Thrift - Kaj Franck Origami

My sis is in from Dublin so we went to the thrift store. Found a chipped Kaj Franck Origami K F 2 plate. It was unmarked and is possibly a knock-off but at 50 cents I'll keep it for a while. In addition, I found an original Taylor & Ng whale mug and a pair of blue enamel Turkish pots. My sister found a cute little colorful plastic organizer made in Italy and a set of six NOS green melamine fondue plates made in Japan. Wasn't expecting to find anything today so we were pleased.

Forgot to take a shot of the 1970s red Coleman cooler we picked up, its in slightly better condition than the one pictured below (sorry borrowed the image from Ebay) We were surprisd to see they are worth some decent coinage on Ebay.

Moms Estate Finds - Richard Lindh Planter

A few things my mom gathered for me. A letter file in orange, yum. Pair a Italian Christmas votives. A Dansk cheese board and a medium sized Arabia Finland planter by Richard Lindh. I have 4 or 5 of them now and should decide if I'll going to use them of sell them. Thanks mom!

Thrift Score - Lagardo Tackett Jars

Look what I found! Three Lagardo Tackett kitchen jars. Would love to keep but sadly they have to be sold. On top them sits a wood Pinocchio.

Four mugs hee hee. Arabia Anemone bowl by Ulla Procope that was expensive but I think I'm selling it. And a trio of kitshy porcelain fawns made in Japan.

Some tourist prints and a Dansk Kobenstyle paella pan that I usually stay away from but this one was in excellent shape.

Thrift Fail - Cracked Kaj Franck Jug

Taped to hell. Arabia pitcher cracked, vase chipped and passed on the Vignelli plates.

Estate - Skjode Rabbit

Naturally, I was really late to this Italian estate sale but on other accounts was lucky and didn't get the usual estate pricer person and so all the goodies sold for a reasonable price. Found a Kartell red waste bin and a Luxo desk lamp. Another Kokeshi! A couple of remaining tea towels.

There was the most awesome hanging frosted glass and teak light but at $120 I thought was priced to close to retail, it was painful to pass. In fact, all the cool lights were priced at retail or above - again they were still there at 12pm.

Yes, that's a Garfield mug you see - they are collectible. Not a Dansk but rather a Skjode teak pepper mill, by far the coolest feature of this mill are the two grinding stones instead of the usual metal or plastic grinding wheels found on most pepper mills.

The boxes and boxes of Christmas ornaments were well-picked-over so one can only imagine the gems I missed but digging through the remnants I did find a Skjode teak rabbit SOLD. A little plastic deer, hot red glazed elf (is he missing a sled) and a Italy nativity ornament.

Hidden away was a lonesome botanical Arabia Finland plate for sale in my Etsy shop. Whistling boy in red Wellies by Mertens Kunst, no doubt from a German fairytale. And a little brass perpetual desk calendar.

Liked the pottery wall plaque made in Italy but it was damaged.

Thrift - Arabia Fail

Here are some things I passed at the overpriced thrift near my mom. Set of three Arabia Finland snack plates but all the cups had hairline cracks otherwise I'm sure they would have been priced retail. Why didn't I think to buy the plates? They are so pretty!

Thrift - Arabia & iittala

I couldn't believe my eyes when I spotted  Timo Sarpaneva's Festivo candlesticks! The weight and top were right but the seams appeared rougher than the smaller pair I have at home. Thanks to thriftbreak for the help i.d.ing them. Turns out there is a monster chip to one of the flares so these are keepers. Most of the Scandi I find is damaged but then I guess that is why people donate it.

And not far away I spotted a Kaj Franck cat pitcher by Arabia and without damage (my mom found the exact same one for me several months ago). There are two glass floaters (the other is somewhere...) and a bright yellow Ingrid plastic pot that I shouldn't have purchased. I got an unholy amount of mugs but I'll put that in a separate post.

At GWill found this 1970s Midwinter Stonehenge "Sun" service. It was expensive maybe why it was still there. I'm on the fence with this purchase. It weighs a ton plates are SOLD.

This Might Be Proof That There Are Crazy People Out There!

Thrift - It's A Mug Kinda Day

Stopped by 10 thrifts today after picking up my monster painting and sideboard (a future post).

Everything was found at one GWill except the Starbucks Pike Place and two brightly illustrated Christmas mugs. It's my first cache of Starbucks mugs (seven in one location). I was surprised no one had snatched them up?

It's been well over a year since I have found a Big Hug Mug SOLD. Pictured is a Disney Park mug, four 1970s Dunoon Scotland fox mugs SOLD and two holiday mugs (forgot the illustrator on these.)

Found my first Kaj Franck decorated pitcher in the "wild" which unfortunately has a new chip on the lip SOLD. Berggren Dala tile which always sell well around Christmas. Six unmarked teak coasters that were spendy so hopefully I can make some money off of them SOLD.

Nothing really vintage but I'm pleased with all the Starbucks mugs.

Below are the things I passed. A pair of paintings by J. Walsh for $299 each! Steve describes my thrifts as having "cajones" I agree with a few other choice words thrown in there. Love red Polish enamelware but at $20 for the lot - it just isn't thrift priced.

Liked the form of the glasses but not crazy about the color, decanter was missing stopper (if anyone recognizes this form please leave a comment).

