A Goodwill grab bag

Thursday mornings after Bible Study are turning into "Thrifty Thursdays," and I'm trying to hit up a different thrift store each week. Yesterday it was Goodwill. And may I just say that if I had time, I would volunteer to go into their stockroom and inspect all the housewares to make sure they aren't accidentally splitting up matched sets. Yesterday, I saw the cup at right, which wasn't priced, but it was sitting next to this shrink-wrapped $2.99 pile o' dishes that clearly contained the matching saucer.

I found a clerk up front and asked him if he could price the cup for me since it went with the saucer. "See?" I pointed.

"No, it doesn't go with that. See, it wouldn't fit in the shrink wrap." (I think he thought I was trying to get it for free, which wasn't the case.)

"Okay," said I, "but can you get me a price anyway?"

He did—59 cents. I decided that yes, indeed, I would happily pay a total of $3.58 for the cup and saucer, although I was bummed that in the process of getting such a good deal, I also had to take home a stack of mystery dishes that I didn't need. (I seriously considered cutting it all apart in the store to get to the saucer and saying, "Here. Keep the rest.")

For the record—both pieces of this set were marked Mary Engelbreit. I knew they would be because I'd just read an old Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine from the early 2000s over the weekend, and it had an ad showing these teacups, which I don't ever remember seeing before. "How did I miss those back then?" I wondered. So how interesting that I would spot one of the teacup-and-saucer sets just a few days later.

What else was in my mystery package, you ask? Well, first was this strawberry plate, which I would have used were it not sporting two large, very noticeable chips. Bummer. (Any thoughts on how I could repurpose this before I toss it?)

Next, a small Cookies for Santa plate. That's a keeper. If I need to give someone a small plate of cookies this Christmas, this will work.

And this plate? Now we're talking. Still had the Ross price sticker on the back, so I don't think it's ever been used.

And the last item in the mystery stack? A pretty red platter that will be a great Christmas cookie plate for someone this year. So while I was actually *hoping* to find some vintage valentine goodies, which are usually out right now, I was nonetheless happy to get a thrifty head start on my Christmas cookie plate collecting for the year.

Oh, and I did spend a whopping $1.49 on this Mikasa glass platter. This is the third one of these I've purchased (I paid $1 for the other two, and one of them even came from an antique mall). But if you ever see this piece cheap, grab it, because it's the perfect size for gifting a loaf of tea bread!