Thrift Tales Thursday: Christmas Lovin'

Hello all and I hope you had a positively wonderful holiday!  I know I did, it was so nice to just relax and spend some much needed time with my family and boyfriend.  Not to mention all the delicious food, including my grandma's perfect peanut butter fudge.  It was enough to encourage kicking off the New Year's resolutions early.  Teeheehee

 

But now we are on to the lovely vintage goodness I found under the tree!  My Dad did wonderfully with the 1961 Holiday Promotional Pyrex casserole with lid.  He also found the Daisy loaf pan and the Amish Blue Butterprint Mixing Bowls.  My mom found me the Pink Daisy space saver at goodwill and it is in wonderful condition except for a small chip.  I love it.  She also found the pink banded plate.  I found the cute mini-cookbooks at an antique store on sale. 

 

This is the unbelievable part though.  My dad found me a set of the blue banded dinnerware complete with serving platter and bowl, as well as the cream and sugar. There are 8 place settings including the dinner plate, luncheon plate, saucer, and bowl as well as 3 cups.  Luckily I believe I have some cups and some bread plates so chances are I have a complete set for 8.  Squeee!  Have I mentioned my dad is the best!

 

 

My boyfriend was also a sweetheart and got me a pink snuggie...which he decided to get embroidered...with I <3 Pyrex.  I think he is a keeper. 

 

 

In other news, I also found these two Colonial Mist Cinderella Mixing Bowls at Goodwill for a steal at $3 for both.  I had also found 3 of the spring blossom bowls but I had forgotten to photograph them. 

 

 

Question of the Day:  Did you find any vintage goodies waiting under your tree?  What was your favorite?  If you can choose that is ;)

 

Well that's all for now folks!  Hopefully the holidays were all you hoped for and more.  Happy Thrifting!

Thrift Tales Thursday : More fabulous recent finds!

 Hello again everyone!  I have set a goal for myself.  To create and stick to an efficient blog schedule.  While I think that it will be easy for me to keep on top of it during winter break from college, I only hope that I have the time to maintain it through the spring semester as well.  I won't know for sure though until I try.  Therefore, consider this day 1. 

 

I am still working on catching up from the backlog of finds I didn't photograph and blog about from the end of summer and early fall.  These are amongst some of my favorites.  I found 3 vintage printed table cloths - two from the thrifts and one from a yard sale.  All were wonderful bargains under $3 each.  Also at the same yard sale I found the Kromex grease jar, salt, and pepper shaker.  I was incredibly tickled about this given I had already found the canister set!  The jadeite plate and little Pyrex delphite refrigerator dish also came from the same sale.  The wearever ice bag in it's original box and Pyrex Empire Scroll casserole complete with lid and cradle came from the local goodwill.  The grid folding board and Waring chrome blendor were both a wonderful purchase at the local thrift benefiting an animal shelter.  As a confession... this is my third Waring blendor. 

 

 

Well that is all for now folks! I am off to tackle the Christmas presents yet to be wrapped.  Hopefully I can finish them up today.  Happy Thrifting!

 

Question(s) of the Day: Any tips for sticking to a blog schedule? ...and how many blendors are too many?

 

 

A Little Something to Ring in the Season

Hello again everyone! I am happy to say that I have finally finished (the seemingly never-ever-ever ending) first semester of my senior year in college.  This also means I have survived the toughest bulk of my coursework.  So I can finally relax.  And fold my laundry.  And blog. 

 

Today I had some time to run some errands, mail all my Christmas cards, and I happened to stop off at the local antique mall.  What can I say?  It was on the way.  How can you not stop?

 

I found this lovely Christmas tablecloth that I think is adorable with all the bows.  I also can't argue with the timing with Christmas right around the corner.  I also picked up these two books.  The "Home Folks" one is a school geography book from the 30's with some amazing photos with project potential (given the destroyed spine on the book). 

 

 

The other is an accounting textbook dated 1878.  Have I mentioned before that I am an accounting major?  I have a "thing" for collecting vintage items related to this profession. 

 

 

The rest of this post is sort of a highlight reel of the some of the items I had found recently and photographed.  Sadly, there were many other amazing finds that I failed to photograph.  This is at least a little bit of them though. 

 

I had found the Pyrex chip and dip set in the box at a goodwill along with the opal bread pan and Fire King jadeite mixing bowl.  Jadeite at a thrift store! I was super tickled about that one. 

 

 

I also found the complete Daisy bakeware set!  This was quite exciting for me since this is my first lasagna pan. 

 

 

I also had some great luck with finding linens including this amazing dish towel. 

 

I also found a couple other towels as well as two floral themed tablecloths. 

 

 

I had picked up this Pyrex twin serving piece at a flea market in late summer. 

 

 

Finally...last but certainly not least, at the same flea market I found the two casseroles needed to complete my Pyrex Pink Amish Butterprint set!

 

As always, thank you for reading everyone!  Hopefully I can get back into the swing of things and start updating on some of my other recent finds.  Happy thrifting everyone!

Time to Share!

Hello all! Things have been quite busy in the thrifting/flea marketing/yard saleing department around here.  Which means I should have posted far more within the past couple months than I have.  Now I have a pretty massive backlog to catch y'all up on.  So perhaps I shall take this one post at a time.  And this is the first step. 

 

I picked up this large painting at Goodwill because I thought it was rather pretty.  I also really liked it because it was done by a local woman in the 1970's. 

 

 

Now it's time for the bulk of it!..for round one that is.

 

 

The boyfriend and I hit up some pretty fantastic yard sales a while back where I scored the cooler (for a dollar!), the paper product holder, and the partial Pyrex percolator.  The vintage egg crate was a Goodwill deal. 

