This pair of deer antlers were bought together for £15 a few months ago. I have seen them in vintage furniture shops on Portobello Road for £25-£30 each so I was very pleased with these two.
Dressing up props are always on my radar...10p for the pair - bargainous! I am going to transform the Mickey ears into some sort of veiled, glittered headpiece...watch this space!
This pair of Rabbit molds were £1, maybe I can re create the Rabbit jelly scene of our childhood. I will tell the story in my post about Jelly soon.
This lovely tin was £2.
The pair of frames above were £2. These will of course be painted white and used to house family photographs. As you can see we like pairs of things, I don't know why...it might have something to do with being twins but who knows, collecting pairs of things is fun.
This little mirror was £1.
Flying solo today, no Miss J. But the car boot is calling me so off I go in search of treasure and oh wow it was worth it. There are lots of guys that do house clearance at the car boot we visit and as I was searching through box after box of books (books were the only items for sale at this stall) I realised that the majority of books were about wine and some on the subject of food and cookery. As I searched I overheard the man who's stall it was telling a friend that the house clearance had been for a food and wine writer, this news for me was very exciting and I searched some more. As I have said before I am always on the lookout for Cookery books to add to my collections. Then I struck gold, this vintage Elizabeth David cookery book 'French Provincial Cooking' which was published in London by Michael Joseph in 1960! It was buried deep and in my excitement to get it out of the box I ripped the spine and am still cross at my self as I write this blog but never mind. I put this in my little pile of books to buy and carried on searching. It was not until I was on the journey home that I started to look at the book in greater detail and that is when I found tucked in the back sleeve an invitation to the food and wine writer to attend Elizabeth Davids memorial service on 1o September 1992 and then the actual memorial service program. I felt like I'd stepped back in time as I looked at these amazingly interesting documents. Amongst these were letters to the writer from Elizabeth and cuttings from magazines and newspapers that Elizabeth wrote back in 1965-1968. I can't wait to read them all. What an incredible treasure!! (£2)
Miss R and I loved puzzles as children. I saw this harlequin / circus-esque example (oh how I love anything big top / carousel related) and thought how lovely it would be to take it home at Christmas and reminisce about when we were little and liked nothing better than wiling away the hours at our Grandad's. The lady assured me that all of the pieces were present and correct - so we will see... The Enid Blyton books were a bargain at 5 for £2 and have been sent to my lovely friend PP as a little pressie for her new little baby Poppy! I started collecting coronation china a while ago - these pieces ranged from 50p - £2 each. If like me you enjoy all things royal/regal check out Liberty's amazing Christmas store windows - an exquisite homage to HRH!
We see alot of vintage enamel tin items at the car boot, however alot of the time the condition isn't great and the items on sale have been ravaged by rust! I was very pleased when Miss R spotted this large bread bin for £10. I thought this was quite expensive at the time but after a good inspection saw that the condition was great and after a little encouragement realised I would only be gutted if I went back to the stall and it was gone! I am using it as a rather chic recycling bin.
This beautiful tin is very big and has an incredibly pretty design and only cost me 50p.
Another plate to add to my collection, I love the crown emblem on the back....This was £1.00!
I'm always on the lookout for vintage enamel tableware. This bowl was in great condition and £1!
Silver Sapphire and Silver Garnet cluster rings £17
I love vintage jewellery as opposed to modern pieces as a rule. I collect vintage rings in particular. So as you can imagine I was like a child in a sweetshop when I stumbled across the above beauties. I knew they would work perfectly with the large vintage sapphire cluster ring that I wear everyday (which incidentally I bought years ago at a street sale for £5 in Brighton). I even did a spot of haggling with the lovely old man selling them and got him down from £10 each to £17 for both. Bargain! I thought I would post a couple of photos of how I like to wear a few rings stacked up on one finger and my growing collection.
...Renovating and breathing new life into furniture is a hobby that we enjoy and find really rewarding. I was in desperate need of a bookshelf and saw this solid wood beauty and knew it had 'paint me white' potential written all over it! I have lost count of the amount of items I have transformed with a lick of white paint, much to Miss R's amusement! I got it for £12 and am really pleased with the results!
Books at car boot sales can be an absolute steal. Not only can you discover really old editions and covers with great character like the Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppin's above but it is a great place to find additions for your home library. Miss R is always on the lookout for cookery books to add to her collection. To date she has bought Nigel Slater's Eating for England for £2 (retails for £16.99) which was as good as new as well as various vintage culinary publications including some retro Delia, Michel Roux and Prue Leith. Miss R loves to cook and enjoys adding vintage recipe volumes to her growing collection of modern cookery books. Most of the books in this post were £1 each. Last photo is Miss R burrowing through bargain books boxes.
Dressing up box......I have a passion for dressing up that borders on the obsessional. One of my favourite past times (as well as searching for hidden gems in peoples car boots of course) is creating fantastical fancy dress outfits for various occasions throughout the year. I am always on the look out for new pieces and props I can add to my ever expanding dressing up box, so imagine how pleased I was when I spotted this vintage groom's top hat, in great condition and a small head size for only £5...what a steal!
My muse Marilyn......mirror, mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all...vintage Monroe memorabilia always catches my eye, especially as I have been rocking a bleach blonde roller set homage hairstyle for a number of months now...£1
100x50cm vintage print...£5
Box of cutlery: 15 x forks, 12 x spoons, 3 x serving spoons, 1 x teaspoon, 9 x knives....£11. Meant to take a before shot...ooops, you'll have to take my word for it they came up well after lots of polishing.
... the start of my mis-matched plate collection, a lovely pale blue floral design £2. A surprise beaten up old box contained this hidden cutlery set, after a lot of polishing by Miss R, it's come up a dream. Still can't believe it is hallmarked sterling silver...£2.
