Treasures from the Past: Thrifting Today

Today's we have a guest post from Sue at Fifty Plus Travel. She's also my mum! Please make her welcome.

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Every now and then while thrifting you come across something so precious it makes you pause and wonder how much it meant to the original owner. Last Saturday, I brought home the most beautiful Meakin soup tureen, a beautiful bowl edged with royal red and reminiscent of my mother's perfectly appointed table.

We would sit down for dinner with knives, forks and soup or sweets spoons lined up in order, napkins in their old worn silver holders, salt and pepper cellars and tablecloth freshly starched. I thought of the time when this tureen had been cherished and placed on the table filled with soup and ladled out to each family member sitting around the table! It speaks of love and long lost table manners!

I also collect gloves, handbags and oddments like my magnificent old trunk which has a mystery to it to be solved! I love the see through spotted voile wrist styled gloves I own and the long evening gold gloves like those my older sister used to wear to balls! I have some of my mother's worn gloves and also own another precious pair, carefully preserved in their original Dents plastic covering! Most of my handbags are from the 60's like Glomesh and Oroton - some being mine, some with a locked history from the past.

 

But my prized possession is bound for the curator at the Cobb & Co Museum in Toowoomba. I found this at an auction centre a few years ago. Nothing I have ever bought has been so evocative of the past and so mysterious as to its origin. I found it underneath a bench with many other vintage items, just waiting for me it seemed! It has hessian laid over timber and rusted steel bands over that. it is a traveling trunk of the type you would see atop an old stage coach....just the kind of trunk you can imagine a lady would take laden with her possessions - on her way to a distant destination in the 1890's!

Maybe I can hear the echo of the young boys rushing out to unharness the horse team ready for a fresh one, as she stepped down from the coach with the help of an outstretched arm of a gentleman traveller! This trunk was used by the photographers at my daughter's wedding on the farm to display her wedding dress.....those memories will overlay the history of yester year.

Layer upon layer, that's how thrifting builds upon the previous person's usage, what a wonderful legacy we leave when things are passed on and lovingly cared for by their new owner!

Have you ever been absolutely overcome by the history of an item you have thrifted like me? 

Save dollars with Op Shopping

I haven't had much of a chance to go op shopping lately, but yesterday I hit up four local shops on a mission to find some wedding outfit accessories. 

Although I wasn't successful in finding exactly what I wanted (note: op shopping is not great for this kind of thing) I did find some great bargain items. 

I thought I'd share with you because by my calculations, I saved at least $110 than if I had shopped retail!

The first item I bought is a red TS dress. I'm guessing it's part is the TS14+ range but the tag just says "TS". I usually do not like this label at all due to the tendency to have everything cut on the oblique but I tried this on and thought it was nice. TS14+ dresses retail for anywhere between $89-$200+, on sale for about $60. I got this for $6. Saving? I'm going to say ballpark $50 at least. 

The handbag is Basque, a label from Myer that I adore. I have a few pieces of their plus size label Basque Woman that I have picked up op shopping and they are always great quality. Their handbags retail for $89-119. On sale the smaller ones are about $59. I paid $10. It has a tiny, nearly invisible pink mark on the front. Saving? I'm going to say about $50. 

The gold chain is of mysterious provenance but it's pretty solid and heavy. I've seen similar in places like Colette or Lovisa retailing for $15-20. I paid $4. I reckon I saved at least $10. 

So by my calculations, I got a great versatile dress, cute bag and chunky chain for a song, saving approximately $110 overall. 

I'm really sorry about my dusty mirror!

Another op shopping win in my book. And I left behind an Olga Berg clutch!

Have you got any major bargains lately? 

Op Shops of Brisbane: Save the Children Kallangur

Op Shops of Brisbane is a series where I talk about charity shops I go to. Feel free to suggest a good one to me - I live on the north side but have been known to drive great distances for a good browse!


This week we're looking at Save the Children Op Shop in Kallangur. It is a relatively new store to me, having only noticed it a few months ago. Either it has always been there and recently gotten a facelift, or it's new in the premises. Either way, it's great!

 

Parking tip - if there's no space out the front on the main road, turn into the shopping centre and park in front of the Salvos store next to the Red Rooster. Then you can hit both op shops at once!

 

What struck me when I first entered the shop was the extraordinary level of neatness and organisation. Although since this visit I have seen it in a few places, this was the first op shop I'd seen where clothing was organised by colour. It's very striking and so wonderfully convenient if you're looking for a particular shade!

There is a plus size clothing rack too (always an extra brownie point in my book) and a wide range of clothing for the whole family. I have found upon subsequent visits the clothes are mostly of the modern chain store variety, with a wide range of low- and high-end labels represented.

