Goodwill Goodness 2

I am trying to ignore the siren song of potential garage sales on this fine, chilly, sunny Saturday morning. I will not grab the pile of shiny quarters beckoning from Jeff's nightstand. I will be content with the 50 cent spending spree at a garage sale on the way home from work yesterday. I will not die if I don't go to a garage sale.
So, in an effort to distract myself and possible entertain you, my readers, I present my latest Goodwill find. A Reed and Barton hotel silver bowl. Reed and Barton supplied the Navy with silver serving pieces at one time and I think this may have been one of those pieces. It has USN stamped into the bottom.

Before ( I actually remembered to take a before shot!)


After.

Someone loved this bowl and took care of it. It polished up like a dream. Too many times I've brought home something that took an hour or two of polishing to make it look half this good.
I think perhaps it will go on my dining room table. When I go grocery shopping Monday I am going to buy some apples to put in it. ( I hate Monday paydays.)
For now I am going to take a bath and then work on my problem child. My Mother gave me this silver pitcher and it is the cutest thing. It has some kind of film on it that is an absolute beoch to get off. It's getting there though.

I think the garage sales have shut up now. I don't have the money and it's more fun if I have 20 dollars to spend. If I go sure as anything I will find at least 5 things that I've been looking for and will have to leave them behind. Which is why I had to leave behind the green glass Wexford salt and pepper shakers I saw at that garage sale yesterday! Grrrrrr!

Let There Be Light

I've recycled this post for Metamorphosis Monday with Susan of Between Naps On The Porch.

A neighbor recently passed away and her daughter held a garage sale after she cleaned out the house. I went by several times over the weekend as they were still putting out stuff from the storage shed. I found a few pieces of vintage glass but this little lamp was nowhere in sight. On Monday I was headed to work and I noticed a large pile of stuff put out on the curb for the trashman. Well Miss Opportunistic here wasn't going to let that trash pile go unpicked. A milk glass lamp caught my eye so I stopped and when I picked it up I noticed this little gem. This is the after picture. Who knows how many years it's been since this lamp was actually used but now it is shining brightly.

The next picture is as good as it gets for a before. I'm terrible about taking before photos. I just go excited and start going for the after. When I picked up the lamp I couldn't believe that the glass was intact, no breaks, chips or cracks at all. It was filthy and the wiring needed replaced but that was small stuff. I couldn't say the same for the milk glass lamp, it had a huge piece missing out of the base and only one piece was salvageable.

This is the lamp cleaned up and ready for assembly. I painted the metal parts an antique bronze. I felt this color was more suited to its age and dignity than shiny fake gold. The football lamp was intended to supply replacement parts but the socket was riveted together and I couldn't get at the wiring. Instead of spending 10 dollars on a replacement kit and another 10 dollars on a shade I thought I would save some money and buy a cheap lamp and use its innards instead. Well that didn't work out but the cheap lamp had a shade that was perfect for my lamp. I have quite the collection of spare lamps so I was able to scavenge the wiring and fitting from one of them and Viola! A new old lamp!

What I've Been Up To

I spent few days with my Mom week before last and of course we had a a thrifting expedition. We finally made it to the Catholic charity resale shop and then she took me to an awesome place called Savers.
The charity shop had a few goodies, mostly in the form of 5 damask napkins at 25 cents a pop. I also picked up a modern reticulated plate to add to my white molded plate collection.
We hit the jackpot at Savers. I've been wanting a romantic place setting but at $40 dollars a place setting the Pope Gosser Cathay Rose I really like was out of the question. So when I saw this it had to come home with me. I bought 7 dinner plates, 4 for $2.99 and 8 salad plates 6 for $2.49. You can't beat those prices! The pattern is Beverly Rose by Tabletops Unlimited. (The red-headed duck is quite pleased with all the attention and photo ops.)
Look at that molded edge! I'm sure there is a technical term for this but I don't know what it is.


I also picked up this little lovely at Savers. It's Rogers silverplate and it is was $4.99.

And speaking of molded edges, this came from an estate sale. I think it was 75 cents. This was a purchase I made several weeks ago but since we're talking molding it was appropriate

I have lots more to catch up on as I have been a bad blogger.
See you soon!

Tablescape Thursday

Today I am joining Susan from Between Naps On The Porch for my first tablescape!
I love autumn hues and here I've gone wild with the oranges and browns. With the exception of the wine glasses, the items used are our every day dishes.


Close up of the place setting. I have a twig basket filled with pinecones and a couple of fake gourds as the centerpiece. The place mats were purchased at a garage sale and have oak leaf and acorn pattern quilting. They were originally sold at Wal-Mart and I just couldn't afford them at the time. They look like they have never been used and I got 6 of them for 3 dollars. Now that's my kind of bargain! I also picked up 4 blue place mats at the same garage sale. Another set I had been wanting too. I was a happy camper that day.


The red-headed duck has flown in from the bookcase to keep us company. Next to him is the pumpkin salt shaker. I love these little salt and pepper shakers. They were three dollars at Wal-Mart.
Plates - White ironstone, International China Works (Inherited from Jeff's Nanny.)
Silverware - Rogers Futura Stainless (Nanny.)
Place mats - Garage sale, 50 cents each.
Tablecloth - Purchased from Wal-Mart long ago.
Napkins - Walmart 2.00 for a pair.
Wine Glasses - Unkown pattern, Garage sale 4 for 2.00.