Treasure Box Wednesday: A Little Shine in the Thrifted Finds

I got a chance to go on a little thrifting expedition with my shopping buddy, Scoobie, last weekend and I wanted to share with you my shiny (literally) new goodies. The first was this Kathy Van Zeeland purse I got for six bucks at the Red, White and Blue in Bellevue. With its mint green color and pearl finish, I think it will be really nice for spring.

I'm not much of a shoe girl, but handbags somehow really speak to me.

The other item I got was this large, Westmoreland/Smith glass carnival basket from the McKnight Road Goodwill. 

It's one of those things that leapt right out at me, and I had a feeling due to the busyness of the store, that I was absolutely the only one there who was going to get excited about it. I know carnival glass isn't for everyone--which in this case was to my advantage!

Wishing you happy days as our mild winter fades away into spring.

Treasure Box Wednesday: Posies and Placesettings

As we take a step or two into May, this week has been one filled with pleasant little surprises. Two of them, of the floral variety.

Folks who checked out Sunday's post on "Good Cheer"-- the early 1900s booklet of Edwardian positive thinking-- already know about one of these finds. But my haul of highly-decorative books of advice actually came in bulk. There were six all together-- and here are four of the most heavily illustrated...
I know I'd told a few folks on Twitter how I was going with one of my friends to the Fiesta outlet. She was looking for a few things in particular. But before we even made it into their parking lot, we were pleasantly sidetracked by a small local flea market.

When you see unexpected flea market aisles, and you have the time, it seems almost foolish not to at least get out and peruse! How could we resist?

And that's where I found a number of early 1900s postcards-- same style as the books, really!...
It was a nice mix of Christmas (which I strangely don't have very many cards celebrating), and general correspondence from the period. The "To My Dear Old Pal" cracked me up a bit. I think today's card would be worded a little differently.

Then at home, I have been playing around with some of my Anchor Hocking Moonstone hobnail pieces in the form of tablescapes...
I'm happy with how well the opalescent white shows up on colored tablecloths. When the light hits it just right, you can see a tinge of blue-green or red, depending on the angle. Jadite candlesticks, green hydrangeas and a Smith Glass iridescent vase complete the look...
I only have two plates so far, but as you folks already know, no good collection is ever built quickly. (Or rather I should say, 'no budget-oriented collection'.)

To carry the green and white theme over to the mantle in that room, I used some thrifted white cherub planters I had, another green hydrangea and candlesticks in a palette that's the reverse of the ones on the table...
So, that's what I've been up to this week, folks. And with that, the Treasure Box closes again until next Wednesday.

Take care!

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!

Clear Beauty in Westmoreland County Pressed Glass

Just outside of Pittsburgh, in Westmoreland County, lies rolling hills, friendly people... and a tradition of beautiful quality glass-making.

Not being a Pittsburgh native myself, my initial thrifting endeavors led me to wonder just how it was that I kept uncovering so many marvelous lustrous pressed glass pieces...

Dainty daisy-pressed carnival glass shoes... Iridescent moonstone hobnail bottles... shimmery pink or purple or aqua bowls...

And all typically between $6-$20 for these artistic-looking pieces!

Well, it turned out that beginning in the 19th century, Western Pennsylvania was an important hub for American glass-making and was home to Westmoreland Glass, Empire Glass, L.E. Smith Glass and the McKee-Jeannette Glassworks, among others.

L.E. Smith Glass, in Mount Pleasant, PA, has been making American pressed glass since 1907, and the style continues to have that turn-of-the-century look.


You can see the stylized "S" mark above. Both the two tall vases, and the shoe on the right-hand side are Smith pieces...As are this candy dish, and the bright aqua bowl here...
Interestingly, Smith Glass and Fenton of West Virginia are the only glass works from that era that continue to operate in the region today. Fans of pressed glass can even visit the Smith factory for tours. You can check out their web site by clicking here. I haven't gotten a chance to do the tour yet myself, but I think I need to take some time this spring to see the birthplace of much of my favorite glassware!

The Kovels Guide indicates that Westmoreland Glass was in operation from 1890 until 1984, in Grapeville, PA. These pieces bear an overlapping WG mark...
Like Smith Glass, the pieces are often thick pressed glass in a variety of colors and cut-glass-styled patterns. My favorites have a rainbow luster shimmer like this little candydish I'd thrifted...


This bowl alone weighs several pounds. I imagine so much Westmoreland and other pressed glass exists today because of its thick, durable consistency...
This little crystal tophat is also a Westmoreland piece.
I wasn't able to find a mark on this marigold carnival piece, but I suspect it, too, began life in Westmoreland County...
So while current prices for this type of glass-- at least in my region-- are very affordable, it doesn't make these pieces less desirable to me.

And if you're a fan of turn-of-the-1900s collectibles, you might just want a piece of Westmoreland County glass in your own home, to carry on that period feel!

Happy hunting!

Treasure Box Wednesday: The Colors of Fun

There's a lot of color in the Treasure Box this week, folks! And as August gives way to what may very well be a chilly fall, these warm, cheery colors seem to do a person good.

One of my favorite pieces of this week was a ruby carnival glass slipper made by the L.E. Smith Glass Company of Mount Pleasant, PA...
The company has been doing glass since the early 1900s, and continues the tradition today. This glass shoe has a newer mark. But I like it's antique styling. Because Mount Pleasant isn't far from where I live-- and where I bought this shoe, actually-- I tend to find quite a bit of it around. This was from the U.F.O. in Greensburg.

At the Goodwill thrift store, I got this handy-dandy pink, standing breakfast tray...

Someone had already embellished it with One Stroke flowers (nice job, whoever you may be!). And for $3 you really can't go wrong.

At another thrift store, I found this nifty two-tiered vintage bowl...

It's not jadite, though it may look it. It's just colored glass. But it was such a nice, vivid shade, I couldn't resist.

And lastly, as part of a half-off sale at the L&L Fleatique in Jeannette, I got this World War II souvenir pillow cover...

If you'd like to read the poem on it a bit closer, you can do so here...

And that's the whole spectrum of our Treasure Box this week.

• If you'd care to check out Sunday's post, on 1970s decorating, in "The Good, the Bad and the Funny," click here.

If not, well, perhaps I'll have something new to tickle your fancy this coming Sunday!