A New Wardrobe the Vintage Way

 

Well, not quite but it still gives me a little thrill to find bits and pieces to add to my wardrobe in charity shops or at car boot sales and the like.

 

Here are a few things I've found on my travels of the last few weeks. I wouldn't say they were all as cheap as chips but I still consider them inexpensive especially compared with buying new. And of course, it's highly unlikely you'll bump into anyone else wearing/carrying the same item and that's priceless!

 

Brown handbag & Harry Hall hacking jacket (yes, another!) ~  Antique centre
Crocheted bag ~ CS
 

 





 

Vintage shoes ~ antique centre
(like new, need breaking in!)



Glasses in original case from local Optician ~ CS
(just awaiting lenses)
 

























Vintage brolly ~ car boot sale















Toffee tin & camping stool ~ Antique centre





 

I know the last two aren't wardrobe related but I don't buy much for the house these days (honest) so I thought I'd throw them in. I find lots of tins and never keep them but I really liked something about this one. Maybe it's because the toffee was made at the Garden Toffery!

And the little stool is something I've been after for a while for using in Mozzie. Admittedly, I haven't got very far down the list of things I want but most will turn up eventually!

 

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I've been playing about with layouts etc...on here but I'm not happy with it. Plus, some text has disappeared from the sidebar although it's there in the admin! Back to the drawing board....

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Almost forgot, there's new stock on the website right now.

Things that make me go oooh...

Nice treats and little things that cheer me up on dreary winter days...

Another recently acquired piece of uber-chippy furniture in my favourite shade of green...

My recent discovery, Lanolips. It's fantastic beacause it's cruelty free and you can use it for so many things. I'm keen on products like that, aren't you? I'm just about to treat myself to one of the lip colours too. Naughty!

You can buy it from here and also at Boots although it always seems to be out of stock there.

Letterpress love...I'm obsessed and have to stop myself from buying prints! I can indulge by buying cards for other people though. My Mum got this for her birthday last year and A's Valentine card is winging it's way here as I type.
I freely admit it's a complete change of direction for me. I'd never have believed I could let something so, gasp! modern and eek! non-vintage through my front door! But change is good, yes? And as long as I'm careful, I can choose things that will fit in with all the vintagey stuff.
I have a long wishlist of letterpress {and screenprinted!} goodies which I may share with you another time. Just take a look at Etsy.

The lemon print was a birthday present for A last year. I loved it, knew he'd 'get it' and I had the perfect spot for it in the kitchen and well, we're fond of a G & T in this house. Thankfully, he loved it.

A lovely bargain cardi from Ness...less than half price in the sale and ...

I also couldn't resist the tartan corsage while I was there. I've had to visit York three times in a month {long story, won't bore you with the details} but suffice to say that is not good for the bank balance {Ness just one of MANY gorgeous shops} or waistline {morning tea at Bettys with hot buttered pikelets each time. Yes, really!}

I smile every time I walk into the room and see this sweet cushion that A bought me for Christmas. It's from here. Again, something new and not vintage!

It's almost the next best thing to having a real whippet/greyhound and looks exactly like my Tara {see sidebar} used to look when curled up in front of the fire.

I do enjoy a nice cuppa but can't shake my reliance on the horrid white stuff {or in my case brown, but no better for you!} so I'm very taken with these teas from Teapigs. The caramel tea has to be tasted to be believed.

It's February. Things are starting to appear in the garden. It's a short month with a Valentine's Day treat in the middle and then it's March and that's Spring!

By the way, I seem to have lost my usual font colours. Not sure how that happened. The links are there, just not showing up!

Lately...

I've been...


framing vintage sheet music...too pretty not to!

finding thrifty vintage bit's such as 50p watercolours...

crocheted cushion covers (the larger two...there is a third!)

Carltonware for £8.00!! Who cares if the spoon's broken?

Charity shop chicken. My find's are few and far between at Charity shops. They're just not as good as they used to be...

Vintage car boot curtains...for £1.00

I've also been enjoying the leaves that are turning...

long shadows and stormy skies...but no rain for over a month!

visiting beautiful places...

as well as indulging in a patchwork project...

making plum jam...

and collecting lot's of tomatoes (with a little help)

revelling in the late roses...

and buying Pansies for some Winter colour.

And not forgetting treating myself to many hours of Autumn viewing...bliss!

and starting to think about you-know-what (groan!)



I've also been busy re-stocking the virtual shelves as t'were at This Vintage Life with lot's of lovely new items.

Car boot treasures and new stock

Before I start waffling I must say a couple of thank you's. Firstly for the kind anniversary wishes I received. And also to all the people who have so kindly purchased from the website just recently. I've been extraordinarily busy and it's all done to these lovely people so thank you! I hope you're all enjoying your vintage treasures as much as I love finding them.

Now the car boot season is in full swing I thought I'd share some recent finds with you. Most of these were just a few pence.

Always on the lookout for old frames I spied the two above...they don't look much in this picture but are actually quite decorative. Those and the tiny picture and the beads came from the same seller. He's not there very often so I like to fill my boots as they say down our way. The reason is...everything is 50p. But not 50p per item. No, 50p for three or four things!

So, I had the frames (filthy!) and the tiny picture (likewise!) in my hand and made the mistake of picking up the bag of beads and admittedly only gave them a cursory glance before putting them back on the table. But Mr Ten Bob (showing my age) won't let you get away with that you see. He thrust it back in my hand..."look at that, all them for 50p. You can't go wrong" etc...etc...So I ended up with something I didn't think I wanted but then I got home and actually looked at them properly and they turned out to be a nice lot of old beads, mostly lozenge and twisty shapes in very pretty colours...probably 1950's.

So when I saw another little bag of beads for 10p this week I had to buy them. Lovely jade green and yellow aren't they? It looks like I can add jewellery making to my very long to-do list.

The tiny picture is a real hand painted oil. The frame was so dirty I didn't even notice that two of the corners were broken but who cares...it's so pretty.

The harbour scene was also 50p and although the frame has a bit of damage I knew it would look right at home in my little summerhouse. I'm not trying to go for a seaside theme but it does cry out for that sort of thing with all the white painted wood!


I love this green enamel bucket...so shabby! It is getting harder and harder to find the coloured ones so a good £2 well spent I think. I might put plants in it...or maybe put it beside the fireplace with logs in... At the moment it's holding my driftwood. I love the contrast between the green and the cream inside.

I had to buy the little vintage caravan being a caravanner. Ours is a little bit more luxurious than this I hope! And the printers '&' came from our friend mentioned above.

The three Ladybird books were 10p each.

A bit tatty but such wonderful illustrations. Being very fond of my garden birds and particularly robins I was especially pleased with the Wise Robin. It's all go on the baby bird front here but that's another story.

Finally, I was over the moon to find this for a £1. A genuine Edwardian photograph of our village pub!

A new mount and a makeover for the frame and it will have pride of place somewhere in our home.

Not surprisingly, it doesn't look as lovely as this now!

There is new stock listed on the website today...including some lovely childhood treasures.

(SOLD ~ thankyou!)

(SOLD ~ thankyou!)

I'm off now to keep a date to keep with a song thrush. He (or she) seranades us every evening with his beautiful song from the highest tree at the bottom of our garden and it's wonderful.

See you next week.