luck

Frederick McCubbin, Down on His Luck, 1889 (NOT the original!! - a faded and scratched [but wonderfully large] copy, marked down to $1 at the local oppy and destined to become a blackboard).

Today I'm feeling lucky.

Lucky to have found a few nice things at the op shops (I only photographed one, though!).

Lucky that I could find support when I needed it, both online and in real life (thank you!).

Lucky to have spent a couple of hours today at Cathie's biggest morning tea (in the afternoon), eating amazingly delicious food, meeting and chatting with a bunch of great people... and then lucky enough to win a prize in the raffle.

Myrtle and Eunice tea towel (to go with our "T" tea towel!), CurlyPops brooch (now I feel like a real Melbourne blogger!), and super-cute Chantal Vincent stamp...

Hoping you're feeling lucky too.

(PS: joining in with Sophie's flea market finds ...)

flea market finds

I could pretend this was a selfless purchase bought entirely for my daughter's benefit...

but when she looked at it, she said "But Mum, we already have a cash register!"

She's right, we do have a plastic, battery operated, beeping thing (also thrifted) ... but now we also have a vintage metal one with pop up numbers, and a little knob on the side that you wind up to make a lovely "brrring" every time you open or close the drawer... I am a happy mum!

(Now if only I could actually get rid of the plastic one - that could take a while...)

Visit Sophie for lovely finds by the blogload!

PS: Happy Mother's Day!

PPS: I have a little giveaway over here!

Enough. (flea market finds)

I'm a bit early for Flea Market Finds this week (or really late, perhaps), but needed to write this post before I changed my mind.

You see, I've decided to take a break from op-shopping for a while - well, at least 2 weeks.

Yesterday, I had a little bit of child-free time, and thought it would be fun to go treasure hunting... and it was.


I found some great things - this suitcase at a tip shop (I didn't even know we had a tip shop nearby until a week or so ago!), four (yes, FOUR) gorgeous aprons, a bit of orange tupperware and a "matching" teatowel, and a couple of nice sheets.

I also found, and bought, some other things that I didn't love or need, and that I put back in the car and redonated straight away...

I realised that, while my love of op-shopping has many benefits, it has started to take more of my time, and more of my thoughts (and more space in our home), than I'd like.

So a break it is. It will be hard to maintain - especially with a daughter who actively encourages my habit - but necessary.

Wish me luck!

PS: I'll be joining in with Sophie's Flea Market Finds this Sunday.

flea market finds

Last Sunday was Flea Market Find of the Year day... I showed my favourites, but these would have been up there if my family had a say...

Find one - daughter's choice...


there was a linen sale last week at one of our local op shops (her favourite, the one near the bakery...) and they had a collection of aprons for sale for 50c. She chose this one, and wore it, as a dress over her clothes, out of the shop and for most of the day. She loved announcing that she only cost 50c, and would only answer to the name "Absolute Bargain" when wearing it.

Find two - husband's choice...

we went to a market last weekend and left husband / dad at home for a break. On the way home, we found a second hand book sale and picked this up for him - it was given to us for free with the other books we got, because it was "a bit old"...


he loves it - Star Wars and Graphic Novel is a winning combination for him - and it might actually be worth a bit of money, if ebay is any guide...

I'll be back later to celebrate the end of Blogtober (and to get my post count for the month up to 31 since I missed a day earlier this week... obsessive? me?)

flea market finds

Sophie has made today Flea Market Find of the Year day!

I've cheated a bit, with more than one item - but Sophie showed a collection of her favourites, so I've decided that it must be OK!

I chose two things that go together, that in some ways represent how I've changed during the nearly six months since I started blogging - first, a sewing machine table I found a couple of months ago (that needs a little fixing). Soon it will be part of a dedicated sewing space to help me make making a regular part of life...


Next, a vintage quilt cover and sheet set I found this week. I never would have thought a year ago that I would find pleasure in packing up old plain sheets to donate to the op shop, and coming home with vintage floral sheets... or that I'd be willing to be photographed "wearing" a floral quilt cover and posting it on the internet...


I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's favourite finds over at Her Library Adventures...

flea market finds

In the interests of blog honesty, I went op-shopping last weekend - when I was supposed to be staying away... woolf - you noticed my admission last week, so here are some (yes, some - I forgot to photograph a couple of things) of the things that came home.


True story... when I saw this toy iron, and said "Oh look, it's an iron," my daughter loudly asked "Mum, what's an iron?" in front of a number of amused women... luckily one kind older woman turned to me and said "don't worry, nobody irons much these days..."


