Cathrineholm find and long time no see

 Hello! It's been ages since I've posted last or even been out thrifting. But I did get out this past weekend and pick up a few things I thought I'd share.

First up, this Cathrineholm bakeware pan is only my second piece of the much beloved Lotus pattern, and only the 3 piece of Cathrineholm I've ever purchased. I was walking around an antique store, not finding much, then suddenly appears the booth of my dreams with everything I happen to collect.

You ever experience that? Everything was priced to average ebay asking prices, but I was feeling spendy, and was truly enjoying debating which of the many fantastic things I saw that was going to come home with me. And being than anything Cathrineholm is a few and far between spot for me, I picked this dish as my prize.

Another booth was having a half off sale and I scooped up with Horizon Blue 503 refrigerator dish with glee for 10.50. I adore this pattern.

And finally, these are all Good will finds for less than $3 total, so I'm pleased. This recipe holder was 99 cents and quite possibly my favorite recipe box ever!

And a couple of odd dishes. The turquoise dish is some kind of undertray for something Pioneer Woman I've yet to research what all it came with. Cream and sugar I'm assuming, and probably the red/turquoise mix and match floral patterns than seem to be the main decorations in her line. I've narrowly avoided falling into the endless sea of cute Pioneer Woman home stuff. I did cave and buy what I think is all the jadeite cake stands that have been a part of her line. (Old post here if you care to check it out.

The sweet little pink saucer is a LuRay pastel, date stamped 1/42, which I believe means it was actually manufactured in January of 1942 (someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I bought an whole box of LuRay pastels at a community yardsale years ago (which I also blogged here) and haven't really picked up a new piece since. I have a shelf full of LuRay, Cronin Tulip, and Anchor Hocking pastel Vitrock that I've doved-tailed into being all one collection since it coordinates.

So there's my finds for now. I feel like I've got the bug back and I'm ready for some new thrifting, antiquing and yard sale adventures this year.

Hope you are yours are well and that you're still finding nifty thrifty treats and treasures.

Happy Thrifting!

Favorite finds from 2014

Recently I've seen several folks do a recap of their favorite finds of 2014 which I thought was a great idea! So I spent a little while looking over my photos and deciding what my standout favorites were.

First off, I found my first Cathrineholm. The skillet was an unmarked Goodwill find and the bowl is an unmarked square pattern that isn't as frequently seen as the popular Lotus design. I would be thrilled to find more pieces in the wild for good prices!

I thrifted these sweet little McKee Glasbake custard cups for 99 cents total. I love polka dots!

I also found a vintage holy grail - a custard McKee dots dish! In the same antique store I found the Snowflake Blue dish to finish my round casseroles (470's) and got a fantastic deal on some pink fridgies!

On the Fire King front, I bought the blue band and pink band bowls to complete my Stripes set.

I also thrifted my favorite Fire King mug ever - a 99 cent reStore purchase.

These original ads were antique store purchases, but were inexpensive - I spent 3 times what I paid for them to frame them, lol!

I didn't realize when I thrifted this vintage Lisa Frank lunch bag just how much I'd use it and love it. It's held drinks and snacks for my husband and I on many a yard sale day/antique trek. It also seems like Lisa Frank is on a major resurgance lately. I saw so many different knickknacky Lisa Frank items at the Dollar General around Christmas this year, I requested them for my stocking stuffers.







And speaking of yard sales, this is one of my very favorite finds of the year. And it definitely wins for best yard sale score.







I wish I had the slightest idea who made these canisters. They are unmarked. Chances are good they were sold nested with only a sticker on them or a cardboard holder/box.



The turquoise set was a junk store find earlier in the year. Each set was 5 bucks! I really want to know who made these and what color combinations exist!




And on the Pyrex front, I thrifted a new cabinet (that I still haven't painted!) to store some of my favorite pieces. I've toyed around with the idea for years of taking a turquoise Pyrex mixing bowl with me to have color matched at the store, and this year I think I'm really going to do it. It might make me rethink what pieces I have on display, but that's okay with me. What I'd really like to do is turquoise on the outsides and as the drawer color, but white shelves and insides with white framing the whole piece. I'd also like to measure the backs of the shelves and have some kind of thin wood that could be painted or framed with fabric. I'd start off with black & white chevrons, but I'd also like to try just a solid lime green as well.








 I found my second turquoise bowl set in the wild, and I shamelessly snapped them up.








I also very recently added my first piece of turquoise bakeware.

I also scored my very first Pyrex in the original box!










