Friday, August 31, 2012

Hello Fall

The temperature is dropping. The air is changing. Leaves are slowly falling.

This can only mean one thing.

Out with the old:


In with the new:


 Hello, fall!

 cupcakespyrexandlove.blogspot.com

Re-Purposing The 'Rex

Oh how I love my Pyrex collection...so vintage-y and colorful. When I open up my cupboards in the morning, seeing the pretty 'rex just makes me smile. For me, I like to put my collection to work, carefully though. I do have one piece has seen no action, my chartreuse rimmed teacup with the copper Pyrex stamp on the bottom. I am not a tea drinker and its just not big enough to hold my coffee.



I found its purpose the other day when my package from Lauri's Etsy shop, Superior Body Products, arrived. I have ordered Lauri's *amazing* lotion bars for almost the past year. But this time, I also ordered up a Lavender and Geranium bar of soap.

So this amazing smelling soap shows up and I realize that I have no soap dishes! Hmmm...what's a thrifty gal to do but re-purpose something, right? That little Pyrex teacup worked perfectly and is now perched right next to the sink displaying the purple bar 'o soap.




My kitchen now has this lovely earthy lavender smell and I have prettied up the sink area with the Pyrex teacup.



FYI...The lovely Lauri has no idea I am doing this post. But when I find good Etsy shops with wonderful products, I just have to share! Check out her shop here, the lotion bars are to die for!

So friends in Pyrex, how have you re-purpose your 'rex? Share below or snap a picture and post it over at the Facebook page :)
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sad state of pyrex

my once flourishing local thrift store has suddenly been very low on pyrex. i have not found a decent piece of pyrex in weeks and weeks. such a sad state i am in. i mean, there have been several pyrex pieces for sale but (as evidenced below) they are either way over-priced or in poor condition. i thought i'd share some of my findings over the past few weeks:


never seen this pattern before. anyone know its name? i can't even find something similar on google images...
 
 
a set of 3 "old orchard" mixing bowls for $20. that's too rich for my taste. plus, it's missing a bowl. plus, it's just an unattractive pattern.
 
a very sad sad old orchard bowl. so sad. hope it had a good life.
 
i love butterfly gold but even i couldn't take this cinderella bowl for $1.50. those scratches were embedded into the bowl and no magic eraser was going to save it.
 
 
a decent looking butterfly gold bowl but for $5.00. again, that's a little much. plus, i'm pretty sure my pyrex contact in winnipeg has this one set aside for me. :)
 
there are some attractive-looking pyrex england pieces. this is not one of them. :)
 
i've been seeing posts lately about "jaj" and i don't know anything about it. is it pyrex? either way, i found two pieces today that were labelled "jaj". this one was $5.00.
 
this "jaj" was $15.00! and it wasn't even in mint condition! i do like the retro pattern, though.
 
this is glas-bake but the pattern is so similar to old town. i really do like this loaf pan but it was yet another thing left on the shelves for someone else to scoop up.
 
 
hope you all continue to have much better luck finding pyrex pieces to add to your collections!
 
 
 

Thursday, August 30, 2012

The Pyrex Fairy came and left these...

After weeks of no pyrex, these beauties came into my life! 


 A divided dish with a verde lid! 


 A compass divided dish with divided lid and original holder!!! 


Set of 3 Butterprint Cinderella Casseroles!

To find out about my magical finds, visit me at The Halcyon Life =)

Summer's End Thrifting Adventure


Since my kids are about to go back to school, we went for one last thrifting adventure together. My 7-year-old son, especially, is a great help and sometimes finds some great stuff I might have otherwise missed. I'll miss having him along for the next few months. These are some of our finds- you can find the rest at http://www.practiceintime.blogspot.com/

I have had a bit of a Pyrex drought lately. I think it's pretty well documented that thrift stores are onto those of us that collect it, so when I do find it, it's way overpriced. But every once in a while I find some for a decent price. This Early American 401 mixing bowl was $1.97 at the Lancaster Goodwill. It's not a pattern I collect, so will be heading over to my antique store booth. Incidentally, I saw a 403 for this set today at a different thrift store- they wanted $17 for it. No thanks! (I also saw a set of Woodland mixing bowls at the same store for like $35- obviously they are still there.)


I bought this mint condition yellow 501 fridgie at another thrift store. I think it was $2. I always buy these if they are reasonable, regardless of pattern. I use them to store all kinds of things, mostly condiments and small bits of garlic, etc. And since I do collect primary, this was a no-brainer.


