Reselling Vintage Le Creuset

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Ours was busy and fun, and we are enjoying the rest of the holidays!

I have been buying and selling vintage Le Creuset cast iron pieces here and there. Sometimes I see a smoking deal and sometimes I am just looking to pare down my own collection... I am always tempted to keep them, but it is probably a good idea to keep things moving!

Photo courtesy etsy seller peachychicboutique

This beautiful set from the 50s is in the pastel "Elysees Yellow" colour and came with a 5 quart dutch oven and a small saucepan. I purchased it off etsy for $40 plus $15 shipping and flipped it for $120 locally.

I think my buyer still got a great deal, as the set was in great shape. Apparently Marilyn Monroe owned a Le Creuset set in this colour! The original etsy seller doesn't ship to Canada but my sis picked it up for me across the border.

Another piece I sold recently was this flame coloured large #20 saucepan with wooden handle. I had actually found the orphan lid in the wild while thrifting a couple years ago, dreaming that I would be able to find its bottom.

I caved and bought a lidless pan on ebay for cheap, reunited them, and sold them to another happy local buyer. I spent about $20, and was able to sell it for $50.

I rubbed a little mineral oil on the old wooden handle because these get pretty rough over time.

I like to keep my collections kind of light because I have a tendency to hoard my thrifted goodies! Hopefully I will be able to stay disciplined and keep only the items I really love and get lots of use out of!

Vintage Rival Crock Pot Slow Cooker New Old Stock!

Okay so by now you've all probably figured out what a huge Craigslist hound I am... Just check out my craigslist label to see what else I've purchased and how awesome I think this site is.

When I decided that I wanted to finally buy a slow cooker, I naturally turned to Craigslist. I could no longer resist the lure of awesome recipes like Mary's carmelized onions over at Barefeet in the Kitchen and dulce de leche from condensed milk in mason jars!

I didn't set out to buy a vintage crock pot, but instead was simply searching for cheapies that were in new condition. I saw a listing for a Rival crock pot listed as brand new for ten bucks. When I went to go pick up my bounty I saw that it was an old piece that had never been opened. The seller said her mother in law received it as a gift and never opened it.

This crock pot comes with a stoneware crock, Pyrex lid, and 1982 crock pot recipe book. I guess this thing is almost as old as I am! While I obviously love vintage stuff, I'm actually kind of relieved that it's such a neutral looking design in this case. The almond color works just fine for me.

I've since read that some people actually prefer vintage slow cookers over new ones as manufacturers now set these units to cook at higher temperatures. While the argument is for better food safety, consumers have complained that food is often boiling and over cooked. I will have to see for myself how I like it, but I'll be food safe and test to make sure this piece can attain safe cooking temperatures first!

I'm linking up to ATG's Thrift Share Monday!

Pyrex Horizon Blue Fridgie

With the upcoming move and all, I'm trying to figure out which items I should bring with me, do without, or purchase a duplicate of.

I am quite fond of my trusty yellow 503 fridgie dish from my Pyrex Primary Score a couple years back. I still can't believe we drove 20 miles / 30km to a barn in nowheresville to pick these goodies up. Anyhoo, it's become an essential piece in my kitchen. I bake brownies and banana bread in it, marinade chicken, and even mix up small salads in this piece.

I found a craigslist ad for the Horizon Blue fridgie of the same size, no lid, for $10. I thought the price was a bit high but talked the seller down to $8 and purchased it. Incidentally, at the crazy barn sale I mentioned above, the seller threw in 2 extra 503 fridgie lids for me, and now I have a little guy to match it up.

Don't you just love this blue floral art deco pattern? The piece is in perfect condition, and I love the way the white milk glass sets off the print. The Horizon Blue is my third piece of this size. I know this sounds silly, but my Pyrex Aqua Fridgie set is one of the hands-off sets in my house. I can't bear to use it since it's in such perfect condition!

Do you have a favourite Pyrex size or piece that's a work horse in your kitchen?

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 Aqua Fridgie Set

I am often checking Craigslist for Pyrex pieces on my wish list and one bright sun-shining day I saw an ad for Pyrex. Aqua. Fridgies. For fifteen dollars!! Included in the ad were the large 503, rectangular 502 and little 501 fridgie.

