Pretty Things

I think I shall forever be a collector of pretty things. Although generally I am getting much better at de-junking, I just cant resist bringing new items into my home that make me smile. Being on the lookout for beautiful vintage pieces that don't break the bank is becoming ever difficult, though you can never tame a thrifter so I thought I'd share some of my recent pretties that really caught my eye, were fabulous bargains and I just love...

I don't frequent car boot sales as much these days but when I do I am more than happy to look and spend wisely. At my last car boot visit, I found some lovely items and that were all a bargain.

I know I shall find lots of use for this old fashioned bon bon jar. I think I'll pop some cotton wool balls inside and add a little ribbon for decoration for the bathroom.

I'm a big fan of vintage green glass and I just had to have this.

I also seem to have a thing for old trays, especially the metal types and I really liked this vintage serving tray. It's such a cute little size and for 50p you can't really go wrong in my book.

I really love it when any of my vintage finds have their original labels, even if the label itself is not in perfect condition. The tray is a Woodmet design. Here's a quote from an original advertisement.

"Genuine Woodmet ware items sparkle with lustrous beauty in a range of pastel shades. A gift for every occasion, a product for every home".

So a trio of bargains there. Next up and from another car boot sale I found this small selection of sweets, but not just your ordinary, everyday sweets, these delicious ones are made of glass. I think for the set of six I paid just £1 and they look so inviting displayed in a little glass dish.

The colours are lovely and I think Murano glass, almost good enough to eat.

Talking of lovely colours, I'm really enjoying creating a little collection of these vintage Observer books. Most come with their dust covers, but I prefer to pack those away safely and show off their colourful spines.

It really made me smile to see a very old postcard used as a bookmark in one of the little books. A real surprise.

It was sent to Alice from John, and judging on the date, is very old!

They are great little books, perfect for dipping in and out of for a little read of interesting facts. Definitely a collection I would like to grow. Again great bargains from charity shops/car boots at about 50p-£1 each.

More delight with these pearlised coloured flutes I picked up.

I still have little collections that I occasionally add too, one of which is vintage shot glasses. I just can't resist them and when I saw these of course I had to have them.

We all know I love pink, I love roses, so I had to purchase this little floral dish, perfect for my little pieces of jewellery and mini treasures.

Now Lexicon is a perfect card game to pick up as I love to make special words to hang as bunting on special occasions or even to frame. Made extra special that this is a vintage set. 

Pink floral pretties always catch my eye and so it is no surprise that this floral half moon rug made its way home with me. After a little freshen up on the line it was looking even better.

The epitome of granny chic I'm thinking...

And talking of pretty roses, I couldn't leave these behind could I. Good old Aldi, the flowers I purchase from there last so well and these roses are no exception. 

So as you can see pretty things are still making their way into my home, though it has to be said, there has been no breaking of piggy banks and items that I know shall all have their special little corner to be loved and used.

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Floral Bargains

The title of this post should really be Home Bargains as indeed this is where I found a couple of pretty floral treats the other day. I just love stumbling on floraly bargains from there and couldn't resist these. I have become bit of a hoarder of doormats and always like to have a brand new one hidden away when an old one has seen better days. Oh, how I fell in love with this floral rose one and a bargaintastic £2.99.

It looked like it was the last one on the shelf so I quickly picked it up, and claimed it as my own! How delighted was I to then stumble across these pretty floral hand towels, again at only £2.99 each. I just loved the white floral one and thought very Cath Kidston looking...

 
The blue hand towel I thought very Pip Studio esque, so I quickly grabbed one of those too. I shall certainly be going back to Home Bargains for the larger floral bath towels and again a very reasonable £5.99 for those.

I couldn't wait to get them in their rightful place at home and there was certainly one member of the family who felt right at home on the floral mat!

And the towels look just perfect in the bathroom, creating that lovely vintage look I love so much...

So, next time you pop into Home Bargains if you have one near you, you must check out the florals, and having purchased my three cheery finds for less than £10, I was delighted!

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Pretty Makeover, Part 2....

Do you remember this lovely little piece of furniture I bought for £5 and wanted to give it a makeover....Well here she is, all madeover. I searched in my fabric pile for a suitable fabric to cover the top, and used some nice new wadding so it also makes a very lovely and very comfy seat too. I really do think I chose well in the floral fabric, as soon as I popped it on the top of the chest to see if it would work, it looked and felt right, just the right amount of floral busy-ness, and the pretty colours are divine.

As for the painting...well certainly a spray job for my next Lloyd Loom project methinks, lost count of how many coats I used, and I do like the piant to go in all those little gaps....

I made a little fabric thingy to help lift up the lid and popped some pretty cream braid around the edges of the padded seat....

And decided to pretty up the inside of the lid too, so covered it with some Laura Ashley pink gingham and used some very jazzy gold braid to edge it....

Ah, I think she looks really cute....

And even cuter with some of my pretty bed linens sitting nice and snug inside ;)

Oh, I do love a good makeover, infact I would really would to present my own little shabby chicy makeover-y type programme on the television, or a little slot on This Morning!! Ha, a girl can dream can't she....

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Can You Be Too Old For Florals....

Thank you for all the owl comments in my last post, those eyes are still watching me ;0)

So, this post has a floral theme, and I am wondering, should there be an age limit on wearing florals. My favourite buy from the sales ( I think was £7.00) and which I love to wear is this pretty and very CK esque little cardigan, I wear it with skinny jeans, with not so skinny jeans, with skirts and tights, and as the sun is out today *YIPPEE* soon hopefully I shall be wearing it with my little shabby denim summer skirts and flip flops, wishful thinking perhaps....

Anyway here she is....

I rather like it don't you. Anyway the florals straight away jumped out and me and I promptly went over to the desk and handed my money over. Roll on a week or so, and whilst have a lazy Sunday morning stumbled upon Hollyoaks on the television. Hollyoaks always takes me back, as I remember going for an audition to be in it when it first came out all those years ago, anyway am digressing. Whilst kind of watching ( yes I am embarrassed ) one of the characters, a character age of maybe 17/18 was wearing this exact same cardigan. It looked very nice on her, and then got me thinking.

Am I told old to be wearing florals, should there be an upper age limit, like the wearing of skirts above ones knee, is the wearing of florals a little, how can I put it, kind of childish. Only suitable for those age 5 and under. Can I ever be taken seriously wearing such pretty floral prints.

Well I am in love with them and I would say every single day somehow, somewhere,  I wear some form of floral, whether it be my earrings....

Or even my shoes....

There is always a floral in there. Interiors wise I think you can get away with florals, though again can it be overdone ? I am so inspired by Alice Whately's lovely book In Bloom....helps you get it just right with the floral decor.

Make do and mend....

Simple chic....

Feminine florals....

New romantic....

Pretty prints....

But when it comes to actually gracing ourselves with florals, well is it a bit too much. For me, enough is never enough and until I am told otherwise, I shall keep bringing those floral frocks out of the wardrobe ( yes, even at my age ) I would so love this little number to be pulled out of it one day....

Or is that taking it a bit too far at my age....

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