Saturday, August 9, 2014

Success in the form of cardigans and recipe cards

Hello hello! What did you get up to today?

Today was my first opp-shopping trip in awhile and I must say, probably the best ones I've had in years in terms of finding exactly what I wanted. Which if you go opp-shopping you will know that you can't really go in with a list of things to buy - but instead let the shop sell it's items to you whether you thought you needed them or not. 

I actually had decided well before getting out of bed this morning that I would really like to get a lumpy cardigan and perhaps a pair of high-waist "Mum" jeans that I could turn into a skirt.

Well, I managed to get those, plus a few more items which I had looked around the internet and other opp shops for, but never found. 

Let's have a look now!

First was the visit to St Paul's opp shop, they are quite small but I've gotten some fantastic bits from there. On this visit I managed to find a navy and white woollen jumper, an orange nubbly cardigan (which reminds me of this one from Gorman), and a magenta blouse which is actually just from Target, but will be really nice in summer.



The cardigan I set out to buy, without knowing it would actually be there


The second stop was to my favourite opp-shop which is attached to another church which I never look at the name of, but the volunteers there are really nice. 

They had quite a lot of fabric there this time, but not many I would want to even sew muslins with, so I left them for someone else who may actually want them for something serious

I did pick up some notions and these two wool-like fabrics, for a couple of dollars. The one on the right is actually a purple-y brown which may be used for muslins... the colour is to boring for main projects I think.

 
Also picked up was something I never thought I would see at an opp-shop ever again for fear of hipsters snapping them up to sell in their city boutiques - a granny square blanket! 

I cannot crochet to save my life, so even if I wanted to make something as easy as this, I couldn't. It just doesn't make sense to me! This old girl was washed and dried in the afternoon sun and is now accompanying me with my hot Milo while I write this =) 

So many colours!

I can never ever skip the kitchen section, and thank goodness I didn't! For today waiting for me were two things that I have wanted for so long. A Tupperware Pick-a-deli and the Australian Women's Weekly recipe library from the early 80's. Both of these things my mum had and when I moved out of home I went to buy the Pick-a-deli but was not impressed with the $35 price tag (huge sum I know...) So I held out and managed to get this for $3! Super!

I actually cried out "A pick-a-deli!" when I found it.

(A Pick-a-deli by the way, is a fancy way to store beetroot and other pickled veg in their liquid and be able to lift up the whole pieces out for selection)

The recipe box on the other hand was only $2.50 and is missing only a few of the cards. Considering a complete set is currently going on Ebay for $119, my love for the old opp-shop has just increased ten fold! 

If you or your mum had this recipe box, you will understand how important it is for many Australian food memories. Some of the recipes are a bit exxy, for example the international food section is embarrassingly naive, but the Family Chocolate cake was my favourite as a kid and I still make it now. Pip from Meet Me at Mikes had launched "Project Yellow Box" a few years ago in order to cook her way through the box, and someone even bothered to load the original add onto Youtube!

Fun times!

Also in this picture is a carved heavy bottom salad bowl, and a rose pink tin shaker, which will make sprinkling my morning cappuccino a stylish affair. 
The salad bowl needed to be scrubbed and oiled as it was very grimy. But I don't mind that part of opp-shopping. Repairing and cleaning things is a somewhat ritualistic way of bringing them into my home! 


Now, as for those jeans I had also dreamed of buying. The shop I visited had a huge jeans section. But an awful lot of them were made from the cheap stretchy denim that has gone funny over time, so trying to find a proper denim pair was tricky but I found one. These very dorky mum jeans a little too big, but that's good because I want to turn them into a skirt. I did look for a skirt, but they were all kinds of wrong 

I like that the previous owner bothered to iron a crease in the front... 

Here is how they look currently. A little big in the hips but that's ok. I'll be chopping off the legs to just above my knees, and unpick the inside leg seam. Then I'll trim the crotch away to create a nice straight seam in the from and back, and maybe even a kick pleat if I'm feeling clever

Sorry to everyone who is yelling no! from the other side the internet. The normcore/momcore look isn't for me! 

If the lighting is nice while I do this, I promise I'll take some photos for a tutorial! 


All up today I spend $38.50! Yippie!

Well I hope you enjoyed that, cause I really did! Finding all those things that I've wanted for so long - that's when Opp-shopping comes into its own. You just can't find those sorts of things in the regular stores, and what luck for me today not having to try too hard to do so.

What's been your biggest opp-shop win? A designer dress perhaps? Or something from your childhood? Tell me! I'd love to hear about it!

Cat xo 

26 comments:

  1. I just love these op-shop posts! I always learn something: for instance, I had never heard of pcik-a-deli, and after looking it up, now I want one! (gotta love the avocado colour yours has!) I just love garage sales and yard sales. Going to the goodwill is our adult equivalentof a kid's treasure hunt. Here are my favorite find:

    - A bottle green cloche hat that looks from the 30's for 1$
    - Some vintage jewelry
    - A great looking jar with a lid from the 70's
    - A funky chrome lamp
    - Some wooden mini drawers for knick-knack

    Most important of all: my sewing machine! It got me into making my own clothing.

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    1. Haha yes! They are so nifty, but so expensive when bought from Tupperware! You got your machine from the opp shop!? That's amazing! Most opp shops here don't sell electronics, I think they are worried people will use them without testing them first and electrocute themselves. Those poor opp shops don't have much insurance I imagine!

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  2. Wow, you had a great day opp-shopping! That blanket especially is such a great find. My mum found a couple of crochet blankets a few years ago in a charity shop and I just love mine. I've picked up a few J G Meakin tea sets for a couple of quid and some great 60s/70s pyrex but I haven't found anything amazing in charity shops for a while now. The last thing I got was two Elvis films on dvd, I've really gotten into Elvis this year so that was a good find.