Was it too good to be true? I phoned the seller's number and was told he would call me back... The call didn't come, but eventually he responded to my email after waiting almost a week. It turned out that the seller received so many calls about the set that he now wanted to ask for $25 instead.

I find these three fridgie sizes so useful, and the aqua colour so beautiful that I quickly agreed to the new price. I wasn't thrilled with the change of plans, but knew that I was still getting a great deal. The full set of these Aqua Fridgies (with an additional 501) sells on Ebay for over a hundred dollars.

I'm really not sure if I'm doing justice to the gorgeous aqua colour of these pieces.... Here it is with my Butterprint Fridgie that I found on Vancouver Island.

The seller was really gracious when I agreed to the new price and even offerred to drop the set off at my house. I asked him where he came about the pieces, and he told me they belonged to his mother. She had passed away several years ago, but recently he had lost his dad too. The family started clearing out the house and found this set in the kitchen. He told me he was stunned by the amount of interest in his Craigslist ad - he thought these were just a bunch of old dishes!

You can see in the photo below that the set of three comes with the old style lids with the clear glass in between the ribbed edges. The set is in completely perfect condition, and there is nary a chip on any of the glass lids.

At first I felt like a chump for agreeing to his new price - I thought that was a bit offside on his part. But after he told me about his parents passing away, I felt a little differently. What would you have done? Insisted that he accept the original price, or just pay his new asking price?

Linking up to Vintage Thingie Thursday, Flea Market Finds, and Thrift Share Monday!

Pyrex Primary Mixing Bowl Set Completed!

This is a tale of re-uniting Pyrex bowls to create the timeless classic, a full set of Pyrex Primary Colors Mixing Bowls! You will not believe the serendipity and weirdness in this story of discovery...

I regularly see orphaned Pyrex bowls from the Primary Colour mixing bowl set. Because I had previously come upon an awesome haul of Pyrex Primary bowls and fridgies, I usually leave them on the shelf for others, thinking that perhaps they have a set to complete. However, I saw a craiglist ad for a seller who had a bunch of vintage stuff to sell, and I went to visit her after work one day.

The seller lives in an old brick building on the 5th floor, and it turns out she was leaving the country and had to sell all of her great wares. I made my way up and saw that she had three beautiful Pyrex bowls - the large #444 Butterprint (rough condition, but I just love the pattern), the green 403 and blue 401 in great shape. For $15, I just couldn't say no.

I figured with half of the complete set of Primary mixing bowls that I better be on the lookout for the red and yellow ones to round out the set! I kicked myself for all the ones I had seen and left at various church basements and Value Village's.

Lo and behold, literally within two days, an ad showed up on craigslist for another seller who indicated she had three Pyrex bowls for sale at $15: Yellow, Green and Red...

You will not believe this - She lives in the exact same old brick building as the first seller. This person was also selling them off because she is leaving the country at the end of the month! I thought this was pretty bizarre. Like two ships passing in the mist, these two young women live in the same building and had two pieces each of a full set!  Both sold their precious Pyrex because they were leaving the country, and I happened to the buyer!

I think it is pretty strange... what are the odds? I'm pretty excited about having another set of these beauties, plus extra Butterprint and Verde mixing bowls.

Linking up to ATG's Thrift Share Monday!

Mid Century Modern Chair - Craigslist Miss

Here's another lament about a great find on Craigslist that I missed out on! After scoring this great Royal Blue Velvet Chair in November, I started hunting around for other great accent pieces. I came upon this beautiful teal upholstered vintage chair with teak armrests and legs.

I love those tufted buttons on the back, and the great condition and colour of the chair. Swoon worthy! Listed at $70, I think this would have been a great buy. Apparently others that beat me to it thought so too! The seller was gracious enough to send me a high-res photo so I could share it with all of you.
As an aside, normally I cringe at the term "Mid Century Modern". You see, as a frequent Craigslist searcher looking for vintage goodies, I find that many sellers use that term without restraint since they know it has a lot of appeal. I hope I am not using it in the wrong context here, or I might be guilty of misusing the term myself!

Le Creuset History: Cousances

In my search for vintage Le Creuset, I occasionally come across either unmarked pieces or those that bear the markings "Cousances Made in France".  In the 1950s, Le Creuset purchased their competitor Cousances' brand and factory, inheriting the classic flame colour scheme and molds for their cast iron cookware.

