Treasure Happy

A fairy tale

2009-12-03T14:19:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time there was a tatty but adorable vintage christmas tree that had just been thrifted. In the same house there was a little dolly, wearing an ugly homemade playsuit, who had been bought at a jumble sale many, many years ago. The little dolly looked like she might make a nice little christmas fairy, so her ugly outfit was unpicked

And lo and behold, her makers mark was discovered and guess what? She WAS a real vintage christmas fairy all along. A little fairy in disguise.

The little dolly was ever so happy to have a new outfit, and to be a special christmas fairy once more.

And she lived happily ever after.

The End

feeling pious

2009-11-26T06:54:00.001-08:00

Apparently little girls like to dress up as brides - I didn't, I always wanted put a blanket over my head to be a nun!

I had very romantic, fanciful notions of piety (I blame some of the stories in my vintage bunty annuals!)

I still have a little bit of a 'thing' about being a nun to this day

I got this little carved angel from a jumble sale when I was about 6 or 7, so I could play at being a pious nun

I don't think i would make a good nun in real life through - no. 10 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbours goods' - I am forever coveting vintage treasures

so, I think I am stuck with the occasional pious daydream and trinket

But that won't stop me enjoying the jam I got at a church fair last saturday, 'Blessed and approved by the Cannon', apparently!

And I still adore my 'Monastique' (I kid you not!) rose hand cream made by australian nuns, that I won at tombola at a nunnery :)

It's beginning to look a lot like christmas!

2009-11-23T12:03:00.000-08:00

This week my christmas stocking swap parcel arrived! Yay! I was a very lucky girl and got paired with Lyn from everyday life. Wanna see?

Here is my stocking. Ooooooooooh, ahhhhhhhh

Here is what jumped out of my stocking, double ooooh ahhhhh

Clever Lyn must have phoned santa and found out that chocolate coins are always a stocking essential for me!

Now, I wasn't entirely sure if i was supposed to open the parcels right away or wait until christmas?

This little felt pouch wasn't wrapped, so it was clearly fair game to open it!

And i could half see through the tissue paper of this parcel. It looked like christmas cards so I thought I had better open it as well...

Yay christmas ladybird illustrations! I am sooooooo not giving these away, they are destined for my wire heart card holder!

And then i remembered spying this post and, hmmmm

Yipee, I was right! it was a bunting shaped package! And, as you can imagine, by that time I was on a bit of a roll, so I decided to go ahead and open the rest of the parcels!

fabric star decoration, cute polka dot notebook, and chocolates (that are sadly no longer with us...)

Pretty pretty pretty ribbon brooch

And twit-twoo, a little knitted owl! What a cutie!

Group shot!

Thank you so much Lyn, I love my first christmas present of 2009! I literally cannot wait to hang that bunting! not long now, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaay yipeeeee yayayayayayayay (overexcited overgrown child noises)

I am off to do some wrapping now so I can post a special parcel tomorrow.... am I allowed to put on christmas music yet?

label love

2009-11-09T13:38:00.000-08:00

I heart sticky labels at the moment. How much greater is this little blanket, just cos of the little sticky label that was on it - "crocheted by a 90 year old lady"

And I nearly missed buying this ugly little box until I noticed the label - "full of buttons"

Full.

Of.

Buttons.

One of my greatest thrills in life is riffling through an old button box (I'm sure you blog ladies understand!)

What i like even more than the pretty buttons are the random little 'treasures' that inevitably seem to find their way into button boxes. I am quite sure I must have been a magpie in a former life...

Oops, I did it again...

2009-11-06T05:19:00.000-08:00

Did what again? Not post for wayyy to long? Yes, that is true but it wasn't what I was thinking of.

Or maybe I mean this?

Nope, not that either...

Oops, i did THIS again... well, who could resist

just needs a lick of paint and a bit of new fabric! The lid is on hinges so I can hide secret things inside it...shhhh dont tell anyone ;)

wooooo-ooooooooh!

2009-10-31T11:04:00.001-07:00

happy halloween peeps!

get your stockings out...

