Biz. You can order their shoes online but they don’t seem to make anything other than boots now. Trust me, I am BUMMED and have done a ton of research to find another pair of these babies and have come up empty handed. 

-Sarah

Sarah and I headed up to Charlevoix two weekends ago for a much needed vacation.  We shared some photos of our trip already on Facebook, but here now is the full dish.

We were staying in a home rented by Sarah’s parents, Cindy and zzPopps.  This is the second time I’ve vacationed with this crew, and it is kind of like being in the opening scene of Home Alone.  We all move pretty fast, pack a lot into one day, and talk at audio levels much higher than normal conversation should dictate.  It makes for a hilarious and fun time.

We started our first day by driving to Petoskey and visiting some antique shops.  The first was the kind of place where Kanye West buys his Le Corbusier lamps.  Probably the most insane antique store I have ever visited.  Also, infuriating because we could afford nothing.

That’s Sarah with a $2,000 wooden deer.

Sexy and expensive.  

We hightailed it pretty quickly out of this place and headed to a consignment shop down the road.  This was a MUCH better shopping experience.

This diorama reminded me of how badly I want to decorate my kitchen like an old timey general store.  Seriously, it would be so cool.  TRUST.

This consignment shop was where I found my Native American porcupine quill box.  With the help of all of you on Facebook, I decided to return to this store a few days later and purchase the box.  

The box itself is birch bark.  The quills are softened by boiling and then woven to make the sides and rabbit design.  The center is wrapped with sweetgrass.  There are no markings to indicate the tribe or anything on this particular box, but I’m guessing one of the Anishinaabe of Michigan.  

This box is definitely one of my most prized possessions.  I have wanted one for so long!  Remember when I almost bought one awhile back at a sale, and then passed on it?

I also found some of Zach’s lead soldiers here, which I wrote about last week.  Here are a few things that Sarah and I didn’t buy:

Sarah and I debated whether this drawing was of real women or dolls.  Why it matters I’m not sure.  It’s still hideous.

At some point, we stumbled across a garage sale.  And it was a super nice one.  I didn’t buy anything though because I was really busy dying of heat stroke.  I think I even told Sarah I was literally dying.  And then I did die.  I’m a ghost blogger now.

Sarah found some cool things here, so I will let her tell you all about them.  And in the Part Two Charlevoix entry, I’ll tell you about the next antique shop we hit.  Guess who was there?!?!

Can you believe it?!  Sh*t is getting real spooky.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: Man, that first place was THE WORST. It was a real letdown because from the outside, there were cool things! 

I think that’s how they lure people in. They’re like, “Hey! Check out our ‘junk shop’!!!” but then you go inside and want to punch the owner because the prices are so ridonk. Actually, they must be used to this because they provide disguises so you don’t get caught while punching the store owner. 

Thank god the next stop was fruitful, because that was a bad intro to treasure hunting in Petosky. At the next place, I found a few awesome treasures. First, this cool salt and pepper set: 

I’m not sure if I’m going to keep them but they were only $5! I also got this cute dish towel: 

I just loved HOW SAD that cat is to have to go to church. 

I also purchased this ADORABLE watch. It needs a new battery but it’s so insanely cute. 

It has little dogs and dog bones up and down the band! Here is a close up: 

That was priced at $12. Good deals all around. 

The garage sale had some very cool stuff. I actually am not sure what sort of sale this was because the whole thing was set up like an antique booth. So maybe those folks just keep it open all summer. There were lots of things at the sale that I wanted, but I exercised some self control. The only bad thing is that I did a poor job of documenting my purchases, so I’ll have to rely on the Internet. 

I got an old metal milk crate (solid, not wire) that looks like this but is marked Petosky, MI: 

The other cool thing that I purchased that I did take a picture of was this old ash tray that I’ve repurposed as a sponge holder: 

Using old ashtrays for other things usually grosses me out but this guy was too cute to pass up. 

Finally, I got an antique match holder. These things were ALL OVER the house we were staying at and I temporarily became obsessed with them. The obsession ended when I brought mine home and Adam complained about it being useless. It looks like this but someone painted over the stencil: 

I still think it’s cute.

Here are some things we didn’t buy. Creative reuse of old kitchenware: 

An old prison gate: 

And finally, I was obsessed with this: 

Someone made this out of old wood and cheese boxes. I have always wanted to own a card catalog and this thing was very reminiscent of those. It also had Bakelite knobs that all matched. It was marked something like $400, so that’s why it’s not in my house right now. Whomp Whomp. 

A few Fridays ago, Erin and I hit up a handful of good sales that were spread out across town. The first that we stopped at was a sale that looked very granny-ish, but was PACKED, so I insisted that treasures could be found. Turns out I was sorta right!

When we walked up, we discovered that the sale was 50% off, and prices were very reasonable to begin with. There were some cool old things in and around the garage area: 

I liked this cart but decided I didn’t need it. 

(Erin took a picture of that dolly so I think she must have thought it was cool.) 

I thought this Census box was really cool but Erin convinced me that I had no need for it. In retrospect, I should have ignored her and purchased it. It’s cool!

Inside, it was quickly apparent that this was the owner’s motto: 

And I’m cool with this, because it meant that there was a lot of stuff to sift through. 

The basement was overflowing with stuff–most of it pretty useless. But we did find a lot of cool old party supplies and wrapping paper. Here are two of my finds: 

Y'all know I can’t resist old Holly Hobbie. 

