The Kitschmas tree.

I know I said we weren’t going to have a “proper” Christmas tree this year, but since Spence has been pulling the fabric one off the wall anyway, & Punk has been enthralled with every Christmas tree we pass, when I saw this old plastic tree complete with vintage baubles (the type of which I honestly haven’t seen for years & years) at the oppy for $5… well.

It’s smaller than the tree we have so I was able to put it up on the cupboard away from my grabby babe & I can’t tell you how happy it has made me!

If you’re going to have a plastic tree, you might as well have one that screams it from the rooftops first of all. This tree doesn’t pretend to be a real tree, it says “I’m plastic. I have hard spikey plastic branches & a trunk moulded to look like no wood you’ve ever seen. Deal with it.”

Then there is the Santa. I don’t know if he’s supposed to be a tree topper, but he’s bloody perfect as one.

And the baubles. Oh, the baubles! Look at the colours! I had to re-thread about half of them, they either had no cord to hang them or had already been restrung on elastic bands that were so old & brittle they broke into pieces when I picked them up.

A couple of little old ornaments make it, I think. My thrifted deer has taken his rightful place on a Christmas tree, he didn’t like the mantle where he couldn’t even stand up properly.

And that is our Christmas tree. It makes me smile every time I look at it. It is going to see years of happy Christmases now, I hope it’s already had many.

OMG. That is; Oh! My Gocco!

Are you sitting down? Tell me you’re sitting down? You really should be sitting down.

I just bought a Gocco B6 at an opshop for $2.

I told you you should have been sitting down.

We were driving back from a positively splendid time at an indoor swimming pool with waterslides (A new favourite place for Punk & I), where I had whittled my initial $20 for the day down to $5, after pool entry & snacks, when I was surprised to see the oppy at the tiny town between here & the pool still open. I drove past, thinking “Probably no point stopping, I’ve only got $5…” but then I turned around & drove back because, well, I’m me.

In the alcove before you even get in to the opshop proper, I saw this thing of beauty sitting on an old ironing board.

I think I was in a state of shock. I’ve wanted a Gocco for ages but would never be able to afford one, unless, as I often half-joked, half-desperately hoped, I found one in an oppy. I calmly snatched picked up the boxes & placed them on the counter, reminding myself to breathe.

$2. $2! I still can’t believe it. And the Gocco fabric stamp kit for $1.50. Everything in tip-top condition, including the hilarious 80’s family shot on the box.

This is the find of the year peeps. Fo’sho.

More finds with Sophie!

The Game of Life.

Some oppy finds of late;

A Box Brownie – I’ve admired these in Kelly’s photos & knew it would be mine the moment I saw it on the shelf in a rather dull oppy while we were on holidays.

A daggy little Viking – another holiday purchase.

Some more things for my wall, that I actually got around to hanging up.

And last but not least… The Game of Life.

I LOVED this game when I was little, more than Monopoly, more than Trouble, more than anything, so to find this old version in fabulous condition almost brought a tear to my eye.

My favourite purchase in a long while, and only $2!

More finds here.

Mine. All mine.

As promised, some of my oppy finds from the last couple of weeks, in chronological order because I really can’t decide what I am most chuffed to have found. You might want to get a cup of tea; this could take a while.

Betty Draper Pearls (Or should that be “Pearls”…?):

I will never get to wear this set, no way, no how, but that didn’t stop me from snapping it up. I fully intend to keep both price tags for posterity. I found it while I was in Sydney, I can’t tell you how fun & restorative it was to wander in to my old haunts as though I’d never left, but the pickings were very slim for a gal too tight to shell out for check-in baggage & nowhere to stow a nice vintage coffee table, until, after rummaging about in a big Lifeline in Asquith for a while I started toward the train station but doubled back to get a drink. As I passed the Lifeline window again, the assistant was placing this on display; cue a ray of light shining down upon me while harps play in the clouds.

A pair of sweet German double handled teacups; because I am geographically challenged, I feel that they would be happiest with a spot of Russian Caravan tea sloshing about in them. Too bad I think Russian Caravan tea tastes like drinking from an ashtray that has been left out in the rain.

A vintage sheet & pillow case set; because there is just nothing nicer than some crisp old linen to hoard treasure.

A breakfast set, because I am a sucker for old packaging.

This stool is my new favourite piece of furniture even if I couldn’t get a decent photograph of it. It is in fabulous condition, still nice & soft & puffy, & I just love the pattern on the vinyl. $5 people. $5!

