Helen and Her Daughters: May 2012

Do you ever see an item at an estate sale and just say to yourself "I'm in, I'm all in". Well that happens to me frequently but today I spotted something that I couldn't quite believe had not caught anyone else's eye! I knew from going to the Antique shows that these little round colorful items could be worth a pretty penny (oh the things you learn from going to those Antique shows) and I was willing to take that bet. There sitting before me were 2 boxes of Catalin Poker Chips. Catalin is a plastic that was used between 1920 to 1940. Catalin is not bakelite but is often referred to as bakelite. It will pass the bakelite test. Most jewelry that is sold as bakelite is actually Catalin. It turns out that I hit the jackpot with these two boxes of Poker chips as they are selling for around $225 per box.

After the Estate sale me, Mom and our guest junker Van (my sister) went over to our favorite little Junk store in North Augusta and I found a few more treasures. I managed to snag this adorable vintage doll cradle, some occupied Japan pieces, cocktail stirrers, match holder, and a Franz Swaty Barber hone (I think these were used to sharpen straight razors).

We still had not had enough so we continued on with our quest to find more junk!.

I am thinking about going out in the morning to check out a few more sales (probably should stay home - but what fun would that be).

Part 2

I did go out this morning but only ended up going to one sale. I had planned to go to about three or four but spent my budget at the first sale. I am pretty happy with my purchase. A lady was selling off her mother's things and even though there wasn't a lot of stuff the back bedroom was full of vintage toys. I bought 3 boxes full. I was taking a chance as I don't know that much about vintage toys but the lady said the toys were from the 1940's (maybe some earlier). I had to fend off three or four guys that wanted to dig through the boxes. I bargained the price down a little and then went over to mom's and had breakfast. We looked through all the toys and I couldn't wait to get home and do a little research. There were a ton of Britains Ltd. lead figures. My favorites are the circus people especially the stilt walkers. There was a total of 241 pieces in the boxes. After doing some research I am very happy with my toys!

The Circus pieces date to around 1948

The Hunt - not sure of the date

The Animals

The Cowboys & Indians

The People

The Cars

There are so many more adorable pieces but I couldn't include them all so if you want to see more you can go to our Facebook page here.

Hope you all have found great treasures this weekend!

Sharing with:

Her Library Adventures - Flea Market Finds
Cap Creations - Thrifty Love
Southern Hospitality - Thrifty Treasures
Coastal Charm - Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Apron Thrift Girl - Thrift Share Monday
Have a Daily Cup from Mrs. Olson - Share your Cup Thursday

Some days are just perfect and yesterday was one of those days. I got to watch my baby walk across the stage and receive his High School Diploma. I am a proud mom right now! My niece (my junker brother's daughter) also graduated on Friday night. So naturally we had to have a celebration for the graduates. I have been working on this little shindig for two days (with the help of my wonderful mother). I had been searching pinterest for some party decor ideas and banners seem to be very popular so I decided to try my hand at one. I used some thirfted material that I had, one of my Dad's old lettering books (he was a sign painter), and a little bit of wonder under. For something that I threw together pretty quickly I think it turned out pretty good.

I also decorated a apothecary jar for everyone to give Zach and Hannah some

advice on how to succeed in life.

After the party I tied all their cards to an old skeleton key for them to have as a keepsake.

Then of course there was the food. Mom and I worked all day on Friday to put the spread together. I also found some great ideas for party foods (cheesecake stuffed strawberries & banana cream pie cups) on pinterest.