And added a couple of great Horizon Blue pieces to my collection. I love those decorated opal lids so much!

Added two Friendship pieces I'd never seen in the wild before.
















Also recently added these unusual labware pieces to my collection. Butterfly Gold looks really neat in blue!







Finally, to round out the year, I added a couple of Christmas items that were high on my wishlist. First I found several working strands of bubble lights at a yard sale for 10 bucks, then I added 7 more boxes via thrift stores!

I also bought my favorite favorite favorite box of Shiny Brites I've ever seen for sale. I paid the price for them, but I'm totally okay with that. Love 'em!

So I think this is the longest post ever! I'm sure I've forgotten things, and failed to post some good stuff. Maybe sometime I will catch up with the rest of the world, get a smartphone and do that ole instagram thing all the kool kats and hep chicks are talking about.

I've not really gotten out so far this year. Went thrifting once. Found a lady head vase for my mom and few Pyrex mugs, but that's it so far. Hopefully we'll hit the town by Valentine's Day and find some new treasures.

Looking forward to finding all sorts of neat treasures in 2015!

Happy Thrifting!

Birthday shopping

We didn't get to go out last weekend for my birthday, so we rescheduled to yesterday. Low and behold, I found some more pieces to my Snowflake Blue Corelle set I've been building lately. This is the 1 quart bowl, 2 quart bowl and the oval platter (it doesn't look very oval in the picture, but it is). I also picked up the oval platter in Butterfly Gold for my mom's set.

These were pretty cheap - and one of the more unusual Corning Ware patterns I don't see often. This is the green version of Medallion. There is also a blue version. Corellecorner.com calls these Shell Oil promotional pieces. These and Country Festival are the patterns I'm actually collecting, though I've also managed to amass a stock of Wildflower I don't know if I'm keeping or not. I already collect enough Pyrex to run Corning Ware out of the kitchen, trouble is, I like them both. I just need a bigger kitchen!

These were my Pyrex finds for the day:

I love the vivid orange Daisy 403 bowl. And the best thing about it is it finishes my set!

The larger-sized pressed flowers casserole also finishes something of a set as well. Again, according to Corellecorner.com, these casseroles were the first pieces of promotional Pyrex that featured a pattern.

And these were my two biggest SQUEEEEEEE's for the day:

I have this set plus spares already, but it took me YEARS to complete that very first set. Plus I paid a good bit for that last piece because it was the last one I needed. So now I find the whole set at once, with lids, for what I think is a fantastic price - $29.75 (35 minus a 15% discount). No way I was going to leave without them.

And speaking of Pink Gooseberry, I've been actively searching for this pattern in particular and buying anything I find even remotely reasonably priced because it's the other pattern besides Butterfly Gold that my mom really loves. I've bought nearly everything I can get my hands on, in triplicate - one for me, one for mom, and when I find it again, a spare for either of us.

That said, yesterday, I could have come out of my shoes at the prices I saw. I saw more Pink Gooseberry in a single store than I've seen the whole time I've collected, and other than my surprisingly cheap complete fridgie set I just bought, the prices were NUTSY BUGGO. A greatest hits of Pyrex prices I saw was a set of Pink Gooseberry Cinderella bowls for $175, two different sets for $199 each, and get this one - a Daisy divided dish for 99 dollars.

I also saw some fair prices on pieces I kind of hated to leave behind, but that's not unusual either. All in all, I really didn't see anything uncommon. And though I got some great deals, I still feel like if I'm ever going to have a Starburst or a Rooster space saver or Pink Butterprint someone is going to have to deliver it to my doorstep. Pyrex prices are definitely in a state of flux right now. Some dealers seem to be pricing it the same as years past and some seem to think they're going to get rich off of it.

And one final SQEEE:

My second piece of Cathrineholm! And I found it at Goodwill for 2.99!!

It has a touch of damage on the handle, but is in good condition. I love it, I love Cathrineholm, I just can't do the online prices. But I'll very happily treasure the rare and few pieces I find afforably.

That's all for my belated Birthday treasures.

Wishing all you Moms out there a wonderful Mother's Day. Moms make the world go round!

Happy Thrifting!

A sunny day antiquing

Today was such a nice day out we were tempted to put the kibosh on our plans of hitting the flea market & antique stores and spend the day doing yardwork instead.

But I'm glad we got out. I picked up this 4 piece Hazel Atlas Ivy bowl set for $22.50. They look unused. I've had a small 7'' bowl from this set for a long time & an identical sized red strawberry pattern bowl that we use as popcorn bowls.

