Estate Sales...

I love estate sales. I love to enter someone else's home and learn about their life from what they have collected over the years. I try to make a mental note of the period of collectibles and try to figure out the ages of the owners. Years ago, when I would go to the sales they would have the same things as my grandparents or my husband's grandparents. Lately it has been more of the era of my parents.

I have been to 4 sales in the past few weeks.


At the first one I scored a ton of stuff... the man had been a pilot with TWA for many years. He and his wife had recently moved into a nursing facility.

There were National Geographic magazines from 1929. I chose the earliest copy they had and then some important dates in my life...

The month and year that I was born and my husband was born... the month and year I graduated from high school and the month and year we got married. Then I decided to pick the June magazine from every year. I thought it would be a nice snapshot of history.

I found old ledger books in his den... many artists are turning these into journals. An Atlas... great for some collage backgrounds...

I grabbed a box of 3 dimensional letters...

I had to buy the Dale Carnegie "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living"... who can't glean some insight from that man!

a stencil set... an EZ-view magnifier...

A few kitchen items that are useful... small tongs (they reminded me of some my Mother-in-law has) and a perfect sized spatula for serving my pasticchio. Measuring shot glasses... I have one and when you are baking it is always handy to have more than one. A glass tea bag cozy and the Boston Cooking School Cookbook... my parents had this cookbook, I think one of my brother's has it now.

One of my favorite items are the cutest measuring spoons... a pinch... a dash... and a smidgen!!! If you ever wondered what those measurements were... well I now have the answer!!!

Lastly a small vase... I had two others of similar design and size that I purchased at other sales... so of course this one had to go home with me. All of this great stuff for under $25.00... now that was a great day!!! So fun!!!

I dragged my whole "fam damily" to the next sale. It was a Saturday and the home was in Villa Park. I had been told that I would love the homes in this area as they were old and traditional in design... very East Coast.

We did not buy anything at this sale, but the home was lovely...

I have always loved center entrances...

The third sale my lucky kids got to tag along... or were held captive in the car... whichever you prefer. The man was a Psychologist and had many interesting books. This sale was run by a professional company so the prices were a bit high. We got away cheaply... just 2 books for $1.00 each.

The Tao of Pooh...

"While Eeyore frets... and Piglet hesitates... and rabbit calculates... and Owl pontificates... Pooh just is..."

The pages of the Journey to Transformation book will definitely end up in my future collages... it was just too good to pass up. I may even read some of the book before I tear into it.

"N" bought a small pink heart shaped trinket box that day also. "D" asked the kind lady at the check-out if he could see one of the man's pocket watches... until I saw that the price was $975.00... boy that kid has expensive taste. I suggested that we just look at that one through the case!

Today I spared both kids... mainly because one is in school and the other was at Digital Comics camp... I headed up to Brea for another sale. This was a small craftsman style bungalow, filled with a ton of stuff. There was a 20 or 30's style bedroom set... don't need that, but it was pretty. When I walked into the next room I thought to myself, this bedroom set is very unusual. I nearly burst out laughing when I read the sign" unique bedroom set"... that was an understatement! She had about 4 Kirby vacuums... my Dad loved his Kirby. Another girl snagged a great old trunk and an old suitcase... N would have grabbed both of those if she were with me.

I bought a great beverage jug to use by the pool. I have wanted one of these for quite awhile... lemonade or ice tea will fill it this weekend.

I could not pass up the glasses... I wanted something to make individual desserts in... tiramisu or Gram's whiskey cake... perfect.

We had some custard cups from L's Gram that we loved to use... unfortunately the last one recently broke. Even thought these new cups are not as ornate as Gram's, the shape is similar and perfect for a variety of uses. My total today was $16.00.

I said that I was going to try and NOT collect stuff at this new house... (sorry L) but I just get so much enjoyment out of the sales. I love that the kids like to go, at least N goes easily and D .... well he protests about everything anyway! I hope they will always remember going to estate sales with me and having an appreciation for" antiques" or at least other people's treasures!!!

Next month... the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena!