My first choice to hunt for treasures is at garage sales. I look for them all year long. When the season finally kicks in, I am out all day. Watch out for the sales that start on unusual days. By me, Thursday through Saturday are the normal days for sales. If a sale falls on a Wednesday, be sure to go to it. The usual buyers may not be there. I usually check the newspaper for sales, but lately more people are saving on cost and not advertising in the paper. Free on line garage sale/estate sale sites are very popular so I get listings daily. Just Google garage sale ads and many will pop up that you can subscribe to. Even Craigslist has sales listed. On sale days, follow garage sale signs. Many people only advertise by putting signs up. Don't underestimate a sale just by the looks of it when you drive by. I even stop at sales that only have baby items out (even though I don't need any of those items). I have found many treasures at sales like those. Also, if the house having a sale looks run down and creepy, stop anyway. You can never tell what you will find.
Estate sales also have free sites that you can subscribe to. I receive those listings daily too. Keep a log of the sales/dates and times so you can plan a route. You can stop at more sales if you are organized.
I like to visit new areas to treasure hunt. I usually try to find an antique mall or thrift store in the town. Thrift stores seem to have more items during garage sale season so stop at them often. Invaluable.com's tip about going to the downtown area is great. I will stop in that area first if I don't know anything about the area. Whether I stop in an antique store or thrift store, I always ask if there are other stores around like that one. People are usually very helpful. When I'm at an estate sale, I always talk to the other people on line with me to find out where they like to go or what other estate sales companies they like to shop at. I get on those email lists for future sales. I have made many friends at rummage sales and we always swap information on upcoming sales. When you see the same faces at every sale, it becomes easy to make friends.
I try to visit smaller towns as often as possible. I prefer smaller off the beaten path places. Crystal Lake, Ridgefield and Woodstock Illinois have many nice shops. Carriage House Antiques https://www.facebook.com/Carriage-House-Antiques-200034153465752/?fref=ts is a wonderful carriage house filled inside and out with antiques and good stuff. Karen and Di have been in business for 12 years. Across the street is the Crystal Lake Antique Mall https://www.facebook.com/Crystal-Lake-Antique-Mall-438727522830651/?fref=ts which sits at the edge of the downtown area where there are other stores and eateries to stop at. Ridgefield is a quaint antiquing town that is a few minutes away from Crystal Lake. https://www.facebook.com/TheAntiqueShopsOfRidgefield/?fref=ts Also a few minutes away is Anew Interiors Anew https://www.facebook.com/A-New-Interiors-Anew-111809755548396/?fref=ts located on the historic square in Woodstock. There are other shops and eateries in Woodstock to visit.
As many of you know, I love hammered aluminum pieces. At one point, I had over 300 pieces. Slowly, I have been purging my collection and have around maybe 150 pieces. I lost count again. My 2 favorite pieces came from garage sales. Years ago when the boys were small, we stopped at a sale in Woodstock. I always took the boys with me (even carrying them in their car seats so they couldn't touch anything). I wasn't finding anything of interest at this sale until I spotted an aluminum table for $10. I managed to carry it and the car seat! It was a Wendell August Forge table. Another piece I found at an estate sale years ago for $3. It was an aluminum waste basket by Arthur Armour. Both pieces are very collectible and hard to find. I display them in my room along with other aluminum pieces that I treasure. I have grouped them with some shell items. (That's another collection for another post.)
Happy treasure hunting!
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