Bakelite Beauties

While in Denver last weekend at the Denver Modernism Show I saw a vendor selling these really great plastic bangles.  I was set to buy a few but when I looked at the price I about had a heart attack!  "You want $35 for a plastic bracelet?!  Have you lost your mind?!"  I came to my senses and looked a little harder and noticed that the vendor was calling them Bakelite, which I had heard of before, but nothing more than the word.  I had absolutely no information to go along with it and I would have asked him, but he was so frazzled by all his customers that I didn't want to frazzle him further.  Dude couldn't get it together!

Well Mom and I went down to Pueblo today to poke around in the shops and there again was this Bakelite stuff, but this time it wasn't so expensive (but not so cheap as to raise a big fake red flag), but it raised more questions.  How do you tell if it is real or if it is just a run of the mill plastic dime store bracelet?  We didn't know, and Google wasn't helping much (I know, Google usually comes through for us!) so we let them be.
At another store I saw this pair of bracelets that I really liked, and thankfully the lady at the counter had time to answer a few questions.

She told use that if you rub real Bakelite hard enough with your finger, it will smell like burnt hair.  Well isn't that weird and wonderful all at the same time?!  I looked a little harder later on and found the same advice on different sites.  She said they were probably from the 30's or 40's.  Most of the information I can find describes Bakelite as one of the first plastics produced with synthetic materials and that it was great for depression era women because it was cheap (not anymore!).  I purchased these bracelets and I love them!  They will go with everything, especially my crazy patterned shift dress!

I really love this one : source


and holy crap this one: source


and this is so cool!!!!  Source


I could go on and on.  Do any of you have any Bakelite items?

It's a Pyrex Jamboree Over Here!

Today was a great day for Pyrex and I am a happy girl!  Our first stop of the day was to the thrift shop where I scored three round Snowflake Blue casserole dishes, two with lids!  And like a beacon of light, fit with angles singing and everything, I found this really great Hex Signs Large Bowl with it's caddie, both in good shape!  I was practically skipping through the aisles, when I spied with my little eye, two Pyrex plates with the turquoise stripe. "Shut Up!" I said to myself.  They have been put through the dishwasher too many times, but I love them anyway.  

And do you see the lovely black snowflake oval casserole?   I found that at the antique shop where I have my case (which has finally seen some sales, woohoo!).  

Wait, I'm not done, I have more!!!  My Grandma and Grandpa are in Maine right now, taking a break from our heat and crazy altitude.  G'ma found some Butterprint mixing bowls, a small fridgie, and a really cool Fire King bowl for me, all for $23!  And what is even cooler is she sent me a picture of it with her handy dandy smart phone!  She is getting so good at using it, I'm so proud.  

And then as I was writing this, my Mom called me from the thrift store, asking if I wanted any of the items pictured below!  She got the pitcher and the Verde casserole dish.  What a lovely end to an epic Pyrex day.

My First Rednesday!!!

This is my first post for Rednesday, so if I am doing it wrong, someone please let me know!

I found these sweet Strawberry Shortcake glass canisters at the thrift shop last week.  I really wish they went with my house because they are so cute!  I will be selling them soon, so hopefully they will make somone else smile!

Update:  I got it all linked up, but the icon on Its A Very Cherry World is wrong.  Next time I won't do it on my tablet, it was a super pain on this thing!

I'm Starting to Get It!

So I have been reading Mary and Russel Wrights Guide to Easier Living and some things are finally starting to make sense to me.  I saw these at the thrift shop yesterday: (please excuse the bad phone pics)

So normally I would have just passed these over without a second thought.  But this time I took a second to look at them because I understand them a little better now thanks to the book.  They are so ornate and pretty because women back in the day wanted something attractive at the table, but they also wanted to reduce the amount of work required for a normal evening dinner.  These decorated pots allowed them to make and serve their recipes in the same dish!  Now this to me is still strange because I am of the age where you are damn lucky to get anything, I could care less if it is packaged prettily!  But, I get what they were going for, and I think it wouldn't hurt to bring a little of that back.  Use pretty dishes and set the table.  And all of this is the pot calling the kettle black because we eat in the stinking living room in front of the tv!  But I am going to try, if for no other reason than to use my beautiful dining room table and growing collection of Pyrex!   