I was really excited one day when I found a local craigslist ad for Cousances cookware - I believe it was a #18 and #16 saucepot plus a skillet. You can see by the seller's photos that the small pot is "brand new" and never used despite being over 60 years old! The high resolution version of this photo shows that the sticker says "Cousances fonte émailée" (enamelled cast iron) and reads "Anno 1553" above a shield logo.

The knobs on the lids also read Cousances, which would probably help to date it and differentiate it from this piece I happily found in the past, which I suspect may be a bit older.

Alas, I hesitated and it went to another home. I really didn't need the skillet, and the list price was $85 for the set of three, which led me to pause and think. Since I love Le Creuset cookware so much, it would have been nice to have a cute little set in this timeless colour, with all the history I seem to enjoy learning about!

Craigslist Find: Le Creuset Roasting Pan

I have had my eye on the large sized Le Creuset enamelled cast iron roasting pan for some time. I liked the fact that it could be used to sear meats on the stovetop, and then placed in the oven for roasting without having another pan to wash.


Luckily for me, a Craigslist seller recently listed one in great condition, with its box and original pamphlet. The #40 pan is white in colour, which will match my vintage Le Creuset saucepot. A new pan of this size is around $200 at places like Amazon, and I scored mine for a cool $30.


Inspired by my newly acquired piece, I roasted a duck in my new pan. I am sure I will get plenty of use out of this roaster with the holidays coming up!

Pyrex Primary Jackpot!

It has been a while. I've been longing to find the primary refrigerator set, especially the practical blue rectangular loaf pan! I've also debated on the merits of collecting each single bowl of the primary mixing bowl set but now I finally have them all.


After responding to a Craigslist ad, my hubby humoured me and drove out to the boonies almost 25km away from our house. By the time we arrived, the sun had long set and we were hopelessly lost on a rural road. By the time we made our way, we realized we were going to a farmhouse that was in complete darkness. We were led by the seller past her barn of horses and to a back room that was filled with, well, you could call them knicknacks.


Don't they look relaxing there, basking in the evening sun?


But there they were! The Primary Bowl and Fridgies set, complete with lids (and even a couple extra of the large pan lids). The green mixing bowl is my favourite, don't you just love that colour?? The seller threw in an extra yellow small fridgie, so now it's looking very yellow in this scene from my Living Room...

Vintage Le Creuset Saucepot

If you've visited this blog before, you have a rough idea that vintage Le Creuset makes me swoon. As I was scouring craigslist the other day, I saw a listing for a vintage white #16 saucepot with no photos! The seller lived quite close to my workplace, so I stopped by after work yesterday to have a look.


I was quite pleased to see the nice condition, especially of the wood (teak?) handle. I happily paid the $30 she was asking. Some I have seen on ebay have dull-looking wood, or scorch marks. This handle is even engraved/etched with "Le Creuset". There are some light surface marks on the interior but I think I can make it work. :)


I previously blogged here on a previous post about a great #16 flame coloured pot that I found for a steal at Value Village and now it's got a cousin!

The Le Creuset That Wasn't

I am a real craigslist addict. It's so full of surprise nuggets every now and then, and I was hooked a couple of years ago when I scored a perfect condition set of Pyrex Crazy Daisy mixing bowls for a good price. More about that some other time!

My typical searches include looking for vintage Le Creuset items. The other day I found an aqua coloured vintage #26 oval roaster/dutch oven with the old Cousances look, noted by the seller as being in "excellent condition". I really love the flared handles... Not a huge fan of the lid handle, but I admit it looks nice and sleek despite it seeming too hot to handle. Here is the photo from the craigslist posting:


When I met up with the seller, she told me that her mother owned this piece but the seller just doesn't use it in her cooking. I noticed that the exterior of the roaster was in great condition; however, when she opened the lid, I saw orangey utensil scratches on the bottom of the pot.

Because I have been purchasing a lot of items lately, I respectfully declined. I told the seller I was so tempted and I was sure she would sell it soon to someone who would love it. I wonder if a good baking soda soak would have made it better... What do you think, was this a good buy at $30?