Happy reading

A haul of Charlaine Harris novels from the Salvos at Noble Park = many hours of happily escapist reading.
All between $1.25 and $2.25.

This weeks treasures!

Loved the movie and loved the book even more!

What a great cream and black spotty leather jacket, 

can't wait to up-cycle it into some very cute bags!

Cheers, laura

Fairfield Salvos books

I had some time yesterday so went to the Fairfield Salvos on the way home from Northcote Pool. I was really happy to pick up a couple of books. Fallen by Lauren Kate, described as 'sexy, fascinating and scary'. I hope to read this over Easter while I am away in the country for a few days. The big score of the day was the box set of The Sweet Potato Queen's Big Ass Box of Love which contains 3 volumes. 'Equal parts Erin Brockovich, Erma Bombeck and Dr Ruth. Do not pick up the books unless you have a sense of humour.' I had one volume of this series so was really happy to get this set for only $1.99. The staff member at the shop said it had been wrongly priced and I was lucky to get it.
Sorry about the dodgy photo

Recent finds

A Barbie tin for 49 cents (seriously? when we don't have 1 cent pieces anymore?) from Oakleigh Salvos.
I plan to install a mini collection in it after de-Barbifying it.

$2.99, also from Oakleigh Salvos. It is almost complete, only two pages with the boxes pressed out. Pretty!

A blank book handmade from plant fibre in Mexico, found in the Red Cross oppy in Oakleigh for $3. The next shot includes the little blurb describing it, plus the original price sticker - a whopping $58 dollars (I'm
assuming US$)!

A trio of linen panels featuring butterflies/moths, a dollar for all three (!) from St Vinnies at Pinewood.

And finally a silk scarf, also from St Vinnies at Pinewood, also a dollar. At the same shop, I also got a Harry Potter video and a Lost Boys video for a dollar each. Score!

Today's purchases, Sunbury Salvos

A future gift for my brother-in-law, who appreciates all sorts of quirky objet de junk: a brass key holder made out of a gun made out of ducks, $5.99

The one on the left is for my boyfriend, a bargain at $1.50. The one on the right is for my present cabinet, which I keep stocked with stylish infotainment books for gift-giving emergencies. $1.

Flat Django & Juliette shoes to wear with very short skirts, $6.99 (I like very short skirts but very short skirts and high heels strike me as a bit slutty)

More to read on my blog.

Royal History

I found some books on the Queens Coronation and her family at the RSPCA op shop at Burwood East last week. $13 for 5 books isn't too shabby.

There are some beautiful old photos in these books. I love them!

Ladies Day By The Bay

My finds from a little trip my mum, sister and I took today:

Turquoise Table Eight shirt $3.50 Mordialloc Lions Op Shop

Books (Caddie, Oliver Twist, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith) 50c each Mordialloc Lions Op Shop
Zara tshirt $3.99 Salvo's Mordialloc
Tshirt I got at All Souls, Sandringham for $1.25!! They had 50% off everything!!
Panda print Keds $6.99 Savers, Frankston

Buffy, balls and batik

Another happy trip to Dandenong Savers yielded three Buffy novels I hadn't read (though that state of affairs did not last and I finished all three in a glorious reading binge - they're like chocolate, I can't leave them alone until they're done). Ah, how I miss Buffy! They had twenty or so of  these novels and about a dozen Angel ones but I limited myself to three, though it was tough choosing. $1.99 each.

A bag of assorted eyelash-ish yarn for $2.99. There are eight untouched balls, and two part-balls to add to my burgeoning yarn stash.

Approximately two metres of a really pretty cotton batik fabric, destined to become a skirt. I think. At $3.99 I found it impossible not to buy this, though I really don't need more fabric!

Books and a sheet

An unexpected op shop visit to the Red Cross Shop in the mall in Oakleigh yielded this pretty floral sheet for $5. I'm going to use it for fabric - I've already created a lined wrap skirt for my Etsy shop, and there's still quite a bit left to make something else.




Vinnies in Crewe Street, Oakleigh, is great for books. Au Revoir by Mary Moody (once a presenter on Gardening Australia) made me want to run away to France, too (mind you, I'd run away to almost anywhere I'm so keen to go travelling again!). The red book is a great basic guide to knitting, in the Pelham Craft Series (I have another of these on soft toy making) and published in 1973. It might actually encourage me to learn a couple of new stitches and make something other than socks and scarves! Each of these was a mere $1.

Burwood RSPCA finds: pony books, tea cosies and a suitcase

I visited the Burwood RSPCA op shops today, and found a couple of goodies in the posh bric n brac shop:


Pony novels for tweens. $5 each. So much more cooler than Saddle Club. I've stopped reading pony novels but I'm sure someone out there wants to read Rebel Pony.


Hand-embroidered tea cosies for $10. The second one was prettier but it had a couple of stains on it, so I left it behind. :(


White suitcase in good nick for $12. This one's put on hold for a friend. I hope she likes it.

Pulp fiction

Two books, $1 each, from St Vinnies in Oakleigh. I had to have them because of the fabulous pulp fiction covers. The DA Takes A Chance is by the author of the Perry Mason stories. They're resting on a short length of fabulous tie dye fabric, also $1 from an op Shop in Glenhuntly (the name of which escapes me, but it's near the railway station).

Also $1 from Vinnies in Oakleigh, this book is Practical Home Mending Made Easy, published in 1946. I love books like this, it's full of great ideas for frugal me; I am building quite a collection of how-to sewing books. I particularly love this page, One Yard of Fabric-To Make a Dress.

