Catching up

 Long time no post!

I really haven't been hitting the thrifts and antique stores like I used to. So goes the tale that the things I look for seem to have disappeared. But the other day, I was out of town for other things, but a Goodwill was nearby, and of course I had to pop in just in case. Lo and behold, Pyrex -AND- something else I collect too - random Starburst silverware!

This is yet another pattern I didn't have a single piece in. I think I'm up to 6 or 7 different starburst patterns. Who knew there were so many? This particular find was super exciting because it has so many forks. Forks are always the hardest to find for me. And I get to the point where I start leaving behind butter knives, because they'd outpace my forks and spoons by dozens each. Maybe someday I will have amassed a single pattern sets worth.

The Pyrex was a super surprising, super exciting find for me, no matter what the pattern. This may be the first Pyrex I've pulled out of a Goodwill in my area in two years or more. It's really been that dry. I was a little disappointed to find after I got home with it that the Butterfly Gold casserole has an almost invisible chip on the bottom. I don't trust chipped pieces to heat in any way, in case the glass has been even more damaged than the naked eye reveals, so I'm keeping this piece instead of giving it to my mom, like I typically would (it's her pattern).

And I couldn't believe it when I realized I didn't have the divided dish already! It's a super bonus when I find a piece I don't have! These guys were cheap and cheerful for 2.99 and 3.99!

And I discovered that Pyrex made another minor appearance this month in the November issue of Country Living magazine. Almost the very last page of the magazine. In previous years since I started collecting, there's been an article on Pyrex collecting in Country Living two other times, if memory serves, they've typically been the May issue (right at my birthday, so that explains why I remember that, lol!)

I also added two of the newest Pioneer Woman jadeite cake stands to my collection.

I bought myself two of the original style stands when they first came out (and were 19.96), then repurchased another single when they came out with the redesign for 10 dollars more.

Since, they've dropped the price a few dollars on the largest one and introduced two more. Each one is slightly different in how they are shaped, but they are quite similar and match well.

These two largest ones can be inverted for trifles, desserts, even a small punch. The tinest one is made the same as these but the knob of the lid is just too large to rest inside the inverted base.

As for the quality, I think these are fine for the price. The knobs are a great improvement from the first version. The two smaller are truer to vintage jadeite in color than the first one I bought, though that may have changed since I bought mine. Let me know in the comments if you have these cakes stands and notice color differences.

A few issues here in the dome. Mine have air bubbles in the glass. Both domes. And I would have loved to see the glass be more smooth and rounded-off on the way it connects to the base. It's a pretty blunt cut, not noticeable when it's closed, but when you lift it off it's just not as finished-looking. But for the price, I'm loving the fact that I have Jadeite cake stands with domes. You just can't beat it. And I love having them on the table and using them for everyday things. I'm pretty sure I made a cake the other day just to put it in the cake stand, lol!

And finally, ornaments. Beautiful, beautiful, delicious Shiny Brite ornaments to add to my collection! And for thrift store prices too! So exciting!

These boxes were a dollar each. The red Shiny Brite box contained some plain ornaments I'm probably going to redonate, and is missing it's lid, but for a dollar, I'm not going to pass it up. The plain bottom is filled with solid color Shiny Brites. I had the intention to move the ornaments to the Shiny Brites bottom, but then I found all these:

newer Radko Shiny Brites

These beeee-yoooo-tee-ful ornaments were a dollar fifty a bag! Choirs of angels singing! Haha.

I rarely, rarely find good ornaments. And when I do, they typically run around 25 a box. Lots of antique stores around here use the original boxes as staging and sell the ornaments for 2-5 dollars each. Which is why I choke a bit at ornaments wreaths and such. I can't even imagine being somewhere where these are abundant and cheap enough to use for wreaths.

But this -IS- the South, where no trip to your local antique store is complete without seeing at least one 100+ Primary bowl set, and you are likely enough to actually see things like a Butterfly Gold Cinderella set for say, $120 or so. It's nuts.

And I was so excited to try to integrate these individual ornaments to my collection I completely forgot to take pictures of any of them. I may try to photograph them when I get them out to actually put on the tree.

So those are pretty much my finds for the last month plus. Hope you're finding fabulous goodies!

Happy Thrifting!

The Pioneer Woman Jadeite Cake Stand: Discontinued version versus Timeless Beauty redesign

On a lark, I decided to check ebay for how much the discontinued Pioneer Woman jadeite cake stands were selling for. Originally, when I bought mine, these were just shy of 20 dollars in the store, but since they were discontinued so quickly, it seemed to start a buying frenzy on ebay for them, and last time I had checked, there were several sold between $120-150 dollars.

