Last month's finds

I'm lousy at keeping up with this blog these days. Most weeks it seems like I'm lucky to find even a single thing, and that's just not enough to blog about. Most of my post would go something like this "Well, I went to four thrift stores and two antique stores today and all I have to show for it is a growing sense of how much crack is being smoked in my local shopping area."

I paid a small fortune for this bowl here at an antique store we hadn't ventured out to in upwards of 3 years. It was down inside another bowl in a booth dangerously stuffed with glassware, so I still think I got it by virtue of it being not promininently displayed. I've seen very few polka dots along the way, so this was a special piece I wasn't going to leave without. Wish I were more optimistic about finding the others in the set. This bowl has the scalloped rim, there are sets with this pattern that have the smooth style. Seems like many Hazel Atlas sets are this way. I suspect (but do not know for sure) that some of the shape differences stem from Hazel Atlas molds and factories themselves being purchased by Continental Can Company.

 The rest of my finds are a mix of thrift and antique store from the last six weeks or so.

I only picked up one heart bowl this year, the one with the pink lid. I'm starting to feel like these new Pyrex dishes are becoming a collection unto themselves! The Snowflake Blue mixer completes my duplicate set, so that was a double I was happy to add to my collection.

This Gemco go-along is one of the two patterns I actually want to collect. (The other being the Snowflake Blue Corelle go-along. I was happy to find it for the thrift store price of two dollars.

Another mix of thrift and antique store finds. This poor turquoise refrigerator dish is partially dishwashed, but I'm obsessed. Can't leave one behind that's cheap and has good color left, even if it isn't all shiny anymore. The little melmac plates weren't in the best shape either, but I've picked up the tiniest little dishes in this pattern before, so I had to add them in as well. It almost looks now like it's a child's set.
 

A super thrifty price at an antique store. This LuRay bowl (which photographed badly, but is actually in really nice condition) was just two dollars at an antique store.

 Similarly, I got this odd lot of new and old Fiesta at an antique store for cheap because some pieces are chipped and cracked, and the others are very utensil marked. But I've got an arsenal of cleaners, amassed from trying to clean up abused Pyrex, so I think I'll find something that helps the ones that can be helped. The cracked pieces can go in a mosiac pile.

And finally - YAY! My favorite drinking jars, they decided this year to make them in blue!

I have almost a superstition about drinking with these. Pints for soft drinks and tea, quarts for water only. If I start off my day with a big quart jar of water in the green or purple quart jars - previously the only colors available- I'd end up drinking two or more by days end. I'm super happy these are finally available in blue. They also have widemouth pints, which I'm sure is great for you canners out there, as well as blue jelly jars. If my garden does well enough to try out canning this year, I know what I'm buying, lol!

So that's my finds for this winter-turned-Spring. My husband and I yardsaled all day yesterday and I found a couple of things for the next post! Hope the weather is getting nice where you are and the juicy finds start flowing your way!

Happy Thrifting!

Thrift finds

Almost all of these are thrift finds. I really haven't been out much, but I think I've picked up more in the last couple of trips than I've previously found all winter. The nice weather must be responsible for it.

Couldn't resist the red. The little Glasbake casserole has the beginnings of dishwasher damage, but it had its fin lid. Also picked up the little Zak strainer bowl - you can't tell it in this photo but it's shaped like a strawberry - and it's the perfect size to rinse a small package of berries all at once. 

Picked up yet another damaged vintage Fiesta mixing bowl - an Ivory #3 for 3 dollars at a nearby antique store. I can't pass up vintage Fiesta mixing bowls at a good price, even when they are really damaged.

Another set of Heartland items I'd never seen before - 23 knobs and one pull. Someone must have had a whole kitchens worth of them. They were absolutely filthy when I bought them and they have no mark, so you just either have to know they are Heartland or just so happen to like the pattern. I have absolutely nowhere to put them, so they are living inside the last Heartland casserole I bought. This pattern never ends, lol!

Military medical mess hall dishes are the one style of restaurant ware I let myself pick up. Only the platter is new, I just photographed it with my two other pieces. It's huge! Kinda wish now I had another place settings worth so my husband and I could each have a set to use once in a while.

And finally, my Pyrex finds:
 

My husband found the Spring Blossom bowl for me at Goodwill, and it is literally the first piece of opal Pyrex I've seen there in two years. It set me back $5.99.

I also found this marriage of a Pyrex lid with an opal Fire King body at the same Goodwill, different day.

I might should have passed on the very dishwashy Heinz baker, but it was two dollars and in good shape other than being dishwashed, so I thought I might try to clean it up.

And finally, my antique store purchases. These came out of a new booth in a local antique store, 9 dollars for the space saver, 10 for the Butterprint fridgie with lid, which is now what I'd say is well below average price around here now. (Everything I see nowadays in antique stores is pretty much 25 dollars+,  sadly).

