hi from south carolina

[liamaria]

hi there. im here in greenville south carolina and like all of you im addicted to thrift stores. i also like garage sales, flea markets and estate auctions. i enjoy the hunt of finding a treasure, especialy when its a great deal. i love mid century furniture. recently i found a conant ball coffee table and end table designed by russel wright  at the salvation army . i got a great deal i paid forty dollars for the both of them. i love old costume jewelry and vintage clothing . i also collect fiesta ware, fire king etc. Sadly none of my firends have  the love of thrifting that i have so i usualy go on my own . i would live to meet people in my area , so we could go thrifting together. i just wanted to say hello to everyone and i enjoy reading you posts.

[valleythriftshopper]

Welcome, sounds like you have found some great stuff, if you get a chance, post some pictures of your finds, especially those Russel Wright pieces!  There was a 50's Fiesta gravy boat with no underplate at one of my SA's today for 40 dollars!  They aren't even fetching that much on Ebay!  Typical of that SA to just price something like that with no knowledge of the value.  One reason I don't have too much Fiesta is because it is usually way overpriced. 

None of my good friends or family likes to thrift or yard sale either, so I know how you feel.  Sometimes it is hard to shop with another person though because you might both see something you like then have to decide who gets dibs on it! 

[liamaria]

yeah alot of the thrift stores here are way over priced. its crazy they will ove price a piece a junk and the almost give away something of value.  with the fiestaware u are right its usually way overpriced when u are thrifting. i inheriated most of mine from my grandmother. i have scored some fiesta at yardsales.. yes my husband thinks im crazy he doesnt get into it . i think i have the treasure hunting in my blood. my grandmother collected antiques for over 60 years. she use to dumpster diving before anybody did it. she also went to peoples houses and scored alot of furniture and  glassware etc. my dad also had the bug  and he use to take me to estate auctions. i had a love and apperciation since i was about 6 years old.  yeah your right when u go thrifting with someone  its like a free for all of who gets the item first if u share the same taste in things

[valleythriftshopper]

i think i have the treasure hunting in my blood. my grandmother collected antiques for over 60 years. she use to dumpster diving before anybody did it. she also went to peoples houses and scored alot of furniture and  glassware etc. my dad also had the bug  and he use to take me to estate auctions.

Wow, lucky you I bet you inherited some great stuff.  My grandfather collected antiques too but was into mostly furniture, particularly chests.  I guess he had some crazy jukebox in the basement though too.  Unfortunately he passed away before I was even born & my grandmother sold all of the stuff to a dealer when she moved.  I would love to see a picture of your fiesta collection!

[liamaria]

im going to take some pictures tomorrow of all my stuff and put it up . im on the hunt for a mid century couch. i havent seen anything that i have to have. i want to redo my whole house in  mid century. i bought some bedroom furinture  , it was the bed , dresser and chest of drawers , i think i paid around 75.00 for everything . its sitting in my garage  i need to stain it. i have 3 small children so i cant put everything out how i would like for fear of little hands breaking it. i found these really cool  1950's books from sweden they have  really abstract covers and the  colors are very vivid. i paid 8.00 for the three and i would love to put then on top of my russel wright coffee table , just scared the kids will mess them up. what do u enjoy collecting?

[Firekinghunt]

Hi! And yay for someone else who loves Fire King and vintage items! Here is a quick story to wet your appetite...I just walked into a local thrift last week and found 19 different pieces of Fire King (mugs, mixing bowls, JADITE, ect...) and got ALL of them for less than $8. I had a cart overflowing!!! The store was just redone and has had nothing out for months. Well I guess all that stuff had been stockpiled in the back and I was very lucky to walk in right when it finally came out!! It was like an instant collection and has been a welcome to my already HUGE one.

I spent this past week on vacation and of course stopped at the local thrifts. I found a orange Pyrex polka dot mixing bowl (smallest size) for .49 cents!! This will go right in with my mixing bowl/Pyrex collection. I think roughly my collection is at over 100 mixing bowls (mostly pyrex.) Room is now getting tight so I might have to be more selective!!

[valleythriftshopper]

im going to take some pictures tomorrow of all my stuff and put it up . im on the hunt for a mid century couch. i havent seen anything that i have to have. i found these really cool  1950's books from sweden they have  really abstract covers and the  colors are very vivid. i paid 8.00 for the three and i would love to put then on top of my russel wright coffee table , just scared the kids will mess them up. what do u enjoy collecting?

I hope to get a new couch by the end of the summer but I need a super cushy one that I can be a couch potato on so I will probably get one from Bob's (northeast furniture store w/good prices).  The MCM ones are nice looking but they don't look like somehting you can sink into.  I have lots of nice vintage fabrics so I can make throw pillows that will add vintage to a new couch. 

