Thrift Thursday--JUNK HEAVEN estate sale edition

A couple of weeks ago I saw an estate sale listing that sounded like JUNK HEAVEN. The ladies running it said that the house was so packed it took them two weeks to go through it all (double the normal time) and posted teaser pictures on Facebook that had my mouth watering! Only problem--it was WAY across town (we're talking a 45 minute drive) and ran Wed-Fri 9-2 pm so there was little chance I could get a babysitter for the kids so that I could go alone. I was disappointed but pretty much resigned myself to not going.

(embossed aluminum Baby cup, vintage birthday candles, minty green velvet ribbon with beads and sequin stars)

Thursday morning I had to run an errand that took me halfway across town. I was already far from home, Maren had movies to watch and we'd all been fed, so I decided--what the heck--and we drove to the sale. Going estate sale shopping with my two children in tow is not my idea of JUNK HEAVEN. It's somewhere SOUTH of that, if you know what I mean. But sometimes, you have to do hard things to get the good junk, so I put Porter in the Snugli strapped to my chest, grabbed Maren's hand and a reusable shopping bag and headed into the fray.

(Ovenex starburst loaf pan, yummy vintage ornaments)

The organizers weren't exaggerating--it was JUNK HEAVEN. The house was packed to the gills, even towards the end of Day #2, and the prices were CHEAP! There was a ton of holiday stuff, vintage clothing, sewing junk, etc. And did I mention it was cheap? By the time I got there everything was 20% off of the already low prices (especially for a professionally-run estate sale).

 (Assorted vintage Christmas goodness)

Shopping with the kids--well, it was a pain. Porter was like an octopus, grabbing everything within reach of his chubby little arms. Maren complained and asked if it was time to go approximately every two minutes. I'm sure if I had been by myself I could have found a lot more goodies, but as it was I felt like my loot made the hassle worth it.

 (cute vintage pumpkin, handmade felt cowboy boot Christmas stocking with "Donny" in tiny silver rickrack, wide satin ribbons)

When I came home I stashed the bag under my desk and launched right into my weekend birthday-party-and -houseguest-marathon, so I didn't get to pull it all out and look at it until today. And these pictures don't show everything I picked up--one item is still at the dry cleaner, I have Easter stuff to post tomorrow and I still have to air out the mother lode of vintage Christmas wrapping paper I found, because it's so musty that the smell just about knocked me over when I opened the garbage bag I brought it all home in (if that gives you any clue to how much of it there is!) Finding all that good junk made me excited for yard sales season to begin!