Back when they came out, I bought all 4 they had in the store at the time, with the intention of keeping two for myself and giving one each to my mom and mother-in-law for Christmas gifts. But when I opened them up and checked them, one of them was cracked. I returned that one and gave one to my mom.

I went to another Walmart within the week and found one in good condition (I checked before I even got out of the store) to replace the one I'd returned, only to be denied purchase at the register.

That was frustrating. I don't know why they wouldn't let me buy it. The register just wouldn't allow the item to be purchased.

I kept tabs on that page of their site, as well as their facebook page, curious about what happened and when/if they'd get more in. Many customers posted reviews and complaints similar to mine, such as cracks or places where the glass was glued badly. The packing material was pretty scant and it seemed like many were arriving to the store already broken.

Walmart posted on their facebook page that the item was discontinued and a redesigned version would be available in the Spring.

So when I randomly checked a couple of days ago on ebay, I noticed there was a new version. I looked it up on the Walmart dot com site and they have it for sale, only now it is 10 dollars more and a bit different.

Here are the boxes side by side:

The box is slightly taller. Inside is much, much better packing materials. Styrofoam in between the two pieces and all the way around it, unlike the original version which just had cushioning in between the pieces and on the top and bottom of the box. I'd actually trust this new one to survive shipping. I don't think you could buy the original one online and have it shipped from the site? I don't remember now. It might have just sold out online before I could get one.

But as for the actual cake stand, mine is a darker green. On the box itself, I noticed they've changed from calling it Jadeite to Timeless Beauty. No mention of jadeite whatsoever on this new one. My husband, who likes to surprise me by remembering random facts I've read in glassware books, immediately said "looks like Skokie green", which is a darker shade of jadite produced in the 1930's by McKee glass, rather than the more famous shade popularized by Anchor Hocking's Fire King line.

In general, I think the redesign is nice. The top of the dome is much, much easier to lift, and just had a nicer, more stable grip overall.

On the negative side, this one has the glumped-up glue that other folks seemed to have issues with on the earlier version. I was not happy with the difference in color. In general, it's fine, it just stands out. If you're looking for a match to your vintage Fire King, this may not do it for you. Or mine may be unusually dark, I'm not sure? My store only had one out, and the way the shelf was set did not seem to allow for more than one to even be out at a time. So if you're looking for one, I'd flag down an employee and ask if there are more on hand. Or skip the store altogether and order online.

I also wasn't thrilled this one is ten dollars more for essentially the same piece. It's still much cheaper than other jadeite stands that don't even come with a dome. And I really love the dome redesign. In fact, if I could, I'd buy the dome alone to pair with a cake stand that didn't come with one.

Generally, it's the same weight (light) and quality of the original piece, only now it's packaged better and has a nicer dome. The change in price and color is what I personally was disappointed with. I'd love to see more jadeite items in the Pioneer Woman line, but I'd much, much prefer the lighter color that blends with the vintage jadeite I collect.

Hope you're finding thrifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

Antique store finds

Hubs and I decided to go impulse shopping the other day to one of our only-once-in-while antique store shopping destinations.

I picked up these duplicates because I hoard all the pink I can afford. This 402 bowl bridged two of my other bowls together, so now I have another pink bowl set.

And as for the space saver, I'm probably under the influence of the quantum leap in prices that SS seem to command these days. So if I find one with a lid in a pattern I like, priced for less than the going rates these days, I'm probably going to buy it. Just wish it had been the larger size one I'm still missing.

I might be silly for picking up this jadeite grease jar as well. It has a crack in it and the wrong lid, but I thought it'd display nicely with my shakers so I picked it up. And my cheap and cheerful find was an instruction manual for a 1970's era Sunbeam stand mixer that I paid a whopping thirty cents for in a going out of business booth.

This lovely daisy casserole doesn't have a lid, and this friendship lid has no base, but you never know when you'll find the missing pieces. I sure would love an opal lid for the daisy piece. I have it with the clear decorated lid, I'd like to have both versions.

More cheap and cheerful finds. The Pyrex was just a few dollars each and so was the little dots glass. My dots glasses collection is coming along nicely!

 

And finally, I bought a blue lotus plate at the flea market for two dollars, then turned around and bought a complete set of four at an antique store. I am one bowl away from having an even dozen of these snack sets.

I collected this pastel vitrock before I ever bought my boxful of LuRay pastels, so it hadn't ever occurred to me that they are the same colors. These dovetail quite nicely with LuRay, especially since the Anchor Hocking pieces are mostly serving and accessory, and the LuRay being the dinner service itself. I know that Anchor Hocking made lots of go-alongs for Fiesta, so it would certainly make sense for them to also make go-alongs for the popular pastel rival LuRay.

Had to use the flash to get a picture in my dark house.

