Dig This Treasure!

Two Fridays back, the sale listings looked awful, so Sarah and I contemplated staying home.  We eventually decided to suck it up though and find some garage sales.  You all remember how entertaining that was last time…

Before the garage sale-ing, however, we did stop at one estate sale that looked kind of not-horrible.  It turned out to be, well, horrible.

Everything was really Hallmark-y, but like the dollar store version of Hallmark stuff.

It was like the Boyd’s bears strolled up into town and took this home by force.  Except that it wasn’t really the Boyd’s bears, but instead their creepy backwoods cousins who you don’t normally invite over for Thanksgiving dinner.

To be fair, I did buy two Waechtersbach mugs to go with my Christmas set.  They were 50 cents each which is a steal.

We hightailed it out of there and, while driving, saw this sign:

A 4 day vintage market?!  That is EXACTLY what we need!  What sounds better than some sort of market filled with old treasures that probably occurs only once a year and is therefore filled with only the finest of goods?!

When we followed the signs to the “vintage market”  we found more signs (the ones you see above).  Here, let me zoom in more:

Well, sh*t.  Turns out, our “vintage market” was the name of a party store and they had some MAD DEALS on ribs.  When I realized what was happening, Sarah refused to believe it.  She was so heartbroken.  She tried to convince me that these were different signs than the original, but there was no denying the truth:

So after this huge failure, things were looking bad.  We started driving in a neighborhood after we saw a garage sale sign, and came upon this:

A big ol’ trash heap, and a metaphor for how our day was going.

But then things started to turn around.  We rolled up to one garage sale and it looked really good!  It was like our own private “vintage market” tucked away in this grandma’s garage.

There was a huge table filled with old, really collectible pottery.  The first thing I saw was that she had a Van Briggle vase.  I was familiar with the brand because of Antiques Roadshow and knew that some pieces sold for thousands.  It turns out that the pottery actually belonged to the old woman’s friend, who proceeded to tell Sarah and I all about his pottery collecting.  

The Van Briggle piece he had marked $50, which was too risky for me to buy.  I looked up a few similar pieces on ebay and they all sold for around $100.  After last week’s ebay disasters though, I wanted to take a less expensive risk.  I decided to buy three pieces of Roseville Mostique pottery for $5 each.  Very reasonable.

We’ve seen Roseville pottery a lot at estate sales, and I’m not a huge fan of it.  I know it is really collectible though, so I figured I could flip this set pretty easily.  

And, I did!

The pottery guy at this garage sale even gave me this McCoy cookie jar for free!  I had been looking at it and he decided I must take it home.  Ok!

So our luck was definitely changing!  It even continued when we visited a nearby thrift store.  Thrift stores are something Sarah and I barely dabble in, although we have many blog friends who do their picking exclusively at these places.  Maybe we should go more often, because there are certainly great deals to be had!  You might as well call me Macklemore because I loved this thrift shop so much.

I got a whole garbage bag full of baby clothes for $30.  Some still had the tags on them!  And there was a bunch of Ralph Lauren stuff in there.  (Also, can you tell I’m ready to pop?  My face looks like a marshmallow.)

So cute.  

I think Sarah bought these shoes:

Or maybe she didn’t.  I can’t remember.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: I definitely bought those shoes for my next trip clubbin’. They are the perfect mix of sexy and schoolgirl. Ok, I’m lying. I did end up finding a nice lightweight cotton Land’s End cardigan and some books at the thrift shop, but that’s about it. Oh and this t-shirt for Baby Everett.

Erin and Zach LOVE cute little t-shirts with sayings on them like this, so be sure to send all your hand-me-downs their way.

The first estate sale was such a nightmare. It was one of those sales where you’re looking around for ANYTHING you might possibly want, and coming up shorthanded. For example, I actually considered buying this. 

Then I saw it was marked $20. 

The garage sale was the surprise of the day–Erin passed on the Van Briggle vase but I thought about it for a while and remembered how valuable Arts & Crafts stuff can be, so I asked if he would go lower than $50. The lowest he would go was $45, so I took the chance. It was a really beautiful piece, even though I don’t even really care about pottery! 

I looked it up and ones like it seemed to sell for $100-150. So I listed it at $155 and let people make offers. After a couple of days, someone swooped in and the rest is history! 

