Today I am sharing more estate sale finds from last year.
These are from an estate sale Mom and Dad went to last fall. Once again I was working. The sale was just a few streets over from our house. When they got there, people were lined up down the block. Apparently the lady of the house was an avid doll collector and there were hundreds of dolls. They almost gave up and went home, but then figured that if everybody else was there for the dolls, maybe there would be less competition for the things they liked.
They waited in line for about 25 minutes and this is what they took home. Not a lot, just mostly useful stuff: bamboo skewers, glue sticks, plate holders, frames, etc. They found a couple of jello molds. Because I don't have enough, right? I actually gave the smaller mold away to my friend for her kids to use at the beach. You can make some pretty cool sand castles using jello molds.
They found another Wil-hold sewing box, this time in gold, with it's tray,
and plenty of room for thread.
They also found my thread holder of choice. It's a vintage Tupperware bacon keeper.
I have 4 or 5 of them. They stack and they travel well.
They won't open up or spill easily, and all the colors are on display and easy to find. If you sew or know someone who does, I highly recommend buying these when you see them. This one was 75c (empty, of course - spools added later).
The doll collection was so big that they ran another sale the following week. Mom decided to avoid the crowd and go on the last day of the sale. She found a few things that other people missed.
I love this nifty little gadget. It's a Grabbit magnetic pin well. I'm sure most of you have seen magnetic pin wells before, as DIY versions are all over the internet, but they had escaped my notice until Mom found this one.
Mom knows how much I love tins AND peacocks, so she couldn't leave this tea tin behind. Isn't it gorgeous? My picture just doesn't do it justice.
Mom was very happy to find this colorful Chinese Checkers game. Chinese checkers was a favorite of hers when she was very little. This large tin was made by the Ohio Art Co. sometime in the 1960s. I just love the fire-breathing dragons. On the backside is a checkers board. The playing pieces are supposed to be stored inside the tin. Unfortunately, the tin is extremely difficult to open, which must have been frustrating for anyone wanting to play. Perhaps that explains why it is in such great condition. The marbles are missing, but it will still look great hanging on the wall.
By the way, Chinese Checkers is neither Chinese nor checkers. The game was invented in Germany as Stern-Halma. When it was published in the United States by J. Pressman & Co, they thought that associating it with the familiar game of checkers and giving it an exotic Chinese theme would make the new game more marketable.
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