November!

I went thrifting once the entire month of November!  D’oh!  I do have something to show for it, though…so stay tuned.

working mommies...how...do you do it?

How do you find time to thrift when you're a working mom (and unfortunately, my little library isn't near any thrifties so the lunch break scout is out)?  I have this fear that all the Pyrex is getting snatched up.  Ebay is out.  Here's why.  I will never, ever go through that again (same applies for all online auctions)!  I guess you just have to sneak the time when you can...excuse me, any one know where you can buy time?

crazy October

George turned 4 months on October 12...where has the time gone?!  He's a healthy little chunk of a baby and extremely smiley.

I haven't been inside a thrift shop in a few weeks!  I've gone back to work part-time and while it is all sorts of wonderful to be back in the library, I'm adjusting to the squeeze of working every Saturday.  In addition to that, life is crazy at present!  Just plain 'ol crazy!  And tomorrow I'm turning 31!  Again I ask you:  where has the time gone!?

Happy Halloween to all of you - I hope your Pyrex is the first thing the Trick-or-Treaters see when you open your doors!!

xoxo

$400 cash money

The big bucks!  Last month, we snatched up this Quovis Work Table via Craigslist.  A pretty penny for our budget, but undoubtedly, we'll have it for a long time.  Stainless.  Rolls around from room to room.  Hah!  It's parked in our tiny dining space for now.

4 @ .25 ea

Madge's requisites for thrifting bread and butter plates:

1. made in USA (check)
2. grey, light blue, or white in color or any variation thereof (check)
3. pattern must make me smile (check)

So obviously this little beauty (times 4) came home with me!!

In other news, I'm surviving the Great Pyrex Drought of 2010.  I hope conditions are better in your parts.

New Followers!  I appreciate your patronage.  Welcome.  Browse.  Let loose!

bowled over

This is what my Pyrex cupboard looked like a couple of years ago...not much has changed!

solid cherry plans for montana

I haven’t had much luck lately at the thrifts (if I could have a dime for each time I wrote that!) – I get so discouraged during these droughts.  And by this I mean there is no Pyrex anywhere!  I’m turning into a rabid thrifter.  I could start foaming at the mouth.  Not cute, but a real possibility unless I find some good stuff SOON!

On a different note, I’m going to Montana for Christmas.  My husband’s family has its perks:  a beautiful second home in the Wild West.  Since I live in a very warm place, my stash of winter clothes is a little *pathetic*.  George doesn’t even have a stash!!  I’m planning on second-handing my winter wardrobe.  So I’ll let you know how that goes.  Here is my inspiration, from two Christmases ago, when I found myself celebrating the season in MT:













Looks like I'll need, in the very least, a dash of red. :)  Or, shall I say, cherry.  Cheery cherry.

$5ish?

I have never shared these here and I thrifted them a couple of years ago.  What?!  Can you believe that!

Friendships, I will never forget about you again.

**

more jumbo

Oh, so stressed today!  Looking at this is like getting a free massage.  On the eyes.  Y'all:  have lovely days.

**

little jumbo pyrex

An old piece of mine jumped out of the collection and said SHOOT ME!

Done!

cooling down

No Pyrex at the thrifts today.  Boo!  Maybe something will turn up this week.

I went digging again through old photos...so I give you Pyrex as Three Scoops of Ice Cream without Cone.

I shouldn't be focusing on the pastels - hello, Autumn Harvest!  It's your turn in the spotlight!

photo by husband

To get you in the spirit, just in case you need inspiration...

$2.95

I scooped up this yellow 402 when the sister was in town...sure makes me happy!

good morning!

Much to my mom's chagrin, I was never very good at setting the table properly!  But I do love dishes!

