It's 'Key' Knowing How To Thrift

Last weekend was full of hunting through many thrift and antique shops.  We picked up a few things for my shop.  We also made a fantastic discovery at our very first stop.  For now, let's just say it was the mother load of finds!  We'll get to that in a few.....

We got up early Saturday morning and headed out with a plan, a GPS, iPhone for some rockin' photos and help with 'research' when finding things we weren't too sure of.  I got my iPhone for Christmas from G-man (my hero man).  I had owned one a few years ago and literally fell in love with it.  The new one I received is A-MAZING!!!!  It pretty much does everything except rub my feet at the end of the day.  I even use an App that is a sound machine for nighttime!  Past few nights we have snoozed to the sound of rain. The camera on this baby is excellent and everything else is icing on the cake for me.  Never in my life did I think I could love an inanimate object.  Never say never!

Ok, back to our day of treasure hunting.
First we had breakfast at a cute little diner in Peterborough/Peterboro NH.

Once we were sufficiently nourished, it was off to the races.
Here is a series of photos of some of the places we visited and highlights of what we saw...

Such pretty dishes with a cute birdcage hanging in the window. There was a complete place setting for 4 (not enough for me so I passed it up).  These would be so fun for Easter or Mother's Day.




Pretty lady on a pole.  Oh wait, that doesn't sound quite right.
Just a pretty lady.




These little Durango boots are so darn cute.
I could just envision a little boy with worn jeans and a cowboy hat wearing them.
Maybe a little cutie pie girl with a praire type skirt and flaming red hair.




Tartan---love me some tartan




I was a fool not to pick up this adorable caddy-so many uses!



Basket full of vintage lightbulbs - would look pretty with mini lights strung throughout.

ooohhh.

That pillow had my name all over it



These old baby carriages really give me the creeps!

Now some pics of what we bought

Perfect size pulley (for what you ask-- hold your horses!).
The obligatory draw pulls--I'll share pics in another post of how I use them.




My new mirror looks shy back there
This baby is super cute but she is hefty in weight.  She is made of  plaster.

 

Pretty sure this is Majolica but not positive.

Plain old pulley again
Abracadabra.....

Really cool curtain tie back! 

Very rustic vintage wood and wire basket that I dressed up for photos.



Basket again, 'wearing' a different outfit



Stoneware glass with a deer and rabbit

There's that mirror again, she is shy isn't she?



Funky chalkware heads.  Not my taste but some people collect these.
I like that we were able to find 2 that were not painted.  I think these
would look pretty swanky mounted like this on a wall in an entryway.


All our purchases are not for keeps.  They all went into my shop.  (I'm secretly hoping the mirror doesn't sell :-)

Ok, now remember the first photo of the shops up above?  It was of The Red Shed which was our very first stop of the day.  This place was quite interesting.  From the outside it looked like a yard sale.  However, we have learned not to judge a shop by it's exterior.  I always like to talk with the owners or whoever will listen to me.  I thought they had a very varied assortment of finds.  I inquired where they got all of their items and found out they go to lots of estate sales.  BINGO.

Just so happens G-man has a certain affection for safes.  Just sooooo happens they picked up a safe from an estate sale in Ringe NH the day before and it was still on their truck.  'Amos' was going on and on about the safe and age of the safe and shows us this...

Hello, that is quite the key!  You should feel it, it is super thick for a key and so solid.
Off we trotted to the back of some strangers truck and crawled deep inside and saw this:

So I know what you are thinking.  Big woop, it's a safe.  grunt grunt.  Well this little monster packs
a punch.  He weighs in at over 500 pounds and is amazing. 

This is where he gets real handsome

This wood is gorgeous in person.

More yummy wood.

The metal that covers the wheels on the bottom has wonderful scroll work.

I can see this all cleaned up (probably sand blasted or something like that), left open and used as a piece of furniture.  It could house bar items, it has perfect sized cubbies for 3 wine bottles and the rest could  be accessorized with other bottles and bar paraphernalia. 

We have contacted an antique safe appraiser and he has all the necessary info and photos to hopefully tell us more about this little sumo wrestler.

Here is half of the 4 men that helped move it out of the truck into a storage unit.

Thanks guys!!!  That's my cutie pie son on the left.  The other handsome gentleman is extended family.

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