Anniversary goodies

The hubby and I celebrated our 9th Anniversary yesterday. We took a much-anticipated trip to an antique district a bit too far away to be in our regular rotation.

I can't even write about the Pyrex I saw without starting to type out the same sentiment again and again: Prices are going up, up, up, and I just can't afford it. In my area, it's becoming commonplace that higher-demand colors/patterns of Pyrex are more expensive than jadeite and depression glass. It's unreal.


I've wanted the tulip casserole since I began collecting, but I just wouldn't buy it online. In the end, I didn't really save any money buying it in the wild, but I did get to hold it in my hands and see its condition before I bought it. I still love it though :-)


The turquoise dinnerware platter had also eluded me until now. I have the grey and pink and just need the lime to have one of each of the platters I'm collecting. And the pink gooseberry bowl completed my second set of Cinderellas. I have one really minty set on display and another in the cabinet to use. Best of both worlds.

My Fire King and Fiesta finds. The tulips grease jar is pretty faded, but cost me less than 10 dollars, so it was definitely coming home with me. The platter underneath it is Fire King Vitrock and goes with my other pastel Vitrock pieces.

The heart bowls are Fiesta Lapis and Poppy, in the smaller size that is a small/independent retailer exclusive. I missed getting one the last trip we took, so hubby bought me two. I was touched, he went right for the color I was looking for. He really does pay attention to all my dish craziness. Poor guy! He is so sweet <3 br="">

I was looking for more vintage clocks for above my Pyrex display. These are whooped up, but perfect for what I want. And they didn't set me back much, which is always nice.

And I've apparently developed a taste for kitchy vintage refrigerator magnets. I bought a couple of bags of cute ones that have already made their way onto my fridge, but here's some of highlights.

Anthropomorphic fruit anyone?

And the dieter's magnets are just too fantastically cruel to be taken seriously.  No eating. That's always good advice.

Overall, I had a wonderful trip and a great day with my husband! Good stuff!

Hope you're out having fun this weekend!

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!

Depression Glass thrift store finds

Not much new to report on the thrifting front. I've been staying away from antique stores, saving up my nickels and dimes for an anniversary shopping trip if all goes well we'll take about 3 weeks from now.

I did however find these two pieces of Depression glass, two different thrifts on two different days, and they both came home with me.

This sweet little pink creamer is Hazel Atlas Florentine #1 - an entertwining Poppy pattern hard for me to photograph. Apparently this is the smooth top version. But there is a ruffled top version that looks like the same ruffles on the Ripple (Crinoline) dinnerware also made by Hazel Atlas.

Can you see the Ballerina, or Dancing Girl? I was trying to get a picture of this detail - which is practically impossible with the lighting in my house and my out of date camera. I haven't measured the plate but I'm sure it's in the range of either a small dinner plate or luncheon sized. This pattern is Cameo by Hocking Glass (which became Anchor Hocking a few years after production of this pattern ceased.)

I only rarely come across Depression Glass at the thrifts, but what I have found I really do like. My entire collection, save one piece, has all come from thrift stores or auctions for super-thrifty prices. But despite not having much experience with Depression Glass, I really enjoy reading the several different books I have and trying to learn to recognize the patterns on site. I correctly identified these pieces from memory - I was proud of myself :-)

Finally, a Corning Ware handle for 99 cents. I find these every once in a while, but never in the original package, so I thought that was neat.

I also bought a vintage metal stool that I hope to repaint soon. A future project I hope to document here!

Hope your thrifting/junkin/antiquing has been more productive than mine :-)

Happy Thrifting!

Thrift and antique store roundup

These are my goodies from the last couple of weeks. A few of these were yard sale finds. The canister on the left was a dollar and the Pyrex mug was 10 whole cents. Yay for yard sale prices!

The pie plate, fridgie and Fire King teacup were also yard sale finds, but creeping into thrift and antique store prices. I didn't have a Desert Dawn pie plate, so I had to buy him for 3 dollars. The lidless Butterprint fridgie was also 3 dollars (I pretty much have a no Butterprint left beyond policy :-). The FK teacup and Butterfly Gold gravy boat underplate were a dollar each as well.

I don't know about you, but most yard sales I stop at these days seem more like perpetual yardsales/flea markets. Most everything I show interest in -vintage or not- is what I'd consider retail prices. Strangely, it's in times like this when I seem to get better deals in a nicely-staged air-conditioned antique store booths than I do in someone's yard, standing there cranky and overheated with the sun constantly threatened to punish my pasty white flesh for daring to walk around outside for more than twenty minutes.

And finally, my antique store finds. The lovely pink Daisy casserole in the center, with two Fire King tulip teacups. Maybe not a giveaway price at 16 dollars for all, but I was happy. I'd broken my only tulip teacup early in the morning one day (why I was moving around glassware pre-coffee I really don't know. But I do know I'm not going to do that anymore.) The lady at the antique store gave me the tulips for a dollar and knocked 5 bucks off the asking price of the pink daisy and then didn't even charge me sales tax. Oh and did I mention I didn't have to stand around in the sun the whole time I was shopping? And in fact, I found the air-conditioning perfectly lovely?

Lol :-)

And this badass clock was also an antique store purchase, just not the same place. It was one of the few times I've ever inquired about something behind the counter that didn't look for sale. Grimy and dusty as it was I could see the beautiful turquoise potential shining out, crying for me to give it a good home.

