Thrifting Finds #7!

Well, what with one thing and another, hubs and I skipped two stops on our customary rounds this weekend. We still ended up with some interesting finds, though.  Hubs, of course, picked up some more colored glass, including a vase that I might just have to, uhm, what's a pretty word for "steal"?

We skipped one of our Goodwills due to the fact that we spent the morning torturing the weiner dog.  Yes, pedicures are to be abhorred.  Still, the little princess survived and she's much quieter on the hardwood.  So quiet I call her our Stealth Weiner.

We also skipped the Rescue Mission thrift, as there was some kind of traffic accident up where it is and the snarl of traffic wasn't worth getting into.

On to what I found!

1.  Cookbooks!  I think I may be the last person in the country to own one of these Cooking With Soup cookbooks.  Mom had quite a collection of cookbooks but she sure didn't own this little beauty.   The whole concept of throwing some cream of mushroom on some chicken was utterly icky to her.  Heck, I didn't even know about green bean casserole until I was an adult!
The other cookbook has real potential.  Not only is it favorite recipes, they're budget recipes.  From Home Economics Teachers!!  How awesome is that?  I haven't really looked through it yet, but I'm imagining a lot of hamburger and liver recipes.  I might have to serve a few to the hubster, just to see what the reaction is.  Yeah, I'm mean like that.  $1.67 (??) each.

2.  Tupperware!  It's a good weekend when I find a piece of Tupperware.  It seems to be quite scarce around here.  Well, other than the big Jell-O mold and the big dip-and-vegetable server, or whatever the hell it's called.  At first I thought this was for keeping a loaf of bread, but the grid inside makes me think it's a celery keeper.  Oh, plus that whole green color.    Am I right on this?  I hope so, because we eat a good deal of celery Chez Fondue.  I also hope it works well,  because I've discovered that merely wrapping celery tight in aluminum foil keeps it fresh forever.  $3.00

There are also a couple of things I didn't buy.  I hemmed and hawed, thinking maybe I could flip 'em on ebay, but I'm not sure all the careful packing and everything would be worth the effort.  You'll tell me if I made a huge mistake, right?

Pyrex!  Yeah, so there was this set of 4 Butterprint bowls that totaled $22.00.  I didn't look them over with a fine tooth comb, but they looked in pretty decent shape.  For some reason, I just can't get excited over the Cinderellas.  I don't understand, because I keep thinking they're something I should like.  Not pictured is a set of (3 or 4, I can't remember which)...are they Cinderella casseroles?  They have the handle and spout, but the sides are straight.  They were gold with flowers on 'em.  Just looked them up: Butterfly Gold.  I didn't get the price.

The other thing I didn't get was this set of--I forget what those cups are called--and the matching carafe.  You can see that the price was 10 bucks (and make sure you write the price with Sharpie right on the package, Goodwill...), which sounded kind of reasonable to me.  Unfortunately, I really don't have any use for this, and I can't keep buying things that I can't use.  Again, I had thought briefly about flipping them on ebay, but I was deterred by the packaging thereof.

I'm thinking that what I really need is a booth in an antique mall somewhere.  That way I could keep picking up cool stuff to sell and only have to worry about pricing it correctly.

Linking up with the fun at Sir Thrift A Lot, The Nifty Thrifty, and The Remnant

Thrifting Finds #6!

So who found some Pyrex this weekend?

This guy.

Not that I found a whole lot, mind you.  Hubs and I went to 5 Goodwills, a Savers, and the Rescue Mission thrift this weekend and I only picked up one item.  As I say, I'm okay with that due to my hoarding tendencies. Hubs on the other hand, cleaned up.  He found a whole bunch of his beloved colored glass (though there was an unfortunate incident with a red decanter that turned out to just be painted or something, as the color came off when he washed it...)

I almost didn't get my single item, as there was a woman handling it when I noticed it.  I said nothing out loud, but in my head I was saying PutitdownPutitdownPutitdown.  And when she did, I swooped in and scooped it up.  Sort of a swoop 'n scoop, if you will.  It was in a stack with a horribly dishwashered pink 403 and another dishwashwered yellow 403 (neither of which I bought.)

So what did I get?

