Pyrex finds!

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

As mentioned in my last post, I have been finding and acquiring some really nice pieces of Pyrex. So, my apologies to those of you who do not share my fascination with dishes; this post may not interest you. Sorry!

But for the rest of you afflicted with Pyrexia, we will carry on:

I don't know what I ever decorated with before I had Pyrex. My friends and family always are shocked by the fact that I have so many pieces of Pyrex that I can created color themes with them. Hehe. Frankly, I'm sort of shocked I can do that too. Fall themed display? Why yes, let me get out all my red, yellow, orange, and black bowls and casseroles.

The black and white casserole on top was my most recent Pyrex purchase, it's a JAJ (English Pyrex) Haymaker. My son saw a picture of it, and begged me to buy it, because he wants to be a farmer, and it depicts people loading hay into a wagon. And when a nine year old boy tells you to by dishes, you listen. So I did, and promised him he could have it when I die, lol.

I don't think I've ever spent that much on a casserole dish, and probably will never spend that much again. Because you all know I am cheap and would much rather find my stuff at thrift stores.

So this stuff I actually thrifted. Much more my style! The big yellow bowl is called "Pineapple Party" and actually fades from yellow at the top to orange on the bottom. It is really pretty. I got it at my favorite thrift on a Thursday, then stopped in at a nearby rummage sale for the orange mugs and blue mason jars. "Pineapple Party" is actually a chip and dip set, with a smaller bowl and bracket. I didn't have much hope of ever completing the set until I logged onto the Pyrex trading group and saw someone had posted the small bowl for trade the very same day! We worked out a deal and I had the set put together in just a few days. It's funny how things can work out sometimes.

I also made another great trade that week and was able to acquire one of my most wanted Pyrex pieces, a Saxony casserole. I traded a couple things I had thrifted for it, so the cost to me was reasonable. I doubt I would have ever bought it if I hadn't been able to trade for it.

This last group is one of my best ever recent thrift finds. I am lucky to have quite a bit of Friendship by now, and every single piece has been thrifted. Including this 475 casserole, I have all the 470s but the 474. And the orange 442 means that I am only missing the 441 and I will have all the Cinderella bowls. Add to that the divided dish and a couple of the much sought-after red pixies which I already have, and I am well on my way to finishing that pattern. I am determined to thrift it all.

Happy hunting!

Halloween Haul!

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

Well, school is back in session and I thought I'd have so much time to blog and list things in my Etsy store, and...nope, that just hasn't happened! I honestly don't know how some of you guys do it.

But as usual, there is always time to thrift and yard sale, while the yard saling weather is still good. And I have to say, it has been very good to me lately. I live in a great area for yard sales with lots of old people in older homes, who are now in the process of down sizing. And of course, that means I am upsizing, or acquiring more stuff! Hehe...

Last week I was on my way to a church rummage sale (which was pretty much a bust, all I bought was a 50 cent planter) and stopped at the most amazing yard sale and I hit the jackpot!

Look at all that vintage Halloween!!!

I have never seen so much all in one place and here it is on my floor!

Some of these honeycomb paper decorations are amazing- check out the scarecrows and owl!

And there was Pyrex and pixies as well! That tan stripe 401 is just what I needed to complete my stack of stripes. I never find cute pixies around here, so even though these are not in perfect condition, they are most welcome.

I've been having a good run on Pyrex lately as well. A few pieces found at the thrifts, but mostly trading for some really good things- a future post coming up on that!

What a long, strange trip it's been!

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

Well, summer is flying by and I realize I haven't been around here a whole lot, so we have some catching up to do! I spent the last week thrifting some spots I don't normally get to, so I have a lot to share.

My kids were at a day camp down in the area I grew up in, so after dropping them off at 9 am I got to check out all my old favorite shops. So I got myself a plan and made sure to hit the biggest stores first and then the smaller stores later on. (Camp pickup was 3 pm) Most of my good finds at the larger stores were Monday and Tuesday morning. After that, meh... it amazes me how some of these stores can be so huge (one must be close to 20,000 sq.ft- a former big box store) and have so little quality merchandise. Or perhaps that is just the age we are living in and the good stuff is getting harder to find (I know it!)

Anyway, on with the show!

This is my haul from that first big store on Monday and Tuesday mornings. As you might have guessed, it's mostly Pyrex. But I am super stoked about the blue Fire King Kimberly mug- I have a collection of one of each of these in every color and this was the last one I needed. It's taken me a couple of years to find one in the wild, and I almost resorted to Etsy a few times. 