    Your post has made me want to go charity shopping now!

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    1. Totally! The best day in a long time! I'd love to find some Pyrex, ESP the vintage with the cute floral patterns, but they are so rare, or you only find the knock offs. Ooh Elvis Videos! Which ones were they? I like watching his movies, they're so kitschy!

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  3. Oh your pleasure does make me smile - how awesome are pick a deli's?! I've had so many great finds. I have a Savers near where I work in the burbs and the patterns there are great, plus I've found cashmere cardi's there, great books, so many treasures!

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    1. Ooh Cashmere! Who is throwing that away? They never go out of use or style! Oh well or the more for us!

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  4. I'm really happy to see you had such a successful time opshopping! All those great purchases for under $40! Last time I saw a crochet blanket like that I was so very tempted to buy it-what a great excuse to add even more colour into my room- but didn't want to carry it around all day so left it.( I haven't seen one since. ) I'm excited to see how the jeans turn out!

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    1. Aww I know that feel! Lugging all this stuff home was hard! One bag weighed like 6kg! I have finished the jeans, just gotta type up the tutorial!

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  5. Love that granny square blanket!! You lucky thing :-)

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    1. Thanks! I'm so used to seeing them for $50/$60 dollars at the hipster shops that I was genuinely surprised to see it for $6. I thought even the opp shop staff would know the value of such a lovely thing!

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  6. Great finds, that skirt is going to be fantastic!

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  7. Congrats on all of the finds! It's so wonderful when you find just what you're after. That cardigan looks so nice and snuggly. I do love granny square blankets, I keep meaning to teach myself to crochet to make my own. The last time I saw one for sale it was £30, no way! I already knit and I hear crochet is supposed to be easier so I'm hopeful I'll master it and cover my home in blankets (and I totally had to look up what a hot Milo is!) Had to look up the pick-a-deli too, I can understand not wanting to spend $35 on something thats really so basic so how fab that you found one! It's wonderful when patience is rewarded, and I do love it's avocado colour. The recipe box looks awesome! My mum is really into her cooking and most of her cookery books come from the late 70s/early 80s and it's quite fascinating how much food has changed in that time! You don't necessarily think of food as having 'trends'.

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    1. I cannot crochet for my life, so finding one, I had to snap it up! £35! Holey moley that's just silly! Milo is the best, so snuggly like having a Horlicks before bed. The recipe cards are actually really good. I've enjoyed making things from my childhood dinners like veal in wine. But there are some really whack recipes in there which are very much out of trend, and some which are considered modern at the moment, but it's funny to find they were popular in the 70s. Oh and the pancake mix is the best! So fat and fluffy!

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  8. You are the rockstar of op shops! I never seem to find anything interesting. I'm actually going to my local one tomorrow, I'm making lemon curd and need extra jars.

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    1. Haha I wish! If I could find 60s vintage dresses then I would be the rockstar, but alas, none of the nanas in my suburb have any to give away! I keep pretty much every jar I come across. If you need any let me know! I've collected so many, then given them away for parties and then saved them up again.

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  9. That's one heck of a haul! Those Mom jeans are massive with the hipsters here and do look great on you.
    That blanket! I'd be tempted to refashion it into a waistcoat.
    I found my charity shop gold last year - an Ossie Clark dress for a tenner! x

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    1. Oh I'd die to find any Ossie Clark here. But I highly doubt anyone here even knows who he is outside of the vintage circles. Fashion in Sydney just doesn't get as much attention as in Melbourne. They would know him for sure (and adjust the price tag accordingly!)

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  10. Oh those mum jeans are awful, I'm sure your skirt is going to be a huge improvement. My best op shop buy ever was a 1960s era Lutterloh pattern book, I've never used it but my heart leaps for joy every time I think about discovering it

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    1. Omg aren't they!! But perfect for chopping up! Oh that book sounds dreamy! I'd love to see that, though it would be unrequited cause I wouldn't have the patterns!

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  11. A pick-a-deli is a silly but brilliant invention--I can't believe they aren't more widespread!

    And your new blanket tickles me! I'm not sure if you are fan of the 60s gothic soap Dark Shadows (i TOTALLY am) but they have this granny square afghan in the show which has become a joke in the fandom. Because of the tiny budget they had when filming, it ended up EVERYWHERE in the show, for over 200 years of Collins family decorating, as well as being spotted in several other family's houses and it was even in Parallel Time. Practically every bed had a granny square blanket, and it was always the same one. Perhaps it is the same one you have, traveling through time and space once more?

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    1. Haha that blanket! It's funny cause their not that hard to make, a bit time consuming, but I guess now it's ingrained in the shows folklore now so you have to stick with it! There are other things around like pick-a-delis but their not the same

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  12. Wow what a haul ;) Love the mom jeans on you and that blanket is divine!!

    HIPPY AT HEART ///

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    1. Haha thanks! Their pretty funny aren't they, happier to make them into a skirt though!

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  13. Yes, the op/charity shop love is strong, you did really well! Love the blanket, the home wares, and I am looking forward to seeing you transform those jeans - I must be very uncool, cos I really don't see the appeal of them as they are!
    I haven't been doing much charity shopping of late, but my favourite recent find is my 1970s blue suede platform shoes - £1.49, bargain! xxx

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    1. Haha neither do it! I guess we are both not cool or kewl as I sometimes like to call it! Blue suede platforms! They sound absolutely dreamy! I never find any shoes to fit my ginormous feet! Lucky you!

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