Dig This Treasure!

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.