Once again the button drawers were opened (by the daughter who loves op shops as much as me) and these treasures were found - do you love the man with an eye patch too (you can click on the photo for a better look at him)?

More treasures to be uncovered at Sophie's.

flea market finds

I'm still going through and posting "old" finds I never got around to showing before... in an (unsuccessful) attempt to stay away from the op shops for a little while...

Here are some sheets / pillowcases I found a while ago, and rather like... hopefully I will soon work up the courage to cut up and use them (or maybe to use them just the way they are). Not sure I will be able to convince my husband to use a floral quilt cover though!

Sophie's is the place to link up for more lovely finds...

flea market finds - treasures from the trip home

I posted a while ago about our recent family holiday, involving a big dose of en-route op-shopping... and showed you what I found on the way there... now I've finally remembered to show you what we found on the way home!


Our main op-shop destinations were Leongatha and Korumburra - we stopped in both towns on the way there and back, so as not to miss out on any shops that might be open only on certain days.


We visited about 5 op-shops in total, plus a book fair selling cancelled library books - there was at least one other shop I didn't set foot in, amazingly (I was already testing the patience of my fellow travellers...) - and had a great time enjoying generous pricing, friendly people and lovely finds...


though I wish I'd had more time to really have a rummage... next time I might make my family stay in an op-shop town, instead of a beach side village!!

Check Her Library Adventures for more finds!

PS: I'm trying a bit of Spring-inspired decluttering with a weekly "reverse finds" post on Saturdays - would you like to join me?

flea market find

Just popping in for a quick update with a little find to share - a suction cup egg cup! It's rather gorgeous, but I am yet to test out its stability with a real egg (the "cup" part and the base are both rubbery, so even when it's stuck in place, it wiggles a fair bit).

Seems appropriate to be thinking about something not-quite-stable today, doesn't it?

In other news, that tea towel is on its way to one of my husband's work mates (luckily he was game enough to initiate a "who likes Daniel Craig" conversation in real life - I wasn't), and I am trying hard not to bring home any more op shop bargains that I don't actually like...

flea market finds - do you like Daniel Craig?

Not long ago at work, I was discussing a client's difficult housing situation with a colleague, trying to come up with another way to help her, when my colleague said, "you're a stray puppy kind of person, aren't you?"

She was right. Even though I've never adopted a stray dog, I'm the kind of person who notices scared, stray dogs on stormy days, and cares for them till their owners arrive.

I've noticed my op-shopping is beginning to reflect my "stray puppy sensibilities", buying items just because I feel sad that they're still in the shop after weeks, or because the item was handmade and needs someone to respect that and care for it again.

This instinct led me to take this home...



Yep, it's a lovely, well made tea towel, still available for sale new over here, and I'm pretty sure it featured in a recent magazine (Notebook I think). I felt sad that such a good quality product was buried on the floor under old sheets and pillowcases, and so I took it home.

The thing is, I don't really like Daniel Craig - I like him, but not enough to dream about him.

So I was thinking, does anyone else?

So put up your hand if you really like Daniel Craig (on second thoughts, write a comment and tell me why you like him, that might be more effective), and I'll get some random number selecting device to choose a winner. Entries close 12 noon next Sunday 15 August Australian Eastern Time...

Come on, let's find this puppy a home!

flea market finds

We've had another busy and fun week over here, but still managed to fit in a trip to the local (op-shop that is). It's now such a part of our lives that Mini Blogger role plays op-shopping at home (I'm wondering if it will reach the point that I'll be paying to get my possessions back...).

Anyway, to the finds:


A wooden toy caterpillar - that broke before we left the store, but has since been repaired with cooking twine. They gave it to us for half price, which was nice considering we broke it!


Another apron - lovely orange gingham - for $1. I'm not sure about this recently discovered attraction to aprons - it doesn't exactly fit with my beliefs about the division of domestic labour - but they are so often pretty and so often cheap... (and, well, as I write this my husband is doing the dishes, so the aprons haven't done any harm so far!)


A gift from my mum (who is an op-shop volunteer - but in a different state), via my sister: a pretty floral pillowcase and a little pile of white ric rac.

Pop over to the lovely Sophie (so glad to see you back!) for more finds...

birthday party debrief - with tenuous links to flea market finds

Mini Blogger's birthday falls about a week after the Donna Hay Kids Magazine comes out - which is a good and bad thing.

Good, because I do generally find a few ideas or recipes to incorporate in our party, and bad, because I look at those photos and start thinking "this is what a birthday party should look like" (of course forgetting that those parties are put on by a [paid] team of stylists / editors and other clever people, and that the "party" is in fact a photo shoot).

Strangely enough, our party did not look (or feel) like a Donna Hay photo shoot.

