Minature books of wisdom

Hello everyone, just a quick post to check in and let you know what I've been up to. I hope you all had a nice break over Easter :) Instead of gorging myself on hot crossed buns and chocolate eggs, I booked in to have my wisdom teeth out so I wouldn't have to take as much time off work. It was my first time in hospital and I have to say the anxiety leading up to the operation was a lot worse than the recovery. So good being able to eat crunchy food again!

I had my graduation back in March. I've been finished uni for awhile now but it was good to officially finalise everything. The ceremony looked like something out of Harry Potter with all the staff sitting on stage in their different coloured velvet robes. I kept expecting Dumbledore to pop up...

The picture above is of some mini vintage books I've collected over the past few weeks. I saw this really great decorating idea in Country Style magazine of a glass dome with small books stacked underneath which is what I've got in mind for these. I'm having trouble finding a tall glass dome though; any suggestions? I found the mini cork top bottle in an op shop as well. I thought it looked so cute with the brightly coloured dried flowers inside :) I would love to get more of these and fill them with different things. Have you seen any inspiring home decor ideas lately?

Garage Sailing

When I was little I loved going to garage sales on the weekends and seeing what treasures I could find. We used to hold a garage sale about once every year or so with our neighbours which was a lot of fun. I'd get really excited about setting up my own table and selling my books and toys for 20c to $1 each. Some of the smaller bits and pieces I would wrap up and put in a lucky dip box. And of course I loved counting up all my loose coins and seeing how much I had made at the end of the day :)

Since the emergence of op shops, we haven't really been to many garage sales. When we do, they all seem to be selling either kid's or baby stuff and can be a little disappointing in comparison to what you can find in op shops now. Every now and then though we do strike a good one, like today (while on the way to the op shop haha). The owner was moving house and had held another four garage sales prior to this one. I really wish we had known earlier because he was a vintage collector and it was like garage sale gold! I can only imagine the great furniture and other items we could have picked up, but we were still lucky enough to come away with a few things :)

The first thing we spied was this sweet floral hat. There were a couple others but I really liked the colour and arrangement of the flowers and netting on this one. I would love to find an old hat stand to hang this and some colourful coats on. I also found this old story book with cute fairyland creatures on the front. It reminds me of the Shirley Barber books I used to read when I was little.

There were lots of little knickknacks to rummage through and we came up with some old keys, a small black and gold bag, an Avon cream perfume jar and atomiser, and an old set of paints from the 1950s. The owner gave us the wooden tray to hold everything in while we looked around and he ended up throwing it in for nothing which was nice.

I ummed and ahhed about this old biscuit tin but decided to take it in the end to use for keeping in the laundry to store clothes pegs (plus everything was cheap as chips but I shall get to that soon). I wish biscuits still came in cute tins like this :)

And of course, how could I resist these colourful drinking glasses? They'll go nicely with my growing collection (here and here).

Finally, my favourite find was this nifty wooden deer which is actually a salt and pepper shaker! The pepper goes in the head which comes apart from the neck (a little morbid perhaps!), and the salt goes in the body.

The best part is that all of these finds came to a grand total of $8. The owner mentioned that he may have another sale before moving at the end of the month, so we might pop back another weekend. Whatever he doesn't sell is going in a big skip out the front, which is a bit sad because there were lots of lovely old children's books, bags and kitchen knickknacks still left.

Have you been to any good garage sales lately, or maybe held your own? I would love to hear your stories :)

Terrific Turquoise

I love turquoise and have found a few items of this lovely colour in my op shop travels. Does anyone else find they go through 'colour cycles' and gravitate towards items of a particular colour? I also have a penchant for mustard and raspberry so no doubt they'll be popping up in future posts :)

I found this breakfast cookbook from 1977 for $1 filled with recipes for muffins, eggs, jam and everything else you could think to serve for breakfast... and some you perhaps wouldn't think to serve like battered sardines and bacon bananas :\

This little comb and pouch set was 50c. Not much more to say about this one. Good for combing?

