Saturday Scores - Memorial Day

I'm just now getting around to posting about some of the treasures I found over the Memorial Day holiday. Memorial Day weekend is my favorite weekend for yard sales. It is sort of the unofficial kick-off of junking season in my eyes. The beginning of a bounty of summer sales to come. This year we hit a small town in Pennsylvania for their annual town-wide yard sales. We go to these yard sales every year and I always wonder in the days leading up to Saturday if this will be the year that the sales stink. I figure if a town has yard sales year in and year out that eventually all of the good vintage junk will be gone. Well this year was just as good as years past and I did find some great vintage items. Here are the highlights.

This was my first purchase of the day and in the end probably my favorite. A beautiful soft blue/green vintage pottery vase. I don't have another like it in my collection. It was love at first sight. 

This cute Avon perfume bottle will sit on my dresser. It was $1. I don't usually buy Avon bottles but since I used to collect vintage plaid Thermos's I couldn't pass this up.

These cute embroidered children in plastic frames are going to be for sale in my etsy shop. I don't have a place for them in my home but I couldn't pass them up because I think they are very sweet! I know someone out there will appreciate them.

I also found some barkcloth. This is a large laundry bag. I figure I will cut it up and make it into either some pillows or a tote bag.

 

 I also bought some Christmas elves. These two were 5 cents for both! I kid you not. They still have the Made in Japan sticker on them. I walked out of there with about 12 little elves. These will also be for sale closer to Christmas.

 On the way back from yard sales we stopped at a Salvation Army store. So glad I did because I walked out with both of these. Love the teal pie plate.

In addition to yard sales we also went to a flea market. I found more treasures there. A bird planter to add to my bird collection.

Some vintage necklacesI also bought a vintage wicker basket purse. The large one in the picture is the one I bought at the flea. I have a little collection of these on display in my bedroom.

All in all a great weekend for junk! Already it is Friday and tomorrow it all starts again.

Back soon with more finds!
KayteeJane

Iced Coffee

Recently on a trip to Kmart I spotted these plastic mason jar drinking glasses for sale.

Of course I had to have one. It was $9.99. I'm so glad I bought one because since then I've been back to Kmart a few times and haven't seen any left. I have a love/hate relationship with Kmart. Sometimes you go there and think "I don't know how these stores stay in business" - they are that bad. But other times I go there and see all kinds of neat things that I've never seen at other "box" stores.  The drinking glasses are double insulated with a plastic straw. The lid is metal. They are made by Aladdin. I have seen mason jar drinking glasses made of clear plastic for sale at Walmart. Also by Aladdin. That version has a plastic lid in vibrant colors like orange, pink or teal. They are cute too. I happen to prefer the blue ones myself because they remind me of the vintage blue ball jars.

One of my favorite drinks in the summer is Iced Coffee. I have bought some lately at both Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds and was disappointed in the taste. I decided to try making my own. Another benefit is it is much cheaper - and more convenient to do it yourself.

I'm sure there are tons of recipes for making iced coffee available on Pinterest and the internet. Here is my version.

To make my recipe I used a French Press coffee maker. I found mine at a yard sale. They sell them at Target. They aren't very expensive so if you don't already own one it is worth the investment. We also use ours when we go camping to make coffee by the camp fire.
 

(You will want to make this the night before the day you will drink it because it needs to sit in the refrigerator for 12 hours or more).

1. Scoop 5 or 6 Tablespoons of your favorite coffee into the bottom of the press. Pick a nice dark roast. Adjust amount according to your taste.

2. Add water to the grounds. Fill up to the top. (leave about an inch of space at the top for the lid).

3. Mix the water and grounds with a spoon.

4. Put the press in the refrigerator and let sit overnight.

That is all.

5. The next day when you are ready to drink your coffee, use the plunger/press part of the french press to push the grounds to the bottom of the carafe and trap them there. I am using a Bodum brand coffee press - which is a quality brand (available at Target). It trapped all of the grounds and I didn't find any floating in my drink.

