beautiful bargains

I spotted this little cabinet in my all-time-favourite local charity shop a couple of weeks ago and my heart skipped a beat.

I’d been looking for something to store some of my ever-expanding fabric stash in – and this little beauty had my name written all over it. Except… after tentatively enquiring as to it’s price, I was informed that it was already reserved.

Oh.

But the nice man in the shop said it wasn’t yet paid for – and that if they didn’t come back for it by the end of the week, I could have it for a tenner.

And so… it is now mine – for £10!

A further week later, and we finally loaded it into the car yesterday and brought it home.

I’m going to give it a bit of a makeover.

It has all it’s doors and shelves, but I’ve never been a fan of teak veneer (so orange!) so, weather permitting, I’ll be out in the back garden doing a bit of sanding and painting.

Oh, and I promised to show you the other thing I bought from Dolly Mix Vintage, didn’t I?

I think it’s the nicest vintage scarf I’ve ever seen.

And it cost me £2! I’m not sure whether to wear it, make it into a cushion, frame it, or just add it to my collection…

What do you think?

I think it’s certainly been a week for bargains.

It’s funny how they just turn up when you’re not really looking for them, isn’t it?

thrift of the day

I have something of a lukewarm relationship with my local Oxfam shop.

I used to live just down the hill, where there is another Oxfam shop. When lad was little, this other Oxfam shop used to be one of both our favourite places to visit.

They had a kids’ corner, with toys to play with. They had a “money spinner”, a contraption into which you deposit two pence pieces which whirl round and round before plopping into the depository at the bottom. You could even race them!

They had lots of books, clothes, music, homewares, fair trade chocolate. And they had a lovely manager who obviously liked kids and encouraged our presence, even on one occasion giving lad a big bag of tuppences for the spinner.

We quite often spent half the afternoon in there.

Lad has outgrown such things now, so the fact that our local Oxfam has no kids corner or spinner is by the bye.

But still, somehow we find our local Oxfam shop wanting. Especially following a recent change-around, in which most of the stock seems to have disappeared.

So I don’t go in there that often. I tend to browse in the charity shop next door instead.

And I nearly didn’t bother going in yesterday, which would’ve been a shame as I would have missed these lovely, high quality 1970s curtains.They are made in a woollen, textured fabric, much like this throw I bought a while back:

In fact, I may have to combine the two in a future project.

So the moral of this little tale is not to write off something – or somewhere – because of misplaced prejudice based on previous experience.

You never know what you might be missing out on.

Or when you might be pleasantly surprised. ♥

tray belle

Apologies for the awful pun. But I do love my tin trays…

Functional, durable and good looking, I love that you can carry your drinks on them and then pop them out on display on the kitchen shelf.

An instant gallery.

I adore the designs.

I think mine all hail from the 1960s and 1970s. They were picked up here and there, most for less than a fiver.

There are a few scratches, but that’s to be expected if you spend your life being useful, as well as beautiful.

junk and disorderly

If there’s one thing I enjoy as much as textiles, it’s rummaging through junk in search of a bargain.

This magnificent establishment within a church in Builth Wells daunted even my rummaging talents, however.

There was just so MUCH of it.

Local art, midcentury furniture, antiques, reclamation yard fodder and downright rubbish.

Piled precariously, in no particular order, on every available surface.

I could’ve spent a week in there.

I’m glad I didn’t though, as I would have missed the rather more, shall we say… curated delights of Hay-on-Wye‘s establishments.

Be it curated cabinet or giant junkyard, I can’t help but love it.

thrift of the day

I popped in to one of my favourite charity shop haunts today, for the first time in a few weeks.

Lo and behold – linen loveliness!

The price label calls them “knapkins”.

I suspect that two of them might be “knapkins” and the other two place mats. Two are square and two rectangular.

Designed for “dinner a deux” I am guessing they date from the 1950s, maybe later.

The thick slubby linen they are made from is gorgeous, the colour strong and unfaded. Only one tiny mark marrs their perfection.

I’m not sure what I will do with them. They may become cushion covers. Or even part of a garment…

One thing’s for sure: I will not be using them as “knapkins”. They are far too nice to spill food on.

Quite frankly, I’d rather use my clothes!

thrift of the day

How fabulously folky is this vintage melamine tray?

My heart skipped a beat as I spotted it amongst a big pile of – ahem – less delightful items, in one of my favourite charity shops.

Suffice to say that I am very chuffed indeed with today’s find.

It is now happily at home on my kitchen shelf amongst my other bits and bobs.