Thrifting Treasures and Going Girly

I have been having a good week thrifting this week and have noticed a decidedly girly influence coming through. I found some really nice fabrics and noticed when I got them home how pink they all were - not my normal preference at all. So I am planning a cot quilt as my first ever quilt for my baby girl-to-be. (All fabrics below are thrifted except the yellow one - not bad eh?)

I have also decided that when she is born our current office come guest room will be turned into her room come guest room - even though she will be sleeping with us for at least 6 months - as I really want to create a space that is for her. This means I will have to put all the computer stuff into storage at least until I have to start working again. I work from home so I have a company PC (giant thing and very ugly) and a lot of client files currently taking up a whole wardrobe. If I am very lucky I might be able to get a laptop sometime as we really have no room anywhere else in the house for a whole computer desk and printer and hard drive and office files. And I do plan to keep blogging, reading blogs and putting photos on flickr in the meantime.

I have started collecting a few thrifted bits here and there and got out my gorgeous old Sasha doll from the sixties. I had two dolls when I was a child - one ragdoll a friend made for me and my Sasha doll that was a hand-me-down from my Swiss cousins. She is beautiful with dark brown honey skin and white blonde hair and a wonderful handmade-by-my-aunty retro wardrobe. I also have some nice girly vintagey pictures. The girl in the heart is actually a printout from Emily Martin at the Black Apple - go take a look at her wonderful creations. I love her gothic and vintage style - she is a very clever lady.

I have also collected some old favourite books such asBeatrix Potter and Enid Blyton - the ones I remember well from childhood. I am going for a vintage feel depending on my luck thrifting and my skill crafting.
I also scored a book on crochet and one on patchwork which will be gifts to my friend who likes crafting and whose birthday is coming up soon in March. I am very lucky to have a friend in my village who likes crafting, thrifting, cooking, camping, gardening and just hanging out with the kids. We like exactly the same things which is almost spooky and she bought the house in the village that Chris and I had had our hearts set on. (|Yes I have forgiven her because I wouldn't have her friendship if she hadn't moved here!) She even drives a vintage seventies camper van - my dream car!

Fabric Frenzy

I may not have had much energy to do any crafting of late but I have managed to pick up some great fabric in the local charity(thrift) shops recently. I never buy new fabric anymore apart from the odd bit of felt and stuffing. On my budget charity shops are definitely the way to go. Table cloths, sheets and pillowcases tend to be my best buys - none of the above cost more than £2.00. The pink and green tablecloth/throw is very Christmassy but I don't want to cut into it. It would make a great bedspread as it is. My Mum has an old pine cabin bed lurking in her attic somewhere and I want to use it for Alex when he is a bit older. This would go great with that - very Alpine and rustic. (I'm half Swiss so I love Alpine style even if it is twee!) Talking of things Alpine - I must find a copy of Heidi to read to Alex. I loved that book soooo much when I was little. Still do.

Some more great thrift finds

And now for something on a lighter note.... I went to two car boot sales these past two weekends and scored some great finds. Lots of cheap fabric for me (sheets and curtains) and lots of wooden toys for Alex (on my mission to replace all his plastic toys with wood).

Thrifting

One of my favourite hobbies is thrifting or charity shopping. Living on a budget and trying to live by the mantra of reduce, re-use and recycle makes thrifting a regular activity for me. But I also get a huge buzz of satisfaction from my finds and the cheaper the better. Can you tell I was never the designer label type of girl?! I don't actually like shopping at all but sometimes I pop into my local charity shops to have a root around. Although there are about 8 shops locally they are not what I call cheap anymore. Since E-bay there are plenty who know how to value collectables properly. However the kind of stuff I look for; fabric, books and toys are not that valuable so I can still afford them.

I am trying to build up a wooden toy collection for Alex. I was leaning this way before the Chinese toy recall this last month mainly because I notice that Alex much prefers his wooden toys to his plastic ones. Although I have to confess that as he is car mad he does have quite a metal car collection (mostly thrifted). I just hate the plastic stuff and especially the stuff with logos like Postman Pat etc on them. The wooden toys feel better in your hands, kids seem to prefer them, they last longer, they age nicely and I prefer the look of them around the house.

So far I have bought wooden bead game (£1), a wooden elephant (£1), childrens wood dominoes set (50p), wooden blocks for a village (£1), the ELC wooden farm set (£2), a wooden circus train (20p) and a wooden pairs game (50p). I have succumbed to some playmobil cowboys and camper van as they were so cheap and I loved playmobil as a kid. The other thing I buy is old kids books, mainly for the cute illustrations. So far a Babar book, Richard Scarry, Mark Twain's Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer and some crafting with kids books.