Pyrex!  I am now halfway to my set of Primaries!  I'm pretty sure this is the 404, even though it's unmarked.  It's about 10.25" in diameter--can anyone confirm that that's the size of a 404?  And because it's unmarked, does that make it older?    I have the red 402 that I got a month or so ago, but I didn't take a picture of it.  This bowl isn't perfect--there are some chips in the paint and it was pretty badly untensiled when I got it (though some BKF took care of the utensil marks nicely.)  Still, that's fine with me because I intend to use this bowl.  I don't have the space to collect stuff that's "just for show".  If I can't use it, I don't buy it.  And if it were perfect, I wouldn't use it.  So win-win.  And the best part?  It was only $3.00!

In other news, I got the second ceiling fan installed in the bedroom this weekend.  I know everyone was on pins and needles waiting for that news ;)

Linking up with Sir Thrift A Lot, The Nifty Thrifty and Remnant

Thrifting Finds #5!

It wasn't a great weekend for me, but hubby cleaned up!  He got another giant amber glass bottle, this time at the Rescue Mission Thrift (first purchase there.)  It had part of the original Gemco price sticker still on it.  For some reason, I am obsessed with things that have their original stickers.  He also got some assorted glassware, but for the life of me I can't remember what.

On Sunday, we went to the Goodwill where we don't usually find anything and--didn't find anything!  On the way home we stopped at an "Enormous Yard Sale!!" that wasn't so enormous because it was the afternoon of the last day. Still, hubs picked up another set of those stupid champagne flutes with no base to fill in the missing colors of the set he already has.

We didn't do our usual Sunday thrifting rounds as I came down with a migraine on Saturday afternoon and didn't feel up to it.  Won't be able to go next Sunday either, for Reasons.  Oh, well.

I did pick up something at the Goodwill on Saturday while I was still feeling kind of human:  a couple of pieces of

Tupperware!  That little three-section dish is called a "Suzette" (marked on bottom.)  I got it despite not having a lid as I don't think I have ever seen one before.  The handle unscrews, so it's easy to cover with a piece of Saran.  I'm not quite sure about that red box.  It's really thick, sturdy plastic, much sturdier than necessary for holding leftovers.  Maybe it originally had some other use?  Anyone know?  They were $1.00 each.

Since we didn't go out thrifting on Sunday, I wanted to at least accomplish something, so I installed the first of three ceiling fans.  This one is over the bed:

I have to get one more to put at the other end of the room.  Eagly-eye readers will note that this is not the ceiling fan I mentioned here.  That one is for the den and is back ordered anyway, so there's no telling when it'll come in.

Linking up with the deliciousness at Sir Thrift A Lot, The Nifty Thrifty, and Remnant

Thrifty Thursday!

When I started this blog, my intention was not to just post cool stuff I found at the thrift stores, but also to share some other things.  Like what?  Oh, like pictures of my collections, some thrifty tips, the occasional good recipe.  That kind of stuff.

Let me tell you, I'm the world's biggest cheapskate a pretty frugal kind of guy.  I hate paying a penny more for anything than I absolutely have to.  I clip coupons, I buy generic stuff, I shop sales.

So let's get this show on the road by sharing my thrifty Tip O' The Week:  Shop at Aldi.

Seriously, does anyone shop there?  (Disclaimer:  Aldi isn't paying me to say this, they don't know who I am, and probably couldn't care less that I'm talking about them.)  We would occasionally go to one that's near home but it's so badly managed (only one checkout open on Saturday afternoon with a line snaking around the store) that we usually avoided it.  Now they've opened up another one near where we do our marketing anyway and it has become another scheduled stop on our rounds.  The prices are incredible.

Now you have to realize that 95% of what they carry is their own brand of stuff.  This is fine with me because I usually buy store brands anyway (because why pay any more than you have to?)  We've tried a lot of their stuff and so far we have liked everything except their bagels and cheese crackers (see below.)  They have a lot of interesting frozen stuff, too, that changes often.  They'll do a Mexican food promotion, or an Oktoberfest kind of thing and feature appropriate food, but you need to get it while they have it because it won't hang around long.

It's worth going there just for the butter, which (around here, anyway) hovers around $2.00/lb even when the regular markets are selling it closer to $5.00.  This alone makes a huge dent in my Christmas baking budget.  This is also the place to go if you're throwing a party; you can cut your costs way down without anyone noticing.  (And by the way, if you ever throw a party, never give in to that urge to add up how much you've spent.  It's just too depressing.)

