We spent yesterday starting up our booth at the antique mall.

We hauled in the shelving and tables, wiped them down so they were good and clean, and got them arranged. There is less space in 8×10 feet than you’d think! We brought a round table with us that ended up coming back home–no space! I also have an old kitchen cabinet that I want to bring, but decided to paint it first, so we’ll be rearranging again when it’s done.

What we ended up with looked pretty good. But would you believe we completely filled my SUV and Larry’s truck–but barely filled the booth? So when I got home last night I packed more things to go. One thing I realized as I was setting up was that I had lots of small-dollar items but not too many things over $20. That means I’d have to sell a lot just to pay the booth rent. So last night I concentrated on finding things that will sell for more $$$. I like having the lower-priced things, because as my sister said, those are the booths she likes to shop in because she can afford a few things. But I need a better mix, so that’s today’s challenge.

Larry has been a real packhorse. He’s moved boxes and boxes, moved furniture, run back and forth to the hardware store and just been a great help. He was so tired he was in bed before 9 and slept like a stone all night.

Thanks to Joy’s good advice this has been a lot easier than it might have been. I grouped things as she advised, made the booth look full even though it needs and will get a lot more stuff in it today, and got some good compliments from the owner and the cashier. The young cashier came in and looked around and said, :I love this! You’ve got your girlie corner, your primitive country corner, your snooty corner and over there’s the kitchen. You’ve got a great decorating style.” That made me feel good. The “snooty” corner, by the way, has a silver service and vintage china and dishes along with an older ginger jar lamp.

I will post photos soon, I promise. I’m trying to take them as I work but keep forgetting. And yesterday I had my little great-granddaughter for the last hour we were there–she was so much fun and so interested in everything, so I spent some time looking around the mall with her. Maybe she’ll get the vintage bug early.

We’re off again to take another load  before the snow comes. I expect to be housebound tomorrow if the snow arrives as predicted.

I was absolutely exhausted by the time I dropped in bed about 1 am this morning.

We have to make our trips count. If we have to go to town, we try to accomplish several things, not just one. It’s a habit for country people; if we need gas for the tractor we’re going to wait until we need milk or something else. Then we’ll add in a stop at the library and whatever else we can to make the most of the money we’re spending on gas. I bet most of you do the same thing.

Yesterday was Larry’s regular appointment with the VA doctor in Charleston. I’d stopped at the ReStore, Habitat for Humanity’s resale place, on Tuesday evening and found a little gas heater for the greenhouse we’ll be building next month. I also noticed a lot of doors and windows–we plan to build this greenhouse using old windows and other salvage and I wanted Larry to look at them with me to see if we could get what we needed for a reasonable price. So that meant I needed to go with him to Charleston (which is 50 miles from here).

He dropped me off at a big thrift shop–and he was gone 2 hours! Do you know what kind of damage I can do in two hours? I combed that place pretty thoroughly, I can tell you. Lots of finds, a couple mistakes (do you ever do that? Something looks great but when you get home you find the chip or the stain or it’s not what you thought), but overall it was a worthwhile stop.

When he picked me up we headed to another small church-run shop. There I found some good vintage linens and some vintage dishes (Daisy by Indiana Glass–5 grill plates). Then we headed to ReStore. We looked through windows but then I saw the sliding glass doors. The windows were just too pricey, but the doors–not full doors but individual panels–were just what we needed. We could get 3 foot by 7 foot door panels for $15-20 each. It doesn’t take many of those to make a wall of glass. We also bought a good storm door with a sliding screen for the entrance, and an antique interior door for the log cabin room we’re building. That door had the neatest hardware, a handle with little flowers all over it and old hammered hinges.

I found a small 9-drawer cabinet for the bathroom (one drawer missing but that makes a nice cubby for all sorts of things) and boxes of decorative tins that I will sell on eBay. I wondered about the tins–they had pallets of them? So what was the story? Did the truck wreck? The boxes were waterstained, so had a warehouse flooded?

There must be some story behind all those tins ending up at the ReStore–as there is a story behind every thing they get. I was enchanted with a fireplace gas heater that I could just see in the room we are building. Larry wasn’t as enchanted with it so we came home with it.

When I got home I found inside one of the drawers of the pink cabinet a very pretty cameo and silverplate box. The hinge pin is missing but I’m sure I can fix that.

We ended up with 6 glass panels, the interior door, storm door, and the other things for $137.00. We have all the glass we need for the greenhouse now except for the roof, and just need one more door. The greenhouse will be built against the garage so we only need three sides. Larry is going to build a block foundation for it, then we’ll build frames and slide the glass panels in, caulk them along the seams, and trim them with wood so they look good on the outside. The roof will be partly glass, and I’d like to use something that will open for a vent. Still working on that part. For this year the roof may just be plastic sheeting until we find what we want.

We were tired when we came home but we worked on the used washing machine we’d got the night before and after a lot of fiddling around, got the loose part back in place and hooked up the washer. It works like a champ and look new inside and out. I have a lot of wash to catch up on today!

And after all of that, I worked on eBay until after midnight. Yesterday and today are free listing days so I try to take full advantage and get as much listed as possible.  These finds are from earlier in the week and I was cleaning them up last night. Haven’t got them listed yet, though, as I concentrated on listing some things I’d had for a while.

As you can imagine, we were late getting up today and I am moving slow. It’s a good day for resting, cloudy and drizzling. So I am working on the grant applications, packing a few eBay things and taking the day as it comes, one thing at a time.

I hope you had some good finds yesterday. Be sure to check out Colorado Lady’s blog to see what others found!

A few more finds–yes, I do love colored glass

Back to grant writing!

Some cool finds recently to share with you. The fun of listing things on eBay is what I learn. For example, this pitcher was made by the Cumbow company in Abingdon, VA during the Great Depression. It took my some time to identify it as such, but what a history lesson. The ladies would paint “blanks” that were purchased from Homer Laughlin or Johnson Brothers China. It was a way to earn money during the Depression and pieces were made for the Roosevelts, Eisenhower and many other famous people. My listing for this piece sold today and I am so happy to see that it is returning to Abingdon. That’s just cool.

Sandwich glass seems to be very collectible these days. I find a good bit of it in my area. This bowl is an example of Anchor Hocking Sandwich Glass, which was one of those things put into boxes of oats, I believe. There are other, more valuable kinds of this glass but the Anchor Hocking and Tiara brands are what are commonly found. Forest green colored glass in this patten is more rare and quite sought after.

I remember these from my childhood! They need a bit of cleaning before I can list them, but aren’t they cute?

This little gilt dresser box has a beveled glass lid. The gilt items seem to be attracting some collectors these days. This one needs a bit of cleaning before I list it. I currently have a gilt oval dresser tray listed so this would go nicely with that tray.

More gilt–this little piano is a music box. I wish I knew the tune it plays! It is currently listed.

Small primitive bench with its original green paint. I had some cleaning to do on this one and it could still use a little more before I list it.

A Buckeye Root Beer Mug that’s well over 50 years old. The pitcher that was sold with these is highly collectible. Wish I had one of those!

So that’s a little of recent finds. There are many more but I’m sure you;ve had enough by now. And today? Well, I added more to the lot so as soon as my internet is fixed I’ll be listing a lot more.

How about you? Any good finds recently?