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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Today was my birthday! It’s very strange having a birthday when you have children – no lie in and no leisurely opening of presents for me! However, I enjoyed opening my gifts with the little people and their infectious smiles and giggles. My son may have even opened a present or two for me. A grand day out I had a lovely day. This morning we headed to Covent Garden for a lovely crafty blogging event to learn more about Stampin’ Up. I really enjoyed learning about paper craft and was able to make two beautiful cards whilst the children…
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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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Mary Rebecca hosted a really cool Valentine’s Day Swap 2012 which I signed up for as I love all things red and heart shaped. My partner Jennifer has a really cool tumblr blog at Vintage Enydot. She sent me an amazing box of goodies including yummy limited edition love hearts and some fab cupcake cases, which I can’t wait to use. We’re off to visit family this week and I’m looking forward to stocking up at my favourite cake shop so I can whip up something special. I loved putting together a parcel for her. Aside from some chocolate and…
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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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I can’t resist a swap, especially when it’s a thrifted Christmassy one so signed up straight away to Lakota’s Faith, Hope and Charity Shopping Christmas swap. The challenge was to send a minimum of 3 items: one item to be sourced from a charity shop, one handmade item and one Christmas decoration of some sort. My partner was the lovely Hope from Pixie’s Ponderings. The parcels were beautifully packaged (almost too good to open!) but one evening last week I couldn’t resist looking at them any longer and did open them. Hope sent me vintage pot holders, a vintage crochet…
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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.…