Thrift Finds - Blue Willow and other curious things

Hello All!

It's time to share some thrift finds!  I haven't been thrifting as much just to keep the amassing of tons of glassware to a minimum - LOL!  But it's totally in my blood so for now, I'm trying to cut back and then, when I do go, be picky.  Yeah, how's that working out for me?  Ummm, well, sounds wonderful, until I see something unusual or quirky or cool - LOL!

Like, for instance, this really awesome vase?  planter?

It caught my eye because at first, I thought the figure was a mermaid holding up a shell.  But she has wings also.  

It seems angels and cherubs were popular subjects of objects like this and I'm guessing that's what it's meant to represent.

It's stamped "made in Italy;" yet even the mark hasn't helped identify the maker or give an idea as to when it was made.  It was $2.

I found this cute little guy at Goodwill.  There are no marks on it and it's possible he's been painted:

Oh he is so darn cute!  He looks like the Baldelli Pottery owls and wonder if this was part of a pair of bookends.  He was $1.45 (50% off day) at B-Thrifty.

This heavy cut-glass open compote is one of my favorite pieces to date.  The pattern is Masonic and was originally produced by McKee brothers in that late 1800s and production continued in the early 1900s under the National Glass Co.  I picked it up at Village Thrift.  I don't remember the exact price but know it was under $5.

Next up is this Thrift Bucket List item - a pie crust table.

The decorative edge is stunning.  It's broken in a couple places but it's nothing a little wood glue won't fix.

And look at those feet!

...and other decorative details!  Absolutely gorgeous.  I paid $30 for it.

Last Spring, I was fortunate enough to come across 4 lovely sets of EIT Blue Willow.  My sister was visiting and she and I went thrifting (that post here):

Blue Willow reminds me of my Gran.  I am delighted to add this to my collection:

A Johnson Brothers enamel on steel whistling tea kettle!  OMGosh, that little birdie handled lid does me in :)  $4 at Salvation Army.  And just when I thought it couldn't get any better than that, I find these:

4 perfect Hazel Atlas frosted Blue Willow tumblers!  They were $1 each.

I'm linking up!
Sir Thrift A lot: Thriftasaurus #82

Master Bedroom and a few Thrifty Finds!

Hello All!  Sorry I have been MIA.  The month of September is the busy time at work and it just got the best of me this year!  Not to mention I got food poisoning and oh my gosh, was I sick!  After more than a whole week of feeling like I was being turned inside out, I was finally on the mend. AND then I got an upper respiratory infection - GOOD GRIEF!   So, I'm pretty sure I have met my quota for sick this year!!  UGH.   I am excited to be back in the land of the living and looking forward to sharing in my favorite link-up parties!

Dan and I finished our bedroom over Labor Day weekend (and we got in a mini-thrift too).  When we bought our house in 2005, we requested hardwood floors throughout the second floor.  It was an upgrade we were willing to pay for because Dan has allergies.  Unfortunately, during the final walk-through on the morning of our closing, we discovered carpeting had been installed instead.  We were told changing it out would delay our closing so we took the monetary adjustment and ran.  "We can always add it later," we said...and *7 years* later we did ;)  Here are the "before" pics:

Builder beige walls, beige carpet, beige drapes -- I don't know why this didn't seem so incredibly bland to me before :)  I did try to punch it up a bit with the black accents:  metal bed, curtain rods, cat on the nightstand...  Oh, and let's just talk about the big elephant in the room, shall we?  Literally.  The [HUGE] gorgeous 1930s? 1940s? buffet.  That was a thrift find from SALVO for $30.  Incredible, I know.  I love it and all its large-in-charge presence.  :)  

It needs a little love but until I know exactly what I'm doing, I'm afraid to touch it for fear of ruining it.  The striations in the wood is what sold me on it --ok, and the $30 price tag ;)

This is the corner of the room and where my vintage tub chair lives.  The fixture is from Goodwill ($5) and I am hopefully going to be able to paint it and make it into a chandy for Jenna.

