Today's Best Vintage Buys

Most "Reminds Me Of My Childhood" Find

is this cute wooden doll's bed & wardrobe set - it is painted pale lemon & has the original transfers. The wardrobe has shelves & a little hanging rail for doll's clothes. I had one like this in blue all those years ago! I am going to dress up the bed of course - I need a piece of foam for a mattress....any ideas where I could get a small piece?

Most Dolly Find

is this set of 6 wooden Polish dolls with their big red shoes.

Most Pretty Find
goes to this pretty 1950's toast rack bedecked with roses.

Most Noisy Find
is a pair of Chad Valley tin tambourines!

Most Christmassy Find
is this big selection of vintage Christmas cards dating from the 1930's - 1950's
all from the same family.

Today's Finds

Just a quick blog post today to show you some of my favourite finds so far this weekend.

Most Charming Find

goes to the lovely wedding photo - don't they look so very serious?
(Click on photo to enlarge)
As I don't know who they are it would be fun to name them, so answers on a virtual postcard please!

Most Useful Find

goes to the rolling pin with sunshiney yellow handles.....pie anyone?

Most Cottagey Find

goes to the cute Sylvac cottage shaped butter dish.

and the award for
Most Kitsch Find

has to go to this trio of plastic Christmas elves - hands up if you remember having this type of decoration on your Christmas tree too!


I'll be back with more after tomorrow's treasure hunting (hopefully!)

Paper, Post & Pretties

Last week I received an email from a representative of Farrow & Ball asking if I was interested in receiving some information on the new range of wallpapers that they are launching soon.
Was I? Of course I was! Farrow & Ball paint colours are always lovely & as Tamzin & I are both interested in anything textile or home decor related we were both keen to see the new range.



A few days later I received a package in the post containing their press release plus a few samples of the "Baroque Papers" & they are lovely! The designs are classic & elegant & the colours are fabulous.



I particularly like the soft chocolatey brown & blue combination - it would be very relaxing to look at in any room.



Also included was a very pretty box containing a set of notecards with examples of the papers on the front - what a lovely treat & one I will enjoy using!

So, thank you F&B for sharing your beautiful new range with me - I'm sure it will be very popular.


Speaking of home decor, Tamzin & I popped into Gloucester yesterday to top up our stock & to refresh our table display before the bank holiday weekend so I took a few photos to show you.

We went for a bit of a travel/shopping/picnic/red theme on our table.
The retro picnic set is fabulous & we have added a few vintage guide books & maps for good measure. The little grocery shop on the right is rather adorable & also from the 50's - it has an advert for Chivers jelly on the front & even a little working light!


There is also this rather wonderful gold wicker chair with it's original 1950's seat fabric.


Hope you all have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend. It looks like we are in for some nice weather which is good as we'll be off to a horse show tomorrow to watch Tamzin & Dylan competing.

Gloucester Antiques Centre

We went to my new unit at the Gloucester Antiques Centre today to top up the stock that we took there on Monday as we needed more but couldn't fit any more in the car.

I am pleased to say that in two days I have sold both chairs that I took on Monday & a selection of vintage china, so that is a good start.

After looking at these photos I realised that my space looks like a mini Vintage & Handmade Fair!

Bathroom Makeover

Way back when we bought this house (about 8 years ago now) we had so much to do including the bathrooms. We had all the fittings & tiles replaced in the children's bathroom, but didn't get around to replastering the walls which were uneven - they are rather old & made from woven wood lathes & a horsehair mix filling, so we hurriedly wallpapered over them & decided to "get back to sorting them out later".

We finally got around to employing a plasterer to smooth over the walls & also the horrid artex ceiling.

What a difference it made! While Mr C industriously repainted the walls & ceiling (the walls are in "Dragonfly" by Crown paints) I decided to save myself a few pounds by making a Roman blind from Cath Kidston's "Boats" fabric to put up at the window.

I had one of my lovely 1930's school posters framed for the wall above the bath....


hung a £3.00 car boot mirror above the basin....



and a few shell shaped wall pockets too.....I wonder how many colours they made these in?

