A Blue Weekend

Husband and I had a quick getaway last weekend. Not only did we relax, eat good food, and ride a roller coaster, but I had two amazing scores via Craigslist and a flea market.

The Blowing Leaves and Turquoise 232 was via Craiglist in a very small town not far from where we went. The Turquoise Scroll was from a flea market. Needless to say I am over the moon happy!

Happy hunting!

Jacquelyn

Pyrex in the Wild

Hello PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

I don't know about you, but I have been a bit dumbfounded watching some recent ebay auctions for Pyrex. Even things that are not really rare (hello, Pink Stripe 403) have been going through the roof. So with that in mind, I have decided to keep my Pyrex hunt on the ground, so to speak, and only buy things in the wild. To me, that means thrift or yard sales- I suppose antique stores would count, but I am trying to get things cheap so that mostly leaves them out.

Like most of you, things are hit and miss. I do find good stuff in the thrift stores, but a lot of times I come up empty. I go a lot, though, so I'm bound to find something one in a while. Usually I hit up 5-10 stores a week, some multiple times, but I probably only average about one piece a week. Then there's church sales and yard sales, which are also usually feast or famine- mostly there is none, but occasionally you hit the mother lode and can buy multiple pieces.

Since it's been a while since my last post, here are some of my recent ITW finds:

I found this delphite 401 and 402 at a thrift store. I actually overlooked them the first time I walked  by the shelf- probably because I was looking for patterns on white, not blue! And they were really priced reasonably; my guess is the thrift didn't know they were Pyrex because of the color. These are actually duplicates for me- of course, I bought mine online a while back thinking I would never find them ITW! The woodland butter dish goes into my collection of butter dishes- I only need the Autumn Harvest, Snowflake Garland and the elusive Sandalwood to complete them.

I picked up this Butterfly Gold 922 just this past weekend at a yard sale. I love to haggle, but I didn't even bother with this one- 75 cents was cheap enough!

These are a (very good) week's worth of picks- the Spring Blossom casseroles (475, 474, 473) were all found as a set. The Square Flowers divided dish was found at another thrift- not my favorite pattern, but the price was right and it had a lid. I almost dropped this piece in the store- somehow I caught it with my left hand at the last minute. Gah- heart attack! The cinnamon mugs are my favorite color and match my Autumn Harvest, so they will get a lot of use.

Spring Blossom just seems to be following me home lately. I have a 'no fridgie left behind' policy, as long as they are in good shape and have lids- so these joined my collection. I guess I am now trying to get all the fridge sets... ;)

I have seen the Ponderosa mugs, but have never seen plates before. Now I have two- I got these at a yard sale; the lady said her sister had worked at Ponderosa and brought them home. The turquoise hostess ramekin was a big surprise one day at a thrift store- I looked in vain for the chip bowl and bracket but it wasn't there. I have this set already; once again it is not something I ever thought I'd find ITW.

I am most happy about these two! I have never seen a pie plate and I have been looking for years. I know they're not terribly hard to find, but for some reason they had been eluding me. This flamingo one is mint and I found it in the same thrift as the Heinz promo, and also found four Fire King Blue Heaven Cinderella bowls. That was a great day! I totally stalked a lady that had picked up the Heinz and carried it around all the while she was yapping on her phone. Finally she set it down again and walked away and it was mine. I have almost bought this piece online on several occasions. 

So that's about it for my recent in the wild Pyrex! It goes to show that there are good things out there, you just have to be persistent and frequent at the thrifts, I guess.

Pyrex Passion

I requested the book Pyrex Passion for the holidays this year: ask and you shall receive! I realize it's been almost half a year since I acquired it and I never posted anything about it. I remember at least one or two people wrote something about the book here when it first came out, but I wanted to offer my own two cents (or about $50 as the case is with the cost of this thing...!) 

The good news for those of you who don't want to shell out $49.99... it looks like the price dropped to $39.99 for the book, AND there is now an iPad version available for $19.99. 

I enjoyed reading through the book and I appreciated how thorough the author was in listing what kind of pieces came in which patterns. I recently sold several pieces of Spring Blossom and a few other miscellaneous patterns that I wasn't collecting. I was thankful the book had a section on when everything was manufactured, since I was able to tell the vendor right then and there the information she requested. It was also helpful to see what the pieces were roughly worth. 

Personally though, I found that the prices quoted at the back have since skyrocketed at least at the antique stores near me. (Then again, most of those pieces of Pyrex have sat on shelves for the past year collecting dust...)

