Op Shop Bargains

 I had an great week  for picking up bargains last week, my op shopping was the best its been for awhile. I am lucky enough to have quite a few op shops in my local area. I don't always get to visit them all regularly so when its been awhile since I visited I'm hopeful for some good finds.
I visited two local stores that I haven't been in for a few weeks and whilst the one thing I was looking for wasn't around I did find these awesome craft goodies.

Balls of cotton are always a great find, especially when its full balls, the craftulon was a great find as I'm currently making a heap of crochet scrubbies for our charity group. A bag of pretty trim and a roll of wrapping ribbon and a huge amount of  bakers twine completed my finds.

I think what I love so much abut op shopping is you never know what you will find and when you find great bargains it can be really uplifting. Weird ? Maybe but I'm ok with that  :D

Have you had any great op shop finds recently? Please share!


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Thrifted yarn

Always on the look out for a bargain especially where yarn is concerned. Is it just me or has it got really expensive of late ?
I picked all this yarn up for  the huge amount of $5 got to love thrift shopping. There is a couple  balls of cotton which are earmarked for some baby washers. two large balls of Chenille and a few of Fairy Floss. My favourite is the Bella Baby Parade I found, it is the softest yarn I think I have worked with.

 

You know how you have that huge list of projects waiting to be finished, but you find new yarn, or products and you just have to start playing with them? Yep, that happened, I couldn't resist starting with the Bella Baby yarn. Other than being so soft and pretty it crochets up alot easier than I thought it would.

 Now to resist  and get some projects finished before I start on more of this new yarn.


Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Thrifty finds

My jaunts through thrift stores was on hold over the Christmas new year period, way too busy over that time to be taking time out to browse.
Now that the new year has started and everything is getting back to normal Ive had a few trips to see what treasures I can find. Its normally a good time to find something special as people get rid of things to make way for the new gifts received over Christmas.

I picked up this cute little owl cross stitch for $1 Bargain!! it hadn't even been opened, cant wait to start this and add it to my owl collection.
I picked up another cute birthday one, not sure if i will just use the Aida cloth and cottons in this one or if I'll actually make the original.
Couldn't believe my luck when I found a copy of Kass Hall's Zentangle Untangled book!!! It looks brand new. I love Zentangle so this just had to come home with me.

Have you found any awesome thrift store treasures lately ?
If you are one of readers who lives locally and know of any great thrift stores, please share I'm always keen to explore new stores.

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Thrifty Christmas finds

A few weeks ago I found this cute little Christmas cross stitch sets for 50c each, Winning!! They were quickly snapped up with a plan already in mind.
The Santa was a card but missing the cloth insert and the other two were intended to be ornaments with plastic backing to be stitched.
All of them had the cottons and patterns which was the main thing I wanted and will be made up into separate little ornament gifts to give out to some dear friends.

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Thrifty finds

Anyone who knows me knows I love owls, I have quite the collection  and am always happy to add more, especially if i can pick them up at thrift stores for $1 like this cute one. You never know what treasures you find when browsing thru the different stores.

I have been wanting a tiny circular needle for a while now and just haven't had the spare cash to get one from spotlight. I found this one for 50c doesn't even look like it had been used the packaging is still looking brand new.
Have found quite a few cross stitch  sets over the last few weeks, some of them don't have any cotton in them, but they all have the fabric and the graphs.

Some times I can go weeks at a time without finding anything worthy of bringing home but then other times I am lucky enough to find little gems like the ones above!
What treasures have you found lately?

Thanks for visiting
Lis :)

Thrifty finds - glass bottles

I think I may have a new addiction! Lately on every trip to my local thrift stores I come home with some sort of glass bottle.
Not just any glass bottle I am a little bit picky, milk bottles are a favourite, I picked two up last week and now have a little collection of different sizes happening.

Bottles with fancy designs, anything vintage or any bottle that just catches my eye usually comes home with me. Love the little Le Jardin bottle not sure what it may have originally been used for but I think it would look so pretty on a dressing table or ensuite sink.

Now until I run out of space to store them or hubby says enough.... I will keep collecting pretty glass bottles!

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrift shopping not just for the girls

For those of you that read my blog regulary you will know how much of a thrift store addict I am! I share regualry all the great things ive found, some just small things but some major as well.
I know alot of my readers and friends love thrift shopping, but how many of you shop for the males in you family in these stores?
 

My boys have not exactly been huge fans of wearing anything that `mum got from that place` hah sound familiar? I have managed to get a few brand name items that Ive washed and just put in with their clothes and they havent really notices....boys!
Enter son #3 who hasnt been anywhere near as fussy about clothes as his older brothers and needed some clothes that he could wear to interviews and church.
He is working a casual job but the cost of dress shirts (at least 3 of them) was way over his budget. Lets not even try and figure out how the price of a tie is more than some shorts and shirts.

I luckily found a great silky look dress shirt at one of my local thrift stores for $4 and a tie to match for $1 and the kid was intstantly interested in comming with my on my thrift expeditions!
The above photos are the outcome of a weeks shopping and all for under $30 he was thrilled with all he got and I must say looks pretty good in them too, but then im a bit bias haha!