The only thing that Erin forgot to mention is that the guy selling the pottery drove and parked THIS THING in front of the house! 

Overall, it was a very strange sale. 

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. 

Nothing looked too fab on Friday, but hey, who are we to complain? We started our morning at a sale in West Bloomfield that looked interesting, because it was a living estate sale (I think?) at the home of a local AM radio DJ. 

The guy had some cool stuff at his house, but the problem was that it was all a little too pricey or a little too big (furniture, etc.) 

We had a discussion with a stranger about who this is. Conclusion? Not Gandhi. 

That’s all the big stuff. Now on to the cool, pricey stuff: 

Doesn’t that look like the inside of a cottage in the English Countryside? Or a J.Crew catalog in the ‘90s? 

Anyway, it was a mishmash of stuff, but the sale had started on Wednesday so it was a little picked over. Speaking of mishmash, here’s what I ended up with: Erin found me a big bag of old baby shower cards, a Henry Rollins book, a vintage Cape Cod pennant, and this awesome lamp that Erin tried to talk me out of: 

Yes, it’s a glass block on top of a planter. Someone made this thing. But I really liked it! Also, Erin is a liar. She told me my hair looked good, and CLEARLY that is not true. 

Also, here’s the super cool pennant: 

Looks sorta dinky here, but it’s decent sized.

Next up on our list was a sale that possibly had Herend porcelain. Erin thought it might be knockoff but we were so close that we decided to stop by. When I saw the signs for the sale, I said, “Oh no! It’s _______ Estate Sales?! They’re the worst!” but like I said, we were there so we had to go. When we walked up to the sale, the woman who owns the company was right outside the front door smoking a ciggy. She’s about 1000 years old and said, “come on in, girls” while blowing smoke in our faces. The good thing about this is that Erin’s baby got it’s daily dose of nicotine, which it normally has to get by chewing Nicorette in the womb. I know–complicated. 

Anyway, everything in this house was either terrifying, or insanely overpriced, or both. An example: 

Here’s another: 

This is my fave find of the day, though: 

Adam actually refused to believe that Erin DIDN’T buy this. 

We high-tailed it outta there and got our Ellen’s Bakery and Cafe on. While we were here, Erin asked me what gazpacho was. This is what their “Rockstar” cookie selection looked like after Erin and I had at it: 

The only other sales we had planned on going to were out in Rochester Hills, which was a half hour from where we were at, so we decided to find some garage sales nearby. Right away, we discovered that it was the city-wide Sylvan Lake garage sale that day, so that worked out well! 

Many of these sales ended up being sort of duds, but I did find a few treasures. My favorite is this group of Del Monte plush fruit that matches the cute Christmas ornaments Erin found last month.  Here’s Erin carrying them all for me, like a true friend: 

Adam was not happy about this acquisition. I have other stuffed food items in my living room so these guys will fit right in. 

We also found a sale where a young boy had a really baller snack stand outside. When we drove up, Erin exclaimed something like, “They have good snacks!!! THEY HAVE NACHOS!!!” I scolded her only because we had literally eaten about 10 minutes prior to the snack bar sighting. She claims she was just excited by the exoticism of finding nachos at a garage sale, but I’m not sure I buy it. Now I know what I’m getting Erin for Christmas. 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I can’t believe Adam thought I would EVER buy that scary lion “art doll.”  Does he not read this blog?  Does he not realize that in like 96% of all cases, it is Sarah buying questionable items and not me?  So rude.

Case in point, I really tried to talk Sarah out of buying that lamp at the first sale.  It is literally one of those basement window blocks that someone glued to something like a Harry & David leftover gift thing.  I knew my efforts were fruitless though because Sarah does this whole routine when she tries not to buy something but then totally buys it.  The psychology always ends up that she can carry something around and sometimes put it back, but if something is on a table and she has to walk away from it, she just can’t.  It’s like leaving a fallen soldier.  She can’t walk away.  I assume this is because she has a good heart, and not because she is a hoarder.

Sarah covered how awful the second sale was, so I’ll move on.  