There is a wall of books and mags, and a few shelves with a small collection of bric-a-brac. I've seen Johnson of Australia there, along with some other nice crockery but not many other collectables. The majority of the shop is clothing.

I love visiting this shop because it is invariably clean, tidy and bright. Although small, I can often find something to buy. It's also one of the only two op shops within a half hour drive of my house that are open Sundays!

Save the Children Op Shop is at Shop 1, 1469 Anzac Ave, Kallangur QLD and is open Mon-Sat: 9am-4pm and Sun: 10am-4pm.

Op Shops of Brisbane: Footprints in Bracken Ridge

 

Op Shops of Brisbane is a series where I talk about charity shops I go to. Feel free to suggest a good one to me - I live on the north side but have been known to drive great distances for a good browse!

"Footprints" is my little charity shop secret. I overhead some women in another op shop talking about it once so I drove over to Bracken Ridge and managed to locate it behind the strip of shops on Gawain Rd. I think it is run by the Uniting Church, as part of their Uniting Care program.

And it is pretty gold. Chockers from floor to ceiling with stuff, actually. I used to just look at the bric-a-brac (mostly standard throwaway stuff but you can find the occasional Pyrex gem) but after I evolved into op shopping for clothes I started buying quite a bit of stuff here. The brands are of the middle-aged lady kind - ie. lots of Millers, but there are plenty of other labels to be found and the odd vintage piece too.

They have a large kids and menswear clothing, toys and a small range of tupperware (at the usual exorbitant prices) too.

I like this shop because the lady volunteers that man it are always lovely and chatty, and it feels like a little Aladdin's cave tucked away in the suburbs.

I hope you appreciate me sharing my secret shop with you all! Do you have one? Do tell!

Footprints Bracken Ridge Thrift Shop is at 57 Gawain Rd, Bracken Ridge QLD. I could not find the opening hours but it is definitely open Saturday mornings.

Op Shops of Brisbane: Lifeline Brendale

Op Shops of Brisbane is a series where I talk about charity shops I go to. Feel free to suggest a good one to me - I live on the north side but have been know to drive great distances for a good browse!

Lifeline's "Supastores" are always a treasure trove. Not only are they bigger than your average little Lifeline shop, the goods are generally of a better quality. Someone once told me they send the good quality furniture there, not sure if this is true!
 

 The Brendale Supastore is my local and in my opinion, the best one in Brisbane I've been to. For starters - it's huge. The space inside is cave-like. Secondly, they have a large range of things.

My favourite is the bric-a-brac and crockery. I think they've recently got a volunteer who fancies themselves a bit of an interior stylist as this area has been neatened and arranged much more nicely recently. I often find Johnson of Australia plates and mugs, and also the odd bit of American Pyrex. Plenty of English JAJ Pyrex if you like that sort of thing also. Endless glassware.

The clothing is abundant and regularly rotated. I am happy to report they do now have plus-size racks, a godsend for those of us who hate going through endless rows of ladies clothes sized 8-12. The brands are generally chain-stores like Katies, Millers and Target, but I have seen Bonds and even higher-end stuff like Seed there. There is a big rack of jewelry where I have picked up some lovely necklaces recently, and a huge range of shoes, bags and scarfs.

There is a large selection of books - and they have a shelf of "recent" ones too, which I think they try to keep stocked with the better quality novels that come in.

The kitchenware area now has its own Tupperware section, though the prices are too high for me. If you collect it though, there are often good 80s pieces to be found.

Other sections I don't visit - electrical, furniture, fabric and sheets (except for the occasional glance for any vintage sheets) and toys.

I highly recommend Lifeline Brendale - though I must warn you, DO NOT try to break up items marked as part of a set. I did this once unknowingly and the volunteer lady went off her tree at me for trying to buy one coffee mug instead of the whole mug/plate set!

Lifeline Brendale is at 4/256 Leitchs Road Cnr Kremzow Road, Brendale. It is even open on Sundays!

On the Garage Sale Trail

Last Saturday was the 2013 Garage Sale Trail. It's the third year it's been held and my first time! Hard to believe I know, but for some reason this regular opshopper had never checked it out before.

The idea of the Garage Sale Trail is to organise folk around Australia to hold garage sales on the same day, with the goals of sustainability, growing community and helping money change hands for people and charities.

With the help of the interactive map on the website (which displayed sales in your area that people or organisations had registered and enabled you to create your own "treasure trail", so handy!) and the mobile app, off I went with a purse full of change and high hopes.

Unfortunately I completely bombed out! I think I was too late, as you may know, the early bird gets the worm. But this little worm had a sleep-in.

Nevertheless, I had fun poking about in other people's stuff, and you never know what gems you are going to find.