This was a bit of a splurge for me at $5, but I have never had a patterned lid casserole before. I do love the green color and it was in great condition underneath a boatload of grease and dirt. It's a 1 qt bake/serve/store casserole in a promo design called "Vintage" (apropos, no?) and supposedly came with a cradle, which I will have to find now! Interestingly it's from the same store with the crazy prices above- just goes to show that sometimes different people price things very differently, even at the same store!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

More Butterfly Gold

I didn't feel like doing anything productive today so it seemed that a trip to Goodwill was in order.  I was so bummed that I didn't find any Pyrex there that I did something that I never do....I went to the Salvation Army.  Since the Salvation Army closest to me built a nice new big store they tend to overprice everything and I don't go there.  I was glad I did though.  I got this perfect condition Butterfly Gold gravy boat and saucer.  My little collection is slowly growing. :-)

Since the Goodwill store near my house has been spoiling me with $3.25 for 4 quart bowls and $12.25 for a four piece set of bowls,  I was a little unhappy about the $7.00 price tag on this set.  I'm not sure if that is good price or a high price but I wanted it.
 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Butterflies & Lavender

I've got a good collection of Butterfly Gold. It is definitely the Pyrex in my kitchen that gets used the most. Its easily found in thrift stores here and it's not my absolute favourite (Gooseberry) so I don't feel too badly using it. Bad enough though that it never gets a cycle through my dishwasher.

I recently got an ice cream attatchment maker to go with my kitchenaid mixer, which I'm pretty darn excited about! I love ice cream even though it gives me incredibly bad stomach cramps and after eating it makes me want to die. Anyway, some of those laxaid or lactose interlance pills should do the trick and set me well on my way to enjoying ice cream!

In my butterfly gold little mixing bowl, lavender to go in my lavender honey ice cream! I refuse to let summer slip by just yet! I'll be on my blog tomorrow with how I made the ice cream and how well the attatchment did (or didn't) work and of course, with more pyrex photos!

I hope you all are enjoying your pyrex as summer winds down!

-Megan
theapartmentwife


Lids!

Words to the wise.  Never leave a lid. Never leave a lidless dish just because it is lidless. 
Why? 
 
All at one store. 
 
That is a ton of lids. 
 

You can also click the link and see my other score of the week.
 
 

Monday, August 27, 2012

favorite bowls!

Anybody find themselves using specific pieces more often than others?

My small mixing bowls seem to get a lot of attention... these pictures are just from today! (My kids eat a lot of fruit...)



Butterprint in the Wild!

This just made my day...a lone little Butterprint mixing bowl sitting in the shelf at my local thrift store for $2! This is my first Butterprint!

Pyrex Find in My China Cabinet

The Enabler (my wonderful supportive husband) stopped at our local Goodwill Friday so I could run in and see if they had anything new. Each of the aisles of glasswares and miscellanous is set up by color. I walked up and down each aisle and found the white bottom to a butter dish but no top. I just know that one of these days I'm going to find a bottomless top so at $1.25 I picked it up.

I was getting ready to leave when something told me to go down the third aisle again. There sitting on the middle shelf at the edge was this set of four bowls. I know that wasn't sitting there before. There's no way I could've missed it.  The price tag was $12.25.

Spring Blossom Green 4qt, 2-1/2qt, 1-1/2qt, 1-1/2pt
The only sign of wear are these two white spots.
 
I was making room in the china cabinet today for my new vintage finds and realized that this great glass coffee pot that belonged to my grandmother is Pyrex.   My mom wanted to toss it, but I couldn't bear to toss any of my grandmother's stuff. Cleaning out her apartment was hard enough. I do have the center stem but I don't store it in the pot because I'm afraid that the glass basket inside or the pot itself will break if something knocks into it.
 
I hope I can find a few nice things at the Goodwill store this week too.
Angie

Sunday, August 26, 2012

New to the Group and Pyrex Collecting

Hi everyone.  I am new to the group and to Pyrex collecting.  I must say I am now addicted and have even had dreams about finding Pyrex. lol.  It all started a little more than a week ago (the 17th) with these two great bowls.

Butterfly Gold 4 quart and 2-1/2 quart bowls.
 
I had gone to the Goodwill store looking for crafty things and old quilts with no luck.  I was about ready to leave empty handed when I spied these sitting on a bottom shelf.  I'm pretty sure I let out a little squeal.  I was so happy to see these two bowls, and without a scractch or chip on either of them. Isn't it funny how seeing something like this can give you warm fuzzies? My great-grandmother and grandmothers had beautifully colored Pyrex mixing bowls and casserole dishes when I was growing up. I remember paying more attention to what the food was in than what the food was. lol. 
 
I thought they were a steal at $3.00 each.
 
Now when I go to the Goodwill store I'll be looking for old quilts, craft items, books, and Pyrex.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Angie
 

Friday, August 24, 2012

JAJ Pyrex

Just a little piece I'd like to share with you all!  I picked this little beauty up from one of my husband's tattoo clients in NC. He knows I really like Pyrex (what an under statement! haha) and shipped it to me! So very kind of him, and I absolutely love it! I'll be posting a little update on my collection later today on my blog, so be sure to check for that! I hope everyone has a great weekend :)

Tasha
www.flourmayhem.com


Early American Surprise


Hello!
This is my first post to the Pyrex Collective. I’ve collected Pyrex for several years, albeit casually. I have a pretty low limit on what I’m willing to spend, and I try to stick with just the few patterns that I like best. 

