Tuesday 26 April 2011

Thrifty Finds

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and didn't get to sick of chocolate.
As i mentioned in my last post, ive been going round a ton of Op shops while ive been in Australia, ive found some wonderful items, some need a bit of altering (removing shoulder pads, shortening a hemline) but that won't take to long.

My thrifting haul
=
3 bags
2 pairs Levis Jeans
1 pair of high-waisted jean shorts
A vintage jacket
2 blouses
A midi dress
A high-waisted pleated skirt
1 pair of 2mm knitting needles and a stitch holder
1 ball of yarn
A vintage ring box
 The white Glomesh bag is my most expensive op shop purchase at $20. It's an original from the 60s/70s and still has its tag on, it was originally marked up at $30 but that was to expensive for me so i asked if they would accept $20 which they agreed to. I saw quite a few glomesh bags at the vintage fair i went to and in vintage shops but i haven't seen many under $38 and none in such great condition so $20 was a bit of a bargain :)

Camel vinyl snakeskin -$2 Good Sammy's, Joondalup
Black braided-$2 Good Sammy's, Mandurah
Vintage Glomesh bag - $20 Zoila's, Mandurah

Levi's
587s (Top pair) - $10 Salvo's, Gateways
Signature straight leg - $8 Salvo's, Ocean Keys
I love the print on this dress it looks like buttons but the holes make up flowers, it's a size too big but it's got a corset style tie on the back so i can adjust it to fit properly and the gathering it creates looks really pretty. I'm not a fan of shoulder pads so shall be removing them and also want to take up the hem to make it a knee length dress as the midi style dosen't really suit me. It was originally marked up at $15 but i wanted to purchase the polka dot blouse ($10) as well, so i asked if the lady would accept $20 for both which she agreed to as i had helped her size a couple of kids handknitted jumpers that had been donated. She even offered me a job and we had a short conversation about the royal wedding.

Button print midi dress -$10 Red Cross, Mandurah
Again I'll be removing the shoulder pads from this jacket as well as the dress, i rolled up the sleeves to make it a bit more modern and im planning on replacing the buttons with some gold ones from the 1960s that i picked up at a vintage fair.
Plaid blazer -$6 Salvo's, Osbourne Park

High-waisted jean shorts - $1 Zoila's, Mandurah
Grey blouse - $5 Salvo's, Wangara
Black polka dot blouse -$10 Red Cross, Mandurah
High-waisted pleated skirt - $3 Zoila's, Mandurah
Pair of 2mm knitting needles and a stitch holder -$2 Good Sammy's, Mandurah
1 ball of yarn-$1 Salvo's, Gateways
Vintage ring box- free :) Good Sammy's, Mandurah

While I've been here i've found it much easier to haggle with people over the prices of items and it's surprisingly easy, i think most of the shops expect it here, I think it would be a bit frowned upon in the UK. For example my dad was buying an item in a department store, it was in perfect condition, not faulty in any way and he managed to get 15% off the price, just by asking if they could reduce it!!
Another example was today when i went to a vintage shop in Fremantle, i found a gorgeous 80s dress on the sale rail for $25 (will show in my next post), i tried it on and noticed the seam was coming apart slightly, it was easily repairable so i asked if she would drop the price to $20, not only did she say yes but she repaired the dress for me there and then!
I must have saved quite a few dollars just by asking if stores would reduce the price, even if its just $3 or $5 a time, every cent counts :)

I'm off to do some more thrifting tomorrow at one of the biggest op shops near Perth (and all the ones surrounding it). Can't wait!

Ttyl
Jennifer x

P.S. Not sure how I'm going to fit everything in my case when i fly home on Saturday :-s

Monday 18 April 2011

Australia!

I didnt post last Sunday (10th) as i was on my way to Perth, Australia, just a short 17hours on planes, I don't even mean that in a bad way, I love to fly and ive never found the food to be bad, the second plane was pretty much empty so I could actually spread out and sleep across 2 seats and have a little extra leg room.
Its surprisingly hot where i am and we've only had two showers and one was at night so not bad weather like I was expecting after all (last year it poured down with rain and we only had 3 hot days out of the two weeks I was here)


On tuesday i went to Herdsman Lake, it was a warm day and the views were lovely.

Slightly worrying seeing a sign like this right next to a kids playarea :-s
On wednesday we went to Bells Rapids in Swan Valley, it was such a dry summer and its hardly rained so the whole river had dried up, it just seemed like a rocky desert, it was boiling hot that day but we had a picnic and the dog enjoyed running round and exploring.
 
I loved this tree, all its roots were above the ground and i just loved the look of it against the bright blue sky in this photo.



A very small lizard who didnt want to have his picture taken, i had to lean over the edge of the bridge to take this lol.
The rest of the time I've done a lot of shopping and dragged my dad round a ton of Op shops (australian charity shops) they are so big compared to the English ones they're more like the American thrift stores.

Will add some pics in my next post of the treasures I've found :)
Hope everyone had a good weekend
Ttyl
Jennifer x

Song Monday??

My posts are a bit mixed up but here are some songs i have discovered this week that I am loving :)



I recommended this to a friend saying it sounded like a remixed version of Vampire Weekend, well its no wonder as it turns out the band is a side project of VWs lead singer which i didn't know :-s



This song is the free download of the week on itunes at the moment, its so catchy and sounds so summery.



I'm in love with this song!! It's my song for the summer, I don't think my life would be the same without it, everytime I hear it I start dancing (even if it is 4 in the morning!) It's so catchy, I highly recommend downloading it :)

Ttyl
Jennifer x