Blogtoberfest Day 13: Moo Moo's new Throne

I was heading home one day last week and I popped into Vinnies at Altona on the way. I found this fabulous kids cane chair for a whole $5! I knew that Moo Moo would love it, and it was the perfect size for him.

Bargain - definitely
Comfortable - maybe not

So on Sunday, I whipped up a quick padded seat cushion.

I used the leftovers of the Moo Cow print from Nikki, and some upholstery remnants for the front and back, and I sandwiched a really thick fleecy remnant in the middle for cushioning.
The ties are just leftover bits of bias binding that have been laying around in the stash.

Moo was supposed to be having an afternoon nap, so the twins tested it out - first up was Zane

Then one sock Noah

Until a cheeky little monkey who was supposed to be asleep suddenly appeared...

I think he likes it!

On Op Shopping

Inspired by Christina's post yesterday, I decided to pop into my local Vinnies for a little scout around. I hadn't been for a visit for a whole two weeks (which feels like a lifetime).

Something horrible has happened while I've been away. There's either a new Manager or a new pricing system, because suddenly everything is far too expensive.

I found two really nice tops but they were both $9 each. Eeeek! I can buy a new top for that same price...... and what about the GFC? The dresses were a minimum of $15.
I don't live in a trendy inner suburb, this is an op shop in the outer suburbs which should be catering for families.

In the end, the only thing that I came home with was this corduroy skirt from the $1 specials rack..... it's large enough for another pair of kiddie pants.

I must say that I was extremely dissapointed. I'm wondering whether I should be writing a letter of complaint to their head office. I never thought I'd be one of those letter writing people..... but I did write to my local council last week too (sheesh.... I really am getting old and crotchetty).

Watcha Wearin' Wednesday & The Op Shop Challenge

Two birds with one stone today...

I've been following along with the op-shopping adventures over at Katiecrackernuts for quite a while now. She's been taking part in a workplace initiative to cut their carbon footprint, and has been wearing thrifted clothes to work (which she puts together with her own fabulous style).

So todays Watcha Wearin' Wednesday is inspired by Katie. Frances is wearing it for me because I only found it at Vinnies yesterday, and I haven't actually had time to wash it yet (oh, and the weather forecast is 16 degrees for today too).

I spotted it in the window when I parked my car, so I walked inside and asked the shop attendant if I could take it down and have a closer look. She just pointed and said "yes sure", so I had to unhook the hanging shop dummy, undress it, and then hook it back up in the window.

The top photo shows the actual colour - I had to use the flash for the other photo and it doesn't do it justice. It was above my usual op-shopping limit ($10) but I think it was worth it. I can't wait to road test it with a long sleeve top and jeans.

I also happened to stumble across eight lovely tea towels which apparently had only just been put out on the rack ...... right place right time!

Teacups

Found at Vinnies yesterday for $2.
They're too small to actually use but they'll look lovely on my shelf.... so much for decluttering... whoops!

Thrifted Tuesday

I finally unloaded last weeks op-shop finds from the back of my car.......

I headed straight for the fabric and linen section at my local Vinnies only to find an older lady had just pilfered all of the good fabric right before I arrived......

But lucky for me.... she didn't spot this roll of fabric that was hiding in the corner. I don't know how much there is as I haven't unrolled it yet, but it's pink, it has flowers, and it was only $10. Now that has to be a bargain!

I also found a lovely vintage floral sheet set which is now in the washing machine....

....and a huge bag of bias binding and twill tape for $4. Oh Vinnies, how I love thee.

Thrifted Tuesday

I popped into Vinnies while I was out and about last Friday and picked up a few goodies. I remembered my trusty shopping basket this time so it made life a lot easier......



I picked up a bit of fabric and some more zips (one of these days I'm actually going to learn how to sew zips so that I can use all the zips in the stash).