The black Pyrex mug was one of about eight in the store- I only bought one, just to have (again) one in every color, but now I am wishing I had bought them all. They look amazing with my cinnamon colored ones and would be great for Halloween displays. Speaking of Halloween, the cat thingy is a flashlight but it is missing its innards. It's not very old either, but definitely has that vintage look, and for a buck, it cam home with me. The Terra bowls are part of my 'leave no Pyrex behind' strategy and will probably go to my booth. The Verde 443 is the start of a new collection- I just figured out that I have all the Verde fridgies, so now I must collect the bowls...sigh...

These were from my next stop. The opal hostess bowls were probably yellow at one time, but I can't find any trace of color. I'll hang onto them to mix into other displays- I have found that even though opal (aka plain white) Pyrex really doesn't do much for me, it looks great mixed into displays. The milk glass tumblers depict Jack and Jill tumbling down the hill. They are actually made by Hazel Atlas and were part of a children's dinnerware set. I can't really imagine the thought process that went into designing these for children. I know my kids would be wondering what the heck happened to Jack and Jill here...someone online referred to them as 'CSI cups' :)... but the sheer oddity of them was enough for me to add them to my collection.  

At the same store later in the week I found this awesome camp blanket. It is a really strange size- twin width but XXtra long. It came in handy already when we went to a chilly outdoor movie on Friday- we could wrap it completely around the three of with room to spare. I love finding camp blankets because they are beautiful and useful at the same time. I think I have close to 10 now, the only problem being they take up quite a bit of storage space, so I just keep piling them up on the beds. Who needs comforters?

These are my finds from one of my all-time favorite church thrifts. They get good stuff and they price it well. No $19 Pyrex here! The enamel bucket is so amazing, I have already adopted it as my housecleaning bucket. I feel like a Depression-era housewife... cool stuff like this just makes ordinary housework a little easier! (See my ironing post on this topic here) I also found an incredible vintage dress from about the same era in the store. I always wonder if things like this were donated by the same person.

This little child's tea set is so cute and perfect condition. Each cup/saucer set was just 75 cents! (Did I mention that I love this store?) The primary blue fridgie was $2.50 also. And yes, that is a Vera tablecloth! Once it gets a good Oxyclean soak to remove some yellowing, it's headed to the Etsy store.

I think I might be the only person of my generation (except maybe Mick from Everyone Goes to Micks!) who knows what that weird metal thingy is. I'll keep you in suspense about that until later! Lately I have been finding a lot of Ekco Eterna/American Tempo flatware, which is fine with me because it's easy to sell in my Etsy shop. The milk glass mugs are Fire King and Federal and are headed over to my booth. The beaker is my only Pyrex lab ware purchase- I will use it as a vase I guess.

 

On my way home from that store I stopped at a yard sale and picked up these pieces of Pyrex. The large yellow was the last piece I needed to complete another Primary set, since I sold the one I had in my booth last month. Last month's sales were amazing, so I am feeling really good about that part of my endeavors. I just found a snowflake 043 for my personal collection in my last post, so this one will go to the booth as well.

So, did you guess what the mystery item was? 

It's a UHF TV antenna from the early days of broadcasting!

 Of course, we don't need them anymore, but I have a place for it on my TV-quarium!

Ain't No Cure for the Summertime Blues

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

Well, summer is here and it brings with it a lot of change. First of all, of course the kids are home. And soooo bored. Hehe, I knew that was coming, so we have plenty of things to do, like 5 different camps for my daughter and my son is opening his own Etsy shop! He is following in his mom's footsteps, but selling things a nine-year old boy thinks is cool. Mostly he is going to be restoring and selling customized bathroom scales, which is a project we started here. Look for the grand opening of JaysonsKustomHouse in a couple of weeks!

For now, I am also trying to keep as busy as I can, and trying to do as much selling as I can in my antique booth and my Etsy shop. So, hey, help me out a bit and see if there's anything you like! Be sure to use the coupon code PIT20OFF for 20% off your purchase!

Maybe it's a coincidence, or maybe not, but I have been finding a lot of blue items lately. Yard sales and thrifts have been very good this month, and I have been finding tons of cool junk and Pyrex, of course.

