Weekend Treasures: Family And Finds

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

On Friday, we spent the afternoon picnic-ing with Hubster's family. It was a GORGEOUS day filled with family, fun, and laughter. Throw in good food, corn hole, volleyball, and celebrating a birthday and it was a perfect day!

In the evening we headed to a band concert and fireworks with my parents. This is something we have done for years....since before we had kids....and it is always fun. We didn't go last year because of bad weather, sickness, and work schedules so we were happy to get back to our tradition (although we missed Sal and her family!) I love patriotic music and again, the weather was perfect, and the fireworks were spectacular!

 

I got a chance on Saturday to sneak out and do a little treasure hunting. I went to my favorite Goodwill Store. Okay, it is the only Goodwill I go to, but I often find great stuff.

I found this sweet jar. I don't think it is old, but I just loved the shape. Can you see the oak leaf and acorn motif around the handles? So pretty.

 

 

 

 

I also found this cute little ironstone creamer.

 

 



And this sweet little thing.

 

 

I challenged Hubster to see if he knew what it was. "No, it's not for sprinkling cheese on your pasta!"

 

But you all know what it is, right? A little vase with a "frog" top? I don't think he believed me....so he Googled it. He was convinced that FROG must stand for something. Silly guy.

 

Then there were these pretty transferware teacups. They are English and their manor house and carriage design reminded me of Downton Abbey.

 

You might remember that I have a thing for teacups....and Goodwill.

 

 

 

 

 

I also found an ironstone tureen and a platter, but I didn't get good  pictures of them. It was definitely a good treasure-hunting day! Since I like changing things around a lot, I love when I can find pretty things I like at a good price.

 

Have you found any good treasures lately?





Treasure Hunting

Last week was our kid's Spring Break. We didn't do anything grand. We mostly just hung out at home. It was a good week. But by yesterday when the kids returned to school, I was ready for a little "Me Time."

So I decided to head out for a little treasure hunting at a couple of my favorite haunts. It was a beautiful day to be out. The sun was shining and it was warmer than it has been in a LOooooNG time!

First stop....a local thrift store just around the corner from me. There I found the ironstone sugar bowl you see on the left....for 90 cents. At that store I also found a globe, which I plan to use in a future project.

 

 



Next I headed to the Goodwill Store. I don't know what it is about this store, but I am 3 for 3 at finding ironstone there. I spied a large set of what appeared to be ironstone....a platter, a couple serving bowls, cups and saucers, a creamer and what seemed to be a sugar bowl with lid. They were marked Independence Ironstone Castleton Japan. I don't know a lot about ironstone yet, so I took a chance. I really just wanted the platter and creamer, but I felt badly about breaking up the sugar and creamer even though something just didn't seem right about the pair. It turns out that the sugar bowl may just be a piece by itself and that the sugar bowl that went with the creamer was much more slender with handles that matched the one on the creamer.

I also discovered after a little research at home that this pattern may have been produced as recently as the mid 1960's. So it is actually fairly young....like me! But it is still a very pretty pattern even if it isn't old.

I decided that the sugar bowl from the first store actually suits this sweet little creamer better even though it has a little more heft to it and the pattern isn't exactly the same.

 

 

 

My next stop was Target. I had a bunch of things I need to get there, but I was also hoping to find some clearance goodness. No luck though. I got what I needed and headed to HomeGoods just down the street

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My first reason for going into HomeGoods was to look for inspiration for our Easter table since I will be hosting my family this year. But my second reason was to look for some specific plates. As you've probably seen in many of my photos I have a couple of these black and cream Asiatic Pheasant dishes that I purchased there a while back. I've grown to love their toile-looking beauty. So far, I have just used them decoratively, but I have been hoping to find more dinner plates so that we can actually use them some time.

 

Since I hadn't seen them at HomeGoods for a while, I had even checked Replacements.com and was shocked at the price. I told myself that if I ever spotted them again at HG, I was going to grab them while I could. Well, yesterday was the day! They actually had a good number of them and so I bought eight more to add to my collection. I was a happy girl.

 

 

 

 

My last stop before heading home was the Salvation Army store. I have just recently started stopping in there, but a couple weeks ago I saw a pair of end tables that I had been thinking about ever since. They were an awesome deal at 19.99 for the set. I had huge plans for them. But the day I saw them I just couldn't commit.

 

So yesterday I decided to stop in and see if they were still there.....and of course they weren't. (I was actually surprised to find that all the furniture had turned over since I had been there which surprised me since there were some pretty big pieces, like large sofas and china cabinets.)

 

Anyways, it just wasn't meant to be I guess and I could just kick myself. I left empty handed.



So I feel pretty good about my thrifty finds and I had a fun time doing something I enjoy. Just FYI, I don't have aspirations of having a huge ironstone collection. I mostly find myself drawn to pitchers and little creamers and so I wouldn't mind finding a couple more of those and will have fun hunting.

New Treasures

I have a couple new little treasures to show you today!

These beauties arrived in the mail yesterday. (Sorry for the lousy photo. I was excited.)  They were my very first Etsy purchase. The pattern is called Strawberry Hill and they were made by Syracuse China, a big maker of restaurant china. When I saw them, I knew that they would be great for my Christmas and Valentine's decor. Unfortunately they were a little late for this year, but just wait until next year!

I found this particular Etsy seller through the Mustard Seed Pages. Do you know Miss Mustard Seed? If not, you need to rush right over there and check out her beautiful blog! She just recently set up the Mustard Seed Pages to help bring together people who are looking to buy and sell beautiful things.

Then yesterday, I decided to stop in at the Goodwill Store....the same store where I found my first piece of ironstone. I didn't have big hopes. I mean, what are the chances? But what do 'ya know, I found another pretty ironstone pitcher! I couldn't believe it!

This one has, what looks to me, as a cherry blossom pattern. I need to do a little more research, but in the quick image search I did, I didn't find anything with the exact pattern. 

**UPDATE: After a little more searching I have learned that the style of this pitcher is called Forget-me-not.**

It's no secret that I like to decorate with pretty dishes. I love it when I can find little treasures here and there to do that.....especially when you can get things really inexpensively.

Have you found any new treasures lately?