The Haunting of the Strawberry Towel

This is the last of my "catch up" posts from my past two weeks of working like crazy.  That translates into the random post with the odd single item finds I pulled together during my limited thrifting opportunities here and there. 

Quite an odd collection isn't it?  The Pyrex orange and lemon juice pitcher was an early birthday gift from my grandma.  I found the four quart Early American mixing bowl for a mere $2 at an antique store as well as the bizarre fork like thingy and strawberry print 1966 towel.  The egg beater was a find courtesy of my dad that he picked up for $2...Woohoo! Go Dad! Finally, the blue mason jars I got for a dollar each at the flea market monday morning along with some unpictured pennants from the mid seventies from various tourist destinations.  All in all, I don't think I can complain.  

By the way, that towel had been haunting me for 4 months.  Isn't that pathetic?  Ever since I saw it there, I kept thinking about it.  Trying to figure out why it appealed to me.  Deciding whether it was worth the $3.  I finally caved. 

Ohhh, and I almost forgot this lil guy.

I picked this up at Goodwill for five bucks.  It always makes me nervous buying appliances and electrical items there, but I got it home and it works beautifully.  After I took some time to clean it up, it turned out to be a pretty good purchase.  From my research, this model was made from 1957-1967.  

Happy Birthday...to me!

Okay, well maybe it's not my birthday quite yet...but it is in less than two weeks.  So I don't think there is anything wrong with celebrating a little bit early, is there?  Especially when the celebrating is getting a 1920's Hoosier Cabinet. 

Ohhhh, wait!  Here's the rest of it...

Maybe I should have mentioned that it is beyond "a little rough".  And yes, I am planning on restoring it...or at least getting it to an assembled and usable condition.  Hmmm...what did I get myself into.  Stay tuned for the updates on this one.

Time For a Break

Lately have have been working my booty off.  Theoretically this should lead to a shortage of finds for me, but alas, I have found a way around this.  My dad is amazing and keeps an eye out for goodies for me.  For instance, he found almost everything in this photo for me. 

See.  Doesn't he do fantastic?  The coolest part is that nothing cost over $3.  I've definitely got him trained to Pyrex well.  

Including this piece of Pink Amish Butterprint!  For those of my readers not addicted to Pyrex, this is quite a rare pattern that I never anticipated even seeing in real life.  So when he bought it, not even knowing what it was, he got a biggggg hug!  The gold heart promotional pattern is also my first piece with a cradle, so I was further tickled by seeing he picked that up.  Although I love the little blue primary mixing bowl...it just kinda pales in comparison to the others hahaha

He didn't stop there.  He also picked up the two Amish Blue Butterprint casseroles and small cinderella mixing bowl.  And 2 lids for 080 individual casseroles.  And flameware pot with handle in excellent condition.  

Now I get to take some credit.  I found all of these Pyrex fridgies, one medium and four small all for $3, an excellent deal. I also purchased the wood suitcase type box thing-a-ma-jig. Does anyone else get assistance with their thrifting etc? 

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello All! 

Just wanted to take a moment to wish all the mothers who may stumble upon my blog a happy mother's day as well as wishing one to my momma!  (Hi Mom!)  Also, a general thanks to all who read, comment, and follow my blog.  You have no clue how tickled it makes me to come home to find a new follower or comment. 

* I hope everyone has a great day! *

The Day

Today was a chair day.  And a Pyrex day.  And a vintage linen day.  And a vintage utensil day.  Okay, so I may have gotten carried away. I'll be working a great majority of the next two weekends though, so I had to have enough fun today to carry me through the next two weeks. 

Somehow, working backwards through this explanation seems the most logical.  Therefore, my day ended with these two chairs. 

I particularly like the one on the left (this will become evident when you notice it as a prop in the following photos).  The one on the right needs a little assistance with securing the back properly, but the seat itself is solid as could be.  This is what happens when I go on adventures in the truck...suddenly I can get ANYTHING home hehe

I was rather excited to find the shiny thing-a-ma-bob in this photo.  It is a metal dispenser with three separate compartments for paper towels, wax paper, and aluminum foil.  Thank you yard sale having neighbor!  Also, I was able to find these two linen towels earlier in the day; one has various fruit and the other a 1987 calendar with covered bridge.  

And, we have more Pyrex flameware!  All four of these discluding the handle were included in the miscellaneous box I bought which I will discuss further in a moment.  There is a 7" skillet, 1 qt saucepan, 1 1/2 qt saucepan, and the elusive 2 qt saucepan.  The handle I picked up for a dollar.  I also found another snowflake casserole dish, exactly like the one I had found last weekend.  Now they are like a matching set.  In the back is a Pyrex bundt cake mold that was made in France.  I was a little surprised to find it around here.  



On to the mixing bowls!  The 4 quart snowflake blue mixing bowl is the last bowl I needed to complete my set.  Although I paid a little more for it than I would normally have, I had gotten such a good deal on the other three, it felt slightly justified.  The cinderella Amish Blue Butterprint was also a rather good deal at $4.  All three of the custard cups are the older style with the dollar mark on the bottom and were together one dollar.  

My dad actually bought the next two Pyrex items.  He really liked the size of square flowers casserole.  He also recognized the old style dollar sign mark on the bottom of the small clear casserole.  I was so proud of him!  He's really gotten good with spotting Pyrex.  In fact, he was also the one that found the four blue flameware items in the miscellaneous box. Also pictured are the spatula and slotted spoon that I found for fifty cents each and the 1/4 and 1/3 measuring cups for twenty-five cents each.   