And now...the AFTER:

The drapes need hemming and the bench legs need painting - are rooms ever totally finished?  We added crown molding, painted a "drama" wall behind the bed (Martha Stewart (for Glidden) Magnetite), painted the rest of the walls (below the crown molding) "Pebble Grey" by Glidden and "Lamb" by Glidden above the molding, painted the ceiling bright white by Behr and the flooring came from Lumber Liquidators (a laminate for 39 cents/sq ft!).  OH, and I recovered the bench with fabric I bought at Hobby Lobby.  I bought the bench at Marshall's about 3 years ago.  Here's what it looked like:

and now:

Do you see the cute little turquoise mirror above the tub chair?  That's a thrifty find ($2, GW) that I repainted with this:

Valspar Peacock outdoor spray paint

The small mercury glass votive cup was found at the GW Outlet.  Try as I might, I cannot get a good picture of my chandy now that it's hanging :(  But here she is:

See the ceiling medallion?  THRIFTED too :)

I have a couple fave finds I want to share as well.  I found these at the GW outlet where housewares are 59 cents a pound:

Three vintage Club aqua saucepans and matching lids - Sweet!  For the record, they were FILTHY.  I didn't know if I could salvage them but for the price, I decided to take a chance.  I have a feeling that's how I was able to score them - others must have passed - but thanks to Bar Keeper's Friend and Easy Off oven cleaner (used extremely carefully so as not to eat away the gorgeous enamel) they turned out sparkling :)  And finally,  these darling Hazel Atlas dessert cups in Florentine No. 2 pattern from GW at 99 cents/each:

A few months ago, I scored a Hazel Atlas sugar bowl (here).  I love the delicate floral pattern!  I'm linking up!

Kathe With an E, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday #24
Cap Creations, Thrifty Love
Southern Hospitality, Thrifty Treasures Party
What-About.co, Showoff Friday
What-about.co, Perpetual Parades, Favorite Thrifty Finds 
Sir Thrift A lot: Thriftosaurus
The Thrifty Groove:  Thrifty Things Friday

I hope you have a great (healthy!) week.  We are working on our master bathroom now and I am really excited to share that with you soon too :)

Thrifted Treasures - Tiffany Blue Tufted Tub Chair!

Hello All!  Here we are at the end of July - isn't that crazy!?  It's amazing how the time flies.  I *love* Fall but the end of summer means the busy season at work.  The busy season at work means a long work day but the days start getting shorter [boo :( ] so I can't say I'm anxious for that.  Ah, but cooler weather will definitely be welcomed!  Good grief has it been HOT.  It's more the humidity that's so unbearable - either way, I can't help but dream about snow!  LOL!

Dan and I thrifted locally this weekend and I'm so excited about my find of the day.  Here it is:

Look at all those tufts!  It still has its tag stating it came from the Lord & Taylor in Falls Church, Virginia.  I did a little research and found the high-end department store opened in Falls Church in 1965 but was later changed to an outlet for the chain to try and revive sales.  Unfortunately it didn't work, and they closed their doors in July 1992.  This darling chair was at SALVO.  It's vinyl, it swivels and rocks!  It's incredibly comfortable...all for $25.  I had first considered getting it reupholstered in a gray twill to match the master bedroom but now I'm not sure I want to change it!

Here are the other finds:

1950s pink plastic "Baby" cup.  I found this at the GW outlet and thought it would look cute in my craft room to hold buttons.

I found this at our GW for $2.  There's no mark other than the silver plate is stamped "made in England."  It's heavy, pretty cut glass so it's sitting on my buffet :)

The Hazel Atlas Mason jar and vintage glass Christmas bulbs came from the GW outlet.  I found the jar first and when I came across the bin with hundreds of the bulbs in all colors, I grabbed the jar and filled it up with teal and whites ones.

I also found this hunk of milk glass at the outlet:

Since housewares are so cheap there, I decided to take a chance and see if I could make this into a lamp.

 I'm on the lookout for green/pink (watermelon!) glass stemware but these sweet pink/blue cups are so pretty (at a $1 each at GW) they made the cut :)

I found Siesta Ware mugs a few months ago (HERE) and since there was only 4 of them, these will round out the collection nicely:

I love the print on these.  I'm linking up!

Her Library Adventures, Flea Market Finds

Kathe With an E, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday #15
Cap Creations, Thrifty Love
Southern Hospitality, Thrifty Treasures Party
What-About.co, Showoff Friday 
The Thrifty Groove, Thrifty Things Friday

Have a great week! <3 Lisa

Thrifted Finds, June 16, 2012 - Thrifting is Backbreaking Work!

