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!

Red White and Blue and Bo Duke Too!

I've had a good run lately at the thrift stores. It's been a while since I found so much quality merchandise, and I'm thrilled to show it to you!

I found this amazing TV tray (it even has legs for breakfast in bed!) from the Dukes of Hazzard show. It was in the dreaded "antiques" section of the  thrift store (= higher prices than normal), but since the store was having a 25% off sale, I was able to get it for $7.50. Not too bad, and when I get tired of looking at the boys, I can resell it for a nice profit, I think.

The stars and stripes milk glass mug (37 cents!) is my new favorite coffee mug, even if it isn't Pyrex. I LOVE it, and don't know how anyone could get rid of something like that! Plus it matches the tray- bonus!

As you may have guessed, my obsession with Pyrex is always high on the list right now. I found this Pink Gooseberry 471 (1 pt) casserole the other day, which completes my set of those casseroles, minus a couple of lids. 

I also found two Colonial Mist 441 Cinderella bowls. Not my favorite pattern, but at $1.50 each I couldn't resist. I was surprised to learn that the white glaze on the outside is fired on- that seemed to me like and unneccessary step for a bowl that is already white, but I guess if Pyrex didn't do that, the pattern would have looked like those ugly Glasbake bowls with the blue flowers I always see. Well, I learned something! LOL, another cameo by the stars and stripes mug, plus a Butterfly Gold Pyrex mug (75 cents).

This next one was a bit of a splurge, but I have never seen anything like this:

A triangular shaped casserole with atomic snowflake design and stand! It is made by Inland Glass and in mint condition. It is definitely going to be a display piece in my collection, even if it's not Pyrex.

I got this really neat orange and green planter for $3. I have never seen an orange planter before, so had to get it because my living room is orange and green.

I did find some vintage clothing finally. These antique safety glasses are so amazing- still in their original box.

And this 1940s crepe dress was found in an small town thrift store in upstate PA for $4. It's incredible and in perfect condition- watch for it in my Etsy store!

Style Envy

I don't know about all of you, but sometimes I get a really bad case of house envy from looking at others' blogs. Perfectly put-together homes with consistent styles get me every time. Those homes also tend to be the polar opposite of what mine looks like - a carefully curated museum exhibit, rather than the museum storage room! Makes me want to sell everything on ebay and start fresh!

My house is such a hodge-podge of styles, sometimes I fell like it's everything and nothing all at the same time. I'm not sure if I could even limit myself to one particular style of decorating. But if I could, I would have a whole house of mid century modern decor. Or maybe vintage industrial. Or maybe cottage chic.... I guess that's the problem, really, I love it all!

Literally, I have all these styles and more in various rooms of my 1800 square foot house:

Shabby chic/cottage style:

Rustic Adirondack:

Mid Century Modern:

50's Atomic

40's cute

Art Deco:

At this point I think I'm too set in my ways and too much in love with all my stuff to ditch everything and start over. A lifetime of collecting vintage items will do that, I suppose. But it still doesn't deter me from dreaming about owning and furnishing a 1950s Eichler, or a 30s Frank Lloyd Wright, or an industrial loft, or....

What about you? Can you stick to one style or is it a mishmash?

Thrifted Thursday: 1950s atomic storage stool

As I noted in my previous post, I have been doing quite a bit of thrifting lately. I went to some of the usual places, and also one of my favorite places that I don't get to very often. It was there that I found something I've been looking for for some time- a vintage storage stool!

I love the upholstery; unfortunately it is vinyl and the top is cracked. I'll have to replace that some time. But the rest of it is in great shape. As you can see it matches my great trash-picked MCM black and white chair. I paid $10 for it, and I think that was a pretty sweet deal.