Flea Market Finds

Early in the week, I ventured into an op-shop with my dear friend Kath PathWalker. We had a bit of a peripheral hunt, seeking cheap china that she could smash to make into beautiful frames. It quickly became evident that this was not the shop - $24 for a small china jug? I mean it was pretty but not that fantastic! However, I found a couple of paintings that had perfect frames for my daughters paper-cuts - she does like romance after all!

My daughter used an oval one like this for a piece she exhibited. She painted the frame red and it looked great. I am sure she will love these and hopefully the painter, Dawn ( great name!) would not be too offended!
This was unintentional op-shopping which I have found, often yields the most exciting finds. Sometimes if you set out with a particular mind-set the thrift stores have nothing to offer, but if you allow yourself to be guided by the Universe, the Great Thrifting Goddess smiles upon you. Certainly this was the case for me this week. Towards te end of the week, I found myself with half an hour to kill whilst waiting for an appointment. I decided to meander around a nearby op-shop and wandered about without much interest really. I was on my way out of the door - empty-handed (totally unheard of - I pretty much always buy something even if I just donate it back to another op-shop!) when I-spied-with-my-little-eye, something yellow, something pretty and made of shiny glass. Upon closer inspection it was a whole set of vintage glasses but even as my heart beat a tattoo in my chest I resolutely restrained my excitement because you see, they were in the good cabinet. You know, that cabinet that all the op-shops seem to have now where they put any bit of china that has a hall mark and odd bits of crystal because they are after all Orrefors or Krosno or some such! I always approach the good cabinet with a great deal of suspicion because lets face it, the bits and bobs in there are usually overpriced - well probably not if you are a collector but definitely are if you are a rummager. Ok, so long story short, there was a whole set of 6 glasses and they were priced at 50 cents each! Needless to say I had the op-shop lady whip them out of there as fast as her arthritic bones could manage. They made me think of alfresco dining in Summertime so how could I resist?

They are probably not as stylish as this French glassware spotted by Kath PathWalker and I...

... but I love 'em just the same! My final find came to me again as I was leaving an op-shop! I had been into the shop to see if they distributed food because we are in the process of cleaning out my Mother-in-laws house and her pantry was quite full. None of us really wanted to take the tins home but I was completely unwilling to simply toss it. Fortunately, one of our local charities do indeed make up food parcels so I was able to arrange for them to have the stuff. I was leaving with a spring in my step to have sorted out that problem when my sneaky eyes wandered about and settled on this tray.

Isn't it great?! It is also really big! I have put it behind my stove and when I am cooking I swear I see those deer move and little woodland critters scamper from tree to tree. Maybe I should lay off the cooking Sherry?

Don't you just want to take a wander up that river and see what is around the corner? If you want to see what everyone else has been gathering this week, head on over to Sophie's.