A small, boring haul post!

Lol.

That's what I'm feeling most often these days when I think about this poor, neglected blog. I'm partly to blame for my lack of finds. I just got frustrated with the lack of 'good stuff' at the thrift, and the major price increases.

So I lost quite a bit of interest, which, honestly makes me sad. I still love this stuff now as much as I ever did, I just don't find much these days to actually post about.

So forgive me for my small, if boring, thrift haul.

First off, these Corelle bowls are some of my favorites. These two are the more beigey stoneware color that seemed to be their creative direction in the maybe late 70's - 1980's era, when Corning starting manufacturing different shapes and styles to compete with the stoneware that had gained popularity at the time. I'd fact check here, but my favorite site for all things Corning - the now defunct (?) Corellecorner.com site - seems to no longer be searchable. One of many valuable collector resources that no longer seem to exist online anymore. Sigh.

And these two little Fire King bowls! I was just so happy to see them. When I saw them on the shelves I had this feeling I can barely describe. Just a very sudden awareness of how many years I've been thrifting things like this, and just how long its been since the last time I had.

All these bowls were 35-40 cents each.  Now that's a price I can get behind! lol.

And finally, this isn't boring to me at all - Vintage Ornaments! But no crazy good scores, just very sweet ones. Most of these boxes cost a dollar each.

These Woolworth's ornaments are my third box now, each from a slightly different era. I'm going to do a collection post soon, and I'm looking forward to getting to play with my collection!

From what I can tell from checking online, some Woolworth's ornaments had the thin, narrow top like this. I'm always interested in knowing details like these so I can reunite sets.

These can't be vintage. They just seem too perfectly try-hard. They did not come in this box. This was one of those frustrating times when I wanted these 6 ornaments, but they were in two different boxes with a bunch of ornaments I didn't want. Plus this box was there, sold seperately, but it would hold 6 perfectly. So I bought 3 boxes to cobble together this one. Still, I don't think 3 dollars is too steep an investment. :-)

Look at these details! I'd love to know where (and when) these actually came from!

These guys just pulled me in by their simplicity. Not the oldest ornaments ever, not by a longshot, but still vintage. Or kindly put, Retro. I still think they're great.

And speaking of new vintage style, I couldn't pass up this vintage style gift wrap. $2.99 at TJ Maxx.

Shiny Brite logo!

I bought one roll to use and one for projects. Love it!


So that's my thrift haul for now! Hope you're finding fantastic treasures where you are!


Happy Thrifting!

Halloween Pyrex!

Here's a family portrait of all the Halloween Pyrex I've collected over the last 6 years!

I attempted to do this post this time last year. Didn't happen. Then I had work done on my house for the last few months, too many things went into storage and I couldn't access these dishes.

And forgive me, none of these guys have even had a proper dusting since get them out, I just wanted to get this post up before Halloween could come and go again this year!

These are the first two years they came out - 2012 & 2013. I've bought every years patterns from Target, though I've also picked up spares from the Corningware Outlet. And one year I found one at Ross for $3.99 in the previous years pattern.

The Halloween design was the first time it appeared that World Kitchen was aware of just how popular patterned vintage Pyrex had become, and attempted to make a nod to the collectors with these limited edition pieces.

At my Target, they seemed to sell pretty quick and were popping up on ebay for a premium price. I'm not sure if they made any other seasonal items at that point? I want to say it they didn't do a second pattern until Halloween 2013, but I am really not sure. And I've been too inconsistent about blogging to be able to search my posts to double check.

At any rate, I picked up these Halloween pieces, and made an attempt to pick up Christmas and Valentine's Day when they started coming out. But pretty soon I felt a bit overwhelmed with how many different patterns they were now making. So I slacked off buying any of them except the Halloween. Seemed fitting since that was the first style of these they made, and the ones I was most interested in.

In 2014, they added a white ghost pattern. And in 2015, they traded pumpkins for black cats.

