Garage Sale and Auction Bargains

I love, love, love a bargain, and I know most of you do too—I’ve seen your evidence!

My brother and SIL started going to auctions a few years ago and they kept inviting me. I finally went because I was really intrigued by the bargains they’d found on beautiful things, but I was really a little scared too. You know how you hear of people scratching their noses and BOOM! they just bought themselves a buffalo head or something??!! So they coached me a little bit, and the first few times around my SIL did the bidding for me, but from there on out I was ON.MY.OWN…and HAVING A BLAST.

One good thing I did was set a budget for myself—I took the exact cash—because there was nothing big that I needed, and only so much smaller stuff I should haul home. Some of you might remember my Taming the Monster in the Basement post I did when I finally got our basement organized. Today I thought I’d share some of the finds—so you can see why I need to keep making room for STUFF!!

These pictures were taken on our garage floor, as I unloaded my car to take my stash to…the basement :), of course!  Some of these things you’ve seen in use, but didn’t know their story, like the amber and teal vintage Tiara Glass pieces (if you look closely you can see that the tiered piece still had the original label on it) and I used it for my summer birthdays party; the super-nice, super-heavy Pottery Barn lantern that I use all the time;and tons of patriotic decorations (you can see them at 4th of July Table and More).

Even though this picture is blurry (apologies :( ) I included it, because the beautiful figurines I used for my Little Boy Blue Spring Table came from this auction too! The collection of red, white, and blue lighthouses comes out every 4th of July—they’re sweet and something I probably wouldn’t have paid retail for, but I like having them.

Do you recognize the half-visible patriotic slate heart at the upper edge?

                                   It made its debut in my July 4th decor post, 2011.

I was so excited to find this darling little dish in a box lot at the auction. It has a bit of a carnival-glass quality to it that I like, although I’m not a fan of regular carnival glass. I thought it was old/vintage, but since then I’ve seen them in several places, so now I’m wondering. Does anyone know about this dish? I still like it, especially for fall. When I needed a lid to transport my corn soufflé (Rave Reviews Corn Soufflé) it served the purpose quite prettily—vintage or not.

I collect silver Revere bowls, and there was one of those in the stash, as well as a nice mixing bowl with a spout that goes to a set of Three Rivers pottery I already have and really like because it has three pine trees with snow falling, so it’s a great pattern for after the holidays and into the rest of winter. I don’t have any Dept. 56 houses, but I love their detail, and in a box lot came a brand-new house from the Dickens line! Also, a large metal spoon that for some reason I like quite a bit, a copper tea kettle, and my second Don Quixote! I already had one statute of the adventuring dreamer, but another one was just fine with me, since I’m a big fan of Don Quixote, the main character in Cervantes’ classic, The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.

I seldom have time to get to garage sales, but I LOVE to go to garage sales! Here’s what I think was a fabulous find—I think $3 for all the items in the picture except the plates, which are an Odd Lots—now Big Lots—find (does that tell you how long I’ve had them?).  Yes, the square platter (maybe 15” square), a medium-sized bowl, and the large square divided dish, as well as the navy blue biscotti jar that has a nice seal to it, so it’s useable, not just for pretty. Can you believe the match with the long-ago plates?!

Oh—and they still had the Pier 1 price tags on them. The owner told me they were a wedding gift they DID NOT like (she was emphatic), so they’d never used them. One woman’s junk…

And are you ready for the BEST find yet?

I found it in my own basement! A stash of STERLING SILVER PIECES! I had completely forgotten that my mother had given me all these sterling candle holders (the ones on the far left aren’t sterling). Can you imagine by surprise and joy at finding STERLING candle holders, and a pair of large candelabras?! That was a fun, fun find!

So what’s your haunt of choice for bargains and unexpected treasures? Auctions? Garage sales? Estate sales? Your basement? Goodwill, et al? Now I also do online auctions occasionally—what else am I missing?

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NOTE: Some of the items I use in my posts are in my Etsy shop, but many are not, simply because I haven’t updated my shop. If you see something you like and wonder if it’s available for sale, email me and let’s talk!

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Zuni