'Tis the *Wrong* Season...

....to find some vintage Halloween!

Hello Friends, hope your Christmas was Merry and your New Year Happy! I had to pop in and share with you a major thrift score from this past week! As you all may know, thrifting knows no season, and the best finds are usually out-of-season gems!

And so it was for me. I happened to take a trip to my favorite thrift store a few days after Christmas and of course, I didn't buy Christmas stuff (that is all long since picked over!) but in the back of the store by the kids' stuff I found these!

Five vintage costumes still in their boxes! All are from the early 80s and earlier. On the left is a Collegeville Costume (Collegeville is not very far from here, but I had no idea they made costumes there) Panda and a Ben Cooper Raggedy Ann. On the right are Ben Cooper Strawberry Shortcake (the original version from my childhood, not the one my daughter is familiar with, LOL), a Pound Puppies and another Collegeville Scarecrow.

This is the Panda- it is probably the oldest. I'd guess it was from the late 60s, as the costume part is fabric. 

My daughter was thrilled to model these costumes for you all to see, and they will be eventually headed to my Etsy store.  I was sorry to have to tell her that she couldn't keep them to play dress up!

Naturally, this one is her favorite. It still even smells like Strawberry- remember that? I don't think the new dolls do that. I may hold onto this one for her for next year, we shall see...

 My son, aka "Eagle Eye", spotted these vintage Fisher Price pull-behind trains. He happened to have some of his Christmas money on him, so he bought these to resell. He is quite the businessman anymore. Watch for these in the Etsy shop, and help out an 8 year old entrepreneur!

That's it for today, I promise to blog a bit more in the New Year, now that I have got my camera issues straightened out! (Thanks, Santa! :)

Merry Kitschmas! Thrift finds

Hello Friends, Merry Christmas!

I have a few thrift finds to show you. Not as many as usual; I don't know about you, but around here its slim pickins this time of year.

First the Pyrex:

I didn't think I would like Woodland, but it has grown on me. Just the mixing bowls, though. I can still pass on the casseroles and such! These were really reasonable ($8 for the three) so I picked them up. I am trying to find some solid blue Horizon bowls to mix it with- I think a blue and brown set would really look sharp. The one on the right is an Americana fall colors 403, which I definitely love. Gonna have to find the rest of this set!

And speaking of fall colors, I found almost all of the Autumn Harvest Cinderella set the week before Thanksgiving!  In a thrift store- I mean, who donates these things the week before turkey day? Everything but the rust colored 442, and they are in great condition for $12.99. I am almost done with my AH- just need this 442 and the 402 from the mixing bowl set. I also treated myself to an early Christmas present and bought a fridgie set on Etsy for a super price.

I also found 3/4 of the primary fridge set with old-style lids! I happened to have an extra yellow 503 laying around, so that completed my second set of these. But I don't have the space to keep both, so these went to my booth.

I also got really lucky right after Thanksgiving- I was in a little tiny town that had a ton of junk shops and found my first ever 933 lasagna pan! It was only $6, but I am not a fan of Butterfly Gold, so I ended up trading this one. I also found a red 404 for $8 which I am keeping- for some reason I don't have a picture of it, and my camera is barely working so it's more hassle than it's worth to take one. (It's also super hard to blog with it, so that's my excuse! :)

It's not all Pyrex goodies, though- 'tis the season for vintage Christmas! I don't buy as much as I used to; back when it was still cheap I bought dozens of ornaments for my tree. I think I probably have a gross of Shiny Brites at this point. But these red ones are really neat and were reasonable- will probably be headed to Etsy in the near future! 

I also bought not one, but two 4 ft. aluminum trees from the same thrift store! I think I paid about $35 for both. I took both over the the booth, and never got a photo of them completely assembled, so I'm sorry I can't show you.

Speaking of my Etsy shop, I added a bunch of new stuff- check it out and use the coupon code PIT20OFF for a 20% discount on everything!

These last two are the only non-Pyrex, non-Christmas things I've bought in probably 2 months.
I love this dog and leaf planter (despite his weird eyebrows) and it is much bigger than it looks here. I'm debating whether to take it to the booth or put it on Etsy.

This cool mid century clock is also a lot bigger than it looks! I can totally see this in someone's retro 60s/70s kitchen or living room. It's probably 18 inches in diameter and works, too! Most likely going to booth because I don't want to have to ship this! 

Well, that's about all the news that's fit to print. Have a Merry Kitschmas!

