Vintage roses ...

When I bought my pretend Ugg boots at the op shop earlier this week I spied several other vintage pretties that I wanted to bring home with me. Alas no 'mad' money is to be had this week so I had to sigh deeply and leave them there.

Yesterday I took my ex mother in law in to the op shop to look at a lampshade we thought might be suitable for her standard lamp. The lampshade wasn't to her taste so we browsed for a few minutes and she found some books to buy. I showed her one of the lovelies I had seen the day before and she said she would buy it for me! Yayyyyy for my lovely ex mother in law.
The item in question was a gorgeous vintage sheet.

Although I have a love of most things vintage I have never even looked at vintage sheets before. The lovely rose pattern on this one jumped out at me. I wanted it immediately. Now I just have to decide exactly what to do with it. So far three options come to mind.

1. Keep it as is and use it on a bed in the spare room matched with a plain white sheet. Alas it is only a single bed size.
2. Keep it whole and use as backing for a quilt
3. Cut it up and make cushions out of it. If i choose this option do I just use this fabric and get fancy with piping or ruffles or do I seek out matching/complementary fabrics and make some patchwork?

What would you do?

Since my ex mother in law paid for the lovely sheet I scrounged enough change from my purse to buy two other items that had caught my eye.

I found a pair of lovely white pillow cases for just $2.99. They are machine embroidered but wonderful quality and oh so white!

The other item was this adorable doiley/tray cloth.

At first glance I thought this was hand embroidered, in fact some of it does look hand embroidered and yet some of it is definately machine embroidered. For $1.99 I don't care and besides it is pretty.

Look at this sweet little bird. I love the vintage colours.

wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Comfort shopping...

I'm not sure if it's the onset of Winter or just my current life challenges but I have been feeling the blues a little recently. I am sure it has been obvious from my recent blog posts. Given that I am trying not to succumb to the temptations of chocolate to chase the blues away I seem to have found a replacement by way of comfort shopping! I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing? Certainly better for my weight loss efforts but not so great for the budget!

I have been to the op shops three times this week and come home with plenty of treasures. I also had to leave some behind due to a lack of that awful stuff we call money. I comfort myself with the knowledge that there will always be new treasures to find. Anyway here are a few of my 'comfort' items.

I actually bought this teacup and sandwich plate a few weeks ago but had forgotten to photograph it. I adore the blue. Sadly it didn't have the saucer with it so I am hoping I might find an orphan that matches sometime. If anyone has one I'd love to buy it from you! It is a Royal Albert pattern.

I found this fabulous old glass jelly mould for $3.99. It's about 6 inches deep and 5 inches in diameter.

This is a pretty Paragon trio I found recently. Paragon make the most gorgeous designs. I wish I could afford some of their more ornate ones.

This is a little jam dish that I kept coming back to. The gilding is worn so it has been well loved. It was made in Australia and only $1.99 so home it came. I don't often see things that are made in Australia.

A Royal Vale trio. It's funny that I love teacup sets so much. I don't drink tea at all but I suppose there is no rule that says I can't drink coffee from a cup? Then again maybe there is!

This one was an ebay purchase. A lovely nylon? netting food cover/table throw with a crocheted crinoline lady in each corner. My photo doesn't do it justice. It's actually a lovely bright lemon colour.

A very practical purchase and such a bargain! I found this like new Burberry brand raincoat for just $10 at a local op shop. The sleeves are too long for me but otherwise it fits beautifully. It has two deep pockets, chunky buttons and sleeve detail as well as being fully lined with a nice check print. It's not my choice of colour but I really don't care for that price! My girlfriend and I went back to the same op shop a few days later and they had another one, exactly the same but a different size AND it was priced at $80 which we thought was outrageously expensive for an op shop EVEN if it was a Burberry! I assume mine must have been priced incorrectly or perhaps just by a different staff member.
I also bought some lovely children's books and another item which I'll share in another post as this one must be a mile long by now. Do you comfort shop or do you head for the fridge when feeling a little down?

wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

Op shop delights...

After my dentist visit yesterday I decided to stop at two of my local op shops on the way home. I found some beautiful battenburg lace, a cutwork runner and the FIND of the month was a divine old sandwich plate.

This little gem was just $3. Can you believe it? I grabbed it up immediately and when I took it to the counter to pay the lady looked quite perturbed and showed the price sticker to the other serving lady. Much frowning ensued  and she told me she thought it had been marked incorrectly and that I had found myself quite a bargain. I just smiled politely and said oh yes I expected it to be more than that. Inside I was terrified they might refuse to sell it to me for that price.

