Dig This Treasure!

Over Labor Day weekend, I went to Canada with my family.  We’ve been making this annual trek since I was in elementary school, and our visit centers on two huge antique markets in Sarnia.  

Before I reveal my finds from the trip, I have to say that I LOVE Canada.  I love its fries slathered in vinegar, I love how nervous Timmy gets at the customs booth, I love Coffee Crisp candy bars, and I love Duty Free shops.  Canada is the best, and so are its antique markets.

Our first stop was Dale’s Antiques, a cluster of little booths and barns open every Sunday.

I spotted this scale in one of the barns and of course loved it.  It was huge and expensive though.

I did, however, buy a smaller kitchen scale for my collection.  This one was pretty rusted up, but it’s much older than my other scales and really unique.  I paid $20 for it, which is more than I usually spend on scales.  I kept telling myself that this was Canadian money though, and thus not really real.

I also found an old cookie jar that was in excellent shape.  I knew that I could resell it easily since it was classically “retro” and because it was a cat.  I paid $15 and ended up selling it on ebay for $38.  The jar is made by American Bisque which is pretty collectible among cookie jar people.

A helpful hint here is that American Bisque jars are often airbrushed, and the bottoms have raised wedge-like pieces:

After Dale’s, we visited a couple of small, independent antique shops, and then headed to a flea market called The Pinery.  The Pinery is great because you can buy beef jerky, dog bones, and antiques all in the same place–while drinking an ice cold beer.  I did all of these things.  

My best find was probably this old cast iron still bank.  I thought this was a soldier, but it turns out he is actually a boy scout.  He was made prior to 1934 by AC Williams Co.  I paid $25 for him, but auction listings online value him anywhere from $150-$295!  My little guy has a piece missing out of one leg, but I don’t plan to sell him anyway.  Right now he has a home on one of our collectible shelves.

Cute huh?  He has a little backpack that you can drop coins in.  

I’ll end with some treasures I didn’t buy.  I am seriously kicking myself over passing on these.  I have no explanation of what these felt banners mean or what they were used for, but they sure are hilarious.

“Hold It Baby It’s Too Divine”

“No-No Lady Don’t Do That!”

“Cool Me Off, I’m Steaming”

Lines from 50 Shades of Grey? Who knows.

-Erin

Somehow after the epic garage sale this weekend, I was still in the mood for more junk.  So on Sunday, Zach and I headed to a huge outdoor flea market just a couple miles away.  First of all, let me say, that when I hear the word “flea market”, I inevitably have this song stuck in my head for the next 3 days:

Our flea market was less “mini mall” and more junkyard mecca.  Here’s a bunch of people making their pilgrimage.  

Here is a cool, weird mini tire display thing.  I liked it a lot but it was $100.

I found my first treasure pretty quickly.  It is an old wooden bowl in the shape of a heart.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to buy it, but I asked the price on it anyway.  The woman told me it cost “whatever price would make you buy it.”  I told her $3 and it was mine.  I plan on pulling this out around Valentine’s Day and putting some candy in it.

You can’t tell here, but that bowl is actually pretty huge, which means I will need lots of candy to fill it, which also means I get to eat lots of candy.

At one point, I got really excited because I found a Hugglet.  Since Sarah and I are trying to collect the whole set, this was a great discovery.  I asked the seller man how much the Hugglet was and he said FOUR DOLLARS.  FOUR DOLLARS?!  WHAT?

See that man in the crazy pants?  He’s the one who charges four dollars for a Hugglet.  I offered him one dollar and he looked at me like I was the crazy one.  I threw the Hugglet in his face and stormed away super disappointed.  Actually, that is a total lie.  I gently set the Hugglet back on the table and walked away to text Sarah about my sadness.

What I will spend $4 on (actually $5) is this kitchen scale:

They originally had it priced $10, but it was marked down to $5.  To be honest, I would have paid $10 because I love it so much.

I also picked up this cow creamer for $2, which I am currently selling on ebay:

And lastly, the best find of the day by far.  This giant soup tureen is shaped like a snarling pig head.  I thought that Zach was going to hate this, but he actually loves it.  We bartered down on the price, paid $20, and now have this on our kitchen counter.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: I was supposed to text Erin in the morning and go with them to this flea market, but I woke on Sunday morning to the sound of Erin texting me for the second time to wake me up. I was too tired to go. 

The only things I’ll say are these two things: I like that heart bowl and I cannot believe how horrifying that pig is. I would have nightmares every night if that was in my house. 

