Best Thrift Store Finds of the Year!

Now that 2011 is coming to a close, I've decided to start reminiscing about my "Thrift Hits of the Year"! It's been a great year of collecting goodies, and I hope you've enjoyed coming along for the ride. Click on each link to read more about it and see additional photos!

First up is this vintage Royal Quiet De Luxe Typewriter in amazing condition. I fell in love with the details found in the fonts and parts, and the sturdy construction of this piece... it was working perfectly and was a great bargain at $15!

This gorgeous vintage Le Creuset Flame Cocotte was found at my first-ever estate sale... I was so tickled to find a few months later that the official "True Le Creuset" site mentioned my post here.

At my favourite local church thrift, I picked up these Vintage Peep Toe Ballys... Yes, Five Dollar Ballys! In my size!

This little Danish Teak Bird Pencil Holder stole my heart at another church thrift sale... and at 50¢ was a crazy steal. I made sure to send some donations their way this year. I haven't found out any more information about it, except for someone who contacted me from Switzerland to tell me he had the same piece. =)

This Promotional Pyrex Aqua Blue Scrolls bowl is from 1959 and I cannot believe it was sitting on a shelf for two days at Value Village before I came and rescued it.

Even though I love many more things that I was lucky enough to find this year, these are the standouts looking back. Of course, thrifting is full of pros and cons... Last week I went through some of the Things I Regret Buying at the Thrift Store, but I don't mind donating them back for a good cause.

Linking up to Colorady Lady's Vintage Thingie Thursday and Vintage Scapes' Thrift Hits of the Year!

Vintage Vera Neumann Scarf with Ladybug Signature

I found a wonderful scarf designed by Vera Neumann at my local Salvation Army thrift store recently for $2.99. Although it isn't silk, it had a beautiful pattern that attracted me to it, and it was signed with the Vera logo with ladybug.

According to some great blogger sources, Vera and her husband started the company in 1946 designing textiles. It appears that my scarf was likely from the 1970s, as the Vera signature changed over the years. I am surprised to find that it is 40 years old as there is barely any wear to it!

I really love the subtle floral pattern and vibrant Springtime colours. According to fashion blogger Solo Lisa, Vera scarves were worn by Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe!

Wish it was a silk scarf but with the beautiful pattern and rich history, I couldn't leave it behind, right? I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Christmas and is relaxing and doing a whole lot of nothing today!

Linking up to ATG's Thrift Share Monday!

Pyrex Promotional Dandelion Duet 1959!

Christmas is just around the corner! I did, however, have time to stop at the church thrift and take a quick look around on my way home from the mall the other day.

I was rewarded by the sight of this beautiful Pyrex Divided Dish in the Dandelion pattern. You might recall that last year, Mr. SixBalloons purchased this same Pyrex Dandelion dish, with lid, for me at the thrift for Christmas... And now I have two!

I didn't get as good of a deal as Mr. SixBalloons did... I paid $4 for the piece without lid. It is in perfect condition, and I was happy to come upon this fairly rare piece from 1959.

We have lots of fun plans with family and friends over the Christmas break this year, and it's going to be great to get a little break from work.... Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a safe and restful holiday!

Things I Regret Buying at the Thrift Store!

Hello Everyone, can you believe that we are only a few days from Christmas?! Today's post is about my not-so-successful thrift store finds. I have been doing some cleaning in the house, and discovered a few items that I bought with good intentions but never used.

I feel a bit dumb about the Vintage Tupperware Salt Shaker and Ketchup dispenser that I purchased at Value Village. I would say that I am much savvier of a thrift shopper today, but I think I overpaid for these - 99¢ for the salt shaker and $2.50 for the ketchup dispenser - more evidence about the silly pricing methods at our local Value Village.

I fell in love with these pale blue teacups and saucers that I purchased from the old folks' home thrift sale.

At 35¢ for each set, I can't feel too silly for this... except that I don't really drink tea out of dainty cups and saucers! The swirl pattern and delicate handles are definitely beautiful though.

I purchased this wooden rack, which I thought would be really awesome for harvesting veggies from my garden, or taking to farmer's markets. Nice thought, but in reality, I never used it.

This bag of chair webbing had a cool package and reminded me of my family's old aluminum patio chairs.

The only problem? I don't have any aluminum chairs that need to be fixed! I think this is the priciest item on my list, ringing in at $4.

My readers and lovely followers definitely know that I'm a Pyrex fiend, so I couldn't resist this Primary Blue 401 Mixing Bowl for 50¢ at the local thrift store. However, the condition is just so dull and flaky that I could never bring myself to use it.

Then there was this teapot with a bamboo handle and neat looking lid. The only problem? I've found so many great teapots that this one got pushed to the back of the line.