I found this beaded necklace for $5. I don't usually go for chunky necklaces but I like that this one has a thin chain with the beads then attached so it sits nicely around my neck.

And finally, my favourite item which is a small painting of a girl and boy washing a little dog :)

It's 39 degrees in Adelaide today so I'm surprised I didn't melt into a puddle while taking these photos! I know it's going to be hot interstate too, so I hope you keep cool wherever you are and have a nice relaxing weekend :)

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.

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?

Spring is in the air

Hello, remember me? It's ok if you don't. Since my last post I've had a hair cut and a bit of colour, got some new clothes, shoes, skincare and had a leg wax, so I wouldn't blame you if you didn't recognise me. I'm practically a new woman. I submitted a year of my life my thesis last week and start a three month field placement tomorrow, so thought I'd pop in while I have a bit of a breather!

I found these flowery items awhile ago and it seemed appropriate to share them with all the nice Spring weather we've been having lately :) Apart from the days where it's been raining with gale force winds of course but anyway...

The first is this sweet framed drawing of some wildflowers. I love the shabby frame which is now hanging all pretty-looking on the wall above my desk :)

Continuing the theme of wildflowers is this Australian Wildflower Diary that I picked up for $2.50 at Vinnies. I really liked the illustrations inside for each month that are accompanied by a poem for the different seasons. Plus underneath the dust jacket, the book is a mustard colour that I'm kind of addicted to at the moment.

That's about it from me for now. Hope you're all enjoying the lovey (or not so lovely) weather wherever you are and I shall check back soon with some more finds :)

Agatha Christie

Lately I've been really into reading old Agatha Christie murder-mystery novels. I used to love reading Nancy Drew books when I was a kid and always fancied being a mystery-busting detective. At primary school in year 2 my friend and I created a 'Pet Detective' agency and charged $1 to find people's missing pets. Business was slow and it never really got off the ground :|

I've started collecting Agatha Christie books from op shops, ebay, etsy and second hand book stores. This is just a small selection from what has already turned into a rather large stack. I found a whole lot of cheap paperbacks at the Salvos for $2 each, but the ones I really want to collect are the old hardbacks with interesting dust jackets like the two above. I would love to have a whole shelf of my bookcase filled with a hodgepodge of vintage Agathas :)

I'd love to hear some recommendations for other old school detective novels and mysteries. None of this fancy forensic stuff, just good ol' whodunnits :)

Enough books for a library

As well as being an Opaholic, I'm also an avid reader. I couldn't believe my luck with the books I found at op shops over the holidays, and most of them were only $1 each. I'd seen 'Tis by Frank McCourt sitting on the shelf in the op shop for awhile, but didn't pick it up as I hadn't read the book that came before it, Angela's Ashes. The next time I went to the op shop there was half price off almost everything, so I decided to pick it up anyway and low and behold Angela's Ashes was also sitting on the shelf :)

Another time I'd put Suite Francaise on hold at the library and was ready to pick it up, when I went to the op shop and it was staring at me from the shelf! Snapped that up for $2 in brand new condition.

They say luck comes in threes, and my third piece of luck was finding Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith at the same op shop for $1. The book I was currently reading was by the same author and I was thinking about getting some more of his books :)

The only book I've read so far is Pride and Prejudice and I have to say I struggled through it a bit. To be honest I thought it was a bit like a 19th Century version of Women's Weekly - full of gossip about who's marrying who, how much money so-and-so is inheriting etc. I don't think I could have lived as a woman in the 19th Century, spending my time sewing, strolling and gazing out windows. I can appreciate that it's a classic though and the time it was written in.

So there you go - twelve books in excellent condition for less than $15. Should keep me going for awhile :) Although uni is back since yesterday so will probably be restricted to reading textbooks, bleh.