A few bits and pieces

Before I start the post proper, let me remind you of the fun game and giveaway! I would love to see you ( well, you know what I mean ) sitting there with a cup of tea or coffee, and taking a few mins to play this fun 1950's game. I loved it, even though it is not as easy as you might think. Go on, give it a go, it is open until Saturday, and I will post the answers on Sunday and announce the winner.



Last weekend I finally managed to get to a couple of bootfairs, and also had a quick rummage through a couple of charity shops on the way to the post office last Friday.

Alrighty, didnt get much in the shops, but a couple of little things were too adorable to leave. At the first shop, I immediately spotted competition in the shape of two women taking up all the space in front of the knicknack shelves and picking up bits and debating, while I was itching to get in there as well, but short of being rude and pushing them aside, I just had to bide my time. My heart sank though when I saw them with this gorgeous piece of 1930s amber glass, which they kept turning over and round, and hmming over for ages. I would have loved it. Darn, why couldn't I have gotten to the shop just a few mins earlier? And then, good lord, they put it down and picked something else up, and wandered off with that! I couldn't believe my luck. I picked it up rather quickly, and then relaxed, lol, woohoo, it was mine, all mine! At least after that I was able to have a nice slow lookaround.


I don't usually go gaga over teddies, but this cute little fella caught my eye, I just loved his expression, so serious and intense, yet with a teeny twinkle in his eyes as well. How could somebody not love him and just give him away? Ah well, now he is living with me -


And all good things come in threes, of course, so it was no surprise that I also found this gorgeous tray in the same shop. I have quite a few of these, both here and in the cottage in France, in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and with all sorts of beautiful flowers -


Only one other shop yielded anything at all, just this little crocheted bag, which I am going to embellish with crocheted flowers etc -


That was Friday, and on Saturday, we went to a lunchtime bootfair. On the way, we stopped off to see our bestest friends W & T, who were at a school fair, and I may just have had a quick look at the, hmm, what would one call it, white elephant ( in the good old days, lol ), bricabrac stall.
And I may just have had to get this pretty pink bag for my almost-daughter-in-law, because she loves pink -


and I might also just had to get this fabulous black and while Rayware bowls set -


You just gotta love school fairs, the bag was all of 20p and the bowls set, which apparently retails around £9-£10, was 50p. And my son and almost-daughter-in-law love black and white bits and pieces, so hopefully they will also like this set.

The bootfair was in full swing by the time we got there, and there were masses and masses and masses of people, sigh. Sometimes when I see it that busy I think, I am never gonna find anything interesting, everything will have been snapped up already, but there are always a few little bits and pieces to be had.

Ok, the first purchase you may think a bit odd, lol, 3 reels of fishing line, but I make jewellery for myself and friends and fishing line is great for stringing, its so fine and yet so tough and strong!
I didn't take a photo, lol, quite frankly, I forgot, and I am not going downstairs again and taking pics again, and uploading again, just for a bit of fishing line, I am sure you all know what it looks like.

On to the next item, yes? Not exactly vintage, but vintage style and so very pretty. My mother-in-law had given me a larger version of this one a few years ago as a birthday present, and I was really pleased to find this slightly smaller one with the same design -


I love costume jewellery, can't beat a bit of bling bling, its cheap and cheerful, and you don't need a second mortgage on your house to get a great looking piece. I especially like old brooches. It took me a while to find these three at a reasonable price, but aren't they just gorgeous?


And have a hooky-looky at this -


yep, I found a granny square cushion, perfect for the garden in France, and best of all, NO WORK involved, lol. I can concentrate on other crochet projects.

Now I know this cookie jar isn't decorated with roses, but the hand painted flowers were so beautiful, I couldn't resist buying it. Hmm, it might not be a cookie jar, but I really don't mind what it is, lol. I love the shape of the jar as well, immensely tactile -



Oh, and this pretty vintage wool blanket with its pink stripes came in very handy for protecting the cooky jar, lol -


I think that was it on Saturday, but because I only wrote down what I spent, and not WHEN I spent it, I can't be absolutely sure whether I bought these things on Saturday or Sunday. Does it matter? Not a bit, lol, I really don't care, and I shouldn't think you do either, as long as I show you all the pics from the weekend.

I THINK the next lot is from the Sunday late bootfair. First item bought was this teeny little milk/cream jug, so prettily decorated -


Then I found some more fluffety mohair wool for my fluffety granny square lanky -


Errm, this poor copper planter is very ugly at the moment from decades of neglect, but there is hope for it. I started cleaning a little patch, and yes, look! Under all that grime is definitely some shiny copper -


Anything with flowers will always catch my eye, and although the glaze on this is very crackled, I adore the shape of it and the dainty flower decorations and gilded rim -


On the theme of flowers, isn't this the prettiest little plate? Such a shame they only had one, but I had to get it anyway, it called to me! I have been buying a few rose plates whenever I have come across them in charity shops as well, as I am about to make a batch of rose soap. I have been sniffing various rose FOs ( I would need a second mortgage for the real thing ), and have decided on one now. The soaps will look so pretty on these plates, decorated with little dried rose buds etc.


To keep it safe whilst I was wombling about, I wrapped it in this -


And yes, you have guessed it, it will be embellished with something, probably some beaded fabric flowers, or something along those lines.

Ok, you will probably think I am completely nuts for buying this next item, a VERY battered old suitcase, but............ it is absolutely gorgeous inside, completely lined with this fabulous deep orangy fabric, it closes properly, the handle isn't broken, it has gilt initials on the top and a great label ( war economy label ) underneath, and it was only £1.50. Ok, so it needs a lot of cleaning, and I am still debating whether I should rub it down and paint it carefully ( around the label and the initials, of course ), or whether I should just leave it in its battered state. Hmm, what do you think?


From a distance, I spotted some things on a stall which suspiciously looked like French button cards.... ooh, and whats all that other stuff? Oh my, this guy had been to France and bought up some old haberdashery stuff, and I was so very tempted, waahh. I had to stop myself from buying more button cards, I have so many already, and there were all sorts of other things I could have filled my bags with, but I was a good girl, this is all I came away with -

a bundle of the prettiest tiniest pink and aqua braid

a bunch of beaded flowers, which came in a great big lump, but it was fun reshaping them all

and god knows how many meters of this adorable polka dot ribbon

I was a huge messy, knotted pile and it took me ages to get it sorted out, but it was so worth it!

And this was my most expensive buy of the weekend, sigh. Now you all know I am 50p or £1 girl at bootfairs, so you would probably have kittens if you knew how much I paid for these things, and I bet you don't even know what they are, right? Well, I'll tell ya, they are lathe chisels, for my son and my husband, who both love woodworking. Son No.3 ( my craft fair helper ) is really getting into lathe work, and needed some heavy duty chisels, I couldn't believe my luck when I found these -


just look at these handles, I adore old tools with their totally tactile handles, they just scream, stroke me, stroke me, lolol -

And there you have it, a week's worth of goodies from charity shops, school fairs and bootsales. What on earth I am going to do with it all, where am I going to put it? When will it all end??? xx