It's Raining Pyrex!

Marc and I were visiting his dad and stepmom in Pompano Beach, FL this weekend, so I didn't get much thrifting in.  However, I alluded in my last post to a crazy Pyrex treasure trove I discovered at an estate sale two weekends ago.  The sale, in Livermore, CA, was advertised as "%90 Vintage" and turned out to be the estate sale of an antique dealer.  There was great stuff piled EVERYWHERE in this house!  I filled two boxes, mainly with Pyrex, including TWO sets of these beauties:

Pyrex primary color mixing bowls! 

They were first made in the 1940's and my grandmother had a set (Pyrex numbers 401, 402, 403, 404).  My dad asked me to be on the lookout for a replacement set for him (he had some unfortunate accidents with two of the inherited set).  I actually already gave him a set for Christmas.  These sets are uber-collectible, and they consistently go for between $50-$80 bucks on eBay.  And I found two sets of them!  One set is in in near-perfect condition, while the other one has obviously been loved a bit more.  I also picked up three of the 403 green bowls (for making sets in the future):

And the Pyrex craziness is still not done.  I also found another Butterfly Gold bowl (a white 402 one this time) to go with my bowls I found a few weekends ago:

I also found these lovely pastel cake pans (in near perfect condition):

And finally, my first ever refrigerator set, in the Verde color pattern (with the glass lids):

All in all, a pretty great haul!

Inspired Pot Rack

A few years ago I saw this picture in Domino magazine:

And all I could think was "wow", now that that's a pot rack!  I immediately started being on the look out for something I could turn into such a cool pot rack.  Marc and I frequent a bunch of salvage yards around northern California (our favorite being Ohmega Salvage and Urban Ore) and we began looking for old iron gates.  After months of finding pedestrian parallel bar gates, one day, we found this:

I loved it!  It started out white and this is what it looked like after stripping MANY coats of paint (that was a real pain).  I then had Marc cut off the non-flush ends and weld four eye hooks on the side (below).  Have I mentioned lately how much I love a man with power tools?

After priming (really important for metal that's going to see lots of use), we spray painted the entire thing a bright orange with enamel spray paint.  Then, it was all about hanging it from the ceiling and arranging the pots:

I think it's a pretty good interpretation of the inspiration photo. It's definitely got a lot more pots on it now.  One great thing about the location of the rack is that we can just hang up pots after washing and let them drip down into the sink.  Genius!

A beautiful weekend in SoCal: San Diego and the Rose Bowl Flea Market

This weekend found us in Southern California, as we were visiting my college friends Edny and Christine.  Edny just bought the cutest little Spanish style house in San Diego and invited Marc and I down to come see it and help her fill it with vintage finds.  So we both played hooky on Friday and seeing as there were a few local sales in the area, we hit those before we got on the road.  The first sale I went to was in Castro Valley and said it opened at 7.  I arrived at 6:30 only to see the familiar cadre of dealers carting out boxes already....sigh.  Anyway, I was still able to find some cool stuff, although the best was some enameled cast iron cookware from Copco, Michael Lax, Denmark:

I love enameled cast iron pieces.  I think I might keep the orange one, but I think the yellow one may be destined for resale.

It's actually in really great condition, although I doubt it's worth $1000 (I found this link while doing some research).  I need to get off my laurels and start that Etsy store!  Marc and I did hit up another estate sale, and got a bunch of stuff (pyrex, Pyrex, PYREX!!!) but I'll post about that sale separately later this week.  We also bought an orange enameled cast iron Le Creuset-esque dutch oven that made a great house-warming gift for Edny.

Friday was mostly taken up with driving, but we got up early on Saturday to indoctrinate Edny and her husband Tazo into the joys of estate sale shopping.  Unfortunately the first two were duds, but the last two actually turned out pretty well.  It turns out the Clairemont district of San Diego is where to find the mid century mojo.  I picked up this amazing chinese-print screen:

It's about six feet tall and has cool hinges that can be opened both ways (fancy!)...