In 2016, they kept the same two skull & cat patterns, but swapped the ghosts out for owls on a fence. Sorry my picture is so dark here.

Trying to get a brighter picture of them all in the right order on my snazzy new tablecloth, also from Target this year.

***

I have really fallen off of the vintage bandwagon the last couple of years. It's just gotten so dog-eat-dog in the collector world it's hard to find the things I love for a price I can pay.

The bad thing is, I've taken up other hobbies that are just as - or even more- expensive. So in some ways, I'm a glutton for punishment.

Oh, and a few last notes. I've seen pictures circulating around of a few things that I believe are special items. One is a Halloween take on the classic Butterprint pattern turned into a headless horseman & witch with lots of fantastic halloween details, rats and tombstones, boiling cauldrons, skeletons & pumpkins. This is a decal I've found available on etsy that you can use to decorate everything from glassware to stand mixers. Very cute, cool concept! I believe it was derived from an idea by a factory employee that may or may not have actually made it though a test production.

And the other one is a take on the Day of the Dead style skull used in both 2015 and 2016's designs, that was posted on instagram by mega-collector and rare Pyrex book author Megan McGrady aka Hot for Pyrex. She describes it as the original design, magnified and layered onto the bowl. It was presented to her as a gift, and to her knowledge it is one of maybe a handful.

Lucky duck!


***



Hope all is well where you are, and that you are finding fabulous treasures out there in the world. My next plans are, the minute Halloween is over, the Christmas decorations are going up. I can barely stop myself from just going ahead and putting up the tree now. I am a maniac, lol!

Happy Thrifting!

Catching up

Yard sale score!

This was a yard sale find but around these parts when you walk up and see something you like you never know what to expect. Sometimes it's yard sale prices, sometimes its antique store prices. I set my sites on the teapot, thinking that would be the one piece I'd be likely to buy. But when I inquired, she gave me a price for the whole lot - 25 bucks!

Cha-ching!

Of course, it's mostly the 50's colors that I was deliberately not collecting, lol. But I mixed it in with my original 6 pieces and it looks lovely, so there's where it will stay.

Then the very next day, this happens

Asking price? 10 dollars! For both pieces. In a store, even. I have a running history of finding relish tray pieces for uber cheap. I paid full bore retail for a base, many moons ago, when I had accumulated all the central pieces. But other than that, I think it's been around 5 dollars each piece. Unbelievable! Since this base had a small fleabite chip, I moved my less perfect pieces in to it and now have halfway to a third complete relish tray.

 Speaking of retail, I picked up these two tumblers at the same time and pretty much paid full price for them. I have no tumblers in my collection, and I was so chuffed with the relish tray pieces being so cheap, I was fine with the tumblers being retail. I grouped it here with a lone ivory shaker that I yardsaled for 50 cents.

Since I'd just bought a very reasonably priced lot of HLC Riviera, I was not expecting to find another piece for a while. But my husband dropped off some donations at the thrift and came back out with these small Riviera pieces for 99 cents each. The small plates are just the tiniest bit larger than saucers. 

Sweet little unmarked plastic canister set

The canisters were also something the hubs picked up for me at a yardsale he hit on his way home. I love the details - the lids, lettering, and little flourishes around it. I want to say I've seen these in red before. I love seeing how many colorways different canister sets came in.

A few thrift store Christmas finds. Santa and Mrs. Claus are a salt and pepper set that I very nearly separated accidentally. Santa was sitting by himself, priced at 50 cents, with no match. I picked him up and then set him back down, deciding I didn't want to potentially break up a set when the other piece could still be around somewhere I just didn't see. Sat him down and went about my shopping when Mrs Claus here turned up. Soulmates! Haha.

These tiny Mr & Mrs were cutely tucked away in a box that once held shipped fruit - probably also a holiday thing. I remember being a little girl at Christmas time, getting catalogs where you could ship people fruit and candy packages for gifts. I loved those catalogs. (One of them I remember is Figi's and it's still in business!)