Remember my miscellaneous box?  Well in addition to the four flameware items, all this stuff was in it, a Fire King casserole, Fire King pie plate, Grab-its lid, and the newer (although gorgeous) purple Pyrex casserole.  How much did the box cost?  Only three dollars :)  

Last (although not least) are my finds from Goodwill.  The two platters have a blueish tint with slightly decorative handles and are made by Pyrex.  I know that was probably expected.  I also found the cute potato masher and a knit pot holder for 35 cents.  



Looking at the length of this post, I am certain that I got a little carried away today.  My only comfort: most of it cost a dollar or less. 

Food for Finals

Fact: during final exams, students run on a minimal amount of sleep.  Fact: during finals, they also tend to consume the maximum amount of caffeine.  Fact: they also consume the absolute minimum amount of "real food". 

I know this from the experience I had throughout the past week cramming for exams.  It seemed that if it wasn't microwavable or eatable directly from fridge, it was a no-go for I had studying to do.  Tuesday night, however, I managed to pull together some "real food" with the help of my handy dandy Pyrex and Grandma's knowledge.

Meet the homemade macaroni and cheese which was my savior.

The best part?  It's a piece of cake to make.  All there is to it is to cook the macaroni, layer it with cheese in a casserole, then bake till cheesy is to melty perfection.  



 

Although mine wasn't as good as my grandma's, it was still quite yummy.  But then again, I don't know if anything can top a grandma's cooking. 

The Afternoon: Flea Market Two

Right now, I'm sitting in my bed buried in textbooks and notes preparing for my college semester finals attempting to study.  Somehow, however, it appears that I've become distracted.  Never fear!  I just needed a break.  Reading all those numbers for so long has given me oogly eyes I'm afraid.  What better way to get a bit of a pick me up than blogging?  It is my zen.

Therefore I shall continue with my tales of flea marketing from Saturday.  After securing all my new goodies in my car, I set forth on the forty-five minute journey to the next flea market for the day.  It occurs only once a month, so by the time I arrived, it was getting rather packed.  I had to make haste before all the good stuff was gone!

Do not worry, I believe I did quite well.

At the second flea market I was able to find another Pyrex flameware teapot, this one slightly older with a darker blue tint.  It sometimes seems as if they look for me.  Luckily, I love them dearly and greatly enjoy tea.  Also found was the blue Pyrex snowflake casserole and Amish Blue Butterprint casserole (both without lids).  The yellow canister has daisies printed on the outside and is made by Corning.  The Pyrex Blue Autumn band tea cup was actually one of eleven I purchased.  I'm not positive what I will do with eleven of the lil buggers, but I got a far better deal buying them all as opposed to just a couple. 

I also picked up a medium blue primary fridgie sans lid for only a buck. The Fire King measuring cup and spare lid for a small fridgie were also only a dollar each.  The Pyrex salt and pepper shakers were a last minute find; I was quite tickled to find the pair as opposed to the single ones I find frequently.  Finally, I was able to find the two red fridgies I needed to complete my primary set.  Not only were these in the "decent" condition I would have settled for, but these are in practically mint condition.  

I tried to capture the pretty shine that they have in this photo.  I'm not postive but I do believe these may have been in the best condition I have ever seen.  

Finally, I rounded out my day purchasing all these lil cookbooks for around fifty cents a piece.  I was highly amused by a few of the titles including one Body Building Dishes for Children.  I was also surprised that they could make an entire book on cooking eggs.  



'

Sadly, I suppose I should return to studying at this point. Once again, however, only one of the items above cashed in above the $5 point.  Any guesses on which one it was? 

The Morning: Flea Market One

This weekend was a big one.  Now you may be thinking it was an important birthday or was some other life altering event...well it was actually just the first day of major flea marketing for the summer.  After all I found, however, the question of whether it was life altering is debatable. 

The morning started out wonderful.  Great breakfast.  Arrived at the flea market directly after it opened.  A half hour later, I exited flea market one with an overflowing box of goodies for the hope chest. 

 

It was like the Pyrex flameware jackpot.  I was finally able to find a two quart sauce pan after looking for one all winter.  Hallelujah!  Also a biggie on my flameware lust list were the blue with detachable handles.  Voila! One large and two small saucepans all with handles.  I added another teapot to my collection.  i think I have a "thing" for them.  They're just too adorable for me to pass up.  Finally, in the back is a Pyrex pitcher with lemon and lime slices on it.  I have also been looking for one of these for some time...simply because I really love juice.

The big question comes with the last item in the photo however.  It is a miniature Pyrex pie plate.  It is also pictured below with a teacup for size comparison (more on the cup in my next post).  If I am correct, it is from the Pyrexette set.  It has the old dollar sign mark on the bottom as well.  Does anyone second me on this idea?

 

Yes, there is more.  The wire "thing-a-ma-bob" is a basket I turned upside down for a photo prop I also purchased today.  Also pictured are a yellow wood handled can opener, a red wood handled egg beater (which works marvelously), and a three bar swinging towel rack.  Finally up top is a blue snowflake Pyrex divided casserole that I had purchased Friday night at one of my favorite antique stores. 

The secret: Only one Item above cost more than $5. 

For fun, can you guess which one it is?