Pretty Dishes for a Song

I found these two dishes this past Friday at a thrift shop.  I've been looking around for a pretty serving dish (like for mashed potatoes) but haven't wanted to spend much.  Well, these two dishes were only around $3.50--for both of them--so they were definitely worth the money.  The shapes, gold accents, cut work, and floral patterns are beautiful.   Hope you like them too!

 

Antique Car Vase Find

We girls were out doing our antique mall/thrift shop hop last Saturday.  The guys were busy, so off we went.  There weren't too many goodies out there, but I did find this...

It's an antique car vase.  They were placed into hooks onto the outside of cars...whether funeral cars or a Buick or what have you...and bouquets of flowers were put into them.  This pretty vase doesn't have it's hook...BUT it is beautifully intact.  It is cone/sconce shaped and has pressed grape vines and grapes all over it. 

Such pretty detail!  I see that the holders can be purchased on Ebay.  However, this does have a hole in the glass, so that a hook could be secured to a wall. 

This would look lovely as home décor or on a door.  Anyway, I was glad to find it and have listed it in my Etsy shop.  It has a tiny crack in the very tip of the glass (amazing that's all since this probably bumpety-bumped along the road quite a bit) that does not affect the prettiness nor does it leak.  Anyway, I was delighted with the find.  Hopefully someone else will be too!

The Lamp....Again

I really was content with the lamp I found at the thrift store a few weeks back.  I truly was content.  THEN...we went to a thrift/charity shop yesterday, and I found the **perfect** lamp for a song. 

It is the exact style I was looking for, only I think this is prettier than I imagined.  The glass shade looks like a flower.  The brushed brass goes with our living room rug.  It is the right size--small but with a good, strong light.  I'm thrilled!!

On the way out of the store with lamp in hand, and a few other ladies were commenting on it wishing they had seen it first!  Yes, I'm very pleased and feel like I will be doing my needlework in the evenings in style.

Also, this tin was at the same store.  I have a few of these (in red, blue, and green), only not in this color (brown) nor large size.  It's about 6" tall.  It was only 25 cents.  What a deal!

"New" Lamp

We have one corner of our living room that can be dark--especially at night.  It is in the corner by two windows which during the day is wonderful.  However, at night it just needed more light...especially since I have decided to do some stitching there in the evenings.  Because of where it was, it needed to be somewhat small and discrete yet give off good light.  The *perfect* lamp was spotted at the local antique mall, but I just couldn't summon the courage (nor the money!) to spend $149 for it.  So, thankfully the thrift store came through with a $5 baby.  The lampshade was wonky and stunk.  What to do about a lampshade?  Well, this lampshade that I beaded years ago and never sold, has now been put into use!  True, the beads, though beautiful, are not the right colors for my living room. I had taken a plain lampshade and stitched pretty glass beads randomly all over it.  I love how glass beads look with light coming through--so vibrant and colorful.  I'll change the beads eventually.  However, I was quite pleased with the result, and now I can stitch away in the evenings and actually see what I'm doing. 

Thrift Shop Finds

Today was a discount day at the thrift shop in town.  I just love discount days...but I so rarely actually make it to them...busy with school and such, you know.  However, I was able to go today and snagged some pretty and useful things for a song.

This is a wreath with beautiful plastic leaves on it.  I'm sure I'll have a purpose for this come fall.  It could use a good cleaning, but each of these leaves are on wire and will be very useful in the future, I'm sure.

Then there are these pretty, old spoons.  I have been looking for more to make some ornaments with, and these have a nice pattern on the ends and a pretty worn patina.

This is two strips of gold trim--one thinner and decorative and one with tassels.  Trim is expensive to buy outright, and I will certainly find uses for these pieces.  I may have enough to do a chair that desperately needs to be recovered and re-trimmed (yes, the chair I am sitting on!). 

This last thing is a dish that I do not need...but I love it.  It is perfect for pickles or sugar cubes or some other little bits. 

The cobalt and roses are so pretty together as well as the gold accents and scalloped shape of the dish.

Much Loved Tea Kettle

Found this tea kettle at the thrift store this past weekend.  It has been re-soldered and was certainly used, but it "spoke to me" instantly.  I love the brass color and all of the detail.  Thought the picture needed to be taken by our old chest...looks almost like an old painting by a Dutch Master.  Enjoy!