These are some things from past thrift adventures - my collection of tableware tends to be grey, light blue, and white, and American made!  I decided to take a coffee break with these little pretties.  You see that monogrammed napkin?  I grabbed a bunch of those on my honeymoon trip to the Biltmore (V for Vanderbilt, woo!).  Nothing like a free, chichi souvenir (a thrifter's dream)!  Oh, and George was enjoying our coffee break, too:

$2.95

Happiness is thrifting a grey teapot!  This is now my second Waechtersbach teapot!!  The other one I have is pictured below (though the original story on it is here if you’re interested).  I took George with me on this particular thrifting adventure.  This teapot will forever be known as Georgie’s!  Of course he’ll probably drink coffee like his mama…

And here’s my boy – what a bruiser!  Doesn’t look like he’s going to let me call him Georgie for long!  :)

$2.95

I found these cups last week and took them home with me because of their Airstream-ability.  Yes, I'm buying things for my someday-Airstream.  I just didn't realize how cool they were until I brought them home.  Made in USA.  The metal handles slip out for storage (that's a guess).  And they are plastic fantastic.  Hot cocoa, marshmallows, campfire.  Anyone care to join me?

$6

 

Oh my heavens, I found some Pyrex.  My sister was in town last week, visiting her new nephew, and we decided to make an afternoon of thrifting.  She too collects Pyrex and so I was literally shopping with my competition (she has an awesome collection)!  Not only did she let me have this piece (a pattern called, appropriately, Golden Hearts), she payed for it!  And she even bargained for it (it was marked $12 and because she is so cute she got if for $6).  I tell ya, I have the best sisters!

new shelter magazine!

Most of my favorite shelter magazines have long gone the way of the dodo (Domino, House & Garden, Blueprint, Cottage Living, Country Home), but what is this I see?  Oh my heavens, a new shelter magazine coming soon?!!  And doesn’t it look fabulous?  I don’t know about you, but a lot of my thrifty inspiration comes from magazines.

Keep your eyes peeled for this, would you?  Let me know if it turns up in your neck of the woods. 

too many people! not enough Pyrex.

So I was out and about yesterday, breaking my personal cardinal rule of thrifting: NEVER GO ON THE WEEKENDS! EVER!

There wasn’t a drop of Pyrex to be had at any of my stops, just a lot of rude people cramming aisles.  And there wasn’t anything else for that matter: no sweet little creamers, no bread and butter plates, no furniture, no nada.  I’m getting tired of the no-no-nos!

I’ll try to head to some thrifts this week…when things are quieter. 

Even though I sometimes run into the worst of humanity at my fave thrift spots, I don’t let it get me down for long.  George just won’t let me!

 

I hope you scored on your thriftscapades this weekend. 

$56

Furniture!  Furniture!  Woohoo!  We need storage space. It’s a serious issue in our tiny little house.  This piece is now in our dining room and it is, in a word, sturdy.  If it were a person it would be a linebacker.  The top panel actually folds down, like a secretary, only it’s too high for writing.  It’s completely empty at the moment – but I have a lot of plans for it!  The Rothko exhibit poster was thrifted too, a while ago.  You might recognize that tree!  Not every collection I have is thrifted:  see those pretty spines on Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazines.  I covered those other cookbooks with brown craft paper and labeled them with the good ‘ol DYMO label maker. 
Now I’m interested in thrifting a handsome Saarinen table.  Wouldn’t it look so pretty to the left of this piece…?  Dear Thrifting Goddess!  Help out a girl, would ya?

$1 (from back in the day)

 

I was still living in Portland when I found The Official Preppy Handbook at a St. Vincent de Paul’s thrift store (in my opinion, the world’s greatest thrift store ever; sadly the location closed up shop).  This is probably one of my most favorite finds of all time.  Copies start, used, on Amazon.com at $40.  And that’s because the information therein is indispensible, dahling.

kicking it

That’d be me, kicking back and relaxing (I wish – this was taken a couple of years ago)!  My toes are pointed toward a photograph (silver-gelatin printed I might add) of an old man with a very wrinkly forehead.  We picked that up from a Goodwill a couple of years ago.  He’s still with us, only in our bedroom! 

I hit a Goodwill Boutique today and there was nothing worth taking home!  Blast!  However, last weekend, we did scoop up a piece of furniture from a Goodwill and I’ll share it soon, I just haven’t taken a photo of it quite yet…

All things thrift:  I am feeling very thrifty and interested in tackling the complicated art of couponing.  I know, I know:  it’s not that complicated, but it sure seems like it!  I’m ready to head to the store this evening (baby George permitting) with my coupons in tow.

