Trip to the Auction House

Well, yesterday I worked up enough guts to go to my first auction.  I went to the preview at Direct Auctions the day before and scouted out a few items that I thought would fit well either in my Etsy shop or in my booth at upcoming fleas...and most items turned out to be well out of my bidding price range - leading me to question if I know anything about pricing anything...

The first lot of interest was a collection of deer cocktail glasses of assorted colors... the reserve was $50 for the set - which is what I felt would be a fair retail price for them.  No one took them home...

The second lot up was a small box of crystal door knobs, which went for $150!

Other lots I had an eye on:

 a set of 7 manual typewriters - $450...

...Two retro green swivel chairs (in excellent condition) - $280...

...White metal plant stand - $170...

...2 French shabby chic and chippy looking nightstands - $150.

And finally, the lot I won: a set of five Del Monte advertising posters with adorable kittens on them~

Well, this one has a puppy on it...

I would love to post more pics of them but there wasn't enough light in my apartment - so sadly all the pictures turned out blurry and grainy.  Since I can't share them today, I'll share this instead ~

Overall, it was a good learning experience. It was interesting to get a feel for the people there and what kinds of items they were bidding on.  I might go back and either place all absentee bids so I don't have to sit there for hours, or I will go back and try to pick up a bargain on items no one else seems interested in yet still appeal to me.  There were some steals to be had  if I were more mentally prepared to raise my bid paddle for them.  I would have loved to have been the person to get the vintage iron and wood theatre seats for only $15...

Oh - and on a side note - some of you Danish modern lovers might be interested to hear that a pair of "Johannes Hanson Denmark" signed end tables went for $725. You can see them in this picture.

This Week's Finds...

I'm a little late to the party in getting these pictures up, as I had an overly busy and overly social weekend. Now that I am going to be a vendor at a few fleas later in August and September, I have been in treasure hunting overdrive.  Tomorrow I will be at my first ever auction, so I will have lots to tell about that... but for now here are some of my finds from the weekend.  

I LOVE these!  I might save these for pricing things in my display, or for use as table markers at my wedding!

Will probably go in the Etsy shop..
And for my favorite find this weekend, which I will probably keep for myself...

A Tom and Jerry Set!  Complete with 8 mugs and a punch bowl.

I had to look up why it is called a Tom and Jerry set.  Several online sources attribute the name to the London author of a book entitled Life in London, or the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn Esq, and his Elegant Friend Corinthian Tom.  Supposedly the author created a new type of eggnog that included both brandy and rum as a means of promoting his book.  For a recipe and more information, visit here and here.

I love the little deer on this mug, as well as the shape of the Christmas trees.  I wasn't able to find more about  this pattern online, but I did find quite a few other types on Ebay.  Cute!

Linking up at ATG!

Which Is Cuter?

WHICH IS CUTER?

Vintage Kitty

Or

 

Real Kitty?

More pictures from my craft/ vintage show display!

Vintage school posters

Dorothy Thorpe!

My little Dream Pets!

First Craft/ Vendor Show!

I participated in my first craft/ vendor show this week - and although it was poorly attended and I only sold one thing, I think I learned a lot that will help me prepare for the Vintage Bazaar, where I will be a vendor at their pop up flea on Sept 18.

I've been doing vintage sales on Etsy since January, and have decided to try to kick it up a notch after getting "laid off" from my babysitting job this summer.  Crazy as it sounds, for a brief moment, I thought I could make a living doing craft sales.  But with virtually no more money to invest into vintage buying, what was I thinking?

In my unemployedness,  I spent the last week painting windows I got for free on Craigslist into chalkboards.  I think they turned out pretty cute.

I felt really out of place at this fair- most of the vendors were Tupperware sales ladies, or chocolate party sales ladies, or Pampered Chef sales ladies, or dog treat sellers, or baked good sellers... and then there was me, with my little vintage booth.  Granted, it looked pretty darn cute (a whole lot better than I imagined given I was winging it and just hoping everything would look good once I put it all together...) but it wasn't exactly the right venue for me.  Many ladies walked past saying to themselves "That's vintage?  I have that in my kitchen."  And a lot of people were confused as to why I was selling vintage glasses frames.  Just plain confused.  How is that confusing to people?

Oh well.  The vendors were nice, and I got Square all set up so I can take credit card orders at my next fair.  I also learned how much stuff I can pack into the car...

And how great ladders are for displaying things:

You can hang pictures from both sides of it, make shelves out of steps, set things on the top, and fold it all up when you're done!  Fiance helped so much with this - he did great - hammering and pricing and laying things out - so cute of him!

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Fourth of July!

YAY!

I have a little collection of these flags and I need to get rid of some of them... I wish I had thought to put these on Etsy before the holiday - what a cute red white and blue decoration.  Oh well, they'll go in the shop anyway and I'll just have to be the one to enjoy them for the 4th.

I'm heading to Cocoa Beach this week!  I wonder if there will be any thrifting to do there...

Have a happy holiday everyone!