Escape and Shop: Square Glass Jar/Lid and New York.

I found this at Savers.  It was election night and everyone else had the same idea; escape and shop.  It was almost past my bedtime so I was at a disadvantage as I fought off imagined Pyrex hunters and Fiestaware butter dish connoisseurs. The truth is that this night, I didn't really know what I was looking for.  I checked to see if a Pyrex bowl I had previously passed on was still there; no luck.

I gazed at the random-est of the random junk in plastic bags hanging on the hooks.  I thought about buying my 7 year old some paper and crayons but remembered that my one year old would just eat them.

It occurred to me that tonight I should look for things I might not usually look for or at least keep an open mind.  My sleepy eyes and brain gazed at the cute glass dishes and fake depression glass that has in the past faked me out more than once.  Not tonight, fake depression glass, not tonight, but you know who you are.

Eventually I found myself staring at the plethora (The Three Amigos) of mason jars and glass cookie and coffee jars.  This treasure was hiding but couldn't hide for long.  I loved it immediately (which is a thrift shopping rule that is much easier said than done; only buying what I love).  There have been things I thought I've loved but could live without.

How could anyone live without this??  If the original owner is reading this, I will take pity on you for your lapse in judgement.  Just joking, finders keepers, losers you know how the story ends...

I googled and googled and could not find anything similar.  It has a friggin' square lid and it doesn't screw on; it just sits perfectly on top therefore not stealing any space from the jar itself. My husband says it reminds him of a jar that used to be in his grandmother's bathroom, that held cotton balls.  This jar deserves more than cotton balls but I'm not sure what, yet. The bottom of the lid and sides of the jar are beveled squares.

It reminds me of a skyscraper.  I've been adding tons of New York pics to my New York Pinterest board and having it sit beside two other plastic and more non-descript skyscraper-esque kitchen containers has me feeling New York-ish as I've got the beginnings of my own Manhatten skyline going on. On a side-note I really need to google if the verb form of Google is capitalized. I think it is.

The Faker

Pyrex "Museum"

This is my Pyrex Museum. It's not much now, but in a few decades it might take up a whole hutch or even a whole wall, maybe even a whole room. The newest addition to my museum is the white, ribbed Pyrex bowl. Guess how much it was at Savers? .99, so with tax $1.08. Not too shabby. I can't bring myself to try to sell it because then my museum would grow at a much slower rate. I saw a matching green faded/white bowl similar to the pink faded white bowl the other day and erroneously failed to pounce on it. In my defense, it probably wasn't 1.08 (including tax). Still I admit I should've pounced on it. 

I'm not sure exactly the science of  how the coloring on Pyrex bowls slowely fades, but in my opinion, it's beautiful, less valuable maybe, but still beautiful. I remember watching an episode of "Northern Exposure" a looonnggg time ago, and they were analyzing a painting. It had some kind of flaw in it and it was suggested that perhaps flaws, and the absence of perfection, hold a kind of beauty that no thing of perfection can. That's all I remember of Northern Exposure, besides the moose; Who can forget him?? Not I. 

Therefore, even though I would have preferred the green and pink bowls to have retained all their color, I'm also happy with their imperfections, because the white underneath is still really cool looking. The color that remains at the top tells its own story; And even though it's faded, the Pyrex bowl itself is still perfectly intact and useful; it's still 100% capable of fulfilling its mission in life, to be a good little bowl and to be a Vintage rock-star that everyone wants to collect and show off in their own  Pyrex Museums. Damn I should've bought the green one! I'm still not very good at letting go of opposite-buyer's-remorse. This is a common theme in my life. The movie "Let it Go", I mean "Frozen" obviously didn't get through to me, because I struggle with regret a lot, in general. But seriously why didn't I buy it? Let it go! Okay, thanks I'm healed. 

Don Greytak

Found this at Savers while looking for items for my sister-in-law's shower. And no, this is not for her baby shower, unless her baby really likes pencil art, then I will consider it...but she'll have to REALLY like it and it might be gifted to her as her inheritance from her aunt, so she'll have to wait awhile.

In my defense, this pencil drawing by Don Greytak was the only me present I came home with and that's saying a lot.

From a distance I thought this framed pencil drawing was unfinished, but when I got closer I saw the snow covered fence going all the way back to an unseen driveway and snow covered house or cabin. Yeah, this was coming home with me. When my husband saw it hanging in the dining room, he thought it was unfinished as well. It's an amazing optical illusion which adds to the artwork itself. Don signed the bottom and it's 12/300. He also signed the mailbox.

When I went to his website here: http://dongreytak.com/about-us/ I found his biography and a slew of his other pencil works which are all amazing! If you have time, please check out his website.

Hebrew Eye Chart

I found this at Savers for 2.99. I'm embarrassed to say that I immediately texted my sister-in-law to ask her if it was Mandarin. When I didn't get a response, I googled and found that it was Hebrew. My sister-in-law eventually texted back that my brother said it was Hebrew. Thanks to Google, I already knew this, but I knew that my brother didn't need to google, he just knew, and I doubt he got it confused with Mandarin.

