Resist the Plastic!

With little Maggie-May's birthday recently upon us, conversation turned once again to present buying for kiddiwinks. I always procrastinate way too much on what to do for birthday and christmas presents for our little girl.

I want Maggie to grow up realising that toys and belongings are special, are to be valued and do not just get given willy-nilly to be then thrown away a month later when they become broken or get bored of it. I also want her to experience the joy that is had in making and creating toys, games and amusement ideas.

Check out this blog the homemade dolls house. A mother pledges to "engage in one-on-one playing for an entire year" and they create the most wonderful little 'dolls house' world. When I read this I thought it was just so special, a real character building project. I think it's so important to feed our children's imaginations, let them experiment with their abilities and express their feelings in ways other than the obvious.

I hate all those horrible plastic toys, particulalry those that have mass consumerism 'branding' plastered across them. I just don't think they're neccessary - like mosquitos! I'm also very concerned about the social and environmental issues in mass consumerism but that's a whole other soapbox:) But then I feel torn with guilt. Is she missing out? Is it unfair to put all this on her when she is still so ickle? But I guess she'll still get given all the 'plastic toys' that other kiddiwinks have.

I always like to make Maggie a present and when the gift she receives from us is as cute as this upcycled rocking horse, I don't feel so guilty.

Next time you head to your local charity shop, check out the toy section too and see the potential of those toys. It's such a good feeling to recycle and recreate.

My Vintage Friend

I'd like to introduce you to my friend Delia. Delia is a friend I miss very much in England. I have known Delia for many many years and we have always enjoyed 'rummaging' and 'playing house' together so I asked her to write a feature for my blog about her vintage style. I guess this post is somewhat indulgent for me as it comes at a time when I find myself particularly missing my dear vintage friend.

Over to you lovely friend............

Hi my name is Delia. I live in Somerset in England with my two boys age 13 and 9 and my ginger cat Timmy. My love for anything old has always been with me but as the boys have got older I have found more time and freedom to explore this passion further. I love to explore charity shops, junk shops, car boot sales and yes dare I say it Ebay. I love the fact that I can actually afford the delights I find; makes my tummy dance and my face smile and gives me that 'little girl in a cake shop' feeling knowing I can have what I see.

In the past 18 months my love for the 1950’s has really taken off. Inspired by watching Grease with my friends during sleepovers. I loved the dresses, the freedom of the swing skirts, the colours and patterns, the excitement and the rock and roll music. The whole girly girl lifestyle where girls are girls and boys are boys. Just call me an old romantic.

I love to mix old and new things. As long as I love it and it gives me that tingle in my toes then I think there will be a home somewhere for it with me. My real passion in the past few months has been 1950’s kitchenware and oh my goodness I have found some real treasures. As I push open the charity shop door I get so excited when I walk inside, not knowing what old delights I will find and of course as the saying goes “someones rubbish is someone else’s treasure”. That’s so true.

I have found great crockery, vases, cups, glasses and also pillow cases which I am turning into cushions covers. My first find was a red formica kitchen table which was hiding away in a friends garage. Then along came two kitchen chairs which I found in a junk shop in Wales. They are just the cutest dinning set. I only paid £2.00 for them. Now that’s what I call a bargain ;-) I rubbed them down and they look amazing.  Then a friend gave me his mums old 1950’s kitchen stools which had been covered in fabric. When I took it off I was jumping up and down because underneath was the original red and yellow vinyl. The first night the boys and I sat down I said "I wonder what family owned these and what they had to eat" and of course I used our 1960’s dinner plates and 1950’s drinking glasses.

My other little pleasure is 1950’s drinking glasses they are so slender and colourful but my cabinet is full and I really must stop buying them now. I get so much pleasure from knowing that someone else loved these things. One of my pride and joys is a red domino tea set that my partner gave me for Christmas. I opened the box and just kept unwrapping it, it really was like a lucky dip full of plates, cups, saucers, a milk jug and a sugar bowl...... and well my eyes nearly popped out of my head ;-)

..............lovely, thanks sweetie xxx

My Creative Space

Don't you just love it when you're looking through your fabrics, deciding which ones to use on a project and you whip one out you haven't seen for a while, give it a shake out, smooth your hands over it and immediately you can't wait to use it? That's what happened in my creative space this week with this cute pillowcase. The price tag was still attached; Devon Air Ambulence Charity Shop 25p!.......I would imagine I bought this a very long time ago.

I'm gonna use it with this sheet to make another sleeping bag for Maggie, for the camper.

Here are the other fabrics I choose; another bluey turquoise sheet, turquoise dots and yellow gingham.

I just drew around the sleeping bag I wanted to copy to make a pattern and now I'm cutting whilst the layers are 'sandwiched' together (a claireyloo technical term).

Top - flowery fabric

Middle - blanket

Bottom - dots or gingham

I need to get a zip from Spotlight next so I'll pop back and let you know how I get on. Don't forget also to let me have any questions you want asked at the Vinnies Interview..........and check out the other creative spaces in planet blog at Kootoyoo.

Vinnie's Interview - Questions Please

Sometime soon, I'll be interviewing my local Vinnie's manager, Shane. I thought it'll be really cool to have a chat with him and ask him some questions to discover how Vinnie's operates to put up on my blog. What projects does Vinnie's support? How do our purchases contribute to these. I'm interested in learning about what happens to all the massive sackfuls of things that don't get sold or don't even make it into the shops. What is lurking back there behind the scenes that doesn't make it into the shops and where does it go? I assume I know the answers to these questions, but is my understanding correct? Is there anything you'd like to know? Please suggest any questions you'd like asked.

Stitch and Bitch Weekend March 2010

Some more pics for you. Sunday morning op-shopping.....the early birds sure did catch the worms:)))

Some of the ladies before our Friday night out to see the Fleetwood Mac tribute band.

I'll post more as they come to me.

The Golden Rule of Op-Shopping: If You Love It - Buy It!

Sunday morning love sings on BBC Radio 2, cup of tea at my side and Maggie-May tucked up having her morning sleep, time for me to write my blog. Which this week will be about a subject very close to our hearts - op-shopping. I guess everyone has their tactics, their favourite haunts and their contacts, but for me there is only one golden rule - IF YOU LOVE IT, BUY IT! (and if you don't - don't).

Remind yourself how inexpensive it is, how you're making a donation to a charity and of the positive environmental implications of recycling. Furthermore, how many times have you heard yourself and others say " I so wished I had bought that chair/quilt....." because it's almost guarateed to be gone if you go back for it. And if the new purchase doesn't quite work out as you hoped then a friend who is a fellow (but not so frequent) op-shopper may love to take it off your hands........there's an idea - an op-shop swap meet! So these are my purchases this week.


A white wicker chair for the garden, a white and blue enamel colander, some 1960's childrens books, 'bird' pattern fabric, bright coloured zips and buttons and some beautiful embroidery. You can never have too many enamel colanders and pots; hang them in the kitchen, use them for planters in the garden, for picking your fruit/vegies in the garden or for displaying things in the house. Think ecclectic, another good reason to BUY IT. Forget those notions of 'it won't go with....'. You'll find a use or a place for everything, even if it is just in the shed.


I have plans for the books, buttons, zips and embroidery. In fact I went to Vinnies specifically to find these so was very happy with the result.


I would love you to pop back to Baby Boudoir again, bring a cup of tea and see what I have created with this weeks op-shop finds. I'm sorry to say I seem to be having problems with the comments section of the blog, but please feel free to email me any comments whilst I work out how to fix it (especially if you know how to fix it!)....and don't forget to follow me, sign-up over there on the left. Wishing you all happy and successful op-shopping :)