Hull and Hobnail Happiness

Forrest Gump had that line about life and chocolates. But I think life's more like a thrift store. You have a wider range of serendipity. A little humor. A little "what the heck is that?" And junk or treasure, it's all in how you look at it.

Anyway, this week's Treasure Hunting took me and my shopping bud, Scoobie, around Pittsburgh's South Hills. I had had my eye on a type of Depression glass from the 40s by Anchor Hocking called "Moonstone" and this was the weekend I managed to snag a few pieces at a good price...
I'd like it noted that this was from the very same antique mall where I showed you the, um, unique example of Big-Eyed Portraiture on Sunday. Proving, I think, the truth of that adapted Forrest Gump adage I was just talking about. :)

And underlining the bit about serendipity, at the Salvation Army Superstore in West Mifflin, I came across my very first thrifted Hull vase...
Scoobie and I both spotted it at the same time and gasped, knowing full-well how expensive Hull is in any of the antique malls.

Now, I'm not going to kid you-- it does have two chips. You can see one of them on the right hand side. But honestly, sitting up on top of my china cabinet, its soft matte-finish pastels look just right in my dining room. I looked it up and the pattern's called Wildflower. I figure no one visiting will be inclined to pluck the vase from its spot and "tsk-tsk" over the chips...

And if they do-- heh-- I probably should invite them over less.

Lastly, I snagged two bright green Depression glass candlesticks at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift store in Castle Shannon. They don't look quite as intensely green in this pic as they are in real life...
They came out to be $5 for the pair.

Now, before I forget-- one of the Thrift Shop Romantic's regular readers, Debbie of Debbie-Dabble, had asked to see a closeup of a table in my spare room, based on a previous post. So Debbie, my friend, here is more of that sewing stand...
It's from the 70s, a Singer cabinet, which I two-toned with some of the same cottage white paint I've used elsewhere in that room. Its top wasn't great, so after I painted it, I put a Rachel Ashwell Shabby Chic placemat over the top and glass over that to keep it tidy...
Here you can see the Colonial knobs were exchanged for glass knobs, and I'd added some wooden appliques to fancy it up.
Thrift stores often have old sewing tables without the sewing machines in them, and the tables still make great sidetables, with a little bit of work.

Anyway, that's it for this Treasure Box Wednesday. I hope to see you again on Sunday for our next post-- and have yourselves a chocolate-box-worthy remainder of this week!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Tiny Treasure

This last week was a bit of a slow one for me in terms of Treasure Hunting. The fact fine weather has led most folks outside to merry gardening, sunning and not-donating... well, new goodies on display were somewhat slim. But another part of it for me was need. In the midst of doing a clean-out myself, there really wasn't much that struck me as needing to come home to my house. I had particular things in mind I was hoping for which were just not meant to be this last week.

But I'm glad to share with you all the tiny treasures that did come my way. One of my favorites was this gorgeously blue hobnail salt dish...
It's only about an inch, inch-and-a-half square. Years ago, this was how guests to a dinner received their salt-- individual little dishes. For me, it's perfect to sit on a window sill and reflect the light. And what color!

At Junk for Joy in Jeannette, I got this nice Smith Glass lustered heart-shaped trinket box...
I have a lot of Smith Glass-- I'm drawn automatically to it because not only does it come in beautiful colors, but it's one of the few surviving glass companies from Westmoreland County's glass heyday. The style of their pieces are much the way they were back in Victorian times. And for me, you just can't beat that!

Lastly, at the Salvation Army Thrift Store, I was drawn to some very cost-effective stacks of vintage knitting magazines...
Technically, these are for you folks, for future posts. At $1.99 a bag, retro humor, questionable fashion sense and crazy modeling scenarios are pretty well bound to be between the covers of at least one or two pieces. And it'll be fun ferreting these out! I'll donate back the ones surplus to requirements.

Oh!-- and one piece of business before I go today! In case you didn't get to see yesterday's spur-of-the-moment post, The Thrift Shop Romantic is now on Twitter. You can join me here-- http://www.twitter.com/ThriftRomantic -- for discussions on thrift news, decorating, humor, and really just general chatty topics. Don't worry, I won't spam you or, worse, spend my Tweets telling you about how I need to clip my toenails or what I'm having for lunch (you'd be surprised how common that sort of non-info seems to be in the Twitterverse) :)

I hope to see you there! I'll follow back anyone who isn't a spammer, trying to show me pictures of themselves in their birthday suit, or hoping to enlighten me with some motivational course. :) (Again, more common than you'd think.)