First up, I found yet another milk glass cake plate. This makes 3 in the last 6 weeks or so. It's wedding season, so hopefully it won't stay in the booth long! And I thrifted my first set of clear bottomed Pyrex- I usually pass on these, but with Pyrex prices on the rise I thought it might be a good idea to get a set now. They are various shades of blue and are very pretty; hopefully someone will love them.

The same day I found this stack of 401s at an antique store. Now, I almost never buy things at antique stores (I mostly window shop- "doing research" I call it) but I couldn't pass up five bowls for $10.  The three primary blues are all unnumbered; two are in good condition, but one is pretty poor. (I'll make that a daily user, maybe I'll dishwasher it into a faux opal?) I am always trying to make up other Primary sets to go to the booth, and can definitely use the good ones. The pink is poor as well, but this is my first pink mixer in the wild, and it will display OK for now. The orange flameglo is pretty good; I haven't decided if I want to keep it yet.

 I also found my first piece of JAJ in a thrift store, a pattern called "Tuscany Vegetables". Altogether, it was a good day for Pyrex, with the clear bottom set, the stack of 401s and this JAJ all coming from two stores that day. Plus, these huge veggie salt and pepper shakers- I love Mr. Corn's jaunty moustache! 

Last week I went to a great yard sale- it almost made The List. (I keep a mental list of the top ten yard sales I've ever been to- this one was somewhere in the top twenty, for sure.) It was my favorite kind of sale- an older person in an older house in an older neighborhood. I bought some Pyrex, some other glass and the coolest lamp.

The Pyrex I bought was this snowflake 043, which came with a lid and is absolutely mint. I almost didn't buy it- it seems that the word has gotten out, even to the little old ladies, that Pyrex is collectible. The sticker on this had a price of $5, which the cheapskate in me thought was too much for a yard sale. Then I came to my senses and realized I would probably pay that or more in a thrift store in a heartbeat. And I didn't have this color in my collection yet, either, so duh...buy it!

And while word has gotten out about Pyrex being hot, apparently Hazel Atlas is still flying under the radar (at least at this yard sale). The pink, turquoise and yellow plates are all HA, as is the matching mug. The green is FireKing jadeite, and get this- they were all 10 cents each!

Then I bought this lamp from the same lady. I used to see these around every so often, years ago and never bought one. But they are few and far between anymore, so I popped. Good thing I did, because they are going for crazy money on Etsy! So guess where this is headed, LOL.... I also found a cool angular fiberglass laced shade, which for some reason I didn't photograph. I have quite a collection of these shades anymore; I never leave one behind that is in good condition and reasonably priced (like 50 cents!). Now I need some  more cool lamp bases to go with them!

Green seems to be a theme of my finds as well- on the same day I bought this vintage tablecloth at a thrift store. It still has its Simtex tag on it. Plus, it is large enough to fit my table- not always so easy to find in vintage linens!

And a little bit of green Pyrex, of course! This is the "Green Salad" promo from 1972, otherwise known as "Square Dot". Normally it is hard for me to get to thrifts right when they open, which I have always assumed is the best time to go. But this day I was able to get there early and found this gem on the bottom shelf. (And I did look all over for the matching salad utensils, to no avail.) It is absolutely mint and I love the color shading. Seeing this online, I never thought I would go for it, but in person it is stunning. For some reason lately, I am totally drawn to the brightly colored Pyrex- like Friendship and New Dots, and this will fit right in. Definitely going to keep this around for a while!

And  how about this amazing fan? I found it amongst the appliances at a thrift store. It was a little more than I like to spend, at $20, but it works great-totally a keeper! I just keep telling my kids not to put their fingers anywhere near it; a trip to the emergency room is not the kind of excitement I'm looking for this summer!

Pyrex in the Wild

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

I don't know about you, but I have been a bit dumbfounded watching some recent ebay auctions for Pyrex. Even things that are not really rare (hello, Pink Stripe 403) have been going through the roof. So with that in mind, I have decided to keep my Pyrex hunt on the ground, so to speak, and only buy things in the wild. To me, that means thrift or yard sales- I suppose antique stores would count, but I am trying to get things cheap so that mostly leaves them out.

Like most of you, things are hit and miss. I do find good stuff in the thrift stores, but a lot of times I come up empty. I go a lot, though, so I'm bound to find something one in a while. Usually I hit up 5-10 stores a week, some multiple times, but I probably only average about one piece a week. Then there's church sales and yard sales, which are also usually feast or famine- mostly there is none, but occasionally you hit the mother lode and can buy multiple pieces.