One other quirk I found with the book was that there was nothing about any of the Pyrex plates, cups and bowls that I'm personally passionate about, like these pink ones, or these turquoise ones.

I realize that the title is a 'comprehensive guide to decorated vintage Pyrex'... but I was at least hoping for a little something more about Pyrex tableware and dinner plates. There's also nothing about the See 'N' Store Canisters. But, if you want to see my See 'N' Store collection, check out this post. 

Meanwhile, I'm going to continue to enjoy eating and drinking out of this Pyrex, regardless of how little I know about it. 

What about you... do you have a copy of Pyrex Passion? What do you think? 

Happy Pyrexing, people... may you find the pieces that stoke your passion! 

Brenda

I Love Turquoise!

Hi PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

Last time I posted I mentioned how it seemed like my dry spell had been broken. Boy has it ever! And I am sooo glad; I was starting to get a little desperate!

I had some great luck with turquoise this week. First I found the Butterprint 401 which I posted last time. All I needed to complete my Butterprint mixing bowl set was the ever-elusive 404. I have been watching a couple online for a while and I just couldn't bring myself to pay the $50 or so it would have cost for one. I am glad I didn't pull the trigger because I found one in the wild!

I was meeting my mom for lunch and was a bit early so I got in a little thrifting on the way. I couldn't believe my eyes- there it was, just sitting there waiting for me on the shelf. Believe me, I just about had a death grip on that sucker all the way to the register.

I <3 Butterprint! 

I am so excited I finally completed this set, and it was all thrifted.

And to complete my Turquoise Trifecta, yesterday I thrifted a Needlepoint 443! I just stopped into my local Sally Ann on a whim and there she was. I still can't believe I found one- never in a million years would I expect to find a piece like this at my Salvation Army, but it goes to show that every once in a while, a gem turns up.

I think I am in LOVE!

Estate Sale Divide & Conquer

I have been looking for a 024 forever, especially since I have three extra lids for this particular piece. Husband and I went thrifting Thursday and I spotted a 024. I sped walked over to pick it up and flip it over, only to see this:

Sigh. I didn't even feel inclined to rescue it and try and clean it up. We hit six stores that day and all I came away with was three 470 lids, which are always nice to have.

But my luck was about to change, as that evening I perused the estate sale postings. The previous weekend we had shown up to a sale so I could grab a Gooseberry 473. Well, we didn't show up early enough and though I was in the door pretty early it was scooped up by the time I made it in. Then I saw it in the hands of the person who got it and while happy for her, felt sad for me as it was so, so pretty.

All this to say as I perused the postings I found two sales worth a visit. As they were on opposite ends of town I knew there was no way I could do both. So I turned to husband and asked if we could divide and conquer. He agreed, then I asked if he could go to the farther done. He agreed…then I asked if he could show up no later than 6:30 to get a number, which would mean leaving out house at 6:00. He did a huh? face until I showed him what I was after. Then he agreed. In the meantime I decided to go to the other one with our seven-year-old daughter. We got there at 6:40 and were number 15. My heart kind of sank. To kill time until the 8:00 start time we went to Dunkin' Donuts, where I got a text from my husband that he too was number 15 for his 8:00 sale. Apparently at the sale he was at someone showed up at 2:30. 

Well, this wouldn't be a post unless I had good news to share, right? We were both successful! My sale was kind of vicious, though; it had a lot of WWII memorabilia and I truly saw a man dive over a couch to get ahead of civilized people who were orderly and walking (though walking fast!). Husband's sale was full of penguin items, yes penguins.they were everywhere, figurines, wall hangings, knick knacks, you name it, it was in every single room, he said the preview pictures did not do the penguin insanity justice. While people were scooping up the penguins one other woman ahead of him was in the kitchen grabbing all the bowls, but she completely ignored a set.

The Fire King Tulips! I thought for sure they would be marked at $75 or higher, especially since the company running the sale tends to price Pyrex and other coveted items at retail prices, but nope, they were much, much less. Meanwhile I was busy getting my long-coveted 024, in turquoise, with lid! Everything is super, super minty. And yes, I got a honeycomb turkey as well; I have been looking for one forever and I was thrilled to find this. My daughter got some geodes, my husband hit a second sale on his way home and got some tools, so our little household was well satisfied. 

Happy holidays!

I did a complete inventory of all my vintage Christmas ornaments and kitsch finds, you can read about it over on my blog if you are in to that kind of thing. 

