Blessings too numerous to count

What a wonderful Christmas! I feel very blessed to have a such a wonderful family, and amazing in-laws. There were so many highlights of the day that it's hard to single them out, but by far and away, the best feeling in the world is when the people you love know you so well that they can give you gifts that are so thoughtful and insightful that they almost transcend even being objects. They are treasures! It's the best feeling in the world to be able to hold something in your hands that is amazing and awesome just exactly for what it is, but what you really feel is their heart & their love for you.

And I can't even express how wonderful it truly is to have not just one loving, amazing family, but to have 2 of them. I am one fantastically blessed and lucky girl!

Hope this holiday found everyone well! Healthy, happy, safe and loved. Onward and upward to a bright New Year!

Merry Christmas to me!

Christmas came early this year! Ever since I started collecting Pyrex dinnerware, I've been dying to get the other colors and make a mix-and-match set. So, my dear husband, ordered me a place setting in both the lime green and turquoise.

And like a little girl playing tea party, I spent the better part of two hours trying out all the various possible color combinations and taking pictures of them.



Watermelon-y. Yum.

He also bought me a lovely turquoise blue square chip and dip set. It's gorgeous. Every time I look at it, I almost cannot believe that it dates to the late 1950's. It's in wonderful shape, but like a lot of these sets, it's missing the brass holder that would hold the ramekin bowl above the larger bowl. (Shown here with yellow ramekins from the same era)

I want a china cabinet, so that I can look at these guys all time. So cheerful, and exactly what I wanted for Christmas!

A Christmas Rant

Over the last 6 months, I've become a frequent thrift shopper. Some of these places are chain thrift stores, but about half of them are mom-and-pop private owner shops.

In the chain stores, the employees know us, at least by face, smile and speak to us warmly.

In the mom-and-pop places, same treatment. We get good deals and are treated well. We've been given small items just because we've shown interest in them. We've even been trusted to 'mind the store' for a few minutes while the owner ran down the road to the Dollar General to buy some tape.

We've been thanked, out of the blue, just for being regular customers, despite the fact we never really spend much money.

And I'm finding that these things are truly effecting my shopping habits. I've found myself putting off shopping for the stupid little things, like hair conditioner, razors, paper towels, etc. Or find myself picking them up at the grocery store because I don't want to have to go to a separate store to get them.

Last night, I decided that I wanted to get some of my Christmas shopping out of the way. I've gotten specific requests for some of those pre-fab gift sets that are all over the place this time of year, so I wanted to go ahead and get those out of the way, figuring that doing it midweek when it was slow in the stores might save me some trouble. I also opted to shop at Kmart, thinking I would deal with even fewer people.

The trouble is, I was overtly treated like a shoplifter. In a very short period of time, I was followed, and there was not just one, but two separate pages over the PA system of the "scan and record" variety. Was it because I was wearing a coat? (Sorry, Kmart, I was wearing a coat because it's mid-November, NOT because I'm trying to yoink Rock Band 3)

-The following paragraph should be read with sarcasm dripping like a black, oozing heart made of maple syrup:

Or was it because I had a *GASP* 10 dollar Stetson gift set in my shopping basket? Because, you know, NOBODY actually pays for cologne. It all gets STOLEN and that's the REAL REASON why your chain is always BANKRUPT.

-My apologies, dear reader. I had to get that off my chest.-

So with this concludes my Christmas shopping at all stores chain and box. I will order online from now on, even if it makes me feel stupid paying shipping on something I can readily get in store. And there will be no more shopping at this particular Kmart, ever again.

Oh, and did I mention that even though I was overtly treated as a shoplifter, I was solicited for a charitable donation 3 times in that one very short trip? Nice, huh?

I'm entering into this holiday season with renewed dedication to buy local whenever possible. And not just local, but handmade and vintage as well.

Watched this documentary last year. It's funny, sad, poignant & crazy. Definitely recommend it if you are feeling the pressure to overspend this year.

The Perils of Collecting

As a newbie to collecting Pyrex and other types of vintage glassware, I've found out two important things:

A) I can't spell worth a darn.

B) This shows no sign of improving.

And despite countless and frequent Google searches:

The word restaurant I will continue to spell restaraunt.

The word burgundy will continue to be burgandy.

The word refrigerator will continue to be refridgerator.

The word turquoise I just couldn't spell at all until I tried to make myself remember that I will type two U's before I get to the O & I.

And frankly, some people may prefer to call it Aqua, but I think it's because it's easier to spell, lol.

And finally, here I've managed to write a blog about spelling without covering the word I'm still never sure I've spelling correctly: Misspell.

Oh, the irony...

1950's Vintage Love

Yellow Cronin teapot I mentioned in my last post. From what I saw, the yellow is less common than the blue (but they are both perfectly lovely in my opinion). This dates to the 50's and was an A&P grocery store premium.