Recent Thrift Finds

Hello friends! I thought I'd do a quick post on some of my recent thrift finds. I've been having pretty good luck lately. And it seems like I have more time to shop than to blog about it, so I'll try not to overload you with stuff (even though my house is bursting at the seams while I get it all ready for my Etsy store and my booth!)

First off are these printed pitchers. I mentioned before that I collect printed glassware, and am always on the lookout for the pitchers that go to the sets. Seems like they are always hard to find! So I was stoked to find the one on the right, especially, because it matches a set of glasses I have, and I have been looking for this one a long time. 

The little ball pitcher on the left has a funny story to go with it. It was so cute, I couldn't leave it behind at the thrift...but unfortunately I did. I actually took it up to the register and paid for it, and then the ladies running the counter forgot to put it in my bag. (I am certain it was an honest mistake.) It wasn't until a couple days later that I realized I didn't have it. So I called up and described the situation and the manager said I was welcome to come in and get my money back (they couldn't find the pitcher). I got to the store and found the thing back on the shelf! I still had my reciept, so of course I got to take it home with me this time. I don't have the matching glasses for this one, though, so it's going to the booth. Of course I will probably find them as soon as I sell it...

I found all these mugs on one epic thrifting day. I took my daughter to a birthday party, and while she was there, my son (aka "Eagle Eye") and I hit up a few thrifts we don't normally get to. The bluish on in front is Fire King Delphite, which I have never seen in person before. The Santa mugs behind it actually have rhinestones in the open eye (the other is winking shut), which is kind of creepy to me, but these sell well in the booth. The item on the far right is a set of teabag holders in their original stand. Eagle Eye spotted those, because I have a set at home which I bought off of Zootsuitmama's Etsy shop. He recognized them and so for 65 cents, thought it would be something he could buy to resell. He's always trying to make some money! 

And as always, I am on the lookout for two things when I thrift- Pyrex and camp blankets. And I found both just the other day!

 

I hit up my usual Tuesday thrift stop and just got a "Pyrex vibe" as soon as I walked in. And when I got to the housewares, there was nothing! For once, I doubted my instincts. Big mistake! Because when I got to the dishware aisle I found a box of Turquoise Gold Band 4-pc place settings, plus the sugar and creamer (with lid!). There is 4 total settings, each including dinner plate, salad plate, cup and saucer. A couple of the dinner plates have some scratches, but the rest is pristine. It was a total of 19 pieces for $12. They are so pretty, I may just have to collect the rest of the set- and I already have the vegetable bowl.

These pieces of Pyrex also happened on the epic thrift trip with Eagle Eye. The 024s on the left were so cheap I couldn't leave them behind (49 and 99 cents) and are a size I use frequently, even though I'm not fond of the colors. They are in great shape, too, except for some wear to the gold band. The opal gold band 024 and the opal promo 023 with cradle I found last time mean that I only have to find the plain opal 024 and I will have the whole set of that style. 

The Golden Honeysuckle on the right was something of a reclamation project. I have seen this pattern before and passed it up (not big on the gold designs) and it is an unusual shape (i.e. doesn't stack!), so I had no reason to collect it. But I have never seen one with the optional walnut stand, and it was a neat piece with the lid and stand. Unfortunately, the dish itself was completely covered in silvery metal marks, like someone had scrubbed it with steel wool. It was only $5, though, so I thought I could at least salvage the stand and lid if not the dish. But a little BKF worked wonders on it and it is nearly as good as new! I couldn't believe it. And I have found myself using it quite a bit since I got it- it is the perfect size for my favorite winter dish, roasted brussel sprouts and the stand makes serving easy. Now I understand why so much Pyrex came with cradles or stands- they are really versatile!

And lastly, after the Pyrex aisle, I always cruise through the linens looking for camp blankets. I found this really neat one the other day. I have never seen one with such a bold pattern- it really reminds me of vintage Scandinavian textiles. Like all camp blankets it reverses to the opposite color scheme (what is red is white, and white, red, when you flip it over). But unlike most camp blankets,which are usually cotton (and machine washable), this one apparently had a high wool content, which wasn't really obvious until I threw it in the wash. Fortunately the blanket didn't shrink much (it was a single/twin to start with) but everything else in that load got covered in fuzz, and my lint trap was so loaded with red lint I was worried I might have a fire. But at least the blanket is clean! And super warm, which is good because it's really getting cold around here- perfect for snuggling up in a vintage blanket with a cup of tea in a Pyrex mug!

Happy Halloween!

Here are a couple photos of Halloween here at ChezQT!