2009-10-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

p.s. forgot to mention that I also signed up to this ace christmas stocking swap, which is kindly being organised by Bekki over at the ramblings of an everyday mummy :)

boo hoo I am rubbish and can't add the picture link like I am supposed to... so please join in via the link above if you haven't already!

xxx

look at my cake! look at my scones!

2009-10-09T09:47:00.000-07:00

hello hello. Whoops I haven't posted for ages. I'm not sure why, I have been reading others, buying lots (and lots...and lots) of treasures, and even actually CRAFTING!

I have also been baking! yes, actually using my bowl/scales/aprons/cake tin/cookie cutter collections instead of just ooh-ing and ah-ing and displaying them.

gratuitous baking pic...

gratuitous apron collection pic...

I made my mummy this cake for her birthday. It was the first cake anyone had made her since she was a little girl!!!! shocking stuff. She was very impressed by my baking talents

gratuitious cakey close-up

and I made scones too!

mmmmmm with cranberrys instead of boring old raisins. wow i feel so domestic x

the vintage bedding fairy has been!

2009-09-29T12:58:00.002-07:00

I tiptoed through to bed at midnight last night....

and look! the vintage bedding fairy has been! and brought me a grannylicious candlewick bedspread!

mmmm pink

mmmm textured

mmmmm fringed

mmmmm snug as a bug in a candlewick rug!

thanks vintage bedding fairy! (she is the tooth fairy's sister, dontcha know).

And remember - every time you say you don't believe in the vintage bedding fairy, some fool with no taste throws their grannys eiderdown in a skip! You have been warned!

3-6-9 the goose drank wine...

2009-09-24T10:01:00.000-07:00

My mama brought me this little lady from a car boot sale a few days ago. She has made herself right at home in my dollies house.

She totally reminds me of one of my most loved songs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgnCB7oni8o

My friend once said that it made no sense, as who would want a rubber dolly AND be old enough to be kissing soldiers? then she said "oh wait, I can't believe I just asked you that"

I don't know what she means....

I much prefer sailors ;)

I'm baaaaa-aaack!

2009-09-23T11:14:00.000-07:00

Did you miss me? I haven't actually been anywhere - my aged laptop finally gave up the fight and refused to switch on/sparked when I poked it last week.

So I now have a shiney new laptop, ooooh! (oh but the expense! I will not think about how many bargainous treasures it equates to, I shan't I shan't!)

£1 treasures like this dolly

And this knitting bag plus a few sets of my favourite coloured knitting needles

Or this fabby 'bambi' cross stitch

Which I have hung in my bedroom on my little £2 shelf that I have finally put up

Or the 50p wire heart I have finally hung beneath it (filled with cards that a few of you may recognise - plus my prized possession, a cupcake birthday card from 'the' colin & justin!)

Oh no. I'm not thinking about all the glorious pretty things that might have been

:( waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! why do boring necessities cost so much????

I am going to try and cheer myself up later with a cup of tea and an early night with not one but TWO brand new (to me) sets of pillow cases on my bed. Pretty rock and roll, huh?

humph :(

2009-09-13T05:06:00.000-07:00

Boo hiss. I tried to get an early night last night, but my plan was scuppered by noisy people being noisy in my flat until very very late :(

Then I got up this morning, opened my curtains, and found out that my little windowbox garden had been BURGLED!

I had a little dolly sized watering can tied up just next to the birdhouse but it has been nicked during the night :(

I had better try and cheer myself up. Here are some pictures of my (10 year old) puppy Lucy (who is actually my mummy and daddys puppy)

All snuggled up in my granny blanket

Awwwww. Lucy and I won a3rd place rosette in the 'dog and owner most alike' category at a village fete last summer. I take this as a compliment!

is it a bird? is it a plane? no, it's needlewoman!

2009-09-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Remember this book I got a few weeks ago? Care for a nosey inside?

You know you are on to a winner when this is the first page...

I want to be this little girl!

