Goodwill finds

Yesterday while running errands I decided to stop in really quick at Goodwill. It'd been a while since I'd gone thrifting but it was on the way to my next errand. I got a parking spot right by the door, which reminded me of what one of my good friend's MIL once told me ("if you get a great parking spot, that means there's a killer deal inside that you are now responsible to find"). I was hoping to find a nightstand or 2 for our master bedroom. Instead I found a couple of new globes for our sconces for $2 each (they're $8 each at HD). I thought that was a pretty good deal. But, then I remembered that I'm looking for a small plate for a project I want to do (didn't find one) and went to the plate section. I did a double take when I saw this:

It's china, 8 place settings of MY china. My jaw may have dropped. It's expired, they don't make it anymore and I've been wanting a few more place settings to use with formal dinners. I asked an employee the price and for $50, it was mine! (One place setting on Replacements.com is $27.99 plus shipping!) It's missing 1 bread plate and 4 tea cups, but otherwise it's a complete 8 place settings. Score!

Some history on my china: My mom started buying this pattern when I was a teenager to compliment her expired china pattern when her sister gave my mom her china (my mom and aunt had the same pattern). Suddenly, she didn't need this half-bought set anymore, so I asked if I could have it and she bought a full 8 place settings and all the serving platters/bowls and things for me.

A year or so ago, I started figuring out how to get more of my pattern so I could get 12 place settings total and I learned some things about my pattern. Originally, it was made in the 70s by a German company called Johann Haviland. The pattern was so popular that in the 90s they had it mass-produced in Thailand and it was sold in grocery stores around the country. My pattern is the knock-off - not worth as much as the original, but still as pretty.

Well, I got my new china home and started cleaning it when I realized that I didn't actually buy my china pattern - I bought the original, German made china! Here's a picture of 2 dessert bowls. The one on the left is my old china (the knock-off) and the right is the new stuff I got yesterday. It's faded from use and washing, but otherwise you can't tell a difference just looking at them. (There's a different stamp on the bottom of each piece and there is a slight difference in weight between the two.)

After washing my new china, I put it all in my china cabinet and prettied things up a bit. Oh, I also now have 2 creamers and 2 sugar bowls.


We'll be eating dinner on my "new" china soon, just because! (And yes, I let my 5, 4 and 2 year olds eat off my china, they're just not allowed to pick up the plates. :)