My daughter is a teen now so I don't have to worry too much about her messing things up, but we have a pesty cat that gets into everything so I can't always put stuff where I want it, especially at Christmas. 

I don't collect too many specific things, vintage crewel & needlpoint, sterling jewlery, etc.  I have lots of dishes including a set of LuRay pastels, pink willoware & other pink transferware.  I have always liked Stangl pottery which I think is underrated.  I saw this Stangl teapot yesterday at the SA for $7.99
http://cgi.ebay.com.my/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190263843916&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RSCC_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT&refitem=190264378199&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=active_view_item&usedrule1=StoreCatToStoreCat&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m184&_trkparms=algo%3DDR%26its%3DS%252BI%252BSS%26itu%3DISS%252BUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D4
It has a few tiny chips, but I might go back & get it during the week if it is still there (Most thrifts is MA are closed on Sundays).  I would like to have a collection of colorful Stangle pottery mixed with some colorware & other pottery.  I did find these Stangl dishes last year.

As far as furniture goes MCM is cool stuff but too few & far between around here, also many pieces have good frames but the cushions are shot, which aren't cheap to replace.  If I found a really collectible piece I would get it but otherwise I stick with the cottage chic painted "trash to treasure" pieces that I rescue with a good coat of paint. 

[valleythriftshopper]

Hi! And yay for someone else who loves Fire King and vintage items! Here is a quick story to wet your appetite...I just walked into a local thrift last week and found 19 different pieces of Fire King (mugs, mixing bowls, JADITE, ect...)  It was like an instant collection and has been a welcome to my already HUGE one.

I found a orange Pyrex polka dot mixing bowl (smallest size) for .49 cents!! This will go right in with my mixing bowl/Pyrex collection. I think roughly my collection is at over 100 mixing bowls (mostly pyrex.) Room is now getting tight so I might have to be more selective!!

Great finds!  My dream house would contain all kind of built-ins to dispaly stuff like this but for now I have to contain myself & sell many of my finds, although I don't mind the extra $. 

[anastasiabeaverhausen]

hey..and welcome from NC..sounds like youve got a great eye for vintage stuff, and have found some great buys! I think its a good thing that none of us <on this site> live close together we'd be rolling around fighting over pyrex and stuff! haha!
keep on posting love to hear from others with *the bug*
anastasiab

[liamaria]

been on vacation unable to pst or catch up. wow i cant believe you found all that jadiete on one round. lucky you. im jealous. i saw a couple  of pieces of fire king while thrifting the otherday. i was white and nothing great and they wanted 4.00 a piece for a little bowl . i miss the days when i would get it for around 50 cents to 1.50.  i have a couple of pieces of pyrex that belong to my grandmother. they are turquiose cassarole dishes and some pink mixing bowls. i dont know to much about pyrex and i would love to learn from you guys. while on vacation we went to charleston sc they have some great thrift stores and i got a couple of knick knacks. i found a vintage canister set , with butterflys on them . i paid 4 dollars for the four. i was happy about that.

[valleythriftshopper]

The pyrex love website is a great place to go & drool over pyrex stuff & also learn the pattern names. 

[valleythriftshopper]

i have a couple of pieces of pyrex that belong to my grandmother. they are turquiose cassarole dishes and some pink mixing bowls. i dont know to much about pyrex and i would love to learn from you guys. while on vacation we went to charleston sc they have some great thrift stores and i got a couple of knick knacks. i found a vintage canister set , with butterflys on them . i paid 4 dollars for the four. i was happy about that.

There was a 1 1/2 qt turquoise Pyrex cinderella mixing bowl in the Butterprint pattern today at one SA for 3 bucks.  It needed some cleaning but I think the magic eraser sponge would clean it up nicely.  I did pass it up though as I don't really need any bowls.  I have a few things in that pattern, but I would like more casseroles or fridge dishes.  Maybe I will regret passing the bowl up if I think about it too much.

[Big Daddy Audio]

yeah alot of the thrift stores here are way over priced. its crazy they will ove price a piece a junk and the almost give away something of value....

That's what I love about thrift stores.  I'm sure we all have "war stories" about the finds we made while there was a comparable but less valuable piece at a higher price.

It's up to us to find those undervalued pieces, buy them, and treasure them. 

I haven't bought much in the last 2-3 months, except for vinyl albums.  Pickings for stereo gear have been pretty much non-existent.

I keep searching, because that's what I do.

SYNT
BFN

   

[valleythriftshopper]

Seems there is less to go around everywhere, luckily I look for a large variety of items, so there is usually some goodies out there in any given week.  I do miss the more spectacular finds though.  It is funny how everyday items are marked alot higher than valuable collectibles, great when I find some cool vintage thing but annoying when they price some household or clothing item I could really use at a ridiculous price.