Some Cute Finds

Hello Thrifter Friends!


As I was compiling my list of sales to hit tomorrow, I thought I'd take a minute to show you all some things that I have been picking up here and there that I haven't had a chance to share with you...

I've had some pretty strange luck coming across Pyrex in the Rainbow Stripes pattern lately.  I had never seen it in person and then I found 3 pieces at three different places in a 10 day span.

I found this Fire King Jadeite cereal bowl, tulip Swanky Swig, and four of these milk glass mugs at a thrift shop a few weeks ago.  Sister also has these mugs.  Now I won't have to steal borrow hers the next time I visit.

How cute is this piece of vintage fabric?  I sure wish that I could sew but evidently Sister got the crafty gene. 

Some random vintage kitchenware I scavenged from Goodwill

I found the ice bucket to match my Libbey Golden Foliage glasses!

And my most favorite find from the last few weeks.......

This awesome Kromex turquoise and spun aluminum spice rack with shakers set me back more than I would normally pay for something but I fell in love with it the second I saw it.  Plus, I really needed a spice rack for my kitchen and I have never been able to come across one that matched all my other stuff.  Sometimes we just have to make sacrifices, right? 

I hope all of you have found some great treasures this week.  I'll be checking out all your blogs so get to posting!

Sister Left Me!

Ok, I may be overreacting.  Sister just left for her honeymoon and it is a pretty rare occurrence that we vacation separately.  It does make me feel better knowing though that if I wanted to tag along, she would probably let me.  But for the sake of maintaining my awesome relationship with my brother-in-law, I'll leave them alone on this one for now.  But they better not get too used to it!

This has not been the best week.  On Sunday, my washing machine broke and we found out it is not worth fixing. It is an LG and only 4 years old.  Guess what brand I won't be buying again?  Now I have to get a new dryer too since I can't have a mismatched set in my laundry room! So the new set is on order and won't be here until next Wednesday.  Do you have any idea how much laundry a family of 4 can accumulate in 10 days?  I refuse to go to the laundry mat. I just don't have the time.  On Wednesday morning, I awoke to 5" of snow of the ground.  The weathermen in my area are complete idiots and not one of them knew the snow was coming.  We live in the Willamette Valley and it NEVER snows here.  We lost power for a couple of hours and Internet until the next morning.  And just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, the hard drive failed on my DirecTV DVR so now I can't watch tv in my room until I get the new one delivered!  AND I lost all my DVR'd shows!  Yeah, this week has not gone well at all.

So I guess I will try to distract myself from missing my sister and my disastrous week and get you all caught up on some of my latest thrifting treasures with what I found at the Piccadilly Flea Market last weekend.

I picked up this awesome turquoise Cosco step chair at the Piccadilly Flea Market last weekend.  I was super excited to find it plus it's my favorite color in vintage kitchenware so there was no need to do any repainting.  It fits perfect at the end of my counter top.  My grandma Gloria had one of these in her kitchen when I was growing up.  It makes me think of her.

I also got this Fire King vase at the flea market.  It's in awesome condition and for only 2 bucks, I couldn't pass it up. 

I've been picking up these Made in Japan stacking flower mugs here and there.  I need to do a little research on them and find out just how many are in the set.  I don't think that they are worth anything but the floral patterns are so vibrant and cute that I don't care. 

This book is so cute.  It's a promotional item from American Fletcher National Bank & Trust Company from 1951.  It is full of household hints that still can be put to use in today's world.  There are tons of ways to save on electricity and ways to stretch your dollar at the grocery store.  I guess the concept of saving money never changes, even as the years go by.

Tomorrow, the hubby, kids & I are heading south to go to an antique show and do some thrifting.  Even my 15 year old son, Alex is going.  I'm pretty sure that he is more interested in the awesome pizza parlor that the town is known for than the thrifted treasures that (hopefully) await us.  It should be a really good day.  I need it.

Until next time....

Snoopy, I Love You!

Well, the auction is over and................

It sold for $405!!!!!!  Perfect timing, the hubby and I are headed out on Friday for our honeymoon, almost 2 years late!  We're going on a cruise in the Eastern Caribbean, so I think this should help cover the bar bill.  Thanks Snoopy!

