Yesterday's Purchases

 Yesterday was the third Olney Vintage Fair and we had a great day. The sun shone and we had the most visitors to a fair we have ever had. I guess people were happy to get out of the house after so many wet weekends and people of all ages seemed to enjoy browsing all the lovely stalls.

Mr C bought this bright orange wool holder. I already have them in blue, pink and green and I am really not sure I am too keen on this one.

We also found this pink and green wool hearth rug

and pretty pair of Witney blankets.

 I bought these cute vintage boat buttons and piece of pretty faded floral fabric.

I can never resist vintage kitchenalia

or pastel utility ware. I especially like the yellow Jasmine Ware and didn't have any blue Iris cups so snapped these up.The candy striped pillowcases are lovely and soft and I always buy them when I see them.

I bought a bundle of old dolly pegs and an unused vintage linen glass cloth.

These plant holders are actually a lovely faded green although you can't tell from the photo. They have a worn old wooden handle for carrying. I can imagine them holding primulas or hyacinths.

This cheerful trio made me smile.

 I couldn't resist this battered old watering can with brass rose. This will replace the even more battered one we have in the garden.

I am really pleased with all my purchases, and enjoyed having a proper look at them today. It will be great to actually get out in the garden and need to use the watering can !

More photos can be found over on the fair blog.

Northampton Vintage Fair 21st May

Saturday is fast approaching and last minute preparations are being made. Life is pretty hectic at the moment and finding time to even sort out stock to take to the fair has been tricky. However it is starting to come together with a little pile of sorted and priced stock forming on my landing. I am really looking forward to catching up with everyone again sellers and customers alike. Hopefully the rain will stay away although it's pretty miserable looking out of the window at the moment.

Mr C has been busy transforming this mannequin we found at the tip shop some months ago. He started by painting the base and top in Farrow and Ball paint.

He has then covered it in pieces of vintage adverts taken from 1940s copies of Punch magazine. I bought a job lot some time ago and they are full of great adverts. It has been a long and painstaking process but the end result is really good. I am trying to convince him that as he has made such a good job of this one he should make a start on the female mannequin we bought at the same time. This chap will be coming with us to the fair on Saturday.

Mr C found me a pile of blue utility ware this week. I found a box full of green Beryl Woods Ware in a charity shop a few weeks ago too. This is just some of it as there is still more of the green in the dishwasher as I am writing this.

I will be sorting this in to sets and bringing some along to the fair on Saturday.

Anyway if you are not too far from Northampton , please pop along to the fair on saturday, we would love to see you.

Happy Christmas

Sorry for not blogging for so long but like for everyone else life has been pretty hectic.

We finally found some time to decorate the house and I made my Cath Kidston paper chains. I used the Cath Kidston christmas gift tags too add a little extra.

We found a beautiful but enormous tree ! I decorated it with lots of different coloured vintage glass baubles as well as old family favourites collected over the years.

Mr C hung the beautiful cupboard he bought me in the hall. He painted the inside a lovely chalky white. I am using it to display my collection of Victorian painted and enameled glass.

Next to it we hung my £2 charity shop mirror. This is a lovely old heavy and ornate mirror. It was in a bit of a sorry state but Mr C has done his best to repair it and painted it the same chalky white.

Yet another cupboard ! Mr C found this at Brackley Antiques Cellar and it fits perfectly in our back room. It isn't really a cupboard but a glazed book case. I think we probably don't need any more cupboards as we are running out of space.

Finally a few more finds, the yellow Golden Dawn coffee pot was found at the local tip recycling shop and the Beryl Woods Ware yellow cups and saucers the same day in a junk shop. I was very pleased as yellow utility ware seems to evade me usually.

I guess this will be my last post before Christmas so have a wonderful time. I am off now to find my wellys and brave the snow.

Weekend Finds And Utility Ware China Collection

First of all I wanted to show you this cute little wicker doll's pram Mr C spotted for me in a charity shop last week. It is painted a lovely green,the paint is a bit chippy though. I have no idea how old it is but it's very sweet. I will try and get round to making it some bedding and bring it along to the Vintage Fair.

I treated myself to these two pretty dried flower wreaths made by a lovely lady called Julie. Julie is also a vintage jewelery seller as well as being a trained florist. She now works with elderly dementia patients and I bought these on Saturday at a fete at the home where she works. All the flowers she had grown and dried herself.

Sunday morning we got up early and headed out to a couple of car boot sales, we haven't been to one for months. We were rather late but thought we would give it a go. I didn't find as much as I have done earlier in the summer but still managed to find this pretty glass jug.

I also found this unusual 1930s jug at a local collectibles fair Saturday morning. I will bring both jugs along to sell at the Vintage fair.

Back to the boot sale, I found the Tala icing set

and assorted books.

I hope these next pictures won't bore you as I know I have shared some of my utility ware collection with you before. A Thrifty Mrs recently did a posting all about utility ware so I decided to share my collection again.

Amongst the collection I have also displayed my pink, green and blue bee hive knitting wool holders. I have a mixture of designs including a Rose Dawn tea pot,yellow,pink and green Petal Ware jugs, lots of Beryl Woods Ware and lots of the common Blue Dawn. I also have a few unmarked pieces such as the large green jug in the back right hand corner and the blue cups and saucers.

My favourite pieces are this Peach Leaf Petal jug and the Lu-Ray Pastels cup and saucer which came from America.

I use my utility ware plates and bowls every day. The big Rosa platter gets used on a Sunday and the blue Celeste tea plates and dishes are used every day, along with a Grey Dawn bowl Peach Petal dishes.

Finally the Beryl Woods Ware tea pot which I found recently.