National Pike Festival

be still my heart. about 7-8 miles of yard sales and 2 beautiful days. this weekend was the national pike festival in my area. i haven't been yard saling for a long time. i took friday morning and hit almost every one. then hubby and i went out again saturday morning and there were even more yard sales set up. found a few neat things and good buys. here's my loot.

 *a very nice quality artificial winter wreath which i will tweak when the time comes ($4)

*a like new heavy duty tote which will be used for toting craft supplies ($3)
*a handled divided glass serving platter ($2)
*a lidded glass cracker jar ($2)

 

  
*6 etched glasses ($1)

*glass doorknobs (i have a few ideas) ($3)
*a yellow fiesta style bowl for my sister-in-law ($1)
*dollhouse furniture for my daughter (50 cents)

*silverplate utensils (50 cents)
*a mesh organizer tray (50 cents)

*old christmas ornaments ($3)

*a glass decanter ($1)

*4 oneida salad plates ($7)

 
i love these whimsical plates. they will look great mixed with my black and white.  the pattern is called "chefs to go".

*small vase ($1)

not pictured...
*a brand new decorative outdoor flag ($5)
*a starter spider plant ($1)
*a large clay flower pot ($1)

...for a grand total of $36.50.  when you consider that the brand new large stillinthesealedbag flag that i got for $5 normally sells for $20, i did pretty well.

the elderly woman i bought this from called it a "cracker jar". it's extremely heavy. here it is cleaned and filled with pretzels for now.  it has endless possibilities...cookies or crackers, soaps in the bathroom, etc....

i love having pretty serving platters. this will be great filled with different kinds of pickles and olives. 

love these etched glasses. aren't they pretty all cleaned up?

a great weekend!

Ah, Fall....!!

sunday was pretty much a perfect day. beautiful sunshine, a hint of autumn in the air, a fall festival, and all my family together for the day. the times i have all four of my kids home at the same time are rare and therefore very precious. i actually have five kids...jill is our unofficial adopted daughter. we love her and she's stuck with us.  :)

this was two tops weekend, our first of a couple months of fall festivals. good food, fleas, tractor shows, entertainment, pumpkins and gourds, crafts...it doesn't get any better than this. i didn't take pics because i didn't want to have to carry my camera. needed my hands free for fleas.  got some good ones, too.

a tin bowl full of napkin rings for $1.  yes, $1.

a set of 8 turkeys for thanksgiving!

i couldn't pass up this white ironstone covered bowl, despite a small chip in the lid. it was only $1, too.  it had to belong to someone's grandmother, and needed to be taken home and loved.


my 16th star votive candle holder for 75 cents. i've been finding and collecting these for years.  

i rummaged through a box of mixed utensils for silverplate. the box was marked 25 cents apiece, but when i took it to the seller, he gave it all to me for $3.  


a little silver polish and a little elbow grease.....

love this transformation!

my grand total....$5.75 !!  not bad.  oh yeah. add $3 for a bag of kettle corn. a fall festival must!

A Beautiful Day at Belleville

wednesday was a treat...for several reasons. first, we got to spend the day with our daughter, erin. i love spending time with my kids. what a blessing to enjoy them as adults. secondly, it was a gorgeous day. after seemingly unending days of heat and humidity, this was a jewel. the morning was cool and the highest temp in the day reached only 81, with a delightful "unhumid" breeze. we drove with the windows open and the wind in our hair. 
and thirdly, we went to belleville, pennsylvania...a farmers market and flea market in an area populated with many amish families. we try to go several times a year. i know it's a long way to go for a farmers market (a little less than 2 hours), but it's a nice drive and one of our favorite day trips. 

there are flowers....

 

 

photo by erin

(you better believe we came home with some of these!)

fleas...

photo by erin

good things to eat....

 photo by erin

and good company....

what more could you ask for?

we go probably mostly for the produce. among other things, i bought 1/2 bushel of cucumbers for pickles, fresh off the wagon of an amish family, a watermelon, and homebaked wheat bread and rolls.
i didn't take a lot of crowd pictures, because it was difficult to avoid catching the amish. out of respect for their beliefs, i tried not to photograph them. it's difficult though. their simplicity and old world charm make them a desirable subject. i hope, however, their aversion to being photographed does not translate to their horses and buggies. i couldn't resist.

this adorable guy was caught napping with his chin resting on the fence.

i tried to sneak up quietly so as not to disturb him.  he opened his eyes just a slit, then closed them again and went on with his nap. 

after spending time at belleville we always head a few miles east towards reedsville where there is a row of shops with a big field beside it, where there is another open air flea market. both markets, belleville and reedsville, are only held on wednesdays. all the following photos were taken by erin.

 

don't you love how you can find almost anything at a flea market?

gee, i've been looking for a grenade....

"guess what...i gotta fever!  and the only prescription is more cowbell!"

(some of you will understand)

can you believe though, after all this, the only fleas i came home with was a silverplate knife and fork for 25 cents?  i just didn't find anything i wanted this time. who'da thunk?

Buffalo China and a Happy Woman

i wonder if my husband knows how lucky he is. i occasionally remind him.  :)

many woman need to be wined and dined, spend a fortune on clothes, want to travel to exotic places. not me. i'm a cheap date. a favorite thing to do?  take a drive on a pretty day, with no destination in mind, choosing a road never taken before, stopping on a whim if we see something interesting. it's especially fun if we happen to find a great flea market or yard sale.  recently i came home with this. a little dessert bowl in a pattern i've just recently found and fallen in love with.  i spent $1.   it made my day.   told you...cheap date.

"manhattan black" by buffalo china

Flitting and Fleas

I'm a flitter. Some people attack a project, finish it, then move on. I, on the other hand, flit from one thing to another. They usually get done, eventually, but in no particular order. This tends to create a rather messy lifestyle. But, there you have it.  I'm being honest. 

Projects I'm currently flitting between?  Cleaning out the attic for a yard sale. Spring cleaning the front porch, getting the stuff for it out of storage and decorating (yes, I'm a little late and only half finished on this one).  Redoing a flea market chair. Redoing the bathroom. Reorganizing my craft room. To mention a few. 

Each of these projects are appropriate for certain times of my day. Attic...when it's not hot. Front porch and bathroom...when I have energy (which really cuts down on the times I can work on these).  Chair and craft room...good projects for when I'm tired and need to sit down (when seems to be frequently, so these really should be finished by now).  (To be totally fair to me, I just started the craft room thing.)

The craft room reorganization subject brings me to a fun thrifting find from this past Friday. I took a half day to run errands and hit a few flea markets. It had been a while and I was going through withdrawal. 

I found these three glass candy containers at Goodwill for 99 cents apiece. They have an oval area for a label, which I haven't made yet, and nice snap-on metal lids.  Love these!  Great storage containers for kitchen or craft room. I chose craft room. 

Washed up and in use.

A Thing For Black and White

Love, love, love black and white. And when I found these plates at my local flea market/antique mall last week, I had to bring them home with me. Especially when I got 5 dinner plates and 11 dessert/bread&butter plates for $5 and in absolutely perfect condition.  I don't mind when I can't get full sets of dishes because I love to mix and match, plus, I seldom need large numbers anyway. I discovered the pattern name is "Manhattan Black" by googling the company name "Buffalo China".  It is a heavy, thick restaurant china. 

Now this....

is my kind of bargain. 

Found at Goodwill. Nice enough to use as is, and able to be painted if needed.  How could I go wrong for 99 cents ? 
A productive day.