A Few Things off My List

Like most thrifters, I keep a list of things to look for when I am out at the thrift stores.  Some of things that I need I will actually use and some are things that I just want because I think I need them.  Some things don't even need to serve any other purpose other than to make me happy.


With no school on Friday and no good yard sales to keep us around, Miss Maddy and I headed out of town to pick in some unfamiliar territory.  We found lots of treasures, some on the list and some not. Here are a few of the highlights....

Both things in this picture would fall under the "Need" catagory.  I have been wanting a scoop for a while to keep in my big sugar canister to make it easier to refill the sugar bowl on the counter.  The Pyrex turquoise 024 2-quart round casserole was needed because....

It was the last one I needed to complete the set! 

Remember my Blakely Oil Company Arizona Barrel Cactus pitcher?  Well lucky me!  I found 5 more glasses to go with it.  Only two more to go.  I still need the Ocotillo & Suguaro to complete the set.  It's so much fun to run across these in person rather than go and buy them all together on eBay or etsy.


After I found these glasses, I started thinking about how I wanted to display them all along with the pitcher.  I decided to try to find some sort of vintage tray to keep them on.  So while we were at Goodwill, I thought I'd look for one.  There were a total of 3 metal trays to choose from and look at what I found...

A vintage Arizona Grand Canyon souvenier tray.  What a crazy coincidence!  It's perfect for what I needed it for.  Talk about the power of positive thinking.  Damn, I should have been thinking about those super rare pink Pyrex refrigerator dishes I have been lusting after!


As we were heading home, we decided to stop at one of my favorite little antique malls that I never really get a chance to go to because it pretty far away from my house.  It was at this mall that Miss Maddy got to cross something off of her list....

She is facinated by typewriters and has wanted one forever.  So how lucky was she to have found one that still worked and came with the cover and hard case for $5.00?  Now if the rest of us could just tune out the constant tap tap tap......

Happy Almost First Day of Spring!

Trying to Get Caught Up

A few weeks ago I was patting myself on the back for how well I was doing keeping caught up on taking pictures of all my thrifting finds and blogging about them within a day or two. 

Unfortunately, that was short lived. The days may have gotten longer this week, but I am still managing to constantly be running behind.  So as I lay in bed watching the Jersey Shore finale (did I just admit that?) I figured that I may as well do something productive to hopefully counteract this guilty pleasure.  So here you have it, folks.....last week's thrifting finds.  I told you I was behind!

These are the other things I found last week at the sale that I got the Gene Autry chenille bedspread.  As I have posted before, I collect vintage syrup dispensers but this is my first one with a Bakelite handle.  And how cute is this little birdhouse planter?  There were tons and tons of these crocheted hot pads but at $2.00 apiece I only let myself pick 5.  I got Miss Maddy a dresser scarf and I bought the MR part of the MR & MRS hand towel set because Maddy's initials are MR.  The strawberry tablecloth is the first vintage tablecloth that I have ever come across at a sale without a single stain. I can't wait to use it this Summer.

My husband, Brian, brought these bowls home from Goodwill last week and for the life of me I can't find any information out about them anywhere.  They are very similar to sour cream glasses but they are bowls.  They say "Nestle" on the bottom.  They obviously were used as promotional items at the grocery store but for what?  Does anybody have any ideas?

I snuck out of my house early Saturday morning and went to a rummage sale in the community center of a mobile home park.  The pricing was really good.  I got another Tupperware baking mat, Pyrex Old Town butter dish, old Thermos water jug, and two Federal Glass Canadian Geese shot glasses all for 2 bucks.

A Fire King bowl, some Tupperware measuring cups, some mason jar lids, two old shot glasses with pink pigs on them, and a cute glass cocktail shaker with drink recipes on it.

Two unmarked fired on coffee mugs and two Pyrex Butterfly Gold teacups.  These cups and all of the items in the top photo came from the same Goodwill.  Not a bad haul huh?  The Swanky Swigs were the only other thrifting find I had in Las Vegas besides my refrigerator dishes.  Can you believe I paid a quarter apiece for them?  If only deals like that came along every time I went thrifting I'd never stay home!

