Weekend Finds

It was a good weekend for vintage treasures - which is surprising given the time of year.

I have been longing for a good estate sale for weeks now. I search the ads on Craigslist every week looking for something, anything, that looks like it may have some good vintage junk. This past week my husband saw an ad for a sale close to us that looked like a good one. Only problem - it started on a Thursday. Since I work during the week I wasn't going to be able to make it the first day or the second day. Saturday was to be half-off day. I didn't figure much would be left over by then but since there wasn't any other sales around what was I to lose if I went? So off we went. Well I was pleasantly surprised to find some good stuff left. Although it was picked through there were lots of boxes in the basement that still had things inside. After digging I was lucky enough to find a few treasures. Here is what I bought from that sale - my total $ amount - $12 for all. It does pay to go to the half-off day.

My best find at this sale - the Pyrex Heinz promotional #503. It was buried in a box in the basement. This was a promotion item sold in grocery stores in 1953 for 79 cents when you purchased 3 cans of Heinz baked beans.

 My friends on Instagram tell me that there was originally a lid that went with this piece. I didn't find the lid at the sale - but otherwise this in in very nice condition. This is a pretty green color that is different than the Pyrex turquoise or primary green. Apparently it is the same shade of green as the label on the Heinz baked beans at that time. After finding this on Saturday my husband found a Good Housekeeping magazine from that year for sale on eBay with the original advertisement inside. He bought it for me. I haven't gotten it yet but when I do I will post a pic. I think I may frame it for in my kitchen.

Also inside a box in the basement were these cookbooks. Not sure if I am going to keep these or not. They are in very nice condition. There is a little musty smell to them but otherwise look like they weren't even used.

This cute basket was also in the basement. The bottom of the basket is in pretty bad shape and broken. I removed the liner and washed it in the washing machine to get it clean and fresh. I think I will just use this to hold yarn so I'm not worried about the bottom being broken as it is just going to sit on the floor.
The table cloth is vinyl. I love the print and vinyl is so useful on a table when you have kids at home. The only problem is this particular tablecloth has a weird smell to it. I washed it 2 times in the machine and also put it through the dryer. It isn't a moldy smell but a plasticy smell that makes me gag. I don't know if this will stay or go.

I also found a Bingo game, a Federal Glass bowl, a smock-style apron, and this cute crochet drawstring purse in red and white.

We hit two other estate sales besides the one mentioned above. Mostly newer stuff at these sales but I did find this cute apron for $1.

I also found this bun warmer. A really useless item but oh so cute for display. I saw one of these for sale in an antique shop this past summer and was tempted to buy it but didn't at that time. Glad that I held off because this one was only $1 at the estate sale. It matches my aluminum cake carriers from the same era.

On Friday evening after work I went to my favorite thrift shop. I didn't find much in the way of vintage but I did find this wonderful ripple/chevron blanket. It has the most beautiful shades of blue and brown - a color combination that I love. It is a lap-size. I am having a love affair with crochet these days. I wish that I could actually make something like this but for now I will just thrift it!

All in all a great weekend for finds. It satisfied my cravings for vintage junk for sure!

Thanks for visiting.
KayteeJane

Linking up with:
Sir Thrift a Lot Thriftasaurus
Ivy and Elephants

My favorite vintage finds of 2013

I've been enjoying visiting some of my vintage blog friends who are posting about their favorite finds for 2013. I thought it would be fun to think about what great things I found this year also. Here are my favorites.

Best Pyrex find from a thrift shop - This entire set of Butterprint refrigerator dishes was found sitting on the shelf at my favorite thrift store. I bought the entire set for less than $10.

My first Fire King bowls - found on Craigslist. I can't wait to look for others to complete this set.

Milk Glass - 2013 was the year of milk glass for me. Previous to this year I never looked twice at it. Now I can't get enough. I love it. I went to an amazing estate sale this year where I bought several beautiful pieces all from the same sale. Husband also found me that beautiful milk glass punch bowl this past year too. It is hard to choose my favorite piece but those candlesticks (the ones in the back - not the hobnail) rank up there pretty high.

A new collection - horse ribbons. I've always had a fondness for vintage things with horses. I guess it comes from the same place in my heart that longs to live in the country. I found these ribbons at an antique shop in Virginia this summer. I love them. The brown one is my favorite. On my wish list is a tin cup of some sort.

A hankie box filled with vintage buttons. I bought this at a flea market. The seller had more buttons for sale that I wish now that I would have bought also. These just make me smile when I look at them. I doubt I will ever use this box for hankies after all since I love it with the buttons inside.

Pink Pyrex. I bought my first piece of Pink Gooseberry this year. I found it at a second hand shop. I hope to complete the set at some point.

Another awesome find from the thrift store - and from my least favorite thrift of all Goodwill no less! Hazel Atlas Pink Crinoline dishes!!! This is a case of being in the right place at the right time. These had just hit the sales floor. I also think I bought them because of the price. Usually vintage stuff at Goodwill is marked higher than the other junk but in this case they kept to their set prices for dishes and mugs which means I bought the cups for 25 cents each and the plates for 50 cents each. As much as I bitch complain about GW I guess I did score there after all.

My list wouldn't be complete without my most favorite thing to collect - McCoy pottery. It has always had my heart and that hasn't changed. I found a few pieces this year. This lovely flower pot was found at a yard sale this past summer and no that price is not fake. I decided to keep the price tag on permanently for smiles. I love how M.P. initialed her tag. She didn't want to lose out on her 10 cent sale. God love her.

All in all it wasn't a bad year of junking after all. As I look back through my posts I realize that I found a lot of cool stuff, but much of it was sold online - which is ok as the money helped out a lot this year. I did keep many good things for my personal collections and there is definitely not a lack for great junk around my house at all. I don't know about all of you collectors out there but I want to hold on to my vintage more and more these days as good sales are few and far between. Do you think there will be a day in the future where all we will find at yard sales and thrift stores are Dollar Store and Walmart crap? I loath the thought.

So what are you looking to collect this year? I know for me I am always on the lookout for more Pyrex for sure. Most specifically I would love to find the Green Dots #404 bowl to complete my set and also the Hot Air Balloons #444 bowl to complete the chip and dip set. I may have to end up going online for those.

I'm also hunting for vintage clothing these days. After my stint as a 50's housewife for Halloween I'd love to find a few great dresses from the 1940's - 1960's.

I love looking at the collecting blogs that I follow to see what great things others find. It certainly inspires my collecting. All in all anything vintage from the 1940's - 1960's has my heart and if it is priced right I will buy it. Kitchen stuff and glassware are favorites.

Here is to more great vintage finds in 2014! Thanks for coming along on the hunt with me.
KayteeJane

Winter Decorations

Due to the extremely cold weather here the kids were off school and I stayed home from work today. I spent my time putting out my winter and Valentines Day decorations. I figured that I might as well just go ahead and put out both so that I could enjoy them longer. I think they work well together. I used lots of milkglass this year - which is a perfect compliment for both. Here are the winter decorations. I will show the Valentines later.

The tutorial to make this milkglass snowman plate can be found under the "craft tutorials" tab.

Hoping you are keeping warm and toasty on this cold day. 

KayteeJane