The day began inauspiciously with a crying, sniffly guest of honour.

When guests started to arrive, she was still out of sorts, and not keen to join in any planned activities - I had stayed up last night cutting out cardboard antennae for guests to decorate with pencils, crayons (50c from the op shop) and stickers - luckily the other kids had fun.

I had planned a small musical interlude once antennae were made - a spot of "jitterbugging" to Wham! because that is what ladybirds do according to our girl. I did end up listening to Wham, but in a quiet room, just me and her, trying to cuddle and console a miserable child, to help her make it through her party. Which she did, through the power of Wham!, chocolate and assorted sugar filled products. She was even happy by the end - and I'm pretty sure it wasn't just from the sugar!

About half the planned menu items were abandoned due to lack of time (and hopefully because the guests were actually full) - the menu did, however, include these cute ants on a log and carrot stick insects...

The cake selection was a success, despite lumpy cake batter (unsifted cocoa - luckily not noticeable in the finished cakes) and a distinct lack of planning - I made up the ladybird cake design this morning after being unable to find the components I'd planned for when shopping last night. The worms and butterflies were ideas from a borrowed cookbook.

I was also really happy with how the bug jar party favours turned out - really easy, using mostly things we had at home already.

So, in the end, no Donna Hay party, but a happy-in-the-end, near-enough-is-good-enough, real life party shared with people we love and love to spend time with (who of course I can't show to protect their privacy).

And finally, just to sneak my way in to Flea Market Finds tomorrow... a bug catcher I found at the oppie for 50c on the day we sent out our bug party invites... and then forgot to actually use at the party today!!

flea market finds

Eleven days ago, I was forced to accept that I would not be able to sneak my way in to the big Vintage Sheet Swap, for the simple reason that, despite my efforts, I was vintage sheet-less.

Of course, since then, things have changed (does anyone else find that you can only find things at the op shop when you're not looking for them?) ...

From bottom to top - the orange one came as a full single bed set, and reminds me of wallpaper when spread out (funnily, after removing wallpaper from much of our home a few years ago, I quite like the stuff now!) - it will probably get use as a sheet set!

The yellow flowered flannelette is rather worn, but also pretty snuggly - and also came with pillow case.

I really like the next yellow flowered sheet in small chunks, but it's a bit much when spread out, so I'm a bit more confident about cutting this one up - especially after seeing how Beck's used the exact same fabric - what a beautiful bunny!

Finally, I wasn't sure about the blue faux japanese print sheet (which came with a coordinating "fitted" sheet that has lost all its elastic, and 2 pillowcases) - it's 50/50 polyester / cotton and doesn't feel as nice to touch, and not exactly vintage, but it's growing on me...

At least I have some consolation sheets to tide me over when enviously admiring everyone's swaps....

Pop over to Sophie's for more finds.

flea market finds

My favourite finds of this week were the finds that found us...

A work colleague brought in a bundle of fabrics (I think they were from a friend's relative), to use at our work. After all the "useful" things had been weeded out, we all got to have a rummage before the remainder went to the op shop, and this is what I found...

I love the pictures on the snap fastener cards, and even though I'd never heard of "washing buttons" before, I rather like them!



We had another surprise when my husband found a plastic bag on his desk, from a former workmate's wife (who works in the same organisation in a different section) - a little collection of hand me downs from their girl for our girl, including this outfit!


Hoping you all had lucky weeks! See Sophie for more lovely finds...

Flea Market Finds

With best intentions, we headed out this week with practical purchases in mind - some plain, cheap napkins for meal times (we've previously not been napkin people , rather wash-your-hands-after-dinner people, but the mini blogger is turning into a wipe-your-hands-on-your-clothes person, so something needed to be done!).And this is what we found...

A set of eight vintage napkins, and four lovely handkerchiefs (it seems wrong to call them hankies), that I may never bring myself to use - as you can see, I wasn't even brave enough to iron them. They are certainly not plain - but they were indeed cheap. The Op Shop lady initially asked for 50c for ALL of them - I talked her up to $2!

I decided to try another shop - and had a little more luck - 2 plain, green napkins (that were of course the most expensive of the lot!), and a set of six nice, plain linen napkins with just a simple little edging ... oh, alright then...

The good news is that a couple of these have little stains already, so seem a little more suited to wiping dirty faces after spaghetti.

Now, a question for you - would you / do you use vintage linen in day to day life, or do you store / display / repurpose these items? And how do you care for them?

Oh, and I nearly forgot - here are the mini-blogger's purchases for this week - doesn't she have nice taste?

Pop into Sophies for more finds if you like!

