Pyrex Therapy

Hello Friends, it's good to have you here!

I had a pretty hectic past week, and needed a little thrifting therapy. And boy, was I lucky today!

I hit my usual two thrifts and the Pyrex was there in abundance, for a change. I was just in the right place at the right time, because some of it had just been put out.

The Spring Blossom casserole is huge! It's a 2.5 qt and in mint condition. The Butterfly Gold is also mint. These were probably donated by the same person- the lady at the checkout said they had just been donated yesterday and she had put them on the shelf right before I came in. I paid $8 for the SB and $6 for the BG.

Now, those of you that know me a little also know that in the past I have not bought these two patterns because I don't collect them. However, I have come to the realization that someone else out there is getting them if I don't. I have also rationalized it to myself that if it's not my pattern, I can still buy to resell (duh- don't know why I never thought of that). I do have a booth in an antique mall and there is no one else in there with Pyrex. As popular as it's getting, I might as well get in on some of that action as a dealer. So there, you can hate me if you want (I hope you don't though- I'm still a nice person!) but I plan on buying all the Pyrex I can and charging "antique store" prices. That way I can buy more for me! ;)

I went to another store and found these divided dishes, both were $4. The Golden Acorn is going to my booth, but the Compass has found its forever home with me.

Since our house was built in 1959/60, I think I might try to collect all the patterns in existence in 1959, now that I've found this Compass. I already have the Black Rooster space saver, a bunch of Butterprint and some of the pinks/turquoise/utility/primary sets. I'll have to do a little more research and see what else is out there.

Speaking of which, this Butterprint 444 was $5. It was pretty dirty, but cleaned up well. I have two of these already, so will not be keeping this one. 

The rest of this is not Pyrex, but collateral damage from the dishware aisle.

(Whoops- how did they get in my basket? ;)

This is one of the few pieces of GlasBake that I like. I have seen these little handled soup crocks before, but never with the lid. Isn't it cute?

I thought this butter dish might be Hall, but it isn't marked. It's pretty old though and in great condition. Should be an easy sale in the booth!

This vintage tray was only $1. I love using these as backdrops when I decorate for the holidays. And besides, it goes perfect with snowflake Pyrex! 

I also found some great vintage clothing- it's been a while since I found some good stuff locally. I haven't got them photographed yet, though so maybe another post.

Pyrex Success! Fridgie set completed

I had a very good day thrifting yesterday! It didn't start out very well, though- I actually left the first two stores empty handed. And my daughter, who's almost 5, had a meltdown in the third store. But not until after I had found my first ever piece of pink daisy!

 

Normally I am not a big fan of the divided dishes. I have 4 of them now and they are a pain to display since they don't nest. As a matter of fact, I don't have any of them on display at all right now. But no way was I going to leave this one behind! It is in mint condition- not a scratch or chip anywhere- probably never been used. This is also the first divided dish I have found with a lid. You can bet I will find a place to put this one on the shelf with all my pinks!

So even though my daughter was throwing a fit in the store, I was as happy as a clam.

At the next stop, we got her calmed down (she really wanted me to buy her a certain stuffed polar bear, and there is no way I'm bringing used stuffed animals into my house) and I happened to find something I have been needing for a long time now:

Yes, a simple little red 501, with no lid and quite a bit of wear (although no DWD) for $2. This might have made me happier than the pink daisy...

Because I have now completed my primary fridgie set!!!! This is the first set of any pattern that I have completed (I'm really close on a couple of others, too.) I started this set with a single red 501 at least 8 years  ago, and got everything in the wild, nothing online. I'm kinda proud of that and happy that I waited, because I think the whole thing cost me less than $20.

Now I have a bit of a space problem, but that's not a bad problem to have. These are my finds from the last couple of weeks, and I haven't yet figured out how to get them all in the cupboard! :)

Thrifted Thursday: Luck O' The Irish

OK, well, I'm not even the slightest bit Irish, but they say everyone is a little Irish on St. Patty's day! I certainly had some good luck yesterday.

I found the most amazing jackets and you all will die when I tell you how much they were.

I'm getting my Annie Oakley on in this one- this three-tone fringed buckskin jacket is definitely old, but not that old! I'm leaning toward 40s, but it may be 50s. It is still really soft and supple, though and just an amazing piece. The best part is that it fits me like a glove- like it was made for me back in 1947. I absolutely love it and plan to wear it quite a bit- it's just got a great vintage look that will still pair well with modern. 

This Hudson Bay Point Blanket Coat is something I recently read about on the Tea with the Vintage Baroness blog. I really liked the different styles of them and was shocked that I found one today in the pound store! It's made in Canada from real blankets. It's super heavy and warm and fits me as well. It's tempting to keep it but I think it will go to the shop.

Now for the best part- both coats were 99 cents! Even the manager of the pound store said he had no idea why they were there and that they were really nice coats regardless of price.

This didn't come from the pound store, but it was only $2. I have always loved American Indian beadwork (used to do some as a hobby) and thought this belt was pretty neat. It's much bigger than it appears in the photo- it ties around my waist.

I love this football themed planter- when was the last time you ever saw a masculine planter? It was $1.25.

I bought these milk glass pieces at the pound store as well. I've been buying a lot of custard cups recently, for no real reason other than that they are cute (the back one is a really old FireKing and the front one is "Pyr-O-Rey"). The large milk glass crock is gigantic! I have no idea what it is from, since it is unmarked. It is like the size of a big crock pot crock- perhaps it was from some early version of that. It was only 99 cents though and since I would like to try my hand at making sauerkraut someday, this will be perfect. Or it might end up as a planter- how cool would that be?