Oh, and I also picked up this magazine on the way out of an antique store. This is the July 6, 2015 issue. I believe you can read this article online on antiqueweek.com but I think you have to sign up to access it.

Hope you're finding fabulous treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

Birthday loot

Got to take a trip for my birthday to some antique stores and flea markets we don't get to go to very often.

Picked up this little clock for my collection, and some Hazel Atlas Ripple saucers for a budget friendly dollar a piece.

The jadeite mixer was an antique store purchase, but the dinner plates were a surprise flea market score. These are the only large jadeite dinner plates I own, and also the only pieces of the Shell pattern.

The (unmarked) Hazel Atlas dots glasses were also, amazingly, a flea market score. I'm pleasantly surprised at how many polka dot glasses I've found in just the last few months! The green dot Anchor Hocking pitcher came later at an antique store, marked down too cheap to pass up. It's a duplicate for me, but I'm glad to have a spare!

I bought every bit of this Pyrex because it was super-dooper cheap. The little blue fridgie was 2 dollars in an antique store! I thought those kinds of prices were long gone. Added a 3rd bowl to my Shenandoah bowl set that I totally forgot to photograph. Those were my only Pyrex purchases. Eveything else that I was interested in was insanely high priced.

I have such a crush on Hocking green depression glass canisters. Wish I could afford them! But these sweet shakers were in my budget, so they came home with me. Fingers crossed that I add some of their canister brothers and sisters to them in the future. And I'm not a thousand percent positive, but I think I saw some fakes of these the other day. Perfect, brand new-looking silver lids with a weird quality to the glass. Almost like it had spider-webbing imperfections in the glass itself.

 

My Spring Blossom purchases were actually just the baker at an antique store and the dinner plates from the thrift. My husband bought me the largest mixing bowl for my birthday to complete my set, so I decided they needed a completed/updated photo.

Our trip brought us close to a Corelle/Corningware outlet, so I picked up an extra turquoise dots bowl and the pink lidded bowl for my mom.

And finally, more Fiesta relish tray inserts! (Blogger turned this pic sideways, so I'm rolling with it). 10 dollars each was not the screamin' deal I got on my almost-complete relish tray I just lucked into, but still a perfectly respectable bargain, I believe. I really love the relish trays! It continues to amaze me when I find pieces for a nice price.

So that's my birthday loot. Had a nice trip, great weather. Especially nice for walking around an outdoor flea market.

Hope you are finding nifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

Christy Jordan's Southern Plate Magazine

I first learned of Christy Jordan when I saw her on an episode of Paula Deen, who, if you can believe it, razzed Christy about her Southern accent. (If memory serves, Christy is from Alabama).

Her recipe for Splenda Cream Cheese Pie has worked its way into regular rotation at my house. It's the jam, seriously. And one of those simple, simple recipes that is actually fantastic as opposed to just lazy. Haha.

I read her site for a while before I came across her Pyrex Hoarder post. (And she promises a Part Two in the future. I'm looking forward to it!

Oh my. Look at that kitchen.

Pyrex Friends, she's definitely one of us. Here, she tells the story of family pieces that started her love of vintage kitchen.

And on this page, she gives some tips on what to look out for. I was also glad to read her warning that many of these dishes were made before dishwashers were common in the kitchen, so hand wash these beauties if you want to keep them looking shiny and new.

And one of the things I love most is that she's a fan of it all. Not just Pyrex. The rest of the magazine features Fire King, Glasbake, Hazel Atlas, Federal, etc. It nice to see other glassware getting some attention as well.

Anyways, I just wanted to make a post about this magazine while it's currently on newsstands and easy to pick up.

Happy Thrifting!

More Fire King fakes

Reproduction Fire King C-handle mug.

Saw this guy here in an antique store in Georgia about a month ago. First time I had seen a completely fake Jadeite mug. Notice the handle. It has been made to look as close as possible to the increasingly pricey Fire King C-handle mugs. For a comparison of the real deal Fire King mugs, check out this excellent resource.

(Edit 8/18/2014: Here's a little wayback machine snapshot of the site that might help if my original link isn't working)

Forgive the less-than-ideal cellphone picture here. It's really really difficult to capture the differences between the fakes and the real stuff! But first clue here should be it's priced at $15.99. It was out in the open - more valuable jadeite items are typically behind a locked case. Perfect condition, including the bold black lettering with no wear.

Another thing to note with this reproduction Jadeite (or Fake-ite, as I've dubbed it) is that it does have some textural differences from the real Jadeite. New, reproduced jadite can be very glossy. Depending on the piece, it can look wet, almost like the glass is not 'set'. Items that are decalled or have lettering, the colors are crisp and perfect. Too perfect.