The community garage sale seemed really promising.  But then it wasn’t.  I noticed Sarah’s increasing brutality as we scoped out each house, and decided that I had to start secretly filming.  The results are a truly amazing peek into our DTT adventures:

The nachos moment is captured on there.  And let me say that I DON’T EVEN EAT NACHOS.  I was just so amazed that someone was selling NACHOS AT A GARAGE SALE.

Also, that Ryobi tent house is where Sarah found her little stuffed fruits…so someone owes Ryobi tents an apology.

So what did I find all day?  Besides a Myst video game for my Nintendo DS (holla to the nerds!) I found some great fake vegetables to jazz up my vintage scales collection.

Here are some sexy lady shoes that I did not buy:

Look at those heels behind the flip flops.  I’m like David After Dentist…is this real life?

-Erin

A few weeks ago, Adam and I were driving home and as we turned into our neighborhood, we saw the sign advertising our annual neighborhood garage sale. It was about two weeks away, and Adam suggested I participate. I reminded him that Erin and I were already planning to hold a sale this summer during her neighborhood sale (just like last year!) but Adam wasn’t having it. He convinced me that it made sense to try to get rid of some stuff first, and then take the remains to Erin’s sale in June. Conveniently, Adam was going to be out of town for work during our neighborhood sale, so I enlisted my parents (my dad, specifically) to help, because trying to do a garage sale on your own is the worst.

You’ll remember that Erin and I converted my mom Cindy into an estate sale junkie last summer, so she has her own hoard of leftovers waiting to be resold. Like Adam, my dad was thrilled for the opportunity to purge their house of some of the garbage my mom has brought home with her, so we both got to work! 

For example, my mom had quite the selection of vintage Jell-O molds to offer our shoppers! Looks like she had some fun buying these early on and then realized that they’re not that re-sellable, even though Erin seemed to think so at some point. By mid morning on Friday, the sale was jumpin’ (Erin would not approve of that messy table of clothes): 

For this sale, I focused on purging clothes rather than leftover treasures, and that worked out in my favor. Around noon, I found myself surrounded by a swarm of teenaged girls, all from the same family (I swear to god this mom could have given Michelle Duggar a run for her money), and all eager to buy my sh*t! I think my dad was a little overwhelmed (not that I can blame him) because at one point I saw that there were other people (not part of the Duggar fam) ready to pay, and I had to shout, “Dad! These people want to give you money!" 

By the end of the day, our sale was totally picked over, and we were pumped! 

Those tables were stuffed to the gills when we had started! 

Erin stopped by at the end of the first day and I enlisted her help in gathering more goods for the next day. I allowed her to step foot in eBay World, our spare bedroom that is currently used as a warehouse for all of the goods I have purchased at sales to resell or eventually display. I have never seen such a shocked look on someone’s face when she stepped foot inside the room. She begged me to allow her to take a picture, but I wouldn’t let her! But I will show you something else: 

This is a sign for eBay world that one of my nieces made for me last summer. Erin saw this in eBay world and started dying laughing because SHE THOUGHT I MADE IT FOR MYSELF. 

Anyway, she was very helpful in giving me some tough love on what I need to get rid of. Many of these items were things that you’ve seen before. It hurts my soul to admit that she was right about the fact that I should NOT have bought some of these items. With one exception: 

I bought this Murano style glass fruit at the Windsor auction we attended a few times, and Erin is the person who told me to buy it! She actually told me to keep bidding! I ended up paying something obscene like $25 for it! Sold it for $5. 

Now here are some purchases she was right about: 

This bird without a name has a long backstory that I won’t bore you with. Bottom line is that I found it at the sale where Erin wanted some overpriced moccasins for her unborn baby. Erin pleaded with me to not buy this bird. I thought it looked pretty cool, though! Erin insisted it was a seagull but I still disagree. Seagulls aren’t black underneath. They’re dirty and grey. But it’s possible that NEITHER of us is able to properly identify a common animal. 

This kitty has been hanging out in eBay world for quite some time. I found her last spring. I have no idea what I was thinking and I’m sure Erin tried to talk me out of it at the time. 

If this little buddy looks familiar to you, it’s because you’ve seen him before. I thought Adam would be tickled by the fact that there was a lamp with a little Adam and Max on it. But he wasn’t impressed. Erin actually spotted this lamp at that really weird sale we went to a few months ago, and it was priced at $2.50 so I couldn’t pass it up. And she didn’t talk me out of it. 