It has printed on the back "Weatherby Hanley Royal Falconware". I have seen other pieces of theirs with the crinoline ladies on.
It is in beautiful condition, a little of the gilding is worn as you would expect of a vintage piece but there are no cracks or chips. I know next to nothing about china and just buy what I like but the pattern on the ends of this plate suggest it might be from the art deco period to me.

This is the cutwork runner I bought. Just $2. It measures approx 40 inches long by 14 inches wide.

A couple of close ups of the embroidery. It's machine done but still beautiful.

I found 4 of these lovely battenburg lace doileys. They are approx 10 inches long and 6 inches wide. $1 each

More battenburg for $1. I think this is a doiley or a tray cloth. The embroidery looks hand done. It measures approx 16 inches long and 10 and a half inches wide. (Folded in photo)

Two more pieces at $1 each. Not sure if these are doileys, tray mats or placemats. They have a slightly different embroidered pattern on them, again it looks hand done. 16 x 10 and half inches.
Needless to say I came home with a smile on my face.

wishing you sunshine in your shadows (try your local oppie)
Helen

Vintage linens...

I've been having a little spending spree lately. Between ebay and my local op shops I have made quite a dent in my very small budget. (very naughty of me!) Today I thought I would share some of the lovely vintage linens I have purchased recently.

Can you see the beautiful crocheted butterfly? I admired this beauty for a few weeks before giving in to temptation on ebay. It is a 100cm square linen tablecloth with a butterfly in each corner.

I found this battenberg lace inset tablecloth in a local ops shop for the bargain price of $10. It looks like it has never been used. The lace inserts make a frame in the centre and decorate each corner.

This pretty blue tablecloth has developed that softness that comes with age and is beautifully hand embroidered.

Another vintage embroidered lovely! Note the pretty scalloped edging.

This vintage linen tablecloth has been painstakingly hand embroidered with cross stitch. I am in awe of the patience it would have taken to do this as this cloth is quite large.

A small supper cloth featuring drawn thread work. This was one in a bulk lot I purchased on ebay.

I just LOVE this gorgeous vintage hand appliqued tablecloth. It came with matching napkins as well. The cloth has softened with age but I really do love everything about it. The blue trim on the scalloped edge is a nice touch I think. You cannot see in my photo but the applique is hand stitched and oh what tiny stitches they are!

I have a bit of a love affair with scotty dogs so when I saw this vintage apron for sale online it just screamed BUY ME! Alas my waistline is twice the size this apron was made for so I won't be wearing it but I'm glad to have it just the same.

Finally I had to show off this exquisite tea towel that arrived in my mailbox this week. It is NEW not vintage but it's so beautiful I wanted to share! It is made of beautiful Irish linen.  Isn't the red robin just the sweetest thing? Needless to say I will not be using it to dry dishes!
Hope you found something here to bring some small pleasure to your day.

wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen

I love ebay and op shops....

Ebay and I have become great friends though the years and I still buy quite a lot of my vintage treasures there. Recently I was lucky enough to get these beautiful old hand embroidered fingertip towels/teatowels. Whilst I do have the skills to embroider my own I do not have general sewing skills, nor do I crochet to make edges. Besides I prefer vintage items. (Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it)

The photograph isn't very good and I plan to launder them again. One has a small stain I would like to try to soak out. Overall though this lot were in gorgeous condition.

This lemon one I picked up for next to nothing in an op shop. It also needs a soaking but is still beautiful as is.

Not hand done but still beautiful I picked up this supper cloth for a mere $2 at my local op shop. It looks like it has never been used. Hard to photograph with my point and click camera it has a lovely cutwork design in the centre and nicely scalloped edges.

I'm not 100% sure what this pretty piece is. I picked it up in an op shop. It was a single, pale pink it has battenburg lace featured at one end. I think it may be an orphaned napkin? It is quite large but would look odd as a tray cloth or table centre. Apologies for the wrinkles I photographed it before laundering.

This beauty was an ebay win. Aren't the swallows just lovely? It is a large table centre and I photographed it folded to get a better picture. The embroidery is superb and it is spotless. I paid a little more than I usually would for such a piece but I felt it was worth it for the quality of the item and the unusual design.

My photograph really doesn't do justice to this lovely fairy tin I picked up for the unbelievable price of just 20 cents at an op shop last week. Around here even the most ordinary tins are usually at least $3-4 or more. I don't think it's terribly old but was way too pretty to leave there!

Yet another 20 cent tin from the same op shop. Very attractive shape and too nice to leave behind.
Hope you have enjoyed seeing some more of my treasures, I have enjoyed sharing them.They truly bring sunshine to my every day life.
wishing you sunshine in your shadows
Helen