When garage sales throw up in your truck!

Courtney came down last weekend for a visit and to celebrate her birthday.  One of the things she wanted to do was go "junking" with me. I think she might have felt left out of all the cool finds that ended up in Liz's apartment. So we headed out early to hit some thrift stores and any garage sales we happened upon.

At the first garage sale stop, Courtney scored this cool Asian metal can for $5.
 

 

 I got a pair of silver-plated candelabras, and some pillows that I will "dissect" for the parts.

We stopped at the Goodwill (well, actually two GWs) and another store and picked up some sheets for projects (I got a nice set of Simply Shabby Chic ones for $5!)  

Okay, long story short, we walked about a zillion miles through stores and sales.  We were quite restrained in what we bought.  At first.

What we thought would be our last stop came from a tip from Stud Muffin.  He past a some sales set up in a parking lot while out running his own errands.  It was "fixin" to rain when we got there, so we took a quick look around and started to leave.  One lady asked me if I would give her $5 for a little table I had examined.  Five dollars seemed to be my number!  With raindrops starting to fall, I agreed, but when her helper carried it to the truck, she brought over some ceramic thingies and a clock.  She said she didn't want to take them home, so they were free accessories for the table.  Ummm...okay?

The lady at the next table begged me to buy a spindle cradle that she wanted to get rid of.  I decided that "maybe" I could chop it up and make a bench or something from it, so I agreed.  There seemed to be a lot of parts to it when we were loading it into the truck. That's when she said there was a changing table and some white eyelet bedding too!  Huh??

Another lady had a HUGE steamer trunk on a trailer, but it was so big, I didn't even ask to see inside.  She also had a very old cardboard suitcase, but it was pretty damaged and the top was totally warped. 
 
We were "this close" to home, but got waylaid by a Moving Sale sign on the corner!  The rain had stopped, so we did too.  At the sale.  The folks were starting to pack up, so we took a quick look around.  

There was an old Westinghouse tube radio on a table, looking pretty rough, but in a neat way.  They had glassware and kitchen stuff, old wicker baskets and random other things. 

Pile of chips and dust in the corner is the radio falling apart!

I asked the man how much he wanted for the radio and he suggested $25.  I said that was too rich for my blood considering the conditions, and then it was $15.  I said I'd think about it and started checking out the vintage Pyrex and Tupperware.  Next thing I knew, a pile was forming on the table!

As the sellers packed up the extra items, they kept offering us cool stuff at ridiculous prices or free!  We struck a deal on the whole pile of stuff and (over)loaded the truck some more.  Courtney had to ride home with a large box on her lap filled with vintage glassware wrapped in a free set of King size sheets!  Good thing it was only a few seconds down the road to the house.

I wish I had taken a picture of the truck when we arrived at home, but we had to unload as much as possible, as fast as possible, so Stud Muffin wouldn't see the carnage! Please reference this post's title for mental image.

Gratuitous photo of Courtney laughing at the card her sister gave her.  Something about her being old enough to have played pool with Jesus.

After we unloaded and put our feet up for a while, Courtney mentioned how much she liked the huge trunk.  Why didn't she say something while we are at the sale?!?  So, when she went to have a nap, Stud Muffin and I took off to see if the trunk lady was still at the parking lot.  

Unfortunately, the lot was empty, but since we had already driven to town, I suggested we stop in at my favorite junk store that is only open...when they feel like it.  Hard for me to guess when that might be, but Saturdays were pretty likely.

And look what jumped into the truck and came home with me!!!

Isn't she pretty??

 A 1916 White Family Rotary treadle sewing machine.  For $40!!  Complete with all 6 drawers, the accessory kit, bobbins and extra leather belts!  I'm not sure if she actually sews, but the wheel turns and the needle goes up and down.  

She's going to take quite a bit of work to restore.  Someone lacquered over the whole thing including parts of the machine, and the lacquer had darkened with age and gotten a bit sticky.  So I know what I will be doing for the next little while millennium.. stripping off the old lacquer and making her pretty again.

Oh, and cleaning garage sale spew out of the truck to make room for the next go 'round!  Like maybe this shirt I saw the other day?