You might remember these little buddies because I found them at that sale where we got SUPER scolded by a crazy woman. 

Both Erin and I thought this Immaculate Heart of Mary plaque was awesome, but in the end, it just freaked Adam out too much. 

These Muffy and Hoppy dolls aren’t actually things that Erin told me not to purchase–they’re things that Erin loves (just like Beanie Babies), and I’m surprised she didn’t try to steal them when she was over on Friday. Anyway, you’ll remember that I bought a boatload of these at an auction last winter, and these are the little dudes that didn’t sell on eBay. Turns out nobody wanted them in the garage sale either, so I’ll have to put my thinkin’ cap on. 

On Saturday, people must have been in the mood to chillax, because for the first two hours, this is what our list of profits looked like:

The weather was great and people straggled by, but most seemed interested in the free box near the curb and disinterested in walking up my driveway into the garage itself. Speaking of the free box, I put this guy in there because I just couldn’t imagine asking someone to give me money for him. 

My dad warned that the other occupants of the free box might catch hepatitis from him. Of course, someone quickly snatched him up!

In the end, even though Saturday was slow, my dad and I each made about $250 and had lots of fun people watching! 

There are still quite a few items leftover for Erin’s sale, not to mention all the crap I haven’t even gone through in my house yet. Here’s a picture of the state of my garage this evening, three days after our garage sale: 

All in all, a successful garage sale! I can’t wait for round two! 

-Sarah

Update from Erin: I have never seen a more seagull-looking stuffed animal seagull in my life.  In fact, Zach just confirmed that this is a seagull.  At one point, Sarah tried to say this was a goose.  Look at that neck!  That ain’t no goose.  What I do know FOR SURE is that Sarah should not have bought this.

And I’ll admit that I was wrong about that glass fruit.  To be fair, I bought some teeny tiny glass pumpkins around Halloween on ebay and they were like $10 each.  So I thought for sure she could sell that fruit.  Whoops!

As for ebay world, Jeez Louise.  I really should have snuck a photo of the place.  At this point, I’m pretty much entirely convinced that Sarah goes home after a long day of sale-ing, puts her purchases in ebay world, and then sentences them to a life of quiet solitude and uninterrupted slumber.  I suggested she get one of those locks with the skeleton key so that she can lock all the purchases in there like Jane Eyre or something.

Ok ok, so I’m exaggerating a bit.  And really, I’m cool with ebay world because it means we get to keep sale-ing each week!  

We mentioned that our adventures two Fridays ago did not end with our stop at Crocker Blvd. Resale.  Rather, we had one more very important stop to make.  Gibraltar Trade Center!  This Friday happened to be Gibraltar’s “Garage Sale Extravaganza.”  And what an extravaganza it was.

We blew past all of the normal vendor booths on our way into the Center (more on those later).  We even blew past these inflatable water balls that you climb inside of and roll around in.  I momentarily considered forcing Sarah to try these out with me, but then I started getting worried that I would pop my inflatable ball, which would be MEGA embarrassing.  

When we got to the garage sale area, we were greeted with tables and tables full of treasures (and garbage).

That lady is SO on to us. 

This was a booth where some white people sold Native American goods.  Each Dreamcatcher came with a special extra treat:

How much do I have to spend to supersize my “reading” to the non-mini size?

All jokes aside, there were some nice booths here.  It felt like a huge estate sale–the good and the bad all in one place.  I bought a ticket stub from the opening game at Ford Field and an old Briggs Stadium ticket.  I paid a mere $6 total.  Sarah bought a lot more than me, so I’ll let her show all of that off.

My only other purchase was some handmade Easter candy.  This part gets a little NSFW so heads up people!  While looking at the available candy, Sarah noticed a sign that said “Adult Novelty Candy–Ask to See.”  Of course we asked to see.  And of course we bought some.

That rabbit’s sitting on a barrel and has a giant wigglywob.  Zach and I still have not eaten this because it creeps us out so bad.  I suggested we break off the wigglywob and then eat it, but this still hasn’t happened.