I love their flyers, by the way, because they always have something totally random on sale.  Among the cookies, the peanut butter, the chicken breasts, the mayonnaise, they throw in something like a tent.  Or an air compressor.  Or patio furniture.

So give them a try.  And make sure to take your own bags.

Now then.  Even I know there comes a time when being thrifty just doesn't work, when you have to open up the wallet and part with some serious scratch.  Therefore, here are

Three items it's not worth trying to cheap out on:

1.  Toilet paper.  For reasons I hope I don't have to go into.

2.  Dishwasher detergent.  Just get Cascade.  Look for sales and use a coupon if you can.  If you try the cheap stuff you'll just be disappointed.

3.  Cheez-Its.  Nobody has managed to copy the incredible deliciousness of the original, so don't even bother.

Thrifting finds, 4/7/13

Well, we didn't pick up a whole lot this weekend, but what we got was choice.  On Friday night I asked hubby if he wanted to go thrifting this weekend and his reply was "Of course.  I think I'm having withdrawal!"  This after only one weekend off!  He ended up getting a bunch more glass things on Sunday.

We also tried a new-to-us thrift store called The White Rabbit.  It's run by a hospital auxiliary.  It was nice, but much too frou-frou for us.  It was like one of those thrift stores that's run by the Junior League--very chichi stuff with price tags to match.  The whole second floor (it's in an old house) was clothes, something in which we have zero interest.

I really liked the house it was in, though!  As we walked through, I was mentally arranging the furniture.

So.  On to what we bought.  It was a weekend of coincidences.  I mean, what are the chances--two weeks ago I found a pair of lamps that need shades.  This week I find a pair of shades that need lamps!

1,  Lampshades!  These were unmarked at the Goodwill, so I didn't know what to expect.  I know some places have a rule that if there's no price they can't sell it.  Luckily, the gal at the checkout said "These are usually 3 dollars each" which sounded like a good deal to me!  I like these shades because they're more off-white than pure white.  I tried a pure white shade on one of the lamps and it looked funny.  I don't know why these lamps look kind of greenish; they're really white with beige and gold.  As another coincidence (maybe), I saw similar shades at Lowe's this weekend for 15 bucks a pop which I thought seemed reasonable.  I like the price I paid better!  Still need to get some new harps for the lamps--the nine-incher is a little too short.  I think 11" would work much better.

Hubs and I also decided that these are going to take up too much real estate on our night stands, so they're headed for the den instead.  $3.00 each.

2.  Cookbook!  This is my second Bake-Off cookbook.  There's no date on it but I did a little research and it's from 1960 (a very good year!)  Grand prize winner was Dilly Casserole Bread.  It looks okay, but  a grand prize winner?  Really?  I love the mini-bios they attach to the big winners.  One gal's hobbies include singing in her church choir and dressing bride dolls.  Wouldn't you like to know somebody like that?

The other coincidence of the day was when hubby and I were headed into GW #2.  I remarked that I was looking for a coffee table with a drawer so we have a place to keep various remote controls and whatnot.  Well, damned if we didn't come across one the minute we walked in!  It was almost an exact duplicate of the coffee table we have now (also from the GW), but with that drawer.  Unfortunately, there was a funky spot on the top where I would see it all the time and I think it would have driven my crazy.  Apparently, those Mersman "Party-Proof" tables weren't quite as party-proof as they would like you to believe.  If it were half-price furniture day I would have bought it, but I just didn't feel like spending 20 bucks on a table that would have annoyed me.

In the world of retail (ugh), we also bought new tires for our hand truck.  Do we know how to live, or what?

Linking up with the healthy goodness at Sir Thrift A Lot, The Nifty Thrifty, The Thrifty Groove, and Remnant

Wish list

So I was sitting here thinking about my thrifting habits and I ended up asking myself a question:  What is it that I'm looking for when I do my rounds?  The short answer of course,  is "cool stuff" and that's pretty accurate, actually.  I'm open to all kinds of things that I don't know I want until I see them (which gets me into a lot of trouble on ebay, but that's a story for another day...)

Certainly, though, I must have a Wish List, right?  Turns out that I do, and it's not a particularly long one.

Oh, and I realize that what I'm looking for is pretty common, and found almost daily by most of you. Unfortunately, either I'm just missing these things when I go out, or our thrifts just suck.