Cheers, gang!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Everything in its Place

To quote Popeye, "I'd had all I could stands, and I can't stands no more." This was Saturday, after days and days of snowfall, which had kept me indoors, staring at the walls.

I mean, I love my house. But there is such a thing as too much togetherness.

So in spite of continual flurries, I decided I would make a truncated trip down Route 30, as long as the roads were clear.

But the Thrifting Gods were kind, and I uncovered a number of things I knew just where they would go.

I'll start with my most surprising discovery. See this little handled green crock?...
The chartreuse limey color attracted my eye as I have quite a bit of this color in my kitchen, between my pseudo-retro coffeemaker and toaster, and some Lemongrass Fiesta ware.

But turn the bowl over and...
McCoy? I won't even make you guess the price, because it wouldn't be fair. I'll just tell you: $0.79!!

That would be my cheapest McCoy piece yet.

Interestingly, at another store, one of the workers there was talking about how he feels there's no market for McCoy anymore. That he has quite a bit of it in the store, but no one buys it.

I'm not so sure about that. I think it might have more to do with the color of the McCoy rather than McCoy itself. As a McCoy amasser, I noticed his pieces myself as I went a-traveling. And I personally wasn't interested in it because it was almost all yellow. I haven't spied yellow as being a particularly trendy color at the moment.

I wonder whether if it comes back into fashion, people will be more interested in his pieces for their decor?

I just thought it was interesting how markets change.

Anyway, at the L&L Fleatique, I found a great mint green vintage desk lamp I simply couldn't pass up...
In great shape, with lovely lines, and an $8 price tag, I had it in my hand pretty quickly!

On my journey, I also snagged a bunch of these lamp crystals. I knew just what I needed them for, the question at the time was only how many I needed. Fortunately, I guessed correctly...
You can see them in their new home here...
And last, I got this pretty hobnail Moonstone bottle. I have been swapping some of the dollar store bottles I'd had on my stained glass window ledge for more interesting vintage pieces, so the bottle now resides here...
It's missing its stopper, but I don't think that really detracts from it's beauty.

So that's the story for this Wednesday.

• For those of you who missed Sunday's post on Westmoreland County pressed glass, click here.

Have yourselves a nifty, thrifty remainder to your week!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Heavenly Finds

And a-one, and a-two, and everybody sing...

Er, no, better not. Let's just talk about our friend the conducting cherub here, and the other found items for this Treasure Box Wednesday.

The elaborate winged fellows are a lamp discovered at Construction Junction architectural salvage. This has already made it's way into my blue room. I would say it probably was the land-speed record for lamp placement in America.

How the lamp managed to survive in that store amid the big chunks of heavy marble mantles, thick wood planks, and masonry, I can't imagine. It does have some issues, certainly. A chipped wing here, a missing bit there...

And this fellow is completely sans-arm. But I think some clever patching will make it less obvious, and just add to the character. Too much was brilliantly intact for me to care very much...
Sometimes I think it's the imperfections in well-made old pieces like this that make them even more worth rescuing to me. Like I have to save them from further damage!

At the Salvation Army yesterday, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this pink hobnail vase...
I've seen this in white milkglass a bazillion times over the years-- in fact my mother had one-- but never, ever in pink! This was quite a surprise to me. I believe I recall it being an Anchor Hocking piece, but don't hold me to that.

I had also picked up this green Depression glass platter...

Funny, I'd been in line, saying to the friend I was shopping with how there were just a few small chips on the bottom, but how no one would see those. And the woman in front of me in line sniffed, "Well, I can tell you're not an antique dealer, then!"

Er, yes. I probably wouldn't expect people to buy from me something that had chips. But given it was for my own use? Well, you all know how I feel about that. Again, it's another pretty item whose beauty isn't ruined by the little flaws.

And my last second-hand venture of the weekend was attending a flea market at a local synagogue. It was set up almost identically to the church rummage sale I went to just a week or two ago. And there, I set my eyes on this great sandwich-glass and lightly-lustered amethyst dish...
(Here you can see an aerial view)...

And this excellent large, old mirror for a whole $2...

So it's been a pretty heavenly week for fun finds! And a nice respite from working on that fireplace.

• Folks who've not yet seen the whole fireplace installation extravaganza can check that out here.

It's going well, by the way. I installed the rest of the trim last night. It still needs a few coats of paint, and then I have some other touches to add. Oh-- and the mantle shelf. But the mantle shelf issue is one I'll share with you later. I think you'll laugh.

Take care, and I hope you'll pop back on Sunday for our next post!