Eventually, Sarah and I left the Extravaganza and got some ice cream at the upscale dining establishment in the heart of the Center.

Mad props to the head chef here because that ice cream was hella good.

From the looks of this photo, Sarah got beer flavored ice cream.  I got Superman.  Also, here is a close up of that booth behind her:

Idk which of these is my favorite sticker, but probably any of the ones that include the phrase “Ditch the B*tch.”

Anyway, here are some T-Rex heads mounted on a board so you can fool everyone into thinking that you done shot yourself a dinosaur:

I would like to know the rules on hunting baby T-Rexs though, because, like deer, I don’t think you are supposed to kill the babies.

We searched high and low for the wrestling area before we saw that helpful signage hovering in the sky like the Batman symbol.  

This person was selling various “oddities,” which I think is becoming a more mainstream thing to do.  

I kind of think the truck decals were scarier…and those inflatable water balls.

-Erin

Update from Sarah: You know how you know when you have a world class blog? When your co-blogger’s entry makes you laugh so hard you start crying. I don’t know WHAT kind of face that is that I’m making with the ice cream but it is truly great. 

Ok, so right when we walked in, I saw this.

As we all know, a wall of books often excites me. But before I could even start browsing, I saw this sign:

Can someone answer this for me?: In what world is the going rate $18 for a used Dean Koontz hardcover from 1989? 

Moving on… the next thing that caught my eye was a wall of iPhone covers being sold by a teenaged Juggalo. He ended up selling me one for $5 and it’s super cute! 

The only problem with that little bear is that his big squishy body sometimes rubs against the phone and accidentally flips the ringer on. Very convenient for quiet concerts and movie theaters.  

Before I go on to what I did buy, let me show you a few more things that I did not buy: 

I’m no expert but I believe that is an assault rifle hanging from the ceiling. 

Anyway, when we first walked into the garage sale area, I saw a long line of boxes of records, which of course caught my eye. Right away I found Endless Summer and a bunch of ‘80s records that seemed really awesome at the time but in retrospect really aren’t that exciting. But the guy who sold them to me was nice and only charged me $5 for 8 records. Whee! 

I also scored this cool cast iron trolly for $10. 

It looks big here but it’s tiny. 

The best thing I found, though, was this adorable sterling charm. It’s got inlaid stone so Erin thinks it could be Zuni. I paid $20 which was totally reasonable to me! 

It’s a little bigger than the size of a quarter. I’m not even an owl person… I just think it’s adorable. 

Like Erin, I also bought my husband some sexy chocolates, and like Erin and Zach, Adam and I cannot bring ourselves to eat them. One of Adam’s is the absolute worst: 

Part of me still can’t believe I bought this. 

All in all, though, we had a fabulous day! Things are finally improving! 

Happy (almost) New Year everyone!  It has been a really fun and hilarious first year of this little ol’ blog.  Thank YOU for reading, and for the emails/facebooking/comments/etc. that tell us you enjoy our sass.  We hope that 2013 brings even bigger and better estate sales and many more treasures.

To cap off the year, here are the top ten BEST moments of our estate sale insanity:

10. That time Erin bought a bear wearing a REAL GOLD necklace:  Sometimes you find perfectly fine treasures that you are happy buying as they are–say, a Muffy Vanderbear doll.  And sometimes, as an added bonus, that perfectly fine bear happens to be wearing a 14kt gold necklace.  In our “Cash for Gold, Part Two” entry,  Erin found out just how valuable gold is at the moment, when she cashed in a chain for $44.  Who puts real gold chains around teddy bears?  And who then sells that teddy bear for $12 at an estate sale?  Whoever that person is, we hope they do it more often–wrap all our purchases in gold please!

9. That time DTT had a huge ass garage sale:  The DTT garage sale put quite a twist on our normal routine.  This time we were the sellers, trying to convince people to buy our garage sale wares.  This was also a chance for us to unload all of the estate sale finds we had trouble selling on ebay, or that we fell out of love with.  Let’s just say, we had a lot of stuff to sell:

Check out the entry “Cold Ones Left” to see how the garage sale went, and to hear about Sarah taking a serious spill on the sidewalk.