Since it's been a while since my last post, here are some of my recent ITW finds:

I found this delphite 401 and 402 at a thrift store. I actually overlooked them the first time I walked  by the shelf- probably because I was looking for patterns on white, not blue! And they were really priced reasonably; my guess is the thrift didn't know they were Pyrex because of the color. These are actually duplicates for me- of course, I bought mine online a while back thinking I would never find them ITW! The woodland butter dish goes into my collection of butter dishes- I only need the Autumn Harvest, Snowflake Garland and the elusive Sandalwood to complete them.

I picked up this Butterfly Gold 922 just this past weekend at a yard sale. I love to haggle, but I didn't even bother with this one- 75 cents was cheap enough!

These are a (very good) week's worth of picks- the Spring Blossom casseroles (475, 474, 473) were all found as a set. The Square Flowers divided dish was found at another thrift- not my favorite pattern, but the price was right and it had a lid. I almost dropped this piece in the store- somehow I caught it with my left hand at the last minute. Gah- heart attack! The cinnamon mugs are my favorite color and match my Autumn Harvest, so they will get a lot of use.

Spring Blossom just seems to be following me home lately. I have a 'no fridgie left behind' policy, as long as they are in good shape and have lids- so these joined my collection. I guess I am now trying to get all the fridge sets... ;)

I have seen the Ponderosa mugs, but have never seen plates before. Now I have two- I got these at a yard sale; the lady said her sister had worked at Ponderosa and brought them home. The turquoise hostess ramekin was a big surprise one day at a thrift store- I looked in vain for the chip bowl and bracket but it wasn't there. I have this set already; once again it is not something I ever thought I'd find ITW.

I am most happy about these two! I have never seen a pie plate and I have been looking for years. I know they're not terribly hard to find, but for some reason they had been eluding me. This flamingo one is mint and I found it in the same thrift as the Heinz promo, and also found four Fire King Blue Heaven Cinderella bowls. That was a great day! I totally stalked a lady that had picked up the Heinz and carried it around all the while she was yapping on her phone. Finally she set it down again and walked away and it was mine. I have almost bought this piece online on several occasions. 

So that's about it for my recent in the wild Pyrex! It goes to show that there are good things out there, you just have to be persistent and frequent at the thrifts, I guess.

Yard Saling Away

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

Finally, the weather has warmed up and yard sales are sprouting everywhere! I had some great luck this past week. I hit a couple of rummage sales Thursday first.

I found a couple of vintage Hawaiian shirts at the first rummage sale- I thought it was going to be a bust for the longest time because I started in the housewares section and there was literally nothing but crap. I scoped out the clothing as a last resort and came up with a couple good ones- they are already listed in my Etsy store here.

I got to another rummage sale later in the afternoon just before it closed. And that means it was bag day- everything I could fit in a paper bag was $2. It also means that stuff was kind of picked over, so I definitely didn't pack the bag full. But I picked up a couple books and puzzles:

Also grabbed these art pieces. The oil painting is another vintage landscape for my collection at our cabin. That is really coming along, and I should probably do a post on that sometime. The empty frame is a simple but elegant art deco picture frame, which I always pick up whenever I find them. So much nicer than the frames they have at Michael's!

The little Hazel Atlas Moderntone sherbet glass was part of the bag sale, as were the cute fork and spatula. The fork is the Corningware Country Festival pattern. The speckled bowls are actually confetti Melmac, and are the first I have ever seen in black and white. Maybe they are "RARE HTF"? LOL  They will be listed in my Etsy store eventually too. 

This was another item I put in my bag- I'm going to let you guess what this is and then show you what we did with it later!

My husband took the kids to our local bike rodeo Saturday morning and I got to go driveway shopping. My son won 2nd place for his age group; I think he hasn't taken off his medal since then. But my prize was these pieces of Guardian Ware. I got all three for $1 each. The roaster is really huge and will bring a nice bit of $$ online.

I got these PBN horses at the same sale- it was a dollar sale, so everything there was $1. So, 5 paintings, $5! I am hoping to sell these as a group, I think they make an amazing "instant collection"!

More from the dollar sale- the Shiny Brites, lampshade and Homer Laughlin bowl. That bowl is the most stunning piece of stoneware I have ever seen. It's got a raised pattern of trees all around it. I don't know much about Homer Laughlin other than Fiesta, but I want to know more about this style. The only bad part is it has a bit of a chip on the rim and a crack there, but will be beautiful holding fruit on the table.

