The Lovely WI Cupboard

Well here it is , the before and after shots of my favourite purchase from last Saturday's Vintage and Home Made fair here in Northampton. Mr C has put it on the hall wall for me and I enjoyed spending some time last night finding all my little bits to fill it. I have resisted putting anything on top for now. It isn't quite finished as it is still waiting for it's new brass catch but I am afraid I am rather impatient.I did decide to take off the plastic doily edging as I thought it might detract from the things on the shelves. Even my lovely girl didn't moan about it which surprised me, although she did ask if I was going to paint it because the paint was chipped ! Oh well I guess she will learn.

This was another of Mr C's finds last week, we have quite a collection of Vernon Ward coastal prints on our landing now.

I found this little wooden bench of characters in a junk shop last week and couldn't resist. They match my 'Mr Bartender' and salt and pepper pots.

The rose tin was a purchase from linda (Tabbyroo) at the fair on Saturday.

Last Sunday Mr C and I went out for a drive and by complete accident came across this Railway At War event going on at old Rushden station. We only discovered it because we saw a couple dressed in 1940s clothes walking down a street of modern houses on a quiet Sunday morning. I have to say it was quite surreal. We turned a corner and saw crowds of people around the station. We had to call in and have a look as we have never been to one of these events before. There were people everywhere dressed up, and a great swing band playing and ladies dancing on the railway platform.

There were loads of displays too, I liked the old kitchen cupboard. I have always wanted one like this myself but don't have the room. There were cooking and sewing demonstrations as well as displays of military items which Mr C found interesting.

Of course there were steam trains too although we didn't stay long enough to have a ride.

A table set for tea.

There was also a parade going on outside, note the lovely old green car.

Northampton Vintage And Home Made Fair

If you don't like looking at lots of photos then it's probably best to give this posting a miss. I couldn't let Saturday's fair go unmarked though and I wanted to share with you some of the lovely things that were on offer. It was a great day with a lovely friendly atmosphere. The weather was kind to us and the rain only started as we were all packing up.I tried to get plenty of photos this time but sadly some have not come out well including those of Jo's (Hesta Nesta's) gorgeous stall. We had some very bright sunshine which meant that taking photos of some stalls was impossible, so apologies to those people whose stalls I haven't captured.

This was my stall before the doors opened.

Part of Debbie's pretty stall.

Linda and Jake's of Tabby Roo.

Vicky from Tickle Penny Vintage

More of my bits and pieces

I did sell quite a lot but still seemed to come home with loads so if there is anything you see that takes your fancy drop me an email. At some point I will get round to listing things in my Etsy shop but it could be a while !

Carol from Pure Country, she also had a wonderful display of floral pinnies.

Lindsey of Elsie Sparrow, I can never leave her stall empty handed.

Lots of lovely knitted goodies from Carol of Sara Carol Makes. Her mannequin was great.

I love this red mangle but I can't remember which stall it was on. Wend of Ticking Stripes maybe ?

Amy from Blighty Boutique was joined by her mum Annie The Felt Fairy. Amy had made some lovely felt poppies for the poppy appeal.

Caroline's quirky stall, love the tea cosy.

Lovely eiderdown on Debbie's stall, Bella Bella.

I snapped up this wonderful old painted WI glazed notice board. It has been converted in to a display cupboard and I was so excited when I spotted it. I can't remember the name of the lovely lady who was selling it but I know it was Kris's mum. Sadly the pictures of Kris's amazing stall didn't come out.

This was Vicky of Vicky Loves Vintage. I was very tempted by the barbola plaque.

Sharon of Shabby Polka Dots had some beautiful hand made pictures and note books.

Eleanor was selling some gorgeous bags made from vintage fabrics, I am really cross that I didn't snap up one of the yellow rose bags.

And finally another snap of my lovely WI cupboard. It needs a new catch and I may remove the doily shelf edging but will share some more photos of it once it is in it's new home. Mr C also bought the lovely old Moroccan style stained glass lantern to hang in the garden.

Finally I just want to thank all of the amazing sellers for making the event such fun and so friendly. Also thanks to all of our lovely customers who were so appreciative and also so wonderfully friendly. They had travelled from far and wide including one lovely lady who had travelled all the way from Birmingham on the train having read about the fair on my blog.

Weekend Finds And Fair Preparations

This weekend was pretty hectic, with a late night work's event Saturday and getting ready for next weekend's Vintage Fair. Saturday morning Mr C and I popped over to Brackley to the antiques centre and had a wander. Oddly for me the only things I bought were brand new ! The spotty red dog tin above is a replica of an old French tin and came in lots of different sizes.

The large Union Jack cushion was spotted by Mr C and was a bargain ex-display cushion.

I bought the chalk paint in 'Cream' to have an experiment with. It can be layered and waxed to give a distressed effect. It can be painted straight on to any surface with no need for any real preparation or priming and sells itself as 'a paint for girls' ! I tried it out on an old wooden cutlery holder I wanted to give a make over to.

Evenings have been spent making more paper chains to decorate the hall at the Vintage Fair. This is actually quite therapeutic in front of the TV. I bought these spotty ones from the Dot.com gift shop at the last Country Living Fair. I notice they are doing some great vintage ones on their website for christmas.

These are a couple of pressies Mr C received for his recent birthday. The 1930s water colour was spotted by him on Jo's (Hesta Nestas) stall at the last fair in Stamford. I arranged for Jo to send it over for his birthday and he was very surprised and pleased. The book is the new Farrow and Ball 'Living With Colour ' by Ros Byam Shaw. This is a lovely book and I thought it might inspire Mr C to get his paintbrush out again !

The photos are gorgeous and show all sorts of styles from elegant town houses to modern apartments and country cottages.

Finally these were charity shop finds last week. The two saucers were found in a different CS to the sandwich plate and tea plate but they all match.

The Baileys cup was another 50p charity shop find. I have put it up on my dusty kitchen mantelpiece with my old cups and egg cup. The two cups were purchased on ebay some years ago and came from America although I am sure they are English. I think they are from around the 1930s and may also have been made for some sort of advertising purpose. If you know anything about them please let me know. What I do know is that they are quite old and I think the Baileys cups must have been based on them.