Or maybe I'd rather be this vampy lady

I quite fancy making this tea cosy

or I could knock up a pair of 'evening mitts'

I love these little pixies too

And if anyone ever gets the urge to crochet their own brassiere let me know, I can sent you the instructions!

kitcheny bits

2009-09-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

I finally found a home for these swap biscuit ornaments from annie. I re-jigged some stuff in the kitchen to fit this basket in, filled it with my vintage apron collection, and decorated it with the biscuits! Hope you like it - I risked life and limb taking this photo (kinda, I got pins and needles while standing on a chair)

While we are in the kitchen do you want a peek at my 'hanging tat' collection (where I put all my teeny tiny kitcheny bits)? I soted it out yesterday...well, it's as sorted as it gets

Eggcups and eggcosy type bits up the top

Teapot stands and teabag holdery bits in the middle (plus a gingerbread man that 'santas wife' fancied up with gingham)

And, em, rusty old tins and cookie cutter bits down the bottom

ps - thanks for all the get well soons - I am still sneezing away though!

dolls and sneezes

2009-09-07T10:15:00.000-07:00

oh look, its been cold and autumny for about 2 minutes and I have a cold already :(

I got a few bits and bobs at the weekend, as usual, including some more bedding/blankets (yes I am obsessed). they are in the wash at the moment so no photos yet.

I also got these 2 little ladies (sorry about the dark photo)

I rescued the baby doll, she was all lost and lonely on the street. She was naked when I found her, but about 2 minutes after I picked her up I went into a charity shop and came across this little outfit for 50p. Couldn't resist.

I also 'needed' this little dutch doll. She was the cutest one out of a collection of costume dolls, but she had lost her shoes so I shamelessly nicked the plastic yellow clogs off her friend. I am bad to the bone, oh yes.

Right, I'm off to find a cure for the common cold (may involve tea, blankets, and an evening of TV)

rat-a-tat-tat

2009-09-01T11:53:00.000-07:00

Before it rolls round to the weekend again, I had better catch you up with last weekends thrifty finds

I started off on friday afternoon, selflessly giving all my money to charity.

Well, in exchange for a few bits and pieces. Not quite as selfless as I make out perhaps...

blue buttons, fabulously ugly shell necklace, and a snowdrop brooch that reminds me of my grans garden, which was at the bottom of the button box (the brooch, not the garden...although I do like the sound of having a garden at the bottom of a button box)

Vintage pillowcases and some more coloured knitting needles

THE MOST AMAZING cross stitch kitten cushion in the world

And an 'extortionate' teapot. Thats right ladies and gents, I spent five whole pounds on one item. I tried to put it down to conserve my finances, I really did. But it was a lost cause. We are in love. And I do need another teapot... what if my other 3 break?! A gal's gotta be prepared...

Ahem, anyway, on to my traditional saturday tour of jumble sales/table sales/fetes... I hit the jackpot on one bargainous bric a brac stall

Green glass flower bowl and posy mirror (been hankering after one of these mirrors for ages)

Queen mothers 90th birthday mug (to go with my very favourite fergie & andrew wedding mug - I have an odd sense of humour) and a little floral eggcup and sugar bowl thingie

Old mini biscuity trays, 2 pudding bowl/moulds, and an ugly utensil holder chef with a wee face that only a mother could love ;)

And a cute cute cute blue teacup and yellow mini-cake standy thingie

Look how nicely it goes with me new teapot! Tea-riffic, if I do say so myself

I also picked up some material bits for crafting

An abbacus...which will surely come in very handy, no? Some vintage hankies, and brand new peach blossom perfume & elizabeth arden creams

A few books & ladybird flashcards

I'm not sure how old 'The real life picture book' is but I'm guessing it is pretty old as this toddler is SMOKING!!!!

And a little brass cupid charm, which was my only purchase from a little antique fair I popped into. My mother rather cruelly named him 'wee gnome-sh*te' (!) as she thought I had been ripped off (£3) - a lot more than I usually pay but I got it down from £5, and I know it costs them a lot to hire out a stall!

Ah, another job well done.

another parcel and another blog award!

2009-09-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

Oooh, you blog ladies are really spoiling me!