A dealer who was working that day, who knows I collect Pyrex, exclaimed exasperatedly that she had meant to buy these and just forgot about it. I'm not sure if she was genuinely trying to get me to not purchase them for myself, but I pretty much refused to give them up. I was nice about it, apologetic even, but it kinda bothered me that a dealer was more interested in getting the good deal for themselves than being helpful to frequent customer of their store.

Hope you're finding nifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

A couple of finds

It's been freezing cold and all manner of ice, sleet and snow around these parts lately, so I haven't been out much. Didn't even hit the town for Valentine's Day, like we typically do.

I did however find this lovely blue doily casserole at the flea market. For ten bucks, I didn't even try to bargain it down. This is the smaller sized casserole, though it looks larger in the picture. I've had the lid for its larger sized version since very early on in my collecting days, but have never seen the turquoise base to complete it. I've never quite understood why they paired this color base with a dark blue lid?

And my one thrift find is this unmarked almost lavender-colored melmac mixing bowl. It has a size number on it of 111, and it's the same shape and size as a marked Texas ware bowl I have. But poking around on ebay I noticed that Brookpark made bowls with the same shapes and marking numbers. So this could be either of those or neither. The fact that it's not marked is, I'm guessing, the only reason it made it to the shelves at Goodwill. I'm pretty sure they are sending off everything even vaguely vintage to their website these days. Either way, I like it a lot and it's a welcome addition to my new and vintage melmac bowl collection.

Hope you're finding good stuff these days. The antique stores and thrifts around here are pretty bare and whatever they do have is crazy priced. It's a lean time of year around here for vintage goodies, that's for sure.

Happy Thrifting!

More pretties - a recap of what I failed to post in 2013

These lovelies are marked Brookmark melamine mixing bowls. I am assuming they are the largest size - approximately 5 quarts would be my guess. They were a local splurge, 10 dollars each. The pink was coming home with me no matter what, but I hemmed and hawed a bit over the blue/beige. In the end, I just couldn't pass them up. It's rare that I see a confetti bowl for less than 30 dollars or so.

This is literally every melamine mixing bowl I own - both new and vintage. The bottom and top bowls are new Zak! designs I picked up pretty cheaply at Tuesday Morning. I believe this color is called Bluebell and that it's being discontinued. The large bowl is insanely large. I think it's 7 quarts? You can buy a 4 piece set and nest it inside this bowl. (I tested this theory out in a JC Penney the other day, lol). Going up from there are my two new vintage Brookpark. Then 3 in a row are Rachael Ray garbage bowls in orange, Fennel, and red. An unmarked beige-y one is hiding above the red RR, then a marked pink-ish Texas Ware bowl I scored for 99 cents at GW, and finally on top is a lidded Zak bowl. I like the addition of the new style melamine with the older vintage bowls. They add a lot of color that either didn't exist originally or is otherwise rare/pricey in the original vintage.

Next up, a couple of Christmas presents from the hubs. I failed to get a picture of this Fiesta measuring set before I unfastened the million little twisties they attached them to the box with. It reminded me of when I'd get a new doll for Christmas, couldn't wait to play with it, but it had seven hundred different twisty things holding it to the package. I love, love, love the spatulas, I really needed them too. I like the measuring cups and spoons, but they remind me of kids play keys! They are even the same colors. I like a lot of the new Fiesta accessories, I just have a few complaints about them. One is that they are going overboard on the Roy G. Biv and two, they've gotten a lot of props lately for being Made in the USA, tv shoutouts, magazine articles, etc. So what do they do but unleash a wave of stuff made overseas. Of course, if I'm buying it, I'm also a part of the problem, you know? But damn it, Jim, I really nnneeeeeeeeedddded those spatulas.... ;-)

And finally, my husband bought me the Sandalwood 470 casserole set for Christmas. Pyrex for Christmas! That's a first in this house. He also bought me two Horizon Blue mixing bowls that he let me open early!

Sandalwood Complete!

Officially, this is the complete line of Sandalwood. Just 7 little pieces. But special magical faerie people also own sets of refrigerator dishes and a butter dish. These were not regular production items. It's also a mystery to me why there wasn't a 480 set along with the 470's. There probably is, but only the high dollar Pyrex Pirates have it. I'll consider my Sandalwood collection complete when I have the striped mixing bowl set completed. These, along with the Berries 024 are all the pieces I know for sure to be this special Sandalwood color. There's an oval casserole called Spices that may be this same shade, but I've never seen it to tell for sure. It may be closer to the light caramel shade from Woodland.

Anyway, I love Sandalwood, and I'm touched that this is what my husband picked out for me. I think he remembered a trip we took when I bought the middle sized casserole and dropped it in the antique store parking lot - to this day, the only piece of Pyrex I've ever broken. I was so disappointed. He's so sweet to have bought me a replacement. I love it, and him, too. (hearts)

Anyways, I'm finally starting to get caught up to 2014!

Hope you're finding fabulousities & fantasticals in this bright new year.

Happy Thrifting!