All Good Things in Time - Jewelry Box (Before and After)

Thrifting isn't just all about find things is it?  There's the unloading, stacking/putting it somewhere, taking off price tags, washing/cleaning, putting away.  That is generally the very least of it.  Today I brought home one of those "project" things.  When we were at the thrift store, I showed hubby this find--it would be for him.  I said I would need to do this and that to it, he said "you sure you want to go through that" and I said, "well if you really want it, I don't mind doing it".  So here's what I got.

A dirty glass top jewelry showcase/display box.  Just what hubby needs for his vintage cufflinks and tie accessories.  I made him a tray to stick in the drawer of his little antique table from his grandmother, but he quickly outgrew that.  I didn't want to spend $30 or more for a new box, so he's been limping along.  But it's a pain, he has all these little boxes he has to go through in addition to the overflowing tray. 

There are 56 cells, that's a lot!  He has room to grow in this!  That's nice, I won't have to even think about it for a while.  Well, since I usually have more projects than I need going on, I decided to clean this up after supper.  I vacuumed it, cleaned the glass, wiped down all the wood with alcohol and scraped the edge along the glass where there was some excess stain.  Then I made templates to cut felt to line the cells.  I could only do the top, I don't have enough light colored felt to the bottom as well. 

Here it is.  I packed everything in the top tier though some things will be separated out once I get the lower tier felted.  I made some some trays beige and some white.  I sorted silver toned items into the white and gold toned into the beige.  It probably won't stay that way for long.

Another project down, another area of the house organized!  Oh and, it cost $3.50! 

Bowls, Bowls, Bowls!!!

First I have to mention the sun is out and not only am I joyous over this, but the pup who usually is napping about now is on high alert.  The sun comes out and he sits in front of the patio door waiting for anything that moves so he can come in and scream to us, and I mean scream!  It's his nature to protect the herd, but sometimes it feels like he's trying to drive us off!

I had to snap some pictures this morning.  I cleaned finds last night and need to put them where ever--so before I forget what I got, here goes!

Got something on my wish list.  There is all that gold and turquoise glass out there and I need at least one example.  Drinking glasses aren't a good idea as I don't have a place to display them.  Something bigger is more like what I had in mind, actually, this item was high on my wish list.

Can it get any more atomic?  It's missing the bracket, I know where there is a set (of a different design/color) with a bracket, not sure what the price is on it.  I could get a bracket that way, but I'm not sure I really want one.

 

Then there was this.  I can't believe I found another piece of Franciscan Duet so soon!  The is the huge salad bowl.  It does have a chip, but perfect otherwise.  I'm okay with the chip.  I'm thinking about getting some epoxy putty and repairing it.  I'll have to practice on something else first.  I don't think it would be hard for me to repair.  This cost me $5.40 which, for what it is, chip and all, is still a great deal!

And there was Pyrex, (which I post on Pyrex Collective every Monday) but my non-Pyrex glass find was this fantastic piece!

Federal Atomic Dots!  Wow!   Of course, this makes me want to find the rest of the set.  First time I have ever run into one of these--it was so exciting!

As always, these were all a great surprise.  Things had been dry for a while so I don't expect much when I go out, and when stuff like this turns up--I'm flabbergasted!

It Was a Blue Day... (in more than one way)

I'll just cut to the chase--I was blue today.  It started with a little melancholy in the morning and then turned to feeling blue by afternoon.  It's that time of year again where I start yearning for the sunshine and longer days.  The gray cold rain that lasts from morning to night just starts getting to me.  It didn't help that hubby and I went out thrifting in the morning and barely scrapped together a couple of finds.  We went to our neighboring town, so it eats up some time and gas.  We came home for lunch, did some domestic stuff, played with the pup and then decided to see if anything was happening in our end of town.  First stop, nothing.  I was lolling about--there were carts coming out of the warehouse, but no kitchen wares came and we gave up and left.  Second stop--things starting rolling including some Pyrex.  Third stop nothing, fourth stop was to pick up something we knew was there...but no new finds. Fifth stop--a bust.  And last stop, bingo!  I don't want to post my Pyrex here since I post on Monday's on Pyrex Collective, so I'll share the other goodies here!