Do you shop for the men in your lives? What great bargains have you found?

Hope everyone is having a fab long weekend!
Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty vintage finds

 How cute are these vintage hankies a lovely thrifty find a few weeks ago. Now you can clean them up ( I usually soak them in napisan) and use them as hankies as I have done in the past or like I normally do use them for make gifts look all pretty.

 These Australian hankies caught my eye as I have a penpal in the USA who I thought would like them. I think they would look cute framed and hung on the wall or even sewn up into a cushion.

My favourite find a few weeks ago! I have a niece who is just mad about anything Paris and have promised to send these down to her. They were only 50c each, bargain of the year!

Do you op shop for your kids? For the males in your household? I have a blog post comming up about the treasures you can find for the teen boy or man in you life.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty Finds - Adding to a Collection

I love owls! I already have quite a collection growing and I am always on the lookout for more cute little buddies to join the ones I already have.
Its rare to find them in thrift stores, lots of other people must love them as much as I do and not throw them away or they are snapped up very quickly.

I was lucky enough to find these two cuties on my thrift store travels last week and for only 50c each! Bargain! They HAD to come home with me.

Have had quite a bit of luck op shopping the last couple of weeks and will be back soon to share what else I've found.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Shopping for that Special occaision

 Last month we had a wedding to attend in Sydney, I had my dress and shoes all sorted and was checking out my handbags to see which I would take and the found the one I had that was suitable was way too small.
So like a woman on a mission I went of to all my local stores searching for something that would work.

Yes I could of gone of to the retail stores and found something perfect, but I love my thrift stores and after finding the bag pictured above I knew I had made the right decision. The photo doesn't really show it all that well but it as such pretty pleating all the way down the front flap.

My next dilemma (the week before we flew down) was that the coat I pulled out of the spare wardrobe didn't fit 'insert sad face here'
There was no way I could do a wedding in Sydney in July without a coat, finances certainly didn't fit with going retail either, so back to the thrift stores I went desperately this time praying I would find something not only warm but dressy enough for a wedding.
You guessed it! I did! This one was super warm and looked great with my dress and the bonus (and why I love thrift stores) was only $10!


Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty Bargains!

 A little sad this week to find out that the lovely Karen, manager of my local Salvos has transferred to another store. She was a bundle of sunshine when you visited the store and always had a hello or a few minutes for a chat.

Cheered myself up with some awesome bargains though, these two vintage baby crochet books are full to the brim with baby pretties!

 Look at these little jars, in great condition  and lids seal really well, 50c each!! Sad there were only 3.

I have been on the look out for a baking dish for a long time, something that had high sides but wasnt a large size and this was perfect at $6.

Did you do any thrift store shopping this week? Did you find any great bargains? Id love to see!

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty Thursday

Its been a dreary, rainy day here today, we really need the rain so its a good thing, but not great when you are out and about in and out of the car all day. I managed to stay pretty dry and cheer myself up with some cute thrift store pretties!

This little birdy was very cute, tiny and likes his new home on my dresser!

Im always on the lookout for globes and have not had much luck finding many, I think this is possibly a modern one not vintage but hey a globe all the same and it is now part of my collection.

This sweet little (its only about 5-6 cm) vintage telephone was sitting on a display in the window of my local Salvos. The lovely store manager Karen went to all the trouble of getting it down for me and only charge me $2 Bargain!!

Hope you are staying dry and have a great night.

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty Finds

Welcome to Autumn! Hasn't the first two months of the year just flown by, before we know it we will be at the end again!
Just wanted to share with you all a couple of things that I picked up in my thrifty store browsing the last couple of weeks.

Its not very often that I am able to find shoes in retail stores to fit me let alone thrift stores (sucks to be a size 11) so when I noticed these blak suede boots sitting on the shelf and they were my size I HAD to have them! Not only are they are really cool looking pair of boots for winter but the soles suggest they have hardly been worn. Bonus!!

 

Another item that I find hard to source is a Maxi dress at 5ft 10, they are never long enough. Only a couple of stores locally have really long ones, so finding this one was awesome! When I first saw it, I was like oh that is so pretty, bet its not long enough....I think I actually might of squealed a little when I tried it on and it was if anything a little too long!!!

A very good thrifty week this week, wonder what next week will see me bringing home!

Have a fabulous weekend

Lis :)

Guest post - I Love to Op Shop

Do you ever get that feeling like when you were a little girl (or boy) when something special happens, something that you never thought would happen to you ?
I had one of those moments this week, and yes I may of let out a little squeal of excitement, I was asked to write a guest post!!!!
Exciting right ? Well it was very much so for me, never thought that my blogging experience would extend to writing posts for others.
You can check out my guest post HERE. Thank you Vicky for the opportunity :)

Back to normal programming now!

Lis :)

Thrifty Finds

During the christmas new year period I didn't get much if a chance to visit my local thrift stores. Way too busy trying to get everything all sorted for the big day then family in days of and the heat we've we had made me not even think of leaving the house!