I got only one new blow mold this year, but it is a good one- the one on the far left.

If you look closely, you can see that some of them are wearing "costumes" aka fake mustaches courtesy of my kids. We had a little fun with faux facial hair this year.

Since I had a bunch of new fall colored Pyrex, I set up a display of that this year. I used that creepy oil painting I picked up a while ago for the background, and added some spray painted curly willow branches (my brother has one of those trees in his yard) for a 3D effect. 

This year's big finds were mostly vintage paper decorations. (Thanks to Mick and the Thrifter Sisters for getting me hooked on those! :) This honeycomb ghost was NIB until we hooked him up to our chandelier...and added another fake 'stache. 

And this pumpkin from last week's haul has found a home on the back of our front door. 

Happy Halloween from ChezQT!

Seeing Double

Funny how time flies, isn't it? Seems like just yesterday I was apologizing for not blogging much...

Anyway, I've been having some really great luck at the thrifts lately, and when I went to put things together to photograph for this post I noticed I had lots of things that were alike.

(And yes, I am still having difficulties with my camera, so these shots are not the best!)

Two tooled leather handbags. The one on the left I thrifted today for $7 and it came with a matching coin purse. The one on the right was a yard sale find for $3. 2 for $10!

Two pieces of enameled cast iron. Why yes, that is a Le Creuset dutch oven. For $10 at a thrift store? You bet I'm carrying that thing around till my arms are ready to fall off. (And the best part of it is, that while it is well-used, the previous owner used it to make something vanilla- even after a good scrubbing it still smells like vanilla- yummy!) The red frying pan is a Griswold from the 30s- mint condition for $1 at a yard sale.

Two adorable FireKing casseroles. The one on the left is hand-painted Gay Fad and the one on the right is Swiss Chalet. Both in mint condition and only a couple of bucks each.

I was just thinking I'd like to make madeleines and the next day I found these two pans for 50 cents. 

I love the details on them:

And of course I found some Pyrex! Two pieces of bakewear, a lime 023 and a Desert Dawn round cake pan. I have never seen pink DD in person before- it's beautiful!

And two more pieces of Pyrex, a snowflake space saver (with lid!!!) and yellow hostess (with lid!!!). On the right is a super cool ice bucket- the bullet shaped piece completely separates from the stand. (Why, I don't know, because it wouldn't stand upright, but still, so cool...)

OK, not doubles, but multiples! I hit the mother lode of vintage paper decorations yesterday. The turkey is a Beistle (also my second one of those in a couple of weeks), as are the Pilgrim cutouts that take me back to my own Elementary School days. The Halloween pumpkin and Trick or Treat sign are flocked- remember those? Haha, now I'm dating myself...anyway all of it set me back a whopping $1.80!

Flea Market Scores!

I've been having a tough time with my camera and it's really making it difficult to blog, but I did a quick trip to an estate sale and the flea market today and scored some goodies. (Apologies for the blurriness of the photos- I have to use my phone to take pix now.)

The frosted glasses have a leaping horse pattern on them and were only 10 cents each, the recipe box was a quarter and the boomerang ashtray was $1 at the estate sale. The chalkware fruit wall hanging is a duplicate of one I already have, but I love these things so much and it was only 50 cents. I'll find a place to hang it.

These Pyrex 401 bowls are what I bought at the flea market and are the best patterned Pyrex I've found in a while. I saw more Pyrex there than I have at any thrift store or yard sale, which is great because the prices are low and there doesn't seem to be the competition for Pyrex there like I see in the thrifts. (That's another whole issue which has been bugging me lately, but I don't want to get into that.)

The top is Horizon Blue and is my first piece of that pattern. I'm still kicking myself for passing up a complete set of casseroles in this pattern two years ago- it's so pretty. The bottom one is New Dots (of course you knew that if you are into Pyrex) and is so minty! I am now halfway to finishing that set- you may remember my post about finding the yellow New Dots. And the best part of the flea market is I got both of them for $5! Which is a good thing, because finishing these sets is probably going to cost me- especially the New Dots 404.

Two of the most amazing things I've thrifted in a long time

Hello friends, I just wanted to do a quick post on two things I've thrifted recently that are too amazing not to show you. I know many of you are inveterate thrifters and don't need to be told that scores like these are not everyday occurrances. I go to thrifts almost every day but rarely do I come out of there with stuff this good. But I do go often because 90% of the time thrifting is all about being in the right place at the right time, and if you're not in the place at all, that amazing piece will be going home with someone else.