For my first post I thought I’d share my most recent score, since it was pretty exciting. I stopped by a local estate sale in my neighborhood last weekend, mostly because the advert said that they had “numerous vintage Christmas items.” One of my goals in life is to acquire a vintage aluminum Christmas tree, so I thought I’d check it out. 

On my way to the basement, the location of the Christmas items, I passed through the kitchen and scoped it out for Pyrex and other vintage goodies. There was nothing. Either someone showed up at the sale’s opening and snatched up everything, or the homeowners weren’t much for cooking. No Christmas tree, either, though I did score a box of Shiny Bright ornaments in very good condition. 

My very supportive boyfriend had come with me, and as I was rooting through the clutter of Christmas stuff in this dirty, packed basement he called me over to see if what he found was “some of the Playtex you collect.” Yes, my boyfriend mistakenly calls Pyrex Playtex on a fairly regular basis. I have to admit, I do enjoy seeing the looks on peoples’ faces when he tells them I collect Playtex.
I ran over, and sure enough, a box containing a large Cinderella bowl was tucked away on a basement shelf. I pulled it out to see the pattern and noticed a smaller bowl inside. It was a chip and dip! 
Unfortunately, when I pulled the smaller bowl out, I heard the clanging noise of the brass bracket/clip thing falling to the floor. I had to spend several minutes on my hands and knees searching the filthy basement floor for it. When I found it I picked up the box to tuck it safely back inside and noticed that it was the original box! How exciting!

Even though Early American is not one of the patterns I would normally buy, I had to ask how much they wanted for it (nothing in the basement was priced). I have never found any Pyrex in its original box and I was really excited. The cashier asked, “How does four dollars sound?”


Um, crazy? Four dollars for mint condition Pyrex in its original box? Thank goodness my boyfriend was with me since my hands were shaking and I probably would have dropped it. And it really is in great condition, though it has definitely been used. There were the remnants of some vintage dip in the smaller bowl. Gross!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

A Dream, A Story and a New Find

Hi there fellow Pyrex lovers!  I have a few things on my mind.

First, I had a dream about Pyrex last night.  What does that mean?    It was weird too...

I was at an estate sale, and there was this crabby grandma lady...

 
Well, she said she had this perfect Hostess bowl with a lid in red and I could have it for $40.  I tried to get her
down, but she wouldn't do it.  For some reason I said "OK" and gave her the money.  She then handed me a bowl with a lid that had carved in graffiti all over it.  (Yes, weird).
 
I wouldn't pay $40 for this perfect bowl!

 

 

(Side note...why is the text doing weird stuff....sizes and starting points!  Ahhh!!! Sorry.)

Anyway, I said, "no way!" and asked for my money back.  She said no, and that it was a great deal.

Very, Very strange.

 

Next, the story.

On vacation, I met this wonderful retire lady named Charlene at my in laws retirement community pool.  She talked about her parents migrating from Sweden to Orville, WA where her dad became the primary fruit box manufacturer.  During this conversation she brought up going shopping with her grand daughter for "the old colored bowl and refrigerator dish set".  She said she had two sets and the only thing left was one yellow bowl.  Her husband had one by one, accidentally put them on the burner when it was hot.

Of, Course I started chatting about Pyrex, and how I love it and collect it.  She talked about her set of "Brown Bowls with the little lip on it"  (I am guessing Woodland Cinderella) that she got in the 70's when she married her second husband after her first died.  She still uses them.  It was fun to see how a bunch of kitchen dishes just came up in conversation as part of the history in someones life.

 

Finally, the find.  And I'm sorry for whatever is going on with the text, I don't know what the deal is! At Goodwill...this beautiful milk chocolate 404 of the Americana set called out for $5.

 
and Vintage Values, Modern Times on Facebook
 
 

 

 

 
  
 
 
 

 





Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Silhouette Pyrex


I about jumped over a old lady to grab this gorgeous piece up! 1 1/2 quart 473 Silhouette (daisy). 2.50.
After doing a little research about this piece I think it is more rare than I thought.
I read on Pyrex Love that this piece was an unknown pattern and than later named.
If you have any info on this piece, please share!
 
 

Cherry Picked Vegas Adventure!

After visiting Ricks Restoration and taking in all that Vegas has to offer I made some time to "pick" a few things as well.  My best find was....come on guess?    
 
