Vintage Le Creuset Saucepot from Craigslist

My hoarding of Le Creuset lovelies continues!! Shortly after SixBalloons baby was born, I was feeling pretty cooped up in the house and isolated from the outside world... except for the trusty internet and the even trustier Craigslist.

I checked out a posting with a photo showing that signature vibrant Flame colour. A vintage Le Creuset piece! The seller was in the neighbouring suburb to me; not very far, but a terrifying distance in my mind. I wondered, "How does one go out with a baby? Alone??".

Check out the nice interior of the pot. Used and appreciated, but lots of life left.

I let the seller know that I'd gladly purchase it if she would sell it for $20. We agreed on the price and I asked her to hold it for me since I wasn't sure when I'd be able to reach her. She ended up dropping the piece off to me. I just love coming across kindhearted people like this while thrifting or buying something in the Craigslist community.

The #14 size pot is fairly small, and makes sense for heating up single-serve portions or making sauces. This pot appears to be newer than the similar #16 Le Creuset Flame Saucepot that I found at Value Village back in the day. It has the similar hollow cast iron handle, but the phenolic lid knobs are different. The older piece also has a textured, enamelled surface, whereas this piece is unglazed cast iron.

The underside of the handle has areas of bubbled enamel that seems to be a manufacturing flaw. Other than that, there is just a minor chip on the lid, so the function is still good.

Can't wait to try out some new dishes with this pot!

Linking up to ATG's Thrift Share!

Pyrex Lime Green Baker and Loaf Pans

Hunting for Pyrex is always an adventure. A few months back, I hit up multiple thrifts in one day - at the first place, I purchased a lime green rectangular baker. When I zipped into my local Value Village later, I found the matching lime green loaf pan!

Unfortunately, I must have been distracted by the fact that these were my first pieces of this size and color because their condition was terrible. I tried Magic Eraser, soaking, Bar Keeper's Friend, and elbow grease, and this is as good as it got.

The worrisome thing on the baker is these deep scratches on the pan handle. I'm pretty paranoid about that creating weak spots and increasing the risk of Pyrex shatter.

I made an observation while photographing the pans... There are two different loaf pan sizes!

My lime pan has a Made in Canada logo (which is imprinted in reverse on the underside) and is numbered as a 212 pan whereas the flamingo pink is made in the USA and is size number 213.

That's definitely good to know for those Pyrex collectors who like stacking their loaf pans. So what do you think, would you keep the pieces even though they aren't much to look at?

Vintage Tupperware Containers

Every now and then I like to study the traffic stats on the blog. One thing I noticed is that many visitors arrive at SixBalloons looking for my posts on Vintage Tupperware!

I suppose I have posted about the Salt and Pepper shakers, measuring cups, and grater, among other items. But the most iconic Tupperware items I remember from my youth are these vibrant Tupperware lunch containers.

I happened upon a bag of these orange and brown containers with the mismatched lid at Value Village. I didn't mind the lid because it was really the orange one I was after. I think a nice salad of mesclun greens would look beautiful in it. I believe I paid $2.99 for the bag.

Unfortunately, I couldn't do the smell test because VV staples these things up pretty well in the bags, and I'm not one to poke around too much with that. These containers failed the test miserably. They stink! Any ideas on how to get rid of that musty old plastic grossness smell?

Linking up to HLA's Flea Market Finds!

Vintage Fisher Price Little People

Phew, thanks for sticking around dear readers! I can't believe I only posted once in April, but I should be back on the wagon now. =) This baby thing is hard work!

If you grew up in the 80s like me, surely you played with these awesome Fisher Price Little People toys. They are so cute and colourful, and Fisher Price was so clever - you could have these guys sitting in swings, sliding down slides... the possibilities were endless.

Fisher Price still makes a line of toys referred to as Little People, but as you may know, they are much chunkier than these vintage fellows. The reason is, these are actually choking hazards for real little people!

Did you know that anything that can fit through a toilet paper roll tube is a potential choking hazard? Scary.

I found this "Little People Book" once at the thrift for a quarter, and so I suppose that tells us that this girl's name is Penny.

I have seen that collared dog as a Little People figurine also. What Fisher Price sets did you have growing up?

Linking up to HLA's Flea Market Finds!