Magpie Monday - Holga camera!

Hey bargain buddies!

I've not joined in with the fantastic Magpie Monday for a few weeks, quite simply because I've not found anything worth splashing my pennies on in the charity shops!  This Saturday just gone, though, provided quite the haul!

I headed into town for a haircut on Saturday but had some time to spare.  As I was on my own, the charity shops were calling me.  The first one I stepped into had all of their board games priced at 75p so I bagged myself a rather ancient yet still whole set of Monopoly.  I'm afraid I haven't photographed this beaut, but it's quite an old edition!

Spurred on, I popped into a Clic Sargent charity shop and found myself two dresses, one from Asos and one from Monsoon.  I also found two gorgeous little hand knitted baby jumpers which I got for my friend who is due in January.  I'm not going to pop a photo of them on here, just in case she reads!  These four only set me back a tenner.

Last but not least I visited Mind, one of my favourites in Clevedon.  In here I found a beautiful, pretty much unworn Jules boys shirt for Ethan to grow into (£1.50) and a Holga camera!!  Just like most of us, I love Instagram and all the other apps which age our photos, but I thought it'd be fun to have a go with the real thing.  I had an old spare film hanging around at home, so I've already loaded it up and taken a few shots.  I must say, it was a real trip down memory lane putting film into a camera!! Also, it's so strange not being able to see your photo straight away!  Kind of nice though!  The camera was a fiver.  I've no idea if that's good or  not, but it seemed reasonable to me.  It's in excellent condition!  I'll let you know how the photos come out... assuming somewhere still develops film?!

If you want to check out what other bargain hunters have found recently, head over to Missie Lizzie's blog!

Magpie Monday - Edward Lear

My charity shop stomping grounds a sparse at the moment.. after my previous BIG HAUL I have now hit a lull... I looked in heaps last week and the only thing I came away with was a copy of The Owl & The Pussy Cat by Edward Lear (it also includes Calico Pie).

For 25p I thought this was a bargain.  It's from 1988 and I love the illustrations.  If anything, it looks like it's older than that illustration wise (not condition wise, because it's in excellent condition).

I'm a big fan of Edward Lear.  I grew up reading his wacky limericks.  I am often found quoting:

There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!--
Two Owls and a Hen, four larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard.

It sticks in my head and often when I have nothing else to think about, that comes out...

Who doesn't love The Owl & The Pussy Cat though?  Do you know there's a restaurant in Bristol called The Runcible Spoon?  It's a co-operative as well, so I really want to go there sometime soon.  I have a feeling that they have named that more to have a connection to The Good Life than Edward Lear though, as in one episode Tom tries to sell excess vegetables to a restaurant called The Runcible Spoon.. who knows, I'll ask them when I go..

I digress... I thought it was a lovely little book and Ethan is enjoying it very much!  Linking up with Liz of course for her fab linky :)

A total haul - Magpie Monday

Last Thursday whilst my parents had Ethan, I spent a very productive hour popping in and out of Clevedon's charity shops and I got so lucky.  I've been buzzing ever since!

First up, the Holly Hedge charity shop had these cute home-made record bowls.  I know you can make these yourself in the microwave, but they were only 50p so I thought they were well worth it.  I'm going to use them to display jewellery in at my Stella & Dot trunk shows.  What do you think:

Next up was St Peters Hospice.  I'm not a huge fan of them... they charge far too much and our local branch has a sale rail at the moment!! I've heard of 20p or 50p bins at charity shops, or even a £1 rail.  But to actually have a charity shop with a "sale" err.. no, that's all wrong! Anyway, I still check out what they have, just in case!  This time I grabbed a few few books at 50p each and a brand new designer t shirt for a 0-6 month old for £2 which I'm going to give to my friend when she has her baby.

Antoni & Alison top & "Colours" book by the Meg & Mog writer!

Ethan has taken a liking to Miffy books & he loves The Snowman

Break was the next charity shop I ventured into.  Again I got lucky.  After a good nose around I found a Superdry dress and a Fat Face skirt.  Together they set me back £6.50 which I think was a fair price - both would have been a lot more expensive originally and to be honest I don't think they've been worn.

Feeling very pleased with myself I started making my way home... trouble was, my route took me past one last shop, Changing Lives.  It was minutes away from closing for the day, but I dashed in.   I'm glad I did.  What I took home with me for the bargain price of £2.50!

Yup! A pair of Nine West shoes.  My size, pretty comfy and in great condition.  Yippee!!

I'm linking up with Lizzie for Magpie Monday.

Magpie Monday - Boggle and Puffin Annual

Hello bargain buddies!! It's Monday, it's Magpie time!

