Estate sale deal of the week

Okay- so these are actually the deals of last and this week.

First house had been owned by a couple that had traveled to Hawaii many times and created a tiki bar in the basement with the stuff they brought back. I scored a barkcloth painted ceramic vase with the word 'Aloha' also painted on it, filled with fake bird of paradise flowers, a small tiki god lantern and a 33rpm record in great condition of Sammy Kaye christmas music.

Total cost- $4

Next I went to an unbelievable sale over near Belmar. Huge house with a full size pipe organ, a player grand piano, a massive wooden German cuckoo clock, and a lot of other incredible items I'd never buy, but that really impressed me. I like it when the stuff people collected is interesting. I didn't take a pict of my haul, but I got a ton of fake flowers for costuming and the identical paper Thanksgiving turkey from the 70's that I remember from our table as a kid (and I think my mom still has it). I really wanted the huge and hardly used cat jungle gym, and thought about coming back for 1/2 off day to get it for $20, but it was almost 6 ft tall and while it fit in the giant 1960's ranch, it would not fit in my little 30's cottage. Sorry kitties. I did feel like the cats knew I was denying them an awesome christmas present, but I think they're over it now.

I can't remember exactly what I paid, but I think it was 7 bucks. Oh and I was super bummed when I saw a girl bring a handful of creepy vintage elves out of the room filled with holiday decor. I love those little elves. That started me on a new method- I now quickly scope out every room, then I go back and dig. Had I not wasted so much time in the rest of the huge house, looking at things I'd never buy, I might be placing those elves on my mantle. And giving a couple to my sister.

Yesterday I headed over to the east side of town and after studying the sale's list, I knew I wanted to check out the glassware and a miniature piano. The glassware was in the background of another picture posted on http://www.estatesales.net/ so I figured they weren't overly excited about it, and I might get a deal. The piano was just really cute and unusual- it had a kind of fake calliope form.

As you can see from the pict, I didn't get the piano- it plugged in and was likely a 50's or 60's era electronic toy, all the keys played, even the black keys and they only wanted $25, but I've got a voice in my head that is really good at asking me, "What the heck are you going to do with that?". And it was right, as usual. If you're interested in it, it may still be there, check it out .

What I did get was a set of  eight ornate crystal cocktail glasses, six coupes, four mini coupes or cordial glasses, four vintage pilsners, a round frame with a picture of victorian ladies, and four records- Unsinkable Molly Brown, the Star Wars soundtrack, the Star Wars story album, and a spooky sound record from Disney that I think I have several copies of. I can't help but buy it when I see it. I'm sure there's a future art project in there somewhere, just not sure what it is.

Total- $18.