Charity Shop Haul

One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2012 is to start visiting and buying from Charity Shops and Car Boot Sales. Now, the car boot sale season doesn’t start until April time but charity shops are open all year round so I thought they would be a good place to start. Unfortunately, my sister’s dog, Bonny (mentioned in my second ever blog post HERE) suffered a stroke on Wednesday morning and my sister and I had to rush her to the vets (I was actually at work but my boss very kindly let me leave which I can’t thank him enough for). Luckily, Bonny will be OK and will recover over time with a course of steroids. It was a horrific experience and I’m just so relieved and glad that she is OK. When we had Bonny home and safe I found myself with an afternoon off and nothing to do. What better time to put my resolution into action? I went to a street that has four or five charity shops pretty much next door to each other and what’s better is that it’s only a five minute drive from my house.

I was originally going to look for a dressing table in charity shops and at boot sales but on a recent trip to Ikea I saw that the Hemnes Dressing Table was reduced to £144 from £189 exclusively to Ikea Family Card Holders and I snapped one up. With my new purchase in mind I was on the hunt for things to pretty it up...

I started in Oxfam, searching for little trinkets and ornaments for my dressing table. Whenever I think of dressing tables, I think of my Nanna’s dressing table. She had the prettiest pink/peach glass dressing table set and I would love a similar one for my dressing table. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find one in any of the shops I went to but I did find this cute little dish with lid which was a bargain at 99p! I'm going to put a little tea-light candle in and and think it will look super cute!

Next I went to St Gemma’s Hospice and bought a couple of books which were just 49p each! I could really get into this Charity Shop lark! Then I went to the PDSA shop. It was the PDSA that we had taken Bonny to earlier in the day so I was adamant that even if there wasn’t anything I wanted in there I would buy something! As it happens there was something I liked; this little tree ornament. I just think it is so pretty and unique and for 99p you really can’t go wrong!

Finally I went to a different area a couple of miles away and visited another St Gemma’s Hospice shop. I couldn’t believe how cheap the things in this shop were! Harry Potter books – 89p for paper back or 99p for hardback! I have actually already got the full set but wish I had bought them again now because they were so cheap! Among the various treasures on the shelves I found this coffee canister which I think is so sweet and vintage looking. They also had a matching biscuit barrel but it was chipped and was a bit too big so I just bought the coffee one. I love it and am going to use it to store cotton wool balls and pads (Got my mum to thank for that idea!)

Overall I am really pleased with my finds. Five items for under a fiver! Amazing! I will definitely be visiting charity shops more often from now on!

Do you shop in charity shops? What’s been your best find?

With Love,

Rachel x

2012 has landed!

Image from we heart it

2012 has officially arrived and with it has arrived a whole lot of ambitious New Year's Resolutions.

Year in, year out I make the same resolution - Eat less and exercise more - and year in, year out I fail. Miserably. Last year I made my usual resolution and vowed to record my progress in a food diary. The first entry in said food diary was - 01/01/2011 - Breakfast - Chocolate Santa - Fail of all fails! With this said I have decided to make a few resolutions that I will not only stick to this year, but ones that I will also enjoy. 

My first resolution for 2012 is... drum roll please... To visit car boot sales and charity shops! This is something I've always wanted to get in to - I remember going to car boot sales every Sunday with my Mum, Nanna and Sister and, after watching Car Boot Sale Haul videos on You Tube and seeing all the little gems that some people have managed to pick up, I decided that I am going to start going as soon as the season starts again. Until the new season begins I am going to start looking in local charity shops and see if the vintage/second hand demon inside me can be stirred.

I have a list of vintage / second hand items I will be keeping my eye open for...

1. Dressing Table - I've wanted a vintage dressing table for a while now but I want one that needs 'doing up'. It would be a nice project to record on my blog so this is the first thing I will be scouring the charity shops and car boot sales for. I love the 'shabby chic' look so I'm thinking of painting whatever I get white and adding pretty handles and lining the drawers with feminine material or paper.

2. Trinket Boxes and Jewellery stands for dressing table - I really like the glass bowls and trinket boxes a lot of people use to store their rings, earrings etc. so will definitely be on the hunt for those! I will also be looking for small vases to use for storing my make up brushes in.

3. Vintage clothing - I never thought I would get into the whole vintage clothing thing - the idea of not knowing who has worn the clothes previously creeped me out - but after visiting a Vintage fair a few weeks ago and seeing how clean the clothes actually were (with the odd exception) I have decided to take the plunge into the world of Vintage Clothing. I quite like the fact that each item is unique and you know that nobody will be wearing the same item as you. Plus, I can always give them a good wash or two before wearing them!

4. Vintage Accessories & Jewellery - Although I have gotten my head around wearing some body's old clothes, I draw the line at buying second hand earrings - It just seems so completely unhygienic to me! Maybe clip ons aren't too bad but I think I will steer clear of vintage earrings all together. I am looking to buy other vintage jewellery items though such as necklaces, rings and bracelets as well as accessories like belts, bags etc. so I will have plenty to be on the search for come my first Car Boot Sale visit!

Image from we heart it

My second resolution is to learn how to play the guitar. This was a spur of the moment decision - My college friend, Matt, plays the guitar and I was watching some videos he had posted on You Tube and thought to myself "I want to play the guitar!" a quick status update on the wonderful Facebook expressing my desire to play the guitar and Matt commented saying that he would teach me. So that's that! Lessons start soon so I'll keep you updated on my progress.

My third resolution is to finish writing the novel my sister and I have been writing for the past year. I don't have any hopes of getting it published but I just want to get it finished for my own satisfaction, so it can be passed down throughout the years and become a family favourite - almost an heirloom or tradition.

My fourth and final resolution is much less fun that the first two and is probably the only one that will get broken - To keep up to my housework. This may sound like a simple thing to do but I have a case of 'lazy-itus' and often leave things far longer than they should be left. I'm ashamed to admit that my sink is more often than not surrounded by a mountain of washing up and my washing basket is constantly over flowing! The plan is to draw up a 'rota' of which jobs need to be done on which days and stick to it! Fingers crossed I can stick to this resolution because its so much nicer coming home to a clean, sparkling house after a long day at work!

I am super excited to put my new year's resolutions in to action - Apart from the fourth resolution maybe!

Have you made any new years resolutions this year? How long to you think you'll go before breaking them?

With Love,

Rachel x