Now, you didn't think I would get all that without finding some Pyrex, did you? I almost didn't get any- there was a young couple in there buying up everything Pyrex. I mean they bought everything- 8 beige mugs, 3 autumn harvest red mugs, a bunch of Old Orchard casseroles, things I wasn't really interested in, and thought was overpriced (like $3 a mug). I don't know what it was about me, but I made eye contact with them one time and then heard the guy say to the girl- "We better go back and get the rest of that Pyrex" (off the shelf). How did they know I was looking for Pyrex??? :)  But since I found some green Pyrex on Tuesday, I figured my luck would hold and I found this green (Verde) 404 off on another shelf. 

Here's hoping you have some good luck as well thrifting this week!

The Spotting of the Green

Well, pickings have been slim around here in thrifting land. It's been a couple weeks since I found anything worth writing about. But with Spring around the corner, people must be doing some spring cleaning, and I actually found something good today!

I am thrilled to have finally found my first piece of lime Pyrex- a round cake pan. I know these aren't that uncommon, but I have never seen any! As a matter of fact, I haven't seen any solid color bakewear at all recently, and I would love to have a pie plate and square baker to go with it.

It's in absolutely mint condition- appears never to have been used. Quite a miracle, since Pyrex only made lime from 1952 to 1956. The best part was that for St. Patty's Day anything green in the store was 25% off, so I got this for $2.25!

I also found a green FireKing mug (38 cents with the St. Pat's discount), a red Hazel Atlas Moderntone creamer ($1.00), and the cutest tiny mason jar. I am tempted to go back and pick up a set of 6 milk glass mugs that were not Pyrex, but very similar to the Old Towne/Blue Onion pattern. Not identical, but close...very cute- so tempting. I also left behind a Green 403 mixing bowl and a 402 Square Flowers bowl. They weren't in the best of condition, and I'm trying to leave stuff like that for someone else!

Thrift Crawl 2013: "This is F#$@&%'n Awesome"

Well, not really that awesome... I don't know if it's that song, or the economy or what, but I remembered why I don't like to go thrifting on Saturdays. The stores were packed and pretty picked over.

It wasn't all bad though- hitting 7 stores in 6 hours over 65 miles is never going to be a total bust. :)

For those of you new to the PIT, every year around my birthday (March 1) I take a whole day and do nothing but shop thrift stores. I try to go to ones I don't normally get to, so it's kind of an event. In general,  don't need any more "stuff"/gifts (though I did get a neat-o espresso machine from my parents, which I love) so all I ask for is a day "off" from being a mom and go out on the road for the whole day. I call it my annual Thrift Crawl, and try to get to as many stores in a day as I can.

This year, I had a few things on my want list- Pyrex, which is my latest obsession, vintage clothing, camp blankets, and anything vintage/industrial. I was successful in almost all the categories, except the vintage clothing. The stores I went to seem to have an incredibly high turnover- there was a lot of empty space on the racks/shelves, so I imagine anything vintage gets snapped up immediately. That's OK, though, I have tons of it in storage- I probably have less than half of my current inventory listed in my Etsy shop. (And, as always, I will remind blog readers that you are all eligible for 20% off your purchase with coupon code PIT20OFF.)

I was a bit disappointed in the Pyrex selection- collecting it must be getting really popular, because I hardly even saw any. Most of my haul came from a single store- apparently the others were picked over before I got there. I did see a fair amount of Fire King (even some Peach Lustre and Gay Fad, which were really tempting, but the condition wasn't perfect so I passed) and the ubiquitous Glasbake.

I didn't see any Pyrex (with the exception of a badly dishwashered red 501 fridgie) until my fourth stop. It took some digging, but I unearthed this Federal Eagle mug. The condition isn't perfect, but I love mugs and have never seen this one before, so it came home with me.

Finally at my 6th stop I found some good stuff. A Butterfly Gold butter dish for $2.50- mint condition. I initially thought I might sell or trade it, but now I'm thinking I might try to collect all the butter dishes. I knew that I would find a butter dish after I went out and bought one (Butterprint) on eBay a couple weeks ago! Well, I'm not complaining- only wishing I had bought the Old Towne butter dish I passed up a couple months ago.

I also found these cute red casseroles- they are so tiny- 10 oz! I posed them next to the butter dish, because they are almost the same size. They'll be perfect for individual servings of broiled seafood and the like, if I can bring myself to use them- except for a few scratches from storage they look like they've never been used.

These footed bowls are Fire King. I wouldn't have bought them individually, but as a group I really like the colors. For only 50 cents each, they are mine. I'm guessing there was at least one more, probably red or brown, at one time to make the set.

This is the first Tiki mug I've found in a couple of years. I have a decent size collection, but acquired most of them a while ago. This rum barrel is from the Kona Kai, Philadelphia's only Tiki bar of note. Check out the following photo- wish I had could have gone there!

This is an old tin from the 30s. Judging by the label on the bottom and the great sports-theme graphics, I think it was for deodorant. I hesitated because the price was $1.50, and for something like this it seemed high. But I'm glad I got it just for the graphics, and I think it will be the perfect size for hair pins on my dresser- definitely an upgrade from the old mug they live in now.

This is quickly becoming my favorite find. It's a ceramic owl TV lamp. You can see how the light comes through the holes in the body, and the eyes also glow. It was only priced at $3.50, which is really low for the store I was in, and for TV lamps in general. When I took it up to the register the girl there said she had just put it out- right time, right place for me!

Not shown are another camp blanket- a newer, mostly acryilc version of the pink one I picked up a while back, and an industrial office in/out letter rack, which is pretty cool looking and I will have to take a photo of  another time. All in all, it was a fun day!