A small, boring haul post!

Lol.

That's what I'm feeling most often these days when I think about this poor, neglected blog. I'm partly to blame for my lack of finds. I just got frustrated with the lack of 'good stuff' at the thrift, and the major price increases.

So I lost quite a bit of interest, which, honestly makes me sad. I still love this stuff now as much as I ever did, I just don't find much these days to actually post about.

So forgive me for my small, if boring, thrift haul.

First off, these Corelle bowls are some of my favorites. These two are the more beigey stoneware color that seemed to be their creative direction in the maybe late 70's - 1980's era, when Corning starting manufacturing different shapes and styles to compete with the stoneware that had gained popularity at the time. I'd fact check here, but my favorite site for all things Corning - the now defunct (?) Corellecorner.com site - seems to no longer be searchable. One of many valuable collector resources that no longer seem to exist online anymore. Sigh.

And these two little Fire King bowls! I was just so happy to see them. When I saw them on the shelves I had this feeling I can barely describe. Just a very sudden awareness of how many years I've been thrifting things like this, and just how long its been since the last time I had.

All these bowls were 35-40 cents each.  Now that's a price I can get behind! lol.

And finally, this isn't boring to me at all - Vintage Ornaments! But no crazy good scores, just very sweet ones. Most of these boxes cost a dollar each.

These Woolworth's ornaments are my third box now, each from a slightly different era. I'm going to do a collection post soon, and I'm looking forward to getting to play with my collection!

From what I can tell from checking online, some Woolworth's ornaments had the thin, narrow top like this. I'm always interested in knowing details like these so I can reunite sets.

These can't be vintage. They just seem too perfectly try-hard. They did not come in this box. This was one of those frustrating times when I wanted these 6 ornaments, but they were in two different boxes with a bunch of ornaments I didn't want. Plus this box was there, sold seperately, but it would hold 6 perfectly. So I bought 3 boxes to cobble together this one. Still, I don't think 3 dollars is too steep an investment. :-)

Look at these details! I'd love to know where (and when) these actually came from!

These guys just pulled me in by their simplicity. Not the oldest ornaments ever, not by a longshot, but still vintage. Or kindly put, Retro. I still think they're great.

And speaking of new vintage style, I couldn't pass up this vintage style gift wrap. $2.99 at TJ Maxx.

Shiny Brite logo!

I bought one roll to use and one for projects. Love it!


So that's my thrift haul for now! Hope you're finding fantastic treasures where you are!


Happy Thrifting!

127 yard sale

For the last 3 years my husband and I have been making the trip to visit the 127 World's longest yard sale. Most of our trip is just getting to it! But we've found enough on our (too) short treks up and down the way, that we've braved the heat and rain to find some of our favorite things. And this year was no different.

First up, this awesome Lustro ware paper dispenser is something that dreams are made of. Lol! I've admired it for years online, but never seen it in person before. That is, until I bought it for 10 dollars! Yippee!

I hadn't realized how much red Lustro ware I'd accumulated until I set it on a shelf with the small salt and pepper set I'd managed to forget I owned. I also have the four piece canister set and a rolltop bread box. Red would probably not have been my first choice, but everything I've found so far has been yardsale prices or cheaply from antique stores, so I'm certainly not going to complain.

Jadeite! None of these were screamin' deals, but they were far enough below retail I felt pretty happy to purchase. The St. Denis mugs have been one of my jadeite grails for a long while. I don't know why I picked out that style, I just like the shape, but I'd never seen any for sale in person. The breakfast set, lotus pieces, and probably Charm have all been the jadeite styles I've admired most, but never seen. Glad to add these to my small collection!

Pretty in pink! The pink Daisy open baker brings me one step closer to having all the regular pink Daisy pieces. Just need the largest Space Saver casserole. And the pink Hazel Atlas Ripple was a sweet deal from a kindly older couple who sold these me these 9 piece for 15 dollars, which I thought was a great deal.

Two more pieces of Pyrex I didn't own. The Garden Medley has been on my wish list for ages. And the hearts casserole is a piece I've seen a few times before, but never for less than 20 bucks, so I'd passed on it. These two pieces were from the same dealer, 10 dollar each, so I finally decided to buy.

The red Friendship bowl is not the greatest shape, but I have a somewhat rough decorated Friendship lid to put on it, so it's getting reunited. This was bundled with my Lustro ware paper dispenser. The other pieces, the yellow shaker was thrown in free from a bundle deal my husband made, and the possibly bakelite utensils were a dollar for the 5 pieces.

I know absolutely nothing about bakelite. It's a collector favorite where I live, so it's always a blue fortune when it turns up, so there just usually isn't a deal to be found. I picked up a bakelite book cheap a while back, so I have some research to do.

I'm also curious if this bracelet is bakelite. Each of these pieces were sold seperately, 50 cents each. One of the santas is in rough shape, but I had to get him. Vintage Christmas is another expensive area I've managed to stay mostly away from, except for Shiny Brites, but I feel a Santa mug collection starting up. Lol!