This pattern also coordinates with DRU Holland enameled cast iron from the same period. I've been wanting to try enameled cast iron but am gollywhopped by the price. This may end up being another thing were the vintage alternative is actually better (and cheaper even!) than the current. *ahem*cough*LeCreuset*holymoly*cough*

Two early Pyrex patterns also dating to the 1950's: Pink Gooseberry & Sandalwood.

Pyrex dinnerware in Dove Grey. Cream & sugar in Regency/Forest Green. The cream & sugar are the only pieces I have in this color. They are gold rimmed and I'm trying to collect pieces without it. But they were 4 dollars at an antique store, so I could not resist.
And finally, all the rest of my Pyrex dinnerware. Flamingo pink. 4 of these saucers have the mark in-mold and are a slightly different color. I suspect these could actually be a part of the restaurant ware line. The color name is Coral. I don't know how to find out for sure other than post these to Pyrexlove on flickr and see if I get any feedback from the restaurant ware collectors.

The casseroles above are Blue Stripe/Blue Barcode & the green is called Square Flowers. I got the two smallest pink gooseberry fridge dishes and the two blue barcode casseroles the same day, same place for 15 dollars. On a different day, I got 5 of the Flamingo plates and the cream & sugar set for 15 dollars as well. The funny thing is, it's this crazy little store that mostly specializes in comics, cards, toys and general fanboy fare. But the guy who runs it always has at least a tables worth of Pyrex, Fire King and other vintage glassware. A real his-and-hers kind of place if you are into vintage glassware. Definitely a one of a kind place to shop, and reasonable prices to boot.

Great thrifting day

Yesterday I had one of those days. A pretty amazing day, in fact. The kinda day that I read about on other people's blogs and think, "Wow, I'll totally never be that lucky."

First off, it was half-off day at Goodwill. And despite the fact that I do not and have never sewn before in my life, I found fabric that I absolutely had to have.
I think this print is my favorite print I've ever seen. I bought it without even unfolding it. And when I did, I realized it was already cut to a shape that would be perfect for an apron.


And honestly, I don't even know what this type of material is called. It's thick & probably more suitable for something like drapes or pillows. It doesn't seem quite right for a tablecloth, but that's what I keep wanting to do with it.This one I'm thinking about framing. I have no idea what the end result would look like, but it just looks like a piece of art.




These fabric samples are small, but I would love to figure out how to make purses out of them. They're probably more suitable to use as purse liners, but they are just so outrageously tacky-cute I really want the pattern to be seen.

And finally, I got a cute yellow Cronin teapot for a buck-fitty. I want to post a picture of it, but Blogger formatting gets the best of me every single time I try to post a picture-heavy post, so I'll save it for later. And speaking of saving for later, I also completed my Pyrex primary mixing bowl set the same day. Not a Goodwill purchase, but one I'm very pleased with. All in all, good day out junkin'.

One Mans Trash Can -OR- There is Light at the end of the Tunnel Vision

(Sorry for the two blog titles, I was having a Rocky & Bullwinkle moment)

I believe I have just ventured into territory that even some thrifters would fear to tread.

I just bought someone's old (and obviously used) trash can. From Goodwill.

Even I had a moment where I paused, looked at my husband and asked if I was going too far.

He responded with his absent-minded-professor shrug and "Nah" - a manner that I've since come to learn means that he's found something he wants but won't tell me what it is.

Turns out, someone had donated a HUGE box of random vintage bulbs (mostly for slide projectors & cameras) that the hubs was deeply contemplating and would not say a word to me about because he had no idea if any of those bulbs would fit HIS slide projectors.

Once we got home and he had a chance to research, he found out there was a good chance some of the bulbs would indeed work. I said "Good. Go now. And take this box of donations with you."

Sad thing was, the huge box was gone. The whole thing. They had the bulbs priced at 89 cents apiece, and there were perhaps 50 bulbs in all. Now there's always a chance that someone scooped these up for a good reason or cause, but to me it seemed like someone knew these bulbs could be pricey a/o valuable and scooped up the whole box at once the same way that there are people who will buy 50 dollars worth of lottery tickets at the same time.

But my husband is a sweet man. Disappointed or no, he did the rounds, looking through plates, housewares and glassware for me. And in that section, what would appear but a small cardboard box. A small cardboard box that held 9 bulbs, the exact ones that would fit and were the right voltage for his projectors.

He had done just enough research to find out what would fit. But in his haste, he didn't actually pay attention to what these bulbs retailed for. I was the one who was curious about how much they cost to replace. Lowest price I found was 25 bucks apiece.

Holy cats! We got lucky. We certainly don't need 9 of them at the moment, but this was definitely like winning a 'lifetime supply' contest.

I will always be curious about the fate of those other bulbs. I'd prefer to think that a school or church is now well supplied, but I think it's more likely that someone with a little knowledge and cash to burn is dreaming and ebaying a Florida getaway right now, lol.

And waaaayyy back at the beginning of this long, long blog, I mentioned that I had done the unthinkable (ha!) and bought someone's USED trash can. Well here it is, freshly cleaned and sanitized, a charming vintage Rubbermaid that looks lovely in my bathroom.