Summer the End of Spring Cleaning

I've been taking it easy--well as easy I can being me. My hands suffered incredibly from these weeks of cleaning out, cleaning, moving heavy things like 1000+ books...more than once and the list goes on. I've been minding my poor little hands trying to give them a break this week. Putting off installing my curtain rods until the last minute. I went through every room in my house and lastly the garage. While I was at it, I revamped my bench space adding more storage area and decorating a little to make it more homey! I like for my garage to be just another room in the house.

Yesterday I gave this sad fireplace screen a paint job. Like they say, you get what you pay for and being girl on a tight budget I have to make due. Part of my front room makeover includes my fireplace. We don't use it, perhaps one day I'll get one of those cool Optimyst inserts!!! Anyway, I liked the mid century feel of this screen--some spray paint really perked it up.

Can't believe I pretty much spent the month of June cleaning through my house, I didn't get out  a lot as I was trying to accomplish so much.  Looking through my pictures I do see I made some things...

A gift... Pyrex Verde earrings.

A custom ornament...

An exchange....yes, sadly someone lost their Pyrex Rooster spacesaver 

Another custom ornament....

Found some bargains thrifting...

I pick up Melmac for a friend, got these Pyrex/Corelle knock off Termo Rey plates for myself.  Something we can use in the microwave instead of our pottery dishes.  We don't use the microwave often, but these come in handy.

It's rare I find pink Pyrex that's not destroyed at the thrifts..but I did!

I squeezed in a couple trades...couldn't resist people contacting me and offering me Cathrineholm for my Pyrex.  This lovely 9.5" bowl is the first for me in the small leaf pattern, it's beautiful and in such excellent condition. And the teapot is so cute--nice size.

Thrift Store Find - Franciscan Starburst!

Over the moon doesn't describe it.  Hubby spotted this pile of Franciscan Starburst at the thrift store in the cart waiting to be unloaded.  We have been hunting nonstop for years hoping to score some pieces cheap and it finally happened!

Vintage Swedish China Cabinet

I have in all my years never owned a china cabinet.  I always expected to have one.  It wasn't a priority and I wasn't in a hurry to get one.  I always felt like it was one of those things I wanted to buy only once.  The past 6 years I've really been stepping up my search.  I knew what I wanted and I knew what I DIDN'T want to pay for one.  The past year I was starting to let that feeling of hopelessness enter.  But low and behold, a few days ago as I was leaving a vintage shop-- right by the door was my dream cabinet!  We brought it home yesterday and today I anchored it to the wall, cleaned it up and selected things to put in it.  I left the sliding glass doors off to take the picture and avoid the reflection.  I'm so happy with this little Swedish cabinet and I'm even happier I didn't have to pay an arm and a leg!  I let hubby ceremoniously hand the cashier the credit card, he's been wanting to buy me something to commemorate our anniversary in less than a week.

Busy Time! -- A Post in Pictures

As always, I've kept myself busy!  Hubby had a mini vacation between terms and wanted to mindlessly go thrifting.  Did I say no?  Of course not!  I also tended to the garden and tried to feed us.

I don't need to start any new collections, but I ran into 3 of these Glasbake loaf pans in one week.  They were cheap, I couldn't resist.

I traded away my Blue Tulip Pyrex dish for a box full of broken Pyrex to make jewelry with. Then I missed it.  Met up with a local and traded for one.  I also found the carafe that goes to my Hocking Glass collection on ebay.  She's beautiful

Americana Star flatware is one I've been piecing together.  I found a great deal for a set new in box on line.  This is our everyday flatware that goes with our atomic pottery dishes.  Traded for another piece that I let go and then had regrets about. Found a Desert Dawn 232 pan and hubby insisted on the Happy Apple.

This was one day of thrifting.  

Another day of thrifting, I swear I heard the angels sing when I picked up the space saver lid!  I have pretty good luck finding them.

Unmarked opal bowls, super cute donkey bank and a chenille bathroom set for my friend.

Fun stuff on this day.  The shell wall pocket is Leyden Allen Arts out of California.  I hung it on the wall with my Norcrest surfing mermaids and they look great together.   The lidded mosaic container is West Germany and it is tin.  Harmony House sugar bowl.

I've been looking for just the right things for my bedroom that I'm decorating in a '50 Asian theme.  I couldn't resist this Danbury Mint parakeet piece.  It is so life like.  

This Napco Queen of Hearts planter was a super find--she's so cute.  The frog planter has holes for hanging.  Fire King planter is perfect to hold plastic storage container Pyrex lids in my kitchen drawer.  And though the blue flower Glasbake isn't a spectacular piece, it's a shape and size is different from all my other bakeware and I've already needed to use it.

