Making Good Use

The Thrift was Thin on the Ground

It's been a very poor weekend for thrifting - we didn't bother with the car boot sale as even though the weather was dry there was a pretty nippy wind blowing.  And last week every other stall was a trader so I suspect that realistically this year's boot sale season is now well and truly over.  Most annoyingly, I spotted a notice in a shop window this morning saying that there had been a Townswomens' Guild Autumn Fayre on Saturday, and I hadn't known it was on.  The words 'books' and 'bric-a-brac' were particularly irksome for me as those phrases would definitely have seen me attend, had I spotted the notice on Friday.  B*gger!

The weekly 'Coffee and Jumble' had nothing to tempt me, nor really did either of the charity shops

 
Although I did pay 50p for this child's wooden puzzle which I thought had lovely images of kitchen items

 
I'm thinking that with the addition of some stick-on magnets they'd make a rather spiffy set of fridge magnets.

Still, not all was lost as I did finally fill in the form to change my ISA from one that pays 0.35 APR (utterly scandalous) to another that pays 2.40 APR (not wonderful but definitely a step in the right direction).  I've only had the form - and the good intentions - for the past six months lurking in a pile of things 'to do' and it took me less than 10 minutes to sort the whole thing out!!  Why oh why then did it take me so long to get round to it?

Patterns

 
A quick visit to the library to return a DVD (The Damned United, excellent film which I can highly recommend, even if you hate football like I do) resulted in me perusing the 'Crafts' section and borrowing four interesting looking books.  (The cute pink felt mouse on the cover of 'Stitched Toys' was enough for me to borrow that particular tome.)

 
I particularly like the look of the '101 Yarn Stash Wonders' book as I've certainly got plenty of single balls lurking in my yarn stash.  There may even be some Christmas present inspiration amongst the patterns too.

 
Then a call into the charity shop to drop off a bag of books resulted in my finding some rather interesting vintage sewing patterns - the middle one is an unused Jean Muir design from the 1960s. 

 
And these Womble and Gonk sewing patterns are pretty unusual too.  They were all 25p each and are all destined for eBay at some point.

Tatty Book Greetings Cards

 
I found this very tatty old Ladybird book at the jumble sale on Saturday and as I love the illustrations in these old books had to add it to the pile of books I found there.  I knew that it was in far too poor a state to contemplate reselling it - seriously, somebody had REALLY enjoyed this book at some point -  (a huge shame as apparently this is a rather rare Ladybird title which can fetch really good money) but had an idea that it was still salvageable in parts to make greetings cards with.

 
I carefully tore out each page I wanted to use and trimmed the edges using a Stanley knife (with an old bread board underneath.)

 
Some double-sided tape placed close to each edge (you could use glue but I find it MUCH easier, and far less messy, to use tape) on the back  and then stick the image onto plain white pre-folded card stock.

 
Et voila! A selection of greetings cards for a fraction of the cost of buying them in the shops -  I think the whole thing works out at just over 30p per card.

 
I've even used my homemade name stamp on the back of them.

I've linked this to Apron Thrift Girl's  latest 'Make Share' post.

Let There Be Light

I wasn't the only one to come home from Saturday's fantastic jumble sale well pleased with what I'd bought - so did P. 

He's been on the lookout for a new large desk lamp for quite a while now, ever since his old one (originally purchased many years ago for a modest sum from Lidl) gave up the ghost.  He did his best to try and mend it but sadly, after approx. 10 years of industrial amounts of use, it was totally kaput.  He looked into buying something along the lines of an anglepoise-type lamp online but was totally shocked at the silly prices that were being asked - over £150 in some cases - so he borrowed this little beauty for the time being.  It's a nice lamp and gives off a lovely light but I missed not having it in the living room.  Never mind, anything rather than pay the price for a new one.

 
So we were both rather pleased when this very sturdy black number was spotted at the jumble.  I had seen it quite some time before P joined me but, selfishly, had my hands too full with other items to even think about buying it.  Luckily, it was still there half-an-hour after opening time and P was able to snap it up for £3.00.  It's just the ticket in the study and means 'my' anglepoise is now gracing a corner of the living room once again.

It Was Fab-u-lous, Darling

Yup, Saturday's eagerly-anticipated jumble sale proved to be just as good (if not better) than I'd hoped it would be.  I thought I might be on to a winner when I spotted the huge queue of people already waiting when I arrived at just after 1.30 pm.  In fact, the queue was even longer than I'd realised at first as it went right up the side of a rather large building as well as all the way down the path that I was standing on.