The repurposed fruit box had these hand labeled as "Nut cups". A fancy way of serving nuts at your holiday gathering. Makes sense, since these are definitely too small to be used for eggnog or beverages!

This sifter I just absolutely fell in love with. 10 bucks at a yardsale, but I had to have it. I think it's my favorite vintage sifter I've ever seen.

One yardsale item and a few more thrift finds. The cat shakers and Pyrex lid were GW purchases for 99 cents. The Friendship Pyrex base was 4 dollars at a yard sale. I reunited it with a lid from my own collection.

And this cat? I have no idea what it is or what it came off of. Please tell me, if you know! All I know is, it's cute. A thrift find same time I found the Christmas items.

And last thing. Super cheap yardsale knick knacks. A heartland candlestick holder, some JSNY Country Calico pattern potholders I didn't know they made, and some good old-fashioned red and white checkered shelf liner that will end up as decoration somewhere. All less than a buck.

So that's all for now. I've gotten so out of the blogging habit I'm accumulating stuff to post. Which is a good problem to have after a very dry winter.

Summer seems to be coming back with an abundance of goodies I have no need of whatsoever, but completely adore!

Hope you're finding fabulous bargains where you are!

Happy Thrifting!

Birthday loot and a couple of yardsale finds

This is the nicest grouping of Riviera I've ever run into. It was reasonably priced in an antique mall, and it was my birthday, so perfect time to splurge!

The juice pitcher is a first for me. I'd never even seen one in real life before now. I was happy with the price and happier still that all my bigger serving pieces from this line are turning out to be one of each color.

All the pieces are in surprisingly excellent shape, given that Riviera is pretty prone to chipping. Most of the rest of my pieces have some imperfections but I am now getting to the point where I'd like to start removing the ones with the most damage, until I have a mostly undamaged collection.

The rest of my finds are yardsale. I spent around 5 bucks for the lot. The red refrigerator dishes came with extra lids - who doesn't love that!?

The pink ashtrays are either Depression Glass or repro's, I haven't looked them up to determine. And the little syrup was another sweet little find to add to my growing pink kitchenware collection.

I've had a pretty good week yardsaling recently, but I don't have my goodies photographed yet, so hopefully I will do that soon.

Hope you're finding great junk out there!

Happy Thrifting!

Thrift loot

I've been hitting the thrift stores a little bit lately. It's still mostly misses but just enough good stuff slips through to keep me coming back for more.

The other days find were these yellow vintage Dansk Kobenstyle pieces. They were 6 dollars each and another couple of dollars for the lids - no matching dishes to go with them, unfortunately. I have only a handful other pieces of Kobenstyle, all thrifted.

These all have chips around the edges, but the cooking surfaces are in good shape and I actually look forward to using them! The baker is very large. The scant bit of research I did on them when I got home gave me the impression this was the largest baker available. And from the lid sizes, the covered pot is the medium sized of the set.

I believe these are enamel over steel, which would seem like a good budget alternative (and lighter weight) than the enameled cast iron pieces popular during this same time period. I have a few of those as well, and it's impressive how heavy cast iron can be, especially in the larger pieces!

I bought this chip and dip set halfway hoping I had a bracket at home that would fit it. But I did not. So the search continues! lol

A few more thrift finds. The red JSNY tray is a part of a seemingly neverending pattern called "Country Calico" metalware and ceramics that I started picking up to dovetail in with my International China "Heartland" dishes - neither of these sets I have any need of whatsoever! I have a house full of dishes and my Heartland set is one of those things that's always on the chopping block but never manages to get cut.

The Pyrex was another moment where I really, really did not need doubles of things I have already. But they just hopped into my hands. I really do think I have emotional weakness to decorated opal lids. Even in a not-favorite pattern, they are just so cute. At least the lid and refrigerator dish were cheap!