I have two items I am very happy with and excited to share with you today, and they actually hail from the same year!  1974.  I wasn't born in 1974, but despite never being around for any of the '70s, I have a huge desire to own items that come from that time.  Sometimes I have indeed thought that I was a glam rocker born too late... (I blame my obsession with The Rocky Horror Show, ELO and the film Velvet Goldmine) anyway, I digress.. My gorgeous, wonderful Magpie items for this week are a 1974 edition of Boggle and a copy of the first Puffin Annual, also from 1974.

First up, Boggle.  Pete and I first got into Boggle on our holiday in Cornwall this year.  Both of us had heard of it before, in fact Pete had played it during his childhood.  I hadn't though.  With little on TV (and who wants to watch TV on holiday anyway?) we fell upon the board games available in our cottage.  By far the most fun and challenging was Boggle.  We spent several evenings playing and thoroughly enjoyed it.  As soon as we came home I began a quest to get hold of a set for us, but me being me, I didn't want to just go out and by a brand new version.  I wanted a second hand, pre loved set, preferably one that dated from decades ago.. Why, you may wonder.. Well, I don't know why exactly, but when it comes to board games, I just love to imagine all the people who have played with the set before, the fun times they've had.  The thought that this particular set has been entertaining people for 38 years makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.  Another bonus with the 1974 set is that the dice are all wooden which makes them wonderful to handle.  It's in excellent condition and I feel well worth the £4 I paid (including postage) on eBay.  One drawback (though I don't consider it so) is that the 1974 edition is harder than today's edition - the older editions contain more "difficult" letters such as K's making it harder to come up with words.  That explains why when Pete and I first played with ours a couple of weeks ago we were only coming up with one or two words in the first few rounds!  Either way, I am extremely happy with this magpie find.

Second up, my Puffin Annual.  I found this treasure in the Nailsea branch of CLIC Sargent.  This is one of my favourite charity shops in Nailsea, I'm always finding hidden treasures in here.  This beaut set me back £1 and personally, I think it was a pound well spent.  I don't believe this is worth very much in terms of money, but I do think it is rich in social and cultural history.  The illustrations alone are stunning and the amount to read in there is fantastic.  This is a classic example of how little effort appears to be put into today's annuals.  I used to love getting annuals at Christmas each year, I was very fond of old Jackie annuals (I remember, oh... the shame.. I had one which had a big "heartthrob" style picture of Noel Edmunds in it which for some reason I found quite "dreamy" *vomit*).  I also loved to get Brownie annuals.  I don't remember Puffin annuals though. I wonder how long it was made for?  Anyway, this gorgeous beast shouted out at me from the bookshelves at the charity shop and I knew it was coming home with me.  The stories are a bit too old for Ethan, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying reading them.  I think it'll be fantastic when he gets a little older because there are quite a few step by step activities to try out.  I just think it's a total gem.  It's in impeccable condition as well.  The only thing that makes me a little sad?  The inscription on the first page - "To Peter, From Daddy, Happy Christmas 1974".  Awwww, this just makes my heart bleed a little.  I wonder who Peter was?  I wonder how this book came to be in the charity shop?  I wonder if Daddy is still alive?  Was it an ill chosen gift from father to son, a gift that remained on the book shelf only to be donated some 38 years later?  Or was it treasured and given away upon a death?  To be honest, it's in such good condition, I think it's more likely to be the first.  At least my hubby is Peter.. we can pretend it's his.  Let's just not mention that he wasn't born until 1982.

The front cover makes me grin!

Awwww......

The unmistakeable Quentin Blake

Raymond Briggs!!!!

Exciting for Moomins fans - Tove Jansson!

How to make a ship in a bottle... OK, might do that with little man one day!

I feel a little Yellow Submarine-y looking at this illustration!

Of course I am linking up this post with Missie Lizzie of Me and My Shadow for Magpie Monday.  Do check out the other bargain hunters!

Magpie Monday - Bush Radio

Now.. this is a bit of a cheeky Magpie Monday because I wasn't actually the Magpie responsible for this wonderful bargain.. I just had to share it though, because I'm sure a load of you will love it!! Plus.. I just want to show it off.

I went round to my parents house the other day and noticed this fantastic radio in their conservetory... It jumped out at me saying "ooo, stroke me, turn me on, fiddle my dial!" (sorry..). When I asked Mum where it had come from, she told me they had got it at their church jumble sale. It was coming to the end of the sale when a man on one of the stalls shouted out "Anyone, make me an offer for this radio, any offer, and it's yours!". My Mum, unable to miss out on a bargain, even if she doesn't need something, wondered over and offered him £2.  Now, it didn't come with a lead, so no one was sure it was working, but Mum decided it was worth a two quid gamble. It certainly paid off.. what also paid off was my parents hoarding habit because Dad was able to locate a suitable spare lead to use with the radio. Low and behold it worked. Fab! I was most impressed and told my Mum as such.

