estate sale finds

Two Saturdays ago I went out at 7 am to walk the dogs with my mom. Innocently enough towards the end of the walk, we rounded a corner and saw a sign that read: "Estate Sale --- house #, street, Saturday 8AM." We could already see people lined up in the driveway of said house, so when we got back home I grabbed my wallet, hopped into the car and went back to the house. My mom had to stay behind to supervise the trimming (read: maiming) of our kumquat/orange tree as some friends were coming over at 8 with a chainsaw to get the job done, but she sent me a text saying "Buy something because you want it, not because it is cheap... and be aggressive!" I arrived at the house and got in line and then, stifling a yawn looked up and saw a coworker, the sign artist at my store as she smiled at me and said 'Hey!' Funniest thing ever because only two days before we had been talking about estate sales and thrifting and she had told me all about selling vintage wares at her Etsy shop and her favorite 'secret' secondhand stores. Running into her therefore wasn't really a surprise, but it was still an 'oh!' moment and that's what made the whole experience fun right off the bat. The former owner of the house had been a teacher, so there were tons of amazing old things to go through...

1 & 2 - Gift wrapping paper! I got the whole lot for a dollar. I am particularly attached to the astronauts in outer space graphics, but when I look at all of them they pretty much all take my breath away.
3 - Card stock coins I think for learning how to count money. Fun! Not quite vintage but they came in an old box that I was happy to tuck away.
4 - Super sturdy steel box that now houses important documents.
5 - Hand-cut letters with felt backing - a spelling implement I guess. All of which came in handy for setting up my new blog header!
6 - Woven leather slip-on flats. $5. A new favorite that I think I'll wear out in no time.
7 - Southwestern bandanna. I gave this to my sister but forgot to actually give it to her, so it has been hanging up in my window until I do get it to her. I like how the light streams in through it.
8 - A bunch of children's books - Frog and Toad, Rumpelstiltskin illustrated by Edward Gorey, a book about a Scottie, a first edition of Where the Wild Things Are.

I also got a boxed ream of typewriter paper, a sweet little dragon stuffie, and six Pyrex containers for my mom. I will show the dragon another time! It was a very exciting Saturday, and the best part is that it was all spontaneous. I love when that happens...!