But my super deal of this day this bowl right here:

Recognize it? I nearly didn't!

In fact, I walked right by it and didn't see it until I was up some stairs and rounding a corner. It was hidden on the bottom of a shelf.

I thought I knew what it was but thought I had to be wrong. So I kept going, walking around the rest of the antique store. Twice I told my husband to remind me to go check out that bowl I saw downstairs before we leave.

So when I get around to it I realize A) Yes, this is enameled metal B) It has no makers mark C) the sticker says "enamel metal bowl $5.00" and then my head explodes, because I am about to become the proud owner of my very first Cathrineholm bowl.

It's a bit rusty and a bit chippy, but it's absolutely the coolest thing ever. :-) And here's a great fansite with lots more info.

I've only seen two other pieces of Cathrineholm in the wild, and they were both the lovely Lotus pattern - and very pricey!

Mid Century Modern anything is a dream around here. Scarce! I live in the heartland of primitives and reproductions. Finding this piece - and for a song, too-  was something I couldn't even dream up.

Hope everyone is enjoying a nice break in the weather or at least finding wonderful junk!

Happy Thrifting!

Birthday shopping extravaganza!

Sagaform teapot

My husband bought me this loverly new Sagaform teapot for my birthday. I'm not entirely sure how I discovered Sagaform, but I really like many of their designs. This one is appropriately called "Retro". Some of the others I like a lot are "Season" & "Blossom". This Scandinavian firm puts the name of the designer right on the dish, reminiscent to me of vintage designs by Eva Zeisel or Ben Seibel for firms such as Mikasa, Iroquois, Red Wing, etc.

But as usual, this birthday was all about the Pyrex.

Let me just say, Pyrex prices have just about doubled from when I first started collecting. And I'd say the supply is somewhere around half what it used to be too, even with blood-thirsty (and sometimes incredibly greedy) dealers in hot pursuit of it for their booths.

I paid an arm and a leg for the turquoise 402 bowl. But I was looking for that exact one to nest in between the smaller and larger bowls I already had. So that completes a 3 bowl set. I'd be very glad to find a large turquoise 404 bowl, but I'll live if I don't find one soon.

The big red 404 is only the second time I've ever spotted it. First time, I didn't buy it, because it was scratchy and they still wanted 30 bucks for it. This time, it was very shiny, only minimally scratched, and a much more tolerable 14 dollars.

The little blue completes a primary set. I won't even tell you how many primary sets I have. You'd put me away. I've sold one, and I'll probably sell another one or two when the mood strikes. But yeah, I'd say I have a problem, lol. Oh, and that big yellow 404 there, guess that's the beginning of a new set......;-)

And that poor pink. Maybe you can't tell, but it's dishwashed. Very, very dishwashed. But it was 4 bucks. I picked it up for my mom, who adores pink pyrex, but never steps foot in an antique store. She's a little rough on her dishes, and this is one I won't be too heartbroken if I see it being used as a cat dish.

And that plate is lilac Fiesta! My second one. I thought my first one was a way good deal at 10 bucks, but this one was the interesting price of $4.29. It's in similar shape too, it still looks good, but has totally been used, so in to regular rotation it goes. Yay!

 And again with the dishwashed bowls. That orange dot bowl should be a lot more orange. But it was appropriately priced at 5 bucks. It's a totally acceptable placeholder bowl for my set until I can find a nice, shiny one (which may or may not happen soon, with my luck). I still need the largest 404 green dots bowl. It's the big one, sold separately, that sells for a minor fortune on ebay. Yuck.

These are all duplicates for me. My husband say's I have "a sickness for Butterprint" - and yes, he actually uses the correct pattern name. I needed one little fridgie dish to complete *another* set, but there were these other two sitting right there. Just sitting there, saying "Buy me. You know you want to."

So, sickness it is.

Oh, and you know what else is sick? How about 200 dollars for 3 pink Pyrex bowls? The 3 smallest. Not even the somewhat harder to find 404. Remember what I just said about greedy, blood-thirsty dealers?

And sadly, this was the first time I'd seen those bowls in the wild in all this time. I think at that moment my husband was actually glad I'd broke down and bought them online.

Also saw my first two Cathrineholm items same day. Both "Lotus" pattern. A large tan mixing bowl for 45 dollars, and a Verde-colored coffee pot for 88. At those prices, I don't think any Cathrineholm is in my future. But I'd be all over it at the thrift store!

If I feel froggy, I'll make another post about the cool things my hubby found (and won't post about, because he's a LAME-O).

All in all, great birthday!

Hope you're finding cool treasures!