And finally, and antique store purchase. I hemmed and hawwed about getting this damaged, incomplete set for the 25 dollar asking price, but then noticed the booth was on 30% off. So I got them. The lettering on the tea canister is the best, but the canister itself is cracked. I don't use these plastic canisters anyway, they are for cuteness factor only, but it's always nice to find your pretties in pristine condition. I rarely do, but I imagine it's nice - lol!

I've found quite a bit of pink kitchen goodies in the last few months. Probably more than I've accumulated over all the years I've been collecting vintage goodies. No idea why, but I'm certainly not complaining.

Hope you're finding thrifty treats and treasures where you are!

Happy Thrifting!

A Pyrex haul!

I bought a few good pieces of Pyrex the other day and realized on the way home that it's been positively ages since I've had an honest-to-goodness Pyrex haul.

And even though it's just 3 pieces and a Hazel Atlas mug, it's all really good stuff I truly enjoy. The Horizon Blue piece completed a 470 set, and the elusive (and expensive! I splurged!) pink Butterprint brings me one step closer to a completed set. Just need one more of it and a mixing bowl to complete all the standard Butterprint pieces!

Finding several good pieced of Pyrex at once was a much needed reprieve from this winter. And funny enough, this was my brains version of a victory song, so I thought I'd share (and perpetuate some feel-good 90's nostalgia!) Enjoy!

A very dry winter

My poor blog. It's been so long since I've had a thing to post.  My area thrift stores dried up ages ago. And the local antique stores have been really scant on the things I collect/very expensive. So I've stopped going nearly so much. Truth be told, I've shifted a lot of my "pretties" money into another even more expensive habit - Makeup. But that's another story, lol.

I did get out the other day and find this cute apple salt and pepper set. A little damaged, but it was coming home with me regardless. No markings whatsoever. I've seen this same set in red with green leaves, and poking around online I've seen it in other colorways. I'd love to find them all. They have that same 50's color choice between pink, red, turquoise, yellow and green that I love so much in canister sets and plastic wall clocks that I find completely, compulsively irresistible. So I'm definitely on the hunt for more!

This little freezer container is marked Foley, a company I already look out for - mostly for their metal measuring tools and some plastic kitchware. But I had no idea they ever made anything in pink. This was a rare-these-days Goodwill purchase for 99 cents.

I couldn't get a good picture of this lidded mixing bowl storage container made by Stanley Home Products. When I looked it up, I found it was the largest of an adorable nesting set. I did not see any others at the thrift when I picked this up, but I was happy the one I found was in pink!

And my final pink purchase was this beat-up set of pink Pyrex dishes. I don't know if these will clean up much, and I probably shouldn't have bought them, but pink Pyrex, ya know! Bought them anyways.

These Miller Studios chalkware pieces were also GW purchases, .49 cents each. Between my set of two cats and two birds, I think I've unofficially begun collecting Miller Studios chalkware.

Only the aqua bowl is new, but I took its picture with the small yellow bowl I picked up and probably never blogged. I have no idea what this pattern is called. It's Federal Glass. And I have no idea if any other colors exist, if these were part of a single set or just two loose bowls from solid color sets. I'd love to know the name of the pattern. It so hard to research this guy. It's like, "what do I Google? Flower swirly circle dot thing?" I'm dubbing it Floral Scroll and leaving it at that, lol.

And finally, Pyrex Space Savers. Two casseroles with one lid I just picked up today at the flea market for 20 dollars.

 I had the smallest of the set already, so I decided to take it out of my display, wash it up and put it in the kitchen cabinets with my doubles when I noticed these got screenprinted differently. (The acorns face down on the top dish and up on the bottom dish.

I have two pink gooseberry 473's that also have the upside down screen printing. It's not really a noticeable thing, but neat to see some occasional variations that happened over the years.

Anyways, so that's all caught up for the several months (!) absence from this blog. Hopefully the weather will get nicer soon and maybe some yard sales and estate sales will start happening.

Hope you're finding cool junk wherever you are!

Happy Thrifting!