Last thrifting day until September

Now that schools have broken up for the summer my thrifting will be down to a bare minimum, and even that will cost me dearly (in terms of time and sanity, not money, fortunately). We have an arrangement whereby for every charity shop I go in, my son gets to look in some horrible, boring game shop or similar. It's only fair.

It would have been typical if the last morning I had free to check out my favourite charity shops had been disappointing, as it so often can be, but this week the thrifting fairies were kind to me.

These awesome 1970s Hostess Tableware "Black Velvet" bowls appear to be brand new. They still have the corrugated cardboard stacking inserts. £1 for 5!

As regular readers of this blog will know, I love fonts, so I was really happy to find this old book for 50p. I'm guessing it's from the 1930s/40s period, and it's really not in bad condition considering. The pages are lovely, heavy, slightly textured paper, and the spine is in good shape, though you can kind of feel that it is a bit brittle and the pages might start to come out if it's handled too much. If this does happen, almost every page would look wonderful framed, so it's a win-win situation.

I can't seem to get the dark purple of these 70s coasters to look quite right in a photo, but you get the idea. They are in good condition, and good quality, although I can't find anything similar in a Google Images search. They cost £1.50 for 6, and will be re-sold, as I can't stand purple!

Just as I was about to finish my thrifting trip I spotted two ornate, textured, narrow boxes at the bottom of a pile of ugly sheets. They were marked at 50p each, and each contains an unused Irish Linen traycloth.
They will be for re-sold, as they are not my style, but they are very good quality and the boxes and labels are lovely, too.
No idea as to the age of them, the Sundew Linens one looks 1930s style to me, the Webb's Irish Linens one seems newer, 50s or 60s, maybe?

Look at this gorgeous label! I really, really hope that the Irish Peasants were paid well for their work.
I suspect not.

Oh, by the way, the toilet door signs were 10p each. I may put them on the toilet door. I couldn't help thinking what fun could be had with them in a public building, though.

For the rest of the summer I will be excavating my spare room, re-discovering past thrift finds and listing them on ebay, on the grounds that if they have been in a box for 2 years and I haven't missed them it's time for them to go. That's the plan, anyway.


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Thrifting and Reselling Last Month

Here's a bit of a round-up of a few things I've thrifted and sold on ebay recently.

These leather and suede jeans were on a 50p Rail outside a charity shop. Not my style, but I bought them because of the lovely, soft leather, thinking I could cut them up and sew with it.
They are really well-made, though, and it seemed a shame to cut them up, so when there was a "free listing weekend" on ebay I decided to see if they'd sell.

If you're sharp-eyed, you'll notice a red "Levi's" tag. There was also a Levi tag inside, but the buttons and rivets were unbranded. I read up a bit on fake Levi's and decided that I couldn't in all honesty describe them as Levi's (although the labels checked out fine with the "fake label" guide). I sold them for £22, which was a great result, although if I'd been able to list them as genuine Levi's they would have sold for at least double that.


I don't often leave a bag/tin of buttons or other haberdashery behind in a charity shop, so over the years I've accumulated far more than I'll ever need.
I had a bit of a sort out and made up a mixed lot of vintage and modern bits and bobs, in the sort of tin that must have inspired some Cath Kidston designs. Sold for £21.


I paid £3 for these 70s Moygashel Irish Linen curtains, which were in surprisingly good condition for their age. Sold for £25.



This bakelite knitting wool holder was 40p. The acorn shape is not as common as the beehive shape, so I had an idea it would sell for a decent price. Sold for £24.00 to a collector in the US.


Even after being fleeced on ebay and Paypal fees, these items made enough for me to make an impulse booking on the Ryanair website.
More about that next week.

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