I'm still looking for a nice corner cupboard to display some other vintage goodies but will wait patiently until I find the right one.

It's like having a brand new bathroom & we are very pleased with it now!

PS: A few people have asked for a tutorial on how to make the blind. Without making another one I can't really show you how but I did find quite good instructions on "Kirstie's Homemade Home" site here.

If you have any questions please do ask!

You can buy all the bits & pieces (tape, rings, cord, rods, toggle etc) that you need to make the blind from John Lewis in their curtaining department if you have one near you, or similar shops should have them too.

Shop Update

I have really been in summer holiday mode recently & haven't updated my online shop with new stock for a while, so today I buckled down & got to work.

I have added lots of lovely vintage sewing kits in Vintage Sewing including the lovely darning set above.

Also, patchwork cushion kits...

A nightdress Dolly kit...

An embroidery kit...

Two Clothkits skirt kits...

Of course we can't forget our canine friends in the Dog House section where you can find these very serious looking Scotty dog bookends...

And a kitty cat is lapping up admiration in Boudoir...

Finally, I have managed to source a few more of the pretty glass ice cream or dessert bowls & seashell shaped spoons which sold out very quickly the last time I listed some.

The bowls are in Glassware...


And the spoons are in Kitchenalia....

Hope you can pop in for a browse!

Pram update & NEWS!

Remember the 1960's Silver Cross pram that I bought a few weeks ago?
Well, it has had a Country Cottage Chic makeover!

First I bought a brand new coach built doll's pram mattress for the bottom & made a sheet from an old linen tea towel. I searched around & managed to bag a pretty pink & white crocheted blanket just the perfect size to wrap up a baby doll.
We rummaged through our vintage fabric scraps & Tamzin made a handsewn hexagonal pillow case with separate pillow inner & I made a little patchwork quilt.





As you can see, this cute 1960's teddy thoroughly approved!


Now, you might be wondering where I am going to sell this pram - a bit big to post!
You might also be wondering what the NEWS is in the title?

Well.....

as you know, I am constantly accumulating stuff to sell & my house is getting fuller & fuller & although I sell through my website & at the Vintage & Handmade Fairs things are getting out of control!

Recently I have been thinking about trying to find a space in an antiques centre where I can sell my stuff & get it out of the house. I don't want a shop as at the moment I have far too many things to do & I can't be tied to a shop all week (I have "been there, done it" years ago when I had a fashion boutique but I didn't have a family & lots of animals to take care of then).

In Gloucester, which is about half an hour's drive from where we live, they have recently opened a brand new outlet centre by the historic docks & they have incorporated an antiques centre too. There has been an antiques centre in a big old warehouse there since the 70's. They have now moved & it is still inside an old warehouse but it has been completely revamped so it is light & airy. It covers 3 floors & it's a lot more vintage than antiques & even has it's own tea room where the teas are served on dotty Emma Bridgewater china.

Anyhow, I haven't been there since they moved so I decided to go & have a look last week & was impressed. It was quite busy when I went & all the spaces were full but I went to have a chat with the manager & he said a couple of units were going to be available - one dealer that was leaving was a woman selling fur coats which I'm not really surprised about - it is a nice space by a big window & near the tea room! He asked about my products & I pointed him at my website & he seemed to be impressed & said he liked the look of my stock as it was a bit different to other dealers they have there.

Tamzin is very keen to do it with me when she's home. It is fully staffed with friendly people & has a nice feel to it.

On Wednesday the manager phoned & asked if I was interested in taking the space so on the spur of the moment I said "yes" - yikes! I can move in on Sunday the 15th August - that is just a week from now!! Talk about taking the bull by the horns & jumping in at the deep end (cliche after cliche here girls!)

So....what do we all think? Thoughts? Ideas anyone? It's exciting & scary at the same time & I just hope I'm doing the right thing!

This is the outlet centre:
http://www.gloucesterquays.co.uk

This is the antiques centre:
http://www.gacl.co.uk