I hit a couple of estate sales yesterday in the north Dallas area. At the first sale I picked up about 10 old maps of Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado from the 1950's. They have some great collage potential. At the second sale I bought an entire box of 1960's train schedules from around 30 or so different railroads. There were 167 in all! I plan on selling some of these in lots on EBAY and using the other ones for some new artwork I'm planning out. I also bought an old Scrabble game. There are tons of crafts that you can do with those old Scrabble pieces. Overall it was a successful outing. Thursday and Friday mornings are the best for estate sales in Dallas. I love the thrill of the hunt.

I've been out of town for the last few weeks and I haven't been able to get out to many estate sales this year like I usually do in the early part of summer. This morning I woke up at 6 A.M. and split for an estate sale I read about in the newspaper. It was supposed to open at 8 and I wanted to make sure I got there early....I did...try 6:45. The good thing was that they were already open. So I didn't have to mill around, listen to my ipod, read the paper or anything like that. The guys running the sale were major collectors and had some very unique items. I found some really great things and the prices were very reasonable. I picked up some old railroad paper stuff - schedules, maps, letters, and magazines. I'm going to be using some of these in my new paintings as backgrounds. I also picked up about 50-60 old postcards from New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado. One of the coolest things that I got was a bag of hundreds of old black and white photographs...some of these are from the early 1900's.....very, very cool. Finally, I snagged some old beer coasters, old travel guides, and a few Arizona Highway magazines from the 50's. Total cash money spent for the day $35. Not too shabby. This trip today has got me fired up to do some more junkin' in the upcoming weeks. The pic above is the booty from today.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that we had visited Dreamland BBQ in Birmingham, Alabama. They are known for their world famous ribs. They were great! So good in fact that I decided to buy some Dreamland BBQ sauce to try and reenact the taste back here in Texas when I make my ribs. So before we left Birmingham I went into the local Piggly Wiggly and bought a jar of it. It wasn't until the cashier rang it up that I realized that I had just dropped $11 on a jar of BBQ sauce! I couldn't return it because I craved it. I mean I could have picked up a Piggly Wiggly shirt that said "What Happens At The Pig, Stays At The Pig" for $10....one dollar less. I went with the sauce. We've had it a couple of times already with some pork and chicken.....and it's good......but is it $11 good? It's a big enough jug of it....so it should last us a while.

As the weather begins to get nicer (today doesn't count.....very cold and windy in Dallas), I begin to think about one of my favorite weekend pastimes........estate sales. I have been an avid estate sale hunter for the 13 years that I have lived in the Dallas area. I get my Thursday and Friday morning papers, a black ball point pen, a highlighter, and my Dallas Mapsco and sit down for 30 minutes or so to plan my trips. I have gotten very good at this over the years and I rarely come home empty handed. A quick stop by the ATM for some cash money and I'm off. My personal collections consist mainly old Southwest Conference memorabilia, old Texas beer stuff (Lone Star and Pearl mostly),old sports magazines, art books, western stuff, and any other things that catch my eyes. I also buy stuff at these sales to sell on EBAY. I buy up Dallas Cowboys memorabilia and other sports teams stuff that I don't care much for, and sell them to diehard fans. I've got a pretty good grasp on collectibles and their values. Above is a pair of Ralph Lauren cowboy boots from the 70's that I found in a women's closet in Preston Hollow (older upscale Dallas neighborhood). I paid $10 for them even though the sign on the closet said, "all shoes $1"....I plead my case to no avail...it was still a good deal and I knew it. I got home and put them on EBAY and had like 35 bids on them.....a week later I had sold them for $127.00. I thought I would share some of my EBAY success stories periodically as the prime estate sale season revs up......the thrill of the hunt is what makes it fun!

The Booty

Finally. My wife and I are going to get back out to Canton, Texas for 1st Monday Trade Days. It is the largest outdoor flea market in the U.S. and is about an hour east of Dallas. We haven't been out there in about 2 years or so. They have more stuff than you can shake a stick at. They have tons of antiques, crafts, food, junk, collectibles, and art. It can literally take days to see it all. We're heading down tomorrow morning without the kids to shop til we drop. We've got a pretty good grasp on the place so we know a good route to follow once we are inside the gates. I look for collectibles, materials for art projects, and unique trinkets. My wife likes the home decor stuff and antiques. Don't get me wrong there is a ton of crap there too......you got to know when move on. I'll fill y'all in on the trinkets we pick up this weekend.