Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Beachcombing and Thrifted Treasure's Art: Framed!
My husband framed and hung the beautiful prints that Alice from Thrifted Treasure sent me. They look amazing and I always think of Alice and Australia when I gaze at them. Thank you again! You are a gifted artist. For fun, Ken framed up four of the five Swedish art cards we bought at Ikea. We're both drawn to the bright colours and cheerful designs. They're at a lower level for Duncan to see.
On An Apple a Day, I noticed photos from a recent beachcombing trip in and around New York. I'd always heard that you could find old bottles, etc. washed up at Toronto's Don River. This past weekend, I dragged Duncan on a long excursion to see what we could find. As you can see from the photos, we found some old bottles.

Sunday, March 27, 2011
A Yard Sale Question
A good friend of mine is holding a yard sale in a few weeks and was asking me for pricing advice. I was wondering if people could offer their opinions and I'll pass them along to her.
She is getting rid of a lot of the following:
- leather jackets
- leather shoes and boots
- belts
- handbags
- books (including coffee table books)
- plates
- small appliances including several humidifiers still in original boxes
My friend just wants to get rid of stuff and not trying to get the most money possible in a greedy sort of way. Any thoughts on fair prices. I'm pretty sure most of these items are either lightly used or not used at all.
Thanks,
Erin
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Winkle Winkle Little Star
Friday, March 18, 2011
Pyrex Inventory & More
Welcome to Yard Sale Snoop, especially if you found your way here via the Pyrex Collective. As well, I'd like to send out a huge thank you to my new followers. Due to my self-effacing-low-self-esteem-Canadian state of mind, I'm always amazed that people want to view my cabinet of curiosities and hear what I have to say.
If you're new, I welcome you with a virtual cup of coffee and a song by Kate Bush to make your trip more pleasurable. Today it's "Oh England, my Lionheart." Try not to cry.
Now on with the thrift... P.S. I'm doing my best with pattern names thanks to Pyrex Love. I left my Pyrex book at work. If I've made any mistakes, please let me know. I'm numbering the photos.
#1 Junior's bed doubles as a weigh station for thrifted goods.
We have a third bedroom that currently doubles as a storage room. In other words, it's the room I dump all my thrifted goodies into until our kitchen renovation is complete. My husband needed to get into that room yesterday and asked if I could, "Clear a pathway," so that he could get at the bubble envelopes at the other end of the room. I began the lengthy process of moving my vintage stuff out. As I looked at all of the Pyrex on Duncan's bed (which served as a waiting room), it occurred to me that this would be the perfect time to begin a Pyrex inventory.
#2
I brought the pieces down and began washing them out with soapy water. Yes, there are some pieces here that aren't Pyrex, but there are some great pieces out there which aren't Pyrex. Check out my turquoise and white Hazel Atlas bowls on the right-hand side. It's amazing how many price stickers I didn't remove at the time.
#3 These were two bowls I thought were the same. I can hear Vonlipi now. "No, no, no, my child. Use your eyes!" Alright, what you're seeing is a 401 and a 403. These numbers sound more like highways than names for beautiful crockery. These came from Value Village (VV).
#4 These two go together. For the life of me, I can't think of their name and I'm having trouble identifying them. I'm sure if I hunt around on Pyrex Love or the Pyrex Collective, I'll figure it out. They're not part of Butterfly Gold are they? I believe the larger one says 407, but the bottom is a little worn. These came from VV fairly recently.

6. Ahh, a no-brainer. Friendship. Here we have 473 (1 qt white bowl with red and orange birds), 474 (2 qt orange with clear lid with birds), and 503 which is a white baking dish decorated with more of those pretty birds. The round dishes came from an independent thrift store in Owen Sound. I loved that the store owner hand wrote the prices in marker. The rectangular dish was a Christmas present from my niece.
#7. Friendship from above. The best part of this whole experience was when I had all of my Pyrex spread out on our dining table and my husband told me how great he thinks it is. He told me that now he understands why I love it so much. Yes!
#8 Spring Blossom bowls (Please let me know if one of them isn't.) The big one was my mother's. it is 444 (4qt). Yes, it's massive. My mother has used it for humongous bowls of mashed potatoes and stuffing at Christmas. The small bowl was a birthday gift from my sister Lise.
#9 Not-so mellow yellow: Here we have the Daisy oval divided dish. No number was on the bottom. We also have two 443 (2 1/2 qt yellow Cinderella bowls). I had no idea that I had two. We also have a 402 1 1/2 qt bowl and a 442 1 1/2 qt Cinderella bowl in a delicious apricot colour. It's one of my favourites and gets used a lot. I can't remember where I bought any of these, except for the divided dish. I bought it at a Value Village in St. Catharines for $9.99. It still stands as my most expensive Pyrex purchase to date. I suspect the other ones came from assorted Value Village stores.

#11. This is a 503 soft buttery-coloured baking dish. I like the understated colour and it's a handy size for a small family. I'm pretty sure I bought this at a Goodwill in St. Catharines for $3.00.
#12 Apart from a butter dish that's buried somewhere in the basement, this 401 is my only piece of the coveted Butterprint pattern. I'm holding out for more. The bowl behind it is 441. Does anyone know the name of this pattern?
#13 Here we have 442 which I think is Colonial Mist. This is the blue Cinderella bowl at the front. Interestingly enough, the size for this bowl and the 402 behind have sizes listed in metric. Using my keen sleuthing skills, I infer that they were made in Canada. They are both 1.5 litres. Over to the right is a 043 casserole dish with lid. I'm not sure what the pattern is on this casserole dish. Is the white bowl also Colonial Mist? The only piece here that I remember buying is the casserole dish, which I bought at a yard sale a couple of summers ago for next to nothing. I think I paid $1.00 for it.
5. This is Butterfly Gold.
#10 Does it get much sunnier than this?
#22
#29 More Made in Japan stuff I don't need, but love anyway.
#33 Oops, I forgot a Pyrex picture. Let's call this Lime Love. Here we have a 024 lime green (2 qt) dish my mother gave me and a 209 lime green pie dish.
#34 Oops, I forgot my Spring Blossom fridgies, which were in my cupboard. Here we have 502 and two 501 respectively. You may recall that my good friend Mary Lou from work surprised me with them in January.
That's all folks!
Thanks for reading.
Erin
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Dry Spell Has to End
Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I have been popping my head into the local Value Village lately, but the cupboards have been bare and I mean BARE. I don't have a lot of money to be splashing about either, so it's just as well that I haven't found piles of goodies. Even thrifted finds can add up if you're not careful.
I'm hoping that this dry spell will end soon and if good fortune comes my way, I'll be able to share some photos by the weekend.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Erin
Here's my favourite U2 song. Ahh, the memories...
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Most Beautiful Blog Ever?
There are so many beautiful blogs out there, but I just had to mention An Apple a Day. Does anyone else know about it? I love nature and it's filled with gorgeous photos of flora. Click and take a little journey.