At the end of the day, the Garage Sale trail had over 13,000 sellers registered across the country, 1.5m items listed for sale and they project over $4.5m will flow into the local economy as a result of the day. That's pretty amazing stuff.

Did you do the Trail? Do you love or hate garage sales?

A welcome return to thrifting form

I went op shopping today. Sure, it was pissing down rain but I'm pretty broke and knew that if I went to the shops I would just get depressed about all the shiny things I can't afford.

I haven't been to my local charity shops in quite a few weeks due to a self-imposed ban. You see, after cleaning up my dining room I discovered I had WAY more vintage stuff that I'd bought for my Etsy shop than I thought.

But today I cut myself a break and went shopping for myself. Ah, the pleasure of sifting through knick-knacks for some little treasure to take home. Yes, it's other people discarded junk but it's always surprising and never not fun.

Today I struck gold with two little Pyrex dishes and a couple of tops. I usually don't shop for secondhand for clothes due to the difficulty in finding larger sizes but recently it's become easier in some charity shops that sort their racks by size.

And so, instead of getting all sad at the mall because I can't afford $49 for a nice shirt, I spent $14.50 on clothes and $5 on Pyrex and I'm as happy as a clam.

Have you found any good op shop bargains lately? What do you look for when you go?

Things this weekend has taught me

* Never underestimate the restorative power of a good lie-in.

* Thunderstorms are more fun when you can share them with someone. They are not fun when you are home alone.

* It is very hard to read by candlelight.

* My flatscreen tv looks feather-light but weighs two tonnes

* I have a lot more vintage stuff than I thought. A lot more.

* After 5 years of living in this house, I have yet to work out a storage solution for our collective stuff.

* A nice hot cup of tea and a pretty magazine cures most things.

How was your weekend? Learn anything?

Weekendness

Every time I think to myself I'm going to have a restful weekend, I end up doing so much more than I had planned. This weekend was no different.

Saturday I had two things planned: post office (to post another Etsy sale, yay! That's 3 in 4 weeks) and to do a little op shopping.

I found these delightful coffee mugs, but not much else. I think I need to venture further and check out some new stores. Note: the other items in this picture are from my mum - she's forever cleaning out her cupboards and donating things to the shop! I may be tempted to keep the cute purple tartan Thermos for myself though! It's practically mint!

My darling husband worked all Saturday night, so I curled up with the tv and watched The Help. What a great movie! So emotionally overwhelming and fascinating at the same time. I watched the entire thing without realising that it was Bryce Dallas Howard playing Hilly. Hee. Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the story I don't recognise actors!

So at about midnight last night, eyes drooping, I decided to take a chance and put on my first loaf of bread to bake in the bread maker. The bread maker was a wedding registry gift and damn me if we haven't used it once since. So I read the little instruction book and the back of the bread mix box, poured everything in then pushed some buttons and went off to bed with my fingers crossed.

Well, if I didn't wake to the aroma of freshly baked bread! Amazing! That's not to say I was not woken by the machine beeping to itself early on at the crack of dawn when turning on, but hey presto! When I hauled my lazy buttocks out of bed, behold...

It kind of exploded at the top but I didn't mind. Hubby gave his seal of approval, and has expressed an unexpected level of interest in learning to use it, and also wants to learn how to bake bread from scratch. I suggested maybe we start with some bush bread or damper and work our way up.

I couldn't resist just one more op shop to top off my weekend so I hit my favourite down at Brendale. And boy did I hit the jackpot!

We've decided that this lovely Australian map isn't antique, or possibly even old enough to be vintage, but it's got rustic charm written all over it! And it was only $3. Winner.

I also picked up this lovely little jug, which I think might be Johnson of Australia, though I have never seen the pattern before.

I also baked this afternoon. Mum gifted me with some cupcake packet mix before going away (amongst other things, including a passion fruit and a continental cucumber. What am I going to do with a continental cucumber? WAIT. Don't answer that). So out came the Big Red Mixer (she really needs a name - any suggestions? Something 50s like Betty perhaps) and pretty soon I had 12 little chocolate cupcakes on my hands. It was a nice way to end the weekend.

How was your weekend? Any good shopping finds? Did you bake? Garden? Chill out?

Weekend op shopping

I'm now at the stage of my thrifting career where I don't consider a Saturday morning complete without dropping into one or two op shops. I have favourites in my area that I hit up regularly but I also like driving to new ones in suburbs I don't usually visit. This can be fun, other times disappointing.

Last weekend I drove all the way over to Virginia to check out the Lifeline Supastore there. I was very crestfallen - either it had been picked clean by the morning crowd or it is not well-stocked. I guess it might be a store that focuses on furniture rather than bric-a-brac, which is my thing. And also it seemed not very "Supa" in size - more the size of a regular shop.

