Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Estate Sale Birthday

Hi everyone:

What could be better than going away for your birthday week-end? Stopping at an estate sale - twice - of course! Yes, my hubby and children indulged me and whisked me to Lethbridge for my birthday.

The high-level railway bridge in Lethbridge 
Enjoying a walk through Indian Battle Park in Lethbridge
On the way we stopped at an estate sale in the country and we picked up a few things. 
Even better than the treasures I found was the fact that we got them at 25% off on the way down to Lethbridge and 50% off the next day on our way back to Calgary. 
I got some antique hand-painted china, 
Teacups, saucers and small luncheon plates - yum!
Can hardly wait to use these
a Cornflower cream and sugar set,
This is what I went back for on Sunday and it was still waiting for me.
Really love the tray with the candlewick handles
a Beswick foal (I collect these),
This Beswick foal matches a larger one that I already have
a strand of cultured pearls, some old books, including a typing practise manual (I remember those days!), a manual typewriter for my daughter, a vintage dartboard and darts for my son, and a few sewing related items. 
I'm sure this typewriter manual will help Sarah with her typing skills
I also picked up two vintage children's aprons, one of which belonged to the daughter of the homeowner, who was also at the sale. I managed to snag a desk Ott-Lite, which I've been wanting to buy for some time now and a few vintage doilies - I always get the doilies. I also snagged these gas ration coupon booklets from WWII, just because I had never seen any of these and thought they were so cool.
Gas ration coupon booklets from WWII
They even had the licence plate number on them.
My best purchase was a wooden sewing basket that folds out. I had passed on one of these at a previous estate sale and I was glad I did, because this one was a treasure trove!
Look at all the goodies inside! 
Every layer full of vintage sewing supplies
Teeka inspecting the new addition to the studio
It's really large when you open it all out!
Teeka is as thrilled as I was with this discovery! 
Thread and perle cotton and needles and ... there was even some partially finished embroidery in the bottom of the basket. I was thrilled!
Lots of old thread and some Singer shears 
Perle cotton and some lace
Did I go a bit overboard? Well, maybe, but it was my birthday after all and the net proceeds from this sale were being used to fund a scholarship at the local high school, so I didn't feel too bad about my purchases. 

Of course there is always another estate sale just around the corner, or in my case, just a few miles away, and I'll let you know about the most recent sale that I attended and what followed me home from there in a future post.

Let me know about your best estate sale find in the comments below.

2 comments:

Catskill Quilter said...

Happy (belated!) birthday! Your family certainly helped you celebrate in style! I have not gone to too many estate sales, though I do love them. My favorite finds are an old embroidered baby quilt top, and a small painting of a man playing some kind of flute. Both are treasures! Your teacups are a fabulous find!

Chatterbox Quilts said...

Thanks for the birthday wishes, @Catskill Quilter! I must admit that estate sales are my downfall - I just love finding bargain. It's almost like a treasure hunt - you never know what you'll find and I've found some great items. I'll let you know more about some of my estate sale finds in a future blogpost. Kim