Jacquelyn

Pyrex Vacation!

Hi PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

We recently spent a week and a half at our cabin upstate. One rainy day up there, I cleaned out a lot of the stuff we don't use and took it to a thrift shop in the local town. I dropped off four big trash bags full of stuff! And the bonus was I got to shop at the store too, and this is one little shop that hasn't yet succumbed to the high prices of the big chains. Nothing in the store was more than $2!

You can bet I was super excited to find Pyrex on my vacation- I was going through withdrawal at this point, and these were just what I needed! The snowflake divided dish (with lid!) was $2, the flamingo plate was 25 cents and the turquoise vegetable bowl was $2 at a flea market (more on that later!). I already have the snowflake DD, so this one will be for sale. I'm trying to resist collecting the Pyrex dinnerware, so will have to let the plate and bowl go too (eventually!)

I got a bunch more stuff too, so come on over to my blog and check it out! 

Finally, some Estate Sale Pyrex!

Hi PC#, SusieQT here!

It's blisteringly hot around here. I can't remember the last day it was under 100. Perfect estate and yard sale weather! NOT!

But I had a real hankering to find a bargain, and lately the thrifts have been an unqualified bust. And yard sales haven't been much better. But I decided to head out anyway and I'm glad I did!

I found one estate sale advertised about 15 miles from me in an area I haven't been to much. And the ad mentioned Pyrex, so I was definitely going to check it out. As the thermometer reached into the high 90s by 10, I packed the kids into the car and hoped our A/C was working! (It was.)

It was a pleasant and easy drive, and when we got to the sale I was shocked to find that we were the only ones there. With the kids, I don't usually have the ability to get to estate sales early, and I definitely don't want to fight the crowds with them in tow, so I always wait until after the early rush. I'm not sure there was any rush at all with this sale- it seemed like we were the only folks who even knew about it, even though it was well-advertised. I guess the heat was a factor, but it didn't bother us.

First thing I headed for was the Pyrex! I bought the Golden Pine Space Saver, with lid and cradle for $10. I have a rule to just buy any Space Saver I see, especially if it has the lid, and this is a nice one. I can't wait to get out all my Christmas Pyrex and put this one on display! The Pink Daisy 043 is my favorite size Pyrex and I love using them, but this one is so nice I might never use it. The Butterprint 472 casserole is my first of the 470 series. Didn't I just mention in my last post that I needed that, and lo and behold... 

She also had the 471 and 473, but had them marked as a set for $25. That's too steep for me- why this one was priced at only $6 I don't understand, but it's mine. (I would hazard a guess that the lady was looking up prices on the internet and found turquoise Pyrex goes for more; apparently she didn't get to the part where the turq. on white Butterprint goes with the others...) I also left behind a Golden Tulip promo with lid and cradle for $20 and a set of primary bowls (minus the green) for $20. I didn't love the tulip and have an unnumbered primary set, so at those prices they're not a bargain for me.

I got a ton of other stuff- check out my blog for more!

A Burst - StartBurst!!!

OMG! OMG! OMG! 

I think I may have totally hit the jack pot Salvation Army. A few months ago I managed to score an "Eyes" set for $6.50. I thought that was my total lucky day ever. 

But I just surpassed that as my best score ever. 

(read about the eyes here.)

I scored a Starburst Space Saver!!!!!!

Yes at a thrift. I about crapped my shorts when I saw it. I even grabbed my son and said "hold this and say cheese!"

I walked away with it for..... are you ready for it?

$9

Read all my scores that day here at Treasures My husband Hates.

I hope you all score something amazing soon. I like seeing all your scores here. 

~Katie

Treasure Hunter

My entire collection!

Hi PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time.

I was challenged by a blog reader to show my entire collection of Pyrex. So this morning I dragged it all out and photographed it. Come and see!

Oh yeah, there's a lot more: http://practiceintime.blogspot.com/

Turquoise Delight

I've been on the hunt lately for more turquoise band dinner plates like the ones I already have here. I know they're out there somewhere! This week, I went antiquing with a friend, thinking that maybe I'd find a plate or two, since this particular three-story shop never lets me down. 

My friend doesn't collect Pyrex (yet) but she's quickly learning the difference in the patterns and whether something is Fire King or Glasbake or Pyrex. 

I didn't find a dinner plate, but I did find a lovely platter with gold trim for $2.66. That's right. Less than $3. 