A boxed, complete, fully functional “Lights Alive” picture maker. I was obsessed with this for the entire afternoon when we brought it home, if I went & got it right now I could guarantee I would start playing with it & lose track of time again. How cool is it? This cool, that’s how:

A super-cute old computer toy for Suspence – it even worked until Punk got a hold of it. I’ll have to test my toy repair magic skills & get the screwdriver out. Luckily Suspence still likes it, working or not….

…last but not least, the staple of any good thrifter’s shopping diet; a delicious granny blanket.

I adore the colours in this, & it’s soft & snuggly & most of all, it was $8 from an oppy further afield. Most blankies around here now are upwards of $15 & not nearly as nice.

Phew! I even remembered I left a couple of things out! I think I need to go back to bed now…

(More thrifty treasures being shared over here!)

I was thinking…

…today, for a few reasons, about ending my blog. I was pretty sure I was going to do it too. Like, if I hadn’t had to go pick up Punk from Kindy I would have written a farewell post kind of sure.

Then I went to the oppy & I realised that if I did that, if I said “goodbye”, I would have nobody to share stuff like this with.

Nobody would “get it”.

So…. you’re stuck with me.

Ner ner.

Three Words.

Cute. Cheap. Mine.

Joining in with Sophie, here.

My Kryptonite.

When I go opping there are many things I will buy in a heartbeat & be happy with, but none could I possibly need less than another annual.

They are my oppy Kryptonite, my absolute weakness, the thing I will buy for no other reason than I can’t NOT buy them. They fascinate me. They are fun & interesting, remind me of hours spent rummaging amongst my Gran’s bookshelves & are the tiniest piece of history bundled up into a hardcover book with the year conveniently printed on the cover.

We did the rounds yesterday & I found these two; ‘Misty’ & ‘Eagle’ both from 1983, in an oppy having a half price book sale. Had they not been half price I may have wavered on the ‘Eagle’ one – I don’t necessarily NEED boy-themed annuals, but for $2 I really didn’t have any choice.

Why don’t they make annuals any more? Do you have oppy Kryptonite? Doilies? Crochet hooks?

I bet you do.

We have the technology.

I picked this up at the oppy more for the fabulous snapshot of bygone technology than the actual knitting patterns, but happily the patterns I might be tempted to try (…if it gets even colder & I forget I’m crap at knitting because I don’t want to go out the back to sew in the ice-box) are on the simpler side so Punk may yet be forced into some sort of mismatched thrifted yarn creation.

I personally have memories of clicking the dial on the telly; fuzz, fuzz, fuzz, cartoons with a line scrolling across the screen, fuzz, fuzz, fuzz…

Accidentally opening the back of the camera when it wasn’t wound off enough…

Not having a rewind on the cassette player so having to fast-forward on the opposite side to the one you wanted to listen to in order to listen to a song again.

Headphone’s so big & padded that I felt like I was a fighter pilot & having to hold them there if I wanted the music in my ears & not circulating around my neck.

Which of these do you remember?

Perfect timing.

I was in town yesterday with Suspence when we accidentally drove by a new oppy. Of course I did a U-turn at the first possible moment & hurried back for a peruse.

Suspence was not at all in the mood for opping though & although I did see a commemorative plate of Charles, Di, a young Will & a baby Harry (so should have bought it to sell on Ebay… kicking myself!), there wasn’t much in the way of treasure so after a quick look we headed back out; but just as we were leaving I saw a little collection of clocks on a table that was absolutely not there when we came in.

These two had to be mine. When I took them to the counter the woman said “Well I put those out at the right time didn’t I?”.

They are so great. The pink one is my favourite – when was the last time you saw something that was made in Scotland, that wasn’t a person?? (I say this as I have lately taken to watching the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. I don’t know if I like it yet, but it’s kind of weird & I like weird…) I wanted to put it in Punk’s room but once wound it ticks SO LOUD. I think they may have used it in movies to indicate THERE IS A BOMB HERE, YA HEAR?! Serious ticking then. It spent the night in the kitchen but I’ve moved it now out to the sewing room, it’s that noisy.

The other is much more delicate sounding & oh how I would love it next to the bed… but Stoopid Head is all “I can’t sleep with a ticking clock around!” & as much as I want to retort “Well, I can’t sleep with a snoring snory-butt around!”, I know he’d whinge too much for me to be able to enjoy the gentle ticking so it will have to live elsewhere.

I love my opping luck. Love it. I could only be happier if I had lotto luck….!