Grandma's Attic Archives

Tag Archive: Grandma’s Attic

Vintage Pyrex : Grandma’s Attic

Written on March 22, 2012 by AlaynaB

I am a sucker for vintage Pyrex. I come by it naturally, I must admit. My grandma had both me and my sister a set of the Pyrex Ware Color Bowls. She bought them years ago and tucked them away until we were older. Each time I use them I pray that my clumsy fingers hold on tight….I would hate to break on of them. I love these bowls!

image via WiseApple Etsy Shop

How about this advertisement I found for the bowls? Hard to believe that you could pick up the whole set for a mere $2.49. These days they can easily go for $60 and up.

image via Lost Toronto

I think one of the things I love about vintage Pyrex are all of the beautiful colors. There are so many different shapes, sizes, and colors. It would be great to collect the many pieces….that is if I had somewhere to display them all!

Here are a few fabulous collections….

image via Kitschy Living

image via Country Home

image via In Color Order

image via Flickr, *Pyrex*Pixie*

image via Fickr, kitchenkel

image via Thompson Family-Life

I say Pyrex needs to bring back the vintage colors and patterns! You can find them pretty easily in thrift and antique stores. Sometimes they are quite pricey, but occasionally you can find a great deal.

I know I can’t be the only one who is loving the vintage Pyrex…if you have some pieces yourself let us know! Better yet, snap a pic with your phone and post on our facebook!

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Home, Kitchen Tags: Grandma's Attic, home, kitchen

Grandma’s Attic – Ceramic Christmas Trees

Written on December 8, 2011 by AlaynaB

One of my favorite Christmas decorations is an old ceramic Christmas tree that I stole from my mom. From what I am told, my aunt Sandra made some of these and gave my mom and grandma each one.

To this day I am still curious as to how she went about making a ceramic Christmas tree. I mean, I try to be crafty with hot glue, modge podge, t-shirts, and scrapbook paper. But ceramic? Seems a little far fetched. In getting ready for this post I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find anything out about these ceramic trees. What do you know? Google delivered. In fact, there is a website devoted to ceramic Christmas trees….www.ceramicchristmastrees.info. Apparently back in the 1960′s and 1970′s ceramics was THE crafty thing to do! I am glad to find out that it was typically done in a local shop (I was imagining Sandra in grandma’s kitchen whipping up these trees!), probably something along the lines of a Purple Glaze back in the day.

Back to my ceramic Christmas tree…

I love the little colored lights and the festive glow that it provides! It’s the perfect night light.

And I love photographing out of focus Christmas lights….they make the prettiest colored circles!

Do any of you all have a ceramic Christmas tree in your family?

One of my other favorite Christmas decorations is an old glass candy dish that my grandma gave me. I know nothing about it, except that it is so old that the glass is starting to yellow. The red band provides the perfect holiday touch!

What Christmas decorations are your favorites? Do you have any that bring back loads of family memories? If so, please share!

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Design Tags: Grandma's Attic

Grandma’s Attic

Written on October 27, 2011 by AlaynaB

Among all of the many items that my Grandma has collected over the years, Shawnee’s Corn King Dishes rank the highest. In 1956 she worked 5 1/2 days a week and made $25. Out of that $25 she would set aside enough money to buy one piece of the corn dishes at the Poteau 5 & 10.

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

Any time she goes to an antique store she searches for the corn, just to see how much it is going for now. Throughout the past 55 years she has collected at least one of every single piece…..let’s be real…probably multiples!

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

And that’s only a sampling! It’s so great getting to see something that has been collected over time. It kind of makes me wonder what I have that might still be around in 55 years…….unfortunately I don’t think my shoe collection will last that long!

If you do have some great collections, remember to check out Dawn’s post about collections from June.

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Design Tags: Corn Dishes, Grandma's Attic

Grandma’s Attic

Written on September 8, 2011 by AlaynaB

I love kitchen appliances. KitchenAid mixers are my favorite. I mean, they come in so many beautiful colors! I happen to have my Grandma’s which is 30+ years old. Yea, you heard me, 30 + years old! They don’t break. There are so many different types of appliances these days that it would be easy to fill an entire closet and still not have every gadget.

While searching through all of Grandma’s treasures, she showed me many different appliances from back in the day. They are quite different than the new and “improved” ones that we have. Although, I found it quite interesting that all of them were made of metal and glass while the majority of our’s today are made of plastic. Hmmm……I think I prefer the metal and glass!

Here are a few favorites that I found….

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

On the left you have the Kenmore Electric Mixer. This is just a small mixer that took the place of the hand cranked ones. In the center you have the General Electric Mixer. This is the big daddy….and let me tell you….it is h e a v y! And finally, the one on the far right is the Gem Dandy Electric Churn. Who doesn’t love a name like Gem Dandy?

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image by Ruby Jewel Studio

All of these are electric and were the thing to have in your kitchen! Do you remember seeing any of these in your mom or grandma’s kitchen? Or maybe you have some of your own? If so, please share!

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Kitchen Tags: Grandma's Attic, kitchen

Grandma’s Attic – Melmac

Written on July 14, 2011 by AlaynaB

Melmac was a type of dinnerware that was first developed in the 1940′s, but very commonly used from the 1950′s to 1970′s. It is actually made out of melamine resin, which is a very durable, light weight material. They made dinnerware sets, serving dishes, cafeteria trays, all kinds of things. Typically there would be a pattern for the dinner plate and then all the mugs, saucer’s, bowls, and dessert plates would be a solid color that coordinated with the pattern. THAT is what I love about melmac….all the pretty colors and designs! It just so happens that my grandma kind of liked them too and has about 24 to 25 different patterns/sets of dishes for me to drool over.

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Ruby Jewel Studio image

Wouldn’t all of those be lovely on a wall?

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Ruby Jewel Studio image

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Ruby Jewel Studio image

You see that beautiful torquoise one? That set is mine now. I’ve had my eyes on it for a long while! I love all the different designs. Here are some of the fun melmac serving dishes…

Grandmas Attic Melmac Ruby Jewel Studio image

They always have a fun shape and many come divided. Perfect for chips and dip. Your decorating options are endless with all this color!

Do you have any favorite dishes? If so, share them with us!

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Entertaining, Home, Kitchen Tags: Entertaining, Grandma's Attic, home, kitchen

Grandma’s Attic

Written on June 16, 2011 by AlaynaB

If your grandma is anything like mine, then she has a collection of wonderful treasures from years gone by. I grew up going from one antique store to the next searching for Shawnee planters, vases, and cornware {dishes}.

Grandma’s house {and apartment, and storage building} are filled to the brim with great finds. So, you can imagine my excitement when I was looking at Pinterest and saw this owl cookie jar that @Alisa Palmer pinned…

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image via anthropologie.com

Why my excitement???? Because it’s the same as the salt and pepper shakers that my Grandma has – and that I have always loved! Surprisingly enough, you can purchase the cookie jar pictured above from Anthropologie. These little guys, below, are the result of intense antique store shopping. Collected over time.

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There is just something about them that makes me smile…maybe it’s because they are winking at me! Owls are so very popular right now. Wouldn’t these be adorable on a shelf in a nursery?

When I was at my Grandma’s house earlier this week, she surprised me with the pink set to take home. They now sit on my mantle and make me smile.

It’s the little things, people. The little things that make you think of someone special, a special place, or a special time. The next time you are at Grandma’s house, take a look around and see what treasures are hiding out.

Get excited because there are many more treasures from my Grandma’s house that will be making an appearance here at Prairie Hive! Until then….I will leave you with this guy…

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Home, Inspiration, Trends Tags: design, Grandma's Attic, trends