 

The next floor yielded even more goodness. A turquoise chip and dip bowl for $9. Not what I'd normally pay for a bowl, but since this seems to be a hard to find piece with normally crazier prices attached to it, I took it! 

 

I've had the dip bowl for a while, although my husband has been using it for the chips instead of the dip. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to know there's a bigger bowl for chips now.  

The snowflake space saver came home with me too. My bargain buddy and I stopped off at a new Goodwill on the way home. While she lamented leaving behind a canister of chandelier crystals there the previous week, I squealed down another aisle -- I spotted the blue snowflakes hidden behind a bunch of green stuff (our local Goodwills all color coordinate their aisles -- do they do that in other locations too?) I don't know why it wasn't in the 'blue' aisle, but for $4, I clutched that thing like a baby through the rest of the store and was even reluctant to hand it over to the cashier to ring me out! 

The chandlier crystals were gone, but at least we celebrated the snowflake space saver sale. 

I seem to be on a space saver roll, but despite the name, I'm seriously running out of space for Pyrex. I really do have a tiny kitchen. For some fun small kitchen organization tips, read more here. 

Hope your weekend brings you all fabulous yard sale, flea market and thrift finds!

Brenda    

Pink Gooseberry and Turquoise Snowflake

Hello, PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

Pyrexing has been a little slow around here. Probably because I haven't been getting to all my regular stores- been so busy! But I have managed to find a couple things and they were pretty good ones, too.

Last week, I met up with a group from Retroroadmap.com and spent the day touring the Shoe House in Columbia, Pa and seeing the area. There were a couple really big antique malls in town, and I did score some Pyrex. It was hard to find any I really wanted that was reasonably priced, but I did pick up this turquoise snowflake divided dish for $10.  I know, I hate the divideds, but I do love me some turquoise snowflake, so I had to have it. Plus it had the lid; usually I never find those.

I was tempted by a set of the Honeysuckle casseroles- large and small with the large lid for $22, as well as a Cosmopolitan with lid for $12. But I am not a huge fan of either of those patterns so I didn't pull the trigger. And there were plenty of DWD primary mixing bowls and fridge sets for $75+ if anyone wants me to go back for them, LOL.

And then yesterday I stopped in to a thrift store that must have gotten a bunch of stuff from an antique store that was closing, because they were packed with vintage stuff. Unfortunately they were (mostly) charging antique store and online prices, so I didn't find much else than one lonely piece of Pyrex. 

But it was a good one- a pink gooseberry 471.

I happily paid my $3.50 for it and brought it home to its mates! Now I just need a couple of lids and I will have that set completed.

Plate Date

This weekend, I had a date with Adamstown. I drooled, saw rainbows, and generally felt Pyrex overload by the end of the day. I really just wanted to look, and promised myself I wouldn't buy anything except for plates. I found two of these dinner plates locally a few weeks ago, and was hoping to find at least two more without buying them online. 

(Yes, that is a salad the size of a dinner plate...)

I love how well the plates match the turquoise Butterprint!

I saw an entire set at one antique mall, but didn't want to splurge. Instead, I ended up finding four salad plates and a teacup and saucer (the same style seen in the movie 'The Help'. How fun is that?!) I ended up getting 50% off... so I paid $10 for everything. 

The plates are a little beat up around the edge, but since I plan to use these for everyday dishes, I don't mind. 

I also bought two dinner plates in the Blue Grecian pattern to match my cereal bowls. 

 
I still can't find the Blue Striped 401 I mentioned earlier here. I'm sure someone else nabbed it as soon as I left the store. I did find some fun Fire King chilli bowls though earlier this week while searching again for the bowl. You can see those here, as well as the winner of the Great Gravy Boat Giveaway! 

Happy May! 

Brenda
 

Clean Pyrex!

Is anyone else's favorite part of baking/cooking cleaning their Pyrex?

(I hope I'm not alone in my craziness!)

xoxo, 

www.cupcakespyrexandlove.blogspot.com

Seeing Snowflakes

Hi PC3, SusieQT from Practice in Time here!

I knew it would happen! As soon as I caved and bought a snowflake piece on eBay, look what I found in a thrift store:

A 1.5 qt casserole in white with turquoise snowflakes. For $5.00!

Admittedly, it was a charcoal Snowflake I bought on the 'bay, but I'm not going to complain- I love  snowflakes! And I love this size casserole- it is perfect to heat up a rotisserie chicken or side dish. 

This is actually my first oval Pyrex casserole- I have a Fire King one in this shape that I use a lot and am happy to have found another.