 
Highlights of my finds include these wonderful 1970s curtains (they pattern is huge - each repeat must be each at least a foot high.)  They're destined for eBay where these sorts of vintage barkcloth prints seem to sell quite well.  I don't think I've ever seen such a huge pile of linens at a jumble sale in my life.  On my third look through them all I still managed to unearth this little gem

 
An appliqued and embroidered duvet cover and matching pillowcase for my nephew, for when he has a 'sleepover' at Mandma's house.  There had been complaints that the floral duvet cover my Mum had put on his bed was too 'girly!'  I think this one should meet with his approval.  I also found a couple of small pieces of nice fabric for myself and

 
A lovely Rupert Bear pillowcase.  I'm not sure whether to try selling this on eBay or to try cutting it up to make a Rupert Bear bag for myself.  I've always loved Rupert so I'm leaning towards making a bag at the moment.

I also came away with 18 books for the grand sum of £3.00 - which works out at just over 16.5p per book.  Three of them have gone on Amazon for re-sale, two on Greenmetropolis, three were bought for me, including a brand new Henning Mankell novel which was only published this year and which cost £12.99 (and that's for a paperback) when it was new!!  Sadly, the rest are destined for the local charity shop.

On the clothing tables I found a rather nice vintage cotton dress - for eBay - and two T-shirts and a lovely thick hooded zip-up top for my nephew.

However, it was on the bric-a-brac stall that I came across the best find of the day

 
Two different sized bowls and a cup in the Persephone pattern by Wedgewood.  Apparently the designer was Eric Ravilious, and this stuff sells for mega-bucks on eBay.  Oddly enough, I only picked them up because I rather liked the pattern myself and carried them about in the bottom of a bat in a very cavalier manner all afternoon.  How I got them home unscathed I've no idea, but I'm mighty glad I did.

 
I've now somewhat revised my previous rather scathing comments on jumble sales in Essex - they're really rather good, you know.

I've linked this post over at Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Anticipation

 

I'm keeping everything crossed that I'll be able to get to this jumble sale this afternoon, and that it will be good.  I've been to some fab-u-lous scout jumbles in the past, one notable one in Nottingham involved queueing for an hour in sub-zero temperatures and it still turned out to be one of the best jumble sales I'd ever been to,  Then there are the scout jumble sales held twice a year near where my Mum lives (blogged about here and here) which are just out-of-this-world wonderful. 

Sadly, I have also been to some totally rubbish scout jumble sales over the years too - dark, dank and smelly scout huts with a few rickety pasting tables, the surfaces of which are barely covered with items which, in the main, are also dark, dank and smelly.

Anyhoo, Shenfield is a rather nice middle-class area so I've got high hopes - only slight problem is I think I've managed to pass my lurgy on to my chauffeur (that'll be P, then) who went off to bed last night looking distinctly micky.  Not sure how he's feeling this morning but if he's not up to the drive then we won't be going.

Feeling Bleugh

I've picked up some horrible lurgy which is making me feel totally bleugh.  I've barely moved out of my own way all day today and have spent most of the time re-reading How I Lived a Year on Just a Pound a Day by Kath Kelly. 

I think this is the third time I've read this book and each time I find something new to inspire me or to get me thinking.  This time of reading I'm really tuning in to her thoughts on just how much we all posses - even people like herself who think they've not really got that many possessions - and how we've all been lured into buying more and more as goods have got cheaper and cheaper. 

Now I have to admit to having A LOT of stuff in a rather small house (most of it bought second-hand admittedly, but still a lot) but lately I've become rather unsettled by the amount of stuff - most of it complete tat - that I see at car boot sales or in charity shops.  It makes me rather uneasy that there is just SO MUCH knocking around in the re-sale chain - be it on ebay, in charity shops or at boot sales that is complete and utter dross - much of it plastic, nearly all of it manufactured in China.  And don't get me started on the utter rubbish that is for sale in a lot of high street shops - especially of the 99p and Poundland variety.  I find it all quite repellent and worrying - are we all going to drown in a sea of plastic cr*p soon or will we come to our senses and stop buying all this cheap junk in the first place?  Is it just me (or my lurgy-addled thoughts today) or do other people have similar feelings?