6. Pour black coffee into a glass.

7. Add milk or cream and your sweetener. I sweetened mine with sugar but you could add flavored syrup instead. (I didn't have any syrup on hand so that is why I went with granulated sugar.)

8. Mix with a spoon.

9. Add ice and enjoy. Simple as that.

The entire carafe of coffee gave me three full glasses of iced coffee in one day.

If you try this for yourself let me know how you liked it!

KayteeJane

Yard Sale

I am hosting a yard sale this Friday and Saturday. I have the desire to purge and clean out. I do one every year and I'm hoping that this year lots of things will sell and move on to new homes. If you are local to the Pittsburgh area stop by and see me. I will have some vintage as well as your typical yard sale fare (toys, etc.). Here is a picture of some of the things I've gathered up to sell. The bad thing about laying all my items out on the table is that sometimes I want to pull things back and put them away.

That is the case with this stack of vintage planters. I really like how they look sitting together. Oh well. They are going. Hopefully someone out there will appreciate them like I do.

Has anyone out there seen the HGTV show "Garage Sale Wars" yet? It is great! I watched the first episodes this past Friday. Wow were those some great yard sales. Not exactly like the yard sales that I frequent. Watching that show was pretty inspiring though. I am going to use some of their ideas about staging and display in the hopes that I will sell lots and make some money. Although I know I won't make anything near the amount shown on that show :)

Here is the address of my sale if you are local to Pittsburgh:
38 Crystal Drive
Oakmont, PA 15139

Dates: May 17, 18
9 am - 1 pm

Hope to see you.
KayteeJane

Saturday Scores

Here are some of my most recent "Saturday Scores".

I bought all of this stuff this past weekend at garage sales. Four pieces of Pyrex and that cute glass pitcher in the background.

I bought my first non-pyrex baking dish this weekend also (the loaf shaped pan resting inside the Snowflake casserole dish). It is pretty cute and only cost me 75 cents so I didn't pass it up!

After cleaning all these pieces with Bar Keepers Friend they look fresh and (almost) new. I am amazed that I found all of those in one weekend.

I found a few more things too but I will post about those separately.

KayteeJane

Milk Glass

Lately I have been having a love affair with Milk Glass.  I used to not care much for it. In fact I would see it just about everywhere for sale and I wouldn't even give it a second glance. Over the past few months I've seen milk glass online everywhere...on vintage blogs, and on etsy and Instagram. I guess that is what inspired me to give it a second look. Oh the power of pictures and blogging. I guess I am pretty easily influenced.

Anyway...Here are some pieces I found recently. I love how it looks grouped together on top of my country cupboard.

I bought these three hobnail/ruffle pieces this past Saturday at a garage sale. A mother/daughter duo who sell antiques online were selling off some of their inventory. I was super excited when I saw these items on the shelf. I had spied a similar milk glass candy dish on a favorite blog recently and was hoping to find one for myself while out treasure hunting. I never dreamed that I would find what I was looking for so quickly. The two smaller pieces in the front are vases.

The larger footed bowl in the background (with daisy inside) was purchased at the Salvation Army store recently. It still has a Fenton sticker on it.

I always see these tall bud vases for sale at thrift stores. They are usually around $1 each. I have decided to start collecting them. Once I have about 10 or 12 I plan on selling them all on etsy together for one price. I figure that maybe a bride or someone planning a party might buy them. If they don't sell that is fine. I will just keep them on hand to use for gifts for friends. These are much prettier (and cheaper) than any vase you would buy at Walmart.

I am also using milk glass on my desk. Each of these items cost less than $1. Just today I saw several milk glass footed bowls at the thrift for sale.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my new collection! Here's to seeing things you once overlooked in a new light.

KayteeJane

The Best Mother's Day Gift Ever

I had a nice Mother's Day. It was laid back, without a lot of stress, which is what I like and really seemed to need. This year my daughter's, which are 8 and 12, went the extra mile and each presented me with something that they chose themselves and paid for with their own money. I really didn't expect them to do that as I would have been very happy with a home cooked meal or for them to do the dishes on their own.

