Christmas at the Auction

I love auctions and everything about them. Well, maybe except for when I am outbid but that’s just a minor detail. Box lots are my go-to at auctions. There could be a whole box filled with amazing finds or maybe one or two treasures and the rest is throw-away, but like Forrest Gump said “You never know what you’re going to get.” 

I constantly have to remind myself to look – really look – at box lots. I also have to constantly remind myself to follow my own reminder, but I’m making progress little by little. Many people, not all, take a brief glance at what is on the top of a box lot and never dig into the bottom of the box. This happens especially with large boxes and boxes that are positioned underneath tables. That is why I am trying to remind myself to remember to look with care and diligence, because  you never know what you are going to find.

Like this:

I had walked by a box of what seemed to be somewhat new boxes of Christmas ornaments. They were just regular gold balls, still in their box, and obviously not vintage. This was a big box so curiosity finally got the better of me as I decided to take a closer look at what was underneath the new ornaments. Well, thank goodness for curiosity! Underneath the newer ornaments was a medium sized wad of paper towels, obviously wrapped around an object. I unraveled the paper towels and was greeted by two vintage Christmas elves. That was that. I wrapped the elves back up in their paper towels and returned to my seat, waiting for this box to come up.

I didn’t even bother sifting through the rest of the box because I wanted these elves. Sure, I should have continued to dig through the box, but no sense in causing some type of ruckus and have people wonder what I was looking for. (I’ve learned my lesson with that! Spend too much time checking out a box lot and you are bound to have more noses pop into the box). The Christmas box came up to the block. The auctioneer didn’t bother to reach further down into the box (thank goodness!) but only sold the box as a mixed lot of Christmas items for wait….wait…. $1. Up goes my bid number & over walked the runner with the box. Merry Christmas to me!

 

Though the box was filled with mostly newer Christmas ornaments, there were still a few beauties like vintage teardrop ornaments, elves, Santa & his little friend (make that a naughty Santa) and what appears to be a reindeer hiding from hunting season amongst holiday flora.  

 

The green toolbox was not a part of the box lot, but a separate bid for $4. It was old, cute, and just the right size to store all of my box lot treasures. 

So as a friendly public service announcement, please remember to sift through those boxes! Dig down under amidst what looks like is trash and you might find some real treasure. Unless of course you are at the auction I attend, then you can leave the digging to me!

Saturday Yard Sale Sabotage

This past Saturday, I awoke at 6am with high hopes and a dream. Yes, it was super early for me on a Saturday morning and would require a nice cup of Dunkin Donuts tea to wake me up, but it was going to be worth it because I was going to hit what I thought would be one of those yard sales that a person talks about for years to come. Why was I so excited?

 Because of this:

 

 and this: 

These yard sale picture previews include some vintage holiday goodness. Valentine’s Day knickknacks, Gurley Thanksgiving candles, and the infamous light up ceramic Christmas trees. The best part about these items besides their outpouring of vintage looks? The price. I squinted and I cropped photos, I zoomed and I looked with one eye and came to the conclusion that the Gurley candles were selling at the whopping cost of 50cents per pair. The Valentine’s Day décor was just as cheap and though the price tag was hidden from view on the Christmas trees, I’m sure they were only a couple of dollars. Has this seller gone mad?? 

As I stated, I awoke bright and early with the hopes of coming home with all of these treasures. The yard sale started at 7am and I arrived a few minutes after the opening time. Seeing that the street was already filled with cars, my heart started pumping with that "must-move-quickly-before-all-gone" mode. Walking into the garage, my eyes darted back and forth from table to table. Candles? Little Valentine ladies? Christmas Trees? Oh the horror. Gone. All gone. 

I kindly and calmly asked the woman holding the sale if she had opened earlier, since the sale was already crowded. I also nonchalantly mentioned the Gurley candles to which she informed me that a man contacted her the night before in regards to the vintage holiday items. (Say it isn’t so!) He swooped in on the sale Friday night and bought all of the vintage décor including the candles, ceramic trees, the little heart ladies, and I’m sure anything else that was not featured in the ad pictures. 

