Fiestaware

I don't remember EXACTLY when I got started on Fiestaware...

but when we moved to Kirksville, I remember my friend Jacque had a bunch of bright colored dishes that I loved.  And then we started going to Estate Sales and Antique Stores and seeing lots of the same dishes.

So, I started learning more about Fiestaware.

 This is a view of one of my shelves in the kitchen.  It has a few of my favorite things.

A mix of Fiesta, Pyrex and milk glass.

The plates on the bottom left are all Fiesta.  And of course, my favorite color of Pyrex: aqua blue, especially this line called "Amish".  The 2 milk glass things in the front, right.  

And next to those on the the right is a rock from my dad's cabin in Fairview.

More Fiesta

The orange thing is a "disc" pitcher and the red salt and pepper shakers.

My Hawaii salt and pepper shakers.

The striped glasses on the left are from a cute little antique store in Brandon, MS.

We visited there once while Bette & Waino were visiting.

Out in front of the entrance to the store was a pile of disassembled chairs. 

We asked about the pile and were told it was going to the firewood stack.

So, we asked if we could purchase one of the chairs in the pile.

The owner of the store told us to take what we wanted since it was save him a load to the woodpile.

Score.

Bette continued taking the chair apart and took it home in her suitcase.

 This is a view of some of the bowls and plates in my cupboard.  

The orange plates in the stack came from DI.  I've had a hard time identifying which color it is.

I think it is Mango-Red which was produced from 1969-1972.

The other colors above are white (duh), cobalt, sunflower, and shamrock.

We use the Fiesta for our every day use.  

It's fun to go to restaurants and try to determine if any of their plates or serving platters are Fiesta.

We have also been known to rewind TV shows or movies and watch in slow motion to see if any of their props are Fiestaware.

Country Living magazine did feature in September 2011 about Fiesta...

As American mealtimes grew more casual in the 1930's--with families eating in the kitchen--Homer Laughlin China Co. responded by introducing a one of informal dinnerware called Fiesta.  Designed by Prederick Hurten Rhead, art director of the Newell, West Virginia, outfit, the dishes sported a handcrafted look in bright colors such as red, blue, and green.  Here's how the good became collectors items:

1936:  Just 6 months into production, the factory turns out its one millionth piece of Fiesta.

1950:  Hues shift with trends, and pastels emerge;  10 years later, a bolder palette returns.

1973:  Believing the stye had run its course, Homer Laughlin discontinues the line.

1986:  Demand for vintage Fiesta leads to a relaunch.

2008:  The Mentalist, joins a long list of TV shows and movies, including two and a half men, and A Christmas Story, to use the vibrant ceramics as props.

Back in the day, you could find a good deal on Fiesta on Amazon.  Not so much any more.

So, I/we just wait for a sale at Macy's.  Usually about 50% off.

It's kinda spendy, but if you buy it one plate at a time for 50% off, it's not too bad. 

The kids loves to mix and match the colors with the napkins and the seasons.

I love Fiesta.

My mom, my sister, and my SIL's all collect Fiesta.  It's fun.

(and we may have a slight problem, but there's worse things to collect, I'm sure)

I got nothin' to say...

I have been without a camera for a few weeks now.  The lens cover will not open when I turn it on.  It's been slowly getting worse ever since I opened it on Christmas morning.  Rick thinks that it's because of all of the dust from this trip...

 Yes, that is dust all over my face.  It was definitely gritty.  Maybe the dust did have SOMETHING to do with it...

So, I had to ship my camera off to California because the repair is covered under warranty.  I am hoping to have it back by next Christmas.

I'm digging into the recent photo archives here...

 I went school shopping with Sierra a few weeks ago.  It's so much easier going shipping with Sierra when I don't have the twins with me.  The twins are really hard to shop with.  Our first stop on the shopping trip was at DI, mostly to drop off a few bags of old clothes that no longer fit so that we would have room for the new school clothes.  We ran inside to find a couple of things I had in mind for projects.  I was trying to be quick so I wasn't looking at everything carefully.  Sierra spotted this little bag and thought we needed it. I think it was a dollar.  It looked like Fiesta ware.  The problem with Fiesta salt and pepper shakers is that they don't say "Fiesta" on the bottom because the little stoppers are in the way.  So, as first I didn't know if we had a treasure or not. I called Summer and had her take a picture with her phone of the Fiesta S & P Shakers at home and text it to me so I could compare the bottoms.  It looked like a perfect match.