Picked up lots of Pyrex storage containers which is great, love to organize my kitchen.  Pyrex for my trade pile and the space saver was a surprise find.  Finally found my first Texas Ware bowl, not like I need any, but I've seen people pick them up right in front of me before.  This one is yellow which really appeals to me.  Now that I have one, I can rest! Hubby insisted on the (minty) Fire King Kimberly bowls.  And he's got a new huge bling ring!  haha!  My weakness for atomic pottery dishes knows no end, some pieces of Taylor Smith Taylor in the Cathay pattern.

I have the large 444 Green Ivy Pyrex bowl and have secretly been wanting the small 441 to complete the chip and dip set.  I could have traded for one several times, but shipping is not cheap in trading and I resisted.  Finally picked one up for $1.79.  

A couple Hazel Atlas bowls. The little white one could have possibly been painted at one time.  Another candle holder for my collection.

Hubby found these vintage hand painted Japanese tiles which I hung in the bedroom.  I have a set of four seasons I found years ago and also have large lotus and quail ones.  Love these.  There was Pyrex out there and the old chartreuse AT&T TrimLine phone works perfectly in our Danish modern den.  The Federal flower pieces are from a trade.  I love trading, I get such awesome things that way.

Then there were lots of vintage dishes in action.  Smoothies in Anchor Hocking glasses.

Caprese salad...

Strawberries and snowpeas from the garden...

....followed by strawberries and freshly whipped chocolate whipped cream.

Abundance of garden greens.

I have all but the opal 231, opals are one of my favorites in Pyrex dishes.

Plenty strawberries from the garden--Hazel Atlas Moderntone sherbet cups.

Another experimental grain free bread recipe and it came out great!

Sliced and on a Franciscan Oasis plate.

I have plans to do a lot of interior painting in the coming weeks.  So thrifting is going to have to take a back seat.  I think I've done enough thrifting just in the last week alone, so I am ready for a break!  

Baking, Fixing, Playing...

Busy as always.  I find time to take pictures more than I do write.

I experimented and made bread from ground sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. Not bad!

I traded for this nice Pyrex cradle that was missing the handles. I put handles from an other cradle that I had onto this one.  I almost felt like my fingernails were going to peel off while trying to remove them, but I was determined to to win the battle!

Traded for some delphite Pyrex fridiges and found another Hocking Glass dish for my collection.

Made a new Pyrex franken set.  That's always fun.

Added my new delphite to my 501 stack.

Picked up a Salem Northstar saucer and enjoyed a little tea the next day.

Great find of six Vernonware Heavenly Days tumblers.  It's been a while since I've found any mid century pottery dinneware that I like.

Hubby loves the owls ,he found this bank with large glass rhinestone eyes.

I managed to get the irrigation for all my gardens up and running before the hot weather sets in.  I bought some new house numbers that I need to put up.  My list of things to do never seems to get any shorter!

What's Happenin'?!!! - I've Been Busy

I feel like I'm neglecting my blog.  Doesn't help that hubby brought home a bug from school and I wasn't lucky enough to not catch it.  I'm spending more time in the kitchen, getting back to what I need to do in terms of my demanding diet.  Yesterday I cleaned my refrigerator.

I needed to pick up some groceries and do some prep and such, but I just couldn't let one more day pass before cleaning it out.  And yes, there's a bunch of Pyrex in my fridge and I love it! 

I've got this weird diet where I don't eat gluten or highly starchy foods.  Bread of course is one of those things you can cry over when you can't eat it.  I found a recipe for a substitute, it's a pita, naan, tortilla kind of thing and it has changed my life!  Here is a breakfast sammich I made the other day with one of the 'breads' with some of my favorite vintage ware.

And I have steadily been bartering for broken Pyrex to make jewelry.  Here are a couple pendants I shipped off yesterday to ladies that sent me glass.  The maple leaf is Hazel Atlas.

And vintage finds  from last month...

Cute set of Nantucket soup cups made in Japan...

Vintage Pendelfin bunnies in bed from England...

Hubby found Neil the Frog canisters to go with his other pieces and I got a pair of Miss Cute Pie shakers.

Foulard Pyrex mugs, Mary Hadley mugs, turquoise fondant/cookie cutters from Wilton made in Hong Kong and a sweet anthropomorphic creamer.

I've missed checking out other blogs and seeing what everyone is up to and all the cool stuff they've found.  I need to carve out sometime to do that!  I'm going to link up with Sir Thrift-A-Lot over at Thriftasaurus, check it out here.  I spied a Pyrex Horizon Blue 024 over there!!!! 

Thrifty Vintage Finds - Franciscan Starburst!

Went hunting yesterday for vintage goodies! It's been so dry lately.  First stop, Franciscan Starburst platter. Great price and minty! Score! I figured if I didn't find anything else, it didn't matter.  This is my third piece of Starburst in years.  I'm still in disbelief!