Dear Santa...

Well, if my boys can start making their Santa lists early November then why shouldn't I?  ;-) Like all the mums out there, my Christmas lists are generally all about what the kids would like, what to make for dinner on the big day and what we need for decorations etc, so I thought for a change it would be a bit of fun to compile a little list of my dream vintage items. These are things I have been searching for quite a while and have pretty much given up hope of finding out there at a market or in a shop. They may be items I will end up buying for a bigger price tag on Etsy someday or may just stay on my wish list forever...

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First up, how stunning is this vintage Royal typewriter in soft pink, swoon!

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I am still hoping to find one of these Kaj Franck red heart bowls by Arabia of Finland at a flea market some day, it would be so much fun to find one "in the wild", the alternative would be to pay over 100 euro online!

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I am in love with the series of beautiful enamelled Lotus bowls by Cathrineholm of Norway. They come in lots of different colours but the turquoise on white would be my dream piece.

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In my opinion, by far the prettiest of the vintage Hornsea patterns is "Springtime". Pictured here is the canister, it comes in many different pieces, I would love the butter dish too!

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At the very top of my Pyrex wish list is a cinderella bowl in the "balloons" pattern. It actually comes in a set of 2 to be used as a chip and dip set, but I would be thrilled with just one bowl in either size.

Well, that's it! I would love to hear what's on your Santa list this year :-)

My type...

At our local bi-annual flea market last Saturday, I happened upon yet another typewriter I couldn't resist. Even though I thought I'd broken the habit, done a clearout and vowed not to buy anymore, how could I resist this beauty?

A "Brother Deluxe" in the most delicious duck egg blue colour with beautiful art deco logo and font, sigh...

When I asked the seller how much she wanted for it she replied "$30", inwardly I was saying "yes!!!" but stood there thinking about having to carry it on into the city where I was going to meet friends...

The seller saw me hesitating and said "I'll take $20"! Deal done! Yes I did have to haul it on into the city on the train where I was going for a girls' weekend but I went straight to the hotel we were staying at and left my bags there, so no worries!

Thought I may as well recap on my little collection (much smaller than it used to be thanks to eBay :-)

Olivetti Studio 44.

Imperial 200.

Olivetti Lettera 32.

Hmm, I guess when it comes to vintage typewriters I definitely have a type :-)

and again...

Oh dear, I was at a church sale last weekend and saw this typewriter for ONE DOLLAR. So I bought it :-p Needless to say my husband was delighted to see I'd brought home "another bloody typewriter". But what was I to do? Spend it on half a twix instead?

The cases vintage typewriters come in are often in pretty grotty condition but just look at the lovely red-lined interior of this one, it even had the instructions and some sheets of old carbon paper tucked away in the pocket.

I repeat - ONE DOLLAR!

Oops, I did it again!

You may remember me posting a while back about picking up an Olivetti Lettera at a flea market, and then posting about selling it quite recently...

Well, a few weeks ago I was at a garage sale and what did I see with a $2 sticker on it???

Another Olivetti Lettera 32.

Yes, I did buy it. But who, in all honesty, wouldn't have for $2? I missed the one I sold so much, its lovely greenness had been replaced with an empty space, now it's filled again...

Don't judge me :-)

A new life...

It's Spring here in Sydney, today is a gloriously sunny day, the flowers are blooming and all is good. The start of a new season has inspired me to do a good old Spring clean and clearout. Going through the cupboards really made me realise just how much stuff I have accumulated and made me re-evaluate my thrifting habits. I have always said I am not a "collector" (ignore the Pyrex) so how could I justify having 6 typewriters, a heap of copper cookware and bakeware and more maps than I can shake a stick at?

So I have purged, I sold a lot of stuff on eBay, gave a large box to Vinnie's and dumped a sackful of bits and pieces that were too sad to do anything with.

I made the difficult decision to sell 3 of my typewriters, I can really only have 3 on display without it starting to look like a shop and the others were just sitting unloved in cupboards which kind of defeated the purpose of me bringing them home in the first place.

I am delighted to say they all sold on eBay and each has been given a new lease of life (I couldn't help asking the buyers what they would use them for), so may I introduce to you 3 very different typewriters, each about to embark on very different new lives...

My Adler Gabriele 35 sold to a very a lovely lady who had one for years, it took pride of place on her desk until her husband donated it to an Op Shop without her knowledge when they moved house (grounds for divorce if you ask me). She was very happy to buy a replacement for her long lost typewriter and I am sure as I type it is sitting looking gorgeous on her desk (but steering well clear of her husband).

My lovely Olympia SM3 sold to a guy who will be using it as inspiration for an Art College assignment to take a vintage typewriter and redesign it for the 21st Century (I'm fervently hoping this does not involve disassembling it in any way).

And the most exciting new life goes to my Olivetti Lettera 32, it sold to a lady from the Sydney Theatre Company Props Department (I want her job!!!) and is going to be used in an upcoming play direct by Philip Seymour Hoffman, how exciting!!! I nearly wanted to jump into her car when she came to collect it and go back to the Props Department and raid it!!!

So goodbye my lovelies, I hope you enjoy your new lives, I will miss you and will try very hard not to fill the void by buying more typewriters ;-) At least I still have my Olivetti Studio 44, Litton Royal 201 and Imperial 200 to keep me company!

Market Haul: The Rest

I'm wrapping up on my market haul in this post. It was definitely the best I've been to in quite a while, a carboot market where the sellers are keen to get rid of their stuff at low prices unlike some of the more expensive dealer markets.

