Dishes!

Lately I have been discovering some great vintage dishes (as in, kitchenware, plates, coffee pots) that I absolutely love. Some of them I collect, some of them I simply admire, some take me back to my grandma's dining room table in Arkansas eating THE best enchiladas. Ever.

Here is my current (and working) list of favorite kitchenware patterns and makers and a few insights about where I have discovered mine for reasonable prices ... and a few pieces of nostalgia to mix things up a bit.

1. Homer Laughlin China: Fiestaware - I collect this as my 'every day' dishes. Honestly I don't have any 'special occasions' dishes so my Fiesta is quite literally every day. I like the eclectic idea of having multiple colors 'going on' at once in my kitchen - I guess partly because I have never had a 'favorite' color and partly because I just like the fun of picking an orange dish and green mug together or a purple bowl with a blue dish. I have never been one for matching things really - even less so as the days pass. I collect my Fiesta 4-piece sets at Macy's when they are on sale.

2. Anchor Hocking Milano in Honey Gold - I love this glassware! My cousin Mike helped me figure out what they are called - I never knew who made them until he told me. He was an avid collector and expert on vintage glassware - my 3 vintage Jadite cups and saucers are a gift from him. My grandma had these and I remember when I was little drinking sweet peach tea out of them. I found a few at a yard sale a couple Summers ago - a few tall glasses and one short glass. I love the warm gold color of the glass and the lumpy texture in my hand.

I discovered this great set of glasses and 96oz pitcher at an antique shop in Denison last Spring and wish I had gotten it - I love the cheerful ball pitcher!

3. Metlox Wild Poppy - Thanks to Kevin, I found several pieces at an estate sale recently and discovered after a little web browsing that they are worth quite a lot more than I paid for them. The coffee pot alone sells for about $50 online. Such a fun, colorful pattern. I have 4 dishes now and I use them intermixed with my Fiesta plates.

4. Hull Drip Glaze Pottery - I adore this pottery. I grew up with the French Onion Soup Bowls (with handles) and a few serving pieces. I am not sure how much I liked them when I was young, but now I love the old-fashioned look and color. I found one lone bowl for myself at a garage sale for a few dollars - a small price to pay for nostalgia. It is now my designated tabbouleh bowl. ;)

5. Mikasa, I'll call it 'Yellow F9300' since it is IMPOSSIBLE to find any actual name for this particular design on the internet - My mom had the whole set of Mikasa French Countryside (white) when I was growing up. I found this great creamer and sugar set online but I am not so sure it's actually French Countryside. I have found this design and color online listed as 'French Countryside Yellow', 'Italian Countryside' (which it most definitely is NOT), and several other random names; when I look up those names in Google to find other pieces in the collection I have no luck - apparently none of those are the actual name so I am still in the dark as to what I should call it. All that to say, I love it and think it's darling and vintage, whatever its name really is.

Late breaking news: Omg! I figured it out! It's called Mikasa 'Countryside Yellow'! Thank you, Replacements.com ... not sure how I missed that before. *at last*