I'm really loving the pattern on this plate.  I already have a bowl from this set hope to someday have a lot more pieces.  Sure, I could go on eBay and probably get a lot of it now, but I really enjoy finding one or two pieces at a time to add to my collection.  Sometimes instant gratification isn't the best way to go.

I love finding old things that come with the original box.  I found this Nordic Ware bundt pan along with the box, instructions, and recipe book at a thrift store for $3.00.  (sorry about the flash).

Well, that's it for now.  No school tomorrow so who knows what Miss Maddy and I will end up doing.  But whatever it is, I'm pretty sure it will involve some sort of thrifting.

Until then you can head over to The Pyrex Collective II and see my Pyrex finds from last week. 

Hope you all have had a thrifty week!

Hitting it Big!

Hello fellow thrifters!  I had a very exciting power thrift after work today.  I was out trying to get a Pyrex fix and came across a little gem that was much more exciting than I initially realized.  I got to Goodwill and headed straight to the Pyrex aisle, quickly picking up an orange bowl immediately.  I was happy, I got my fix, and it was my favorite color so the trip was not a waste.  Next I headed to the coffee mugs, which Sister has taught me is a very important stop in my thrifting adventures.  So, typically I buy anything that is a good price that is milk glass and I always buy anything with cartoon characters, but I am pretty sure I'm not the only one in my area that does this.  I really haven't found that many mugs in my Goodwill, so it really can be discouraging.  This time, right in the front I spot milk glass, so I quickly grab it and take a look.  I see Snoopy, always a good sign.  I see Fire King, even better.  Then I see the statement, "Curse You, Red Baron?"  Huh?  I'm not a Snoopy fan, but I bet I can get $10 out of the little guy.  I pay 99 cents and the husband and I are on our way.

So, we're driving and I'm already on Ebay trying to find this cup.  I get all jittery because I find a red one go for $150, what a great pick!  Down the road, I start to think, is this rare because it is orange?  I do a little more searching and can't get the grin off my face.  One sold last month on Ebay for $455!  You have to be kidding me!  So I ran home and put it on there right away, we will see what happens.  I'm still enjoying telling my husband that I really like it and want to keep it for my coffee.  Seeing the look on his face is priceless, so I will play on that one until it sells next week.  Feeling lucky, and with our Honeymoon around the corner next week, this was a pleasant surprise addition to our trip fund!  Thanks Goodwill!

Am I Crazy?

On Friday morning, I headed out to an estate sale about 25 miles out of town.  It didn't start until noon but I thought I would go and put my name on the list and then go run a couple of errands until it started.  This sale was out in the country and this is usually a pretty good indication that it will be a good sale.  When I went to put my name on the list, there was a sign on the door saying that once your name was on the list, you couldn't leave.  I added my name to the list (#6!) and silently thanked Miss Maddie for leaving the ipad in the car.  While I waited for the sale (3 hours & 15 minutes) I could catch up on some of my favorite tv shows that I was behind on.

Most of you are probably wondering what in the world could this sale possibly have that would warrant a 3+ hour wait.  Two days prior I was looking at the photos for this sale on the estate sale companies website and there was one particular thing that caught my eye. I dreamt about this item for two nights and was obsessed with snatching it up.

Finally it was time to line up.  This was a HUGE sale customer wise.  When I got in line, I glanced at the list and there were 182 names on it.  There was even a reporter and a photographer there from our local newspaper.  They interviewed me and took some pictures and then asked if they could shadow me once I was in the door.  Sure, why not?  It's not like I was on a top secret mission.

They let the first 30 people in and I knew exactly where to go.  I had been at the house long enough to study the layout and knew that my prized possession was in one of the bedrooms off to the right of the front door.  I had another lady hot on my heels but I out aged her by about 30 years so I wasn't worried.  Then, I spotted it.....