A brand new single sheet set with a pillowcase for $12. I actually bought it for the fabric because it's a much heavier cotton than a normal sheet set.

A bag of felt bits and pieces that will be perfect for making some softies for The Toy Society.

....and these groovy books.

The inscription inside this one is really sweet.......

Thrifted Tuesday

I had a little outing to my local Vinnies store last week and found myself some bargains


Two sweet little embroidered tablecloths.....


Two vintage teatowels......

Two big bags of yarn (my mum has started knitting too so I'm sharing these with her).....

A big pile of fabric......

....and this book for Mr CurlyPops.... The Sun McEwans Home Handbook.

It has everything an Aussie bloke would ever need to know from 'how to build a fence' to 'gold detecting'.

I've picked out a few of my favourite projects.....

Nice wallpaper, nice shirt, nice lamb chops....
Nice timber panelling......

Nice polystyrene ceiling tiles.....

.....and of course we all need to know how to give ourselves mesothelioma by chopping up asbestos cement sheeting! Scary!

Knitting

My sister and I met up with Corrie and Kiera for lunch on Friday in Williamstown. It was a lovely day so we sat outside in the sunshine and fresh air.......

Keira was wearing the beautiful pink jumper that Corrie had knitted......she looked so cute!

Corrie had also made a beautiful gift for my sisters twins (I don't have a photo at the moment), and I was finally able to give her the knitting pattern book that she won in my giveaway! I can't wait to see what she whips up with her knitting needles!

After lunch, my sister and I popped into Vinnies in Newport where I found another couple of craft / sewing books........

......and knitting needles and wool for Brown Owls tonight!

A Week of Pillowcases - Day 2

I'm playing along with Kirsty's pillowcase week over on Pip's blog so my mission for today was to go op-shopping to find a nice vintage floral pillowcase to try some more pillowcase projects.

This was all I could find at Vinnies......not exactly vintage, but there are two matching pillowcases and they are still pretty. They're in the wash now so they'll be ready for later in the week.

I did find something lovely and vintage though......a gorgeous floral single sheet set! There's still another matching set that I left behind (I really have no more room to store any more fabric).

I also found these lovely rattan baskets.......

....and oodles and oodles of trim (sorry about the fuzzy photo!)

Here's a close up of my favourite bits of trim!

Op Shop Finds

I had to go to Essendon yesterday so I dropped into Vinnies in Ascot Vale.

I found 2 lovely vintage floral sheets (there were several more but I'm seriously running out of storage space)........

.......and this circus themed sheet and some blue material. I'm not sure what type of material but it's sort of like a heavy suiting type of material. I'm going to use it in a little boys quilt.

They had a great collection of teapots and milk jugs but I resisted temptation!

I Op Therefore I Am - Giveaway!

I've been reading this cool blog for a while so I thought I'd join in the fun. I love op-shopping and searching for a bargain. What I love most is trying to find something individual or different, but it's getting harder as more people are trying to do the same.

Today I visited my local St Vinnies and Salvation Army Stores .
I was actually searching for sewing supplies today. At Vinnies, I found some really nice light denim fabric, some royal blue corduroy, 2 patterns (including the cool knitting pattern from the 80's classic Shirl's Neighbourhood), and some nice blue beads. Total cost was $11.50. At the Salvos I bought 2 kids curtain panels that I can cut up to make into something else, and a bright pink corduroy jacket and pair of trackies for me. Total was about $12.00.

One thing that I did notice today is that both stores were really busy. At Vinnies, there were about 20 customers in total. There were 3 of us looking through the sewing / craft section at the same time and then about 5 people looking in the crockery section (while I was checking out cups and saucers). They had lots of nice vintage saucers but not many cups today.

I don't knit so I am giving away the Shirl's Neighbourhood Knitting Pattern on my blog (I only bought it because I couldn't possibly leave it behind). If you would like it, leave a message on my blog and I will add your name to the draw.

I will draw the winner next Monday.