Recent charity shop finds

Some things I have bought from the charity shop over the past 3 months.

First up, a Krenit bowl bought for £3.50. I saw it, picked it up (not believing that it could possibly be a Krenit) turned it over and saw the Krenit sticker on the bottom and quickly paid for it and rushed out of the shop before anyone realised what it was. Why is it that the shop assistant always says "ooh, this is lovely" and starts looking at it when you know it is the biggest bargain and just want to get out of there and skip down the street?! Love my Krenit bowl.

I bought this planter last week from the local charity shop around the corner. I thought it looked nice but decided I didn't need any more planters. I just had to pick it up and turn it over, only to find that it is an Arabia Finland planter so I thought it was well worth spending £2.50 for it. Love the colour too.

This was my only Welsh charity shop find, another £2.50 bargain, there's about 3 metres of fabric there. Will be making some bags out of this.

These barkcloth fabrics were bought at a charity table top sale in a local church hall for 50p each. Yes, you read that right. Everything on the table was 50p and there were so many fabrics to choose from but I just chose the ones I loved the most. I also got this bird print fabric which I might make some cushions from. It's not my usual style but I love it just the same.

I got the following scarf from the local charity shop for £1. I love the colours, not sure I will ever wear it though.

These were labelled as placemats. Not sure why anyone would want some woolly placemats - maybe to soak up soup dribbles?! I thought they looked very welsh and made up for me not finding a welsh blanket whilst on holiday. These will going into my crafting supplies, might be useful for making purses or small bags.

I'd been looking for a clothes valet for ages and finally found one for less than a fiver at the local charity shop so easy to carry home. My husband is using it and I am looking for another one for me so I can relocate my wicker chair which is a dumping ground for clothes. It will free up some space in the bedroom so that we can admire our still going strong purple shagpile carpet. Bleurghhh!

And last but not least, a Sylvanian Families Department Store, not complete but well worth the £8 I spent on it. This stuff goes for a fortune on ebay and the kids have played with it happily since I got it at the weekend, and will do for a few more months, I'm sure. It's a win-win situation.

What have you found at the charity shop/thrift store recently? Have fun thrifting! xxx

Climb every mountain

I am trying my very best this year to only buy things that we actually need. The big clear out of 2012 is still continuing (we have so much stuff) and I am not wanting to add to the quantity we already have. My intention is that we only buy something if we absolutely need it or if something breaks and needs replacing.

The above photo is of the lamp on my coffee table next to where I sit in the lounge. Over Christmas, a certain little person (not mentioning any names) absentmindedly ran her finger along the edge of this shade whilst watching rather a lot of tv. I was obviously off cooking dinner or sorting out washing whilst all this was going on so I a) wasn't sat in my usual spot, and b) didn't notice until the damage was done. I had received some Christmas money so decided to look for a replacement shade rather attempt unsuccessfully to glue those little strands back on.

My first instinct was to go to Folly and Glee who sell wonderful lampshades made of vintage barkcloth (you know I like a bit of barkcloth) and I found this beauty, which seems to be just the right sort of lampshade to have during this cold and snowy weather. It is beautifully made and and is a lot prettier to look at rather than a boring brown shade. I am so tempted to buy another shade in a different style but alas we don't need one.  I would definitely recommend that you have a little look at their online shop - everything they sell is so so gorgeous.

I am doing very well with my buy less year so far, apart from the Matalan teapot in the previous post. We really didn't need another teapot but I'm not keen on my other one so it may be winging its way to the charity shop shortly. I have also had a look at my yarn stash and have just finished a blanket out of some leftover wool which has been hanging around for a long long time. Also, the Mollie Makes inspired blanket is finished - hoorah!! More posts to follow once I've taken some photos. xxx