Thursday, November 13, 2014

Thrift and antique store roundup

Got out thrifting yesterday. Hit up an antique store and several thrifts. Didn't find a lot, but I did add a few Christmas items and this sweet, beat-up vintage ivory Fiesta mixing bowl to my collection of once abused-but-now-loved by me mixers.

Hard to see in the pic, but it's got lots of silver metal marks inside and out (which I'll remove later with Bar Keeper's Friend), and a large chip on the side. It's a #5 with the rings on the inside bottom, which means it was produced before the design was changed (and the rings removed) sometime in 1938. It was 2.99 at GW, and I guarantee the only reason it was out on the shelf is because the word "Fiesta" and the size number were almost entirely illegible.

But I love these bowls no matter what shape they are in. I've got an equally beat-up yellow #5 I paid a pittance for and an almost perfect red #5 I paid a fortune for, and I still can say I love them just the same.

Despite being decorated to the nines in Christmas, the antique store I walked though really didn't have many ornaments for sale at all. And they were all solid colors. No beautiful indents or Shiny Brites in sight - at any price!

I picked up this box of ornaments mostly for the sweet ones with hearts on them and bought another small bag just for the two pink West German ornaments. The angel hair beside them is a totally new one on me. These packages haven't been opened, but they'd split open over time and had been overwrapped.

The angel hair is blue (hard to tell in the pic) and it's actually spun glass. From what I was reading, I believe it's Fiberglass. Pretty as it is, it's also an irritant. The package itself warns that if "mild itching occurs to wash hands in cold water". Oh boy!

(BTW, if you are hunting Angel Hair (of the non-irritating variety) for your decor, they still sell it at Hobby Lobby, I discovered when I was researching last night. They also carry replacement bulbs for ceramic Christmas trees - but in my local store they are in with the Doll House supplies - which I think is an odd location for them. Just wanted to pass this info along! :-)


And finally - More Bubble Lites! These were just two dollars a box. There were five, plus two boxes of replacements. Groovy! I'm totally set for Bubble Lites this year, for sure. The packages themselves were not dated, but the replacements were - 1989. I'm semi-surprised these are as relatively recent as that.

I don't know how to date my other boxes of Bubble Lights (notice the spelling change on the box?) that I also guesstimate to be dated sometime in the 1970-80's.

And they are obviously much smaller than the new ones. Are these smaller ones the same size as the actual originals? I've never really seen original Bubble Lites to compare them to.

I still haven't gotten out my Christmas decorations yet, but I know it's going to happen quite soon. Can't wait to see what these Bubble Lites look like on my new/old white Christmas tree!

Hope you're out finding thrifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

1 comment:

  1. With Thanksgiving being so late this year, I have been already been decorating for Christmas! Our thrifts have been pretty dried up in regards to vintage Christmas. I really think that people are catching on to its popularity and value. I have always decorated this way, so lucky for me I have enough :-)

    Love those bubble lights! Can't wait to see your tree.

    Erica

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