Snowflakes in January

The weather has been quite cold lately, and for several days I've woken up to find little bits of snow on the ground. Of course, the snowflakes that really got me excited showed up in the mail:





Yes, I've been on eBay again. I feel it was justified though, because these were a great deal. They were each .99 cents, and sold by the same seller so I got combined shipping. When it was all said and done, the dishes were only about $9 each - and they're in great condition with the lids. Not too bad at all.



This, I have to say, is one of my favorite thrifted kitchen items ever. I found these in the "antiques and collectibles" corner of the Peace At Home thrift store in Fayetteville (which means they think it could be valuable so they mark it up). When I first saw these geese, I had no idea what they were. When I picked them up to check for markings, I realized the undersides of each goose had measurment markings. They're little plastic nesting geese measuring cups!!! Soooo cute! There were only three, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup and 1 cup. They cost me $3, but I thought they were well worth it.



Here's another great thrifting find. This is a very large (2.5 quart) oval Pyrex casserole that I picked up at the Springdale Salvation Army for $5. The lid is really scratched and chipped, but the dish itself is ok. According to PyrexLove, this is a promotional casserole from 1965 called 'Empire Scroll Filligree'.



I picked up this little dish at the Samaritan thrift store in Springdale for $3. It's unmarked Glasbake in their version of the blue onion pattern. It goes with the mug I got during Christmas! :) Sorry the dish isn't very clean, all the brown crud is what was left even after I scrubbed it with Bar Keeper's Friend. When I get paid this week I'm going to pick up some oven cleaner to hopefully take the rest of the baked-on crap off. I'll let you know how it goes.



Lastly, another eBayed item - the largest bowl in the Pyrex New Dot set. It was pretty expensive ($41 before shipping), but I was a woman on a mission. I tried to buy this bowl on eBay around Christmas, got a good deal, but it arrived shattered. It was the saddest thing when I opened the box and heard the tinkling sound of bits of broken glass. So damn the cost, I had to get me another one! I just sit around and hold it sometimes, I love it.

Recent Thrifting Finds

This past week I had a few days off work, and I was able to get out to some of the local thrift stores in Springdale. I didn't get too many things, but I did find a few choice items to add to my various collections.





This is a french Arcopal mug with what looks like a stylized blue onion pattern on it. I had to get it because 1) it adds to my mug collection and 2) I like to get any different variations on Old Town Blue that I can find. I think it was only 50 cents.





This is an unmarked Glasbake mug that I picked up at the Salvation Army. I love the football design. I'll have to bring it out for the Superbowl. :)



I found all these records at a thrift store in Springdale called Auxillary that I haven't been able to get to in a while, because they're only open on weekdays. Now that I have more weekdays off, I'll be able to hit this one up more! I found these three Monkees albums. The records themselves are pretty minty, and the cover art is in great condition. They cost me a dollar each.



My last find was also from the Auxillary thrift store. I got this Polaroid camera for $3. It is from the early 80s, I believe. It came with the manual, but it was taped to the camera, and it ripped the cover a bit. I hate how thrift stores can end up damaging items with careless taping, or my personal favorite, writing on things directly with Sharpie. Why people, why?!

A Very Vintage Christmas

Christmas '07 was a boon for me in terms of receiving vintage items, whether they were gifts or purchased by me. I hadn't had much luck in the previous months finding very much Pyrex out and about at local thrift stores. I swear Leilani is a good luck charm, because when we went out together we found some lovely vintage goodies, including quite a bit of Pyrex. My friend Amanda also contributed to my Christmas Pyrex haul quite a bit. She "rediscovered" eBay right before the holidays and got slightly addicted. She bid on quite a few Pyrex items for my Christmas gifts as well. This Christmas alone has very nearly doubled my Pyrex stash!

As Leilani mentioned in one of her posts, we still haven't figured out the 'Read More' code, so this will be another rather image-heavy blog.



This little guy was given to me by Leilani when she arrived. Instead of holding a gift card, she made a certificate entitling me to $40 of Pyrex/miscellaneous kitchenware when we were out thrifting. Needless to say I made full use of this offer. ;)



This is A Pyrex butter dish in the 'Snowflake Garland' pattern. It was a surprise gift from Leilani that she brought with her from Chicago. She actually thrifted this when she visited Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, which is apparently an untouched thrifting mecca.



