A Trove of Trashy Treasures

I don’t know what it is about alliteration (beginning with the same letter) that amuses us humans, but I just spent ten minutes coming up with that title, and I am semi-proud of it.  Of course, after you have written as many posts as we have, sometimes it takes longer to come up with a title than it does to write the whole post.  I am assuming here that all our loyal readers have read and remember every one of our posts.  Just call me a cock-eyed optimist.  I am also a gardener, so have probably crossed over to the land of make-believe one too many times.  I am positive that it is not too early to start seeds, nope, no sirree; I am going to be ready to plant in May.

On to the trash … I mean treasures!

Let’s start off cute:

Come on, I dare you not to smile.  I really felt the need to go find a table and maybe a tiny tea set, and get the full effect, but I resisted.  Not that there wasn’t a tea set, lookee here:

I can’t say for sure why the set was nestled in a coconut, but hey, it was a tea set.  We have a soft spot for crazy coconut stuff (within reason, of course) and this was kind of a fun use for one.  We really couldn’t tell if it originally came that way, but I am guessing yes, as it was lined to cushion the set.  Use it for your Teddies, and I give this one a passing grade.

Deb would like to think this sign was made about her:

I would like to say it’s not true, but upon reflection, I am not sure how often I see her in an un-caffeinated state.  [Deb here.  I don’t what I’m like uncaffeinated and B.H. just said he hopes he never finds out!]  I know I have in the past, but it is usually for a very small amount of time first thing in the morning!  Just kidding, she has enough personality for three people, just read her posts!

We got all excited about this for a second:

What do you mean it’s just a dryer ball?  Drat, we were looking forward to something much more stimulating.  I’m sorry, but it’s just not right to get middle-aged ladies all excited, and then insist we should go do laundry.  It’s a good thing the makers of old Mr. Steamy weren’t around to get a piece of our mind, what little is left, that is!  Is anyone else as baffled by the “as seen on TV” stuff as I am?  Is this just where all the half-baked ideas go to die?  Shark Tank wouldn’t touch it, and this is the last gasp?  Who gets to decide what’s seen on TV?  Oh, the questions.

I am not sure these were even seen on TV:

Because, what about corn doesn’t say unicorn to you?  Once they are in the corn, they just look like head butting horses, and I am thinking that just one skewer into a corn cob, and those horns are biting the dust.  I am still betting that we will have a load of SCA folks take one look at these and begin scouring the flea markets for a passel for their next event, so who says they won’t serve some useful purpose.

On the other hand, we could discern no useful purpose for these:

Someone went to a whole lot of trouble to glue flowers and mirrors on a bunch of saucers.  WTF?  Probably just threw away the cups, too, thereby turning something useful and not the least offensive into something that will just clutter up the landfill when these get dumped, as we did notice they were not going anywhere.  If anyone has a clue what these are for, would love to hear it.  Mr. Gay Nineties, beside them, was just a bonus.  Don’t know where the Missus went, as these plates usually come in matched pairs.  I would rather have the plaid pipe smoker than a mirrored saucer any day.

We did love this pink baking dish:

Deb labeled it as irresistible, and I am thinking I did twist her rubber arm into buying it, just don’t remember for sure.  [Deb here.  Yes you did!]  I would be one happy homemaker when cooking with this cutie.  We can’t seem to leave vintage kitchenware alone.  We like to think we buy it to resell, but who are we kidding?  Just look in our cupboards, and you will know we are big fat liars.

Now this next pink item, we were happy to leave where she stood:

At first we thought it might have been a poor example of a DIY ceramics project, but looking at the bottom and back:

We decided it wasn’t.  It’s got to look even goofier with flowers in her panniers.  From the front she looks like a Puritan who has gone bad, as that dress is pretty see-through, but she kept her cap on, good girl that she is/was!  This is another item that we wondered where it had been sitting for 50 years that someone hadn’t determined to throw it out MUCH sooner.  Must have been a really dark closet; she needs to go back in there.

Speaking of DIY, or make that a Don’t It Yourself:

Our local creative re-use center has been inundated with a HUGE selection of green-ware and molds for ceramics.  Some of it is harmless, but get a load of the size of that stein.  We know why they quit painting it.  They noticed that when they finished, they would be saddled with a stein big enough to keep their goldfish in, and the fish were teetotalers, so they didn’t want to swim around in that much beer.  This has been hanging around the shop for a few weeks.  We keep hoping someone will kick it over and solve the problem.  We may have to take it into our own hands, or feet, someday.

We did find this handy item there the same day:

Vintage bar stuff just cracks me up.  Love that you will have “no more frozen lips”.  Says so on the box!  The funny thing about these is that they are only about an inch and half in diameter, so most glasses will just let the ice scoot right around them!  At least they are all different colors, so you know which glass is yours.  I did bring these home.  Ah, me.

Think I will end on one last almost goody:

Gotta say that the donkey himself is pretty cute.  It’s still a velvet painting and yeah, nothing says tacky treasure like that.  Made it easy to resist.  One of these days someone is going to corner the market on velvet masterpieces.  Yep, you heard it here first, not on TV!

Till next week, keep digging, and if you find a trashy treasure to share, be sure and let us know!