Ashburton Support Services Op Shop. Closure Dates.

Just a heads up to all Op Shoppers the Ashy Op shop is closing for renovations on Saturday 4th May for two weeks. (re-opening on Wednesday 22nd May, hopefully).
The first half of the reno has been going on while the back was opened for trading,(what a mess!),  now the wall will be knocked thru to make a new, larger, brighter, lighter and well fitted shop.
So, if you were planning a trip to Ashburton, or if you regularly drop in there, be warned, it'll be closed for a few weeks.
After May, the back will be expanded with new storeroom and office, and undercover area for furniture, the GRAND OPENING of the whole new shop / sort room / storeroom and all, will hopefully be in July, but trading will happen around the builders in June!!!

young and old

I couldn't resist this little chap at the Salvos in Sommerville last week.  Look at those feet and the tiny fingers.

These lacy pieces are so fine and delicate: I just keep looking at them.  These were from Vinnies in Tyabb rd Mornington.

Opshopping on Friday.

At the Eltham BSL, I found this book for 60 cents. The MOTH likes sandwiches for lunch, so I'm always looking for new ideas for fillings.

An hour later at Savers in Greensborough, I bought this book for $3.99. Hark at the difference in price! I do think Savers could sell their books cheaper. They have so many in that shop, and I'm sure if they lowered the prices they would move a lot more books out the door.

On the other hand, fabric at Savers is usually well priced. This piece of brushed cotton was $2.99 - $1 cheaper than the book!

Back at Eltham, I tried on this necklace because it matched the sweater I was wearing. For $2, I decided to keep it! (Isn't it hard to take a photo of yourself? I look weird with my arm stretched out holding the camera!)

ANZAC Day.

Hope I'm not out of line posting this here, but as this is an Aussie blog, I feel a tribute is in order.

vintage blanket

There have been some wonderful posts about vintage finds lately, and here is mine - a Physician's Standard Chillproof pure wool blanket, made in Australia and previously property of the Melbourne Hospitals Central Linen Service. I have a collection of vintage blankets, I love the texture of them, the edgings on them and the wonderful lables. This one I bought at the Australian Animal Protection Society Op Shop in Cheltenham for just a few dollars.

I'm believing that it's from the maternity ward because that's a pretty happy part of a hospital!

Brotherhood of St Lawrence Eltham.

I worked at the opshop all day today because two of the regular staff weren't there.  I didn't mind at all, because I always enjoy myself and I didn't have anything else to do anyway.  It was a stroke of luck that I was there, because look what turned up this afternoon!
A fabulous beaded peacock shawl.  I'm not telling how much I paid for it...let's just say our manager looks after me. (That does not mean we get things for nothing - we still pay for our finds like the regular customers).

Brand new Givoni nightie in my size - $3.  I wasn't going to buy it, but I thought about the tatty old nighties in my dressing table drawer, and decided the MOTH deserved to see a more attractive sight at night, lol! 

I was tidying the bookshelves and found this book.  I love Judy's novels, they are always set in Australia, and she spins a great yarn.  This cost 70 cents, which is what most of our paperbacks are priced.

 
Two lengths of patchwork fabric, $7 each.  I haven't measure them, but I'm guessing there is about 3 metres in each piece.

Vintage at Vinnies

Look what I found at Vinnies in Tyabb Rd Mornington.

This gorgeous table and stool were priced at $50.



  

 The table with beautiful green laminex and pale yellow paint was just $40.

 Saddly I could not think of an excuse to buy these beautiful pieces so they were still there when I left.

Art for the walls.

Ms. A and I took an inner north west tour the other day. Things weren't going so well and we'd not found anything. We almost called it a day when we decided to pop into Vinnies Ascot Vale. We were both glad we did! Ms. A found a beautiful Scandinavian style dinner set (For $18!) and I found a lovely painting.  She was $9.

(She's been cropped a little...)

I've had a mixed response in regard to her. But I think she is lovely. To me she seems very Tretchikoff inspired. I'd love to have an op-purchased 'gallery' of prints and paintings in this vein! (See here for more of the same, compiled by a pinner inspired by Tretchikoff too.)

 If you happen to see any around, pop me an email!

Vinnies Port Melbourne

 today I was lucky enough to fit in a trip to Port Melbourne to do a delivery and have time left over to  check out Vinnies in Bay Rd Port Melbourne.  


These three pieces of epns were a bargain at a total of $20 for the three.  Need a good polish.

The egg coddler is Royal Worcester and I think a bit pricey at $20 but I have a friend who collects them and she will love it.




