Charity Shop Finds

The last few weeks I have found very little in any of the local charity shops. However this week I found a couple of things that have made up for it. This old Tala bread bin isn't in great condition but is fine for display. I already have a similar one which I use every day so I will probably sell this one rather than add to my clutter. This morning I popped in to our local table top sale at a nearby nursing home and found the blue and white jug and also the pretty violas. The frilly ones are a variety called 'Can-Can'.

The little glasses are another charity shop find, they are very small and I guess are some sort of liquer glass but I loved the colours.

The rose trios were also from the sale this morning and were a bargain for a set of six trios.

More roses, this time yellow ones on a beautiful 1950s linen table cloth in unused condition, also from a charity shop.

I couldn't resist the bunch of dahlias this morning from a lady selling garden produce at the sale. They are so cheerful and add a real splash of colour.

Later on this morning I headed to town to the monthly Bicycle Basket Bazaar. I had my camera with me and then completely forgot to take any photos ! It was lovely to finally catch up with Annie, The Felt Fairy and her daughter Amy who is having a stall at our vintage fair in a few weeks as well as some of the other sellers. I bought the pretty needlepoint bag from Carol earlier in the week, she is also having a stall at the fair with her daughter Chelsea. Maybe one day my daughter will be inclined to join me !

I am off now for some very late lunch. I treated myself to some lovely cheese and fresh bread from a new deli and cheese shop recently opened in the town. I also decided to try some smoked garlic. I don't buy garlic that often so any suggestions as to how I might used smoked garlic gratefully received.

Boot Sale Booty

I thought I would give you a quick update on my boot sale finds from Sunday but first I thought I would show you a close up of the pretty vintage felt brooch I found last week. A few people spotted it in the background of a previous post photo and I felt it deserved a photo of it's own. It reminds me of the Cath Kidston felt brooches and hair accessories that have been around recently.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early for the boot sale but we very nearly didn't go because it was so gloomy and drizzling with rain. In the end we went as we were up and ready. When we got to our usual boot sale we were disappointed to see only about a third of the usual sellers. A quick look round in the drizzle yielded just two things that took my fancy. The glass cream jug with the blue lid and the Crown Devon little sauce jug both came home with me. The little Crown Devon piece was found a spot straight away with the rest of my collection. The little pharmacy bottle was found later on.

Anyway after a rather disappointing start we bumped in to some neighbours who told us about another boot sale about ten minutes away . We decided we had nothing to lose and set off and we were so glad we did. As soon as we arrived Mr C found the Vernon Ward print which looks great on our landing with our Vernon Ward seagull print.

We then split up for a while to wander round and when I found Mr C again he took me to a stall he had found with things he knew I would like. The first thing he had spotted was the little cross stitch cottage picture. He really is getting to be very good at finding things for me, not so long ago he was hopeless. He used to be drawn to things that only a man could like, ugly, dark coloured objects with no hint of prettiness. I guess that is a bit of an unfair generalisation about men but after a little bit of training and education he now has quite a good eye.

On the same stall were piles of vintage books, games and jigsaws.

There were old annuals, Enid Blytons and a lovely copy of The Water Babies illustrated by Anne Anderson. I already have a copy illustrated by Mabel Lucie Attwell and it is lovely to compare the illustrations.

I also found the lovely , soft crocheted blanket and a pile of linens. These look a little crumpled as they had just come in from blowing on the line and are waiting to be pressed.

Finally I found the Father Christmas jug. These were produced by Bird's Custard in the 1950s as a special Christmas edition for your custard to go with your Christmas pud. I already have one of these that I bring out every year so this one will make an appearance in my shop nearer to Christmas.

I hope you are all having a good week and enjoying the sunshine. I feel a bit of a giveaway coming on but more news on that at the weekend. x

Lovely Linens

This is a lovely old lingerie case which I have turned in to a pretty cushion edged in some old pink satin ribbon. It's so satisfying giving something a new lease of life.

Yesterday I tried a different car boot sale and found it a little disappointing although I found more vintage linens for pennies. There were two embroidered table cloths, a linen willow pattern cloth, and a pretty embroidered pillowcase. The sweet pillowcase with 'Hers' embroidered on it was a present Deb brought me back from the States.

This lovely embroidered picture was one of two I found at Saturday's Bicycle Basket Bazaar.

I also found a pair of lovely soft candy stripe pillowcases on Linda and Jake's stall. I had been looking out for some of these so was really pleased.

This is the second beautifully embroidered picture now joining all the others on my hall wall.

Deb and I both had a bike at the Bike Bazaar to sell some of our vintage things. I ended up coming home with two of Debbie's pictures. They go really well together and fit in nicely with my other pictures.

I was pleased to find this collection of old Tala kitchen utensils at the boot sale just as I was about to call it a day and go home with very little.

Today was an open day at the antiques centre just down the road from my house. Carol who was one of the sellers at our Vintage and Homemade Fair has a booth there and was selling some very tempting things. I treated myself to this pretty glass vase and the lovely red tin to add to my ever growing collection.

The glass sugar pourer was another find from Carol and the tea cups were more boot sale finds.

I also found some of these old classroom posters, I have wanted the ducks one for ages.

I have spent the rest of the day cleaning and re-arranging my kitchen. I cleared out the bottom shelf in my cupboard to make space for my utility wear. I have tried to clear away some of my clutter and sort out things that I can list in my shop. I have the rest of the week off work so fingers crossed the weather will brighten up . It's revision week really but hopefully we can allow ourselves one day out as a treat, I guess it will be a trip to London as it seems to be my lovely girl's favourite place at the moment.

Hope you have had a lovely bank holiday weekend.

Vintage Linens and Embroidery

This last week has been very busy, both on the work front and also preparing for the Northampton vintage fair. I have been sorting through all my old linens some of which I had forgotten I had. I love the wonderful colours and designs. The work that went in to some of these is incredible, I remember my grandma teaching me to embroider when I was a child. She had lots of lovely transfers and I can remember embroidering a whole table cloth. I really should give embroidery another go, I remember enjoying it all those years ago.

These two pictures below are pillowcases, hence the creases, sorry ! They are currently in use on my bed. I have never seen any like this before as they are not only embroidered but also have little padded appliqued flowers.

The two pictures below are of an enormous pale yellow linen table cloth with lovely circular designs.

This table cloth is one of my favourites , it is embroidered with very pretty hyacinths which are one of my favourite flowers.

This cloth is embroidered with lovely delicate cross stitch.

This is a cast iron doorstop I found in a charity shop this week. I have always liked the Hubley doorstops but they are rare especially in the UK and very expensive. This is an original Hubley design but sadly not an original doorstop. Hubley sold their moulds in the 1940s to another company and I believe this is one of theirs but I think it still has some age to it. It has a stamp in a rectangular box on the back at the bottom. I can't read it properly because it has been painted over. If anyone knows any more about these please let me know.