Ballarat Lifeline

There are two Lifeline op-shops in the Ballarat CBD, but the best one is by far the shop closest to the railway station on Lydiard Street. As you come out of the station and turn left, it's the first shop you will see.


It's small, but there is a good selection of clothes, shoes and books. With it being so close to the station, they have a well-stocked bookshelf for commuters!

They have also recently started a "Vintage" rack which had some interesting pieces. Unfortunately I didn't have enough time to browse and only had enough spare change for these two necklaces. The black necklace was $2 and the amber-coloured one was $4- my mum loved it!


Ballarat Lifeline is open Monday to Friday from about 10.30 to 4ish, so it's a great first stop if you are coming up to Ballarat for the day!

Rotary Rummage Shop, Doncaster East

I think I've created a monster - myself. Honestly, I'm not normally this frenetically compulsive an op-shopper, but I've had a bit of time on my hands for the past few weeks and thoughts inevitably turn to... "Hmmmm, what can I do today? I know, I'll nip down to XYZ op shop; haven't been there in a while." I'm going to try and curtail my op shop visits for the next few weeks to try and curtail my spending!

OK, so today's purchases of shame totalled $28, from the Rotary Rummage shop in Doncaster East. I haven't listed individual prices as I have no idea what I was charged for what - according to the price tags I should have paid $33 in total, so I think the lady at the counter lost track of what she was charging! 

2012 calendar. (Was tired of looking at my ugly free calendar that I printed from the 'net.) The pictures in this are much cheerier, even if we're nearly a third through the year.

T-shirt in the colour my Mum calls 'Menopausal Mauve'

Stripey top, stripey cardi & tunic. (I think I've developed a stripe addiction - I have about 10 striped tops now. This must end!... and for goodness sake, why did I buy a grey striped cardi when I bought something similar the previous week?)

Cute face cups.

2 x framed prints of  Rome. I bought these really for the prints. I'm not sold on the frames and will donate them back to the op-shop if I can find some nicer frames in my stash.

Eltham B.S.L. last Friday.

I went into our shop on Friday morning, determined that there was absolutely nothing I needed to buy. But WANTED to buy..well that's another story. This little dip bowl with matching server thingy had chooks all over it. $2.

Whenever I give guests tea and coffee, I throw a few spoons on the table so they can help themselves to sugar. As soon as I saw this Spoons mug for $1, it was mine! No more untidy spoons!

This doiley needs pressing (obviously) but it is clean, and the stitching is very neat. Just needs someone to crochet the edge. $2.

Animal skin print long skirt $3.50. Label says Morgan De Toi,made in Morocco. The nightie is 'Oriental Village silk' - I bought it because of the peacock. $1.50.

Three lengths of Batik - huge pieces of fabric! They are supposed to be make into Sarees(Saris?) but I'll use them for patchwork of some kind - maybe runners, placements, wall hangings, even a quilt top...

Livin' in the 70's!!

Hiya! This weekend I'm going to a 70's dinner party. My outfit was already hanging in my wardrobe (I'm fairly well set for 50s through to 90s themed events) however my hubby on the other hand didn't have any suitable attire. Luckily my morning was free yesterday, so I took the opportunity to go opshopping for him....... yeah.... for him. I decided to check out some oppies I hadn't been to before so ventured to Holy Trinity Op Shop in Pascoe Vale, Dot's op shop in Coburg, The Rowallen op shop in Essendon, and then back to a fave of mine, Christ Church in Essendon. 

I found a great lawn bowls outfit for my husband and a horrible (by horrible, I mean awesome) 70's polyester polo shirt all for $2 a piece. Unfortunately the jacket didn't end up fitting him, but it must have been my lucky day because when I got home I found $2 in the pocket of the jacket! Score!

This amazing lamp was $8

crafty bits and bobs, I got some nice velvet ribbon too but forgot to photograph it. (I'm collecting knitting needles if you didn't realize)

tea towel $1. 

plastic TC -$1 (for my friend that is hosting the 70s party), bag $2 (my mum had a green one), plate 10c, leather NZ driver's licence holder 50c (incase I'm ever in New Zealand and need somewhere to keep my licence, obviously!) and toothpick holder 50c

my polkadot finds for the day, scarf $4 and pillowcase ?? I'm not sure as I had a bunch of stuff and it all added up to $15. I think it's quite old judging by the fabric and lace. In amongst my 'stuff' I also got a few different slips to try under my 'see through' dress from my last post. 

leaf dishes for a friend 50c each. 

  toaster cover, handsomely modelled by my very own toaster -$1

70s polyester top $4 - I absolutely love the colours in this. 

Even though I don't have any little ones, I had to buy this dress from the $1 bargain rack as you just never see any good children's vintage clothes. I have some friends having babies soon though so perhaps they might like it. It has 3 red glass buttons down the back and came on this cute 'Lady who lived in the shoe' hanger. Did you have these coathangers as a child? I did!! 

On second thoughts, I might just keep it!

I wish someone would give me a job as an 'opshopper' so I could get paid to do this. Seeing as though this is very unlikely, I might have to force myself to take a break for a few weeks, ween myself off! I'm starting to become addicted! haha!

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Animal Aid Op Shop, Blackburn Sth

Another day, another op shopping trip.

Wandered into the Animal Aid Op Shop in Blackburn South and picked up these goodies for $10 the lot.

Stripey cardigan & cranberry pink top

Wrap skirt

And how could I resist this kitty love tunic? I don't think I'll be brave enough to wear it out in public - I'll probably just wear it around the house or as a nightie.

Lions Trash and Treasure Sale - Saturday, 31 March 2012

Blackburn North Lions Club will hold its next monster trash and treasure sale on Saturday, 31 March 2012.

Time: 8 am to 1 pm

Usual place: 1^st Vermont Scout Hall, near the corner of Canterbury Rd and Mitcham Rd, Vermont.

The storage shed is bulging with lots of great bargains.

A bag full of goodies

Yay, I'm excited to be posting my first blog entry here. I've been an avid reader of this blog and an avid op-shopper for a while now, so thought it was about time I joined up and shared my op-shopping adventures.

On Wednesday last week I roamed around the Dandenongs and picked up these goodies all from the MS Community Shop in Monbulk.

Glass jug - $3. I'm going through a bit of a 70s phase at the moment. The cheery orange and yellow design on this nice heavy glass jug called 'buy me, buy me', and I obliged.

Plates, saucers, cups and bowls by Adams / Brentwood - $10 the lot. Uneven set, but who cares?! I love the cute little clover leaf design and when I use the cup & saucer I pretend I'm a nobby English lady living in a Pride-and-Prejudice-type manor. (What, doesn't everyone do this?)

And my final purchase from this shop, a festive tote bag - $9.50. I ummed and ahhed over this for a little while (my internal expense-o-meter deliberating whether the price was a tad expensive), but in the end I decided it was worth parting money for. The bag looks brand new and the beading work is very detailed. 

The previous week I picked up these goodies:

2 x large timber vases - $30, from the Salvos in Ashburton.

Shadow box frame (frame only, not the print) - $3 from the Rotary op shop in Blackburn South

Salt & pepper grinders (empty at the time of purchase!) - $6.50 from the Animal Aid op shop, also in Blackburn South.