Of course, I can't feel too bad about these purchases. Most of them were from charity shops, and I'm sure they made good use of the money. I am planning to donate these next time I'm there; hopefully someone will snap them up!

Linking up to Flea Market Finds and Thrift Share Monday!

Copco Michael Lax Kettle Teak Restoration with Mineral Oil

You might remember that this summer, I scored a Copco Michael Lax designed Kettle for $5 at a church sale.

The kettle was in great shape on the interior, which was unusual because these pieces are often chipped and rusted. However, the teak knob on the lid and teak handle were faded and in rough shape.

The photo above shows the "before" shot.

The wood was very tired-looking and faded.

Using the methods outlined in my Tutorial on Refinishing Wood with Mineral Oil, I rubbed some food grade heavy mineral oil on the handle with a rag. The oil slowly soaked into the wood and I could see an immediate change.

I probably should have sanded the knob down to remove the dark spots, but the richer toned wood certainly helped improve the appearance.

Take a look at the new and improved finished product! Remember from the tutorial that a good cheap tip is to buy mineral oil from your drugstore rather than from a cookware shop where it can cost several times more... You'll get the same great results!

Linking up to Colorado Lady's Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Vintage Melitta Coffee Tea Pot in Yellow!

I went to the next town over the other day to see what the thrifts had waiting for me. I stopped at a Salvation Army Thrift Store in the suburbs and was rewarded with this Vintage Melitta Coffee Pot!

You may remember from one of my popular posts that I found a Vintage Melitta Coffee Tea Pot in Mint Green some time ago, with the original Melitta sticker on it. You can read more about the history of Melitta at that post... these are high quality German-made products!

Don't they look beautiful together?

Some of the interesting design features of my other pot led me to identify this one as a Melitta. The pour spout has a clever indent that prevents drips when pouring your coffee or tea. Melitta was also the company that invented the drip-brew paper coffee filters. A ceramic cone that sits atop this piece was nowhere to be found, but I hope to find one in a matching colour someday!

The unglazed ceramic base was another How-To Tip on identifying Melitta pieces. Although some have a Melitta stamp on the base, this unglazed radial pattern bottom is a sure marker of Melitta. When these were sold many decades ago, there was a sticker indicating that you can set this pot on an asbestos pad and heat it on your stovetop!

I got this coffee / tea pot for a bargain price. It was supposed to be $4.99 but because one of the nibs on the inside of the lid was cracked off, I asked for a discount and purchased it for $3.99. I'm pretty excited about my purchase, despite this minor flaw.

Linking up to Thrift Share Monday and Flea Market Finds!

Cousances Doufeu

I received a great email from Steve B. in Europe indicating that he purchased a Cousances Doufeu for $18 USD at a yard sale and asked me for more information. You may remember that I posted about my Le Creuset Doufeu previously and talked about the theory behind it.

The reader describes his find as an oval piece, 32cm in length in a matte black finish, and marked with the size 16. As you may know, Le Creuset sizes are based on the diameter of a piece in centimetres. For instance a 26cm round oval is a #26 pot, but this does not apply here.

The other unique element of this pot is that the lid seems to act as a moat with a canal around the perimeter rather than a bowl in the more common, perhaps later, doufeus. On the underside of the lid there are raised lines radiating out from the centre to allow for the basting to occur from the lid.

Does anyone out there have ideas as to the age of this piece and why the doufeu design was changed to the current saucer-shaped lids? All I know is that it would be from before the 1950s as it is tagged as a Cousances piece.

Special thanks to Steve B. and best wishes on your plan for boeuf bourguignon!

Linking up to Vintage Thingie Thursday!

Christmas Decorations from the Thrift Store!

I made a point this weekend to hit up the thrifts to find more decorations for our first Christmas tree. =)

My favourite find at Christmastime are those glass ornaments with the glittery decorations. I was able to get three ornaments in this beautiful blue colour with snowy trees, and three pink ones with the snowflake design. Each ball was 35¢!

I also found a grab bag of goodies at the hospice thrift store... For a dollar, there was a small set of mini lights, along with some assorted ribbons and bows.

The last place I hit up on the weekend was the local church sale that happens every Saturday. I arrived bright and early and didn't find much, but noticed that the nice volunteers were just putting the new Christmas items out. I scored two sets of mini-lights in great condition for 50¢ each!

I really love thrifting at places where so much care is taken with the products being sold. The lights were in neat bundles, and had already been tested.

The other neat thing was how the lights were packed up in this old Lumberland hardware bag. Lumberland was the local building supply store that my Dad and I used to go to. They were purchased in 1997 by Revy, which was then purchased by Rona. Can you believe that was almost 15 years ago!? I doubt these lights are that old, but I appreciated the step back down memory lane!

Linking up to HLA's Flea Market Finds and the Penny Worthy Project!