White Elephant Sale

A church in Hibbing has a huge white elephant sale every spring at the Memorial Building. I've heard it's a great sale, but had never been to it until yesterday. Oh my God, were there ever people there. It was hard to move about and really look at things. Fortunately for me, I was scanning for key items and made quick grabs. I got three sets of Christmas ornaments and paid 75 cents for all of them. The Christmas area was the least busy place - it was set up in the seating area.

These are ordinary, but I think they are pretty.

I love the three in the middle of this box. I also bought an unopened container of wire ornament hangers for a quarter, so I'll be all set to hang them up next winter. Out of all of my purchases I am most pleased with my ornaments. They had tons of clothes. I saw a lot of people walking out with a big garbage bag full of clothes. They had a lot of housewares, books, hardware, knick-knacks (see the post below), toys, bikes, etc.

Not a whole lot of Pyrex items. I paid $1.50 for the casserole dishes above. I like the divided casseroles for storing and reheating leftovers. The casserole on the left is missing a lid, but I'm pretty sure I'll run across a lid while out thrifting or garage saling soon. The last time I bought a casserole without a lid, I found one within two weeks. This is a pattern from the late 50s. The paint is perfect. They did have those orange and yellow casseroles with the big daisies on the lids that I love, but someone washed them many times in the dishwasher and ruined the paint. I played a hand in ruining all of Mom's nice Pyrex back when I was one of the dishwashers. That red square baking dish with the little square bowls that went with it is a hot item. Mom's set is white.

Carly and I are fighting over who gets to keep this. She says it's hers because I didn't get her anything else. I say it's mine because I have a desk to put a paperweight on. This is a Joan Walsh Anglund paperweight dated 1969. I love it and paid 25 cents for it. Paul says it's a good thing I bought it because we really need it. I'm choosing to focus on the words and ignoring the sarcasm.