First of all I got this lovely blog award from the very talented Suzie over at itch2stitch. Thanks Suzie, I really appreciate it!

Then I got this fab swap parcel from Annie at birdcages & butterflies

My first swap, yay! And boy was I pleased when I opened it! So many thoughtful handmade goodies!

I asked for this party ring in exchange for some ladybird book magnets (it is supposed to be a decoration but I specially requested it in pendant form so I can wear it ;-) )

But I also got a little bag full of other super cute biscuit decorations!

And as if that wasn't enough, Annie also popped in a delightful set of handpainted magnetic peg clips and handmade heart earings!

All topped off with a pin-up card and a butterfly and birdcage tag!

And yes, Annie, I am in fact a redhead! Well guessed/imagined! although I am auburn rather than strawberry blonde. But really, this pin-up girl could be my twin...

Although this portrait is the spitting image too ;)

So sweet! Thanks Aiden!

So as you can imagine I am a very very very happy bunny! I love it all so much, you're so clever at crafting! Thanks again Annie!

Presents & bed update

2009-08-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Yipee yipee yipee I got a parcel in the post today!

I won my very first give away - very lovely hangers handcovered in CK material by the very
lovely MelMel :)

With cute button frilly bits!

And there was a big bundle of CK goodies in the parcel as well!

A sweet little mirror, floral tissues, rose postcard & cute keyring

I squeaked with happiness when I saw the keyring - it is the very same one I have been coveting! I got the parcel when I came in from (yet another) driving lesson - I seem to be stuck and unable to get better so I was a bit fed up. The parcel cheered me up no end & so I have decided to keep the keyring by for now - one day it will have car keys attached to it!

(hmmm or maybe I should just use it now so I can see it everyday & then move it over if I ever become a motorist!)

Thanks so much MelMel! so thoughtful & generous :)

Look, the hangers have found a new home already! I am using them to hold the 3 seasonal coats I keep on hooks on the back of my cupboard door. (ps I am also proud to point out those 3 coats cost me a grand total of £1.80 ;) minus the brooches - they were a graduation present from my mum. I couldn't choose between the dolly and the gingerbread man so she got me both!)

While we are in my bedroom would you care to take a peek at my first attempt at princess-and-the-pea inspired bedding?

Mmmmmm, mismatched

Had to test it out...

Ouch! I must be a real princess!

Toothache

2009-08-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have a toothache today where my wisdom teeth are coming through. Boo hoo. I don't even want to eat any dinner (unheard of!)

So I thought I would show you my tooth fairy pillow from when I was ickle, that I have hanging on my living room door handle...

The best bit is the little note to the tooth fairy that is still tucked in the pocket. I had to write it when my tooth fell out when we were out and about and my mum went and LOST IT! I was determined not to be done out of my 20p...

And it worked! Although technically I still owe the tooth fairy a tooth as it never did turn up. Hope she never comes looking for it with a pair of pliers...

£20 spree....

2009-08-23T05:02:00.001-07:00

What can a gal get on a £20 shopping spree at a jumble sale and a couple of table sales, I hear you cry. Are you sitting comfortably? Then lets begin...

Lets start with clothing...

50p for the lot! 2 pairs of shoes, black jeans, and a jumper new with tags. And I couldn't resist this vintage pinny, even through I have far too many already.

This bundle was 'fill a plastic bag for £1' - cropped jeans, 2 tops, 3 vintage windmill hankies, 2 nighties new with tags, scarf, victoria plum bag & vintage handbag

I really like the bag, so let's have a close up!

Now on to the crafty goods - a handmade patchwork bag, 2 handmade cards, 2 balls of 'peter pan' wool, and pink knitting needles (a girl can never have enough pink knitting needles)

Now for the 'clock section' - enamel wall clock for my kitchen, felt man clock, and a pink 'next' watch with a GIANT face (just the way I like watches!)

Do you like my new hot air balloon lampshade? It was 20p and all dusty and tangled. Well, it still is dusty, I just put it up to see what it looked like. I looks ace in real life. Is it wrong to be in love with a dusty lampshade? Is it wrong that every day my house looks more and more like it has been decorated by a child? hmmm....

