Thrift scores and a day on the town

This Caboodle is one of those 1980's childhood nostalgia items that came home with me despite having no idea what I was going to do with it. It might replace the train case I'm currently using to hold makeup. I actually still have my childhood one (it's light pink and purple) but I couldn't resist this black & white one with hot pink interior.

Continuing the trend of finding my entire American Sweetheart depression glass collection via thrift stores, I got these sherbets with metal holders for $1.99 a piece. To my knowledge, these are the only clear pieces in the American Sweetheart pattern, though MacBeth Evans did produce other patterns and colors with these same metal holders. I wanted to show one out of the holder and flipped so you can see how the glass was actually made. 

Since my husband and I were a bit disappointed with our big trip out this last Wednesday, we took the opportunity yesterday to go in a different direction and go to some other out-of-the-way antique stores. I bought this empty Shiny Brite box for two dollars to hold some of my smaller, loose ornaments. I didn't photograph it well, but I love the detail of Uncle Sam shaking Santa's hand.

Truthfully, I paid a small fortune for both of these pieces, but as my husband said to me in the antique store, I'm getting to the point in my collection where pieces I want, but don't have already, are becoming harder and harder to find, and they are probably going to be fairly expensive when I do.

I got the turquoise 2 quart baker (my first piece of turquoise bakeware!) for 30 dollars and felt rather bad for being willing to pay so much. Curiosity got the better of me, so when I got home I checked ebay for what they were going for, and pretty much immediately changed my outlook. Now I feel like it was practically a steal. (Well, maybe not a steal, but a good deal, nonetheless :-)

The 2 1/2 quart Snowflake Blue casserole was the first time I'd seen this piece in the wild, so I went for it. Merry Christmas to me! I'm getting pretty close to a complete collection of this pattern - even the matching Corelle. I love it!

I also have a couple of items still soaking in a nice, warm bath that I'm saving for another post!

***

I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to get out and hunt for this stuff. Every trip my husband and I take together is a memory I won't soon forget. I frequently complain on this blog about prices, prices, prices, but in truth, I still love collecting Pyrex. It's been a really fun hobby. Thrift shopping and antiquing are something my husband and I really love to do together. And though we are looking for different types of items, so many times he's spotted something for me that he knows I like, and I just enjoy that so much - seeing him with something in his hands he knows I'm looking for. And he's actually pretty darn good at it, too!

I'm grateful that we have had the health to get out and go places together. And that we've had the disposable income to set aside purely for enjoyment. That is a real blessing and a true gift.

I sincerely wish everyone a very *Wonderful Christmas* Happy Hanukkah* Happy Holidays*, and a much blessed and prosperous *New Year*!

Happy Thrifting!

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!

More thrift finds

 Yesterday's thrift post left me...you guessed it....ready for some more thrifting. These were my kitchy finds.

Decorated jars, an International China "Heartland" mug & a Jeannette "Cherry Blossom" depression glass pitcher.

The decorated jars are a mystery to me. I keep thinking they are the 1980's version of Swanky Swigs - that they would have originally come filled with peanut butter, jam, or some other consumable, and when empty you'd have a cheerfully decorated whatnot jar. I have another jar same shape & maker that has a blue lid with blue & yellow flowers. Someday when I least expect it, one of these will pop up with an original label and I'll find out more about it.

Heartland dishes are another accidental collection. They keep presenting themselves at prices too cheap to pass up. I've only got two pieces that were not thrift or yard sale finds. Who doesn't need a china pattern with chickens, pigs, ducks, cats, horses, sheep, farm people, and gigantic fruit sticking out from the sides of houses? :-)

 

More tacky-kitchy absurdity in the wall art. Again, who doesn't need lobsters and jars of plums decorating their kitchen?   :-)

I was happy to find the Shamrock Fiesta salad plate. I already had one, but for .59 cents, I couldn't refuse another. There was a very scratchy cobalt dinner plate I passed on. In fact, I don't have any P86 cobalt plates anymore because mine were so scratched I just didn't like looking at them. So I donated the two that I had. But hoarder that I am, it was still hard not to throw that dinner plate in the cart.....

Finally, a depression glass pitcher, Cherry Blossom pattern by Jeannette Glass. This piece has been repro'd, so I can't say with certainty that this is the real deal. But I read up enough about it to think it is.

 I had to take pictures of it with my American Sweetheart. The pinks are definitely not the same shade, but the difference is more subtle in person than how it photographs. I think it's neat how both patterns, despite being made by two different companies, have such a similar style.

This pitcher set me back $9.99. They had it behind the counter in the collectibles section with a pink depression glass butter dish, I think the same price. When I asked to see them, something struck me about the butter dish, a vague idea floating around that it was a repro - specifically of a piece that was never originally made.

Turned out my hunch was right. It was a knock off of the Madrid pattern by Federal Glass. A pink butter dish that was never made in that color originally.

Of course that makes me suspicious that this pitcher is also a repro - and it definitely HAS been repro'd - but it's pretty much okay with me if it is. I now have a pitcher to go along with my slowly growing American Sweetheart collection. A real pitcher in that pattern would be practically impossible to come up with, and as valuable as they are, I couldn't bring myself to use it if I had it, unless it had some significant damage to it.

No doubt about it, I'm in over my head with depression glass in general. But I think I'm fine if I think the piece is attractive and affordable. I would never pay big bucks for something I didn't know for sure was the real thing. And honestly, paying the 'big bucks' for it would take all the fun out of it anyway.

Hope you're finding thrifty treats & treasures!

American Sweetheart

I love reading old magazines. I just read a story last week or so from a magazine dating from 1986, of a lady who began a collection of American Sweetheart depression glass from a lucky rummage sale find that cost her less than two dollars.

Little did I know I would have basically the same thing happen to me just yesterday, give or take 8 dollars for inflation.

I don't didn't collect Depression Glass at all. It may be the one type of kitchenalia on the face of the planet that I do not collect. Except......5 pieces of American Sweetheart in Monax (white) - my one exception.

So how on Earth could I refuse a taped up shoebox of pink depression glass that I couldn't even check the condition of for ten dollars? Which, to me, is a lotta bread for some bread plates.

(Sorry, bad joke :-)

But I think I did good, and was quite lucky. This little set totals 18 pieces, including 4 hard-to-find fruit bowls. Two of the footed sherberts have jagged chips that I'm going to sand down and keep them out to use. Otherwise the rest of the pieces are pretty much perfect.

 

 

Tiny, adorable fruit bowls. If baby kittens were dishes, they'd be these fruit bowls. They're that cute.

And here's my other pieces - one luncheon plate and 4 teacups in Monax.

(By the way, Monax is just an obscure, copyright-able name for white, in case you're wondering, lol.)

Same place, I also found a piece of Pyrex, an adorable Glasbake baker, and a Fiesta mug, but I'll save them for another post.

Happy Treasure Hunting!