The best estate sale I've been to (so far!)

Do you go to estate sales? I didn't until some years ago when a friend suggested that I check them out. Something about the word "estate" put me off. It wasn't the idea of someone having died (I think about eternity a lot, so I'm perfectly fine with that). But the word "estate" made me think that estate sales were just for the very rich to attend. After I started going to them, I realized they're more like pop-up antique stores held in homes, and prices can vary as widely as they do in antique stores. But as you can see from this loot shoot, I got quite a haul at the one I attended last Thursday. I'd seen this Peachtree City estate sale advertised online and knew it was my kind of sale. I was headed there after Bible study wrapped up that morning. Since the sale had started at 9 a.m. and I wasn't getting there until after lunchtime, I knew that not everything I was hoping to check out would still be available. To my delight, the vast majority of what I wanted was still there!

Because I'm gathering things for a valentine's cookbook (I think), I knew this reticulated heart bowl with roses on it would be perfect for that book. It was painted in 1987 by the woman whose estate was being sold, and I loved that reticulated heart pattern. I can just see cookies or bonbons or pastel macarons heaped in the little bowl. It was still there when I arrived, so I could only assume I was meant to have it.

And this? Well, I've bought three of these in the past year, and I'm a little obsessed with vintage recipe boxes now. I thought about writing a novel based on someone's old recipe box, but apparently, that's been done already, so I'll need a new idea. In the meantime, I just love poring over old recipes and imagining the woman who gathered them. Which was her favorite? Did she share these dishes with friends or family or both? One recipe noted that she was going to bake a certain cake on Saturday night and take it to the church on Sunday morning. Lovely!

Funny thing about this old pig-design notebook: I'd bought a binder with the same design at a Newnan estate sale a few years back, but then I got home and realized most of the pages were blank! So this time, I made sure to look inside.

Isn't her handwriting pretty?

And a recipe for Lane Cake filling! I've been wanting to make a Lane Cake, so yeah, I needed this.

And here's a cautionary tale of "unbuyer's" remorse. I was in Goodwill a few weeks ago when I saw a funny-shaped vintage Nordic Ware tin that was supposed to be some kind of Christmas tree design, but I thought it looked more like the spade on a playing card. It was just a dollar or so, but I simply couldn't picture how the cake or gelatin or whatever could possibly look like a Christmas tree, and I left the pan there. This little flyer was in the notebook, so guess what I'll be looking for now?

The online photos for the estate sale had shown lots of china, but I didn't realize until I wandered through the house that the woman who'd lived there had been a china painter herself. While this teacup and saucer set doesn't have her initials and must have been made by a friend, I still thought it was gorgeous and was happy to add another Christmas teacup to my collection. At $15, it was my priciest purchase of the day, but I would happily have paid that in an antique mall. (I also have an idea for a novella involving Christmas china, so let's see if that comes to pass now!)

The soft green butter pat (I think?) and soap dispenser were other fun finds. Only when I got home and washed them up did I realize that the soap dispenser pairs really well with the bowl I bought. They're in service in my bathroom now.

Much as I love vintage Christmas decor, I spied just a corner of this box and knew I wanted it whether anything was inside or not. Vintage cookie cutters in the box for $3? Yes, please.

Prior to the sale, I'd gone on their website and used my phone to take screen grabs of all the things I wanted to be sure to look for once I got there. I'd spotted a vintage metal Stylecraft Christmas card box, which has been on my vintage wish list for a few years now. I'd seen them online for $40 and up, but I didn't want one that bad. I didn't see it anywhere, so I assumed it had gotten scooped up already. When I checked out with all my goodies, I asked the young woman manning the table if she happened to remember selling the Christmas card box, and I showed her the photo. She said she didn't recall it selling and that from the photo, the shelf pictured looked like one in the garage. I went out there and looked in a cabinet, and voila, there sat my Christmas card box. What fun! This probably ranked as the best estate sale I've ever been to because of all the fun finds. Do you go to estate sales? If so, I'd love to know what they're like in your neck of the woods!