A piece of cake

It's the last day of the Easter school holidays here in Sydney. We've had a fun, busy couple of weeks, lots of eating out, playgrounds, parks, playdates, friends' birthday parties, the beach, movies, swimming... and my big boy turned nine! We had a little family celebration at the Hard Rock Cafe and he'll be having a party with his mates at the weekend. Hard to believe how quickly the last 9 years has gone!!!

Today I think my boys and I just needed a day to wind down before school starts up tomorrow and we're back to our rushed morning routine. We stayed in our PJs until 11am, made popcorn and watched a movie, played a lot and made a yummy lemon cake using lemons from the tree in our garden. And it's only 2:30pm! Wonder what else we can pack into the five hours left until bedtime!

Pyrex Hunting

Wow! There is a serious Pyrex drought here in Sydney. I blame certain magazines, who shall remain nameless (FRANKIE!!!) for featuring articles on collecting gorgeous retro Pyrex and hence making it popular and therefore increasing competition!

Despite this I have managed to find some really nice pieces, some online, some from op shops and others through a lovely vintage trade group I have joined.

First up and probably one of my most wanted pieces ever is this fab Butterprint cinderella bowl. I had given up ever finding one "in the wild" and when I saw this online at a great price I couldn't resist, it is in absolute pristine condition!

I didn't even know cinderella bowls came in this beautiful robin egg blue until I was offered this one in a trade with a very lovely collector, one of my absolute fave pieces!

Another cinderella bowl, this one in the "Town and Country" pattern was a few dollars at a market.

My pie dish collection groweth! All of them op shop finds apart from the turquoise which was part of the same trade as the robin egg bowl.

Yet again part of that same trade (best trade ever!!) were these gorgeous refrigerator dishes, or fridgies as they're fondly called by collectors, they are insanely cute!!!

This turquoise snowflake rectangular dish was an ebay purchase, at a very reasonable buy it now price, the perfect size for potato bakes :-)

A lovely friend bought me this gorgeous Anchor Hocking casserole, I had never seen this pattern before and absolutely love it, I am now obsessed with finding more pieces in the same pattern :-)

And finally a couple of Agee Pyrex (Australian made) divided dishes, I had cleared out my divided dish collection as I had way too many and they're a pain to stack but these two are such cute patterns and were only a couple of dollars each so I couldn't resist. Could I?

Now just in case you're thinking "where the hell does she put all that Pyrex" I have recently done a MASSIVE clearout through trading and on eBay. I have decided to concentrate mainly on cinderella bowls and pie dishes, both of which I use regularly and a few other shapes in patterns I absolutely LOVE!!! That's all :-)

Scandi

I have found some fab Scandinavian pieces recently, most of these items were on my wishlist so I was thrilled to find them :-)

I have been on the hunt for a Swedish Dala horse for ages, I got this for $1 in Salvos!

This fab retro ceramic Arabia of Finland Sirpa chopping board was only $1 too from a church rummage sale.

Another Arabia of Finland piece, this bowl cost $9 in Salvos.

A gorgeous pair of Figgjo of Norway Lotte cups - $1 each in Red Cross!!!

Within a couple of weeks of finding the cups I found these Figgjo of Norway Lotte plates for $4 in Vinnies!

And finally this lovely cast iron Copco of Denmark omelette pan - $1 in Red Cross!

Now before anyone corrects me, I know that Finland is not actually part of Scandinavia BUT their retro pieces have the same beautiful design ethic and I always group these 4 countries together in my head :-)

Nice finds!

As always my favourite finds from the last little while are for my kitchen. I've found some really lovely things recently, here are some favourites...

A covered dish with a cute rooster - $5 in Salvos.

Yet another basket, this one is the perfect size for fruit - $2 at Salvos.

A lovely set of white embossed bowls each with a different pattern - $1 each.

A set of pretty Arcopal cups and saucers, made in France - $5 from Vinnies.

I have been looking for a retro biscuit barrel for ages then last week I found two! These lovely Hornsea biscuit canisters were $8 each, one from Vinnies, one at a carboot market.

I adore these Denby Arabesque soup pots - $3 each in Lifeline Op Shop.

This beautiful vintage batter bowl was only $1 in Vinnies!! It is just so pretty and floral on the inside as well as the outside.

These really pretty cups were $1 each.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, I have so many other finds to share including some really nice Scandinavian pieces and Pyrex too so watch this space!!!