My husband said that his favorite memory of me this yardsale is that I spotted these glasses before we even got pulled into the place, and in his words, I just said "BOOMERANGS"  and my seat belt undone and was out of the car before he even got parked.

50 cents each. When I got a closer look, they had that dull 'sick glass' look to them inside. When I washed them up, most of that came off with soap and water, but they could use a vinegar soak inside to clean up the rest. The pink is getting added to my pink Ripple collection, and the green is an X factor. I'd seen pics online of these in green, yellow, and white, and I wasn't sure what I'd do if the other colors turned up for me. I thought they'd make good go-alongs for the small collection of Lu Ray pastels I have. For now, the lone green is in with my lonely two turquoise. I also discovered these two are slighly smaller than my others, so I there are at least 3 sizes of these. Only my pink/white combo ones are actually marked Hazel Atlas, otherwise I'd still be unsure who made this pattern.

And a couple more Pyrex pieces. The blue New Holland promo is the larger of the two. Second piece I bought this trip with Hearts in the decoration. The Daisy casserole was 4 dollars. Cheap and cheerful!

Another jadeite mug! But this time it was 50 cents. Cheapest Jadeite I've ever bought. Makes up for the one I bought this trip that was 5 dollars and had a crack in it I didn't see when I bought it.

I think the pink clock can be cleaned up a little more. It was 15 dollars, more than I wanted to spend, so my husband bought it for me. He's my sweetheart.

The turquoise Ripple plate is faded, but still sweet. It wasn't priced, so the dealer just threw it in free when I bought this Friendship casserole for 10 dollars. I had 3 decorated Friendship lids my husband bought at a yardsale many, many moons ago that had just been waiting for lidless Friendship pieces to reunite them with. So I've only got one more now. It'd be lovely if I got the decorated piece next time, so I'd have a complete duplicate set.

A Cosco stool for 10 dollars. It is marked with a sticker underneath. It is original yellow, but has been touched up at some point. I had the idea to paint it, but I may just clean it up and see if I can remove some of the hasty overspray from the previous touchup.

And finally, here's most of my husband's finds. He also bought some toys, a vending machine and some gifts that he's already stashed away that I didn't get pictures of. I think his biggest thrills this trip has been scoring the Star Trek lunch box for 5 dollars and finally seeing Little Blue books for sale.

It had stuck in his mind to hunt for Little Blue books since seeing them mentioned in a Louis L'Amour biography. I can't do the history justice, but from what I understand, these little books were sold for 5 or 10 cents and were some of the very first paperbacks available.

He picked these up from all from one dealer who, for us, had the best items and best prices of the whole sale. It's funny how just one booth can make the whole trip worthwhile!

***

Just some thoughts in general about the yard sale. We've just been going for the last 3 years, each year a little earlier on. Friday and Saturday seem the busiest days with the worst traffic by far, but had the least stuff worth buying, so the early bird does seem to get the worm.

Each year seems to have themes. This year I saw Mantiques everywhere. An abundance of tools, advertising, garage and mancave stuff.

Last year was all about chalk paint. Chalk paint everywhere and mostly everything painted turquoise! But this year, hardly a painted piece to be seen. Original finish wood seems to back in fashion again, which I'm not at all sorry to see.

Last year, I hardly saw a piece of Jadeite. This year it was more abundant. But last year, I saw tons of Depression glass, this year hardly a piece. I was told, repeatedly, and I mean - REPEATEDLY, by helpful dealers that the only glass they seem to be able to sell these days is Pyrex, which is just going up and up.

I just smile and nod and act dumb mostly. Since I've been collecting Pyrex for the last 6 years, it's discouraging to be told by dealers who seem to only have jumped on the Pyrex bandwagon in the last little while, how this or how that my thing I collect is. I can tell most of them are trying to be helpful, but it's helpful in that same clueless way it is when dealers tell you about stuff they sold the day before you came in.

And on the Pyrex front, there is a dealer that specializes in it at least every hour or two's worth of travel down the road. And they are all insufferable. Of all the resellers, it's the dealer/collector who is usually asking the highest prices of all.

You can't look at a single piece in their Pyrex booth/prison without hearing some speech about what it is, how high demand/popular it is, and/or how many dozens of that exact piece they have at home in their personal collections.

At some point maybe they loved Pyrex. But not anymore. Now they just lord over it. They turn it into Beanie Babies. They become a part of the problem. They help create unsustainably high prices that exclude regular collectors and cater only to the truly obsessed (who seem to be made out of money).

No thanks.

And I'm not thrilled to share the title "Pyrex Collector" with them either. Because I suspect, in ten years time, this brand of "Pyrex Collector" will have long since cashed out of their collections and moved on to some other inflated thing they can get in on the ground floor of, when I'll still be here, Lord willing, just trying to decide which pretty dish I'm going to use to bake today's dinner in.