Me Myself I

P's been over in Switzerland this weekend, visiting his family, so it's just been me myself and I for the past few days.  As the weather was so miserable over the weekend (grey skies, drizzly, high winds and occasional heavy bursts of rain) I didn't bother leaving the house from Friday lunchtime until this morning.  I had everything in that I needed and it was lovely to have time to do just what I wanted to do.

I finished making the Christmas present that involves polka dots of felt, and very pleased with it I am too.  I didn't spend a penny on materials and it all went together really nicely - well, if you don't count the broken needle incident with the sewing machine when I thought I'd adjusted the stitch length but had in fact messed about with the tension button instead.  That'll learn me to actually read the instruction book before messing around with the settings.

I got a few of those lets-put-it-off sorts of jobs done, like shredding old credit card and bank statements (there was a humungous pile of those) and even did some of the should-be-done-much-more-frequently-than-they-are jobs like dusting the bedrooms.  I only ever seem to notice dust when it gets so bad I could write my name in it!!

I watched Strictly Come Dancing both Friday and Saturday - I love that programme, and Ann Widdicombe is undoubtedly the star of the show for being such a game old bird.  I cooked my favourite meals and ate them on a tray in front of the telly - bliss!  I spent hours trying to watch the end of 'Hot Fuzz' via You Tube as I couldn't be bothered to watch the second part after the ITV news on Saturday evening (why do broadcasters do that to films - split them up with the news - it's most annoying) and, no, I still haven't got to the end of it.

All in all it was an extremely quiet and relaxing weekend although I could have done without finding a slug in the kitchen Friday evening and having to relocate it to the garden.  And I could certainly have done without finding there must have been half a box of tissues stuffed in the pockets of P's tracksuit bottoms, which I hadn't checked before I put them in the washing machine, and which resulted in the biggest snowstorm of microscopic flaked tissue over absolutely every item that was also in the wash!! 

I Could've Done With These Yesterday

I found two packs of Dressmakers Pencils at the church 'Bargain Box' in Basildon this morning.  They were only 30p each and were just the thing I was needing yesterday when I was trying to cut out lots of little polka-dots of felt.

In the end I made do with using a pencil (and, on one particularly dark colour, a biro) to trace round a circular pencil sharpener to get the size I wanted.  I'm giving nothing away about what I'm attempting to create as it's, hopefully, going to be a Christmas present for someone who reads this blog.  What I will say though is, if this works out well, I've got plans for something similar - involving bits of an old wool blanket and some felt polka dots - for me, which I'll be more than happy to share.

I seem to be frighteningly well organised with making things for Christmas presents this year.  I've already pretty much completed one project - and very pleased with it I am too - but can't say anything else as it's a present for my sister!!

Use It Up

Three very manky, over-ripe bananas have been transformed into a Banana Loaf this morning.  It's a lovely recipe from the excellent Rose Elliot (vegetarian recipe writer extraordinaire) and is a fantastic way of using up really black bananas.  You need:

2oz margerine or butter, 2oz dark brown sugar, 2oz golden syrup. Melt these three ingredients together im a pan over a low heat and when liquid add to 8oz self-raising flour, a teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt (although I never bother with the salt) which have been mixed together in a bowl.  Stir well, then add one beaten egg and two over-ripe bananas (although I went for over-kill and used all three that were lurking in the fruit bowl today.)   Pour into a greased and floured loaf tin (or in my case an enameled baking dish as I don't have a loaf tin) and bake in the oven for one hour at 180 degrees - although it's probably best to check on it after approx. 50 minutes otherwise it can end up a bit well-done on the top.

This makes a wonderful moist cake which is delicious on it's own, with butter on, or, if it goes a bit stale, as the base for a banana custard trifle (especially if liberally sprinkled with some alcohol!!)

Whilst on the 'use it up' vibe, I whipped up some slightly-out-of-date double cream, blitzed a jar of organic sweet cherries and added both to some ready-made custard to make a cherry fool for pudding this evening.  The jars of Biona organic cherries were 2 for £1.00 in the local farm shop - a fantastic bargain.  (If anyone is in SE Essex, I can highly recommend Barleylands Farm Shop (on the Southend Road between Billericay and Wickford) for some amazing bargains, and at the moment they have tons of Biona organic products at unbelievably cheap prices - and they're not even close to their sell-by dates.)