Gien China-Fabulous GW Bargains

A friend and I shop at Goodwill on our lunch hour almost every Tuesday and last week I made another wonderful purchase!  I knew when I saw the box with the maker from France that I must investigate further.  

What a pleasant surprise to find these beautiful Gien "Alice" desert plates with a cake server tucked inside.  I scooped up the box and couldn't wait to examine them for chips or scratches.

   

They were in mint condition  and barely looked  used. I wasn't familiar with Gien china so I later looked them up on ebay and to my surprise they retail for $36.00 per plate.  Can you believe  I purchased the entire set of six ...are you ready ...for $7.00!  

The cake server is beautifully made and is listed on another website for $52.00. 

Doesn't the server look great with my grandma's china!

 I would love to buy some accompanying pieces but unless they show up at Goodwill I won't pay that much for dinnerware!  Before this purchase I had never seen or heard of Gien china but when  I visited their  website I fell in love with all of their patterns.  Pricey but beautiful...take a peek if you dare...here's the link: 

www.gien.com/en/

I love the blue pansies and muscari blossoms.  They are some of my favorite spring flowers.   The muscari blooms remind me of Texas bluebonnets, another fav of mine.

 I arranged a little vignette on the piano with Easter bunnies to hopefully hurry Spring!

  This set is perfect for spring or summer tablescapes and they coordinate perfectly with my grandma's periwinkle blue Franciscan china.

I started playing with my dishes again...and this is a preview of my Easter tablesetting.  I haven't used my grandma's entire set in years and since I have so many unusual pieces that were included like a huge platter, gray boat and adorable double handled bowls I've decided to use all the pieces this year.  The Alice plates give a great updated and fresh look to old vintage china.   The pattern is Brentwood and has a simple flower motiff with a platinum edge.  

 I also found these sweet little bread plates at GW from Godinger & Co.  They are the palest and softest blue color and the scalloped edges are so pretty.  I paid  $3.00 for 4 plates.  This is such a pretty color for spring!  

If you don't shop at Goodwill..you really should.  There are some wonderful items available but you do have to take the time to look.  It helps the community by employing wonderful people and  recycling is a good thing. (as Martha would say)  

Happy treasure hunting !  

This week I'm linking with Chari at Happy to Design for Sunday Favorites, Blue Monday at Smiling Sally's and A Picture's Worth a 1,000 Words for Second Time Around Tuesday.