I figured it was worth the one dollar gamble.  And it paid off.  Sierra spotted a real treasure.  It is very rare to find Fiesta at DI.  It has only happened to me one other time.  And the best part is that they "appeared" to be unused.  Still, I washed them and sanitized them.  Several times.

And this slightly out of focus picture reminds me of one thing...RUNNING.

Because it was taken just a couple of hours after running the Hobble Creek 1/2 Marathon.

Can you guess which toes are mine and which ones belong to Summer?  shouldn't be too hard.

This reminds me that the Utah Valley Marathon registration is now open.  I am totally doing it again.  But, I will probably wait for a few more months to register.  But, I don't want to wait too long when the registration price goes up or when it sells out.  I will do the 1/2 again.  If Rick's schedule allows, he will do the full marathon.  Now, for the other news...there isn't a 5K...it's a 10K next year.  So, if you're in, let's get training.  And speaking of training...I am verbally committed to run the Snow Canyon 1/2 Marathon NEXT fall.  It takes place in October.  If that plan falls into place, you'll be hearing more about that in the future.

Oh, I found these pics of a recent DI find...We were looking for something completely different and stumbled upon this chair...

Of course, when we found it, it was a light wood color.  Not cute but totally solid.  So, I got it home and checked my Year's Supply of spray paint and decided that the chair totally wanted to be periwinkle.

No good "BEFORE" shots, but Summer did get some good action shots.  Here it is in the house...

Here is Fisher putting the chair to good use when we celebrated Summer's birthday.

I have more to say, but since my audience (amara and audrey) is out of town this week, I'll save some for later.  FYI guys...it's been really quiet this week.

Tokheim 39 Short

When we were in Montana to visit Glacier National Park, we found this place in Columbia Falls:

 It was a gold mine of junk.

Rick was already on the lookout for a vintage gas pump.  

Well, out behind the antique mall, heading up the lane behind the 2 dead pine trees was a ghost town of old gas pumps.  Dozens of them.

This one had been there for a while.  It was covered in pine needles and cob webs.

And we paid $300 for it.

We loaded it up and brought it home from MT with us.

I liked the color just the way it was.

But, it was Rick's project and he said that the grey stuff was primer and it all had to go.

So, this gas pump has now been disassembled and is currently being restored.

Rick's been doing his research on how this pump looked in it's original condition.

Tokheim 39 Shorts were made in the 1930's to early 1950's.

Old gas pumps take me back to my childhood in Circleville to Kenz store and the old gas pumps in the lot next door.  

They're probably long gone. 

They were taller pumps, probably made by the Wayne Co.

 Here are all of the parts.

I hope Rick can remember how to put it all back together.

Ideal 55 Slider

After Rick completed his Vendo 56 restoration, he was on a quest to find another project (no, it's not that pile of junk sitting in the driveway ((another story, for another time)).

He found this lovely pile of metal on ebay in California.

It arrived while we were out of town for 24 hours taking care of things in Scofield.

So, the delivery guys left in in front of the garage and informed the neighbors that they had made a delivery.  

When we got home, the neighbor said, "you got a delivery.  looks like a cooler.  DOES IT WORK?"

So, I said, "Yes, yes it does work.  Brush aside some of those cobwebs and grab yourself a cold one."

No, it doesn't work.

 Let the restoration begin...

 I realize that this doesn't appeal to most people.

But here is the story of the Ideal 55 Slider:

This particular unit was $425.

Made from 1949 to the late '50's by the Ideal Co.

They were made for several different companies.

This one was made for the Royal Crown Cola Co.

 This is the back side.

And the restoration begins.

When it is complete, it will be valued at approximately $3,000+

If any of you find a Barq's Ideal Slider 55, let Rick know...in about 2 years.

