Newly thrifted vintage goodies

I’ve had good luck at the thrifts in the past couple of weeks and thought it would be fun to share. A classic vintage pencil skirt has made it to my closet, too, but that, being wool, still needs to visit the cleaner’s.

The two vintage carafes above are from a local Goodwill—and cost me only two dollars apiece! Right now they’re in the library, adding some sparkle to the bookshelves, but if you ask me, they’ll also be great for overnight guests to keep water in if they’d like, and of course get-togethers.

Both carafes have interesting lids. The tall, golden-and-turquoise carafe actually has measuring marks on the removable lid—perhaps it was meant for cocktails or lemonade? As you can see, there is a measure running up the side as well.

Small, plain golden letters near the bottom edge identify this taller one as a Douglas—does anyone have a possible explanation for the measuring cup?

The smaller carafe obviously belongs to a long-lost coffee maker or perhaps the sort set on a metal ring above a small candle (my grandparents had one of these, and it was given to me after Grandpa passed). In addition to the pretty design ringing around the glass, the plastic lid itself has a rather swanky starburst! Isn’t that attention to detail wonderful? The handle on this is a smidgen loose, so it’ll have to be carefully tightened before use.

This one has no identifying marks whatsoever—though I must confess this sort of thing doesn’t particularly bother me. If I like it, I like it, right? We are not in this for money but to make our home homeier. Most happily, Hubby likes them too, especially the taller carafe with the autumnal design in decidedly un-autumnal colours. He has to live here too, after all. We shall have to keep our eyes open for a tall glass cocktail stirrer for the more statuesque carafe!

Another very girly, squeal-inducing find is this charming clover pin:

Isn’t it the most charming pin you’ve ever seen? Well, okay. We’ve all seen more beautiful and more delightful (Jessica has oodles)—but I do like it a great deal. Nor will it be consigned to the jewelry box year-round, brought out only on St. Pat’s—it seems to me that being nearly half O’Hara gives me permission to wear it whenever I please. Besides: Who wouldn’t?

Looking at and wearing this clover pin makes me almost inexplicably happy, by which I mean borderline giddy—but no one likes a moping Molly, and it seems to me folks prefer a gal who is smiling and cheerful; preferring to be that way myself, I wear this at every opportunity! Best of all, it makes other people smile, too. Definitely a winner!

Finally, another exciting two-dollar (well, in all honesty, $1.99) find: a simple but still somehow glamourous Pyrex bowl. It took me a few minutes and a spin around the thrift’s housewares section away from it to decide it was a worthwhile purchase.

Yes, yes, vintage Pyrex is pretty much always a worthwhile purchase, even if we’ve plenty, as it makes a wonderful gift, too. Still, I want to be prudent about my household purchases, not only for financial reasons (though obviously two bucks is not going to break very many of us), but for space reasons! Those kitchen cabinets can only hold up so much Pyrex (someone needs to do something about that, don’t you think?).

In the end, though, the lure of vintage Pyrex—even patternless—could not be resisted, and she came home with me. Though really very plain, the bowl seems to me to have a sort of Art Deco glamour to her. More importantly, it’s a very high-sided bowl, and that combined with Pyrex sturdiness have made it ideal for use with my handheld mixer! After all of that waffling back and forth in the shop, the bowl was used several times the following week—it spent more time in the dish drainer than the cabinet. So two bucks well spent!

How about you? I hope you’ve found a few lovely bargains lately, too!

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