One side is definitely sun faded, but the other side (pictured) is pristine.  

I also found some other random items at those two sales, including a complete fondue set (with forks!) for resale:

And an ashtray to add to the collection:

The real reason we drove down south was to go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena.  I'm sure many of you have watched the Rose Bowl or seen the parade on TV, but did you know that every 2nd Sunday of the month they use the venue for a flea market?  L.A. is somewhat of a mecca for mid century design, and the Rose Bowl Flea Market always has AMAZING vintage finds in beautiful condition.  I think it's much cheaper than the Alameda Pointe.  Needless to say, Edny was impressed and I think she and Tazo will be making the 2 hour drive from San Diego in the future.  I totally scored at the Rose Bowl.  I bought both of my things at the same booth.  First, I got this amazing Paul McCobb designed platter for $5:

The top side

The bottom

But truly, the biggest score of the weekend was this great little painting:

I was drawn to it first because of the color palate (yellow, black, and white):

Don't you love the poodle and the black gloves?  The dealer who sold it to me said that it had been hanging in his bathroom for the last twenty years, and then quoted me the absolute steal price of $25.  It's signed Alex Ross, and after doing a little digging, I found out that he was a commercial artist who did lots of advertising work from 1940-1970.  In fact, he drew almost every cover for Good Housekeeping for 12 years!  My search was complicated in the fact that Alex Ross is also the name of a modern-day comic book artist.  However, I was able to find some other paintings by Alex Ross (the mid-century illustrator) that sold for over $2000!!!  Of course, Marc was really excited when I uncovered that information, but I think I'm going to keep it in the our guest room because it looks like it was destined to be there.  Here's a sneak peak of the guest room (by the way, everything except the curtains in this photo were thrifted):

It's perfect!  What should I name her?  I think she's needs a great name....

I Heart Vintage Photos

I'm always amazed when I go to estate sales or flea markets to see old family photographs being sold off for next to nothing.  It always makes me wonder, "Why didn't anyone (in the family) want these?"  And while I guess I could ask the same question about all the "treasures" I buy at an estate sale, photos seem so much more personal than all the other things.  Well, I recently received a lot of vintage photos of my own family, and so I thought I'd share my favorites.

My Grandma Dorothy Marie (Taylor) Webb (mom's mom), in her high school graduation photo, circa 1947.  It says in the corner, "To the family with love, Dorothy Marie."

My Grandma Dorothy with her sister Mary Jean and a frisky-looking dog.  I love the edging on the photo- I think it's about 1940 or so.  The picture appears to have once been glued into an album and then later ripped out, which is why the edge is torn.

This is one of my favorite old photos- I'm not sure who everyone in the picture is, but I definitely recognize Dorothy about to fall out of the boat in the back of the photo!

This photo looks like an old Dr. Pepper advertisement to me, with that canoe paddle looking like it was placed there by a propmaster.  I think that's my Grandma and Grandpa on the right.

My grandmother on my dad's side, Grace Irene (Zeller) Goff, almost made it to 100 when she died in 2008.  After the funeral in Riley, KS, we all went back to my Aunt Martha's house to reminisce and look at some old pictures.  I liked the next two so much that I had my aunt scan them.  The first one is my grandmother leaning on an old truck with a corn field behind her:

This picture was probably taken in the mid 1920's (she was born in 1909).  I really like it because I am struck by how much I resemble her, especially in the nose/mouth/chin area (ok, yes, this is an old photo, but it's the most illustrative):

The other photo I was really taken with was my grandmother's wedding photo:

It's sort of a bad scan, but what a picture!  Where do you start?  Those beautiful hats at fashionista angles?  That mermaid-flair dress my Great Aunt Elda is wearing as a bridesmaid?  The adorable flower girls?  The dashing tuxes?  Or how about those WHITE SHOES my Great Uncle George is wearing?  Yep, I agree- those shoes are off the charts!

