The Drought is Over!

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

First off, I have to say that I have been getting a little bit worried about the state of thrifting in general. Whether you're out to resell or just to find cool things for yourself, it wasn't looking so hot. I think I walked out of more stores empty-handed than with a purchase, and that used to never happen! It seemed like the pickings were slim since November, especially for Pyrex.

Well, I am happy to say that it seems like my luck has changed, at least for today! And it's funny, too, because I feel like crap today and haven't been out all week, but talked myself into going this afternoon just to get out of the house...

I finally found some Pyrex! The Golden Acorn DD is a duplicate for me, but it was in mint condition and had the lid, so I picked it up for $6. 

The Butterprint 401 is something I sorely needed to work on my 400 series set, and was only $2! I have all the 440s and 400s now except the elusive 404 (4 qt) mixing bowl. I have been trying to keep away from buying online too, because of all the horror stories of stuff breaking lately. So far I've had great luck, but I don't want to push it, plus it's more fun to find it in the wild.

And the clear 502 fridgie in the middle is one of the early ones, only made from 1950-52. How do I know? Well, besides coming with an old-style lid, it has the sunshine stamp on the bottom. They only made clear 501s and 502s during those years, and when the clear ones were re-introduced in the 80s they would have had a microwave stamp.

These printed glasses were $1 each- it's had to tell in the photo but they are gorgeous- they are pink, green and white. I did a post a while back on my collection of printed glassware. I haven't been buying as much of it lately, since I limit myself to buying only ones that come in sets, but I can find space for these!

And finally, I've been having some decent luck finding vintage valentine stuff- mostly crepe paper hearts and candy boxes. This little cherub is actually a planter or perhaps a card holder. I'll do a separate post on Valentines when we get closer to the day!

I'm a crafty sort...

...not really. Actually, I never make stuff. Me and hot glue just don't get along.

But I had an idea to make one of those vintage lightbulb/ornament wreaths. Since we use those big colored lights to outline our house, I happened to have a bunch of spare lightbulbs. And today we're snowed in, so it was a good day to do a project.

It took me two years to get my act together and do it though (hey, it took a while to collect all those burned out bulbs!) but it was really easy. And believe me, if I am saying that about a craft, it must be. It only took about an hour and I got to use some of the ornaments I thrifted yesterday (for 75% off!) Which was great, because once I got them home I realized I was going to have to store them for another whole year before putting them up... so win, win!

 And since I had the glue gun out, I also fixed up this bottle brush wreath I have had for years. It needed something, so I added the "Merry Christmas" sign and a few bird ornaments. I had been thinking about bleaching it (as you can see above, our front door is red, and this just wouldn't stand out) but then I decided to hang it in front of my living room mirror.  Perfect! 

'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!