8. All those times we found ourselves in “interesting” houses:  Hoarders? Check.  Survivalists? Check. Straight-up Grey Gardens style situations?  Check. We’ve seen it all, and somehow lived to tell about it. Take a peek at the entries: “Grey Gardens”, “Survival of the Fittest”, and “Hoarders. No Like Real Ones” for all the nitty gritty.

7. That time Erin interviewed Ryan Matthew Cohen of the Science Channel’s Oddities:  Somehow Erin scored an interview with fan-fave Ryan Matthew, and the resulting post here on DTT (Ryan Matthew Kind of Hates Christmas, and Other Revelations) turned out to be one of our most reblogged/linked out/googled entries. In a later turn of events, Erin met Ryan in New York, where he nervously informed her that he confuses our blog with the phrase “Take that Bottle.”  (That’s a phrase?)

6. All the times we made mad cash on eBay: And we are proud to say there were many! Check out our “Money Maker” entries to see just how well we did reselling our treasure finds.  Our biggest jackpots can be found in the entries: “Original Goonies Movie Posters”, “Old Duck Decoy”, “Valley of the Dolls II”, and “Crazy Horse”.

5. That time a guy asked Erin for her home address: You meet all kinds of people while out treasure hunting.  Erin happened to meet a guy who wanted to know where she lived…EXACTLY where she lived. Read all about it in the entry “Where I Live”.

4. That time we got in a CRAZY HUGE FIGHT with Cari Cucksey from HGTV’s Cash & Cari:  We get asked about this all the time, so of course we had to include it in the countdown: our infamous quarrel with Cari, from Cash & Cari.  If you remember, we started out in quite the love affair with the show, and with RePurpose estate sales.  But then we mentioned ONE sale they had that was overpriced and crowded, and next thing you know, we’re public enemy number one.  Find out just how loud ladies can yell in our entry “The End of an Era”.  

3. That time we fell in love with auctions:  Perhaps one of the biggest developments this year was our love affair with auctions.  Maybe in 2013 we will change the name of this blog to YO! We Love Auctions or something like that.  It all started with Erin’s fave honeyhole in Plymouth, featured in the entries: “Stand Down”, “Standing Room Only”, and “Trumpeting”.  Sarah caught the auction bug in the entry “Open for Bidding”, only to have it explode into auction frenzy in the entries “Auction Crashers” and “Blacktop Surprise”.     

2. That time we hunted down the person whose stuff we were buying at an estate sale and became cross-country friends with him:  Despite our humor, estate sales are a really emotional thing, and we recognize that.  Most sales happen because of a death in the family or because of other sad events (financial trouble, divorce, hoarding, and so on).  At the time when we wrote our entries “House of Horrors Part One” and “Part Two” we had no idea that a charming California man had just lost his mother in Michigan, and it was her home we were shopping at.  Our blog entry focused on the amazingly bizarre and intriguing items we found in the home, items unlike anything we had ever seen.  And before long, Erin tracked down the aforementioned Cali man (entry “REAL LIFE”) and Sarah wrote a heartfelt entry all about him and his mother (entry “Be My Little Bumblebee”).  You couldn’t have scripted it any better.  In fact, we are all now friends, and for Sarah, even in real life! 

OK, drum roll please!!!  The BEST moment of the year, as you’ve probably guessed, is…

1. That time we went to the BEST SALE EVER:  “Best Sale Ever”, as it is known, was, well, the best sale ever!  We both still dream about this sale (literally…at night, in our dreams).  Featured in the entries: “Best Sale Ever: Round One” and “Round Two”, this estate sale will forever live on as the perfect storm of all things wonderful about treasure hunting.  The owner of this estate loved shopping, and the packed house showed it.  Everything though was high quality, clean, and most importantly, CUTE!  There was a great mix of antiques and newer items, and somehow we got the most incredible bargain bin prices on everything.  Erin bought a brand new Pendleton blanket with the tags on it for basically pennies, and Sarah took home half a Hallmark store worth of books, ornaments, and Christmas decor.  We visited this sale twice over two days and hauled our items out in a wagon each time.  

So cheers to estate sales, and “junk”, and antiques, and to all of the people and places we encountered this year.  To 2013, bring it on, we are ready for your treasures!

Happy New Year!

xoxoxox

-Erin & Sarah