(And I would be a happy camper indeed at this point if I could thrift myself a brand new camera...bear with me because my ancient camera has not been working that well and making blogging in general very difficult!)

Last week I wrote about some of my good thrifting luck and promised to show you the non-Pyrex finds. Well, these are the big things, and later I'll get to the small things.

Thank goodness I have kids or I would have a really hard time explaining why I bought this amazing chair.

Because I totally would have bought it even if I didn't have small people to fit in it.

It is a vinyl upholstered rocking chair, in amazing condition- not a rip or scratch on it. It was more than I usually like to pay at $25, but still, I fell so hard for this I probably would have paid more. I can just see a kid sitting in it in the 1950s watching cartoons or TV westerns. And that is exactly what my kids are doing with it today. Aren't those little diamond details amazing? (and amazing that they survived the years intact!)

And speaking of Western, I found this vintage 1920s Navajo rug in a thrift store! For $20!

I have wanted one of these for ever. I looked for a long time several years ago when we were decorating our living room the first time (see the current look here) before not finding any in my price range. It is huge too, about 4x6. Problem is, now our decorating scheme is more 50s modern/kitsch than the rustic/western look it was before. So I don't know if I will keep it or sell it to finance a new camera. What would you do?

Pyrex Karma

OK, now that the kiddos are back in school, mom gets to do a little shopping once in a while. And for some reason, the thrifting right now is great! After a few months of the doldrums, I have been finding goodies by the armful whenever I go out. I'm ashamed to admit it, but my basement is starting to look like a hoarder's. Must...get...listing...aargh...

I don't know what I did to deserve it, but I guess I have the magic touch or good karma or whatever right now. Check out my Pyrex haul from just the last week:

Yes, you're seeing all that Friendship correctly! I went to two different stores on Saturday (not usually the best day to thrift, either) and all I found was Friendship everywhere! The divided dish ($5), as well as the Snowflake Garland lid came from one Goodwill. Then I went down the road to another thrift and found all the 470 casseroles. The 471 (without lid) was $2.50, and the 472 and 473 with opal lids were $3.50 each. I thought I was going to pass out trying to get all those in my cart! I now have quite the collection of Friendship, all this plus the 444, 443 and 442 Cinderella bowls, and it was all thrifted. Which is great because I can't afford to buy it online, LOL.

Last week I went to a thrift store I haven't been to in a long time (why, I don't really know, because it is a great store) and bought the woodland 043 and Spring Blossom 473 for just a few bucks each. They are not my favorites, but are near mint, so I will be putting them in my booth.

Then last night I was on my way to work and had to stop in to a little thrift on the way- Bingo! The lime 232 was there waiting for me for $4.50. I am really loving the lime and flamingo bakewear right now. I will have to do some re-arranging of my shelves to display it better. But not today; I've got Mr. Limey in the oven baking up a peach cobbler right now!

And finally today, I just got a good Pyrex vibe after I dropped my daughter off at school and had to run into my closest local thrift. I found the Butterprint 503 with lid for $3.50 and the Golden Tulip for $3.99, as well as the Flamewear saucepan for $5. That's about as much Pyrex as I've ever gotten at this store in one shot, so my spidey sense was definitely working!

I found a ton of other stuff too, but I will save that for next time.

Vacation thrift finds!

Well, it's a rainy day here at ChezQT and I am neck deep in canning projects. This time of year is always crazy with the garden produce coming in nonstop and getting ready for back to school, plus trying to squeeze in all the fun stuff I wanted to do with the kids. So that's my excuse for not blogging a lot lately.

But I still thrift and collect when I can, so here's a sampling of some of the stuff I picked up lately!

We recently spent a week and a half at our cabin upstate. One rainy day up there, I cleaned out a lot of the stuff we don't use and took it to a thrift shop in the local town. I dropped off four big trash bags full of stuff! And the bonus was I got to shop at the store too, and this is one little shop that hasn't yet succumbed to the high prices of the big chains. Nothing in the store was more than $2!

You can bet I was super excited to find Pyrex on my vacation- I was going through withdrawal at this point, and these were just what I needed! The snowflake divided dish (with lid!) was $2, the flamingo plate was 25 cents and the turquoise vegetable bowl was $2 at a flea market (more on that later!). I already have the snowflake DD, so this one will be for sale. I'm trying to resist collecting the Pyrex dinnerware, so will have to let the plate and bowl go too (eventually!)

These little handled crocks are GlasBake and were 25 cents each. I think I will keep them up there for a while, at least through the fall when I will use them for soup!