Vendo 56

OK, Here is Rick's recently finished project:

 This is a completely restored Vendo 56.

What does that mean?

It means that this is a Vendo Slant Shelf Coke Machine .

Made for only one year (1958-1959)

and made only for Coke.

It is the most rare of the vintage style Coke machines.

I wish I had a picture BEFORE it was restored.

It was a mess.  And Rick paid $1,200.00 for it.

2 years later, with a complete restoration it is worth about $6,000+

And it works, just in case you are wondering.

 oops, this photo didn't rotate--just tilt your head.

 And the door opens to revel the bottles of Coke (or rootbeer or water)

 The coin mechanism is currently disabled so if you came to my house you could actually enjoy a cold one--for free!

Have a Coke and a smile.

This reminds me a lot of my Grandpa Dalton...

Thrifty Thrifty

A few weeks ago there was a giant yard sale fundraiser for a boy in our area who was killed in a roll-over accident at the high school. The lady that teaches swim lessons to my kids lives in the same neighborhood as this family. She sent out an email to all of her swim families asking for donations to the yard sale. We took some things from Scofield and a few things from our closets. We stopped by on the morning of the yard sale to check things out and support this family. We found this dingy, dusty shelf. I thought it would make a good little shelf to stick in the storage room and store my fabric and other sewing supplies.

THEN,

I decided to spray paint it.

And now I love it.

And I don't want to stick it in the storage room.

I stuck the picture and the other little knick knacks on it to see how it looks.

I really LOVE it.

thrifting in MT

I've lived in the Midwest. Everyone always talks about the great antiques in the Midwest. But, I have a secret. Columbia Falls, MT. is the real antiquing mecca. So much fun.

Here are few of my favorites that came home with us...

I've been wanting a set of these chairs for a long time. They're in rough shape. but, nothing that a little paint won't fix. The one on the right is a rocker. So comfy. Can you just see me and Rick out on the front porch in these babies? Can't wait to get them spruced up.

And this Pyrex beauty? Matches the set of bowls Rick gave me for Mother's day. LOVE IT!

I pretty much fell in love with this little vintage school desk. Now it's an end table in the library. Happy with this purchase as well.

I'm not sure where this little chair will end up in the house, but I LOVE it, too! So cute. I don't even care that the paint is chipped. I think that is why I love it so much.

And the last treasure is out in the garage still. It was a great, great find. A vintage, unrestored gas pump. I kind of like it the way it is, but Rick is doing some research to find out how to restore it and paint it. Funny thing is that it still had a bit of fuel in it when we got it home. The garage smelled of gas for a few days...

Can't wait to go back to Montana.

Cute Polka Dot Bowl

---

my SIL Kristine is the proud new owner of this bowl. I'm jealous.

ebay treasure

I have been looking for this Butterick Apron pattern since I lived in MS. I think it's so cute. I even heard of someone framing the pattern because the little polka dot picture is so cute. I saw it on ebay last week and I bid on it. I've bid on this same pattern several times before, but this time I won. Yahoo! It arrived in the mail a few days ago. I have started sewing an apron from this pattern already. It's perfect.

Another 2008 treasure

Isn't my little chicky cute? I found her last week at my favorite thrift store. $1.00 I think it's a bargain. I can't wait for Easter to display her.

first treasure of 2008

I got up at 5 yesterday morning and went to the gym. As I was leaving (it was still pitch dark) something caught my eye. Because of the light traffic at 6:45 am I was able to quickly turn around and drive back past a cute little brick home with a for sale sign in the front yard. It was the thing in the front yard that had caught my eye. This cute little desk/vanity thing with the "free" tag taped to the mirror. Was it my lucky day or what? It was covered in about 8 inches of snow. I had to empty out the back of the Honda and rearrange a few things (like the stroller). I loaded this thing in the back of the Honda and headed for home. (Good thing Rick was at work). I am so excited for warmer weather so that I can sand and paint my new treasure. It's in great shape. Rick's comment was (eye roll) "Oh no, not another project." Summer said, "Oh, it's so cute, can I have it?"