Wednesday, 29 May 2013

The latest treasures

I've been meaning to post pics for a while now of some of my charity shop finds from last week but with it being half term and my eldest having his tonsils out last friday it's been a bit busy here. But better late than never right? So here are my finds from last week.

My favourite has to be this tea cup and saucer, the mark at the bottom says Gladstone bone china.

This Royal Grafton coffee cup had no saucer but I thought it was pretty.

I liked the simplicity of the pattern on this cake plate and sugar bowl.

And I just had to have this sweet little bowl because it's never to early to Christmas bits and bobs, is it?


Just a little thank you to everyone so far who has taken the time to read my posts and left comments xx




Saturday, 25 May 2013

What's in the box?

I saw this little box in a charity shop, now I don't know if you're like me but when I see a box I always have to take a peek inside to see what treasures it may contain.


Well this little box did not disappoint. Any ideas yet what was inside? Do you want a peek?




What do you think? I love these little shot glasses. At least I think they're shot glasses. Any glass collectors out there feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Now I'm not normally attracted to glass ware but I fell in love with these, they're so dainty.


And the gold stars are so pretty on them.





For now they're to be safely packed away until they day I manage to find a dresser I like to display all my little knick-knacks on. 

Thanks for taking the time to read my post and please feel free to comment.
Hope everyone's having a lovely weekend so far and that this weather lasts through the bank holiday. 

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Buttons!

Recently I came across some buttons in a charity shop. It looked like someone had cleared out their sewing box and had donated lots of little bags of buttons, I don't think they're particularly old or vintage but there were some nice ones among them. These are the ones I chose.








                         And some cute modern ones I purchased this week from my local market.
 

Saturday, 18 May 2013

Just some fabric

Well today the charity shops were a disappointment, there was nothing even worth a second glance.

So instead I bought some fabric, I've been looking around the charity shops for a while as I wanted something to recycle as cushions for the sofas but nothing ever caught my eye. I popped into the local fabric shop and found some which I liked, I think they have a vintage feel to them what do you think?





Hopefully it won't take me to long to get around to making them. I'll put some pictures up once they are done, don't expect anything too fancy though my sewing skills are as yet basic but I've managed to make some envelope style cushion covers in the past so hopefully these will turn out OK.

Monday, 13 May 2013

Finished.......finally!

Several months ago I saw this canter-lever sewing box sitting in a charity shop. It was in quite a sorry state, screws were missing, hinges broken and it was a horrid orange pine colour. So I bought it and thought it would be an ideal candidate for my first shabby chic project.


                               Here it is in it's original sorry state being modelled by my eldest.





                                                                And here it is painted.




And lined with some of my favourite scrapbook paper.
Now it just needs to be filled with sewing supplies.
(Oh and I need to find some where to put it!)

Saturday, 11 May 2013

A few recent finds

I don't necessarily buy something from a charity shop/boot sale because it's something I need, it's more a case of 'ooooo that's pretty I must have it!', whether there is a space in the house for it or not (much to my husbands despair). I do have to restrain myself sometimes especially on pieces of furniture, as there really is no room in the house for any more large pieces so I have to try and keep it small scale. I thought I'd start by showing some of my recent purchases (I apologise in advance for the pictures I took them with my iPhone)


I saw this little red box in my local hospice shop tucked away behind lots of bric-a-brac and knew straight away that I wanted it, the box is in such good condition and the contents look hardly touched.

Whether it will ever get played with by us I have no idea (the boys are already sniffing around it) but it was so lovely I couldn't leave it on the shelf especially when it was only £1.

Next is my favourite find so far...........

A Tuscan China tea set, consisting of 6 cups, saucers and side plates, a milk jug, sugar bowl and a larger plate which I assume is a cake/sandwich plate.

Unfortunately at the moment it is safely packed away as I have no where to display it (told you I buy things I don't necessarily have space for, you'll see it a lot!)
I would love a china cabinet but first I need to create space for one, I'm hoping to get rid of the huge unit in the living room which houses the overflow of the boys toys.

Sticking with the theme of things I buy but have no clue where to put them/what to do with them (in a future post I'll show you the mirror fronted cabinet that fits in this category) here is a pair of wall sconce's I fell in love with but have just been sitting gathering dust since. I'm sure I'll find somewhere to put them eventually.


And last but not least a few table cloths, these are an attempt to try and add some colour to the house. I've always been afraid of colour and the house is various neutral shades, I am now bored with this and have decided I want colour so I am slowly but surely working on this.

 
   I love this table runner but I think it is maybe more for the autumn.
   I've just realised how awfully creased these all look! I do iron them, honest.


                                                                    My lovely bright pinny.


Hope that wasn't a too long or boring post. :)

Taking a leap

Well I've decided to jump feet first into the world of blogging! It may be slow going at first while I navigate my way around blogger as I am not the most computer savvy person, I read plenty of blogs but have never tried writing one (so I may end up boring people to death or talking to myself a lot) . I want to use it to show some of my bargains that I pick up at charity shops and boot sales, and to show some of my craft projects and upcycling (if I ever finish one before starting on something else!). So I'll try to figure out how to upload pictures and give blogging a go.