 Now... Let it be known that I did not at any time ask for the radio. I expressed my liking for it, said that if I'd seen it, I would have snapped it up. That was it. My Mum being the way she is though (and many Mum's are like this I think!) decided that she wanted to give it to me, said she didn't really need it anyway.

So.. there we go! That's how it came to it's new happy home in our living room. It looks fabulous I think. Yes, it's big, yes, it's in your face, and yes, it's AM/FM/Longwave so likely not to work one day, but heck, I love it. It's a 1990 reproduction of the 1960s Bush radio. So, not old.. But hey, hang on, even 1990 was 22 years ago (errr... how?!) so it ain't young. I keep walking into my living room and grinning at it.

TWO POUNDS!!!!!!

What second hand bargains have you sourced this week? Why not see who's linked up for Magpie Monday with the lovely Liz?

Magpie Monday; Fisher Price

I popped into town on Saturday to get my hair done (sans child) and afterwards, as I was on my own, decided on a quick snoop around a few charity shops.  I'm glad I did.  Can you ever come away empty handed?  Well, I know for a fact sometimes you can, but more often than not, you come away with something (many things).

I only went into three shops as I didn't have much time to spare.  I didn't find anything I wanted in the first two (well, the first one had a massive mirror that I thought would look amazing in the garden, but it was £25 and we're a bit broke) but the third shop came up trumps.

Firstly, I spotted an old Fisher Price "Pull-a-Tune" xylophone.  It didn't come with a mallet with which to bash out a tune, but that didn't concern me, we have copious things at home that can be used.  It's not in fantastic condition, but good enough and it still works brilliantly.  I'm a real sucker for old Fisher Price toys, and I like them looking used anyway, shows they've been enjoyed!  I knew Ethan would love it.  As soon as I brought it home, he was running around with it making a racket.  For £4.50 I think it was worth it.  I believe it dates from 1964 having had a google.

As well as the xylophone I grabbed "Balderdash" - an amusing board game.  My parents have it.  We're trying to increase our board game selection, so for £3 this came home with me.

Have you got any second hand bargains recently?  Do you like charity shopping?

Linking up with Missie Lizzie for Magpie Monday :)

Magpie Monday - Johnson Brothers etc..

I'm back for Magpie Monday!  I've not had anything to write about for the last few weeks, bargain/charity related.  On Saturday though, we were in town and decided to pop into just one charity shop (Ethan was with us and wanted to get home so he could ride his bike!).  We picked Age Concern and in we went.

Within seconds I spotted what I think is my top charity shop bargain EVER.  Not only that, this is probably my favourite thing to have spotted in a charity shop.  Something for someone else, something I just knew they would love.  That's the best really.  What had I spotted? A huge haul of Hearts & Flowers crockery by Johnson Brothers.

My mother-in-law collects this design of crockery.  Shortly before getting married she read that Johnson Brothers were bringing out a new design - Hearts & Flowers.  She fell in love with it and managed to track down a shop in Otley (Yorkshire) which stocked it.  She couldn't afford to buy the whole set, but got herself set up with plates and bowls.  Pete (hubby) and his siblings all grew up eating from this crockery.  Even I have very fond memories, seeing as I've been with Pete for 12 years.  Ethan also knew as soon as I spotted it in Age Concern that "It's Grandma's plates and bowls!".  Straight away I got Pete's attention and sent him off to the till to ask if they had a box/bag for us to transport it home in whilst I stood a very nervous guard (not easy because Ethan kept running off and getting in the way of people coming in and out of the shop!!).  The lady in the shop was so helpful.  She said she'd had her eye on it herself!  She got the crockery wrapped and bagged up for us whilst we browsed the rest of the shop.  I found myself a nice Saltrock dress which I'm very pleased with, but the crockery haul really made us grin from ear to ear (even though it was exhausting to lug home!)

So..  what did we get and for how much you ask?  In total there were:

6 bowls
1 small bowl
a jug
6 cups
6 saucers
6 side plates
6 medium plates

The cost?  £7.99.  For the lot.  Total and utter bargain I feel.  This would go for masses on eBay I have no doubt.  It's not about the cost though, it's about recycling, sharing, keeping a story going and spreading the love :)

My dress came in at £4.99.  Not such a bargain, but still a good price and a nice dress.  I wore it today and it's very "swishy" which I like!

Sorry the photos are a bit rubbish, they are from my phone, all I've got at present!

Please do go and visit Missie Lizzie's blog to see what the other Magpies have hauled in!