$1

   

Many moons ago I picked up these pillowcases thinking I’d repurpose them as the fabrics are so delightful.  Alas, I never did!  But I still have them.  It’s a good reminder that I should probably do something with them before too long! 

from 2008

Just going through photos on my hard drive and thought I’d share this one.  I saw a lot of Pyrex this weekend, only nothing I wanted…boohoo!

babies & pyrex = what fun

 

George was quite babbly yesterday – he went on and on!  It was so dear. 

I had plans to make quick thrift stops over the weekend but they didn’t pan out so well – I’ll try again soon. 

In the meanwhile, if you’d like, please drop by a special new blog that I’m a small part of --- The Pyrex Collective.  {If you’re interested in contributing to it also, Pyrex Addicts, please do!  Contact info is available at the blog.}

$40

I’ve had this lovely lady for awhile now; she’s no relation!  She’s from a “boutique” thrift shop.  When the family gathers from out of town and a little too much champagne has been consumed, we try to guess her real name (there’s no clue as to who she really is).  Ethel?  Genevieve?  Betsy? Go ahead…you can play too!

$50

Ok, I mentioned in a pre-George post that we were going to give him our old dresser.  Problem was, we couldn’t find a dresser big enough for our things!  So we decided to dresser-hunt for George since it would be a bit easier and admittedly, a good deal of fun.  It took us a few weekends, but we found this playful number – perfect for a little boy!

$2

This is the first piece of Pyrex I scored as a…MOM!  Perfect for brownies, don’t you think?  This is only the second piece of lime green Pyrex I’ve ever come across…it sure is tough to photograph (it seems to turn out too light), but I was able to capture it here (pretty true to color) in the candlelight! 

at home

I think it’s fair to say I’m loving motherhood!  George is such a dear!  Here are some photos:

  

He’s now six and a half weeks old! 

I have gone to *one* thrift shop since I had him and was only in it for fifteen minutes, but I did score a juicy piece of Pyrex!  I haven’t taken a photo of it yet…but I will soon.  My camera is a bit distracted by this little fellow, if you can imagine!

Looking forward to getting back here and checking out your blogs…

Stay tuned friends! xoxo

aww, shucks

I'm absolutely thrilled to have so many new followers!  Thank you all for your sweet comments about George.  These last two weeks have been blissful (okay, so I'm a little tired {hahaha}) and I am enjoying every minute. 

It might be a short stretch before I'm out thrifting again; in the meantime, I hope you'll dig around my archives and browse about my blog.  I'll be back soon - and again, thank y'all so much for welcoming George!

Bonus George photo:

priceless

My baby boy George!  Born June 12, 9:40 p.m.  {6lbs, 9oz, 20 & 1/4 inches}

$3

I thought that I already had this piece in this pattern but I didn’t, so I’m glad I scooped it up!  It was definitely a steal…

$1

The Christmas finds continue…
I’m adding this to my so-far small ceramic tree collection (I posted about my other one here); I hope it one day grows large enough to fill my mantle!  This one is about eight inches tall, give or take (probably taller).
I saw a large one, decked with lights, at a Goodwill not too long ago but I left it behind because the tree didn’t properly sit in the base.  It was two pieces and I could just the tree tumbling over…over…over…and now that there’s a baby on the way, I thought the better of it. 
Why do I love these funny trees so much?!

$5

Pyrex is never out of season!  Ever!  I was delighted beyond all delight to find this holiday-ish piece a couple of weeks ago.  It is in great condition!  I already snapped its picture (as you can see) and put it up with my snowflake pieces.  See you come the wintertime, beautiful Pyrex!

.85

In North Carolina, where I happened to honeymoon recently, I stumbled upon Dish Barn in Maggie Valley.  It was as it reads it is: a barn + dishes.  There was more restaurant ware in one room than I had ever seen in my whole life and the prices were wallet-friendly (as you can see by the post title).  Though these two Homer Laughlin plates photographed somewhat dark around the rims, I assure you they aren’t black, but grey.  Grey, grey, grey!  I’ve decided that with all of this American restaurant ware I’m collecting now, it’ll be for my second home (hahaha!  pipe dream!) when we’re good and ready to have one.  But for now, I enjoy it so much just knowing it’s part of a collection…