A few other pics of fancy pots at the thrift shop yesterday:

Today's Thrift Store Finds

The little bambino and I hit the thrift store today.  It was half off for seniors day, so the place was crawling with em'.  Some of them are super intimidating, dang near pushing you aside to get a peek at what you might be looking at if you take a half step forward.  I'm not a very competitive person, but dang if I don't want to beat them to it sometimes!  Anyway, even with the few crazed seniors, I picked up a few cool things:

I was pretty excited to pick up the two small Pyrex mixing bowls, one in Spring Blossom and the other in Early American.  The Spring Blossom one has a strange yellow tint to the flowers, but I thought it would be a good challenge to see if I could make it sparkle again - any advice would be awesome all you Pyrex collectors!  I also picked up some cool vintage cards for practically nothing.  I was hopeful that the cards on the right looked all pretty and colorful like that, but alas, when I got the package home and opened it I only found plain paper and envelopes.  Oh well : (  My favorite find of the day is the Avon Owl container.  It was full of something that was lotion 50 years ago but totally rank now, so I scrubbed it up and now it is strange smell free.  I have a frog one that I put lanolin in and leave on my nightstand.  There is something feminine and kind of old movie star-ish about using a pretty jar instead of a boring plastic container.  I will be checking on my case at the antique mart tomorrow - wish me luck!

The Mom's Sweet Antique Store Find

This piece of Pyrex is my pride and joy so far (until I find the Balloons chip and dip set, that will be king!).  Mom was in Pueblo at the Riverwalk running in and out of stores as fast as she could because her husband could have cared less about shopping, and somehow during her mad dash in one of the antique stores she spied this little beauty:

This is a new in box set that I can't really find a lot of information about.  PyrexLove  calls this one lace medallion, but that is about all the info they have.  I have seen in a few places that it was a promo piece.  I love the little paper leaflet and the candles for the warming base are still wrapped up in their original paper.  It is such a cool piece that I will keep for as long as I live!  Thanks again Mom!

Blush and Bashful

Oh Steel Magnolias, I'm so glad I finally had a good reason to quote you in my daily life!  Anyway yesterday at the Denver Modernism Show (check it!) I found something I had been trying to find for so very very long.  Nah, I'm being dramatic, its only been a few months!  Anyway, I scored three out of four Pink Gooseberry Cinderella bowls at a thrift store a while ago, and was hoping to get lucky and finish out the set there eventually.  I wasn't having much luck, so I was super excited when I saw an inexpensive partial set for sale at the show because now I have a sweet complete set of Pink Gooesberry bowls!  I won't be keeping it though because pink just isn't my color.  Hopefully it will make someone else very happy.

So in honor of completing that lovely set, I wanted to showcase some of our other pink items.

"My colors are blush and bashful. I have chosen two shades of pink, one is much deeper than the other."

On the left is a light pink and white ceramic snack server on a lazy susan that my Mom found.  Next to that is an old slap chop (I know that isn't right, but that is what I want to call it!) that  isn't as light in color as it looks.  Then the other one is one of our favorite finds.  Mom (she is really good at this thrifting thing if you haven't noticed) found it at The Salvation Army covered in a greasy yucky goo which I had to scrub so flippin hard it was absurd!  It was so super gross that we didn't realize it was pink!  It is a really great Kromex pink textured snack server with chunky glass containers.  I really really love this, and I honestly can't stand the color pink.  It bugs me so much it is irrational, but for some reason I can see myself using this server and feeling all fancy and girly, but that just isn't for me, sorry Mom...I know you tried!

Denver Modernism Show

Holy crap that was such an awesome event!  Here is a link: http://denvermodernism.com/.  I walked in and immediately went into overdrive, my poor little brain just didn't know what to do.  So I stood there in my over stimulated stooper for  minute, and then thankfully was able to regain control.  What came after that was a wonderful sea of mid century modern clothing, purses, jewelry and housewares and art and furniture and and and and...I'm still a little excited, can you tell?
Here are a few pics:

This robot light was one of my favorite pieces at the show.  I arrived a little after the doors opened at 10am, and this guy was sold and out the door by 10:30.  

They had a really fun fashion show with different fashions from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.  The heels some of these chicks had to walk in should beconsidered cruel and unusual in my book.

This vendor had some really great stuff.  I loved that sofa with attached side tables.  The long skinny artwork on the wall looks like dinosaur skulls from far away, which is always cool with me.

These three ladies are Susan Saarinen, Carla (Eames) Hartman, and Celia Bertoia. They all spoke about their fathers (Grandfather for Ms. Hartman) and what is was like to be a part of that modern design world. It was a really interesting presentation by three impressive women, who all happen to live or have lived in Colorado. Why? Because Colorado is awesome!!!