A Gene Autry Melody Ranch chenille bedspread!  I snatched it up and stuffed it in my tote bag.  I have seen these only at two auctions and they always go for ridiculous amounts of money.  I'm still not 100% sure of what I am going to do with it but I do know one thing....this is an excellent piece of collectible Americana.  I LOVE IT!  Evidently, I'm not the only one who was coveting this bedspread. The lady who was on my heels was going for it too and when I grabbed it all she said to me was "Good for you.  Keep it in that bag and don't let it out of your sight!"  Yes, mam!  Then when I was in line to pay, three different people came up to the cashiers and asked them where the bedspread was located. Then when I pulled it out of my bag, the guy behind me offered to buy it off of me. Nope, this treasure is staying with me.

So what do you think?  Am I crazy?  Have any of you ever gone to drastic measures to score that special piece?

I did pick up a few other items at this sale and I will share those with you next time.

Have a great Tuesday, Thrifter Pals!

One of My Stranger Days of Thrifting

I swear it is such torture hearing of all the fun Sister has all week, and I'm cooped up in my classroom teaching middle schoolers that don't realize how appreciative they should be that I'm there with them instead of doing what I love even more:  Some good, dirty thrift store digging.  Don't get me wrong, I do like my job on most days, but I dream of the day when I too will get to have some more free time to hit estate sales on a day other than Saturday.  Summer can't get here sooner.  Well enough complaining!  The husband and I did get out for a little bit today, and well, lets just say our loot was quite interesting.

At a thrift store down the coast, we quickly cruised through and came out empty handed.  When we walked out I noticed from the store front that we missed half the store, so I drug the husband back in.  There was nothing special in the second half of the store either, but as we walked out, something green and beer related caught my eye:

You may be asking, what is this?  Well it is a Heineken air force helmet thing.  The husband says it is the kind of helmet that people who work on a deck of an aircraft carrier wear.  I'm pretty sure I've never looked out the window on the runway and seen something like this, but whatever.  Did we buy it?  Yes.  What will we do with it?  I think I need to go to an air show and wear it for my own personal entertainment.  Or maybe the husband should wear it, since he is a little adventurous when drinking.  We will have to see.  So for now we will just use it so that all of you can laugh at what an idiot I look like in it.  Happy thrifting, I will show you my more traditional finds tomorrow!

Thrifter Sister Hanna

Taking A Break

Since we got home from our trip on Monday, it seems like all I have done is run around and try to get caught up.  By the time I get a chance to crawl into bed at night the last thing I want to do is try and use my brain and write a witty blog.  I would much rather watch The Real Housewives.  But after tripping over a Goodwill bag walking into my office this afternoon, I decided now was of good a time as any to get caught up on the blog.  Plus, the aforementioned Goodwill bag is only one of several bags littering my office floor.  The hubby did a little thrifting a few days ago and I managed to head to a couple stores today so before I can tell you about those finds, I need to fill you all in on my last ones.

Remember a few posts ago I showed you the Arizona Barrel Cactus pitcher I picked up at the flea market?  Well evidently they sell for quite a lot of money.  I just found one that sold recently on eBay for $100.00!  There are also two sets of glasses that go with it that also sell for quite a bit.  Against my husbands wishes, I have decided not to sell my pitcher right now.  I really like it a lot.  It may be my favorite.  So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited to find another glass that goes with it at Goodwill.  I freaked out a little after I found it and to the detest of the other shoppers and employees, I proceeded to pull every single glass off the shelves looking for more.  But there were no more to be found.  I did find this etched Oregon CatStudio glass, though.  I got the Arizona one a few years ago from a fancy little boutique here in town.  I paid $18.00 for it!  This one was only 99 cents.  I also found these cute cut glass salt & pepper shakers with Bakelite tops.  They tried to charge me $1.99 apiece!  Who buys ONE salt & pepper shaker?  After arguing discussing it with the manager, she finally saw my point and let me have both for $1.99.  I'm pretty sure she just wanted me and my glass moving butt out of the store.

Yes, I know.  I am sure you are thinking "more coffee mugs, Thrifter Sister?  Really?".  In my defense, every single coffee mug that I have listed on eBay has sold.  You just have to know which ones to look for.  But I am pretty sure that some of the thrift stores are catching on to this trend.  One Goodwill I went to today had a plain Starbucks mug for $2.99 where as I can usually find them between 50 cents and a dollar.  The workers probably read our blogs and see what we are selling and/or collecting.  We bloggers should unite and invent a new blogspeak language.

