Posted by I love going to our monthly flea market. It’s sponsored by a local high school to benefit their band programs and while small, it draws enough vendors to make it worthwhile. And that Saturday the weather was perfect, just perfect, and I was eager. This month they had a special booth of “estate sale items” with 100% of the proceeds going to the school. Very cool. It looked like they had a lot of interesting things and I was excited to have a gander. But I picked up a small Virgin Mary print in a rustic carved wood frame, turned it over and saw a price tag of $200! (Did I read that right?!) I was expecting $10 or $15 at most. Checked out a few more things with eye-watering prices and then beat a hasty retreat. There would be nothing in there for me.
I did find a few goodies at other booths. I bought this antique wood frame from Kim. The wood frame has gilded and painted plaster details and a striking wood veneer. She was kind enough to stash it in her car after I paid so I wouldn’t have to lug it around while I continued to shop.
The back shows its age. The European military gent photo is a bonus. The only downside is its larger size.
Some things are just so quirky that I can’t say no, like this Argentinian horn cup with six appetizer picks. The set gives off an exotic vibe. Would look great on a bar cart and the horn picks are usable!
This wood box covered in hand-tooled leather is likely from Africa. Handsome and the right size for jewelry, keys, coins, office supplies, playing cards. Love a good box.
Total paid: $32.
But after I got home I lamented my one jewelry purchase. It was not something I would normally buy, but I thought the rhinestone earrings were lovely and well-made with prong-set stones that had a bit of flash. And even though I looked them over and over at the booth, I never noticed one stone was missing…till I got home. Darn!! Can you spot it?
I paid $10 and now I am wondering what to do with the earrings. Try to sell them AS IS? (And for what price?) Turn one into a pendant? Try to find a replacement rhinestone? Donate them? Thoughts?
This gorgeous antique hand-tinted lithograph (the “Feast of Venus”) in a stunning old frame for just $30 was another heartbreak. This would sell for $$$ in an antique mall and I would sooooo wanted to buy it but that it was huge (approx. 30″ wide) and heavy. There is no way I would want to ship this. I sadly left it behind. I still regret it because this was such a good thing.
In the Flotsam Category!
We’re doing a deep reorg in our garage and it’s a hot mess right now. Bins and boxes and crap are everywhere as we try to figure out what to keep, what to discard and what to give to charity. Honestly we should have done this years ago but it’s not fun.
I’m going to break them down for better storage.
I’ve been using this reorg to continue sorting through my inventory bins and I’m finding a lot of them are nearly empty because I’ve been using more of our spare bedroom for storage. (My goal is to have all 90% of Etsy inventory inside our house and I think it is possible.) I unearthed a bin with a few unlisted books that are worth selling and my husband found the last of my unlisted vintage religious printer’s blocks. I had bought back three big lots from an eBay seller back in 2019 for a total of $130 (with shipping). I’ve been selling the blocks individually or in small lots since then and to date they’ve brought in $630 in revenue. This should be the very last of them!
Now the other day I took two boxes of stale inventory to our neighborhood thrift store where most of it had come from originally. In a quick calculation it represented about $50 to $60 of expense. One box included a brown leather Foley + Corinna purse. It never got any interest (it wasn’t my style either) and when I doublechecked the price I saw that most for sale online are now only in the $30 to $45 range. Decided it was time to let it go.
While it was good to get rid of these items, as I packed them up I questioned if I shouldn’t give them one more try. I kept thinking surely this will sell. Maybe you know the feeling. But I kept my resolve.
After dropping off the boxes I had to pop inside the store for a quick mooch. I spotted this beautiful, heavy, cut-crystal Waterford ashtray in the glass aisle. I am fond of a bit of crystal and really liked this. Then I felt and saw a little bash on one of the ribs. Darn. Had to leave it behind.
These vintage hand-painted Japanese tea/sake cups were rather nice too, but cups just aren’t selling for me anymore. So this was a no too.
In the end I left empty handed other than a book for myself. But I have plenty of stuff still to list so no worries on that front.
Wishing you happy hunting.
Karen
Hunting for Vintage 