***

Anyways, I had lots of fun. Got a sunburn (despite much sunscreen), and feel like a need a week's vacation to recover from a single scorching hot day. I mean, I really feel like my eyeballs got bleached, I got so much sun. Whoever picked the first week of August for this thing must have really liked 100 degree temps!

And crazy as it is, I can't wait for next year!

Hope you're having a blast so far this Summer!

Happy Thrifting!

Year End Wrap up

Another holiday season has come and gone and I've managed to go the month of December without a new post. I've gotten out a few times, but either the pickin's have been too slim or the prices were too steep, so I've counted it lucky when I've walked out with a single thing.

This pretty pink Pyrex was also pricey, but Christmas is a time for presents, after all. The pink Butterprint is my first piece of elusive pink version. It was cheaper than ebay prices by a goodly chunk but still not what I'd call cheap either.

I got comments from the dealers working the register like I was frivolous, weird or crazy for paying that amount for a small pink Pyrex dish. I wanted to defend my purchase and say something like, "Check how much these are selling for on ebay before you scoff at what I'm paying right now", but I just kept my mouth shut. I'm not saying a word that is going to help them. I can't understand dealers who would treat customers like their purchases were foolish. It makes me not even want to shop in that store any more, even though I know the dealers there are just booth renters working off their monthly rent and not the owners themselves. I could mention it to the owners, but cynically I'm afraid anything I say will just continue to give the message that Pyrex is worth big bucks now so every dealer needs to double check ebay prices before they put it out on the shelves. I just wish that when I was finding cool things I just had a positive association with it and not a negative one, you know?

I also have the hardest time making myself letting myself use pieces I think would be hard to replace. I did actually eat cereal out of it a few times before it made its way into my display, but I definely wouldn't use it in the oven or microwave. Only casual use or refrigerator storage for the pieces I feel like babying! Lol.

The same trip I basically paid 5 dollars for a Shiny Brites box. It had some ornaments in it, but no actual Shiny Brites. I was going to use the ornaments for a wreath, and put some actual Shiny Brites in this box.

This 'Uncle Sam' box is my favorite style. (Uncle Sam shaking hands with Santa Claus on the cover). I have one other just like this, but the tree is is a cellophane covered cut-out. I suspect (but don't know for sure) that since this box specific says Gold ornaments on the bottom side panel that this style was for single color ornaments, and that the cutout version was for more decorated stripes, patterns a/o indents.

Either way, I sure do love Shiny Brites. They are becoming my Christmas obsession. My husband and I visited an out of the way haunt we go to only once in a while and they had positively tons of Shiny Brite ornaments. But each one was priced seperately, usually between 4 to 6 dollars a piece. They had lots of original boxes I ooohed and ahhhhed over, but none were being sold as a boxed set. I mentioned this to my husband who I believe astutely deduced that the boxes were basically just being used as props to sell the ornaments out of. He thought that if you asked about the boxes, they'd either say they weren't for sale or that you'd have to buy the entire contents of the box to go with it  - which would have made a box of ornaments somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 dollars!

And finally, this beautiful tree topper came out of a half-off booth, making it what I think was the best 10 dollars I've spent all year.

So delicate, I hardly handle it. The triple indents are dotted with bright aqua inside. The top and bottom of the ball is pink, and there are handpainted white flowers in between the indents.

I love it so! Can you even get over the price tag - .24 cents from Sears and Roebuck! I'm not sure if the 49 is the year it's from, but that's definitely the right time period.















Well, those are my last goodies of 2015. Here's hoping for great junk in 2016!

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!

A few finds and some seasonal treasures

I had to pick up this years Halloween Pyrex at the local Target. They only had 4 of each when I went so I'm glad I got a chance to pick these up. If they have them at the outlet I may pick up some spares.

 All the different designs from the last 3 years.

Sadly, I missed out on the Christmas and Spring designs because they didn't come to any stores in my area. Except this Spring I went to the Corningware outlet store a few hours away and they said they'd received hundreds of them and they clearanced them out for a dollar apiece! I was so disappointed! Why couldn't they have just sold them at Target like the Halloween pieces? Ugh.

 I wasn't supposed to be antique store shopping, but the hubs and I stopped at a store we only go to once in a while. And of course we found too much stuff and spent money intended for our anniversary trip. Figures, right?

I hemmed and hawed about buying this red bowl, fearing it was another primary red that I really didn't need to buy. Decided to get it anyway and use it for my Friendship set no matter what.

Once I got home with it, I believe it really is the Friendship bowl I was missing. It matches my other red Friendship pieces perfectly. I now have a complete 3 bowl set. It would be just the cat's pajamas if I could find the orange 404 to officially complete the set. 

And finally, I had to buy these ornaments. Vintage ornaments are always so wildly overpriced in my area. So finding this whole bag for 5 dollars was a must-purchase.

The kissing Clauses are my favorites. So cute!

That's my finds for now. I've got my fingers crossed we'll have a fabulous anniversary trip with lots of cool swag here in just a few days. I'm so excited! I so look forward to these fairly rare forays outside our usual stomping grounds. :-)


Hope you're finding fantastic treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!