PYREX!   I found a complete Hostess set.  The set had six ramekins.  I believe it originally only came with four.  But because I have hoping to find the set piece by piece I already have another big red bowl and two ramekins in my collection.  So now I have 2 complete sets!  One to sell and one to keep:)  I love when that happens.

I also found some English Pyrex and had so much fun picking Vegas.  To read all about Rick's Restoration and my other Vegas finds click HERE

Pyrex I left for you

If you are ever in Big Bear Lake, CA I left you some Pyrex. 

Looking for great condition red fridgies? 

For $16 a piece they can be yours! (really)

Pink Gooseberry, $15 for the smaller bowl.

There was also some more, one really high priced bowl, some DWD and the things that looked over them. If you wanna see what They are you can see them here, at Treasures my Husband Hates.


Happy hunting ~Katie 


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Frenemies

Let's begin this by saying, that being a new collector, there are still several prints I've never seen "in the wild." Sure my first love is gooseberry, but I'm dying to see balloons and the pink butterprint in person. I love the Friendship pattern too, but I have never seen it, nope, not once. Not in an antique store. Not at a garage sale or Value Village or Salvation Army. Not between Vancouver and Bellingham anyway.
I am seriously lacking in the avian goodness that is the Friendship bowl set.

So imagine my utter joy last night when I convinced my husband to take me to Value Village to celebrate the completion of my lab science credit at school, and I saw from a distance the distinctive look of a pyrex friendship bowl. My adrenaline flooded my nervous systems and my palms began to sweat like a teenage boy stealing a playboy from a corner store.

As I approached, my heart began to sink and this is why.
Too many wash and rinse cycles :(
Better luck next time! This definitely reminds me: "handwash, handwash, handwash"

Recent Finds

Here are some recent Pyrex pieces I have aquired...

DOTS! - Oh I just about squealed with happiness when I saw this little beauty at the bottom of a stack of bowls in a nearby antique shop.  The price was well under what I would have had to pay online so I swooped on it... unless the price was crazy, I couldn't leave a New Dots bowl!

These two little Rainbow Stripes guys were the result of my first trade.  It was fun to meet a fellow Pyrex lover in my area.  We got each other's number and have been on the lookout for what the other needs. 
The mixing bowl pair came from a local thrift store... grand total of $4, can't beat that!  I actually LOVE the plain opal items. 
I completed my first set!  Primary fridgies - all found at different spots.  The orange on the bottom is an old refrigerator drawer and the loaf pan on the top is Fire King with the markings dating it to the mid 1940's!  It may not technically go together, but I like the primary colored flowers with the primary colored fridgies.
And my last piece of eye candy for the day... a Golden Poinsettia casserole with the lid!!  This was found at an antique store with a price of $7.50 (that seemed really good!)... the lid was a little chipped, but still useable.  It is my very first Christmas dish!
Until next time, Happy Pyrex Hunting!!

Whitney

Vacation Pyrex questions

Last weekend I got to go to new stores in search of some Pyrex.  My family took a weekend trip up to the mountains here in California. I came across this:


I love the blue. But since it has no lid I am not really sure what pattern it is. The blue is very bright. I am thinking it goes to the Horizon set?  For a blue it is in great condition. No fading.

I also picked this up, not Pyrex. It is marked with a W or M on the non-corked end.  Anyone have any idea of the maker? I have wanted a glass rolling pin for a while so I about peeded my pants and cried at the same time in excitement since it was in my price range. 

I got something else too.  If you wanna see it, you can read about it here.

~Katie, treasure hunter  




Monday, August 20, 2012

Small Town USA


In small-town Bouckville, NY (about an hour or so away from Syracuse, NY) was the annual "Bouckville Antique Festival"! Thousands came from around the country to celebrate fabulous antiques and collectibles. I followed suit... Can you believe this Scroll Serving Bowl with cradle and box?! A steal at $8!!
 I have been looking for an amish butterdish but still with no luck. I did find this snowflake one though ($5)! I also found these two odd lids. The left is labeled Pyrex France, the right is labeled just Pyrex but has a domed lid... any idea about these? I bought them anyways. $1 each.

 Another couple pieces: Butterfly Gold small casserole with lid for $2.50, and a fridgie with lid for $5.
 Small pink "Stems" casserole without lid, $7.

 And a primary set that I completed. I got the blue bowl for $5 at a garage sale, red for $3 at Salvation Army, and the green and yellow at Bouckville for $13 each... compared to alot of the dealers, this was still an ok price.

Mostly, the pyrex was priced SKY HIGH! Gooseberry fridgie set $100, solid pink fridgie set $125, Gooseberry Cinderella Set $75, Butterprint Cinderella $75, and full primary sets $90. WHY?!

PS considering making an etsy site soon. I have a lot of random pieces that I think other collectors would like more than me. I'm still trying to stick to to turquoise and pink.... with just some stragglers!

Happy Pyrexing!

<3,
Christina
Belle of the Blog