Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Ten Pounds

 I took a long weekend {very good medicine for this tired girl} and spent part of Monday on a long, leisurely dig at The Bins.  Leisurely means staying as long as I want, NOT picking slow.  You need to get your dig on in that place.  I came away with ten pounds of treasures + one ledger and one little bowl they priced separately.  I usually just show the pig pile in its entirety but this time I took some closer shots so you can see what is lurking in there.  Red alert - LOTS of pictures!
 I could not believe it when I found a big Shiny Brite nativity complete with the box and got to it before someone tossed a pair of ski boots on top of it and smashed it.  Yes, that is how it is at The Bins.  The original price tag is still on it - 64 cents.
 Ribbon spools and oodles of crepe paper streamers.  Some of them are double with two colors and one big roll is a beautiful ecru, off white, color that is perfect for the vintage sepia look.  I wonder if the paper would go through the ruffle attachment on my sewing machine instead of hand gathering?
 Yards and yards of pretty lace.  It was a good day for finding lace.
 A decorative nest, complete with bird.  You can click the pictures bigger to see some of the other little bits and pieces.
 A BIG accounting ledger from 1964.  This is a big book, 10"x12" and about an inch thick.  They counted this as a book so priced it separately or else it's weight would have driven up the poundage for the rest of the purchase.  It is heavy - about 3 pounds.
 This vintage honeycomb Easter decoration will be headed off to join Magpie Ethel's collection.  Those yellow folders you can see inside the "basket" pull open and form honeycomb eggs.
 A ripped and raggedy old painting that is still beautiful to me and perfect for art making.
 For some reason I have been buying little plastic animals lately.  No clue why.  A cow and a flock of chickens.  Well, why not!
 Big pile of curtains that I will be harvesting ruffles from and some perfectly pretty sweater hangers.
 Vintage plastic doilies.  You know, I found a really neat, round, avocado green vinyl tablecloth with fringe and turned my back for just a minute and whoosh, it was gone.  Shop like you mean it.
 Oilcloth covers from a VERY old, homemade, scrap book.  More raggedy pictures for art making.
 Now this is WAY out of character for me.  I am not a doll person and I only own one and I have that one because it is a Buddy Lee engineer I received as a gift for my first birthday.  This doll is in good shape other than evidence of brain surgery and chemo.  It stands 32" tall.  I have had a little project rolling around in my head for a while and this seemed like it might be just what I needed.  For now it is standing in the corner of my art room kind of freaking me out.
 A pretty little vintage box plus an old Shiny Brite box in wonderful condition.  I can absolutely use that to store ornaments.  Another piece of luck that it didn't get smashed.
 Acute little Pyrex dish holding the plastic animals.  For some reason they weighed this all by itself so I saw the price flash by:  12 cents.  I know it isn't delicate to talk about the price but, hey.
 On the right is an interesting flower frog stamped Made in Japan on the bottom. It is ceramic. I have a little collection {doesn't everyone??} but none like this. In the cart it went.
 Oops, kind of a repeat here.
And this one got out of order.  This is the inside of the ledger.  About 2/3 of the pages are filled with lovely old fountain pen writing.
So there you have it - 10 pounds at The Bins!  It's a good thing I have that big-girl job or I think I could get addicted to that place.  You just never know what might turn up when you are willing to get dirty and fling your body across a bin to reach something before someone else does.  Hmm.  Competitive junking - a new sport?

12 comments:

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

Ooh, we need a place like this in town; what a fun way to shop. Love your "pig pile" description. I'm loving that old ledger, lace, frog, and milk glass vase. Buddy Lee is just too funny.

Annette said...

Good for you taking a day off and doing something you love! I'm drooling over the lace and ribbons! When you start talking about ideas rolling around in your head, I know something unexpected is coming!

laurie -magpie ethel said...

A good ten pounds at the bins..sounds like you got lucky with alot of those finds being in great condition as the bins is often not kind to objects sucked into its clutches!
I sew crepe paper into ruffles all the time, altho I have more success with the old stuff that has a different texture (I don't use a ruffle attachment).

a honeycomb bunny?

vintage grey said...

Wow, what great finds!! Love all the beautiful lace!! That honeycomb bunny is to cute!! xo Heather

oldgreymare said...

some day ...some day..I hope to see the bins :D
xx
z

Diane said...

I wish we had "the bins" here--this looks like my kind of place, and that ledger book-I want it!!
(I'm looking for my next auction to go to--most of them around here are farm ones, but every once in a while an estate one will come up--last week was so much fun!)

My Vintage Mending said...

Kathy...you made my morning. It was like I went to the bins with you. So much great stuff I couldn't stop going through the pictures. Thank you for taking us along. I think I enjoyed it just as much as you..Love that ledger....smiles...Renee

Barbara said...

This magical place you describe never fails to amaze me! It sounds a little like our town's swap shop, except with much, much better stuff! (Ours has largely broken baby furniture.)

Andy's Attic said...

Wowser!! You really got 10 LBS? that is amazing with all the smalls you picked up. Love your finds..cracked up at your description of the doll. Great way to spend your day!!

Laurie said...

Kathy, that place sounds like so much fun! What a hoot! I feel the same way about dolls -- not opposed to beheading them for art but otherwise find them pretty creepy!! I love the little plastic animals and can't wait to see what you do with them!

cathy @ma vie trouvee said...

I love that they sell it by weight - 10 pounds - that's a HAUL! Have fun with it - I know you will create something wonderful!

karlascottage.typepad.com said...

I've heard about "the Bins" sounds great!