Monday, June 14, 2010

Middleburg,Virginia Annual Rummage Sale!

Hello friends...happy to see many of you are still visiting my little blog. I appreciate you all and am very glad to read your wonderful comments.
A couple of weekends ago some girlfriends and I drove to the quaint little village of Middleburg, VA which is only about 20 minutes away. Middleburg is a pretty place...old, well kept estates and lovely shops. It is very much a horse town...meaning they all ride and own horses....Lots of horses. They even have a horse museum! It is filled with history (Civil War) and celebrity (Jackie Kennedy owned a home here). The sport of Polo is king in these parts. The bumper stickers on the Land Rovers and Jags even say 'Polo Mom' instead of 'Soccer Mom'.
So when these folks throw stuff out...I am there to catch it!
One of the first things I spotted was a pair of Gilchrist & Soames porcelain bathtub soap dishes. 
After doing some Googleing, I found that these most likely adorned the vanity or tub area in a swanky International hotel. Perfect condition and I snapped up both of them for .25 cents a piece! Perfect for my master Bath, double sink vanity.
I love cut crystal vases and I spotted a teenage girl holding this vase and yelling to her mom.." Hey mom..this is kinda neat. Should we take it?" I held my breath while the mother thought about it. "Please say no..please say no" was my internal chant for what seemed like 20 minutes. Finally the Mom yelled " We gotta go..put it down". WooHoo!!!! I snatched that vase up so fast..and to my delight it was not glass but gorgeous crystal and very heavy...$2.00!!!! It is about 12 inches tall and my deep blue Hydrangeas look fabulous in it.
I dug under a pile of linens and found these beauties...perfect condition and all pressed for me! $.50 for 6 of them!
I paint canvas floorcloths, so when I saw these two canvas circles(36 inches) all painted in pretty pastel shades I grabbed them for $1.00, knowing I could find someplace for them. Hey...I couldn't leave them there!!!
All of my treasures were great, but these are my fabulous find of the day. These beautiful handsewn linens were buried under some bedspreads. I spotted a corner of yellow scalloped edging poking out. I went into my archeology mode and started to unearth these gems. 
Absolutely wonderful D. Porthault linens!!!! For those of you who are not familiar with the name D. Porthault, they are the linen of the very rich. Sheets start at around $1,000 to $3,000 for a set and go up from there. I know..you are shaking your head and thinking WTH!!! 
Someone in this little town has very expensive tastes and I am very happy to take these off their hands. I excavated 17 of these lovely large napkins and paid $6.00 for all...my best find so far. Not sure what I will do with them..possibly too valuable to cut into. I welcome any creative ideas.
Well that's it for now. I hope you all have a lovely week and I will try to visit your blogs and say hello.
I will be a little busy..just received a box of summer blouses from a customer who wants me to paint cats on all of them. Yup...she is a cat lover ;-) She already owns two of my watercolor cat blouses and I guess she liked them. I'll post photos when I finish them.
Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

16 comments:

Gretel said...

There is nothing like a good haul of second hand treasures! I do like the little bathtubs, I wonder if a guest of my country *liberated* them from the hotel as a little (shall we say) informal souvenir?

Anonymous said...

As they say in soccer..."SCORRRRRRRRRRRE!"
Wow, great haul, D. Porthaul linens? I think I'de have them framed! Congrats!
marcia

Anonymous said...

Great finds and great prices too. I love the little bathtubs. The linens are very pretty. I will be looking forward to seeing pictures of the blouses. Hugs

Tweed Thoughts said...

Great finds Janet! Good luck with the blouses - that's a lot of cats, hehe :)

Anonymous said...

Great finds :D Love the vase :D
~victoria~

Diane Cransac said...

Looks like you found some bargains, dont you jut love rummage sales!?!

The LadyBugs Garden said...

I just love rummage sales. I can see the aprons with these finds...

Lisalulu said...

YOU had a lucky day! amazing finds... go YOU... love the vase!

SmitoniusAndSonata said...

What a fabulous rummage and what fabulous finds .
Lovely linen but the best find of all has to be that beautiful vase .
Well done !

Claire said...

Hey Janet, wha a fabulous day you had and what treasures you found!!
Love the French linen and the handpainted floor cloth, the design looks very interesting.
The vase will look wonderful with some of your gorgeous Hydrangeas in it. I kept a similar vase form my mums things after she passed away. It wans't crystal, but I almost put it out in a garge sale and I am soooooo glad I didn't. It is such a useful size and looks lovely and of course it hold such special memories.
You are going to be busy painting furry, feline friends.Thanks for dropping by always lovely to hear from you.
My nest is filling up slowly, Mr G arrived home a week ago and Richard should be back mid July. He's in Canada at the moment, lucky boy!
Claire X

Annette said...

Wow, you found some fabulous stuff!!!!! I'm jealous of all those linens though. I think I would have to save them for a really super special something or someone!

Atelier Conti said...

What treasures! You have a skill there in sniffing out gorgeous and inexpensive beauties! I'd love to go shopping with you some day.

Wanda..... said...

My first time to your blog, Janet...you were demonstrating how to paint a canvas floorcloth!

You are smart to rummage in Middleburg!!!

♥...Wanda

Anonymous said...

What a successful day you had! I especially love the crystal vase, I have one similar.
CJ xx

w said...

those are amazing finds! jealous. bring me next time.

Jenkinsblmi said...

Looks like you found some bargains, dont you jut love rummage sales!?!