Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Thanksgiving Thrifting

The BF and I are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year. It's the first year in all of my 30 years that my mom isn't making the food, but we volunteered anyway, just to give her a break. I hope the parents look forward to eating off old school hula girl plates because that's our primary set!

We decided to take a break from cleaning, to check out a couple of thrift stores in the area. Remember that MCM industrial chair I mentioned a few posts back? One chair sold, but the other was still there. Not only that, but it had a 25% off tag, making it less than $4. Considering I saw the exact same chair going for $100+ online, I couldn't pass it up.

I found a few pieces of Pyrex, including one I plan on using for dinner this week! It's the big Friendship pattern dish, with the original lid. I also grabbed a lime green pie plate from Pyrex that should work nice for sweet potatoes. I'll post some photos of those finds, plus my completely adorable vintage ice bucket soon!

Friday, November 5, 2010

Depressing Mid-Century Sales

Last week we discovered an awesome little thrift store that neither of us had heard about before. It's connected to a local church and it's too far away to make it part of our regular routine. The prices were pretty good and it had its own Christmas room. I'm planning on going back in a few weeks and seeing if they have any cheap decorations.

I snagged a few nice Halloween things and a candle holder I loved. Unfortunately she put the candle holder in a bag on its own, without wrapping any of the six glass candle holders. Cut to me opening the back door of the car and watching in horror as one of the candle holders rolled out and shattered into 5-6 pieces on the ground. Those are the breaks I guess.

I've started using Craigslist, just to see what kind of goodies I can find. Unfortunately, there's not a lot out there in this area, especially not mid-century wise. It's either reproductions, overpriced originals or overpriced reproductions. One seller keeps listing the same six fiberglass chairs and asking $400 for the set. He swears they're originals, but conveniently the "original" tags are missing. Another seller keeps listing this little end table and dropping the price each week, but no one's interested in it.

I'm also hoping to find a vinyl/chrome/formica kitchen/dining room table and chairs. I know what the reproductions are selling for, but I'd prefer an original set. I'm just not interested in paying the high prices found online for one. Someone actually listed a reproduction set (as original), with a $400 price tag. It's very frustrating. Luckily I have a gifted-to-me table, so I'm not worried right now.

I did manage to find a great hutch at a Goodwill in my area. The BF and I stopped by on our way home from the booksale and it was love at first sight for me. I know a lot of people say not to shop at the thrifts on Fridays because they're so picked over, but this piece was just set out that day. It's about three feet wide and just under six-feet tall, with glass shelves on top and storage in the bottom.

It's funny though because I *almost* didn't buy it. The BF started following me around the store, whispering in my ear and saying he was going to be the devil on my shoulder. I finally grabbed the tag and carried it up to the front of the store. The sad thing is that it had to be picked up within 24 hours. We have a friend with a truck, but he never responded to any calls or texts we sent him.

We ended up trying to fit it in the car, thinking we could hang it out and strap it down. Yeah...that didn't work. We had to strap it to the roof, drive it to my parent's house and live it there. It's been sitting there since last weekend, but hopefully we can pick it up soon, so I can post some pictures!