Pyrex

I'm not much of a tchotchkes kind of person and I have no real collections to speak of.  But I've always wanted the need to collect things. The desire to seek out and find something that I just had to have has always been there. Like a giant treasure hunt. However, I just never had anything to collect. I wanted to be sure that if I were going to collect something, that it would be something I could use, not just something I had to dust.

That's when I remembered pyrex...

My mom used to have a few pieces of pyrex for daily use. They were brown rectangular glass food storage containers in a few different sizes that I just never thought much of. We used them, they were always there and had some kind of left overs in them in the fridge. But just thinking of them brings back fond memories of thanksgivings and Christmases past and even just of having a family meal around the table (which, lucky for me, happened nearly every night).

I was blog hopping around a few weeks ago when I found a blog that had a tab devoted exclusively to vintage pyrex. I clicked over because I didn't know the that name off the top of my head, even though I own a few pieces of clear glass casserole dishes that have that exact name printed on them, make that engraved on them. She had a few pieces of vintage pyrex that she had displayed in her kitchen and they just looked fabulous. I found myself pinteresting and googling to see what else I could find.

I discovered several websites devoted exclusively to vintage pyrex.

Then I decided that I must have some.

Before I got very far, I found myself bidding on some on e-bay. I purchased a few things that just got here today (one is smashed and I think my heart broke a little along with it). But the other set of bowls got here just fine.

In the mean time, since I first ordered the items, I found out that a true pyrex collector trolls local shops, antique stores, thrift stores and garage sales to find the items, rather than buying them on e-bay. So I did just that. I went to most of the places I could think of in town and I had a blast searching for items I wanted. I expected things to be harder to find then they were and ended up with many items. Shopping this way means that you always have holes in your collection, missing pieces especially lids. Therefore, there is always something to continue to look for.

My husband was also up in Colorado this weekend to get a car serviced and he picked up some stuff I arranged for in Denver. While he was there, he mentioned to his step-mom what I was doing and she went out and got me several pieces too.

I went from a few pieces of clear modern pyrex to probably around 40 pieces in a matter of days! And I've only spent about $150 on it.

So today, I spent my morning dusting, washing, removing price tags and stains from all the pyrex.

Then I had to clear out some space to display them. My husband refuses to get me a bookshelf or anything so the pantry had to do. I rearranged and crammed food into cabinets and made room for my pyrex. And after all my work, I ended up with one full shelf full of my new love and one empty shelf for any future purchases.

What do you all collect? Anything? or are collections just something to dust? Did your parents have and use pyrex? What do you think of my collection so far?