Our Hopeful Home: Thrill of the Hunt #32

Welcome back for another round of Thrill of the Hunt! Sit back, relax, and read along as I share with you some of my more recent thrifting finds. Despite having gone away on vacation, I still managed to come up with a few things I've yet to share with you all.

World map thrifted map by Charm Bracelet Diva {At Home}

First up, one never-opened, large United States Wall Map, the kind you'd find in a school classroom. It was still in its original packaging with a marked price of $16.95.

I paid $2.99. I did the happy dance when I found it at Goodwill, since I have a thing for globes and maps. I'm thinking that I might pick up a thrifted frame for it and use it to decorate one wall in the kids' room in the basement. Never mind that the room is currently filled with Sterlite storage bins and a treadmill. My plans are to transform it into a teen hangout of sorts. Ok, add that project to the list.

Silver art deco vintage cocktail pitcher

Moving on, I also found what I believe to be a silver plate cocktail pitcher from the Salvation Army for $2.86 (I know, they really have weird prices, right?) It has a strainer ice lip, for drinks with crushed ice.

Crescent Silverware Manufacturing Company Maker's Mark

The maker's mark says "Crescent" on the bottom. After much research all I can determine is that Crescent Silverware Manufacturing Company was founded in 1922 in Port Jervis, New York. In 1977 it was bought by Samuel Kirk & Son. I don't believe the latter company would have used the Crescent mark so I can only surmise that the pitcher was made sometime between 1922 and 1977. My guess is that it's a vintage art deco cocktail pitcher from the 1960's or maybe the 1970's.

Obviously it's not been polished so I'm not sure how it will look after a good cleaning. Usually I prefer a bit of a patina on my sterling silver finds, but since this is silver plate it does not wear the "patina" nearly as well.

My next find is rather odd at first glance. Perhaps you can help me determine what it is exactly. All I can say is that it's a round globe jar. As in, completely round.

At first I thought it was some sort of light fixture. But my research turned up three similar jars that sold on Etsy. One possible origin of the jar is a "flower aquarium." Apparently, they used to be popular at some point for displaying flowers, possibly the 1960's. In some cases, flower frogs were attached to the cap, then a flower was inserted and water was added.

There was also a similar display piece available in stores in the 1980's called the "Bowl O Beauty," which used a chemical to preserve the flowers.

I found globes like mine (without the Bowl O Beauty moniker) still selling new on Amazon, and even Wal-Mart, for $31.00! for My cost: 98 cents.

If I were to use it as a flower aquarium I would definitely paint the lid, possibly gold. What do you think? You can probably guess what I have in mind for it. Can you say snow globe? It's never too early to start planning those DIY Christmas decor projects!

Last but not least you might have already seen my recent 99 cent Scrabble game find. I bought it with my DIY iPad Stand in mind, but I'm sure I'll be using it for other projects as well. Perhaps I can use some of the tiles in my repurposed vintage jewelry designs.

Well, now that our vacation is just a memory I guess it's back to reality. At least it's still summer!