Homeware and kitchenware now. Handknitted pot hlders anyone? Vintage egg cosie? New stripey ironing board cover (you know, just in case I ever decide to iron anything). Lakeland tupperware thingies? Box full of cupcake recipe cards?

Or how about a new icing set, a set of star shaped placecard holders, 2 polka dot plastic beakers, a glass lid for a pyrex dish, a little bucket or a lakeland plastic lettuce knife (which apparently stops the edges from going brown - this has been on my jumble sale wish list for ages)

I also picked up a 'few' bits of jewellery. Just 7 necklaces, a bracelet and a pair of earrings (ahem)

Boo hoo my camera doesn't seem to like close-ups. But you get the jist.

Got to love the phone number of the jewellery shop on the box of this green necklace - 'FOU 1407-8 (2 Lines)'. When were phone numbers last like that???

Not many books/dvds today - a few old fairytale books, a big 30's-ish needlecraft book (which seems to be magazines bound together rather than a book??), and a copy of 'school for seduction' which I remember wanting to see at the cinema a million years ago.

Nearly at the end now. Just a few knick knacks to go. Vintage red gingham bed for a dolls house, little shell box, and a glass bauble with sand and shells isnside it.

Another knitted teddy for me to tart up with buttons and bows, and a set of pink russian dolls.

And finally, a butterfly card wallet, a brand new digital photo frame keyring, and a brand new 'burts bees' toiletry set.

I also got 2 vintage christmas decorations and 2 things for my present stash, which I sent away to live at my mums house and forgot to photograph.

Phew. Best haul I have had in a long time! I can't bring myself to tidy it all away yet... I've made a 'display' of goods in my room for me to admire at regular intervals throughout the day ;)

An award, a tablecloth and some new tat!

2009-08-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Yay! Look! I got my very first blog award, from the lovely Annie at Birdcages & Butterflies, thanks Annie! xxx

I have to list my 5 latest obsessions...

1) Mary Poppins Comes Back - I'm reading this at the moment and I'm loving it, even through I got a funny look on the bus this morning for reading it (not the first time this has happened, I can assure you)

2) Blankets - I'm attempting to knit my own (hmmm not looking that promising!) and I've also bought a couple of fab ones lately (MUCH easier!)

3) mismatched pillowcases - i recently got another two pillows for my bed (I used to have just the two) and I like how I can now stack up four different patterns. Yay!

4) blogging & recording EVERYTHING! I've not had my blog for long, but I have caught myself going 'oh, I wish I had brought my camera so I could blog about this!' a few times already

5) making badges - I dug my CS badgemaker out from my mums, where I was storing it as I didnt have a good place to keep it, and now every book, picture and scrap of material I own is potentially wearable (I have a bit of a 'thing' for jewellery - will have to post pics of my 'shop' one of these days...)

I will have to research who hasn't had this award already and come back and edit who I am going to pass it on to ;)

Next on the agenda - I need your help as I have a very serious decision to make. Very very serious indeed. I nicked this vintage snow white tablecloth off my mum (I have had my beedy eye on it for a while) -

I do love it, and I am definately going to keep it, but I'm not sure if I should keep it for tea parties and the like ;) or have it out on my 'found table' everyday, instead of oilcloth. I still want to paint the legs, and if I kept the cloth I think I would go for the salmon pink colour that is on the cloth.

Hmm or would floral oilcloth be better? Whaddaya think?

Lastly, I have to show you my new tat (I know, I know, all I seem to do is shop, but I just started training for a new job so I'm not doing many hours yet... and its far too tempting to 'pop in' to a few charity shops, especially when one of your loveliest friends invites you out for an afternoons perusing)

I was very reserved though and only got 3 bits - this china posy brooch, and this floral skirt (new with tags) - yes, I am wearing it already in this photo!

And this little bitty teeny tiny toadstool demanded to come home to my little bitty collection

Aww, see, I couldn't leave it behind, it's only a baby!

