I found these cups (?) in my local op-shop on the last day of September and I think they’re my favourite find this month (besides the ‘Weldon’s Fancy Dress’ magazine of course!).

Discovered last week: Board game ‘Crosshand Poker’ with tiles like scrabble, owl motif pottery cups (can’t read the markings underneath), vintage tin coffee canister, small dish with delicate green edges (marked Pareek, Johnson Bros, England), 1970’s pewter figures, porcelain orange owl (candle holder/cover missing base?), kitchen canister with butterfly and flower motif. Also a nice little button haul. Not as good as these, but a nice addition!

So that’s it for my month! I must say Selena’s $99 dollar Thrift Challenge was a wonderful excuse to go op-shopping! Check out all the other thrifty finds in the flickr group.

Ohhhhh how excited was I when I found these in amongst the patterns in my local op-shop!?? Those of you who are familiar with my blog are probably aware by now that I love collecting vintage imagery of fancy dress costumes (like this)…so yes…I was just a wee bit giddy to find three vintage fancy dress guides! The ‘Weldon’s Fancy Dress’ is a bit tattered and I think it’s missing a few pages…but for 60c I don’t care! Just look inside…

I did buy a lot of sewing patterns as well, including some great Weigel’s patterns (they have the best illustrations on the front) and various craft orientated patterns including dolls, doll clothes, Christmas crafts and Easter crafts. I also scored an Enid Gilchrist ‘Toddler Clothes‘ pattern book!

During September I collected the books below from various op-shops. Some for their ideas/content and some for the illustrations.

‘What Can I Do Today?‘ by Linda Nichol, 1973. ‘Over 100 projects for girls 6-12’

‘Daily Sketch Modern Girls Annual‘ with articles such as ‘Breeding Budgerigars for Pocket-Money’!

‘The Sleeping Beauty‘ Illustrated by Arthur Rackham, Told by C.S.Evans. (New edition 1987. Original edition 1920) Gorgeous silhouette illustrations.

‘Our Favourite Story Book‘ 1940s or 50s. Illos such as this and the price tag made it find it’s way into my basket…

‘May I Bring a Friend‘ (orange cover/no dust jacket) by de Regniers/Montresor 1964. Lovely graphic black line illustrations and strong flat colour.

‘The Children’s Party and Games Book‘ compiled by Joyce Nicholson, 1979.

‘Children’s Parties‘ by Tessa Webb, 1973

‘Educational Origami‘ (no imprint/publisher/details available) Very simple graphic instructions.

‘Colourcraft‘, 1976 (red cover, no dust jacket) — Various crafts including pet rocks, fabric painting and other decorative ideas .

‘Woollen Dolls‘ by Madeleine Banier, 1974. ‘Knit them, crochet them, make them from skeins!’ This amused me, as did the ‘wedding dress’!

More September Thrift Challenge to follow…

Look at my little poppet. She looks so grown up!

Wowee, October already and the Christmas decorations are being set up in the shops! Maybe I can get onto my cards early this time instead of the last minute late nighter. I am really looking forward to Christmas this year. It’ll be different with a two year old in the house!

I’ve been very busy catching up over —-> here, but I am hopefully having a blogging day tomorrow of my very own! Lots of posts piling up and photos to upload — including my ‘Thrift Challenge’ update and other goodies…

We recently got back from a family holiday in Tathra on the NSW South Coast (another reason things have been a little quiet around here!). We had a brilliant time and after the first couple of cloudy days the weather picked up and it got quite warm! Eloise quickly immersed herself into the beach atmosphere making sandcastles every day, chasing seagulls and paddling in the ocean (read/see more about her adventures here). It’s such a beautiful part of the country. Lush green hills, amazing beaches, National Parks and bushwalks and lots of cheese tasting!!! I love it at this time of year, not too cold, not too hot and lovely and quiet!

One afternoon Rohan and I went exploring a tiny portion of the Mimosa Rocks National Park. I took the photos above near Bithray Inlet (below). They had the most amazing patterns and textures.

Unearthed last week a small collection of mostly haberdashery! An old wooden shadow box, vintage piggy bank, half a dozen old spools of coloured ric-rac, a couple of metres of sturdy pink polka dot fabric, button sample cards, old fancy dress ‘Bear’ paper pattern by Weigel’s and a hand glazed cup (signed ‘Pam’ underneath!)

I think the shadow box was intended for displaying thimbles (it is not a printers tray although it looks similar to one in the photo). I’m going to paint it up and create a collage in it. It’s quite small 5 x 6 2.5cm boxes. So a nice size for a project and not that old, so I don’t feel I am ‘destroying’ anything valuable.

I love the vintage piggy bank. It reminds me of a bigger one my Mum has saved from her childhood. This one is tiny, about the size of a tennis ball. It’s made even more special by ‘Katoomba’ written on it’s top! Having grown up in the Blue Mountains I have found myself collecting vintage tourism memorabillia of the area by default. So…cute piggy AND nostalgic piece!

But wait…I am not done yet….look look look!!!

More vintage trim!!! I trekked back to my local antique store where I originally found this vintage trim and they had more!!! LOTS more!! 20 old sales sample cards from W Schuller & Sohn. And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, I found 8 old sales sample button cards. 195 individual button designs in total, by Goko Trading Company (Osaka, Japan)