Couldn't Leave Well Enough Alone

Leaving well enough alone is apparently not in my make-up. I suppose this fact should not surprise me, yet I continue to find myself retracing my steps and revisiting treasures I have left behind. I can't seem to get it right the first time.

After forcing myself up and out the door despite a torrential downpour this weekend, I spent only $5 at one garage sale and $2 at another, and headed home. Feeling like a gambler who was ahead, I took my winnings and escaped, heading to my own front door by 8:00 a.m. before I had a chance (or so I thought) to get lost in the morning, the moments and the deals. Feeling pretty good about my restraint, the work to clean everything up began right away, because I like to enjoy this stuff without the ick factor to haunt me.

At those sales, a mini treasure was to be found inside the first item I bought. For $2, I purchased a metal file box. It was unusually heavy, but only had some old file folders in it. I looked through each folder when I got home, just in case something might have been left behind, and bingo, there it was, a form, hand written and dated 1954, with another small withholding form stapled to it.






The ledger of payments show net checks paid between $5 and $15 each. I love this stuff because it's a peek into another time. Just the fact that the ledgers were handwritten is cool enough, however, then you see how much money this guy was making. The Christmas bonus was a whopping $5.00! My how times and expectations have changed.

The file box folded out at the front once the top was opened, and the added weight I felt when I picked the box up was due to a hidden compartment under the lid. I had real hopes when I discovered it that there was something in there, and I worked feverishly to get it open using a knife as a key, only to discover it was empty. Too bad!

Then I went on to a moving sale where two green suitcases in decent shape awaited right off - at $1.50 each, my decision to purchase was made for me. One was a small square carry on type and the other was a regular larger one.

The silver box was 50 cents.

Medical scissors along with the

little fold out address cards were $1.00 for all. 

Tin tray: 25 cents 

Plastic box and bag of pins: 75 cents for all - 

including nursing pins and two pins from the "Lions" organization.

I could have had a musical instrument case for $1, but I didn't know where I would put it. Most of the furniture wasn't really on my radar either because the woman wanted more than my usual limits allow. There was a cabinet that I would have loved painted, but she wanted $45, and was willing to go to $20. 

Off I went toward home... and upon my arrival I immediately realized the little cabinet should have come with me. Give it a couple hours and go back, I told myself; maybe she'd come down to $15 by then. So I did go back, and yes, of course, it was gone. I still didn't get the instrument case, even though she brought it to me, thinking I had already paid her for it before and forgotten it. I told her I hadn't paid for it. So why I didn't pay the dollar and bring it home right then, I have no idea. Second chance blown. Go figure! But now I know, of course, that I should have gotten that too. 

Slow learner. 

Ever notice that it can be hard to take in everything when stuff is piled up and lying oddly surrounded by stuff you truly have no interest in. Bottom line, I took another look at a jewelry cabinet I hadn't even considered the first go round, and I saw two intriguing matching lamps that I hadn't even noticed before, probably because they were grungy and I didn't like the shades.

Calling Lynette for her take on the items, she said "yes" to both, and I headed back for them; it was just a few streets away. The woman agreed to sell the lamps for $5 each which was a fantastic deal, as was $25 for the jewelry chest. It wasn't until I went to get the cabinet out of the car later that I discovered side compartments and a lift up tray I hadn't seen when I looked at it in its previous home. I had wondered where all the jewelry would hang. Duh. So there was more to it than I realized when i bought it. Sweet!

It's lying on its side because it's really heavy and Casey had to get to work. She only had time to help me get it inside the front door. My back and I were not up for dragging this through the house, so I got out the handy moving cart I found at a sale a few weeks ago and was able to roll the armoire to the back room where furniture goes so I can pretend it's not in the way. 

This doesn't need to be refinished; it actually looks like it was never used, but I would much prefer it painted rather than decked out with this cherry finish. We'll see though. I'd rather avoid the work if I can on this one.

While leaving, this little industrial office chair in the garage peeked out, whistled at me and caught my eye...

...and because it swivels and rolls, my eyes lit up. I'm a sucker for the lure of such old junk. The woman there told me I could have it, as well as these two pedestal shelf things we had discussed on a previous visit, all for one dollar. 

Sold!

So glad I didn't leave well enough alone or I would have missed that deal too.

They told me the name that went with the initials on the luggage, but it was a long Brazilian name I could hardly understand, let alone remember. I should go back and have them write it down so I can put it inside to preserve a bit of the history.

The first time I asked, she wanted $5 each for the little shelves. The original J.C. Penny's tags that said $55.00 a piece were still on the backs of them. I'm feeling pretty good about getting them for 25 cents a piece!

The woman doing the selling was really very kind to me, and new treasures galore found their way into our life and home and hopefully one day our shop, treasures that do not need immense amounts of energy expended to make them over. Now that's a relief, because while other projects from previous finds are coming along, they each still have a ways to go.

On that note, if anyone has (or knows where to find) a round graphic that has the look of American typography; either an ad, a company name, a brand or something with numbers or some such thing, and you don't mind passing that information along, I'd love to hear from you. (I have already checked the Graphics Fairy with no luck.) One of my projects is a round table that needs a curved or round graphic, preferably one that can be broken up into parts so it can be enlarged, and I would like it to be classic American Type (preferably something vintage), not French.

Okay, so as you can see, I can't seem to get it right the first time, but I guess I must have some sort of dogged junk determination on my side because I eventually make it home with treasures in tow.

Did you go out hunting for thrifty finds this weekend? If so, what did you discover that kept YOU from leaving well enough alone?

I'd love to hear your stories!

Time Travel Thursday @ The Brambleberry Cottage

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Primp Your Stuff @ PRIMP

Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style

Tuesday To Do @ The Blackberry Vine

Open Call Tuesday @ Salt Tree

Sunday's Best @ My 1929 Charmer

Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality

Mop it Up Mondays @ I Should Be Mopping The Floor

Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things

Saturday Nite Special @ Funky Junk Interiors