Surprise antiquing

The goodies

Yesterday hubs & I treated ourselves to a shopping trip that we usually only go on once or twice a year. Last time we'd been in the area was on my birthday. This time there wasn't any particular reason to go, except we had some Christmas shopping in mind. I was just tired of all my usual places & high prices, and thought that if I was going to fork out some cash, I might as well spend it in an area with several large antique stores. Increase the odds. Usually, it's some occasion like birthday or anniversary, and we know in advance we're going, so we try to save up some extra money. But this time was completely spontaneous, no extra money to spend really, just our regular pocket change.

The irony was, I got a lot more for my money than I have been closer to home. I was happy to find some neat pieces for reasonable prices, I'm just sad that my immediate area is so high priced. And there's no real reason for it either, except for the fact that the stuff mostly is selling at these prices. I'm just not the one buying it, most of the time.

One last rant before I go on to the loot shoot: Yesterday I saw some Depression Glass Hoosier cabinet style jars that were actually in my price range. I didn't buy any of them because I would have blown through my budget in two pieces. But still, boy were they were tempting. There was a large green Hocking jar, sans lid, that I would have bought anyway, but it had a crack along the bottom I didn't see at first. About broke my heart.

I don't have a lot of Depression Era stuff for one simple reason: I can't afford it. What pieces I do have came to me via thrifts and auctions at well below retail or ebay prices. I love my Pyrex, but I am hitting a collector conundrum: Do I spend 15 dollars on my four hundredth piece of Pyrex or do I put five or ten more dollars with it and buy a single nice Depression Glass canister? If Pyrex prices continue to skyrocket and Depression Era pieces become more available, I think my choice will be clear.

Rant over, on to the loot!

A Moon Deco and a Zodiac in the same day! What are the odds? Neither one of these pieces came with lids or cradles, sadly. And unfortunately, I think with these specific pieces it's the bells & whistles they came with that kind of make them cool. But on the plus side, they were cheap, so I couldn't pass them by. The Zodiac was 5 bucks, and the Moon Deco was 8. I passed up a lidless Moon Deco for around the same price when I first started collecting. I thought it would bother me that I didn't have the lid for it, so I let it go. I thought it was funny that the same piece cycled back around at the exact same price as before. So I bought it. I think this time I can use it without being bothered that it doesn't have it's snazzy deco lid. Maybe I'll find one some day.

These were also antique store purchases, but it felt like I was at the thrift. This is pretty much the closest to opal Pyrex that I ever find these days. I spent 7 dollars between the two pieces, which is also on par with thrifts in my area.

Everything in this picture I bought because it was cheap, except the Snowflake Blue casserole. It completes my 480 casserole set. I rarely see Snowflake Blue in person. It ranks right up there with Friendship in terms of scarcity/desirability. I'll pay a premium for a piece I don't have. And like Friendship, I might just break down and finish my sets by buying online.

And finally, all I can say is, I'm not worthy.

Oh my stars

These are so special to me. It had never even crossed my mind that I'd ever own a single one of these Kromex canisters. I've only ever seen them online, in the collections of people who own all sorts of other-worldly-levels of beautiful things. It never crossed my mind that I'd even see them, much less own them, much less have paid 8 dollars for the set of 3.

8 dollars.

This set is missing the smallest Tea canister. And the Sugar canister is cracked, right in between the u and the g. And they have some fading & yellowing compared to the flawless pink color on the inside of the lid.

But all that is like, who in the world cares about that! It's pink Kromex! They are beeyooteeful. I've been considering replacing the Sears Chicken canisters that have been my photo backdrop since I began this blog.

I dunno. As much as I love these pink beauties, I'm sentimentally attached to my chickens. So they stay. I have no idea where I'm putting my pink beauties, but it needs to be somewhere where they can be seen but aren't subjected to direct sunlight. No more fading on the lids if I can help it.

Finding these amazing, unexpected surprises are why I usually don't buy online. I try to save my pennies for adventures like these. Last week I'd very nearly spent my fun money on a Pyrex set online, but ended up letting it go. 18 dollars for shipping was just too big of a killjoy to me. I would have enjoyed the set, I'm sure. But like I said to my husband, if I'd bought it, I wouldn't have had the money to spend yesterday. Things work out for a reason, I believe.

I hope you're finding fantastic treasures!

Happy Thrifting!