This orange ball pitcher was (yep, you guessed it) $2! I will be taking it to the booth.

The pottery vase was $1 and will be a nice addition to the collection of white pottery I already have up there. The two saucers are Taylor Smith Taylor Cathay.

I love this hand painted cookie jar and it was only $1! It's really big, like a gallon size.

But probably the best score of all was this vintage suitcase. I went up to the checkout with my arms full of (mostly breakable) stuff and spied this off to the side, under a pile of other things. I had to ask if it was even for sale. The ladies were so happy someone wanted it- they said it had been there for weeks- that they almost apologized for asking $2. I packed it full of my treasures and they all made it home safely, and in style.

Oh, and the table all these are photographed on was a flea market find. It's an old farm table I bought at the flea market for $5. The oilcloth was definitely too far gone to save, but the table underneath has a great patina, which I will show you in a another post!

Tour of Chez QT- our Living Room

OK, so I've been talking about this for a long, long time. And then I proceed to blabber on and on about thrift finds and Pyrex.... Well, now it's finally here- the living room reveal!

Last year we (OK, me) decided to revamp our living room. Part of this was by necessity, in that we had to move our entertainment center and some other furniture up to our mountain cabin, so we would have living room furniture up there. And it was also necessary to bring up some of the beautiful mid century modern furniture I had stashed away in the basement!

So here is the only "before" shot I could find- the plaid sofa left over from my husband's bachelor days kind of epitomized the entire room. The coffee table got a MCM makeover, which you can read about here.



I did not paint or really change the overall color scheme. Our walls are kind of a terra cotta color and the sofas are still olive green, although they are new and more modern-looking. The rug is the same burnt red color that used to match the drapes, but then I found these amazing deadstock pinch pleat drapes which you can read about here.

So, to start the tour, you come in through our original 1960 three-paned mahogany door. At one time we almost changed it to a more modern door, but I am super glad we decided to keep it. The wood is beautiful; it just glows.

The oak cabinet is a reproduction of a vintage ice box. It doesn't really match the style of the room anymore, but we do need the storage for videos and records. (Yes, records- as you will see I have many radio/record players in this room.) That is a 1946 GE tabletop radio next to the atomic lamp and the two amazing Rosenthal candle holders I got from Dana over at Mid2Mod! The B&W photo is a family piece, as are a couple others in the room. All the photos are B&W because there is plenty of color elsewhere!

On the right of the door is a little nook that is the perfect size for this 1946 RCA console radio. The front flips open, as you can see, to reveal the radio dial. The record player is under the left side of the top. That is a vintage weather station (Bakelite thermometer/ barometer) on top. There is a round mirror up above (see first photo) and I would eventually like to have a hanging modern ceramic light (W. German style) here, but haven't found the right one yet.

To the left of the door is the main living space, with the large window and large sofa backing it. The other sofa is a loveseat, which we had to special order from Rowe, because apparently no one buys loveseats anymore. They just buy a big sofa or sectional and two Lay-Z-Boys, I guess. That is the same coffee table I posted above, it just looks a lot better now with hairpin legs and a Dansk Kobenstyle enamel piece on top!

You can see my favorite photo of FDR and a 48 star US flag there on the left.

Here is a detail shot of all my vintage planters on the window sill. The two on the right are German ceramics, which I collect.

The leaded glass cabinet was inherited from my Grandmother- she had it removed from a house they lived in long ago. It was built in, so some of the sides are a little rough- which is cool with me. I have a couple more radios and vintage electronics in there, as well as my collections of tiki mugs and cocktail shakers on top. They are up there out of harm's way, because normally this room is full of my kids' toys and books. (I had to get up so early to take these photos, before they came down and filled it with their clutter, LOL!) And another radio on the left at bottom, a Zenith black dial chairside.

Continuing around the room is my famous TV-quarium in the corner. It's a 1950 Motorola that I took the guts out of and put an aquarium inside. The clock is a George Nelson repro, and the owl TV lamp with glowing eyes is a fairly recent thrift find.
 

In place of our giant entertainment center we brought up this 1958 Motorola HiFi console, which had belonged my husband's parents. It has the perfect sleek modern vibe and is a great platform for my light up globe and another vintage TV lamp. On the left are two W. German fat lava planters that actually match. I found them separately, almost a year apart. One thing about this living room, almost nothing is new. The only things not vintage here are the sofas and the TV.

If you would keep going at this point, you'd be in our kitchen. I've done a post about that here, although things are significantly different now that I should probably do another post on that! Oh well, stay tuned I guess!