Op shop finds

Giddy up.

I've never seen one of these cane rocking horses before, but I found a few of them trawling Google so they must have been fairly common once. I want to give her a bit of a makeover but I'm not sure exactly what do yet. She's the perfect size for Baby right now.

I already have a little yellow vintage picnic set, but all the plates are saucer sized and incompatible with hearty picnic lunches. These dinner sized plates fit in nicely. They are made from 'melmac', which Wikipedia informs me is a melamine resin popular from the 40s to the 60s and also the planet ALF came from. Nice.

One of my inexplicable op-shopping weaknesses are oversized 90s chiffon shirts with inbuilt shoulder pads and obnoxious prints. This one spoke to me with its leopard print and cherry combination. For desirable slouch you need to focus on the plus size racks, this one is a size 22.

I have too many of these Ranleigh trays already, but I do not have a round one. They are so useful all over the house for arranging disparate objects like I mean it.

Bits and bobs and urban pyjamas

I was very tempted by this board game at the oppie today.

I felt sad thinking about girls having to 'imagine they are having a pyjama party', but at least this game is 'safe'.

When I went to pyjama parties as a girl we always watched Dirty Dancing and practiced doing the lift. It took three girls to equal one set of Patrick Swayze arms.

I imagined I was having a slumber party all day today in my urban pyjamas.

This Witchery cardigan is a little like wearing a dressing gown. I'm a big fan of it.

These are my formal uggs from Big W. They have a wedge heel which makes them public appropriate.

I think I mentioned before that the locals in my small town like to embrace the public ugg. I'm finding it's a slippery slope though. From wearing them around the house, to the local cafe and now to the op shop. Where will it end?

In other news, we're still picnicking.

Baby fed his first ravenous seagulls by the bay. I grew up in Bondi and chasing seagulls is one of my earliest memories. I don't remember them being so bold though! Have seagulls always been this bossy or have I become less fearless with age? I was worried for Baby's chubby fingers.

My mum gave Baby this aquatic puzzle and we've all been playing with it. It's tricky, but also delicious to chew on. All toys should be this attractive and tactile.

Tulips are perfect aren't they? These were $6 at the supermarket a few days after Mother's Day.

The slow cooker has not left the bench top lately. I know the same results can be achieved with an old school pot in the oven for the most part, but I find it comforting to know that by 9am, whatever else may happen in my day, dinner is sorted.

I'm also finding that slow cooked food is a good consistency for mono-toothed babies and it's nice when we can all eat the same thing.

thank you op-shop gods

I love op-shopping. It's such a dark art. You can put requests out to the universe, but what comes back is never what you expect.

There are moments of perfect serendipity when then exact thing you have been stalking on eBay appears on a shelf. Or just days when you find bags full of hilarious things you never knew you needed but absolutely cannot live without.

Other times it's all dresses from Millers.

It can be so disheartening when you experience a drought and don't find anything exciting for ages.

I stopped keeping my hand in op-shop wise for a while, but lately every time I pop into one I seem to come out with armfuls of awesome. So thank you op-shop gods. You rock my world.

How good is this blue and white side plate? A nice piece of random for my mismatched blue and white dinner service. I wonder if it was nicked from a cruise ship or bought in the souvenir shop? I hope nicked.

Vintage beach towels. These are teeny tiny compared to the beach towels you buy in the shops today. Perfect for throwing in a swim bag and drying a wiggly baby.

Half price floral sheets are hard to resist.

And any kind of vintage cape situation is impossible!
I just finished purging a ton of winter coats. I need to stop bringing home new ones. I actually found this one a few weeks ago but had it hidden away until Autumn finally got here.

Scottish tartan. Fully lined so the scratchy mohair doesn't itch. Bliss.

Linked to this.

Like a fine wine

Baby is a delightful creature most of the time but today he was CHALLENGING. Now that he's in bed I'm catching up on some work (and procrastinating via blog) and we've cracked open a bottle of wine I carted back from the Barossa Valley in 2007.

I went there on a mini break with my best girlfriend, T. This is us.

I'd just bought that fur coat in an Adelaide op shop and wore it the entire trip. At the same time T bought an amazing 70s poly maxi dress with a print like the ABC test pattern and huge pointed sleeves. I was super jealous that she spotted it first. She lives in Canada now and a few years ago I got a random parcel from her in my letterbox. She sent me the dress.

This is me wearing it barefoot and pregnant. It was a good maternity dress. It's a good glass of wine.

Cheers to you T.

op shop treasure

I'm looking forward to training Baby up as my thrifting wing man as soon as he gets the hang of pointing, but at the moment he has a short attention span and is a cranky pants shopping companion.

I left him at home today and had the best op-shopping day EVER. Both these fugly leather jackets came home with me.

And this blazer. I used to live in velvet blazers with Doc Martens in the late 90s. In fact I wore them so much I thought we were done for good, so I'm not sure what made me bring this one home. It is a pretty blue colour… and it was only $4… We'll see.

Retro sheets. Obviously.

Some blue and white crockery for my stash and a glass milk bottle thing. Should it be a vase or a water jug? I can't decide.

Finally, this may not look like much but it made me very happy.

The last time we were broken into at our old place (it happened repeatedly) the robbers stole my Peter Alexander grey marle dressing gown. Why? Who steals a dressing gown? It still makes my blood boil to think about it. Insurance money could replace everything else but it's been over two years and I've never found one I like as much. This is pretty close to the original.

I hope karma bit that robber soundly in the arse.

op shop treasure

I should have taken a shot of this letter rack before I painted it white and glossy. These things are everywhere in oppies and I've never been attracted to them before but something about the little leaping reindeer on this one made me do it. I was feeling a bit alpine.

I've found so many funny, lovely things lately. The thrift gods have been kind. Like this framed embroidery, perfect for the bathroom wall.

I'm a sucker for a handmade patchwork quilt. I find them perfectly irresistible. This one is a for a single bed and quite thick. Aren't the swatches nice?

This little stitched cushion was in a sorry state when I brought it home. It needed a good, hard, restuffing.

And last but not least, this funny old basket with tortoise shell handle.

I'm keeping bog roll in it at the moment, because I like to keep it classy.

Linking with Her Library Adventures flea market finds.

Blue and gold op shop treasure

Was it op-shop serendipity or am I subconsciously cultivating a new obsession with blue and yellow? Either way, I came back from a quick trip to one of my former locals this week and realised everything I had found matched the colour scheme.

Blue and yellow porcelain. Tiny and cute. I'm using the bowl in front on my dressing table to keep hair bobbles in.

Vintage tupperware. This is a new collection of mine after I realised how unbeautiful my plastics cupboard was. It must be Gold Harvest though.

Blue and yellow scarves. I don't wear vintage scarves as much as I used to these days but I still always keep an eye out for good ones. They make great gift wrapping and these two lovelies combined were cheaper than a roll of paper.

Op shop treasure

A peek at a few new op-shopping treasures from the Christmas / New Year break. Vintage manchester is a growing obsession of mine. It started out with the odd brocade bedspread and now my linen cupboard is overflowing with faxed florals and gingham. There's something about mismatched, old linens that gives me shivers of delight and making beds is one of my favourite things to do. Is that weird? Similarly, I'm all about blue and white crockery at the moment. This serving plate and jug have seen better days but I just love them to pieces.