The Basement of the Bargains

When I wake up in the morning for my daily dose of caffeine, I like a bit of whimsey with it. So imagine my delight when I ran across these delightful cup and saucer sets whilst browsing the Gevalia website.

Have your coffee or tea in high style from the Mona Lisa or the work of Claude Monet. The VanGough, alas! appears to be gone forever. And I have a particular fondness for those irises.

A set of two cups and saucers in your choice of design was originally $42.95. Now, however, you can toast the art world from a great work of art for just $22.95. Or, if you want just one, it’s now $14.95, marked down from $21.47.

At last I think I’ve found a replacement for my greatly mourned American Gothic coffee mug that sadly met its demise a few months ago. Oh, Mona? Want to come have coffee with me?

Years ago when I was choosing my day-to-day dishes, I thought long and hard before choosing a set with dark salad plates. I was worried that they would look somber on my table. I feared that they would make me decide never to serve a salad course.

As soon as I used them for the first time, though, I was thrilled to discover there’s nothing like a very dark plate to make a surprising number of foods look their most appetizing. Green salads, yellow summer squash, orange yams, white potatoes, red tomatoes…they all look that much yummier when nestled on my cobalt blue salad plates. In fact, it’s now the white dinner plates I’m more likely to bypass in favor of those lovely dark salad plates that make the food pop in such a delicious way.

I also admit that I really like squares. There’s something solid about them that appeals to me. The fact that most people expect something round on a table doesn’t hurt matters, either.

So imagine my delight on running across this set of Iris square dinneware by Block at cooking.com.

The sixteen pieces make up four place settings for your casual dining pleasure. Simple matte lines add elegance to the high gloss finish of a lightly speckled dark blue glaze. They’re also dishwasher and microwave safe.
The suggested retail price for this set is $239.99. Cooking.com usually carries it for $159.95. Right now, however, there’s a blowout, closeout sale and you can be ready to serve four for just $79.99. Just think, a service for eight will still cost you less than the service for four would have cost originally.

That’s my idea of a great idea. Oh, and pass the salad, please.

If you’re looking to spruce up the look of your table for your next party, there’s nothing like a pretty new serving platter to do the trick in an affordable way.

This gorgeous glass platter with fern leaf design from Wrapables might be just the trick. It hits this spring’s hot black and white trend, as well as the one for floral patterns, yet is classic enough that it will look just as fabulous when the fickle finger of fashion points in a different direction. It comes in a 12″ x 12″ square or 20″ x 6.5″ rectangle. Pick the one that works for your serving needs, or buy both.

After all, at $14.99 for the square and $9.99 for the rectangle (regularly $26.95 and $32.95, respectively), it would be hard to go wrong!

With the weather getting warmer and the birds chirping outside my window, my mind turns to the fun of having an al fresco dining experience or two. Alas! I’ve gone picnicking before only to break a precious plate, and goodness knows there’s no delight in dining on paper ones. So what is a superfantastic outdoor diner to do?

She should head right on over to visit Rosanna and check out her sales section.

These witty and charming plates are made of sturdy, practical, lightweight melamine which is perfect for a picnic. The designs are taken from Victorian woodcuts and rendered in classic black on white. They’ll look elegant straight from the basket, and make an appetizing backdrop for your best finger foods and salads.

Not so long ago, a set of four dinner plates in this pattern would have set you back $44.00 and the salad plate set would have cost $32.00. Now, though, the dinner plates are just $33.00 and the salad plates $24.00. The platter is - alas! - sold out. On the other hand, you can still get the charming black polka dot glasses shown here, and they’re also on sale.

I must admit I have a bit of a thing for the whimsical, particularly when it’s tableware. And so it was that these delightful flower teacups and saucers caught my eye.

The set of four comes with one each of: tulip, carnation, water lily, and pansy. Each cup and saucer is handpainted porcelain. So pretty.

And of course you know if you’re reading about them here, they’re on sale. The original price on the eight piece set was not at all bad. That was $72.95. Of couse, the sale price from Wrappables is even better. That’s a mere $59.99.

Now, do you take lemon in your tea?

Is it possible to have too many pretty dishes? Okay, maybe it is possible to have too many, but I’m going to ignore that for the great deal on Lenox dinnerware at cooking.com.

Take, for instance, this gorgeous Lenox Blue Frost china. If you go to a department store, you’d spend $158.00 for this five-piece place setting. Cooking.com usually sells it for $109.95, but with the sale going on now, you can get it for just $94.80 a place setting! That’s 40% off the original retail price.

<>You have to eat off of something. Why not use the best?

I love ice cream. I love special dishes. When there’s a touch of whimsey added, things just don’t get much better in my book. Oh wait a minute! There is one thing that can improve it: when I can get whimsical ice cream bowls at a great bargain price.

I found these delightful red-footed glass ice cream bowls at Sur la Table in the sale section. They’re microwave safe, which is handy if you’re using hot fudge, but hand washing is recommended.

Originally $15.50 for a set of four, they’re marked down to just $7.89. That’s less than two dollars each!

<>Make mine chocolate, please.

Four-leaf clovers are lucky things, and these gorgeous four-leaf clover glass platters from wrapables.com are marked down in a way that spells good luck for shoppers.

The small one measures 8″x8″ and the large 12″x12″ for two convenient serving sizes. Normally the small would sell for $19.95 and the large for $26.95, but right now during Wrapables end of season sale, they’re just $12.99 and $19.99. The stands are available separately.

Holding a holiday party this year? Planning to hold one another time? Just enjoy noshing on appetizers when the mood strikes? Whatever excuse you can come up with, these witty Rosanna appetizer plates from cooking.com would make a lovely gift for yourself or someone you love. And at $24.47 (regular price $34.95), they’re affordable, too.

The plates may say things like ‘All I want for Christmas is a pair of designer shoes,’ but all I want for Christmas is these amusing plates!

These lovely pumpkin dessert plates caught my eye today as I continued my never-ending search for good deals to facilitate the superfantastic life. Made in Italy of earthenware, they are dishwasher safe. A feast for the eyes as well as a background for a feast for the palate, they’re marked down from $9.95 each to just $4.95.

At that price, I may need to head over to Crate and Barrel and order a set for myself!