A NOTE ON SCAVENGING
I haven't posted much but I have been collecting. Mostly free stuff because frankly free is good. I don't have photos of everything yet but I wanted to share a list of things I have acquired for the dinner party.
I probably should begin by saying that the dinner party will be held outside in the frame of an EZ-up portable awning. The idea is to drape it, light it, and fill it with totally cool stuff. Here is the list;
EZ -up - free from neighbor because it had no top.
Huge box of curtains some with really cool Asian motif - free from Craigslist
Mirror - free from Craigslist
8 Chairs; four black bar chairs, three vintage Duncan Phyfe chairs, and one ladderback chair - all free from Craigslist.
Fabric to cover chairs, random bits, $4 muslin/discount fabric. Curtain panels $3 for all from thrift store.
Vintage china service for 12, almost complete -- $20, yes less than a tank of gas....and yes, Craigslist.
Assorted serving platters and soup tureen - free from a house that had stuff piled in the yard. I asked if I could take/buy, the answer was "take whatever you want."
Steampunk wall clock - free from the house above.
Really cool metal and wood stand - free from house above.
Metal chandelier, new in box $10 - Craigslist. This will need to be wired to a plug in set up opposed to a hard wire set up. Also will antique it by spraying it with some interesting spray paint.
Christmas twinkle lights - four boxes - $2 (clearance)
2 bolts of snakeskin looking fabric, one brown, one dark red - right place/right time when retail fabric shop was dumping damaged fabric bolts.
Really cool vintage Thai service for 8 - $7 + $10 shipping, Ebay
Vintage radio - $10, this will be used to house the Ipod and speakers to have music at dinner, will probably sit on the neat stand.
There are other bits and pieces but for now these are the basics. Remember people let stuff go, cool and interesting stuff...you just have to be there to catch it before it goes to someone else or in the trash.
R,
ReplyDeleteI think I have the cousin to your teak & brass picnic set. I also found a set 3-4 yrs ago in Santa Barbara. AFAICT they're from Thailand in the 30s-40s-50s. Do you know anymore about 'em?
--cin
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ReplyDeleteThe fact that they are not in fashion, are readily found, and hard to authenticate in some cases makes these cheap buys. I got a full service for 8 (more pieces than normal per settings) which is pictured here for $7 plus shipping. The service for 8 set in a box came in just a little more than $30 but that was a gift and the pieces are all brass, no wood, came with several extra's including salt and pepper shakers (but oddly it had butter knives but no soup spoons).
DeleteHi Cin -- sorry about the odd posting and editing....I tried to edit my post and lost half of it. The missing first half was that although these have been produced since the 30's they also have been made at least through part of the 1970's. They were heavily marketed to GI's through many wars and many GIs brought sets home to the U.S. as souvenirs. Import shops also brought them to the U.S., and they were more popular when gold coloured flatware was "in." I like them because they can really work with costumed dining or themed dinner parties. You can't run them through the dishwasher though as you run the risk of damaging the metals and wood (if you have it)...now you can go to the previous half post above. :-)
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