Thrift Share Monday and White Elephant Part 3

The cool thing about the White Elephant Sale is that it goes on for about two months.  As long as you bring some goods to donate (worth $50), you can get in to the WES warehouse and shop Tuesday-Saturday.  This place is big enough and they put more stuff out daily that it's worth it to go back multiple times.  I went back on Friday (my day off) and found this:

Architectural cookie cutters from the Museum of Modern Art in New York (one of Marc and my favorive museums!).  We'll use these to make the most high-brow cookies you've ever seen!  My favorites are the Sydney Opera House and the Guggenheim museum:

It was actually pretty light this week in terms of estate sales.  We only went to three as there weren't many sales near us.  The first sale, at 8 am on Saturday, was less than a mile from our house and yielded our best finds of the day:

A collection of Pyrex bowls!  I usually don't find much Pyrex at estate sales, as usually the dealers tend to descend on it pretty quickly.  For some reason, there were no dealers in sight at this sale.  Marc and I were the first ones there at 7:55.  Here's some up close views of the finds:

 

Two "Butterfly Gold" bowls

Nesting "Spring Blossom Green" Bowls

Green 403 mixing bowl, "Spring Flowers" Dish, and "Verde Cinderella" Oval Covered Dish

For 50 cents a piece, it's hard to go wrong!  (Thanks for the pattern info, Pyrex Love!)  We also went to the Alameda Pointe Antiques and Collectibles Fair (aka "the Pointe" or "the Alameda Flea Market"), which is held on the first Sunday of every month.  We sold here back in March, and we'll probably be doing it again soon to make room in the house!  I actually didn't buy anything, as we estate sales have ruined us for prices, but I like to go for the spectacle and to get some inspiration.  I almost left with this, though:

Wouldn't this look great in a kitchen?  The seller wanted $60, which I think was reasonable (it's over 2 ft square), but unfortunately I have no space for it in my current kitchen.  It's in the mental file for the future, however.  I also loved these glass paperweights, displayed in a lovely aqua blue cosmetics case:

The sunlight hit these just beautifully.  Finally, the last item I wanted but didn't need buy was this great tin dollhouse from the sixites:

The roof lifts off and all the wallpaper, rugs, windows, etc, are printed on the tin.

What really sealed it for me was this great white brick fireplace, complete with sculptures and fire tools!  Also love that wood paneling and the picture of a roaring fire.

Pretty great, huh?

Lemon Party!

When a friend's dad gives you 400 meyer lemons....

you break our all your Pyrex bowls (some of which you just purchased!)....

you invite over a lot of friends who think zesting and juicing 400 lemons is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon....and have a LEMON PARTY!!!

 

Zac scrubbed...

While Erin, Lisa, Karen, and Marc zested their little hearts out...

Rich was the juice-man, using an old juicer I found for FREE at a church rummage sale!

 

That's 5 gallons of lemon juice and an entire bowl of lemon zest.  But what do you do with all these lemons?

How about my personal favorite, lemon curd (recipe in the link)?  I first had lemon curd, believe it or not, at the Ritz Carlton in Boston during college.  We went to "Tea at the Ritz" and they served this incredible concoction of lemons, eggs, sugar and butter (seriously, how could it NOT be good?) with their scones.

Or what about lemon bars (basically lemon curd on a shortbread crust- again, how could it NOT be good)?

 

Strawberry-lemon marmalade?  Check!

I've been wanting to make preserved lemons (basically lemons cured in salt for a month) ever since I saw a recipe for tagine that called for them.  I think I've got those covered as well, and I got to use my thrifted hinged jars:

Why, yes, that is a big bottle of vodka in the last photo- that's for limoncello, but I've got to wait a week for the lemon zest to infuse the vodka.  

The hearth in front of the fireplace is a great place to stage everything (especially hot jars right out of the canner) and frees up space in our small kitchen.

Finally, I made an oven full of lemon meringues to use up some of the extra egg-whites left over from the lemon curd.

I'm still got another batch of lemon curd to make yet, but for now it's Superbowl time!