Against logic, I rushed up to Value Village at lunch today. Sadly, no Pyrex, but I did get this dinky little John Deere toolbox, which Duncan has already turned into a marker caddy. Cost: $1.99
This little Chicago snow globe is actually very small. I love Chicago and I had to have it. Cost: $1.99. Fortunately, I made it back to school on time with both my feet attached. 
Kid's rug hooking kit still in its original packaging. $2.99. I think I'll teach some of the early finishers in my class how to use it and they can do some rug hooking in their free time.
Brand new President's Choice keep-the-insects-off-your-food thing. If I was English, I'd have some classy name for it, I'm sure. $2.99.
Old timey wooden diner napkin holder. Very Twin Peaks. $1.99
Pretty little plate. It looked old and crackled or spackled, but it lacked a maker's mark. $1.99.
Creepy Tim Burton-esque tree - $2. I bough two and I'll use them in my classroom for a spooky book display. They come in other glittery colours.
Autumn wreath that Duncan wanted for his bedroom. I've trained him well. - $2
Leafy garland to drape around my doorway. It's a classic. $1 per garland.
Inflatable eyeballs - $1 for a package of three.
Atomic Age inspired Christmas tree ornament. $1. I feel like I'm in The Nightmare Before Christmas at Dollarama. One minute it's all Halloween stuff and then you turn the corner and it's Christmas. Where's the Easter bunny?
Duncan's birthday is at the tail end of August, so now that the school year has begun, he was finally able to have his party. We went to Danforth Bowl. It's a frozen-in-the-sixties 5-pin bowling alley at Coxwell and Danforth. If you live in the area and you love vintage things, it's a fun place to go.
Our not-so wee man blowing out the candles on his cake.
When we got home, we walked down to our local Value Village. I was hoping that I might luck out and find a sweet little Pyrex bowl, but the cupboards were bare. I did find this cute little German children's apron for $1.99. It's got four different cake recipes on it. Too bad I don't speak German.
I was going to bring it into my classroom for art activities, but I think it would get ruined. I'll let Duncan wear it for baking at home.
I also grabbed this Ikea picture easel for .99. I use these for book displays in the classroom. 
Look at the pretty photography and layout. They even managed to squeeze in my rustic porch cam shot of my first Pyrex love. It's amazing what a little cropping can do. I wish I could do that to my bottom!
Well, I had half-jokingly suggested in my last post that I was hoping to find some Mexican Day of the Dead folk art at the ginormous Cabbagetown festival (which included numerous yard sales). Look what I bought! It's a pretty luminario. This tin church includes a candleholder tucked inside. It was new and had an original price tag on it of $40.00. I got it for $8.00. Happy Erin.
Proof that sooner or later, we all turn into our fathers. I got this Moulinex electric carving knife for $2.00 from a really fun group of people raising money for a girl's basketball team.
What's inside? Hmm. Don't tell me. I think I can figure it out...
In the days leading up to Christmas, you add little pegs to decorate it. I thought this was sweet and knew Duncan would have fun adding to it. It was new in the box and cost $8.00. I would have liked it better for $5.00 or $4.00, but I never bargain down prices. I can hear my parents saying, "That would have been $1.00 at a rummage sale in St.Catharines. Yes, yes. Toronto is expensive and there were a lot of inflated prices at the Cabbagetown festival with vendors selling "antique" items for "antique dealer" prices. 
Ivy leaf mixing bowl without a maker's mark on the bottom. I want to buzz in with Hazel Atlas, but I'm all "Hazel Atlas this, Hazel Atlas that" this week. Two months ago, I didn't even know what Hazel Atlas was.
The price stickers were covering the maker's mark. I want to say Fire King. Feel free to buzz in on the Crockery Quiz Show. You can steal this from me. I love the butterscotch sheen of these bowls. They remind me of my childhood.
Stepford wife-era fondu kit in avocado green with "crazy" daisies. Time for a key party - not!
I posted pics of my thrifted new classroom on The Foolscap Flyer. If you feel like taking a look. Click here. Now please stand for "Oh Canada."
Look what I got! The complete set of Hazel Atlas utensil pattern mixing bowls from the 1940s. I'm still pinching myself. You'll remember how I bought the large size bowl at another VV a couple of months ago now. I think I paid $4.99 for it. I never thought I'd even find any other pieces.
So now I have the complete set, plus an extra large mixing bowl. I can't believe anyone would want to part with this.
Here's the best part: the price. The large bowl was $2.99, the medium bowl was $1.99, and the small bowl was $1.49. The pricing at Value Village is so inconsistent, but I'm not about to take them back telling them that the bowls were underpriced. I'm a happy woman today.
I bought this straw dispenser for Duncan. We always have straw dispensing issues and this solves the problem in style. Price: $1.99. Not bad.
Ever since I saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding, I had a nagging suspicion that I've somehow betrayed my hopelessly WASP background by not having a Bundt cake tin. It's not like we had Bundt cake all the time when I was growing up. Still, I dream of making something spongey and delicious with chocolate drizzled down the hole. Cost: .99¢
Speaking of .99¢, I got this piece of pale green pottery for the same price. It looked like it had been in someone's family for a long time and now nobody loved it. I like it.
I loved this groovy little Anchor Hocking bowl for $1.99.
Oooh, I think Madge had her hand on the buzzer before Valerie. Yes, it is Pyrex. I actually bought it to use more than admire. We needed sturdy bowls this size and although they're not breathtakingly beautiful, they're not hideous either.
For $2.99 I bought this cute Made in Japan gravy boat. As you'll see in the photos below, I've got three different ones. I was charmed by the turkey and had to add it to the collection.
They really liked their gravy separated back in the sixties. 
