Thursday, August 21, 2014

Thrift and antique store roundup

These are my goodies from the last couple of weeks. A few of these were yard sale finds. The canister on the left was a dollar and the Pyrex mug was 10 whole cents. Yay for yard sale prices!

The pie plate, fridgie and Fire King teacup were also yard sale finds, but creeping into thrift and antique store prices. I didn't have a Desert Dawn pie plate, so I had to buy him for 3 dollars. The lidless Butterprint fridgie was also 3 dollars (I pretty much have a no Butterprint left beyond policy :-). The FK teacup and Butterfly Gold gravy boat underplate were a dollar each as well.

I don't know about you, but most yard sales I stop at these days seem more like perpetual yardsales/flea markets. Most everything I show interest in -vintage or not- is what I'd consider retail prices. Strangely, it's in times like this when I seem to get better deals in a nicely-staged air-conditioned antique store booths than I do in someone's yard, standing there cranky and overheated with the sun constantly threatened to punish my pasty white flesh for daring to walk around outside for more than twenty minutes.

And finally, my antique store finds. The lovely pink Daisy casserole in the center, with two Fire King tulip teacups. Maybe not a giveaway price at 16 dollars for all, but I was happy. I'd broken my only tulip teacup early in the morning one day (why I was moving around glassware pre-coffee I really don't know. But I do know I'm not going to do that anymore.) The lady at the antique store gave me the tulips for a dollar and knocked 5 bucks off the asking price of the pink daisy and then didn't even charge me sales tax. Oh and did I mention I didn't have to stand around in the sun the whole time I was shopping? And in fact, I found the air-conditioning perfectly lovely?

Lol :-)

And this badass clock was also an antique store purchase, just not the same place. It was one of the few times I've ever inquired about something behind the counter that didn't look for sale. Grimy and dusty as it was I could see the beautiful turquoise potential shining out, crying for me to give it a good home.

Or something like that. :-)


Turns out the lady had just bought it that morning, didn't have it cleaned up, priced or even knew if it worked. She priced it for me, as is, for 6.50, which I was perfectly okay with. I took it home, cleaned it up and hung it up above a Pyrex display, and still as of this writing don't even know if it works, cause I haven't even tried it!

I honestly don't care if it works, really. I just have dreams of finding really cool vintage clocks like this in the same colors I have in my Pyrex display and displaying them that way. Maybe once I have a filled-out looking display I might try learning how to repair or rework the ones that don't work. Or I may just enjoy them as-is.

That's all for now. Hope you're finding thrifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!



Monday, August 18, 2014

Yard sale and Fire King finds

The next couple of pics are all technically yard sale finds, but they came from a lovely lady who used to own a semi-local antique store. So, much nicer stuff than I tend to find in yard sales. Her store used to be one of my favorites to visit, though I didn't go as often as I might have liked. It was a nice surprise to chat with her again, and to pick up these really neat little items. I paid 8 dollars for everything.

How cool are these price tags?!? I regret to say she had a few more of them that I didn't buy! Foolish me. But at that point, I had grabbed up so many little things and was trying to keep it straight how much I was spending, that I had enlisted my husband to be my hold-everything-while-I-shop boy. Wish now that I'd bought them all, but they must have been meant for someone else's happiness as well :-)
I have to go jumbo-size on this picture because of the details. These woven labels are just the cutest ever. And do they get any better than Anita and Gertrude?! Also, the Made with love for THE BOSS is hilarious. Notice the #1's in the background. Oh so tongue in check. And that owl there is a sewing kit. So sweet. I think it might have had a little pair of scissors in it that aren't there any more, but the rest seems to be intact.

And my final loot from her were these bags of refrigerator magnets. I realized the minute I saw them how much they reminded me of my maternal grandmother's refrigerator, so I had to snap them up.


There's a couple more just waiting for me remember to buy a fresh tube of superglue to reglue the magnets.

And these Fire King finds were all thrift store scores for pretty cheap. I'm always amazed when I find anything in Goodwill anymore that isn't chipped or broken. I've not worked up the nerve to just ask them outright if they're sending all the good stuff to their online store, but I sure have gotten that impression. These Fire King Fleurette teacups were 49 cents, and the tray was 99.
Had to take a picture of my lone Fleurette teacup from the regular dinnerware set. It's definitely bigger than the snack cup, and it lacks the foot on the smaller-sized snack cup.
And finally, I think this is my personal favorite Fire King mug I've ever found. I looked up Lady B's larger sizes just to see if I could find any trace of where this store might have been located, but no luck. I'm guessing this decoration was not at all Anchor Hocking's, but rather, a blank that was sold in bulk to a decorating firm that did advertising decals on glassware. But whatever the case, I superloves it.


That's all for now. Hope your weekend was filled with treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Turquoise Pyrex paint match

Made a neat discovery the other day while looking for a nice turquoise paint to paint my newly purchased thrift store knick knack shelf.

Valspar Color Radiance paint in Nautical
I've always wanted a paint color that was the same shade (or very close to) solid turquoise Pyrex. I just didn't want to actually take a piece into the store with me and have it color matched.

When I saw this spray paint at Lowe's, I was afraid of getting my hopes up too high that it was what I was looking for. In the store, it struck me as possibly being too green, like it had some pistachio/jadite tones. But when I got home with it I couldn't get over how the paint cap was practically identical to the top on my lone turquoise Kromex canister. 

I also think this paint is neat because it's paint and primer in one and is good on wood, metal and plastic.

Had to get out some of my pretties just to show the colors. Has it ever bugged anyone else that the original solid color turquoise bowls and bakeware are not the same shade of turquoise on Butterprint, or the square hostess chip/dip set?



As much as I love this color, turquoise on turquoise like this doesn't exactly make the display pieces pop. When I get this shelf secured to the wall, I'm thinking about only displaying Butterprint and red & white items so there's more contrast.

Just wanted to share with all the turquoise lovers out there - I think there's many of us!

Happy Thrifting!

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Thrift Roundup

Not a whole lot in the way of thrift store finds the last few weeks. Today was a complete bust all except a gift I received from my favorite antique store owner, which I'm saving for its own post :-)
 Pyrex lids & cradles are always good - especially refrigerator dish lids!
These two sweet little pieces of MacBeth-Evans depression glass were .49 cents a piece. The saucer is American Sweetheart (the white shade is called Monax), and I actually had a teacup without a saucer at home. All of my Depression Glass - what I have of it - all came from thrift stores or auction and has been a much slower-growing collection than say..... Pyrex and practically every other thing that Corning ever made.

And speaking of Pyrex:
The turquoise-on-white version of Butterprint has been coming my way as of late. These I found at one of my favorite antique stores for 6 & 8 dollars, respectively. In my neck of the woods, that's what I consider yesteryears prices. I'll happily buy duplicates for those prices!
Now this Fire King bowl was another story. A little pricey for me, but still better than ebay. Plus I needed it for my stripes set. All I need now is the largest bowl - the one with the pink band- and I'll have the whole Stripes range set. 
And finally, this Corning Ware pattern is called Fresh Cut. It's not one I see every day. I probably shouldn't have bought these, but I get enamored with less-common patterns, especially in cheerful colors.

Hope you're finding thrifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!