Free Dinnerware

If you've gotten married in the past few years, chances are you've sat in a little room at Bed Bath and Beyond while a representative showed you dinnerware and other "must-haves" for a kitchen as you put together a gift registry. We did. And not only did we think all the choices they offered were ugly, but they were terribly expensive! We politely told them we weren't interested and continued on, unsure of where we'd be finding something satisfactory to our taste. Aaron liked Corelle and would've loved to have it in our home, hearing so many rave over the fact that it can be dropped so many times without breaking. That's what we had growing up, and he and I both have witnessed a number of plates and bowls shatter into a million pieces in our day. I looked into it and discovered even those prices were rather high for our almost-newlywed budget. So, I took the search to Craigslist. We had been planning on a blue and white country kitchen and of course were hoping to find dishes to match, and there happened to be a set for just that local to me. I sent Aaron the link to see if he liked it, and decided for the price it would work just fine. It was better than what we'd been finding and it was service for 24! Another thing we had wanted was a decent number of whatever we ended up with because we knew between company, both our large families, and hoping for a brood of kids ourselves one day, we'd need a few sets. The price tag? $50 for all of it (but worth closer to $200). I called the lady up and went to get them the next day.

Fast forward a few months. I was browsing a thrift store and what do I find but a box of Currier and Ives! I can't remember the exact price, but I believe it was around $5 for all of it, and in the collection were a few bowls that I needed more of. For just those pieces alone it was worth the money, so I walked out excited to have a few more soup bowls and also some replacements of the various plates and things that I already had. Then that summer my sister-in-law was at an estate sale nearby and found a whole bunch of these dishes and called me in case I was interested. Well, I was hoping to find a few more soup bowls (which are pretty rare, by the way) so I went over. The lady had run an antique store so she had quite a variety of china and other cool things. I found some of what I was after, but it was for sale in a rather large miscellaneous lot, for $20, and I became the owner of those, too.

By now I had spent $75 on all these dishes. But I knew I had more than just replacements that would sit in my basement until we broke a few and needed them. Some of them that I had found at the estate sale were rare collectible items so I could probably make some extra cash off them. I married an eBay guy, so how could I not try my own hand at it at some point in our married life?! Eventually I divided them up into smaller lots, listed them for a fairly decent price so I didn't have them around forever, and let them sit until I had buyers. Well a couple weeks ago I sold the last two lots and have officially come out ahead. Unfortunately I didn't keep good record of the first few items I sold, but the lot of collectibles alone covered all but $5 of my total expenses! My goal was to get my money back on the thrift store and estate sale purchases, and cover the cost of all the ones I have for personal use as well. Now I've done that and made a little bit more on the side! I'm quite happy to have free dinnerware and a few of the hard to find pieces in my cabinet as well. Now to find a few more soup-sized bowls to truly complete my set!


And that is the story of the china you've been seeing in my food photography.