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!