The little beaded handbag was marked at $5 but the blue tag meant it was half that price.  What a bargain.

The shop is not big but has a great range of quality clothing at reasonable prices so I picked up quite a few bargains.

This store is well worth a visit.  I didn't check them out but there were quite a lot of books and some lovely shoes.  

Tins.

I love tins. I buy them for storing stuff in, or just because they are cute or unusual.  I have many tins stored at the top of the kitchen cupboard.

I bought the two large matching tins below to store coffee and tea in, as they were already printed with Tea and Coffee.  The smaller tins on the right came from Ken's mother's house where they had been long before I came on the scene, so they must be quite old.

I keep sewing cottons and other supplies in tins as well as plastic containers.

This tin used to hold the dried cat food - what else would you put in it after all?

Until I found this at our opshop last week, for 50 cents.  It is quite big, and the MOTH said 'What are you going to do with that?'  I said I didn't know yet, and he said it would be good to store the cat food in, because the round tin wasn't big enough for a whole bag of cat food and it was a nuisance to have half a bag and a full tin of cat food on the shelf.  So the Weet Bix tin now holds the cat food. 

But that's not the end of my story.  Today, we went for a drive up to Warburton, and had a great time looking at all the old shops with their bricabrac.  There were two of these tins in one shop and I asked the lady at the counter for the price.  She told me $20, and I said 'thank you' politely.  I couldn't bear to tell her I'd already got one back in Melbourne for 50 cents!

vintage kitchen

 Today my granddaughter has been with me so we had an extra opping day.  



I found this slicer at the Outlook recycle centre today.  Just a few dollars and it was mine.

 Ally found herself a great jacket by ROXY at the salvos.  $7

These old electric jugs brought back memories of my grandmother's house.  They were at the Salvos in Tyabb road.  I don't need them so I just took pics.  The first one is priced at $29.95 and I did not check the prices on the others.

lions trash and treasure

Blackburn North Lions will hold its next trash and treasure sale on:

Saturday, 13 April 2013

Time: 8 am to 1 pm

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

The storage shed is looking very healthy, so it promises to be a big sale.

I just got back from a 10 day holiday in NSW and am loving all the finds you have all had over recent weeks!
I stopped off at several Op Shops on my way to and from Sydney, and did find a few things to add to my collections, however I was trying to de-clutter, not re-clutter, so I was very select in what I brought home.

there were a few unstitched doilies (for eBaying not for me to embroider)

a few pieces of barkcloth, that I'm sure I'll be able to find a good home for.

and piles of old crochet patterns, and some knitting patterns.  A few of these date back to the 1920s and 1930s and I just adore the illustrations.

I also got a few pieces of jewellery for myself, a nice shawl and a couple of scarves.  Add to that the fun I had with my family over the Easter days and I can say it was a wonderful time.

A little bit of Mexico

I found this gorgeous table cloth at the Salvos in Tyabb Road Mornington recently: the Mexican themed embrooidery is just so bright and cheerful.  It was $12.95 which I think is a bit expensive but I have never seen another one like it.

Windsor Op Shop Crawl

Hi fellow op shoppers! Apologies for my (very long!) absence - I'm still around, just with inadequate time for posting about newly-found treasures. Anyway, hope this kind of makes up for it - I've just posted on my personal blog about an op shop crawl a few of us did in Windsor a little while back, so come on over and take a look if you are so inclined! 

Recent acquisitions

I bought these items last week, first three at the Eltham BSL, and the next two at the Rotary Recycle shop in the Burwood area.
Nice length of cotton fabric for a few dollars.

Cute mini book - 20 cents.

Bunch of craft mags for 20c each.

Gorgeous little chooky mug, $6.

Craft mag for $1.50 - thought that was way too expensive, but the man at the Rotary shop pointed to the original price of $7.95 and said he thought it was a bargain.  Yep. OK.  

A little bit of history

 Today I indulged in a little opping and found some real treasures.

 This poster sized aerial picture is mounted on chipboard and is a bit tatty but it shows Flinders in Victoria in 1985.  It is just so different now.  I picked this up at the Outlook recycling shop in Racecourse Rd Mornington.

 This paperback book is full of interesting pictures and text: a travel guide to Melbourne and surrounds.

 It was published in 1989.  This was $2 from Vinnies in Tyabb Road.  Mornington.

 I am always looking out for craft items and rubber stamps are good for paper or textile crafts so I was thrilled to find this little case at Outlook.

 Some are the usual kiddy stamps but others are more universal themes such as hearts, birds etc.

They were in this little plastic case which is also very useful.