1.  Pyrex Cracker Barrels!  I've found a couple of these in my travels, but they're always either lidless or scratched and dishwashered.  Actually, I need two of these.  For the actual storage of crackers.  Does anyone know if they seal tightly?
Update:  Acquired!

2.  Pyrex Primary mixing bowls!  One day I just up and decided I needed these (I often do that.)  I have a red 402 that is completely matte, but the color is still nice and bright.  I narrowly missed the 403 and 404 at a Salvation Army a few weeks ago, and just last week I found a 403 but it was so badly dishwashered that you could barely tell it had once been green.  I know I could pick up a nice set of these on ebay, but 1) I don't want to pay those prices and 2) I enjoy the thrill of the hunt.

Update:  Acquired!  I could use a better 402, but I'm happy with what I have.

3.  Heavy cast aluminum bowl!  I used to see these all the time.  I'm looking for an aluminum bowl to keep on the dining room table as a decorative element.  I currently have a big Paul Revere bowl, but I hate polishing silver and it tarnishes the second I turn my back on it.  P.S. what is it about the Goodwill and silver plate?  I keep wanting to explain to them that silver plate has NO value.

Update:  Removed from list.  Replaced with this, which I actually like better:

4.  Presto percolator!  I love these Presto appliances with the white handles.  I already have one of these percolators, but there's a crack in the handle and I'm afraid it's going to completely come apart and shower me with scalding coffee.  This is a truly an excellent coffee maker.  It's super speedy, immersible and easy to clean, and makes coffee that's actually hot.  I already own the matching Cook 'N Serv electric skillet and the Popcorn Popper.

5.  Magnavox 65-02-00 radio!  For no other reason than the fact that Rob & Laura Petrie had one in their kitchen.  I'm on a quest to acquire as much stuff that Rob & Laura had that I can.  Because I'm weird.

6.  Homer Laughlin china!  Either Turquoise Melody or Romance.  For the same reason stated in number 5.  I'm still not absolutely sure which pattern Rob & Laura had.  Unfortunately, the camera tends to linger on faces rather than props...  And it turns out that HL sold blanks of its china to other manufacturers, so there's really no telling what the Petrie's pattern was.  Still, I like both of these.  Service for 8, please, though I wouldn't turn my nose up at service for 6.

Update:  No!  It's South Wind!

Thank you Dawn!

7.  Tupperware!  I'd like to start with a set of vintage Wonderlier bowls--look at those colors!.  Once I've got them, we could move into some other Tupperware, like maybe canisters.  The only piece I've been able to find with any regularity is the big green Jell-O mold.  Every thrift has at least one of those!

Update:  I now own a lot of Tupperware--but still no Wonderlier bowls!

That's it, really, at least for the time being.  I'm a simple man with simple wants.

What I didn't buy

Afraid to say that thrifting this week was not very productive.  Hubby found a couple of interesting Martini glasses and a candlestick on Saturday, but I found nothing at all that I couldn't live without.  Sunday being Easter, we did no thrifting at all.  I hope to get back into our usual groove next weekend.

In the meantime, here are a few pictures of some things I didn't buy.  I'm betting I don't need to explain why, either.

Belleh casting kit!  All righty.  Apparently, pregnant women are now able to make a plaster cast of their pregnant selves.  To do what with?  Hang on the wall?  Serve dip?   I don't get this.  Is this a thing?  Do women actually do this?  If so, why?

Creepy lamp! This little boy clutching a doll just creeps me the you-know-what out.  I think it's the eyes.  The beady little eyes.  That haircut's not working in his favor, either.

Creepy figurine!   Imma eat dis puppeh!  Nom nom nom!  Clearly a homemade product, I'm not surprised it ended up on the shelf at Goodwill.  There was a matching girl, but she wasn't quite so creepy.  Again, I think it's the eyes (though this time they're huge and soulless.)

Also, pimp cap.

Sexy gnome!  Hey, bebeh--I got something you might want to take a look at...  Just never expected to ever combine "leering" and "lecherous" with "gnome" in the same sentence.

Hard workin' dragon!  It's a statue!  Of a dragon!  With a lawn mower!  Because that makes sense!

Hope to be back next week with some actual purchases.

Linking up with the fabulousness at Sir Thrift A Lot and The Nifty Thrifty