Ladybird Library

2009-08-18T04:39:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that, like any sensible person, I have a bit of a 'thing' for vintage ladybird books. Would you like to see my ladybird library? You would? Well, I must warn you to look away now if you are of a jealous disposition...

Isn't is great? That is an old postcard stand that I got out of a skip. Well, I say 'I', but I sent my mum and dad to get it in their car under cover of darkness after I spotted it on my way home. I called my mum to tell her about it, and she had actually spotted it the day before but had forgotten to tell me about it! Great minds think alike, eh. When they went to get it there was already someone having a look in the skip so they walked past to the end of the road and then came back, hoping he would have left... but when they got back there was a different old man in the skip - with a torch!

It was missing its base so I screwed it into a wooden ikea plant pot stand on castors (which I got for £1 at a CB of course)

And I got this big 'ladybird book of london' canvas print off ebay with some of my birthday money - I have wanted one of these for ages but was not likely to stump up full price (I think one that size is about £50!)

I sorted them all out a few weeks ago, and removed all my doubles to make space for new ones. I allowed myself 2 copies of the 'well loved tales', as they are, ahem, well loved. I took out all the 'read it yourself' ones as I realised I HATE THEM. I also organised them into categories so that I can actually find what I am looking for, as its blimming difficult to see the spines.

This is them lined up when I took them all off to organise them. I think I have about 250, I bought them for about 20p each. I sometimes pay up to 50p, and I have only splashed out on one 'expensive' one - a copy of 'the nurse' for £1.99 from a charity shop, that I bought to cheer me up the day before I had an operation last summer ;) it says in the front that it will 'help to dispel any fears of the unknown which might be felt by a child about to enter hospital'

This is me on the operating table...

Although I must admit I was MOST disappointed not to receive a hand knitted gift from a nurse. You tricked me, ladybird, you tricked me!

Any excuse...

2009-08-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who literally cannot resist popping into charity shops? especially if they are 'little old ones' where things are cheap/unpriced and you have to root around!

My mummy picked me up from a training day today as it was in a funny place which would have been difficult to get to by public transport (yes, I am spoilt rotten) and said she had discovered a great little charity shop just round the corner... 15 minutes later I emerged with a hand crocheted granny blanket, a yellow top with a bow (still with tags on), 'the best of jackie' which i wanted when it hit the shops a few christmases ago but didnt want to pay full price for, two yellow stripey pillowcases for my princess and the pea bedding 'project' , a vintage tape measure (the old man serving me really did not get why I didnt want the brand new one they had which 'also has centimetres on it'!), a vintage jam jar lid (i have a collection of these on a cake stand in my kitchen), and a twee little cow sugar bowl which is exactly the same as one that was in the kitchen when I was a little girl. I had completely forgotten about it but recognised it instantly when I saw it.

oh how i love tat...

pimp my blackboard

2009-08-13T09:58:00.002-07:00

Take one blackboard that you never really liked...

Get out the ol' badge maker and knock up a few magnets...

And a bit of goldilocks cutting and pasting later...

Ta-da!

I'm going to sit it under my 'new' table to cover all the uglyful cables and plug sockets

feeling a teensy bit naughty

2009-08-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

I did something today that felt so wrong but so right at the same time...

I cut up two of my ladybird books! Although to be fair they are ones I have plenty of copies of, one of them was falling apart, and I have several crafty projects planned for them

I made a set of goldilocks badges and a set of rapunzel badges. They look really cute, the photos don't quite do them justice!

'New' Table

2009-08-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Do you spy what I spy out of my window?

Look... wouldn't that be lovely with a bit of oilcloth on top? Looks just the right size for a laptop/sewing machine table...

You can see the potential, right?

Look - it was fate! the binmen came literally one minute after I went out to rescue it!

(hmm I wonder if anyone noticed me taking photos of a bin, running out and dragging in a table, and then taking photos of the binmen???)

A wipe down, a bit of furniture re-arrangement, and a bit of cloth flung over the top to 'get the effect' later and - I think it's looking pretty good already!

