Thrifty Thursday: Thrift Store Finds

It has been kind of a rough week around here.  Winter refuses to leave, although thank goodness it is getting warmer in the afternoons so the ridiculous amounts of snow we have are finally starting to melt.  Our 10 foot snow drift that was burying our back door is now down to about 4 feet, so I call that progress!  We are finally supposed to start staying above freezing at night here within the next few days, so if that holds for a week or so, I'm just going for it and I'm going to go buy some plants to put out on the deck.  I figure worse comes to worse, I'll go and buy some heavy plastic and build myself some mini greenhouses around my tomatoes and things to help them grow this summer.  I am really jiving for fresh produce fresh from the garden after how long this winter has felt.

I do have plans to get a frugal accomplishments post out this week, although it is probably going to be really late and hit on Saturday while my son is at Special Olympics with my husband, so I have the opportunity to think.  In the meantime, though, I thought I'd actually share some small finds I actually got on E-bay the last week.

Anyone who has been around for a bit knows that I love Tupperware, especially vintage Tupperware.  Unfortunately for me, others have caught on to how great the stuff is and it has been REALLY hard to find it at the used stores for the last year or so, which is par for the course with me.  It seems every time I get into collecting something it eventually becomes trendy and then I can't find it anymore.  I love Tupperware because it is darned near indestructible and super functional (well, okay, some pieces might not be, but I've really gotten into things that I buy have to be functional anymore or I feel like I'm wasting money, so Tupperware pieces I get I use...actually usually quite a bit).  I can safely say as an endorsement for the products that my Tupperware containers survived the seven point earthquake without even popping open.  They hit the floor and bounced.  The ONLY container that actually came open and spilled its contents was my container that was full of popcorn and that was because the microwave flew off of my sideboard and landed on it.  But, it survived and is still used today.  I can't say that about my Pyrex and Corelle pieces I had collected at the time.

This last week, I found out that Tupperware (the company) is more than likely going out of business.  They have hired professionals to try and turn the business around, but it is not looking good.  This made me so sad when I heard about it, as the company has been around since the 40s.  It also made me realize that the second hand market prices, if this happened, were doing nothing but going up, so if I wanted to fill the few gaps I had in pieces that I wanted, I had better figure it out now.

So, I went on E-bay to see what I could find for a couple more countertop containers as I needed some for flours and things I'm now using regularly (like I wanted to get one for unbleached all purpose flour since that is used all the time in my sourdough starter and things).  And, for the first time EVER I found a really great deal on not one, but two blue counter containers.  The blue color seems to be really rare and every time I saw listings for it on E-bay they were always way more money than I wanted, or could, spend on something like that.  This time, though, I found two containers that were 14.00 for BOTH containers and the shipping was cheap!  I am so thrilled with these as I've been wanting this color in my collection for years, and I mean years and they are now filled with flours and are being used every day pretty much, so I call it a definite win :).

The other small thing I managed to get was a lid for this brown container.  My mother-in-law gave me the container as part of a trade a long time ago, but while taking the lid off one day it split and broke on me (turns out, looking into the lid I needed to replace on it, that it was a replacement lid that broke on it to begin with...wonder what happened to the original lid as I'm sure my mother-in-law got it at a used store years ago).  I put the container aside and looked for a replacement lid ever since, but never could find one.  I just happened to be looking on E-bay and found an original container with the lid where the person was nice enough to list the lid part number in the listing, which was a first for me to find.  I went and searched for the lid part number, and while I couldn't find a clear or brown lid to go with the container (as it would have originally had on it), I DID find a golden yellow lid that would fit it and I called it good enough.  It was only 4.00 with free shipping (I know, expensive for a lid, but trust me that isn't bad for Tupperware), so I ordered it and can now finally use my brown container again (it is already full of flour as well and is on my counter top being used *laugh*).

I was even able to use credit card rewards to help pay for the items, which got my costs even lower :).

So, yeah, not screaming deals this week, but things I did need for my kitchen to protect important things from bugs and mice, so I'm definitely not complaining.  And the fact that the blue containers happened to be a color I had been looking for was a major bonus for me :).

Oh in a side note ,thank you to those who have chimed in on the hood paint and making sure it was high temperature rated.  My husband has thought about tractor paint and "other alternatives" but hasn't settled on one yet, but we will definitely make sure the paint is rated for high temperatures.  Thank you for the advice!

Also, I can't remember who asked this question (sorry) but someone asked if I had ever found a recipe for Red Robin seasoning that worked well enough for Alvah.  No, no I haven't.  I looked at the ingredients and the seasoning has malt extract powder, so I'm thinking that adds a depth of flavor I just plain can't replicate.  I'm going to keep trying, though.

Enjoy!