At the tent sale

I arrived a little late (8:05 instead of 7:45am like I had hoped) and my goodness, Wilton fans were out in full force.

It drizzled a bit while I was in line, but no torrential downpour. And very few people were dismayed by the rain.

What did dismay me was the severe lack of shopping carts. Only 1 in 4 people was lucky enough to get a cart. The rest of us had to use hand baskets or pack horses, and wouldn't you know it, I forgot my pack horse. I was surprised by all the families in line--lots of strollers and carry-able children, parents and grandparents.

The tent sale featured a lot of items with different brand names but fall under the Wilton industries umbrella. Lots of Mario Batali cookware, Copco tea kettles, EK Success and Jolee (scrapbooking) items. Some of the items from the Martha Stewart Everyday line at KMart, but not much.

What really surprised me about this year's sale was the amount of Martha Stewart Crafts (sold at Michael's and a cheaper version sold at Wal-Mart). Holy paper punchers! I was just not prepared for that amount of craft supplies: punches, scrapbook materials, craft kits and more. At this point, I realized it was a good thing I did not have a cart or pack horse, because I would have gone cuckoo for cocoa puffs and bought two of everything.

The Wilton Tent Sale lasts until June 16.

Tomorrow, my purchases...