Or something like that. :-)


Turns out the lady had just bought it that morning, didn't have it cleaned up, priced or even knew if it worked. She priced it for me, as is, for 6.50, which I was perfectly okay with. I took it home, cleaned it up and hung it up above a Pyrex display, and still as of this writing don't even know if it works, cause I haven't even tried it!

I honestly don't care if it works, really. I just have dreams of finding really cool vintage clocks like this in the same colors I have in my Pyrex display and displaying them that way. Maybe once I have a filled-out looking display I might try learning how to repair or rework the ones that don't work. Or I may just enjoy them as-is.

That's all for now. Hope you're finding thrifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

Yard sale and Fire King finds

The next couple of pics are all technically yard sale finds, but they came from a lovely lady who used to own a semi-local antique store. So, much nicer stuff than I tend to find in yard sales. Her store used to be one of my favorites to visit, though I didn't go as often as I might have liked. It was a nice surprise to chat with her again, and to pick up these really neat little items. I paid 8 dollars for everything.

How cool are these price tags?!? I regret to say she had a few more of them that I didn't buy! Foolish me. But at that point, I had grabbed up so many little things and was trying to keep it straight how much I was spending, that I had enlisted my husband to be my hold-everything-while-I-shop boy. Wish now that I'd bought them all, but they must have been meant for someone else's happiness as well :-)

I have to go jumbo-size on this picture because of the details. These woven labels are just the cutest ever. And do they get any better than Anita and Gertrude?! Also, the Made with love for THE BOSS is hilarious. Notice the #1's in the background. Oh so tongue in check. And that owl there is a sewing kit. So sweet. I think it might have had a little pair of scissors in it that aren't there any more, but the rest seems to be intact.

And my final loot from her were these bags of refrigerator magnets. I realized the minute I saw them how much they reminded me of my maternal grandmother's refrigerator, so I had to snap them up.

There's a couple more just waiting for me remember to buy a fresh tube of superglue to reglue the magnets.

And these Fire King finds were all thrift store scores for pretty cheap. I'm always amazed when I find anything in Goodwill anymore that isn't chipped or broken. I've not worked up the nerve to just ask them outright if they're sending all the good stuff to their online store, but I sure have gotten that impression. These Fire King Fleurette teacups were 49 cents, and the tray was 99.

Had to take a picture of my lone Fleurette teacup from the regular dinnerware set. It's definitely bigger than the snack cup, and it lacks the foot on the smaller-sized snack cup.

And finally, I think this is my personal favorite Fire King mug I've ever found. I looked up Lady B's larger sizes just to see if I could find any trace of where this store might have been located, but no luck. I'm guessing this decoration was not at all Anchor Hocking's, but rather, a blank that was sold in bulk to a decorating firm that did advertising decals on glassware. But whatever the case, I superloves it.

That's all for now. Hope your weekend was filled with treasures!

Happy Thrifting!

Turquoise Pyrex paint match

Made a neat discovery the other day while looking for a nice turquoise paint to paint my newly purchased thrift store knick knack shelf.

Valspar Color Radiance paint in Nautical

I've always wanted a paint color that was the same shade (or very close to) solid turquoise Pyrex. I just didn't want to actually take a piece into the store with me and have it color matched.

When I saw this spray paint at Lowe's, I was afraid of getting my hopes up too high that it was what I was looking for. In the store, it struck me as possibly being too green, like it had some pistachio/jadite tones. But when I got home with it I couldn't get over how the paint cap was practically identical to the top on my lone turquoise Kromex canister. 

I also think this paint is neat because it's paint and primer in one and is good on wood, metal and plastic.

Had to get out some of my pretties just to show the colors. Has it ever bugged anyone else that the original solid color turquoise bowls and bakeware are not the same shade of turquoise on Butterprint, or the square hostess chip/dip set?

As much as I love this color, turquoise on turquoise like this doesn't exactly make the display pieces pop. When I get this shelf secured to the wall, I'm thinking about only displaying Butterprint and red & white items so there's more contrast.

Just wanted to share with all the turquoise lovers out there - I think there's many of us!

Happy Thrifting!

Thrift Roundup

Not a whole lot in the way of thrift store finds the last few weeks. Today was a complete bust all except a gift I received from my favorite antique store owner, which I'm saving for its own post :-)

 Pyrex lids & cradles are always good - especially refrigerator dish lids!

These two sweet little pieces of MacBeth-Evans depression glass were .49 cents a piece. The saucer is American Sweetheart (the white shade is called Monax), and I actually had a teacup without a saucer at home. All of my Depression Glass - what I have of it - all came from thrift stores or auction and has been a much slower-growing collection than say..... Pyrex and practically every other thing that Corning ever made.

And speaking of Pyrex:

The turquoise-on-white version of Butterprint has been coming my way as of late. These I found at one of my favorite antique stores for 6 & 8 dollars, respectively. In my neck of the woods, that's what I consider yesteryears prices. I'll happily buy duplicates for those prices!

Now this Fire King bowl was another story. A little pricey for me, but still better than ebay. Plus I needed it for my stripes set. All I need now is the largest bowl - the one with the pink band- and I'll have the whole Stripes range set. 

And finally, this Corning Ware pattern is called Fresh Cut. It's not one I see every day. I probably shouldn't have bought these, but I get enamored with less-common patterns, especially in cheerful colors.

Hope you're finding thrifty treats and treasures!

Happy Thrifting!