Oh my!  All kinds of neato stuff!  The vintage glasses we got yesterday, they are Siesta Ware.  They are frosted and one still has a sticker on it that says the wrapping is made of walnut.  They just remind me of the 60s.  Hubby liked them too, no surprise, the island boy in him is attracted to Tiki stuff!

Maureen, are you reading this?  Do you believe your eyes?  Yes!  Franciscan Starburst!  I found a cup and bread plate.  Now I was just talking to Maureen in the comments/reply yesterday about never having seen Franciscan Starburst at the thrifts!  I usually go and look to see if there are cups for my Pyrex plates and so today I looked down and saw the cup.  I picked it up and went to look at the dishes, see if there was more.  Hubby came into the aisle and I held up the cup and raised my eyebrows.  His eyes got as big as dinner plates.  I started looking at the dishes and a lady came over to me and said "are you looking for pieces like that" and I said "yes" and she said "I got cups and plates yesterday".  She said "there was some plates left" and she starts looking behind the front row.  Well, there was one plate, the one she musta left with the chip on it. But that was okay, hey, a flea bite for 89 cents is fine with me.  I was there yesterday, I don't think I missed it, I think it was gone before I got there, or went out after I left.  So it goes.  As it is, I have more cups than anything, but the plate comes in handy.  I'm just glad she didn't say "there were bowls" or "there was a pitcher, coffee, teapot, COVERED CASSEROLE"... that would have bummed me out.  It was just bread plates, cups and saucers.  It was kinda funny, she asked me "aren't they called something like atomic?" Here I am practically choking on finding Starburst and she's like, what is the stuff?

I also picked up this Rosenthal Netter pottery owl made in Italy.  The glaze is plain delicious!! I wish it would photograph better, the color is stunning.  The casserole is JAJ (aka English Pyrex).  There is an (American) Pyrex bowl  that is virtually the same (Pyrex 023) but smaller and the design is turquoise blue (the English is royal blue though it looks turquoise on my monitor) in the reverse direction.  And I should add the the shape of the bowl is also slightly different between the English and American versions.

Yep, the piece de resistance...two vintage Valentine's Pixies (as described through our research) stamped Japan.  These two guys are about 6" tall, pretty big! They appear to have gold hearts on their collars.  I couldn't believe my luck!  Hubby looked these up, there apparently is also one that sits with his legs apart. These afternoon finds wiped away any blues I had.  All of these colorful cheerful pieces of this and that really brightened up the rest of my day and evening!

Franciscan in the Air! (and other miscellaneous finds...)

I've picked up some things the past few days.  A lot of looking, but there wasn't much out there.  That was okay because I found some Franciscan pottery, the patterns I won't pass up.  It's hard for me to come across the pieces of Franciscan I'm interested in (or weak for), so any of those finds are always great finds for me!

I will pick up any pieces of Franciscan Duet that I come across.  Of course, Starburst and Oasis are at the top of my list, but I never expect to see them.  I got this divided child's plate in Duet.  I'll use it for a relish dish.  I will pick pick ANY Franciscan pottery mugs when I find them, again--it's rare I run into any.  I found these two Autumn Leaves patterned mugs for 89 cents each!!! I have one already, that brings me to three!

Kitsch is always in order.  Hubby picked up these guys.

Cute Napco mouse piggy bank and a porcelain whale diving into a wave.  There are no markings on the whale thingy, I haven't tried to look it up, but it's just cute.  We'll have to work that into the marine themed bathroom.

I found a couple cute things myself...

Who could pass up a reclining Kewpie?  Well I did, last week.  It was priced way too high.  Someone must of donated a collection as they had them all up on the glass case.  I just happened to see this one in the toy section yesterday, guess it got dumped there once it went half price.  I also got this Fire King cup for 40 cents.  It's very brightly colored and cheery (picture isn't so good).  I'm planning to make a little Easter decoration with it.