So, I was super-excited about thrifting this weekend because now that the home office is almost complete, I was hoping to find some cool things for it.  I made a quick trip Friday to my retail GW and while browsing, I spied a gorgeous white satin (or frosted) glass lid.  Sadly there was no dish for it to sit atop so I lamented with it in hand for a moment but then placed it back and shelf and continued looking.  There were a few shopping carts sitting nearby that had come out of the back and as I walked by them, I spotted the dish the satin glass lid belonged to - hot dog!  So I reached in to get it and as I was hoisting it up from the depths of the cart, I felt my back spasm very unpleasantly :(  Ugh.  I have been lifting and bending and crouching quite a bit this past week working in the home office so I'm sure my back was grumpy to begin with and a little twist and bend was enough to make it really complain :)  Oh well, it's feeling a little better; once it gets knotted up, I have to keep stretching and coaxing it out of the tangle it's in!  Anyway, here is the culprit behind my discomfort this weekend:

It's 10" tall and it's paneled and it's in perfect condition.  Totally worth the pain - LOL!  I also picked up this acrylic lamp:

I was JUST looking at a lamp like at Lowe's the other night and it was $20 for the base plus the cost of a shade.  This one was $5 and I had a lamp shade that fit it (you'll see it in the office reveal later this week ;) so excited!)

Another cool find for the office -

This was $1.  The cover is beautiful and the illustrated pages are so cool.

On Saturday, Dan and I went to Richmond.  We got a bit later start; it took a little while for me to get going. I'm so glad we went!

This set is absolutely GORGEOUS.  It's a vintage tea/Saki set by Asahi Japan.  The image is what caught my eye:

I just have to say, 59 cents a pound - this weighed maybe 1.5 pounds - less than $1 for this - SHUT. UP.  Zero cracks, chips, or stains.

And what is a thrift trip without a haul of vintage glass?

Isn't she a beauty?  Hazel Atlas Florentine No. 1 ruffled rim sugar cup produced between 1932-1934.  Perfect.  And because of that fantastic ruffled rim, there is no lid so no missing pieces!  This next dish was a really exciting find also:

1941-1956 Fire-King Sapphire Blue 1.5 qt. casserole dish with knob-handled lid.  "Fire King" is printed in the glass:

Unfortunately, the underside rim of the lid is chipped but should still function all right.  It seems the chipping came from the previous owner and nothing that happened in the bin :)

Has anyone seen these before:

There were 5 of these but #5 was chipped so I just took these four.  We're not whiskey drinkers but these were so darn cool...

I picked up a couple of votive holders:

Mercury glass is always a do and the color of the second one had me at hello.  The fishies did me in - ha!

I have seen that a lot of you find those wonderful "Little Golden Books" and remembered to check the book bins:

Honestly, I didn't have any of these when I was a kid but maybe that's even more of a reason to have them.

After looking through the books, it was time to go and just as we were making our way to check-out, the bell sounded and a load of housewares came out of the back.  We figured we'd take a look.  We waited until the feeding frenzy was over -- it's crazier than a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert -- but good things come to those who wait ;)

Hobnail milk glass is always a win :)  I also got this:

It's been washed and sun-dried and smells oh-so-fabulous. The ric rac trim is the perfect touch!  The SALVO was next and it was a jackpot:

EEEEEE!  No marks and one of the most unique pieces I've found to date!  $3.50 S-O-L-D.  It looks like it's covered in nonpareils!  And then a shelf or two below, this:

I haven't identified it yet.  I am thrilled to have a milk glass basket for $3.  Then I spied these odd scissors:

They were tarnished but still so beautiful!  I have learned they are grape sheers and either silver or silver plate.  I paid $1 for them.

The final stop of the day was at our GW retail.  This Leonard Silver footed platter was wickedly tarnished and took lots of elbow grease and Weiman silver cream...

to make it look this beautiful!  Look at those feet:

These two vases ($1 each) were calling my name.  The aqua color is the same as the paint in my sun room:

Neither vase is marked but I cannot resist anything this shade of aqua ;)  which is why I had to grab this:

It's my first butterprint find and in aqua and for $1 :)

and finally, this really interesting painting.  It was between two pieces of glass and sealed with some kind of tape.  I didn't understand why it was done that way so I took it apart and discovered the painting is actually on glass!  The tape was waterproof - D'OH!  So now, I am on the hunt for some so I can do the same.

If anyone recognizes this artist, would you please let me know?  I'm linking up!

Her Library Adventures, Flea Market Finds
Coastal Charm, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, No. 119
Kathe With an E, You're Gonna Love It Tuesday #9
Cap Creations, Thrifty Love
Apron Thrift Girl, Thrift Share Monday 


Have a great week! <3 Lisa