Language ignorances aside, I'm a sucker for word art. This bad boy was sitting on the top shelf so I initially didn't notice it and was toting around (okay my husband was doing the toting) a painteed wood picture of a guy carrying a surfboard and it said: "California Summer". I knew it would be at home in my bathroom, which, believe it or not, is devoid of any Savers artwork.

Something didn't feel right. I walked back to the artwork and put it back and that's when I saw it! A framed eye chart in another language. Thank goodness I'm learning to listen to my instincts, that and artwork calling to me...

I haven't found this exact eye chart on internet land, but some similar.

Try Amazon, Etsy, Houzz, Cascadilla Press on Cafe Press...or your local thrift store, not mine though.

Christmas in July...and August and the other 10 months.

I found 4 of these Saguaro glasses at Savers. I bought them with the Christmas season in mind, however we use them year-round. Sometimes I think they should go in the Christmas closet and come out only for Christmas season (October-February). However, after thinking about it, I've decided that sometimes Christmas decor needs to be year-round. These glasses are one of those exceptions.

*An aside: I've decided that cats photo-bombing my item shots are going to be my new trademark.*

Why are they an exception, you ask. Well, for starters, I picture Christmas drink-ware being more muggish (of or pertaining to resembling mugs). These glasses are perfect for ice-cold water. Believe it or not, even in the desert we drink hot beverages, when it gets below 76 degrees (outside). So, for 9 months out of the year, these bad boys are the right choice.

Also, they just make me happy. And isn't happiness the main rule of item non-discardis.

And how can you not just adore Saguaros? They are the most welcoming plant, with piercingly sharp injection-like spines, out there. Their cacti arms extend outward as if saying: "Welcome to Arizona, but don't get too close or I'll stab you right in the cornea."

Anyone having grown up in AZ has Cacti-run-in stories. And anyone having grown up in AZ should own glasses like these and use them year-round.

I feel like I can say that and show my bias outright, especially in this political day and age where one is allowed to say anything without repercussions.

I hope I have persuaded you to go buy Saguaro, Christmas glasses and use them year-round, even at the cost of peer pressure or ridicule at committing, out-of-season-household-heresy. Sometimes you have to stand up for what you believe.

Penny-Shoe-Boxes

I've been trying to clean my house. I tell myself that picking up one small thing is better than just staring in overwhelm-ment at a huge mountain of what-do-I-do-with-all-this-crap, some of which is sentimental.  I guess I need to read the tidying up book again.

So, this morning, after walking past these tiny shoes and  tiny boxes for weeks, and just shrugging my internal shoulders at the huge hurdle (watching the Olympics) of decision making these tiny pieces of material culture apparently are to my brain, I decided to make a decision.

First, I validated myself over the immenseness of the hurdle facing me. After all, miniature things are my Achilles heel, thus throwing the tiny boxes and tiny shoes away wouldn't be my first instinct.

Second, I admitted that the hallway counter-ledge-space was not where these tiny items belonged. (I've found that stating the ovbious increases my chances of making some type of movement).

Third, I determined that the tiny items were sitting here for a reason, that being, my toddler can't reach them and choke on them.

Next, I decided they were so cute that before throwing them away, (and by that I mean, throwing them into a dresser drawer and pretending I threw them away) I would blog about them.

I  might end up really throwing the shoes away, but I'm not ready to part with these chokable, colorful, Russian-doll, boxes from the Container Store.  The non-chokable boxes are in the play room, because what is more fun for humans than colorful, stacking boxes. I think my child will be a genius after playing with these.

For now, I need to decide what use these boxes will have in my dresser drawer. If I was 4, they would be the perfect tooth fairy-tooth-holder. If I was 10,  they would be the perfect eraser holders. If I was 12, they would hold folded up notes and/or stickers, which I would have previously spent an hour and a half cutting up into a hundred perfectly cut, individual stickers. If I was 20 they would be decorative on my dresser and/or ring holders. I'm almost 36, which of course means I will go on Pinterest and search for uses for miniature boxes, pin several ideas to my "craft" board, daydream about completing the pins, and then never do them.

Match Box Jig Saw Puzzle

I want to talk about miniature things today, starting with this neat, miniature match box puzzle that I found in some of my Grandmother's things. It has 12 wooden pieces and says "Shackman" and "N.Y." on the box. There is no date of production but many think it was manufactured in the 70's. 

I want to briefly mention the definition of miniature from Google: “(especially of a replica of something) of a much smaller size than normal; very small.”

This website https://retail.shackman.com/

leads me to believe that it could be the same company.  Here is the description:  "Since 1898 B. Shackman Company has been manufacturing and importing unique gift items. Many remember our famous store in lower Manhatten in New York City. Now you can buy our wonderful products direct online around the world!" 

In my research I discovered that Shackman also made other miniature things including furniture, which lead to these other names: Reutter and Bespaq and if you Google them you will find miniature furniture such as this: 

Check out this website for Shackman Miniature Furniture: https://www.popscreen.com/prod/MTgxMzUyMDI0/Shackman-Dollhouse-Furniture. 

During my research a Google images search for the word, “miniature” brought up a slew of miniature items, including miniature houses, miniature food, miniature animals. I was particularly taken with the mini llamas. I love llamas...very noble and proud creatures are they.