Flea Market Finds

So, I've had a bit of a rethink since last week, and have replaced my Op-shopping guilt with pride. Sure, I don't have much space for more stuff, and I may take a while to make practical use of my purchases, but if I'm going to indulge in occasional impulse buying, it may as well be impulse buying that is more financially, environmentally and ethically responsible, and that helps introduce my girl to the concept of mending and reusing things.

That said, I have exercised some restraint - my main purchases were these pinnie style aprons, bought for a total of $1.50. We haven't actually baked in them yet, but they proved to be excellent dance costumes for our at-home retro dance party. They also remind me quite vividly of my early years in the small town where I grew up - wearing similar aprons at a friend's house making gingerbread cookies, and watching older women working in the kitchen making hundreds of sandwiches at community and fundraising events.

I think that's another thing to add to my list on the benefits of op-shopping - revisiting, reclaiming and protecting our history.

For more treasures, visit Sophie.

Op Shop Confessions

OK, so I have a bit of an Op Shop problem. It doesn't really help that everytime we go to the library or playgroup we practically walk past one - or that our girl always suggests we "pop in" whenever we see one (wonder who she learned that from?).

I've finally found a form of shopping I enjoy - trips to "proper stores" for me tend to be frustrating and ultimately end in buyer's remorse - and maybe it's not such a bad thing. Except...

I am now the owner of masses of fabric - all from the one shopping trip! Lots of scrappy bits (I'm imagining what was made from the pieces that got cut out and used), but also some enormous pieces. All were bought without definite plans - but a good few dreamy thoughts.

Then there were some clothes - and a cute little cupcake apron (for possible conversion to little person apron) ...

and finally an enormous picnic basket (justified as a practical storage solution for all our play food and kitchen supplies), and a little packet of yellow buttons - because that girl of mine knows exactly where the Op Shop sewing supply section is and chose it all by herself.

So now, I'm not exactly experiencing buyer's remorse, just a sense of "what am I going to do with all this, and where will I put it?".

Hoping all of you found some treasures - and also the space to keep them!

For more finds, visit Sophie.

Flea Market Finds

OK, so I said I'd take a break from op-shopping, and I did - really!
It's just that I was walking to the park, and saw a sign for a White Elephant Sale at a local church. Being the community minded person I am, I just had to go along, didn't I?


Initially I managed to be practical - a great kid-oriented craft book (with bits I'll quite enjoy too!), and a couple of 5c spoons for "gardening play" - a soup spoon should make it easier for our girl when next she tries to relocate water from puddles to garden beds (last time she patiently used a tea spoon!). After seeing this idea for vintage spoons, I wish I'd bought more!


And then I saw, lingered over, walked past and around, then finally purchased this little cup/saucer/plate set. They just seemed to want to move to a home with a lime green kitchen (with absolutely no space left in the cupboards!).


Immediate storage woes were soon forgotten when I found this in their back "shed" - a bookcase just made for our hallway - for just $8 (plus a little extra money forced upon a kind church volunteer who delivered it to us when it became apparent there was no way this was going to fit into our little car!). Storage that fits our house and is not impossibly expensive has been so hard to find, and we're going to have fun painting, then filling (again) and rearranging this.

For more flea market finds, visit Sophie.

Flea Market Finds

This is my first contribution to Flea Market Finds - and it might be a while before I have another, as our little home is now full to the brim - looks like I'll be trying to creatively find ways to make more space next!

My first 3 finds were from our local op-shops (one of which is part of our weekly after-playgroup ritual - a trip to the op-shop, then to the bakery for a scone!)

Some sweet fabric and a tablecloth...Two metres of beautiful upholstery weight fabric, already put to use - wrapped around an old folded quilt to make a comfy cushion for a "book nook"...And our most exciting find - 200 pieces of duplo (well, mostly duplo, with some imitation product included)! We spent the rest of the day cleaning the stuff (I'd suggest keeping plasticine and duplo separate as it's not fun to remove), then waited for dad to get home to try it out! This is "The Amazing Dr Seuss Staircase House"...
Today I treated myself to a real flea market experience - a trip to Camberwell Market, inspired by Kirsty. I exercised considerable restraint (while plotting to come back another day, maybe with my far-more-stylish sister), and came home with...

a part roll of sweet wallpaper...and a $3 Jacket for my girl (who was too excited to stand still). The bargain price made sense when I looked more closely and noticed a number of stains - but a pre-stained jacket might actually save us some stress and give us the freedom to have more messy fun!

One of the nice things about being in Camberwell this time of year is walking through the beautiful autumn leaves on the footpath, so my last "find" was free, but much appreciated...For more flea market fun, visit Sophie.