The WORLD'S longest yard sale!

Last weekend I was planning a trip to Ikea with the hubs (2.5 hrs away, so we make a day of it) when I realized, "Wait! That's the same weekend as the 127 yard sale that goes through our town!" Ikea would have to wait. I've been putting back some money & looking forward to this all summer. I was hoping to find a few specific things to refinish or re-purpose for our new house.

I do love a good yard sale, but try to only hit them when there is something specific I am looking for. I don't usually have the patience to look through every little thing, plus, if I do that, I tend to bring home a lot of stuff I probably don't need. (Like glassware, I have an obsession with glassware & dishes- it may be an intervention worthy obsession one day) ;)

So let me tell you a little bit about this thing. It is 675 miles long and goes from Michigan to Alabama, running along highway 127. Our town, luckily (or unluckily because of the traffic) has 127 going right down the middle of it.

Hubs & I only hit a small portion of it, but we found a few great finds that we "needed". I was on the look out for 2-3 night stands- 2 for our bedroom, and maybe a new one for the guest room. Two occasional chairs for our front room sitting area, and a little table to go in between those two chairs...plus any awesome glassware I couldn't live without.  :)

One of our first stops was the fair grounds. Here, they have tons of booths set up, so you don't have to play the stop & go game as much. I was a little disappointed though. A lot of these booths were vendors. They were set on their (high in my opinion) prices & didn't care about coming down because they would just pack it up & sell elsewhere. Oh well, they just didn't get any business from this cheap deal-seeking girl!

We did find some other great stops, and this is what I found!

TWO corning ware tea pots! Let me tell you, I am a hot tea-a-holic in cool weather. I drink a few pots a day. And corning ware makes my most favorite tea pot. It's the same kind I grew up with!
This last winter, I accidentally left for work with the stove still on, and my tea pot boiled dry and almost took the house down (Thanks for saving the day dear!). Once that happened, a big ole crack formed & eventually busted. I was so upset as these pots are not the easiest to find anymore!

So imagine my delight when I came across these babies. The design isn't as pretty as my old one, but I couldn't risk not being able to find them again, I had to have two.  :)

I also found this giant candle stick. It sits about 2 feet tall, and I have the perfect idea for re-purposing it. You'll have to wait to see what I have in store! Can you guess what it will be?!

Lastly, I came across this little lovely:

And you will never guess how much I paid for it...$20?...$10?...Nope, $3.50! Can you believe it?! 3 dollars and 50 cents! The chair is in really good condition, except for two small tears in the leather. (You can kind of see them, at the seams where the arms meet the back of the chair) I plan to re-upholster it in a beautiful patterned fabric. Maybe something like this?

 Or this?

Or what about this?

I have a few other projects I need to finish before I can start on the chair, but I cannot wait! Any suggestions for fabric?

Here's another pic I took of some old vintage sewing machines on the back of a trailer. I just thought they were pretty. 

So there you have it. I didn't go hog wild, I was actually being kind of picky that day. That, and it was 90+ degrees & the hubs and I were getting a little grumpier as the day went on.
But I consider it a pretty successful trip. The day was made even better when I ran into an old dance student of mine! She's in grad school now- boy do I feel old! haha :) Love ya Brooklyn!
Have you found any great steals at a yard sale this summer? Do share!

Love,