Estate Sale Finds

My girlfriend, Lori, texted me yesterday to tell me about an estate sale in Warren about 15 minutes from my house.   She noticed there were lots of teacups and teapots in the sale and thought I might be interested.

I haven't been to an estate sale in a long time even though they're very plentiful in my area.  I quickly viewed all the photos and my first thought was I wouldn't go.  With the ladies' tea at church this Saturday, I figured I could make better use of my time at home, and I had just recently purchased a supply of teacups for The Whitney so they weren't in need of any right now.  Later in the day, however, I went back and gave the pictures a closer look and discovered there was a teapot from The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and  A Cup of Christmas  Tea teacup.  Hmmm... maybe I would go afterall.

The sale didn't open until 9:30 a.m. but we got there around 8:00 o'clock in hopes of getting a low number that would allow us to enter the house with the first group.  As it turns out we were numbers 21 and 22 and were among the second group to be admitted.  I think this was the first Trident Way Estate Sale that I've gone to, but their prices were amazing.  Everything was priced to move quickly, even on opening day.

I could tell from the pictures that the items I wanted were in the family room on a table by the doorwall, so that's where I headed.  To my delight the teapot and teacup were both still sitting there waiting for me.

The Grand Hotel teapot was just $8, in perfect condition, and even has a porcelain tea infuser. It's hard to tell in the photo, but those are red geraniums on the front - the hotel's signature flower.  

I've stayed at the Grand Hotel three or four times [and blogged about it], and bought their teacup, pictured below at Afternoon Tea, but never got the teapot.

A Cup of Christmas Tea teacup from Tom Hegg's book was just $5 and in mint condition.  I have a couple already but was happy to add another to the collection.

I also saw a Sandy Clough Christmas Plaid teacup.  Since I was the only home party distributer in Southeastern Michigan for most of the time the company was in business, I wondered if the lady who lived in the house attended one of my parties???

Sitting on the table close to the teacup and teapot was a new tea-themed tea towel for just $3 so I couldn't pass it up.

We made a quick trip to the basement where I found a prop for the tea at church this coming Saturday.  The theme is 'Shoes With Godly Footsteps' so I thought this hat box would enhance the decor and help carry out the theme.

More than any other color, red shoes have always had a powerful aura.  They have been referred to as "follow me" shoes.

My check-out total was $21.  Not bad for everything I purchased.  Thank you, Lori, for telling me about the estate sale.  It was a fun way to end the last day of April.