 

The other wood crate was also from Goodwill in addition to the spatula and the one dish rack (with original tag!).  The other dish rack, blue mason jar, carafe, and Nesbitt's soda bottle came from various yard sales.   

 

It amazes me that the tag remained on for that long!

 

 

For the Pyrex goodies, I found the badly dishwasher damaged pink scroll space saver which also happened to be covered in wax at a yard sale.  But it was a dollar...and I felt bad for it... so I brought it home.  The barbed wire divided dish came from goodwill. 

 

 

Dad also picked me up the Dandelion Duet Divided Dish with cradle, unused candles, and box for an absolute steal at the flea market!

 

 

I also found a ton of miscellaneous books, pamphlets, maps, etc at the yard sales.  I was excited to talk with an older fella selling some of it.  He was so thrilled with the history of it and explaining to me what it was and how he had acquired it.  You could tell he appreciated that someone younger was so interested in his old "junk". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last but not least, we have a vintage Candy Land game that is complete (although without box). 

 

 

 

Well that is all for now folks, hopefully I can get some more catch up posts out there... I certainly have a lot to share! It amazes me what all I have found in the past couple months.  Happy thrifting everyone!

A Well Rounded Haul and Some Special Presents!

Hello again everyone!  I had some pretty spectacular thrifting and flea marketing this past week.  Which means I have plenty of new goodies to share! I'm a little too excited to offer anymore of an introduction, so without further delay, we begin with the Pyrex!

 

The little casserole from the buffet twins, 2 Friendship mixing bowls, 4 quart Homestead casserole, small green striped mug, and 2 sets of Pyrex compatibles napkin rings all came from the local Goodwills.  Yeah, when I saw them, especially the friendship, I maybe squealed a bit and took off at warp speed to grab them.  The Americana 4 quart bowl was something my Dad picked up at a yard sale for a dollar.  The two Amish Blue Butterprint fridgies were part of my birthday gift from him (along with a jar of pickles).  

 

 

 

From the same yard sale as the Americana, my dad also got the entire box of vintage Christmas bulbs for a dollar. I picked up the Sunbeam Mixmaster, little metal percolator, Amish themed disposable souvenir coasters from Dutch Haven in Lancaster PA, red and silver platter, and autumn cake plate from thrift stores.  I love the cake plate!  The  knob on top is an acorn and there is a design around it featuring leaves and more acorns!



 

 

The Famous Artist Painting Series books from 1953 are absolutely intriguing to me! Also I found the 1929 dictionary and promotional tongs at the same store.  Finally, the welcome mat is new, but I think it is adorable and for a couple bucks at the thrift shop, I had to grab it. 

 

 

Close up of the promotional tongs from "Jim's Keystone Service"

 

 

Here are some interior photos of the art instruction books. 

 

 

And finally (although I am sorry for the less than fabulous photo), we have the golden acorn casserole that my boyfriend found for me.  I was so tickled when he turned up with this! Most twenty-some year old guys don't even care to figure out what "Vintage Pyrex" is...let alone keep their eye out for it! :) 

 

Also pictured is the small white hostess style Pyrex dish my dad found for me at the Flea Market.  Although I have seen some debate as to whether these are "real", in my opinion this can definitely not be a dishwashed red or yellow as some people suggest.  It is as shiny as can be and there is not a single speck anywhere on it.  It may have been that although Pyrex did not intentionally make a white Hostess set, some "left the factory" in their white state. 

 

 

Well that is all for now folks!  Wishing everyone happy thrifting and hoping you find some goodies to share as well!

 

Linking up over at:

Thriftasaurus

 

How to... Recover A Chair Seat (The Late Night Version)

I have a confession.  I am a project addict; the type of person who always has to have something "in the works" to occupy my mind and focus on.  So the other night...at approximately 11:30 PM..I got the urge to recover my desk chair seat...and I didn't find this to be odd. 

 

1) We start with the chair.

 

 

2) The chair gets flipped over and the seat is removed.  On this chair, this is done by removing screws in the corner brackets.  

 

 The seat cushion is free!  3) Remove the old fabric cover by prying up the staples.  Depending upon the condition of the cushion beneath the fabric, you must either decide to keep the existing foam/batting/etc or replace it with new.  In this case, the old will still suffice. 

 

The chair stands alone.  The chair stands alone.  Hi-ho-the-dairy-oh the chair stands alone.  Yes, it is late at night and I am getting quite tired.  

 

 

Now to break out the new fabric, caffeine, and staple gun.  This is where the focus is necessary 4) I usually start by stapling one corner in place, then moving to the opposite corner, then the other two corners.  Then I staple one side before moving to the opposite side...and so on and so forth.  Note: Be aware of where your screw holes are to put the cushion back on the chair while you are stapling.  Another note: Pull the fabric tight enough to avoid wrinkles and leave the seat smooth, but not too tight. 

 



 

5)  Any excess fabric can then be trimmed off... just don't trim too close to the staples. 

 

6) And the seat cushion can be screwed back on.  



 

 

The transformation is complete. 

 

I have a big ole thrifting post in the works that I will hopefully get up soon...it was a very nice week at the thrifts, flea markets, and antique stores for me.   

 

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

I'd love to hear your opinion!

As many of you may have noticed, lately I have been playing around a bit with my blog layout and look.  I think I have finally found something that is exactly the type of mood and spunk I was hoping to convey!  But now I am curious.  What do you think of it?  Please take a moment to answer the cute little poll located in the right sidebar so I can hear your opinion!  Care to comment on the new look further?  Looking to offer up a suggestion? Comment away on this post!

Thank You!
 ~Cal :)