We were lucky to have time to visit the bustling fishing town of Brixham. We’ve been meaning to visit for years and finally found we had a couple of hours spare. It’s a really lovely town, some great independent shops, brilliant charity shops and lots of cafes so you can sit and watch the boats in the harbour. Although our primary purpose wasn’t to look round the charity shops my poor daughter gave me a very good reason. She had a nuclear nappy explosion which resulted in my throwing away the clothes she was wearing. Now when I go charity…
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Today was the first full day of our holiday and my husband kindly agreed we could go to a car boot sale! I was really excited about this as there are never any near us in London and I always hear about people picking up great bargains. The car boot sale was at Newton Abbot Racecourse and opened at 9am. The children never sleep well when we’re away from home so we were all up and out the door and arrived at the Racecourse just after 9. I was surprised to see people were already leaving with armfuls of stuff…
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Did you know today was World Baking Day? World Baking Day is all about sharing the joy of baking cakes, and what better way to share the love than #caking! I have been very busy baking but I wanted to share this vintage Nutbrown Party Time Cutter Gingerbread Man. I love the original packaging which proudly says “For use in making super Gingerbread Biscuits, highly popular with young people”. Eek, that makes me feel old! The cutter was made in England by Thos. M. Nutbrown Ltd and the cover shows a freaky gingerbread man with scary eyes, buttons and belt…
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Amongst the piles of Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder puzzles I managed to sneak in this lovely vintage puzzle on my latest shopping trip. I absolutely love it, it shows the traditional independent shops you’d expect to see on your high street before the big supermarkets wiped them out – the baker, grocer, toy shop, greengrocer, chemist, Post Office, butcher and bank. The pieces are made from chunky board and when you remove them they reveal the inside of the shop! It’s made in England by G J Hayter & Co Ltd., Bournemouth, a member of the…
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I have been in my favourite stomping ground over the last few days which means charity shop heaven for me! I’ve picked up some lovely bargains both for myself and the children. Besides lots of Thomas the Tank Engine books and jigsaws for Big Brother I found this book of vintage cigarette cards I just couldn’t resist. They’re displayed in a cardboard book which is missing its cover but there are some lovely images on the cards. They are all from Wills cigarette packets. My grandmother worked in the Wills factory in Swindon before she got married so these cards…
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It’s been a while but I couldn’t resist this wooden abacus in my local charity shop. They must be quite common as after buying it I saw another one in a different shop. Big Brother won’t be using it just yet but I like to think (everything crossed) that it’s robust enough to withstand his full force. He seems to be going through a ‘stage’ where he’s a little, dare I say, manic. He’s 2 next month and not afraid to let me know he has his own opinions, regarding the clothes he wears, the food he eats, the toys…
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I have very little to show for all the time I’ve spent browsing my local charity shops recently. Big Brother goes to nursery in the next town where all the decent charity shops are but it seems the more often I pop in the less I find. So this weeks find is small but beautiful – vintage pink and white candles in their original box. Maybe it’s something to do with having a baby girl but my eye is now drawn to pink things. I love these as they remind me of vintage birthdays (my own!). They were made by…
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It’s been a while since I wrote about my thrifted finds but the arrival of Little Sis gave me a great reason to start looking for bargains. There were a few things I knew I wanted to buy but knew we couldn’t afford to buy brand new so I began trying to find them second hand. My best bargain is definitely the Stokke Newborn seat as Little Sis loves snoozing in it. It also fits onto the Tripp Trapp so she can sit at the table with us at mealtimes. I got a great deal on ebay and it was…
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According to Wikipedia, The Gingerbread Boy made his first print appearance in the May 1875 issue of the (American) St. Nicholas Magazine. I’ve been trying to build up my library of gingerbread books this week and found two lovely story books on eBay to add to my collection. The first was this vintage copy of The Gingerbread Boy from 1951. It’s part of the Janet & John Story Books which my husband remembers reading at school. It’s the traditional story of the gingerbread boy, beautifully illustrated. This copy is from a school library and bears the stamp Leicestershire Education Authority.…