I walked away from the sale with a few items and a reminder that the early bird gets the worm. I love when people include pictures in their Craigslist yard sale ads, but just never thought to contact the person prior to the sale in regards to buying items before the garage doors opened in the early hours of a spring weekend morning.Will I remember this in the future? You bet it. When you can score pairs of Gurley Thanksgiving pilgrim candles for 50cents a pair, it's unlikely that's something that can be forgotten. Will I contact a seller prior to a sale in regards to buying items before that 7am opening time? I'm not sure. Part of the thrill of going yard saling and attending flea markets is that early morning and the lure of what might be sitting on those tables in a musty old garage. Contacting a seller before a sale starts feels a bit like cheating to me, and what fun is there in cheating?

I like to find treasures fair and square, so give me a cup of hot tea to go, my list of sales, and I'll take an early Saturday morning over a Friday night "pre-sale" anytime.

Mr. Sharpie's Appearance

I hope that the first yard sales of the season aren’t an indication of sales to come. About three weeks ago, it was a sunny Saturday morning and the smell of spring had finally made its’ way into northwest Jersey. I mapped out my route the night before and was all ready to enjoy the first yard- saling of the year.

Mr. Marker makes his mark

Waking up a few hours early, I went to the gym first and then stopped at the first sale of the day – an estate sale. The house was an older home with an amazing vintage kitchen – double porcelain sink with the built-in drain, cupboards in assorted sizes running from floor to ceiling, and amazing woodwork throughout the house. What was not so amazing were the prices and the price labeling system. A few stickers, maybe an affixed price tag here or there, but mostly… prepare to cringe… prices written in black marker directly on the item. Not written on a sticker, not written on a piece of paper, but written directly on the item. Regardless of the material, be it glass, brass, chalkware – yes, vintage chalkware!, fabric, or porcelain, the marker spared nothing. Magic erasers work wonders, but I wasn’t too sure that Mr. Arm&Hammer could save some of these pieces from the wrath of the sharpie.

The house was filled with ornate furniture and lots of saints. Religious statues filled the fireplace mantle, dining room table, and were decorating the upstairs bedrooms. I haven’t had luck with reselling religious chalkware, so I passed both on the high prices and determining whether or not Mr. Marker would come off. I had mainly come to look at the vintage Christmas decorations, which I found in the basement.

It was like Christmas 1962 had thrown up in the basement and I loved it! Boxes of electrified red Christmas bells, plastic gaudy garland, Shiny Brites, and window candles with the red and yellow tipped light bulbs. Prices were high, both for reselling and for personal want. And again, perfectly good pristine Shiny Brite boxes were ruined by Mr. Sharpie’s appearance… and we know there isn’t a way to remove permanent marker from cardboard.

I left the sale spending $2 on a trio of vintage Christmas candles, complete with the flame bulbs. My plans were to include them with other vintage Christmas items to resell, but decided that, like with most vintage Christmas I come across, they would be keepers.

I hoped that the first yard sales of the season would be more promising, but I was left wanting more. For this coming weekend, I already have two sales lined up. One is an estate sale that is promising a house filled with vintage kitsch, so of course I'm going. The other is a yard sale which looks like it might be the kind of sale that one dreams off... vintage Pyrex, retro holiday decorations, and what I hope will be my first purchase of Gurley candles to add to my vintage decor. 

Expect some pictures from my purchases this weekend and look for future posts this week to include my unexpected find of vintage knee hugger elves and a surprise Santa & his lady friend!

Time for a Change.

It’s been some time since my last post. I’ve been writing, editing, deleting, and re-writing posts. I’ve been complaining how my full time job is getting in the way of my true calling of doing historical research, writing, thrifting and flipping. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done. I could sleep less and work more, but in the long run that would leave me in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, underneath a blanket on a couch, napping away for hours.

I’ve been attending a weekly & bi-weekly auction and finally yard sale & flea market season is upon us here in the northwest part of Jersey. I’ve been reading lots of thrifting and vintage blogs, which always inspires me to want to write more as well as do a major overhaul on my blog. I made a goal in the beginning of the year to blog at least once a week & somewhere between New Year’s Day and now that goal has gotten swept under the rug. But, if I want to be like the blogs that I can read for hours, then I must write, I must photograph, and I must be diligent.

I love seeing all of the vintage finds that people stumble upon when going to yard sales. I am envious of those that still live in areas where towns do annual clean-ups and it’s a picker’s heaven on front lawns and driveways. I want to be proud of my blog & not only write here and there. I want readers to check in weekly or even daily to see into the world of The Corner Cupboard.

So, time to dust off that New Year’s Resolution and start making it a reality!