Don't you love it when sellers at antique malls have no idea what they have?  I mean, seriously.  How hard is it to do a little online research and see that a set of 3 of these Corning Military Hand Warmer mugs just sold on eBay for $75.00?  Maybe then the lightbulb would go off and they would not sell the ones they have to me for $2.00 apiece. 

It must have been my day for antique mall scores because at the next one I went to I found this Fire King Jadeite batter bowl for $10.00 originally marked $38.00.  Jadeite for under $20.00 at an antique store?  Yes, please.

Don't ask.  Let's just pretend like you didn't see this.  I am wondering if it is at all possible for me to go a week without bringing home a beautiful vintage ice lip pitcher.  It's pretty rare to find one that has no chips in the lip so when I do, I feel like I have to bring it home.  Makes sense, right?  Right?!!!  Come on readers, reassure me!

Okie doke.  Enough mindless babbling.  Sorry about the long blog but if I don't act like I am doing something on the computer, no one in my house will leave me alone.  Tomorrow is Friday and you know what that means?  Estate Sales!  Woo hoo!! 

Until next time, Thriftaholics!

Viva La Thrifting!

Hi Readers!

I just posted to The Pyrex Collective II about my exciting Vegas finds so for those of you who are double readers, sorry for the redundancy.  This version will be a little longer and with some funny details.

Those of you who have been to Las Vegas know that the days can seem kind of long when you are stuck on the Strip with no way out.  This was the issue that Sister, the husbands and I were facing on Saturday morning after being there for two whole days.  So we decided to rent a car and go exploring.  Little did the husbands know that this exploring would include a couple thrift store stops.  Plus the fresh air would do our hangovers some good (along with the bottle of champagne that we drank at lunch).

Our first thrifting stop was at a Savers.  As Sister posted, we were very excited to go to our first Savers.  My husband thought it would be funny to park as far away from the entrance as he could and then lock Sister in the car.  He knew how excited we were to be thrifting in a new city.  But as you already know, Savers was a bust.  And not only this particular store.  On Sunday, after everybody else left, the husband and I hit up about 8 other Savers stores and found absolutely zilch.  Is it just us or is Savers the same exact store as Value Village just with a different name?

The next (and last) stop was the Goodwill just down Tropicana.  Sister and I raced to the Housewares department.  We weren't trying to beat each other though.  Our husbands like to find things before we do too and then my husband proceeds to brag about it NON-STOP for days (more on that later).  From a distance, I spotted a glimpse of turquoise goodness.  I literally shoved Sister aside (sorry, Sis) and grabbed not one but two of these beauties...

Sister was happy for me but sad that she didn't get to them first.  Don't worry, Sister.  You know I will give you one!  Normally she doesn't move that slow but she did admit that her reaction time was a little delayed due to all of the alcohol we had been consuming for the last 2 days.  When in Vegas, right?

So by now the husbands had caught up with us.  With all of the times that we have gone to Vegas, they have seen Sister and I shop while a little more than intoxicated but never at a Goodwill.  They just shook their heads in disbelief.  Next thing I hear is my husband saying to me "I'm going to get out of your way".  Good call, hubby.  Unfortunately, that gave him the advantage to move ahead of me and look what he found....

3 red refrigerator dishes!  All perfect and all with lids.  These babies have never seen the insides of a dishwasher, thank goodness!  Now, I am very happy that he found these because it is quite possible that in our current state and due to the fact that they were in the back of a very high shelf, Sister and I may have never found them.  The only disadvantage?  You would have thought that my husband found the Holy Grail.  He has told everybody about his "Pick" in Vegas.  You would have thought that these were the last 3 red Pyrex refrigerator dishes in existence. 

Want to know something crazy besides the $14.00 price tag for all 5 dishes and lids?  We found these late on Saturday afternoon.  I don't know about you, but these would NEVER still be on the shelf at my local Goodwill this late in the day on a weekday or a weekend. 

There is definitely more Vegas thrifting in my future.  How about yours, Sister?

Happy Thrifting!!