Today I was running errands all morning but dropped into two local op shops with varying degrees of success - got a $2 necklace and an unopened jigsaw puzzle for mum from my "secret" shop, nothing at all from the second.

When I finished my To Do list I decided to spin by the Lifeline Supastore at Brendale on my way home. If you haven't been, I highly recommend a visit one weekend - yes it is open Sundays! It's HUGE. And CRAMMED full of stuff. Crappy stuff, weird stuff, old stuff, smelly stuff - I just love it. Sometimes I find nothing and then sometimes I hit the jackpot.

Today was a jackpot day...

The little brown mug and jug on the left are English Hornsea pottery. I love the glazed look and retro pattern. The plates underneath are Johnson of Australia. I hope if you are a regular reader or social media follower that by now you know I have an enduring Johnson fetish! The aluminium pot up the back is a coffee pot with a little perculator inside and a quaint glass lid! The two white cafe cups are to put pens and things in on my bench. And the black and orange creamer jug is some lovely Mikasa "Orange Sherbert". I love this set as my mum has the cups and plates.

Here are the Johnson plates all on their own. They are dear to me as they are not of the usual floral pattern you find more regularly, and thus unique in my collection. I had only seen this pattern on instagram and wouldn't have even picked them up to check if they were Johnson unless I had! So folks, it proves that it pays to do your research. I love trawling the #johnsonofaustralia hashtag on Twitter on Sundays, it's such fun! I always get envy at others' lovely finds, though...

So I'm starting to accumulate so much stock for Little Moments Vintage that I'm running out of storage space. Which means I need to move my butt and get it all photographed, into the store and... sold!

Did you find anything good thrifting this weekend?

Weekend thrifting

My mum once told me the key to enjoying your weekends instead of spending your whole time bogged down in housework was to go and do something nice for yourself on Saturday morning. First thing. Don't wash up. Don't put a load of laundry on. Just go out.

This morning I took her advice, and armed with Evernote and a list of garage sales in my area, I hit four places in quick sucession. The only good one was the last, a lady who was selling TONS of Christmas stuff - I'm assuming she was one of those obsessive Christmas lights people because she had so many items. But she also had a nice array of bric-a-brac and the most enormous glass jug I've ever seen. I bought it on the spot plus a nice little mini syrup jug.

Teacup for scale purposes

I then ran a few errands at the local mall (ugh! detestable place!) before dropping in on my favourite op shop on the way home. Bingo! Some lovely Johnson of Australia teacups, saucers, side plates and dinner plates. I didn't take the whole lot as some of it was crazed, also wanted to leave some for other folk. I also picked up a lovely little glazed Japanese coffee mug for 10c. 

Then I came home, washed up all my finds and sat down to do some stock photography for my shop! I'm getting better at taking photos, sharing my fave of the day with you below.

  Have you been thrifting this weekend? Any good finds?

Saturday

Today I did things. It was satisfying because I got to go to shops and I NEVER get to go to shops.

First I hit up my local Lifeline Supa Store, because one thing I learnt the last weekend I went thrifting is that by the afternoon, any good stuff is gone. I didn't have any luck - they had one Agee Pyrex casserole dish but it was badly discoloured. No decent Tupperware this week either! I ended up buying a camel coloured wool scarf for $2 and two floral pillowcases for a dollar apiece.

Next I was headed up to Westfield when on a whim, I decided to drop in to the Lifeline store at Strathpine. I'd never been in it before (always shut every time I go past) and blow me down if they didn't have a stack of Johnson plates on display! They don't have much bric-a-brac there so I guess what they do pick out to put on display must be the good stuff! I was so excited, because I've never seen this leaf pattern before.

When I got home I got stuck into the "present pile". This is what we have been calling the giant pile of boxes containing our wedding registry gifts, which were delivered about a fortnight ago! Well, I unboxed everything, and washed it all up... and frankly I was exhausted! I was flabbergasted by how much packaging goes into these items - cardboard, bubble wrap, plastic. This pile of junk is still in my living room, I can't face it right now. On the bright side, I have lots of boxes to ship my etsy store stuff to customers in!

After a little lie-down in front of the telly as a reward, I decided to christen THIS BEAUTY...

By making pumpkin soup! I had half a leftover pumpkin in the fridge so I chopped it up to use. I followed the 4 Ingredients book recipe, though I did saute the onions in butter with garlic first :) Is there a better smell in the whole world? I think not. It turned out amazingly. So good. I saw somewhere on the internets during the week some tip about freezing soups flat, so I bagged up some servings and they are now lying flat in my freezer, waiting to be consumed on a cold winter's day.

How was your Saturday?