Officially a collection

I love the idea of collection things. I have a cross collection which should be getting hung up sometime in the next day or two (hint hint Craig :-) but I have strict rules about when and how I add to it. I can be given crosses anytime but can only buy them for myself for a specific reason and in case you were wondering, purchasing one at a mexican market on the last day of a mission trip is a specific reason, because they had cute ones on sale at Kohls is not.

Craig loves to garage sale shop and go to antique hole-in-the-wall places but my attention span is not always up for that. I wanted something that I could be on the lookout for to help me enjoy spending my time that way a bit more but it had to be fun, inexpensive and useful - and I finally found it!

I stumbled upon a blog post about vintage Pyrex and Fire-King glassware and oh my goodness, the cuteness I saw! Not only does it fit all my criteria, it works with the style of our house. And I can say I want to keep the vintage charm of this place all I want but most things from the 50-60s are just plain ugly so this bonus was a big one. Of course, right now the pink and grey laminate countertops are about all the charm my kitchen can take, but someday...okay, back to reality.

Of course, there are some very 60s patterns but there are lots that are colorful and fun without being overwhelming or overly avocado (see a pattern guide here). I am particularly fond of the blue and teal ones but I'm also a sucker for anything with polka dots. They just make me want to put on a string of pearls and beehive my hair. 

And I love it's history. I've only done a little bit of research but it was made for the masses so the quality control was minimal. The designs are often crooked and all piece are just a bit different. And some of the patterns I've seen were made to be given away as gas station marketing promotions. That is better than a coupon for a free car wash!

Although lumped together as "Pyrex" (since only the same dorks who call Kleenex "facial tissues" would call Pyrex and Fire-King "borosilicate glass ovenware"), most of my favorite patterns are actually Fire-King. But since I'm just picking up stuff I like at thrift stores, garage sales and little antique places when I find them at good prices, I don't really care.

I was going to document them on a cute piece of fabric like they do over at pyrexlove.com, but this is what kept happening when I tried:

So you get them on my shelf instead, but since that is where they actually reside, it's more accurate anyway.

This is the first piece I picked up for $3.50.  It's a Fire-King piece (unnamed pattern that is often called cornflower)

And these are the ones I got last weekend. I was torn between this one and the bowls below but when we went to check out, we were told that everything was 50% off so I splurged and got all three for $10! And now that I own more than one piece, it's offically a collection!

The casserole dish is Fire-King. I want more lidded ones since I am phasing out our plastic storage containers and these will be nice for leftovers.

I'm not sure what this bowl is but I now own two!