The Other Sister is Back

Yes readers, I did manage to make it back from Vegas in one piece (barely).  I am still tackling the HUGE pile of laundry that awaited my return as well as trying to get everybody back on their regular schedule.  As Sister told you in her last blog, I did manage to find a few exciting things while in Vegas but those will have to wait.  I still need to clean them up and photograph them before I can share them with you.  So until then, here are the last of my picks from the week before I left.

Pyrex Red 4 Quart 404 from the Friendship Mixing Bowl Set

As I was out at some estate sales on Friday morning, I checked Craigslist and found one that had posted that morning for a 12:30 pm start time.  It was being given by a local estate sales company that usually has some really good prices and pretty nice stuff.  I was number 29 in line and lucky for me they let the first 30 people in at the beginning.  Of course, I went straight to the kitchen.  I already got this red 404 for Christmas (thanks, Sister!).  But I never have come across another one.  I find the yellow 404's ALL THE TIME.  So of course I bought it.  I just couldn't leave it behind.

Here are a few of the other things I found while in the kitchen.  See the Bakelite utensil?  It's an angel food cake cutter.  Who would have ever thought that they made a specific kitchen tool to cut angel food cake?  Those vintage kitchen utensil designers sure were smart. 

Check out how cute the label is on this little jar of sprinkles.  How could I pass her up?

More pottery.  In my defense it was almost 48 hours since I had bought my last piece.



And some cute vintage Christmas linens.  I don't think it's ever too early to pick up these kind of things.

The next morning, Miss Maddy and I headed off to another sale that started early in the morning.  She is my little trooper! 

I picked up this aqua Tupperware colander, Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book, two Swanky Swigs, and an extra refrigerator dish lid.  You just never know when you might come across a 502 refrigerator dish without a lid.  I also got a couple of vintage tablecloths with super cute patterns.  They did have some stains on them but lucky for me, my aunt was also at the sale so she gave me a tip on how to get the stains out.  I will be sure to post those pics when I get around to washing them.

Just heard the dryer go off.  Time to fold ANOTHER load.  I swear my kids wore every item of clothing they owned while I was gone.  Check back in the next day or so for what Miss Maddy and I found while we did a little thrifting after the early morning estate sale. 

Happy Tuesday, Thrifter Buddies!

One Sister Makes it Home

Well, I headed home this morning, but Sister is staying an additional day in Las Vegas.  Yesterday we talked the guys into going to a few thrift stores in hopes they would stop loosing all their money at the casino.  Sister and I had never been to a Saver's, so we decided to check it out.  We were unfortunately disappointed!  I know we both have read about peoples' great finds at the Saver's stores, but we started having a flash back to Value Village, which we also don't seem to have a lot of luck at.  
   Next we headed to Goodwill where Sister had a great find (I am going to let her tell this comical story when she gets home.)  I, on the other hand did not find anything.  Was it the over-stimulation from Las Vegas, or have I lost my touch?  Lets just say, I really needed a pick me up, and thats exactly what I got.
   The Husband and I had to go pick up our fur child aka Piper from my sister-in-laws' when we flew into Portland today.  We just so happened to drive right by my favorite Goodwill in Portland and with a little begging I convinced him to stop.  I ran inside, and a tear came to my eye when I found these 3 gems:

I didn't even bother to look at the price, I just knew I HAD to have these.  When I checked out, I could barely contain my excitement when my total came to $5.97!  They were really dirty, so I had some work to do when I got home.  The yellow bowl was pretty scratched, but lucky me, Sister had given me a yellow bowl on her last visit.  I also did a little searching through my cabinets and low and behold, I had a red bowl too!  Here is my new addition, and actually MY FIRST COMPLETE SET!

So, although I thought Vegas had robbed me of my luck, it just so turns out I was saving it for home!  Sister, you need to come home so you can tell everyone about your exciting Vegas pick!

No thrifting yet but lots of fun!

Sister & I haven't made it off the strip, because our God-dad is here on his first visit. We've had a great time showing him around & with our new love of thrifting, we aren't binge shopping & buying expensive handbags & jeans. The only downside is that he makes us take corny pictures like these: