I went to my first estate sale a few years ago, and I was in awe. I used to be a lover of garage sales, but I found my new calling, ESTATE SALES. I always thought I had to look for estate sales randomly, out and about, until I started asking around.

Here is what I found out about hunting out local estate sales:

Where do I find estate sales to go to? Download the Estate Sales.net app onto your phone, and set it to find sales within your area. You can check sales that are happening that day, or sales up to 7 days away. This is where I find most of the sales I go to. If I am ever traveling to other cities, I always change the location so that I can view the local sales in that specific area.

Next, download the Yard Sale Treasure Map app. This app pulls a LOT (if not all) of the sales straight off of Craigslist. A couple of the individuals running an estate sale that I went to explained that their company is not listed on the estatesales.net app because they had to pay a small fee, so they list their sales through this app instead.

Third? Craigslist baby. Craigslist has a wide assortment of sales listed.

Another place? Facebook Marketplace. I went to a sale, last summer, that I saw listed on Marketplace, that wasn’t listed anywhere else! So keep your eyes peeled for these.

And there you have it. Short and sweet and to the point! I hope that helped. Happy Estate Saling! Follow along with my estate sale finds on Instagram @thisoldbrickhouse.

XO

Jenna

The last and final part of my rummage sale haul has to do with themed items. I am always on the hunt for office themed items, garden-themed items, silhouettes of any kind, and old pictures. Eventually, I hope to take the office items and spread them around our own office to add some vintage vibes.

As far as the garden items, I will be hoarding these goodies until next spring, where I will play around with them and use them in a display of some sort.

If you head to my Instagram page, you can take a peek at some of my current pictures to see where I styled silhouettes and vintage pictures in my own home. See all of my amazing goodies below and scope out the prices I paid too!

Hope you enjoyed seeing all of the goodies I snagged in these past four blogposts!

Thanks for reading buddies!
XO

Jenna

Part three of my rummage sale haul has to do with the above. Yep. You called it, wood and white items. Whenever I am out pickin, my eyes are always drawn to woods and whites. My whole house is basically covered in woods and whites, and now I am slowly adding pieces to bring more warm & cozy vibes. See the prices I paid for the items below!

One thing that I didn’t share was that I landed a lot of this on the first day of the sale, where I spent nearly two hours sorting through LOTS of items. The key to going to rummage sales is prepping your mind and going in with the mindset to not get overwhelmed, even in the midst of the chaos. It was super chaotic, but whenever I felt overwhelmed I walked to another room to “take a breather”.

I went back the second day of the sale, to finish picking up all of the ironstone dishes that I had purchased, and I ended up looking around and found some more goodies. Then, I went back the NEXT day (the last day of the sale)..haha I know. Insane. But the last day of the sale was “fit everything possible into a bag, for a whopping $3.00 a bag” day. It was seriously just fun. Fun looking. Fun sorting. Fun digging.

Go with a purpose. What would you look for? Specific colors? Specific pieces? Specific themes? Whatever it is, go with it in mind, and choose to focus on that!

I LOOOVE seeing what people find, what they paid for the item, and where they purchased it. Do you have any recent finds? Share any of your pickin’ finds with me on Instagram, I would absolutely love to see them! Tag me @thisoldbrickhouse

Thanks for reading buddies!

XO

Jenna

Part two of my rummage sale haul is featuring brass and silver pieces! Whenever I am out and about, I love to keep my eye out for brass and silver-colored items. I love the warmth and depth that these types of pieces can bring to a space.

A few specifics I look for when hunting:

-Brass pots; Brass animals; Brass frames

-Silver trophies, pewter mugs, silver platters, silver teapots

I hope this helps inspire you in some way, and good luck finding some silver and brass pieces of your own!

Thanks for reading buddies!

XO

Jenna

Part one of my big antique rummage sale haul is focused on ironstone china. This stuff is beautiful. Always filled with character, chippy glaze details, and pure white goodness.

I never collected ironstone because 1. I couldn’t find it and 2. I didn’t really understand what it was. So I decided to start doing research and here is what I found out:

1. What is it? Ironstone china, once known as a “poor man’s china”, was made in the 19th century, around 1813. It does actually not contain iron, but was named that because of its strength and durability. It was created because it was a cheaper, mass produced alternative to porcelain. Ironstone was widely sold until the end of the 19th century.
2. Is it rare to find? Old white ironstone is still relatively easy to find. Old blue ironstone is scarcer. There are ironstone cake plates (very rare), pitchers, platters, plates, cups, tureens, soap dishes, compotes, and the list goes on and on. They vary in prices, anywhere from a couple of bucks all the way to $1,500 a piece. A lot of nice pieces can be found on Ebay or Etsy for at least $15 or more.
3. How do you know its authentic ironstone? Several pieces of authentic ironstone are unmarked, but some English and American factories included the word “Ironstone” in their marks. You can look at the pictures below to see several of the markings that were on my pieces. I also read this valuable piece of information-“Identify and date old ironstone by register marks on the bottom of the piece. Spode, Wedgewood, J&G Meakin, Wood & Sons, Birks Bros. & Seddon, T & R Boote, Turner & Tomkinson as well as other companies all made English ironstone. A great deal of English ironstone was exported to the United States. American ironstone makers included Red Cliff, Knowels, Taylor & Knowels, W.A. Lewis (Galesville NY), and McCoy. Be aware that McCoy was manufacturing well into the 20th century” (hunker.com). Also consider that not all ironstone is marked. Very old ironstone made before 1813 and American white “granite ware” may not be marked.
4. Can you put it in the dishwasher? Yes! Because of its strength, it can withstand microwave and conventional ovens and can be washed in a dishwasher. I washed all of my pieces in the dishwasher and they were as good as new. Ironstone china isn’t like normal china, and it can withstand the heat cycle in the dishwasher.
5. Watch out! “Learn to spot reproductions. Look for the words such as, “flow blue” stamped on the bottom of the piece. No real piece of flow blue is stamped “flow blue.” The words “iron ware” are also a giveaway. You may also see imitation register marks that appear to be stamped on, rather than fired into the finish” (hunker.com).

So, after learning about ironstone, I landed 30 pieces of ironstone china for $20. All of the pieces were $1.00 or below. Several pieces didn’t have a price, so the person checking out my ironstone set, just told me the item was 10 cents, if it wasn’t priced. TEN CENTS.

Here are the logos that you may find on the bottom of pieces:

I stacked all of my pieces, on a shelf, with all of my Rae Dunn and will pull from them to use at parties or get-togethers.

You can find ironstone and estate sales, rummage sales, thrift stores, and maybe even some of your family members have passed down heirloom pieces of ironstone? If you find some, tag me in your finds on Instagram at @thisoldbrickhouse!

Thanks for reading buddies!

XO
Jenna

Sources: https://www.countryliving.com/shopping/antiques/news/a41199/the-collectors-guide-to-ironstone-pottery/

https://www.hunker.com/13415286/how-to-identify-old-ironstone

https://www.kovels.com/price-guide/ironstone.html

Wikipedia.com

Where do I find all the vintage goodies? Antique sales, estate sales, garage sales, family members, friends, and one of my favorite spots…rummage sales. Rummage sales are known for having an assortment of goodies at ridiculously low prices. Sometimes you have to wait in a bit of a line, or pay a small fee to get in on the first day, but if you land a big rummage sale, the wait or fee is totally worth it.

Here is my latest haul from a rummage sale:

Honestly…I debated sharing this with you because it looks like I have a slight problem…which I kind of do. I may be a self-proclaimed antique hoarder..but in my opinion (not Grant’s) you can never have enough antique goodies.

Anyways, I paid $5 to get in an hour after this rummage sale started. My uncle waited in line before the doors opened and the line wrapped around the building, even 45 minutes before the sale started. Being that I went after Sadie was in bed, I didn’t have to wait in line. However, by the time I got inside, people were putting ALL sorts of goodies in giant piles or checking their items out already, and the line to checkout was massive. Just picture MADNESS. IT WAS MADNESS. I felt completely overwhelmed because people were yelling across the aisles, claiming things. Pretty sure my blood pressure was the highest its ever been in my entire life. After a few zen-filled deep breaths, I grabbed a tote and started filling it, because the prices were insanely good. I filled one tote. Then another. Then another. Then I realized it was probably time to head back home to Grant. I told him I was only going to be there 20 minutes max…..and two hours later…..I pulled into our driveway. Don’t judge.

I am going to share prices of the items and what I specifically look for at estate sales, rummage sales, etc. in the next several posts over the month of August. That way, if you go to sales, you too can know what to look for. You also have to know I am extremely cheap when it comes to buying antiques, so keep that piece in mind.

So here it is, my first big haul. Want to guess how much I paid for all of these goodies? $70. That’s right, 7-0 (including the $5 fee). Pretty dang good.

Also, just so you know, I’m taking the whole month of August “off” from antiquing because I have so many projects that I have to finish up around here and prefer that I spend my time completing those important projects.

Stay tuned next week to catch more specifics of this haul & what you can keep your eyes peeled for.

Hint: Next week’s feature-Ironstone China

Thanks for reading buddies!!

XO

Jenna