Magpie Monday - thrifting from your parents..

I've not made it to a charity shop recently, but I did have a rummage around in my parents garage, through some of their piles and piles of "stuff" and found two gems.. so, I'm not entirely sure if this counts, but they are unwanted items that are now going to be used and loved again!

First of all, I found this scarf of my Mum's from the '70s.  The print jumped out at me, it's exactly the kind of thing I go for!! It smells musty and despite a good wash, I've not fully for rid of the smell yet, so I've shoved it in with a box of bath bombs and soap from Lush in the hope that that will do the trick!

The other "thing" I found was a gorgeous and practical bag that belonged to my maternal Grandma.  I am guessing it's probably from the '70s as well and I suspect it was used as a beach bag (let's just say I found a load of sand inside it!).  I'll use it for the same I think, it has that "beach bag" feel to it.  Plus, it's a good size and has a smaller front pocket for all those small beach items (suncream, lip balm etc..).  What do you think?  Stripes are always in!

I'm linking this blog post up with Missie Lizzie for her wonderful "Magpie Monday" linky.  Do visit her blog, not only is she the host of Magpie Monday, she also does some amazing crafts!

Magpie Monday - blankets and toys..

I got really lucky in a Holly Hedge animal sanctuary charity shop the other day.  I've been looking for some eye catching bright crochet blankets for a friend as she's recently had a baby and loves crochet blankets (as do I).  Quite a few of the charity shops round here sell them.  It seems that many of the volunteers can crochet and knit and use odds and ends of wool that get donated to make blankets and toys whilst at a loose end in the shop, if it's quiet.  I love this idea.  It's recycling, it's re-using and it makes them a little money.. and you get something hand made as well!! Can't go wrong.

Anyway, I found two blankets and at only £2 each, I had to get both.  If you look on eBay, Etsy or in boutique shops, you can be charged in excess of £30 for blankets such as these.  Now, I know they can keep the prices low in the charity shop because they are using donated wool, but still, such a price difference.  They are always so beautiful.

Whilst looking at the blankets, I spotted this dress on the next rail.  The pattern popped out at me straight away.  It was in my size and only £1.75 so I decided to buy it without trying it on.  I've tried it on at home since and I'm very happy with it.  Very bright and cheerful!

Taking the blankets up to the counter, I spotted a little knitted teddy in a toy basket.  There was no price, but I had to have him.  He looks so so similar to my Mum's childhood Teddy and also bares an uncanny resemblance to Abney from The Adventures of Abney & Teal (cbeebies).  Turns out he was only 50p!  Brand new, made by one of the ladies in the shop.

I left that shop beaming from ear to ear.  I spent little more than a fiver and couldn't believe all I got.

OK, the colours are the wrong way around, but you have to admit the similarity!  Image Source: BBC

On a high I went into one of my old faves, the Mind charity shop.  We only found one thing, a box of fuzzy felt for £1.  Ethan loves fuzzy felt though - it made a good prize to go in his poo prize bag.  He's been playing with it lots since.  In great condition, it was well worth £1.

I'm linking this blog post up with Missie Lizzie from Me and My Shadow for Magpie Monday.

Magpie Monday - Boden

I've not joined in with Magpie for a couple of weeks... I've been trawling the charity shops but not come across anything very much!  I keep on looking though..

I had a bit of luck this week.  I found a Mr Men book for Ethan for 49p - no pic I'm afraid.  It was brand new, one of the modern ones, so nothing exciting, but Ethan loves Mr Men so it was a great find for him.  Went in his "poo prize bag" (he gets prizes every time he manages 4 poos in the potty/loo!).

I also found a Boden dress for £4 in charity shop in Nailsea.  It was a very lucky find actually.  I owned the same dress before - well, not exactly the same one, but the same design and print, but it was too small for me (bought on eBay).  This one was the next size up, so when I saw it on the rail in the shop I got all jumpy and excited.  You know when you feel like you've spotted the best thing in the shop and you start checking over your shoulder to make sure no-one's about to pinch it from under your nose and you get nervous butterflies?  Well, it was like that.  I marched off to the changing room with it AND IT FITTED!!! Yay!  Sweet, sweet, sweeeeeeeeet!  I can't really afford brand new Boden.  Not unless it's in the sale and a treat!  This made me very happy.

I have a pic from the changing room:

Yeah, I wouldn't normally wear it with black leggings and these boots.. but hey!

Also have a couple of pics of me wearing it the other day, but they don't really show it off very well!  It's lovely and comfy though.  Going to be fab if the summer ever arrives...

Well, that's all for this weeks' bargain hunting... hopefully I'll find more for next week.  Don't forget to head over to Missie Lizzie's place to see what the other bargain hunters have found!