Hi everyone. We've had some pumbing drainage issues in this older 1950s house, and because all of our family are the nutty DIY type, we always try to fix things ourselves. So I hadn't posted in quite awhile because I was literally underneath the house in a 1 1/2 foot crawspace all day(s) long. I won't bore you with the gross (seriously) details, but it got fixed last week - however, we started to have the same issues a few days ago. So, I'm gonna try make this post longer to catch up with a backlog of finds... and then you might not hear from me until this thing gets fixed. Hopefully, sigh.

This first find may not be much to look at on first glance. I thought it was a soap dish, until I flipped it over and saw the Arabia Finland name. I still wasn't sure since I couldn't find any comparables on my iphone, but I decided to get it. Turns out it's from the "Violetta" line by Birger Kaipianien, and somewhat harder to find. I don't believe it's that old, maybe from the 1980s. Still, it was great to come across it.

I'm always on the lookout for stoneware studio pots, even the non-identifiable or student ones like this nice vase.

I think it's marked "B. Suhl" - but I haven't been able to come up with any info. Let me know if you have an idea on it..

I hadn't found a piece of Hanova in quite awhile, so I was glad to come across another candleholder. Until a few years ago, they were easier to find - it seemed like I was the only one (along with 1-2 other folks) who knew what they were. People have caught on now, and though I still see them non-identified, they usually aren't priced cheaply anymore.

I've often passed on glassware unless it's super cheap - just harder to ship, and easier to make mistakes on identifying. But since it was rather tough out there in the thrifts, I came home with quite a few examples like these Russel Wright Eclipse glasses made for Bartlett Collins.

This was the first time I also found these Holmegaard Copenhagen small cocktail glasses. I actually wasn't sure about them, but they were so elegant and thin that I knew they had to be something. Been going with my gut lately, which is something I've been meaning to trust more.

I forgot if I posted about these two green Jaru Art Pottery birds I picked up at a flea market. These are good to look for, as they are often not identified and most people think they're newer items. Jaru made a number of animals in all solid colors like this. Sometimes the Jaru name is on the side or bottom, but often not. Look for a square paper price tag on bottom and green felt feet.

This Japanese pottery pedestal planter was an interesting find. I thought it was a California pottery piece at first. I'm not sure if it was intended for ikebana or just a normal bowl. I ordinarily would've passed since it was so heavy, but this was on a really bad thrifting day so it came home with me.

I mentioned several times that the thrifts have not been treating us that kindly. Estates have never been great for me, so I decided to focus on antique malls and stores. It can be tougher to get as cheap a price there as a thrift, but the one good thing is there is more stuff concentrated in one place.

This Ben Seibel for Jenfred piece was a definite candidate for breaking the "no-ashtray" rule. A quick convo with the thriftbreakers confirmed that it was worth it to pick up - if only as a lure to draw people into our Etsy shop.

At the same mall, I picked up this great AK Kaiser German pitcher or ewer. This style with plain white matte glaze is sometimes called "op-art", though I think the definition has gotten a little broad on that.

Linda actually spotted this Rosenthal Netter Bitossi bird first. I wasn't sure if it was a good buy, but again a quick tweet to thriftbreak confirmed it was probably a good value. I have to admit I had a hard time listing it up.

The antique mall luck continued later in the week with these Freeman Lederman cream and sugar pieces. These weren't cheap, but I'm going to hang on to them for now so it didn't matter as much. This is one issue that I'm really starting to come up against as a reseller - wanting to keep your best finds. Up until recently, especially with our recent move to this house, I'd pretty much tried to sell everything (all the things!). Now that things had settled down, I'd been making decisions not to sell more things. This gets dangerous, as it affects the bottom line since the pricier pieces are usually the ones I want to keep! It also plays into my hoarder sensibilities.. so I need to keep an eye on it.

So one of the best parts of the past week (and certainly the best after all the plumbing issues I worked on) was meeting up with some Thriftbreak friends for a little picking session. It turned out the Bit of Butter team was staying in the area, so I made a drive out to meet up with Alison and Kevin. They actually drove even farther than me for the meet up - it just goes to show the dedication we all have to thrifting! This is the first time I'd ever met up with other thriftbreakers in person, and it was pretty cool. We hit up a few thrift stores and an antique mall, and then stopped for lunch at In-n-Out. It was really enjoyable (and even a bit surreal) to hold up an item and they'd know immediately what I was talking about. Having knowledgeable friends along on a thriftbreak was a really fun experience, and as a bonus we all found something to take home.

I couldn't leave behind these Zeisel Lo-balls, even though we already have quite a few in stock and unlisted. Kevin actually spotted these first, but let me have them since they also had Lo-balls in stock. Plus, they had already found some cool Russel Wright pinch glasses at the same thrift.

I saved what may be the best for last. We were at a thrift when I spotted this weird vase with palm trees. I thought it might be metal at first, and then I saw the Camark Pottery sticker on it which looked really old. I'd put in a tweet query to Steve at Prairie Decorative Arts since he knows more about this era, but the Butters found it online through the phone almost right away. Turns out its a collectible line from the 1920s, done by John Lessell using a technique he developed when he was working at Weller. I was planning on doing a little more research later, but it looks to be a pretty awesome find.

All right.. I hope you enjoyed this post because as I said, it may be a little while before I put up thrift finds again. Happy thrifting out there!