Saturday scavenging

While running some errands with mum today, we popped into a couple op shops for a bit of a scavenge. It's good when you haven't been to a particular shop for awhile and can have a good rummage :) Here are the results...

Our first stop turned up this pile of goodies including an old book called 'Successful Dressmaking' by Ellen and Marietta Resek for $2. It was published right here in Adelaide, most probably sometime during the 50s by the looks of it. The previous owner has written notes in the back so they must have found it useful :) We also found a little book of Regency Greetings 'Fantasy Postals' for 50c. I love the colour of these cute kitten postcards. Our last treasure here was a vintage Avon 'Fluff Puff' brand new in its box for $2. The back of the box describes this as a 'Practical Luxury'. You use it by removing the cap on the puff, filling it with talc and then "fluff lightly and smooth evenly over the skin".

At our second stop I found two drinking glasses for 50c each that will go nicely with these ones that I found last year. I actually found another one of those retro glasses in the same shop a few weeks ago so now I have seven plus these new additions :)

Our last find was this small table-topped magazine rack for $1.50 (steal!). It kind of makes me want to start drinking tea so I can pluck a magazine from the rack and rest my teacup on top! If you have any tea recommendations I would love to hear them :)

PS. I've added an RSS link to my sidebar. I'd be interested to know what everyone uses to subscribe to the blogs they read - do you use a feed reader, blog reader like Bloglovin' or Google reader, or just bookmark the ones you like to read?

Praise for the cook

I bought this old recipe book from Etsy a while ago and it arrived in my letterbox the other day. It's by Crisco, an old brand of solid vegetable shortening, and is called Praise for the Cook. Inside this little book there are lots of recipes for appetisers, main courses, savory sauces, cookies, pastries and desserts. There is even a section titled 'cookery for men' containing manly recipes for barbequing and camping like 'hush puppies' and 'fancy franks' (because of course men need their own gender-specific recipes haha). What I REALLY love about this little book though are the illustrations! They are just too sweet for words so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Swimming in the 1920s

When I hear the word 'trophy' I usually think of tacky gold figurines or the wooden plaques I used to receive for participation in netball as a youngin'. This one is a little different though as it's a vintage swimming trophy that was awarded to my Great Gran during a carnival in the 1920s. Instead of a miniature metallic-clad figure standing upon a podium, she received this box of six embroidered handkerchiefs made in Switzerland. The embroidery is so colourful and delicate and the hankies have not faded at all over all these years.

Inside the box there were some old newspaper articles about her swimming and tennis achievements, including this photo taken at Glenelg which made the front page of the local newspaper in 1925. My Great Gran is the lady in the middle :) I think it's safe to say I didn't inherit any of her sporting abilities (hence the participation trophies for netball haha). There was also a tiny cutout from the paper on the day she was born - her birthday would have been yesterday!

I also wanted to welcome new readers that have stumbled across my wea blog. Please feel welcome to share any of your favorite thrifty finds or just say hello. I love hearing from people who read my blog so don't be shy :) Tomorrow is the first day of my new job. I'm a little bit nervous (no longer a student!) but hopefully everything will go smoothly :)

Paper dolls and handkerchiefs

I went to visit my Gran the other day and she gave me some old treasures that she'd had tucked away in the cupboard. At first I thought this was a paper doll wearing a dress made out of the same material, but upon closer inspection I realised the dress has actually been fashioned out of a handkerchief! According to my Gran and the message on the back, this was made as a Christmas gift for my Great Aunty Ruth by her friend Lucy in 1964. It is amazingly detailed and must have taken a long time to make. I'm so glad Gran kept it all this time as it's just the sort of thing I love. I'll share my other treasures soon :)

Life is one big happy picnic

Just a quick post to share some of my recent finds. First up is this glass trinket box with yellow and silver embroidered flowers on the lid. According to the price sticker on the bottom this was meant to belong to a set of 3 but was left sitting on its lonesome on the shelf. I rescued it for $3.99 and it currently resides on my beside table happily housing some bobby pins and hair clips :)

Next is this little cat trinket that I bought for $1 much to my mum's delight- "It's a cat and a mouse with their arms around each other reading a book and they're not meant to be friends!" (I think she was a bit overwhelmed by its cute factor haha).

And finally, my favourite find (also a dollar) which is this old "Smarty Pants" notepad by Paula Presents. Each page of the notepad has the same little character in different settings with cute sayings. I've shared a couple of my favourites below and the rest can be found here :)

Hello 2012 :)

Happy 2012 everyone! I hope 2011 treated you well. For me, it was spent in constant study mode which involved high levels of procrastination accompanied by frenzied bursts of writing as I worked to complete my honours thesis for my final year of uni. I'm really proud of the work I put into cultivating my own research project (with the guidance of my supervisors) around a contemporary issue that, in the words of the external maker, contributed a relevant and much needed perspective to my field of practice and if I can toot my own horn, resulted in a High Distinction :) I still have one more assignment to go but I'm almost there.

In other exciting news, I completed a three month field placement during October to December and have been offered a full-time contract beginning in a few weeks' time. I'll be working in a different team so hopefully the people there are just as welcoming as the ones I worked with during my placement :)

And because this wouldn't be a proper blog post without some thrifty goodness, here are a couple things I received for Christmas including an old copy of Betty Crocker's Hostess Cookbook and some vintage cocktail forks.

The book is inscribed to Sue and Stuart, May your lives together be filled with much happiness and good meals! although it seems as if Sue and Stuart were not fans of Ms. Crocker :/ I, on the other hand, can't wait to try out the recipes for 'Gay Supper Parties' and 'Two-table Bridge Luncheons'. Toasted pecan waffles anyone?!

The year has started on a really positive note and with that in mind (and because I love lists) I thought I'd share some of my goals for 2012. They're not huge resolutions but goals that I think are manageable and that I'll be able to feel a sense of achievement from completing :)

- Start new full-time job and do well in my role
- Reconnect with old friends
- Grow nice nails and get a manicure
- Write a journal article from the results of my research and submit for publication
- Officially graduate!

I have another sneaky goal which I will hopefully share at a later date! I love the beginning of the year when there is a sense of anticipation for what's ahead and hearing about other people's goals and resolutions. What are yours for 2012?