Fave Flea

Twice a year a nearby Church runs a flea market which is one of my absolute favourite haunts for finding lovely things. The market held a few weeks ago was no exception...

A beautiful pie dish.

A pretty tin.

Elegant salad servers.

Yet another wire egg basket.

A beautiful Royal Doulton plate.

More Pyrex!

These wine glasses are so pretty, it's hard to see in the photo but the glass is slightly bubbled.

And a cute, retro lamp.

The grand total for all these items was $15.50!

My boys always eagerly await my return from this particular market as I usually bring home pressies for them. This time was no exception - puzzles, Star Wars glow in the dark ships and Clone Wars walkie-talkies. Everyone's a winner :-)

Nigella

It's no secret to those who know me that I LOVE Nigella Lawson! I have a collection of her DVDs and watching them is the only thing that makes ironing bearable. Her recipes are so achievable (and yum) and it's so nice to watch somebody enjoy the food they make just as much as I do :-)

Nigella has a lovely collection of kitchenware, the range is called "Living Kitchen" and while her products are widely available in the UK, there is only one retailer that sells them here in Australia (at hugely inflated prices).

I refuse, on principle, to pay rip-off Australian prices on products that cost a fraction overseas (don't get me started), so even though I have been longing for a lovely Nigella bread bin for ages there was no way I was paying the Aussie RRP of $189! Then last week, one came up on eBay for pickup only in a suburb about 15 minutes away. I couldn't believe it when I won it for $51!!! It was out of the packaging but barely used!

Isn't it lovely...

Of course it's duck egg blue :-)

And I love how the lid doubles as a chopping board. Now I know I posted recently on my own little DIY bread bin, and that still has pride of place on my kitchen worktop, but in a house with three little boys who love bagels, croissants and bread so much, 2 bread bins isn't excessive is it?

Here are another couple of Nigella scores from previous posts...

A pair of cups and saucers that retail at $89 for $2 at a car boot sale.

And a lovely cookie jar that retails for $49 for $3 in Vinnie's.

Now if I could only pick up her beautiful cake dome for a few dollars somewhere ;-)

Your Opinion Please!

I found these stunning vintage Villeroy and Boch teacups for $1 each in Vinnie's a few weeks ago.

There are 2 different designs...

Even the underside is pretty!

I'm keeping one to go with the Villeroy and Boch plate I picked up for a couple of dollars recently...

But here's where I need your help. I'm thinking of using the rest of them to do this...

Image and tutorial here

What do you think? Would it be a travesty to fill these beautiful vintage cups up with wax or do you think they'd be fab? I think it's a lovely idea :-)

Today's Finds

This morning, after all my munchkins had been deployed at their various places of mischief, I had two options - go home and tackle the mountainous pile of ironing awaiting me or go shopping.

We all know which I chose and here's what I found!

I am in love with woven baskets and trays at the moment (a post on that soon) and this one is really beautiful, such gorgeous workmanship, it's huge and cost only $2 in Salvos!!!

I mentioned before I have a lovely collection of cake plates and domes and was delighted to pick this one up today for $10. I already have two very similar footed cake plates, but one is little and one is medium, this one is BIG - now I have a set!

Another bowl - 50 cents. I should really do a post on my bowl collection but it would take me about a week to photograph them all!

This cute pair of salt and pepper pinch pots were $2.

Another basket, nowhere near as fab as the other one but handy for breadrolls and only 50 cents.

I fell in love with theses 2 original oil paintings the very second I saw them, they weren't priced so I brought them up to the shop counter and was given a price of $4 each! They definitely need TLC - a good clean and new framing (that horrible plastic framing is glued on, yuk) but I think they'll look fab when it's done and I love the little cyclists, it makes me think of my boys on a trip together :-)

I am amassing a worrying number of fishy dishes - I love this platter - $3.

And finally...

This fantastic big fish platter is by a high end Australian brand called "Mud Australia", it costs $119 new in department stores and online retailers such as this, I got it in Vinnie's for $8!!!

Aaah, there's nothing like a good morning's shopping, I have a few minutes left to get that ironing done before school pickup, hmmm maybe it can wait until tomorrow...

Linking to Sophie's Flea Market Finds and Apron Thrift Girl today :-)

Stepford

OK, I know I may be painting myself as a bit of a Stepford wife if I admit my heart almost stopped when I saw this beautiful kitchen trolley...

Isn't it perfect? The gorgeous greenish/bluish colour, the size (exactly the right dimensions to fit in a little dead-space in my kitchen) and the retro style. My fruit and vegetables would live very happily here.

It's new to Ikea and available here.

Sum total

I don't get to go shopping in thrift stores or markets that much these days! My boys are older now and not so happy to be fobbed off with a little toy while I browse so I don't inflict the experience on them. But in the last couple of weeks I've made some time for myself and hit a little rummage sale and a couple of thrift stores and found lots of lovely things, here they are...

Some pretty pieces of china - $1 each.

I love putting mismatched patterns together and seeing how lovely they can look.

This little olive dish was 50 cents.

Only $2 for this Villeroy and Boch dish.

A cute little Royal Doulton bowl for $1.

This chicken-shaped wire egg basket was a steal at 50 cents! I've wanted one of these ever since spotting one in Nigella's kitchen :-)

I'm not really a "pink girl" but occasional little pieces contrast nicely with all my robin-egg blue kitchenware, this bowl was $1.

My tiniest bowl ever - 20 cents.

I still can't believe I scored this harlequin set of Pyrex ramekins for only $1!

I LOVE this turquoise and white platter - only $2.

A set of tasting spoons (I am building a little collection of these) - $2.

A pair of salad hands - 50 cents.

This multi-aperture box frame (brand new in its packaging) only cost $1. I think I'll do a montage of beach pictures in it :-)

Hello little dolphin - 50 cents. My youngest spotted this on my bookshelf and exclaimed "That's MY dolphin"! Now he won't give it back.

That's a sum total of $15.20! I'm happy with that!

And today I'm linking up with the lovely Rhoda at Southern Hospitality and the beautifully vintage Sophie at Her Library Adventures.

My cookshelf

I have mentioned my cookbook addiction before and thought I'd chat about it today :-) I used to wonder if I was a bit weird in that I devour cookbooks like novels. There's nothing I love more than to curl up with a gorgeous cookbook and browse through the lovely photos and recipes and come up with new ideas and combinations of flavours. When I visit friends I always have a nosey through their cookbooks too.

There are many others out there though! Since I have started reading foodie blogs I have realised it's pretty common to enjoy cookbooks not only as something to use as a strict guide to follow, but also something to browse and just enjoy and not necessarily adhere to. My hubbie thinks my collection is getting a tad large, but I beg to differ, Nigella Lawson has over 4,000 cookbooks! My collection pales in comparison but I thought I'd share some of it anyway ...

This is not all of them, I have little piles tucked away in drawers and cupboards and a whole other collection in my parents' attic back in Ireland. I used to have to stifle my collection due to the ridiculous prices of books in Australia but the discovery of the Book Depository got me back on track, I buy the majority of my cookbooks brand new but have a little collection of retro books I love to read as a nostalgic look at the way food was when I was little :-) I've also found Abe Books to be a great source of hard-to-find titles.

Anyone else out there a little bit addicted to cookbooks? Please share :-)