I ventured out last week, visiting two of my favourite stores and found the cutest bargains, this cotton tote bag is not very big but how adoreable is the print!! Bambi is the cutest! And the tiny porcelain Bambi had to come home with me to, well they match right ? 😉

I don't often find much I the Manchester areas but this day I scored well. The stitching on this placemat(?) is so sweet and I love the dangly edging. I'm using it to cover one of my side tables.

You can never have too many doileys right? That's what I'm telling myself anyway hahafound both these and the small one looks like it might be quite old, they are both very dainty.

What is your favourite thing found in a thrift store or garage sale? I'm. I'm not sure I could pick just one, but my rocking chir would have to come close!

Thanks for stooping by
Lis :)

Thrifting Treasures

Thrifting during 2013 found me bringing home quite a few treasures. Some found a place straight away and others popped away to be used at a later time. Towards the end of the year I got a little stricter with myself about what I brought home. Clutter was starting to form and I needed to get on top of it before it got our of hand haha.

I also found that thrift stores seem to be putting their prices up quite alot now, whilst items are still alot cheaper than store prices, my budget only allows a certain amount a month. This also meant that what I brought home I really wanted.

The last few things brought in 2013, corks are always useful right? The doileys are very fine lace work and so pretty.

The juice bottle jumped out at me right away, I can see it filled with juices ive made myself! Its about a 750ml size.

Anoteher lace doiley and what I thought was a keyring but upon opening its a curtain sash. I envision some pretty stitching for some sort of wall hanging maybe ?

Who doesnt love a cute journal, this one hadnt been used!

Im looking forward to browsing around thrift stores this year, may even go a little further afield and find some new ones.
If you thrift shop leave me some links I would love to see what treaures you find!

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty Finds

I was having a conversation wit h a lady recently that really got me thinking, we were chatting about some of the things Ive found in thrift stores. The lady made the comment "oh I make enough money, I dont need to go to op shops".
It made me stop and think about why I do shop at thrift stores. Im not ashamed to admit that at times it has been because of financial issues, but when it came down to it the reason was because I actually LIKE roaming around them.
Yes, some of them can be a little musty and smelly, but on the whole they are just stores filled with racks or shelves of things someone else doesnt need or want anymore. Treasures to be found!
I love just roaming around looking at  the things to be found, there have been some pretty funny things sitting on shelves over the years. Sometimes I come out with some amazing finds at bargain prices and other times I come away with nothing.

So on that note im going to share with you some of the things I have found in my thrift store travels lately.

This mirror comes up to my waist, its a little chipped around the edges but it was $5 and I love it!

This cushion just screamed "take me home' haha I dont know if its vintage or just a vintage look but couldnt resist it!

Cute little hand carved chest was darling and now sits on my table holding little bits and pieces I might need for crafting while watching tv of a night.

The day I found these tins I was actually looking for plastic drawers to hold stationery items. These took me back to my nana's place where she had tins similar filled with colouring in pencils for when we used to visit! They quickly got grabbed up and the look for plastic drawers was forgotten.

I will add that although I do enjoy the whole thrifting experience, I am pretty picky about what I choose to buy. I have to look at quality, price, useability and of course hygeine when I shop.

Do you thrift shop ? I know a few of  my readers do, would love to see some of what treasures you have found!

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)

Thrifty treasures!

It's been awhile since I shared any of my thrifty finds,  I have still been visiting my local stores. I try and get out a couple of days a week and I am lucky that around here I have a good selection of stores to browse through.
Might sounds really silly but wandering around a thrift store I find relaxing, I always go by myself, and just wander and go through racks of clothes and shelves of nick knacks and books. I suppose its my time just for me.
I don't always come home with any treasures some days I can visit a number of shops and leave with an empty bag and other days I find lots of things that appeal!

 The cushions above were cute and the navy one is a huge floor cushion (after a good wash) the boys love lounging on the floor with it. The quote on the notebook caught my eye as did the cute little calico bag that someone has lovingly stitched. Love the clock the minute I saw it, didn't care if it worked or not (knew hubby could get it working) but it did! Its only small but perfect for my kitchen!

How gorgeous are these vintage posters, I just have them blue tacked to a cupboard in my craft room at the moment, still deciding whether or not to frame.

A couple of baskets which are now home to some of my supplies, the pink one whilst a little bent out of shape is HUGE and just so pretty!

Always on the look out for globes and this is the first one that I have ever found, its not very big (about 10cm high) but it had to come home. Maybe one day it will sit with a few larger friends :)

As children my sisters and I had a huge basket full of these blocks, mum still has them but wont give them up. I would love to find some larger ones but was so thrilled to find these. the boys have had a little fun changing the letters around to form different words lol (if you follow me on instagram you will of seen the photos).


























I'm not sure what I was thinking when I brought this beautiful cotton and lace hanging, but it was just so pretty I HAD to have it. The work on it is beautiful.

So there you have my finds over the last month or so, quite a large bundle of goodness! Do you thrift shop ? What have you found that is beautiful or unique ? Would love to see, link me up in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by
Lis :)