Sorry…
I started writing this and somehow it published before I could complete it…and a day before it was supposed to.  It’s complete now.

In a previous post I asked blog readers if they knew what some of the vintage items I’ve were.  We had fun reading through some of your guesses.  Some were funny…Some were right.  I thought I’d tell you what my Betsy who is good at antiques and pricing said.

First item up…this…

This is a toothpick holder.

Toothpicks go in this bottom area.

You close it like this and the prongs in the beak of the bird will pick up a toothpick.

It’s so cute….Betsy said it was in popular colors so thought it would likely sell for about $13.  I bought an entire flat of salt and pepper shakers and this was in it so good deal for me.

The second item I showed you was this….

We had fun guessing…we really came up with no solid evidence of anything.  Kramer said a bong for smoking dope.  I rolled my eyes at that.  Betsy and I both wondered about it being a holder for starting plants.

We thought we could put water in the bottom and an ivy stem could go inside, touch the water and be encouraged to root.

You all reminded my that it was a barometer.  Of course it is.  I remember seeing them when I was a kid.  Now that I know what it is, I want to keep this!!  I have to clean it and find a place for it though.  I’ve had great suggestions on cleaning it but no time to do it.  Soon I hope.  Thanks for all the suggestions.

They have some neat ones on Amazon….HERE.  Here is a little piece you can read about them if you want to know more.

Now about my bowl…obviously it was a bowl but what price?

I answered some questions Betsy had…

Took pictures of the measurements…
Took a picture of the bottom of the bowl.

Betsy questioned this dot…

..and this wear mark in the inside.

The conclusion was that she thought this would sell for $55.

Pricing and guessing is one of the things I’m not very good at in the antiquing business.  I am great at finding things.  I’m great at getting a decent deal.  I’m terrible at pricing…sadly, Kramer isn’t much better so we often call on the help of Betsy.  She’s the best.

There’s a wonderful gal that works at the antique shop where we have out booth.  She’s so good at helping me with pricing things and giving me an idea on what things are.  Rarely can I stump her.  I thought it might be fun today to send you and tell you the same things I tell her and see how you all do.

First item up…this…

We’ll call this item #1.  Any guesses on what it might be??  Any suggestions on a price?

This is item #2… Continue reading →

I did as much as I could this weekend.  Everyone here has a little feeling of “this is our last mostly normal weekend” for awhile.  There is a bit of an apprehension around here.  Radiation and chemo started yesterday and we were all unsure of the unknown.  I think that “unsure of the unknown” can be a lot to manage if people aren’t careful.  So I tried to do things I would “normally” do.

So what was that? I had a day with Kalissa.  It’s been WAY to long since I’ve been to the antique booth we have in Harmony, MN.  There is a great gal that works there that I previously didn’t know but now would call a friend.  She’s great.  She works there and has been so kind to move things around and manage the space for us since Kramer’s diagnosis of lung cancer in January.

February was a nightmare for sales.  Between the snowstorms and terrible weather along with us not getting there to stock the booth we had poor sales.  With the birth of Gannon, Kalissa hasn’t had much of a chance to stock her booth either.  Needless to say, a trip to take care of things was LONG overdue.

I took pictures of my booth but didn’t realize until I was already home that my camera was on the wrong setting.  Ugh.  The pictures aren’t the best…sorry. Bear with me.

This is the back wall of our booth.

Right now I have a lot of glass out.  WAY more than I usually have but remember that auction I went to and bought salt and pepper shakers at for $2 a flat??  It was same auction I bought quilts and fabric at.  (read about that auction HERE)

….and the auction that I bought all of the pottery and ceramic stuff at? (read about that auction HERE)
Well, it was time to sell the stuff I got at those auctions.  So far, the salt and pepper shakers have been selling really well.

See the red cooler that is plaid.  It’s in mint condition.  I paid $1 for it and looked it up on Ebay.  It sold there for $90.  We won’t get that price around here but I did know to price it MUCH higher that I would have.

My $1 auction map is up and ready to sell.

The frames that I bought and cleaned have been selling well too.  I’m so glad.  Buying is such a risk.  I laugh and say it’s like playing the lottery.  We buy and hope it pays off.

People have suggested we give this up being Kramer has lung cancer and we have so much going on now.  We don’t want to give anything up.  We love the life we had and want to hang on to it.  Until we know that life HAS to change and there are permanent problems, we’re going to hang on to it all.  We might not stock as often as we have.  We might not get to as many places to buy but that’s okay….we’re still doing okay with it all.

Enough about us though.
Here is Kalissa’s booth…. Continue reading →