And to my knowledge, Fire King never made a Tom & Jerry mug in Jadeite. If that is the case, this item gets termed a "fantasy item", meaning one that never originally existed. What can make these items seem so realist is that they are frequently a combination of two different companies actual work.

This is my previous post about Fire King reproductions, namely decalled items such as mixing bowls, grease jars & shakers.

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Yardsale Extravaganza 2012

This weekend has been a big annual (semi-annual?) yardsale weekend. Unfortunately, instead of great deals there were lots of folks who were using this as an opportunity to host Antiques by-the-side-of-the Roadshow. 

I did however find a few cute things for just a few dimes, including this little unmarked plastic napkin holder. As you can see, I've got two butter dishes from the same line. Wonder how many more colorways are available?

This purchase made me supremely happy. It's a Lustro ware Crisper. And it's huge! I've shown it here with my tiny pink Lustro ware fridgie dish.

The story is, I was walking around trying to find a deal when I came across this box. I'd never seen one like it, and had no idea it was Lustro ware. Anyway, the lady was not trying to sell it, she was simply using it as a container for vintage dolls she was trying to sell for 4 bucks apiece. When I asked her if she'd sell the container, she looked like she was at a loss, quoted me two bucks, and said "You know, these are probably collectible now."

 

This was my Pyrex haul. I didn't see much of it this weekend, but what I did manage to find were pieces that I did not have, and at reasonable prices, so I can't complain. I had to spend 8 dollars to complete my opal bowl set, but that was for 3 bowls, so now I have a complete set and two spares. These are the unmarked bowls that Barbara Mauzy said were rare and only produced in 1954. The thing is, I'm beginning to doubt that's the whole story. This makes the 4th unmarked opal bowl set that I've seen just this year, and I definitely don't live in an area that's known for rarities. You never know!

Funny story, an Antiques Dealer selling by the side of the road had a Pyrex bowl set in the Sandalwood pattern for 46 dollars. I need the smallest bowl to complete my set, so I was especially sad that these bowls were nowhere near affordable. Anyway, it sat for two days for that price, unsold. But Saturday? It suddenly was marked 60 dollars, and had a neighbor, 3 bowls from a Butterprint bowl set that they were asking 70 dollars for.

Dealers like that give me a bad case of the grumpies.

These mugs are cuties my husband spotted for me on Thursday when I wasn't with him to shop. But the real crazy score was the deep rim mauve blue Riviera plates. I'm so proud of my husband. He recognized Riviera without me being there!  His humble commentary on it was: "Well, I should recognize something that is hanging on the wall in my house." (I have so little Riviera that every piece I have is hanging on a plate rack in the kitchen, lol!)

This was actually a set of 6 - for only 2 bucks! Just 1 is in especially good shape, the rest have damage in varying degrees, but every one of them is still useable. I put the 3 in the best shape in the cabinet with my Fiesta and Fire King, and put the 3 most damaged in the cabinet to use.

And finally, this is the rest of my loot. Most of this was from one particular stop where we got things for a song. It was one of those where you made a pile and they said, 3 bucks, 5 bucks, etc. I felt like we bought everything that was even vaguely interesting to us.

The yellow Tricolator teapot would have been the score of the century for me if  (A) it had a lid and (B) in my haste I hadn't failed to notice that the whole bottom is ruined. Looks like someone poured very hot coffee or tea into it without scalding the pot first, and the whole thing cracked around in a perfect ring. It's still a pretty 'shelf sitter', but that's about it :-(

Most of this milk glass is going to my mom who collects it. Her real love is the hobnail patterns, but I've found so much grape pattern for her that it far outnumbers the hobnail pieces in her collection.

And finally, some love for Goodwill, who despite all the yardsales, still had some sweet stuff for sale this weekend. First up a banded ring glass that is considered a Fiesta go-along. I have 9 of these now, thanks to various thrift stores.

And finally, I thought for a second that I had stumbled onto what would have been the jadeite score of the millenium - for me, at least. But this one mug is all I have from it. 2.99 and the only jadeite mug I have.

What it was, in their locked case they had 3 chili bowls and 3 jadeite mugs - 14.99 for each grouping. In other words, 5 bucks a piece. I was going to pull the trigger and buy all 6 pieces for a whopping 30 bucks until they got them out of the case. DBD. Death by Dishwasher. Oh the humanity!

Before I could let loose with a torrent of tears, I noticed that one of the mugs wasn't dishwashed. The manager just happened to be around, so I asked her if she'd sell me the one that hadn't been dishwashed to death, and she said sure, she'd let me have it for 2.99. Very cool! I'm curious to know the fate of the other pieces. Chances are good that they'll turn up in the antique store in town.

Thanks for hanging in there with my very long blog. Hope you've found lots of treasures this weekend!