Tag Sale treasures: Limoges plates & Sew Seventies sewing basket

Hi Friends!

My son Peter and I did some thrifting/tag-sale-ing last week.  It occurred to me that tag-sale season is almost over.   I always find myself kind of sad this time of year (not just because of the tag sales).  People on FB have been posting little pictures about looking forward to "hoodies, pumpkins, football games" etc. for the fall season.  Of course there are aspects of the fall I really do enjoy,  but I will miss warm weather, tag sales, ice cream.    (I sometimes think that despite my blonde hair and ghostly white skin that is a dead give-away for my northern european heritage (read: should be accustomed to cold climates)  that maybe I was secretly adopted from someplace nearer to the mediterranean.  My body is so unsuited to the cold it is ridiculous. I always carry a sweater around with me just in case)

 There is sort of a care-free attitude to the summer. Stay out late to work in the garden, watch the lightning bugs, walk through the surf...  Fall is much more business like. 

Anyway, enough lamenting. Back to our outing.   We hit up one of our local places called

  "Cape Cod Pickers"   Located in East Falmouth, they always have an interesting assortment of stuff.  They handle estate sales and household cleanouts, so most of their items are furniture, household goods, bric-brac, etc.    

The store isn't particularly organized, items are mostly just casually placed about, and there are bins of stuff to rummage through,  but sometimes stores like that can be fun and you can find some good stuff that way.   Also, although most of the items are priced,  they are open to bargaining.

[i.e.  "Good day, kind sir. I am most interested in those five green, ceramic, elephant umbrella holders you have there.  They are marked $5 each.  Would you take $20 for all five?"

"How about $22?"

"I will give you $23 if we can throw in this candle shaped like Teddy Pendergrass"

"Done." ]

So yeah,  although no Teddy Pendergrass-shaped candles this trip,   I found this awesome sewing box: 

 Although the box itself was a little worse for wear  (handle was broken and the top of the inside look like someone had re-glued the lining)  it was full of vintage notion goodies!  I got this along with a few music tapes for my son for $8.

This is actually a plastic box, not wooden.  I love the fact though, that it mimics the style of furniture that was popular during the 1970's.  Large, heavy wooden geometric tables were the thing!  My parents actually have a living room set that features a really (bang your toe) heavy coffee table and two hexagonal end tables).   This sewing box looks like it would fit right at home sitting on the floor next to them.

Here are a few pictures of these once popular hexagon end tables from around the web in case you were not aware of 1970's decor:

 

Before we move on to the neat stuff that was inside the sew seventies sewing box,  I actually found a few photos of ways people had re-purposed some of the hex-tables of years past that I thought was very clever.     I found them on a couple different sites,  so I am not sure where the idea originated,  but they are awfully nifty:

So yes, my little box is a throw-back from the large wooden days of furniture 

and banged toes gone by.  

(It also makes a pretty good ottoman!)

 Here's the inside loot. 

Lots of spools of thread

bag of bobbins,  a pin cushion

That odd-shaped blue thing I believe is a more modern version
of a darning egg. (for those of you who don't know what a darning egg is -
before the advent of modern nylons and socks sold inexpensively,
people used to repair holes and runs in their stockings and socks.
A darning egg was a egg shaped item (usually wood) that one
would put in the foot of the sock/stocking to make it easier to fix.)
Nowadays, a decent pair of tights is still worth repairing.

Here are the next items that I found at a tag sale. They are a set of beautiful floral plates. 

I paid $1 a piece for them (there are four). 

 I originally anticipated that I could use them as decoration of sorts when I get around to re-doing my kitchen.  I had initially thought them to be circa 1940's or 50's.  When I got home,  I inspected a little closer and found these marks: 

The red one says "Elite Works - Limoges France" (all block lettering)  with a little picture of what looks like a saint and some fleur-de-lis.  The green wording says "Elite  - L - France" 

I found that these plates are actually pieces of Limoges porcelain.  I'm guessing they are salad plates. While they are not deep enough to be soup bowls, they do have a little bit of depth to them.   

With a little research on the net for the makers marks,  it appears that these were actually circa 1920-1932!    The ones I got are all in beautiful condition,  save one which has a little crack under the glaze on the face. The porcelain is hand painted. The flowers look so dainty!

Got the dating info from this website here:     Limoges Maker's marks 

From checking out similar items on Etsy, Ebay and independent websites,  these plates would sell for about $10 - $15 each.  However, I think that I will stick to my original plan of using them for decoration in the kitchen.  

All in all, not a bad day.

Of course, had to round it off with a trip to our favorite Frozen Yogurt place in Mashpee Commons: Sweet Waves!    Peter is enjoying his strawberry with little gummy bears.

Til next time!
Yvonne  xo xo


Have you ever found a treasure while thrifting?  Would love to hear about it!
Share in the comments below.