In the Bedroom: Part 1

 

In a mad fit of pre spring cleaning I have been reorganising my bedroom and giving it some big touch ups over the last few weeks. My travel inspired bedside table is just the beginning in the series of what I have created in the only room in the house that is all mine, (although credit to my lovely housemates, they pretty much let me decorate how I wish!)

I was inspired by this picture to create my bedside table, and the best thing about this project is that I already had all the materials in my house, just begging to be used! The red suitcase I have had since I first moved to Brisbane in 2007 and have carted it from house to house in the numerous times I have moved over the years. It was originally salvaged for a prop for a friend's play and she was kind enough to bequeath it to me when the play was over, thanks Phil. 

The bottom two suitcases are spoils of the op shop mission Nikki and I took to Ipswich a few months ago. I spotted them as soon as we walked in, and just as I suspected they were a total bargain! Best of all the green one is still sporting an ancient airline tag (from the old days of Ansett) for Brisbane, which makes the suitcase even more special.

And finally, I topped it off with a picture of a vintage map with the quote "Wherever you go, go with all your heart" which was created by my lovely friend Amy. I bought the frame for $1 at a cent sale at a school one Saturday morning, and painted it white with a bit of left over paint I had lying around. The lamp was from an op shop, the photo frame from a garage sale, (the picture is my Mum and Nana out for a day of shopping circa 1960), the alarm clock is Ikea and the little jar is DIY moisturiser. 

Overall I am pretty pleased with my travel bedside table, and it gave new life and a new use for things that I just had lying around waiting for the perfect spot in my house.

xo

Vintage Linens

One of my favourite things to scour the thrift stores for are vintage linens. As far as I am concerned, the bolder the patterns, the better. Going vintage is good for the purse strings too, this funky retro table cloth was just $2. But best of all, you know these linens are good quality because they have already been around for decades. Without sounding like too much of a nana, they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
xo

Girls Gone Wild... Op Shopping

During the uni holidays Nikki and I went on a few op shop adventures. While I love to frequent the ops and often just go for a quick browse, N and I were on a mission: prom was fast approaching and we needed dresses.

I realise in Australia we usually call the ‘Prom’ a ‘Formal’ and being in our early 20s, we were about six years late on the prom dress shopping. But our temporary insanity wasn’t without reason, we were planning a massive 80s Prom Party for two of our dear friends, and what’s Prom without a fantastic dress (or in the ‘80s a fantastically foul dress)? So our op shop missions were focused on hunting down taffeta, shoulder pads and lace.

We went deep into the ‘burbs tracking taffeta and our search led us into some terrifying moments in Ipswich and Logan. (For those of you who don’t know, Ipswich and Logan are surrounding ‘cities’ of Brisbane. Ipswich in particular is an older, quite quaint town, as long as you stay in the main street. Mostly ‘The Switch’ and Loganville are the native habitats of the boganis, a demoralising mutant strain of Australian rednecks, also known as bogans.)

Nevertheless we had a great time sifting through the op shops while taking in the local culture and sights. We also had fun ‘checking in’ to the places we visited on Facebook, like the Ipswich Magistrates Court, Centrelink, and the Ipswich cemetery. We had a gourmet meal of Hungry Jacks for lunch (dine in!) and even sped away from a Lifeline like criminals escaping with hot loot (really we just mistook the warehouse for an actual store and were scared of the creepy workwear clad men giving us weird looks). I even scored the macramé owl from Friday’s post for $2. 

But it wasn’t until we ventured to Logan that we both found our Prom dresses. Being a Saturday morning, N decided to take a little break from dress shopping to try her hand at some sports instead. I swear, it was the most fun I have ever had watching sport. I think fishing is the winner, N. Perhaps I should pop down and buy you the red fishing rod?

xo

Treasure Hunting Spoils

Hello lovelies!

I do apologise that my self-imposed study hiatus turned into a slightly more extended break than originally planned. I spent my mid year uni holidays mostly kicking around Brisbane searching for treasure and hanging with my friends, so I will also share some of those adventures with you all over the coming weeks.

Now it’s the first week back at school and my last semester before I graduate at the end of the year. I’m feeling a little nostalgic about finishing my degree and also terrified about going out into the real world and being a grown up! But for now I’m feeling inspired and ready to share my crafty ideas with you all.

Below is one of my favourite op shop treasures that I have brought home over the last month or so, and is now hanging in my lounge room. And, as usual, costing just $2, it is pure bargain gold!

Long live ‘70s macramé!

xo

Vintage Love

I have been wanting Babushka dolls for ages and I spied these at an op shop not that long ago. They are possibly one of my favourite finds. I love their little feet! $7 for pure penguiny perfection!

xo

Treasure Hunting

As promised, here are some of my op shop treasures that I found yesterday.

As you can see they are fantastic, retro bargains AND best of all because someone else has chucked this stuff, buying it is not only giving to charity, it's saving these fantastic, retro bargains from ending up in landfill. Basically it's a total win win situation and KK gets to be an eco warrior and have a funky house full of one-off interesting pieces.

TV stand $9.

Perfect size, shape and colour. I particularly love the retro legs and the gold trim around the edge of the table top.

'70s Stoneware tea set, reduced from $25 to $8.

Totes fab in the '70s shades of brown!

Pyrex mixing bowl $4.50.

I actually saw a set of four of these bowls for sale in an antique shop recently for $60. Clearly this is a bargain. Plus my collection of mixing bowls was severely lacking in a medium size bowl like this one.

'70s Stoneware salt and pepper shakers $2.

These almost match my tea set perfectly, but ironically I got them from a different op shop to the tea set.

Pretty glasses $1 each.

In preparation for Earth Hour I was actually hunting the oppies for cheap glasses to use as tealight candle holders. This photo doesn't really do them justice, they are much prettier in person.

Space invaders t-shirt $5.

Total geek chic. Enough said.

Vintage '70s tablecloth $6.50.

When I bought this I thought it was actually square, but it turns out this tablecloth fits perfectly on my table on the back veranda. Such a great surprise.

I hope you think these pretties are just as pretty as I do.

xo

Introducing Buster

This is Buster.
He is a somewhat hideous kitsch donkey pulling a cart.
Like his namesake Byron 'Buster' Bluth he is socially retarded but totally loveable.
Buster's cactus is called Mother.
She is prickly, stings if you get too close and sucks the life out of her surroundings.
She is his whole world.

For those of you who haven't watched Arrested Development, get up off your computer, go to the nearest DVD store and rent/buy/steal it immediately. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Here is a little preview:
Michael: Maybe it’s time you went out there and got yourself a girl… I mean PET!
Buster: How about a turtle? I love those leathery little snappy faces.
Michael: You certainly have a type.

xo


PS Buster cost just $9 from an op show and a few months after I adopted him, I spotted his almost identical brother GOB for sale in an antique store for $45. In short, Buster was a bargain!!

Gold Coin Makeover

Since the bliss of last weekend is still fresh in my mind, I'd like to share with you one of the heavenly things I did. Best of all, it cost less than the chocolate croissant I usually treat myself to for breakfast at the markets.

Inspired by my lovely friend of grey grid paper fame and the amazing publication that is frankie, I spent Saturday searching the ops for a specific treasure: vintage pillowcases and bed linens.

As usual the oppies didn't disappoint me.

At two different op shops I found the five beautiful vintage pillow cases above; I even received change from $2.

My bed has now gone from this:

To the Nana floral fever of this:

All I want to do right now is nap on my pretty pillows and have lovely dreams.

xo

PS As an added bonus I found this handmade pretty doona cover at one of the oppies. For only $5 I couldn't leave it behind.