My mom has caught the Pyrex bug. (I own some of the blame, I'm sure.) Unfortunately, though, she says there's not much of a Pyrex inventory near her home in the North Carolina mountains. So I took pity on her one morning this past week (while she searched Pyrex listings on Ebay) and ran into a few thrift stores I don't get to visit very often—
just for her. And I she got lucky.
The following photos are those that I texted her while in the stores, the photos that asked, "Do you want this?"
At my first stop, a SA, I struck yellow. This unnumbered primary bowl was in super condition and priced at only five bucks. A no-brainer.
Primary serendipity! At the next store, a GW just down the road, I grabbed this green 403 for her. It was in pretty good condition, too.
Then I moved a couple of aisles over.
And there sat more primaries. The red 402, God bless it, was way beyond refurbishing, so I recommended (via text) that Mama pass on it. The blue 401, though, I thought had promise.
I wrote to her saying that,
despite the scratches,
the bowl was a nice enough one for $1.96. But here's the deal: When I got home and washed it, I learned that those weren't scratches after all. Instead, the whitish stuff is some kind of film, which I hope I can remove with some product and a little bit of elbow grease. We'll see.
Also at that GW, I got Mama a divided lid for $2.96. (She's even collecting lids now.)
And this is one of two manger scenes I found for her. She has been collecting these for a while. (I take no responsibility for this obsession of hers, by the way.) This cute handmade ceramics project is dated in the late 1970s (about the time Mama and I also had some ceramics fun—
when it was quite the thing). It stands only about three inches tall.
At my last stop for her, my favorite GW, I found this Butterfly Gold Cinderella (the vintage 1972-1978 release). It wasn't in great shape, with that dull finish and lots of little scuff marks. But it was priced at $2.96, so I convinced Mama (still via text) to get it. When I got home, I worked on it just a little. I was able to get rid of the marks with Bar Keeper's Friend, but it's still dull. I'm not sure whether I should have gotten it. We'll need to work on it a little more.
And I found her another lid.
And this is what her haul looked like after I washed things up a bit. It was a pretty primary day for her, for sure.
And for myself? I did okay.
This is a bad photo, I know. But I've already washed and packed my new Santa away for next year. (This is the photo I texted to Mama.) Christmas was 75 percent off that day, by the way, affecting the prices for my Santa and Mama's nativity scenes. And like Mama's nativity scene, my Santa is hand done.
Of course, I had to buy some mugs, all of which are now listed in my Etsy shop. This one is by artist and author Suzy Becker, and it's signed and dated 1991.
I'm so over folk country, but some folks have never abandoned it. And, hey, for some, it's new and retro! So I picked up this mug by Potpourri Press. It's dated 1990. And it oozes that folk-art-country-late-1980s-early-1990s style.
And I say you can't go wrong with an Otagiri mug. Isn't it classic? This one was made in Japan.
I just love these melmac fondue plates, made in Japan. Dijon mustard yellow? Oh, yeah. And they'll coordinate just fine with the plates I found in the summer.
And lastly, I bought this set of 12 bread-and-butter plates, thinking that they might be Blue Ridge Pottery, although there was no making on the bottoms. (I was going to list them in my shop.) Turns out they're actually the Dixie Dogwood pattern by Joni China, which is fine, too. In the end, though, Mama wants them. And that works even better for me. They'll look right at home in her kitchen.
That's all for this week. Hope everyone is having good thrifting luck!
And thanks, as always, to Sir Thrift-a-Lot and a living space for the opportunity to link up.
About a week before Christmas, I saw an oval tray by Dansk at one of my regular stops. It was in rough shape, but I knew that it only needed some replenishing oil. It was marked five bucks, though (more than I wanted to pay), and it looked like it had originally come with a couple of serving bowls of some sort, which were missing. Three more times before Christmas (yep, I stop in too often), I picked the thing up again, pondering it, but all three times I left it there.
Then over Christmas and while visiting my parents in North Carolina, I had thrifter's remorse (sound familiar?).
So the morning after driving home, I was back in the store. I beelined for the shelf where I'd last seen it, and (Yay!) there it was. When I brought the poor thing home, it looked like this:
But I got after it with my handy-dandy IKEA replenishing product, and looky here:
Pretty nice, huh? I figure I have enough thrift store bowls sitting around (or stored, Lord knows) to take the place of whatever serving bowls originally sat on both ends. Loving my first Dansk tray!
Back to North Carolina—
in an Asheville GW, I found a groovy-but-nasty enamel cast iron skillet with a teak handle, made by Copco. There were a couple of places where some of the enamel had chipped off, but the thing was orange, so I was compelled to buy it. At home, I applied lots of BKF and more of the IKEA replenishing stuff. Check it out.
It makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich, by the way.
Also in North Carolina, I found these cute juice glasses.
They're by Arcoroc (France), and they're sweet. I do think it's weird that they're decorated with onions and mushrooms, though. (Can you juice a mushroom?)
And I found this tablecloth (handmade) for a steal. Mama thinks the fabric was originally used by Henredon Furniture on one of their pieces. Henredon used to build furniture in Mitchell County, North Carolina, until they had to close up shop there about 10 years ago. You still see their high-quality fabric and ornate and gargantuan pieces here and there in the area, though, because they used to have a great, largely unadvertised outlet store on the premises. I still have fabric around my house, bought back in the day.
Anyhow, the tablecloth was orange, so I scooped it up.
Speaking of fabric, I bought this several weeks ago. It's blue; it's houndstoothy; and it's vintage polyester. Simply beautiful. (Can't you imagine sewing the best woman's pantsuit ever out of this?) My husband thinks I'm crazy, but I will make throw pillow covers for our bedroom with this fine vintage fabric.
Back home, I bought these bread and butter plates in sage. They're Harkerware by Russel Wright, like the charcoal ones I found a couple of weeks ago. They're already listed in my Etsy shop.
I also picked up this perfect Pyrex Butterprint 503 fridgie. Always love that torquoise!
I have a thing for vintage iced tea glasses. Libbey made the turquoise polka-dot one, Anchor Hocking made the black and red carriage one, and I have no idea who made the green and white early-American one. (But I do already have several others in that set, God help me.)
I bought more coffee mugs. (Duh.) The New York mug is a Jay Joshua design (not so old), and the beetle mug is by Tyrrell Katz (vintage, like, 2013?). You can't see it clearly in this photo, by the way, but John Lennon is included as a "beetle."
And that Wife/Hug mug, made in Japan, is kitschy-cute, indeed. I've already listed it on Etsy.
I haven't eaten meat in years, and I rarely serve it. But I had to have these utensils. They look like the ones Alice would have placed on the table for that blended Brady family.
And last, here are some goofy odds and ends. More Tupperware. Yay! And I'm always up for fun and inexpensive planters. Come this spring, all three of these will be filled with sweet, tiny Hens and Chicks.
Oops. I almost forgot an update: I wrote about some overpriced mugs/cups that I've seen for two years now at my favorite thrift store in Mama's town. Well, they were still there this Christmas. Proof.
Sending much appreciation out to Sir-Thrift-a-Lot and a living space for the opportunity to link up!
That is all for now. Happy, happy thrifting, y'all.