I went with my friends M and L, usually I thrift solo, not because I'm an antisocial git but because I'm a horror to shop with and try not to inflict it on others :-) I randomly wander around, spend ages at one stall and seconds at the next, revisit certain stalls over and over, then when I've bought my lot I tend to hover while others pick out their stuff. I'm just as bad in retail stores and supermarkets. My aimless wanderings in Woolworths led my hubbie to very happily agree to me ordering our groceries online permanently to avoid having to ever shop with me again.

It was a lot of fun though and we had a lovely lunch after, can't wait for the next one and I'm looking forward to marketeering with Engracia when her self-inflicted spending hiatus ends soon. There were no catfights as we were all after different stuff, I was hunting for vintage items to use as decor as usual, M was looking at clothes and L was seeking to increase her enviable library of books and also had a car with her which meant I was able to make a couple of purchases I wouldn't have been able to otherwise because of weight (thanks L)!

I left these items with L until I see her next but firstly there was a gorgeous 6 drawer mini-filing cabinet, it will be perfect for storing lego, crayons etc. It cost $10, worth every cent!

Then there was my favourite find of the day (well joint-favourite with the vintage maps)!

I couldn't believe it when I spotted a gorgeous green typewriter and was given a price of $3!!! It's an Olivetti Studio 44, Tennessee Williams' typewriter of choice.

Alan over at Machines of Loving Grace very kindly let me use the above image from his site to illustrate (check out his unbelievable collection). The one I bought is in working condition, complete with case and instruction manual but is not as pristine as the above one, but with a good clean it will be just gorgeous again.

I got something for all the family, for the boys...

A cute little money box (still in its packaging) for H who is starting to learn all about the value of money :-) This cost 20 cents.

A couple of beautifully illustrated children's books. L spotted both of these, I was envious when I saw her holding "Rosie's Walk" but luckily she already had a copy and she very kindly bought the raucous "A Bush Christening" for my boys :-)

Great illustrations, great stories :-)

This playmat is perfect for S and D to play with their little cars and traffic signs...

...and folds neatly into a storage cube - $2.

This letter lego is great for H to make words and sentences - $2.

For me...

Last year I posted on another market haul including a large vintage paper-cutter. Well, I got this one last week for $2 at the market, it's mini, they'll look so cute together!

I love the old weathered wood and numbers.

I'm going to look so much more stylish turning up at BYO restaurants with my wine in this brand new Moet & Chandon cooler bag - 50 cents.

I got this little painting for the frame - $1.

I also picked up 3 Henning Mankell novels for my hubbie, a couple of books for myself, a Spiderman costume for S and a Batman costume for D.

Not a bad day's shopping!

Keys

What can I say? I love vintage typewriters :-)

Council Cleanup

Twice a year, each council in Sydney organises a clean-up for its suburbs. It is a chance for people to get rid of all that oversized "junk" that won't fit in regular wheelie-bins such a fridges, washing machines, broken doors etc. It's also a chance to do a good clean out of your "stuff", see what you may not need anymore, haven't used in ages etc.

Council clean-up is a virtual treasure trove for thrifters. Amongst all the broken appliances, old paint tins and bags of damp grotty magazines are some real treasures. It's a win-win situation for all involved, people get rid of unwanted stuff, others find treasures in that junk and the council avoid rubbish being thrown out onto the kerbs haphazardly throughout the year (mostly).

Some seekers get straight in there, rummaging through bags, lifting wardrobes to see what's underneath. I'm not that much of a heavy-weight, I have a quick look as I pass by and see if there's anything of interest. There is a sense of fun to the whole thing, the rule is that you are supposed to leave it until the day before the clean-up to put out your junk, although people generally start a couple of weeks beforehand. But with the bulk being left out the evening before, you can spot people out with their flashlights, piling up their utes. Everyone's idea of treasure differs, some people are looking for bikes, some for wood, computer parts, glass etc for building projects, some for toys...

This system sure beats Ireland for example, where there is no such thing as a council cleanup (or wasn't when I lived there). Instead, if you need to get rid of big junk you have to hire a skip (at the cost of a couple of hundred euro). You hear shuffling and banging noises during the night and wake up to find your skip has been filled with the whole neighbourhood's junk!!! This is much more fun!! The council generally leave it till late afternoon/evening to collect so everyone has a good chance to look, it works out better for them too as it means less for them to collect.

Here's what I found this year, all on my own street:

Yet another typewriter, an Adler Gabriele 35 for anyone who's interested in such things. As an aside, I have seen an Olympia typewriter the same as the one I found a while back, sell for $220 on eBay and have also seen it retail for $495 on specialist vintage typewriter websites. Not that I'll be selling mine as I LOVE it, but interesting...

I found this stash of cafe-ware outside an apartment block last week. There were boxes of cups and saucers, loads of huge pots and cook-books, I think it must have been from a cafe that was updating or maybe closing down.

I needed a good scales, I have a vintage-style one in our kitchen that is very temperamental, a bag of mince could weigh 500 grams one minute, 350 grams the next. So I was delighted to find this nice big one.

I love this chalkboard, I thought it would be fun to write up a weekly menu-plan on it, but a certain little blond cupcake has other plans for it :-)

And the 3 pans are Chef-inox professional, they are the 20cm wide, 4.5 cm deep one (again for anyone interested) which retail new for between $59 and $79 EACH!!!

Our local playgroup did a clean-out to coincide with the council cleanup, we spent a few hours clearing out broken toys and old furniture, I couldn't believe it when these 2 gorgeous vintage kiddie chairs when into the pile, SCORE!!! Aren't they sweet?

And lastly a couple of wire baskets, perfect for storing crayons, foam shapes etc for the boys.

Not a bad haul at all!