I’ve spent most of my free time during the past few weeks cleaning, organizing and purging the clutter from my basement.
But one Saturday morning, I decided I needed a break, so I drove to a nearby town to check out a citywide rummage sale…
… and came home with a whole new batch of clutter. It couldn’t be helped. I kept finding great stuff at crazy low, low prices that I needed/wanted/bought impulsively and may or may not have regretted later.
Here are a few of my favorite finds of the day:
A vintage Sultana Peanut Butter tin, minus the handle. I’d love to put a plant in it and set it on my deck, but I don’t want it to rust. So it may end up holding markers or paintbrushes on my desk instead.
The old type and graphics and its all-around orangeness more than make up for the missing handle as far as I’m concerned. (It was $2.)
A reproduction Hutton’s ham tin. It’s not old like the peanut butter pail is (I paid 50 cents for it), but I love the graphics on the can, and it reminded me of a Granger Tobacco tin I bought at another rummage sale earlier this spring:
They look like they belong together, don’t they? The tobacco tin is the real deal (i.e., vintage). (And it was only $3). When I saw the Hutton’s can, I immediately pictured it sitting next to the tobacco can.
And in the fall, I can tuck a few gourds and pumpkins in among my three new tins and have an instant Halloween vignette.
A pewter plate with type around the rim. The alphabet plate is the new one (50 cents). It reminded of the cheese plate I already owned. Now both plates are in my hutch, nestled among my dishes, which brings me to my next find….
Two small oval plates ($1) and a matching serving bowl ($1.50).
They also happened to match a creamer I already had at home.
The three clear glass canning jar lids and the random silverware in the previous photo are the only things I bought that truly ended up getting stored in my (less-cluttered-than-before) basement. I use canning jars all the time for storage and craft projects, so the lids will definitely get used at some point. As for the lovely vintage flatware, I have a million different ideas for projects I’d like to make out of it, but it’s so pretty as is I hesitate to bend it or stamp into it, so we’ll see what becomes of it.
This white canister, which I got for a quarter — probably because it was missing a lid. Not a problem. I already had the lid for it at home.
I buy orphaned lids occasionally, when they are really, really cheap, hoping that someday I might be able to reunite them with containers. Often enough, I find a match. (It’s my gift.)
As I don’t really need another canister-canister, I think I will use this one for Calvin’s cat chow.
A white metal table, for $2. I’m going to set it on my deck between a couple of patio chairs. The top is plexiglass, which is practical but not real pretty. I’m thinking about tiling over the top of it. I’ll live with it a while first. Maybe once I set a big bushy plant on it, I will forget all about the plexiglass.
A lefty scissors. Just because. (40 cents.)
A Wisconsin pin (10 cents). I’m not sure what exactly that gold scrolly thing on it is. A company logo of some kind probably. Is it an “e”? A roll of paper? A toboggan? I tried Googling it but have come up empty so far. I feel like I should find out what it is before I start wearing it in public, just in case it turns out to be a symbol for the neo Nazis or something. (If anyone has any insight, please share.)
A roll of newspaper print wallpaper ($2). I have no idea what I am going to do with it. But it is going to be fabulous.
And finally, this little item.
Do you recognize it? I didn’t right away. There were no tags or markings on it.
I had to turn it over and study it from every angle before it finally dawned on me…
It’s a Connect 4 game. I was so happy when I finally solved the riddle I had to buy it (for 50 cents).
I have never seen a wooden connect four! There has to be information on that somewhere.
You found some great stuff 🙂
You found some great buys. I absolutely love the peanut butter tin.
Glad to have found your blog. Love your whimsical outlook. I'm your newest follower. Visiting from Bella Rosa.
“and came home with a whole new batch of clutter.” ahahahahaha! I love garage saling, but the conflict is always there about whether or not I need more things. Everything you bought is absolutely adorable, so it is clear that you made the right choices.
I have no idea about the Wisconsin logo pin. I'd like to think that's a toboggan, simply because that's the most entertaining option.
I can hardly believe those prices…I can see why you didn't come home empty-handed! I am also a sucker for old tins. They are so artful.
Absolutely great stuff. Good thing we were not shopping together! Thanks
Love your fantastic finds! Can't wait to see what you do with that cool newsprint wallpaper. Maybe paper the back of a bookcase? 🙂
Amazing antique tins! Well done!