A lot of the basement looked like this: 

Lots and lots of patterns all over the place. While we were down there, we ran into our #1 Groupie. This lady was following us all over, asking, “Where did you find that?” and told us that she had been in the basement for two hours. Well, if you’ve been in the basement for two hours, how did you possibly not notice this dumb felt ornament kits that I saw sitting out in the open? 

One very cool thing we saw in the basement, but had no use for: 

That is one sweet children’s table and chairs. I think it was really reasonably priced, and at half off it would have been a steal. I honestly have no idea how it was still there. 

I spent a hot minute or two being convinced that I needed this terry cloth cape: 

Erin’s voice of reason actually came in handy this time. 

The upstairs of this house also contained a few treasures. When I noticed how much crap this woman had, I kept thinking, “Where are the greeting cards???” Well, at the top of the stairs to the upstairs/attic, I found them! Two huge boxes. I haven’t finished sorting, but they’re not fabulous. But the woman charged me $20 for all of them, which is an excellent price. 

It was at this sale where Erin was reunited with her snowmen. As you can see, this woman loved her some googly eyes and crafts:

The face Erin was going for here was “spooky” but I’m not sure she succeeded. You be the judge.

While we were checking out, #1 Groupie stood behind us and once again, kept asking “Where did you find that? Oh that’s a lot of greeting cards, what are you going to do with them?!” I have a hard time lying to people and Erin does not, so I just said, “If they’re old enough they sell online.” Erin said she just kept thinking to herself, “Say scrapbooking, Sarah. Say scrapbooking.” Oh well! I’m an honest lady. 

We high-tailed it outta there and made our way to a sale that was super far, but looked to be filled with TONS of photographs. It was here that I found those amazing pictures of dogs that NOBODY IS BIDDING ON on eBay right now and that I decided to have end on THE FOURTH OF JULY because I’m an idiot. 

Here’s an action shot of me hyperventilating over the awesome pictures: 

Here’s more picture shots: 

Midway through exploring this sale, the woman running it came out of the bathroom, swearing up a storm. She proceeded to let us know that she allowed a shopper to use the bathroom and the woman “sh*t all over the place.” Cool, lady. Now we both want to barf. 

Ok, back to the pictures. All of the photo albums (there were TONS) were priced extremely high ($60, $75, $100, etc.), and all of the 8x10 pictures were either $2 each or had prices on the back. Considering the extreme number of pictures remaining on the second to last day of this sale, I figured that there was no question that she’d negotiate with me. My plan was to just gather everything I wanted and ask her to give me a flat price. However, she proceeded to tell him that they would have to count all of the pictures in the basket. Here they are, doing just that: 

I tried to reason with this woman, but she was not having it. I said, “The reason I’m willing to just pay you a set amount for all of this is because I DON’T want to go through this box of pictures here in this house. If you’re going to charge me for each one individually, I don’t want all of them.” She told me, “I can’t give these away for free.” Did I ask for anything for free?!

So here’s the deal: I had at least 20 8x10 photographs (so that means $40+), I had an album marked $25 and an album marked $40, and then she said that the pictures in the basket added up to at least $200.

I was super annoyed and finally said, “I was going to just offer you $100 for everything here.” She looked at me and said, “You were? Well you should have just said that!” and proceeded to take my $100 like Tiny Tim snatching up a new pair of crutches. We ran outta there as fast as possible and just stared at each other in awe. I said, “Does she not know how to do math?” Erin was like, “I don’t think so. But you handled that like a BOSS.” So basically, I got $300 worth of priced photos for $100. Woo!

The last trip of the day was back to the DJ sale in West Bloomfield. They had opened the basement, which I thought would mean lots of treasures, but it didn’t. I did get a good deal on a glass head and a sealed Kool-Aid Dixie Cup dispenser. 

Both to resell, of course!

I don’t think Erin bought much this day, but I’ll let her tell you all about it. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: Yes, that’s my spooky face.  Get over it.

The first sale, let me just say, was so fairly priced that I wanted to shake all of the workers’ hands.  They were going to clear out that house so quickly and still make a super fair profit.  Kudos.  The photo sale lady should learn from this because even after Sarah bought all those pics, there were still literally THOUSANDS left in the house.  And probably about 20 albums packed full too.  They are never going to sell if you price every photo at $2-$5 each.

Anyway, at the first sale, I got the cutest party decorations.  I am putting these away for future child’s birthday.  Zach was super skeptical that I was actually going to remember in a year that I had bought these decorations, but I informed him that I actually have a box in the basement labeled “PARTY SUPPLIES.”  I consult this box on every single birthday occasion, so these supplies will NOT go unused.

At the photo sale, all I found was this tiny ship figurine.  It had no price on it, so I was pretty leery after watching Sarah haggle so hard over the photos.  The women running the sale said, “This might be silver.  I have to be sure this isn’t silver.”  I said “OK” but I was really thinking, “There is NO WAY this is silver.”  It has no markings on it and is light as a feather.  It isn’t tarnished like silver.  At the very least, it’s pewter.  It is, however, most likely brass or tin.  After scrutinizing it, she charged me $2.  Phew.

At the DJ sale, I didn’t buy these giant phones:

I did buy this old biscuit tin though.  It was kind of pricey at $10, but I really wanted it.  Plus, I hadn’t bought much this day.  

So neat, right?  I’m a sucker for anything with sheep on it.