I didn't purchase much at the show.  Not that I didn't want to, it's just that we don't really need much for our house, and I am working really really hard not to be a crazy hoarder person who buys all the lovely pretty things she sees, because I could totally be that person.  And the whole stay at home mom gig I have doesn't pay very well.  I did grab these three Butterprint Pyrex bowls and a sweet set of Pyrex salt and pepper shakers.  I also got a gift for the Mom.  Lets see if I can hold out giving it to her until Christmas!  I did purchased a copy of Guide to Easier Living by Mary and Russel Wright.  I'm only a few pages in, but so far, it is amusing to read this knowing that they wrote it 60 years ago, and that back then it was so progressive and detailed a whole new way of thinking.  So far, my favorite quote from the book is "They are now developing an electronic range that  can bake a potato in 45 seconds."   I'm sure I will find more!

Where Is The Love?!

If I could collect every pattern of Pyrex, I totally would.  I love the colors and the designs and the shapes, everything!  But alas, I only have so much space and my husband is only so patient with my craziness, so I limit my personal collection to black and turquoise.  But that doesn't mean that when I spot a piece of Pyrex at the thrift shop or a garage sale that I can resist the urge to buy it.  I know, I know, that is crazy hoarder business, but what I have decided to do is spread the love.  With a little help from the Mom, I have a case at Willowstone Antique Marketplace in Colorado Springs.  It is full of lovely Pyrex and other cool vintage pieces.  But here is the part that makes me sad and hurts my heart a little:  I haven't sold anything yet!!!  It has been there for three weeks and no one is digging the Pyrex.  I would never have thought those last 6 words would go together in my world, but there you have it.  I'm pretty sure our prices are more than fair.  The goal is not to become rich here.  We just want to be able to continue to buy pieces when we see them and make them available to people at a normal price.  I spoke to some vendors at another antique mart yesterday and they said that Willowstone just can't get enough customers through the doors.  I think I might move to this other market, but am not sure yet.

Look at that case!  It's glorious!  We even took the doors off to make sure customers didn't have to try to flag someone down to see an item.

I have to give it at least two months, so I guess I just have to be patient...

Oh Pyrex, How I Love Thee... Let Me Count The Ways

Yesterday the husband and I went up to Denver to pick up this awesome cabinet from a super nice women who was selling it on the cheap on craigslist.  She was getting rid of it because she purchased a really great mid century modern cabinet to replace it.  As I was admiring her collection of vintage furniture, she was telling me about the Denver Modernism Show.  Wait, whaaaaaa?!  What wonderful thing is this?!  Google, don't fail me now!  A wonderful show of all things vintage and mid century will be taking place in north Denver this weekend and guess who is going? This chick!!!  I'm going to check it out on Saturday, so I will report back.

Wow, all that and all I really wanted to talk about was my bitchin Pyrex!  I collect the turquoise and black patterns and I think they look fabulous together in my great new to me cabinet.  It looks kind of sparse now, but that just means I have room for more!  That top one is my favorite piece and my Mom got it for me because she is just that cool!  It really deserves to have a post all to itself, and soon it will.  I also really love my black rooster one on the bottom.  That was the first one I purchased (for what I know now was to much!) and what got me started on all of this.  The bowl joined the family today.  I was bummed because my case at the antique mart isn't doing so well (will post on that soon too), so I went to another antique mart to talk to some people, and I found the bowl!  Lucky me!  I would really like to have the solid turquoise set of refrigerator dishes, but the last set I saw was selling for $75, so that isn't happening any time soon.  Maybe I'll get crazy lucky and find them at a thrift shop.  I know, I know, unlikely, but a girl can dream dangit!

Hello Blogosphere

So I have recently decided that I really love vintage housewares and I want to share it with anyone who will give me more than five seconds of their time.  It may be a lot to ask for some of you (I know you are wicked busy) but if you humor me for a little bit, I promise it will be worth it!
So here it goes...I hope you enjoy it!

This is my most recent, and maybe my favorite, vintage piece.  I don't know a lot about it yet, so if anyone has any info, please share!

This chair is so stinkin cool I can hardly stand it!  The thing weighs a ton and is super sturdy.  It lives in my sunroom right now, which as you can see isn't much to get excited about, but in the coming days and weeks, it will be transformed into a lovely little vintage retreat for this stay at home mom.  More on that project to come later!