Snow Day!

Hello, all!

It's super snowy here in the midwest, and after my morning of working from home I decided to rearrange my Pyrex display!

It totally makes my living room (yes, living room...I have no room in my tiny kitchen/dining room) more cheery!

Check out my blog for more pictures!

xoxo,

I Dream of Pyrex

Hi PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time!

I know you all will understand this- and probably no one else will!

I dream about Pyrex. I had a dream where I was looking for the charcoal Snowflake space saver and I went to this underground flea market (I know, weird) and saw it, but couldn't buy it.

Anyway, ever since then I have been obsessed with finding that Snowflake piece. I went to all the local thrifts, and didn't find it. You can probably guess where this is going...

I ended up buying it on eBay. I just couldn't stop thinking about it, and had to have it. The great thing about eBay is you know it will be available. The bad thing about that is that you really can't get a good idea of the condition. Sometimes it's hard to tell from a photo if a piece has been run through the dishwasher (and I have seen plenty of those on eBay- it makes me laugh at the seller's descriptions- 'marbled'? 'rustic'? LOL- as I'm crying inside for the poor Pyrex.) That, plus the risk of shipping something breakable makes it a bit too much of a chance for me sometimes. But like I said, I was obsessed!

So I bit the bullet and actually won an auction for this one. It's the smaller (shallow-er) of the space savers. Up until now, I didn't know they came in two sizes. I have to say I'm liking the shallow ones, because I can stack more of them in limited space ;). I paid $11.50 for it, which isn't too bad I guess, but certainly more than I would have paid in a thrift store. It was in absolutely mint condition, and arrived safely. Win!

While I was browsing through eBay, I also decided I wanted to buy the Butterprint butter dish. I have been looking for this in the wild for years and never seen it. I hate giving up on the hunt, but I have a feeling I'll never find it. (Of course, watch me find it in the next couple of weeks.) I put in a bid and then got caught up in my excitement of winning the snowflake and completely forgot that I had bid on the butter dish. 

Well, surprise! I won that too. Also in mint condition, thank goodness. 

So my dream came true in a roundabout sort of way...

It makes me really happy to look at my new pieces and I am sleeping better at night. :)

things are picking up.

Things have finally been picking up at my local thrift stores... maybe it's some early spring cleaning?

My first purchases were two Snowflake Garland mixing bowls - #401 and #402 and a Pink Gooseberry casserole - #472. 

Next was a turquoise mixing bowl #403... this is actually my first solid colored mixing bowl, so that was pretty exciting.

My last find was my favorite - a Terra casserole #472, with lid!  Terra is one of my favorite patterns and a lidded casserole has been on the top of my want list for a while.  It was at the sketchiest consignment store ever.  They had just opened up in an old landscaping center and half the store was an old greenhouse.  The building had no heat and a skylight hole in the ceiling was covered with a thin sheet of plastic.  Oh and the cash register didn't work.  So glad my husband came along with me to that shop!

teela.

my so-called modern life

Savers Score!

I hit it big the other day at Savers.  I turned down the bakeware aisle, and I spotted a large butterprint casserole so I picked up my pace a bit.  As I hurried toward it, I saw another casserole and then another and another and another.  Five total!

I scooped them up as quickly as humanly possible.  They're all in pretty good shape and I can't wait to get them cleaned up and to start using them.  As per usual with Savers, they weren't a total steal cost wise, but they weren't too crazy either. 

teela.

mysocalledmodernlife

My first eBay purchase

Hello PC3, SusieQT here from Practice in Time.

I must really be into this Pyrex thing, because I just did something I swore I would never do: buy Pyrex on eBay! I even said it in this very space- "I prefer the thrill of the hunt, and I would never buy Pyrex online!"



Ouch. It hurts when words come back to bite you.




But in my defense, it was pink, and it was a good deal. Did I mention it was pink?

$9.99 plus shipping. 

And I have to say that the seller did a phenomenal job with the packing. I was really worried, seeing some of the eBay horror stories, about the condition it might arrive in. But I think I got my money's worth in bubble wrap alone (I will be re-using it; that stuff is expensive!), not to mention a beautiful pink 503.

So what brought about the change of heart?

Well, seeing some of the alternative sets some of you guys have put together inspired me. I had this idea to make an alternative set of 503s, and just needed the pink one to finish it:

I do love these colors together. 

And it proves that Primary (the yellow 503) can coexist with my pink, turquoise and black. 

See, it's all about rationalization!