On Thursday last week, Timmy came over to help me set up a new glider we got for the backyard. I should say here that he was none too pleased that I mentioned on this blog how he wears ankle socks with loafers. He insists that he only did this “one time”, but I am still refusing to issue a retraction.

Anyway, after setting up the glider, we headed out to a sale in Taylor. It turned out that the sale was inside the Taylor Trade Center which is a flea market disguised as an antique mall. I was a little wary at first when I saw the list of upcoming events to be held here:

TWO reptile expos? Also, what is “clash wrestling”???

If that wasn’t my cue to make a run for it, these things should have been:

You’re selling photos of high school girls? Alright, that’s not totally creepy and/or possibly illegal. Cute pom pom shoes though.

We found the estate sale inside this place and it was basically a bunch of tables with random things all over, most stuff was still inside boxes or wrapped up. Here’s Timmy doing his thing:

I actually found some shockingly good treasures here, mostly these old ass dolls from Germany and Japan. I have no clue what they are, but they’re all stamped.

I also got this hand turned wood bowl from Vermont, and a cool little box of mini perfumes from France:

I also got a giant box of baby doll clothes from the 1950s and some old welding/steampunk goggles to sell. For all of this stuff I paid $20 total, which is AMAZING.

And don’t worry about Tim, he got an old baseball pin from 1937 and was as happy as a clam.

-Erin

So last week I had norovirus and Sarah had to roll solo.  I was SO BUMMED because the sales I missed looked great.  Anyway, I decided to go hit some sales today.  The first one was in Farmington and was advertised as having tons of antiques.  It had antiques but wasn’t a very “packed” sale.  There was nothing to really dig through.

I immediately found this old record cabinet and the price on it could not be beat.  It needs to be cleaned for sure, as well as stained and/or polished. $20.

There is a weird piece of carpet sitting on top of it in this photo which is not a part of it.  So if you were worried about that, don’t be.

In the basement of this house I found a little box and inside were these mini liquor bottles.  It seems like I have a habit of buying old-ass liquor at sales, but I really don’t.  I just thought these were really cool looking.  Some of them are still sealed, which can sell pretty well on ebay.

I got all of them for $5.

I also found a bunch of old 78s.  At one point, Zach told me about old records made of heavier vinyl, and how jazz ones or something can be collectable.  I know nothing about records at all, but all of these were $10 so I took a chance.  We’ll see if they end up being valuable, and if they don’t, I will give them to Sarah because she CLEARLY buys records at every sale we go to.  

The BEST part by far of this sale though, was the live cockatoo that I got to hold.  I turned a corner and there it was, just chilling on some guy’s arm.  I asked if I could pet it, and the bird just straight up climbed onto me.  Turns out that this guy didn’t live at the house, he just takes his pet bird out on the town with him.  This is cool with me because the cockatoo was super nice and snuggling all up on me.  It tried to bite the man when he went to separate us two.  That’s right, birds, like most creatures, are obsessed with me.  Anyway, here is a blurry photo the guy took.

When I left this sale, I headed to another one in Garden City.  As I started getting close, I recognized the neighborhood as one I had been to before.  AND THEN I REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING.  THIS WAS A TRICK, and it wasn’t the first time I had fallen for it.

This place is a weird hippie hangout that Zach and I were once lured to.  They often advertise online as being an “estate sale” or an “auction,”  when really they are just the same old creepy warehouse full of hippies selling garbage.  That sounds really mean because it is really mean.  However, it is also true. Since I was there, I went in.

Today, the folks were spray-painting indoors.  The placed smelled like what it smells like when you spray-paint indoors.  Oh, did I forget to mention that this place doesn’t just sell antiques?  It is also an artist collective where you can work on your spray-paint artwork.  And they have music shows there too.  This is the stage.  

And apparently, they also have karaoke.

Here are some Flubbers hanging out on a couch.  I didn’t buy them.

To be fair, I did find one treasure that I am absolutely thrilled over.  IT IS SO CUTE.  It is a mini toy safe from France.  It has tiny little wheels.  I am going to put it in my kitchen next to some other knick-knacks that are similar in style and color. $15, which is steep but so worth it.

The photo doesn’t really do it justice, but believe me, it is REAL cute.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: First, that record cabinet looks like someone threw it out of a moving vehicle a few times. Who are you turning into? Me? Second, I cannot believe you didn’t wait until Saturday to go to the Garden City sale. Look at the ad for it, pasted in its entirety: 

The contents of FOUR seperate estates all in one location.

Home Made Corned Beef & Cabbage Served Saturday ALL DAY!!!

Saturday Night Open Mic Party Doors open at 6pm