I got Pyrex thrifting and at the antique/vintage malls.  I posted those at the Pyrex Collective here if you wanna see!

I'm linking up with Sir Thrift-A-Lot at Thriftasaurus, he's got some sweet finds posted today!

Well Eat my Words! My Coolest Find Today!

In my last post I recall saying I tend not to buy Glasbake.  Well, now I know why!  I haven't been fortunate enough to run into this gem that I found today!  Now I have to go research Glasbake patterns--gotta know what else I've been missing!

Yep!  I found this beauty starburst/snowflake patterned dish! Fortunately there is a Pin on Pinterest that shows one of these with the lid and I'll be on the hunt for it!  I really think I've seen one before, but that was months and months ago at the very least.  I also picked up a Fire King Primrose patterned dish, it was cheap and I like this pattern and colors.  My other cool find for a mere 40 cents is a Dream Pet Valentine's squirrel!  It was the first thing I found today and was totally fine if I didn't find anything else.  Couple of cute little vintage pottery Easter chicks for decorating.

I went to put the squirrel on the shelf and realized I had not included the Napco July angel in my last post.  I have a December one too.  Hope I run into to some of the other months.

I got a package of mixed cards yesterday that had these oh so 70s cards. The card stock is embossed like linen.

 

Oh so cute!!

Hubby came to me with an excellent find.

This is a set of four framed Uchida (of Koyto, Japan) vintage Christmas card woodblock prints.  They are outstanding. The backgrounds are all gold.  The colors are beautiful.   Whoever owned these had them nicely framed in gessoed frames.  They were kinda spendy for the thrift--$18 for the set, but of course still a great bargain! We are so pleased to give them a new home!

It's been non-stop today.  Tomorrow I'm going to try to squeeze a two pound sausage into a one pound casing.  I'm finally putting the majority of the Christmas decorations back in the Christmas closet!! 

Thrift Store Finds - A Little of This a Little of That!

I hardly posted anything non-Christmas for months!  I decided to round up some of the notable stuff from this week before I forget!  It doesn't include Pyrex of course as I post that on the Pyrex Collective.

Of course, my glass collecting isn't limited to Pyrex.  I tend not to buy Glassbake, but I do like Fire King, Hazel Atlas and JAJ Pyrex so I pick up some pieces now and again when I run into them.  As you can see, I found some of those this week. 

And then there was kitsch, in addition to a pair of skunks, I found this Wales Lamb.  She is missing her babies--the chain is still there--we'll go back to the thrift to see if they show up!

I rarely run across any vintage ephemera at the thrift. I found this paper in a mixed bag of papers and gift bags.  It's perfect for hubby who is a medieval historian.  I'll decoupage it to a box. I will likely cut the "happy father's day" part out so it can be all occasional. I've been wanting to find vintage gift papers to do this with to use in decorating. I used to do it years ago, the boxes are reusable and are great for packing holiday things away when not used in decorating. Maybe I'll find some paper at garage sales this year.  Online prices are far too high for me. 

I've never been one to do a lot of Easter decorating, but I'm going to do some this year!  I started a new Pinterest Board of Easter craft ideas.  I want to make a wreath and diorama eggs.  Anyway, here is a set of lights I found, there are 10 on the strand and dated 1991, in the box.  The box has nice graphics on it too!  Hubby is very pleased that there will be Easter lights this year!

Flea Market Finds

I went to the flea market with a friend today.  We had a good time!  It got a bit busy and crowded, but I managed to spend some money and get some crafting goodies.  This flea market doesn't feel like a flea market in the traditional sense where you expect super cheap prices.  I set my limit at what I would've paid in the thrift store, if it exceeds that--I don't buy.  I did spend a little more on a couple of items a vendor agreed to bring this time that she didn't have with her last time.  Anyway. here's a picture of my Christmas crafty stuff.

