You can't go wrong with 20 cents.

Ceramic bowls at 20 cents each.  One for me and one for hubby.  We're now ready for 2 minute noodles, fancy style with chop sticks.

Prada vs Prad

I found a bag.  It seems to be a fake Prada but who knows for sure.  But chances are that it is.  Who puts a real Prada bag on top of their junk pile if they know they can sell it for a pretty penny?  So it must be a fake unless the person was a total fool.  It's an ugly colour and it's larger than any bag I own.  

Who knew an ugly coloured bag would become so useful and vital to me!

I can fit an enormous amount of stuff in there and it's oh so convenient.  Pity about the missing 'A' at the end though.  It doesn't stop me from being so very happy with my freebie, the 'PRAD' bag.

The Kimono Style

I have two kimono style jackets that I found at the op shop last year.  The green was $5 and the black was $8.  I do this when the garment has something I desperately need on it, such as beautiful buttons.  In this case, both jackets had lovely frog closures.  Green ones on the green kimono and black ones on the black kimono, both very needed for a couple of future knitting projects.

The black one really isn't my style and would never wear it, but the green one can be worn as a night or morning gown.  It makes me feel quite elegant walking around in the house with it on, I assure you.

Apart from those, the only other clothing I buy is jeans, which I have found for $4 - $6 each).  I don't look at skirts at all because I usually make my own and / or they're given to me.  Shoes - never, ever have and never will.  Occasionally I will buy a hand-made woolen or cotton (no acrylic please) sweater for a few bucks (if it's half price day - even better!) to unravel and reuse for my own original designs.  Now that's what I call thrifty!

The good oil.

Many years ago we were given 2 large floral oil paintings.  

The kind lady that passed them onto us, probably about 15 years ago, was an acquaintance.  She was an unmarried working Argentinian young mother with an accent.  Strangely enough, she was at our wedding 14 years ago.

The paintings had been given to her by a friend that actually painted them.  As you can see the signature is 'Janet (or J.) Darby' 1970.  She was 'tired' of them so passed them onto us and I was rather thrilled.

They were frame-less, so I asked my dear father to frame them for me.  To this day, I love the paintings and best of all, they were free.  After 40 (and more) years.... I wonder if Janet Darby is still on this earth painting?!

For the love of wool.

275g of 2 ply angora for $2!! Plenty for a yummy lace scarf.

500g (plus a bit more) of 12 ply crepe wool for $5!!  Definitely enough for a cozy sweater.

I love it when I'm in the right place at the right time. 

Souvenir Spoons

I never quite know how to spell that word 'Souvenir', so forgive me if it's incorrect!

I used to love collecting these, and I'd only pay between 50 cents to $2 for them at the op shops.  If they were $2, they'd have to be special for me to buy.  I now need to find 3 more to fill up my 3rd wooden spoon holder.   Oh and the spoon holders were $5 and $3. 

Only two holders show in the photo though, the third one is a fresh purchase for a couple of bucks so I'll be showing that one another day.... oh and not to mention one cute spoon for 30 cents.   Then what?   Well, I guess all I can do is admire them.   So go on... click on each photo for a better look but forgive the fuzziness.... i might even take good photos of my favourites in the near future.

Free Jigsaw Puzzle

When I picked up a jigsaw puzzle last year on somebody's pile of rubbish, I feared there would certainly be pieces missing.  After all, why would anybody in their right mind throw a complete jigsaw puzzle?

Well my friends, here she is complete.  All 1000 pieces. Not one missing.  And it's such a nice one too!

I found another three boxes last week and I've already started one of them - you'll have to wait a while because it has a lot of the same colour, which makes it really tough.  Still, they relax my mind and help me forget about the big, bad world out there.

So go ahead, make my day and click on the bottom photo to make it larger...  so you can enjoy the loveliness.

 

Snow White Mirror

As I was paying a whole $3.99 for this mirror at the op shop, the sales assistant said something like ' OH! You can be Snow White in this mirror! '  After a big chuckle, I couldn't help but wonder if she meant that my looks weren't up to scratch, or maybe it was just an innocent comment.  I like to think it was the later, because she was no great beauty herself.  Not that looks have to do with anything.... it's the heart and how much of it one has that counts the most.  Now I'm babbling on about something other than the mirror.  Back to the mirror... I love it!

From old to new for free

I picked up an old, run down, very aged wooden tray from somebodies junk pile last year.  I sanded it down, then I varnished it.  Now my dear husband is elegantly served dinner in front of the TV.  Free, but oh so priceless!

$1 can buy so much happiness.

Miniature plate with its own stand.  I was happy to part with $1 for this little baby.  Being only 3 inches wide, it's the cutest thing! 

On the road side is where the action is.

Somebody else's trash is always somebody else's treasure.  As usual, my niece Rebecca was with me when I found these things waiting to be picked up by the council dumpster trucks:

Rebecca nearly had puppies when I found the wall paper.  She loved it so much that she made me open it up (it was still in the original plastic wrapper!) and cut her off about a metre.  She insisted that she knew how she could use it and how much she couldn't believe that she didn't find it first (the shear audacity... ha!) and blah, blah, blah.  All along I was snickering under my breath, but in a good way.

The blanket was (and still is... because it's stinking hot these days and not a warm piece of fiber shall touch my body yet!) clean & didn't smell at all.  Still, it's better to clean things after you find them, right?  It fits perfectly on our QS bed perfectly.  Can you believe somebody actually threw this out?  Oh, the wastefulness is almost unbearable.