I'm always surprised that Garfield doesn't sell? It was hard for me to pass the rainbow mugs but one had some scratches to image. Didn't want to pass the Audrey Christie rabbit mug but there where just to many grey scratches. And I just liked the cardinal mug but know nothing about it.

Why Bother Going To A Store When You Can Go To An Estate Sale And Pay More Than Retail

This is by far the CRAZIEST estate sale I have ever been too (and you know, I've been bitching for a while how expensive they have gotten)! Expected there to be tons of people/dealers attending and prices to be high (not insane though). Arrived an hour after opening and still had to wait 45 minutes, surprisingly I was only #54. People might have decided to pass on the sale guessing crowds and inflated prices.

While standing in line, Mr. Dealer (I see him everywhere even at my thrift stores) walked out with tons of boxes - he must have bought everything as his truck was crammed to busting.

My photo below is what was left of the Dansk Kobenstyle (the CathrineHolm, Finel and others sold) - the red Paella pan is $85, the aqua $125, red square $75 and the brown stockpot over $100.

For a good laugh check out the prices on everything. Crap was priced higher than retail.

Anyway, the owner bought everything from estates and thrifts (saw Unique Thrift grease pencil on a Dansk bowl). He has at least 8 thrift stores in the area. I'm guessing he started 20 years ago seeing all the unsold Russel Wright (including furniture) in the apartment.

Passed on the Arabia pitcher for $45, as I was in no mood to give my bills to this rip-off sale.

The above photo is the estate priced $1200 George Nelson bench made by Herman Miller. Brand new/retail this very same bench is $999 at DWR and Room & Board. Is it a first issue or something?

All the nice Scandinavian glass was gone. Almost everything left was chippy or just to cray-cray expensive.

What's weird, is some of the people I talked to thought they were getting such good deals - they must not check out Ebay or Etsy? I can understand if it's something is rare but then that what I expect at auction houses?

This whole sale was confusing to me? If someone cares to explain it to me...

Owl vase was gone, Blenko fish was $150

Spisa Ribb was a chippy, sadness

Christmas To Me

Sorry, I haven't put up any new posts. My sister is visiting from Dublin and in addition to Christmas I just haven't had time. I did manage to but myself a Christmas gift from MidModMom a red Guzzini Italy caddy and Anemome Arabia sugar and creamer (to go with my teapot and cups). The Swiss tea towel is for my sister which she thinks is so adorable that she's decided to hang it instead of using it and I don't blame her.

Estate: Catherineholm Fail

Oh my, look at that lovely sight! Somehow I missed seeing this in the ads? My mom thought she'd surprise me with these for Christmas. A sweet sentiment but I wish she'd told me 'cause I would have told her showing up half an hour before the sale was not early enough. Heck, I would have even gone early to that sale and I NEVER go early!

So the guy first in line got the set and a scuffle ensued because a lady grabbed half of the bowls (Hi Canince - Sorry you weren't able to snag em, the guy sounds like a real douche-bag). I don't know how that happened unless they both ran in the door at the same time? Mom said the bowl set went for $120. He also got the rest of the Catherineholm pieces. The aqua Kobenstyles were overpriced at 60 bucks each. Oh well, I'm sure there will never be a next time, hahaha, sadness.

What mom did manage to grab a expensive Dansk staved teak ice bucket designed by Jens Quistgaard. She said people followed her around after she found the bucket (ha ha one of them was Canice  : P )

At another estate sale she found a Kaj Franck Arabia pitcher. The Gorhams owls music box SOLD and wood box are from previous sales.

Look at the funky wall paper or drapes

Mom's Finds

Mom gave me her recent thrift and estate finds. My favorite has to be the Arabia "Pomona" strawberry and elderberry jam jars found at thrift. They are missing the lids (though cork replacements would work) these lovelies bases are chippy with a thrift chip thrown in there for luck. SOLD

Four Georges Briard sailboats glasses in very nice shape. SOLD 

Mom got me some Tupperware cups but I need the large sizes now. Cute little mustard jar with lid made in England. SOLD

Starbucks green Bodom french press. Must an older one cause it's made in Switzerland. Bodom sugar, creamer, mugs, coasters and spoons for some reason I love these and have a ton of them. Pair of over the top 22K gold Culver glass "Coronet" cruets SOLD. Plastic box full of coasters. Thanks Mom!

Estate - Online Bidding

Is the growing trend with estate sales to sell online instead have having an open house/estate sale? I have always passed on these sales because I prefer the thrill of the hunt and actually being able to see the items condition. But this on particular sale I noticed a Finel bowl for sale so I decided to go for it.

Can I say I'm a fan of online sales? Not so much. One French mug(not pictured) had a chipped rim that wasn't mentioned in the description-worthless and I didn't even receive one of the items (a hand-blown bottle see below) though the auctioneer found that another buyer had it. Credit him for tracking it down but I never got a refund or the bottle! Finel bowl has chip to base also not mentioned. There was a failed attempt to bid on an item for the sis-don't know what the hell happened. Striped glasses color stripes are all faded also not mentioned in description.

In my opinion, the whole thing seems like a waste of time for the seller; one to photograph all the items (none of them valuable) pay a host site ect.