Yeah, I know.  The Christmas season is over, but it's still going on in my mind!  I bargained for the entire shoebox of glass sprays.  It wasn't until I went to take this picture that I discovered this one, with the tag attached 'Made in Occupied Japan'.

It's neat when you find something that has a tag by which you can accurately date it.  There was another vendor that had a box full of separately bagged Christmas decorations.  I took over half of the box and asked what it would cost me.  He added up the asking prices and took off 25%.  That brought it down to an acceptable price for me.  Here are some of the neat little things I got.

 

A couple of red velvet reindeer to add to my collection!

This angel that looks to me to be made out of the end of a tin can.

 

I looked all holiday season for JUST ONE glass bird and didn't find one.  Today I finally found my bird!  I think s/he's just lovely!

And my other dream ornament, a trumpet!

I also got hubby two cufflink/tie tack sets he really likes!  One is Swank the other Dante.  Hubby's one of those guys that likes French cuffs and wears a tie to work.  It was fun surprising him!

Vintage Tao Fong Shan Porcelain Lazy Susan

I have to quickly post this item!  I emailed these pictures to my friend last night--had to share!  I found this porcelain lazy Susan tray set yesterday at the thrift and it was made sweeter with a 25% discount.  I have a weakness for Asian porcelain and there was no way I was going to pass up this hand painted set from Tao Fong Shan!  I've wanted one of these for years, at least 10 I think (longer probably), but I WAS NOT going to buy one on line with shipping costs etc.  I'm glad I waited, this is gorgeous!

Peonies and Lotus, the 7 pieces fit into the tray.

 

This is part of the detail of the lid. The lacquered box is exquisite as well!

I told my friend that I am already planning tea with her and I'm going to fill it with special goodies for the two of us!  We don't get to spend enough time together and when we do, we eat and talk for a good couple hours.  Cant wait!

Vintage Pixie Gets Bath and a New Set of Clothes!

After looking long and hard--I found a couple pixies on line.  These had all the things I was looking for in pixies, cheap(!), small and really sweet faces.  Here is one that I gave a bath and made a new set of clothes for.

 

Didn't measure this guy, but I think he's about 5" tall.  You can see how terribly faded and dirty he looked.  

 

Marks on his dirty little face.  

Off with his clothes!  Boy,his clothes sure were a different color way back when!

There was no way to remove his head from his body, so I had to cut away his sleeves.

Bath time...

Ah!  Much better!

Serious glue was used on the cap/his head.  Part of the fabric just wouldn't come off no matter how hard I tried.  I opted for filing it down with my wire wrapping files.  Then there was pattern making, felt cutting and voila!

He looks like a new man!  One more pic!

Ain't he cute!  I used a wool blend felt I had.  Wish I would have had woven wool felt, it would have been softer, but oh well, sometimes we have to settle with what we have on hand.  I also trimmed him up with some reclaimed vintage ric rac!  That was fun!

Sweet Pottery Find (and Christmas continues)

I ran into something at the thrift I didn't need but couldn't leave!  I have this self imposed policy that I can only buy things I need or will use, or have a place for (not stick it in a closet).  Boy was I wracking my brain to justify taking these home.  For me they are pure eye candy.  They were a steal!

This set of pottery canister I found to be adorably sweet!   I only found three, don't know that there were four--though we commonly expect that.  Seems anything larger than the largest one would seem to big to be practical and same goes for anything smaller than the smallest one.  I took pictures of every side of each canister as there are no two alike.

The lids are all slightly different as well.

And yes--I did find a place for them...in my pink room on my antique peasant's armoire.  When I dust, I'll turn them to see different sides!

Yesterday my neighbor dropped by with a big box of glass ornaments.  Her church was getting rid of them.  She had me go through and pick out whatever I wanted.

It was awfully sweet of her to think of me.  Here are the little treasures I got out of it, some for crafting and a few great ones to put on the tree! Pup is inspecting in the background.

Wow--all these things were unexpected and very exciting!