My mum and dad did NOT agree when they popped in. Ah, they clearly have no taste!

Bedspiration

2009-08-10T07:18:00.000-07:00

My latest mission is to re-vamp by bedding, as I seem to have 'acquired' random douvet covers over the years rather than picking out things I love, and I am sick of the sight of a couple of my patterned sets

Presenting my new bedspiration -

Just at all those deliciously mismatched dots and stripes...

And having been ispired by some of you clever crafty blog ladies, guess what I did last night?

Ta da! My very first knitted square... I am rather ambitiously planning a knitted square double bed sized blanket as my first ever knitting project. So far so good - only a million more to go!

Treasure again...

2009-08-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

It is sunday, which means yesterday was saturday, which means I went out thrifting with my similarly addicted mummy! There were NO JUMBLE SALES yesterday (our usual haunt) so we had to get our fix from a tour round charity shops instead. But oh what a lovely haul I got!

Vintage sewing bits - buttons to cover, a battered old silver thimble, and what I am hoping is a crochet hook (?), along with a little felt purse and some badges made from vintage material

Vintage pyrex bowls, 50p for them all

3 vintage pyrex plates, 20p each

My mum already had this flask lurking in her cupboard, so she sent me home with it as she doesnt share my shabby chic sense of style!

And I shamelessly nicked these shoes she had thrifted for herself on a recent trip without me!

I also got yet another stack of bargain clothes, which I haven't photographed, and I still have to show you my favourite finds - some vintage bedding for my new bedding makeover project! ;)

dolly obsessions

2009-08-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember this little lady?

I re-read this a while ago and it has sparked off a couple of my latest obsessions

I got this 50's tri-ang dolls house from a jumble sale when I was a little girl. It was full of furniture and, if I remember correctly it was £1 (I generally have a terrible memory but for some reason I nearly always remember the cost of things and where I bought them!)

I have had it in my room for a while. I used to use it as storage, but when I read about the dolls being deperate to live in a house, and wishing and wishing with all their might, I just had to reinstate it as a family home!

A peek through the window...

And through the front door... (you can't make it out in the picture, but the knocker is actually my teeny tiny 'avon calling' brooch)

This is the bedroom (the bear and looby lou were my mummys when she was little)

And I have always loved the little bathroom. The suite still has the prices written in pencil on the back, 2'6 & 2'4...

I didn't have enough kitchen furniture, so I added some modern stuff I found in a charity shop

And here is the family and their many dogs nestled together in the livinig room. The two 'children' were my mums (can you spot where she chewed one of their feet off?) and I have had the two 'parents' since I was little. I sat them all in the same room because the house has no doors or stairs, and obviously I didn't want them to be stuck in separate rooms when they come to life and run around after I have gone to sleep ;)

I have also developed an obsession with dutch dolls, so I got this reproduction Florence Upton book and doll set on ebay for 99p. I love the little gingham dress that some little girl handmade once-upon-a-time.

I love how the dolls in the book made their dresses from an american flag!

I think I am going to ask santa for an antique dutch doll, as my obsession doesn't seem to fading!

Monday Treasure

2009-08-03T12:19:00.000-07:00

I had to go to a cash machine before my driving lesson this afternoon... so I thought I 'might as well' nip into a charity shop that is (practically) on the way...

I got this set of playing card shaped cookie cutters (50p)

This wooden necklace (£1) and yellow bangle (25p)

And this vintage glass jug (50p) and vintage scottie dog christmas decoration (25p)

And later on my mum dropped off this plant which she got for me because it was reduced to 99p :)

Knitted by Nuns

2009-08-02T11:29:00.000-07:00

I spent most of today a little hungover doing a few crafty bits and bobs, like making this farthing & pom-pom pendant, which really reminds me of a christmas pudding

and making this russian doll and tape measure necklace

and pimping my new knitted teddy with buttons and bows

I forgot to take a before photo, but I can assure you he is 20x cuter now!

I got him yesterday for 10p at a summer fair at a nunnery, of all places. My mum swears that he whispered in her ear and said that he was 'knitted by a nun called Sister Mary'...