Gorgeous book of colour photography of Chesapeake Bay, $2 from the nameless Glenhuntly op shop. I may not be able to travel at the moment, but I can dream! I'm fascinated by the personal inscription in the front and a note about osprey watching - I love the little glimpses of other people's lives via the op shop (I am such a sticky beak).

A little bag-o-yarn, $2 from Vinnies, and freebie box of little books shaped like fish from the Glenhuntly op shop. A good day!

Another new (to me) oppy

I went to meet friends for morning coffee in Brighton, just opposite the St Andrews Church Op Shop - just too hard to resist popping in before time on my carpark ran out. A Scientific American, 1982, from the free basket, just because I like the fish. May be used in a collage. There are some great images of brains inside, too.

Continuing my enjoyment of Richard Gordon's Doctor... series with two I haven't read before, $1 each. A red covered novel for my ongoing art project, 50c, and "Cornet of Dragoons" because I loved the cover, also 50c. I may use the Dragoon dustjacket for collage or drawing over, and the book also goes into my stash of books for the mysterious project.

Two brooches, bear and bub and Mr. Moose, $1 each. Matchbox for scale. There was a basketful of these brooches on the counter.

There were three or four issues of Golden Homes, too, which I'm assuming is similar to the popular Golden Hands series, but I hadn't seen the Homes before.

Where is everyone? All op-shopped out? Hibernating for the winter? I love seeing the treasures others find.

Venturing further afield

I ventured to a slightly different suburb this week on an errand and decided to check out some new-to-me ops. This painted metal tray is from an op shop in Sandringham, opposite the pub. The back says: "Chatsworth, Derbyshire. Home of the Dukes of Devonshire". A bargain at $1, and the kind lady behind the counter threw in a pair of green knitting needles for free. I was going to use it as a painting surface, but I may keep it as is - it's growing on me.

A round batik table cloth, $4 from an op shop near Moorabbin station. Destined to be refashioned into a full circle skirt.

Background is a black and white sarong, $3 from the op shop in Bay Road, Sandringham (to be refashioned into a skirt or possibly a tunic). Purple flats with gold bows, $2, same shop. The book is Arthur Mee's Book of One Thousand Beautiful Things, $1, same shop (will become an altered book, I think). Black leather handbag, lable inside says Made In Italy, $3, same shop. Two leather belts, $2 each, from the Moorabbin op shop (for an art project/experiment).

Egyptian Mythology, $2 from Vinnies in Crewe St, Oakleigh. Sculpture book, $3.99; Old Macdonald, 99 cents (love the illustrations, I may adapt some for applique); The Wonder Book of Kittens, 99 cents (too cute to leave behind) - all from the Salvos in Atherton Road, Oakleigh.

Free knitting needles from Sandringham op shop, resting on folded Liz Claibourne skirt - a linen/cotton mix, feels lovely and soft - $3, from op shop in Bay Road, Sandringham (destined for embellishing/upcycling with pen, fabric paint and thread). Barbie clock, $1.99 from Salvos in Oakleigh. The lady behind the counter suggested that some lucky little girl would be thrilled to have a Barbie clock - I thought, but refrained from voicing, "Not when I've finished with it!". The clock is intended for, um, refashioning of a sort...

Quite a lovely haul! I did hit another Salvos and a fabric store (no purchases to report), after which I was pretty much op shopped-out. I must make an effort to range a little bit wider than my local oppies in future, that trip was fun.

I've been hiding!

Op Shopping Adventures, originally uploaded by Spices for Violet.

It's been an awfully long time since I've posted anything on my blog or this one... I blame having an all-consuming job! Now that I am on holidays, I was able to hit the op-shops in Warragul (country Vic. - 1hr 10 mins east of Melb)
1. Chair - $10.
2. Belts - 3 for $5.
3. & 4. Picture Dictionary - $1.
5. Little Golden Books - 50c each.
6. Children's Picture Book - 50c
7. & 8. Vintage Patterns - 25c - 50c each
9. 10. 11. 16 - All plates $1 each (made in England)
12. Basket - $2 (my favourite of the day)
13. Nanna Dress - $6
14. & 15. Apron - $1

(You can see more detailed photos at my flickr or my blog)

Happy New Year everyone!

Lemony goodness

I haven't done much op-shopping lately, due to the press of study. BUT, having finished classes last week, I indulged in a little foray to the Salvos in Oakleigh as a detour/reward after paying some bills. The book above I'd have bought for the title and cover alone - it's so fabulous! - but it was a good read, too, so bonus (I devoured it in an afternoon - haven't done that in a very long time). There's a certain type of book that always catches my eye: 1930s through to early 1960s, great evocative covers, creamy paper, slightly musty, esoteric subjects. This fits into that category and will join my other treasures, mostly also op-shop sourced.

I also succumbed to the lemony goodness of the above cotton jumper. I've been wanting to knit with cotton, having learned to knit just a (relatively) short while ago, and kept an eye on the op-shops racks for a likely candidate to de-construct and refashion. This jumper looked to have the necessary 'zipline' construction to frog stitch back into yarn, and it took me just another afternoon (and a lot of wiggly yellow wormlets distributed liberally all over my person and the living room) to rip it back into its original constituent, pictured below. I foresee a pair of sunny yellow socks and perhaps several lemon dishcloths in my future knitting.

A grand total of $7.80, since it was pensioner's day :)