Excessive Heat Warnings= Garage Sale Treasures

Thanks to an excessive heat warning we cancelled our gold trip.... Which I am thankful for because I really don't operate all that well when it's over 100 degrees, plus our pups don't fare too well either. The heat makes me want to lie down and take a nap. Matt on the other hand could be working in a furnace and be just fine.  Besides, I have a laundry list of other things I would like to accomplish this month....


We do have another surprise in the works but Matt doesn't want me saying anything till next week when the deal is done... You'll just have to pop on over and see what's new to find out... :) My little hint is Pioneer...


Since we aren't slaving away under the scorching desert sun we still have loads of things to do in the city. This past week has been full of activities and chores. We had a chance to go garage sale shopping this weekend for Poobird's Rarities and boy did the Gods smile upon us.

Buttons. Buttons. Buttons.

Matt and I have been garage sale shopping for years now and  it always seems like when you set out for one in particular you get skunked. It's the garage sales along the way that offer up some of the best treasures and deals... Isn't that true for every thing in life though... When your searching for something it always eludes you. It's when you finally stop looking that it always seems to find you. We found so many goodies this weekend for the gold claim, for resale, and for me that it just confirms our policy to buy vintage. Why go to a store and buy new, top dollar, poorly made crap when you can spend a weekend garage sale shopping. We have found that the quality of older, manufactured items trump the quality of most of today's disposable products.  Of course, Matt and I make a day of it and have fun doing it together.  No crowds and standing in long lines :)

 We always look up all the sales on craig's list the night before and pick out a few for the next day. We decided to drive up to the north end of Vegas for one in particular that looked great from the pictures and description. Well once we got there it was a total skunk.... They said LOADS of military gear which equates to two made in China backpacks, an old canteen, and a POS machete....

My new southwest blazer

After that disappointment we headed over to another we had researched and found a few goodies. I found some old metal boxes to re-purpose and a beautiful vintage ladies luggage piece. I am excited to turn this into a beautiful jewelry box for some lucky lady...  If I haven't mentioned it yet Matt has a real fetish for vacuum cleaners. If there is a decent one for sale he will buy it. Shop vacs he can get away with because it's for the Gold Claim and 20 bucks is an amazing deal since they take a beating on the claim. But not only did he get a shop vac today but he also got an old Rainbow vacuum for re-sale. It's amazing how many people on eBay snatch these buggers up. I hate vacuums so the faster I can sell them and get it out of my sight the better... I'm pretty sure Matt was a vacuum salesman in another life:) I also  found some really great vintage threads. One in particular that I love is a southwest style blazer. Totally going to wear this with my cowgirl boots and some shorts this summer.

New addition to my sweat shop

Amazing Vintage Southwest Blazer

New Home / Janome 921

We were just about to call it a day and head back to our side of town when we drove past another sign for a garage sale. We did the typical garage sale driver maneuver and made a quick u-turn.  It wasn't even on Craig's list so we went just for the heck of it. Boy did we score! Waiting for me was a beautiful old Janome/ New Home sewing machine. These are the sewing machines that are old enough to be made of metal and sew through just about anything... A real iron work horse this one is. It even came with a sweet wooden desk and everything ran smoothly on it. I wasn't sure at first because I had never heard of New Home but a little research and I discover that Janome had manufactured this little beauty... You can't beat 30 buckaroos for a solid metal sewing machine and desk! I couldn't put it in the truck fast enough... Now, I do have a sewing machine but with two I no longer have to wait for Matt to finish up his gold bags and now we have double the room for sewing. Not to mention after sewing 80 plus gold bags for the gold show last month my poor little Brother sewing machine was getting a work out. This iron beast wouldn't even have noticed I had sewn anything.... I am very excited to get this thing home and figure it out.

Vintage sewing goodies galore...

So we are done for the day, heading to the post office to pick up some packages and when Matt sees the line he instantly wants to leave. So I told him to head over to the estate sale sign we had just seen while I wait. The line was 20 deep at the post office so I figured he would be back before I finished. Here I am juggling 3 over sized packages wondering what on Earth happened to him. I called him and he tells me to just pick a spot in the shade and he will be there as soon as possible but he had to get a couple things in case someone snatched them up before we got back. I just about burst with joy when Matt came to pick me up and handed me a shopping bag overflowing with vintage sewing goodies! And I do mean overflowing... I think I now own every thread color ever made. You wouldn't believe how my button collection had grown either...That was definitely one of my all time favorite scores; one because it's vintage sewing goodies which are made extremely well and two because Matt thought enough to buy them for me! He opened a drawer and saw that it was filled with sewing items and not knowing what any of it was emptied the entire drawer into a bag and bought it for me. That was the last estate sale of the day too! It was definitely a day of sewing treasures for me:)