Hannah gave me an amazing vintage pottery vase - pictured below (that is her school picture in the background). I couldn't have chosen this better myself. My husband took her to a flea market one recent Saturday and she spotted this for sale amongst a lot of other items. My husband said she zoned in on it and knew instantly that she wanted to buy it for me for Mother's Day. It only cost her 50 cents - which she happened to have - which makes it even more special because she was able to buy this with her own money. I love that this gift is one-of-a-kind and probably no other mom on the planet received one like it for Mother's Day. She couldn't have picked anything better for me if she would have tried. I totally love it! She did me proud picking something vintage & collectible! I'm not sure of the maker but I would be willing to guess McCoy. I think it is fabulous. It will sit proudly amongst my other pieces of pottery.

My older daughter also bought me something wonderful. She overheard me say once that I wanted a CD of Christian hymns. Well she found me one at Target - purchased with her own money - and lovingly presented it to me on Mother's Day. I was so surprised that she actually listed to what I was saying at that moment and remembered it. I am touched by that.

Hubby bought me the cookbook "The Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook" by Cheryl Day & Griffith Day. I wanted to show it here because in addition to the delicious recipes the book features pictures from The Back in the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia. The owners have many lovely vintage  items on display at the bakery. It is a beautifully designed book that inspires me to keep collecting vintage kitchenware.

Some of the inside pages:

I hope your Mother's Day was wonderful too!

KayteeJane

Status Update

Hello Friends! It has been a few weeks since I've posted. Thanks to all of you who continue to stop by to see what I've been up to. I do appreciate it. Seems like May is a very busy month for our family as the end of the school year wraps up and we are consumed with all of the activities and events that go with that. As much as I love posting here, my Mom duties have a way of keeping me off the computer.

I have been able to get to some yard sales. The pickings have been slim, but I did manage to find a few treasures.

I bought this lovely white pottery vase at a flea market this past Sunday. It only cost me $2. It is fairly large in size in comparison to the other pottery vases I have collected. It is marked USA on the bottom. I love how these lilacs look in this vase. White has become one of my favorite colors to collect in vintage pottery - especially the matte. Not sure if that is because I haven't seen much of any other colors lately to buy or because of it's simplicity.

After the flea market we spotted a yard sale sign and of course I had to check it out. It was the second day of the sale so there wasn't much left. Sorting through a box of cookbooks I came across this vintage gem. It was 25 cents. I love it. The recipes inside are great. I am looking forward to sitting down with this book and reading it cover to cover - and then trying some of the recipes.

 
I love looking at the pictures in these vintage cookbooks. They give you a real history of what housewives were using in their kitchens at the time. Check out this photo.

I have a soft spot for vintage glassware - and these tug at my heart strings. They are light blue. The pattern is similar to hobnail but more like bubble wrap. Not sure of its official name. I remember my grandmother having dishes like these. I have been told that she hosted luncheons at her home for her lady friends and they enjoyed delicate salads and jellos on dishes like these.

At another yard sale I scored this great Maxwell House Thermos for $1. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you have probably seen this already. I love old coffee cans and coffee advertising so this is a treasure in my book. I used to collect plaid Thermos's but ended up selling the collection when I got tired of it. I don't think I will part with this one. It will be on display in my kitchen. I have never seen another like it.

Sadly, this happened this week as well.

My laptop - pretty much ruined, but still in service until I can afford to buy another one. This is how it went down....I was carrying the laptop in my hands as I was coming down the stairs. Being the clumsy person that I am, I missed a few steps, fell, tossed the laptop into the air, it hits the wall and I hit the ground. Luckily I didn't break any bones, but now my computer screen is permanently damaged. Needless to say it is difficult to do most tasks, but if I change the size of the screen and move things back and forth a bit I can still do what I need to do. After shedding a ton of tears, receiving some very consoling words from my sweet husband and a love note from my daughter which said "don't worry mom it was old anyway" I got over it and moved on. That is life I guess.

Until next time...

KayteeJane

Linking up to:
Sir Thrift A Lot