photo by husband

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

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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:

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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!  :)

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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?

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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. 

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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?

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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.

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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.}

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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!

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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!

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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}

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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…

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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?!

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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!

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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…

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Pyrex!  I so love this pattern; it reminds me of a matter of lovely things, but especially, for some reason, the wheat reminds me of my Great Grandma Didi. She is quietly in the background of many of my childhood memories.  She was too cute.  Just like this.

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More grey for the collection…a shallow floral bowl.  Technically?  I’m not sure, but that’s what I’m going with for now!
I love it.  I’m thinking, though, that instead of leaving it here at home, I might bring it to work with me and fill it with all kinds of hard candies for my office guests.  Pink candy wrappers against grey?  Can you see it?  I sure can.  Yum!

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Little tiny creamers: you know by now that they’re my thing!  It’s something about that shape.  This one happens to be Shenango.

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A Devonshire creamer I just couldn't resist...Johnson Bros, Made in England.

The colors!  So rich.  Good for Autumn.

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Something crazy is happening...I'm falling hard and fast in love with California pottery.  This Valley Vista strawberry (apple?) is a real winner, don't you think?  The color is so sweet and so is the shape.  I don't know what to keep inside of it, but I do know one thing:  I'm sure loving all the pink kitchen wares I've recently thrifted...

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Pretty, pretty Pyrex!  Finally, it turned up again!  This pattern and delicious solid are from the Horizon Blue family.