Another surprise gift from Leilani were these vintage apothecary jars. I had seen several like this when I had been out thrifting, but I had never seen any in green, only cobalt blue.



This is a Desert Dawn 8 inch square dish made by Pyrex, given to me by Amanda. I collect the yellow version, but it also comes in dark pink. The only difference between Desert Dawn and solid yellow or pink is that Desert Dawn has a fine spray of darker flecks that coat the surface of the dish. I like this pattern not only for the color, but because they come in some more useful baking dish sizes that some of the other patterns just weren't made in, the 8 inch square being a good example.





Two more Desert Dawn dishes, a round cake dish and an oblong baker, that were eBayed for me by my boyfriend. Desert Dawn seems to be a little more uncommon. Although I thrifted my first piece of Desert Dawn, I haven't seen any more out at any local thrift or antique stores, and all the rest were bought from eBay, and even on there they are unusual.



Amanda eBayed this small Pyrex Butterprint refrigerator dish and extra lid for me. The lid is a replacement for the medium sized Butterprint refrigerator dish that I had thrifted.



Another eBayed gift from Amanda, this time the Pyrex Old Town Blue butter dish. I have a very large set of the Old Town Corelle dishes that I thrifted, and my latest goal is to get all of the Pyrex coordinates that match for a complete set! (I only need one more S&P shaker and the gravy boat now.)



More Pyrex goodness in another one of my all-time favorite patterns - Turquoise Snowflake. The bottom dish is a 2 quart rectangular 'space-saver' casserole from Amanda. The top dish is a 1.5 quart oval casserole that Leilani bought for me while we were out at an antique store.




While Leilani and I were out at the Rogers Salvation Army, I found this 1.5 quart Pyrex primary yellow refrigerator dish. No lid, but it was in amazingly good condition (especially for the Salvation Army). Leilani got this for me, I cashed in some more of my Pyrex gift certificate.



Another find from the same place as above, a 4 cup Corning carafe with a pretty gold-leaf starburst design. I had seen one just like this except it was 6 cups at an antique store earlier that day. This one was a much better deal than the inflated antique store prices, however!



A Federal mug that Leilani picked up for me when we were out together. I love to add all kinds of milk glass mugs to my collection.



The mug on the left is made by Corning, the pattern is 'Oriental Wood'. The mug on the right is unmarked, but I believe it is Glasbake by the shape. It's a lot like Pyrex's Old Town blue pattern.



Another addition to my cup/mug collection, this one is actually Pyrex tableware, in the 'Bluegrass' pattern.



Saving the best for last, this is one of my favorite pieces that I got this Christmas - English Pyrex! I was shocked to find some out in the wild in Arkansas. I haven't been able to find the pattern name online, but I call it 'Wildflower' for obvious reasons. I recognized the distinctive handle shape from the pictures of other English Pyrex pieces that have been posted on PyrexLove's Flickr group. They were quite cheap at a couple of dollars per casserole.

Vintage Ornament Finds

Unlike Leilani, I haven't struggled for years to find good Christmas items thrifting, as I only started fairly recently, and my main obsession is kitchen items (namely Pyrex). Leilani and I went on a thrifting adventure last week, exploring some new territory in the Bentonville/Rogers area. At one of our stops, the Rogers Council of the Blind, I did find some Christmas ornaments that I just couldn't pass up...



I adore these mice ornaments, they are just too cute. They are made of felt and pipe cleaners, and they are each holding a different kitchen item, made of plastic. I really wanted to get them after I saw that there was a set of three - I had to keep the family together!



These ornaments make me feel very nostalgic, because my parents have collected an assortment of ornaments over the years, and they have many wood ones that look to be from the 70s, like these. I was especially drawn to these ornaments because, though I'm not sure, I think my parents might actually have some just like these. I know at least that they have a Santa almost exactly like this with the pipe cleaner beard, but I can't remember if it has a drum or not.

Leilani picked all these up for me with the other items she purchased as part of my Christmas present. The chick, toadstool and santa ornaments that she found (the first picture on her post) were part of the same haul.