The Ponderosa plates are the only pieces of Pyrex I found. I have never seen the plates before, only the mugs. I'm sure these will go quickly in my Etsy store when I get them listed. The little brass swans were only a quarter; I actually have a couple of these already, they used to be my mother-in-law's.

It is hard to find bakelite radios anymore. I used to see them all the time and now they are definitely few and far between. I bought one a couple of months ago and now found this one- the only ones I've seen in a long time. It's an Admiral- doesn't work, but for $5, will definitely look great on a shelf. The alarm clock was only a quarter and that one works!

So that's the wrap up of my first real good weekend of yard sales, now here's what we did with that mystery item:

It's a bike rack! My husband painted it white and put it on my bike as a Mother's Day present. ;)

Thrift Scores!

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

Well, I've missed blogging a bit and don't think it's because I don't want to, but (you know there is always a 'but...') I've been crazy busy lately and haven't had a chance. I've been working on my Etsy store quite a bit, and all that photographing and listing takes time. I don't know about you, but I am way better at acquiring stuff than selling it! My downstairs has been taken over by the stuff I have bought to resell. Plus, I'm getting ready to sell at a flea market for the first time, so there's a bunch of things in my basement waiting to be priced, etc. I have a high tolerance for clutter, but this is getting out of control. (Shield your eyes- reality check follows!)

In case you are wondering what it is like to be a vintage hoarder seller, this is what it looks like. It is a lot of fun, but more work than most people realize. And this is only a small part of the mess- my storage and packing stations are elsewhere!

But that also means I've been buying a ton of cool stuff, so I thought you might like to see some all cleaned up and ready to show off!

I just bought this amazing antique chest yesterday. It had been sitting in my local Salvation Army for about a week and I kept passing it by because there was no price on it. (You know they won't sell stuff without a ticket on it, so I kept waiting.) It finally got priced yesterday and it was $6.99- seriously! Even at that, I hemmed and hawwed at it because I didn't think I could fit it in my car. And I was right...hehe.  I somehow wedged it in the trunk of my Chevy Cruze and drove it a couple miles home with the trunk lid open.

I bought it to use outside on my patio I was thinking as a potting bench or outdoor bar. It's not in great condition, but for outside it will be fine- I wish I had a covered porch to keep it on! It makes an amazing photo backdrop for some of my listings, which is exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, nothing will help my lame photography skills, though. Selling on Etsy is so dependent on taking great photos, and I definitely know that is my weakness.

I pass up enamelware all the time- not quite sure why I suddenly decided to buy some. Except that these are awesome pieces and I love red. The platter is so cool, and it was only $1, the bowl still had some of the original label on it and it was $2. (See how easy it is to rationalize...)

I love vintage lawn furniture and have quite a collection at this point. I bought this little strap chair for my daughter to use. It was only $2! I use the bigger one in the back all the time- they are so much lighter and more comfortable than those stupid chair-in-a-bag things. All this green and turquoise furniture is so cheery, plus it matches my vintage patio umbrella I thrifted last year. I can't wait to get it all out- will definitely have to do another post on that!

This camera is one of my favorite buys from the last few weeks. It's a Polaroid Land Camera with its original case and all the accessories. My son and I actually went in on this together because I didn't have enough money on me to buy it that day. My 9 year old (known to many of you readers as "Eagle Eye") bailed me out! LOL But since he loaned me 1/3 of the purchase price I told him he could have 1/3 of the profit when we sell it. So look for it in my Etsy store soon, and help support the next generation of pickers! 

The time to buy holiday stuff is just after that holiday is over! I bought these Beistle leprechauns at the pound store. One is on  a skateboard- argh- the cuteness!  So they basically cost me 6 cents. And the Marvin the Martian lunch bags are still in their package. I can't decide if I want to sell them or let my kids use them for school, but I don't think 3rd graders appreciate the coolness factor here.

The same goes for this Sylvester the cat bookbag. Way too cool for school- and already in my Etsy store. Want it? Enter coupon code PIT20OFF and you get 20% off!

And it wouldn't be a thrifting post without Pyrex. Lately the greens just seem to follow me home. I don't collect either of these patterns, but I know a lot of folks do, so here's hoping I can resell them. The cinnamon mugs match my favorite pattern, Autumn Harvest, though, so they might be staying. LOL, who am I kidding, it all might be staying! ;)