More Charity Shop Bargains for 2018 & beyond!

Miró

A good afternoon in the chazza shops of Otley today. First, (and most expensive find), in the BHF shop was a pair of, as new, Nike Air Max S2S trainers priced at £4.99. I dithered at first but decided to splurge as they are so lightweight they will be great for holiday packing. Now found them selling on Amazon for £62.

Then in the St Gemma's 99p shop I got a pair of M & S sludge green, (one of my fave colours), ankle grazer trousers and a maxi dress in a silky fabric in shades of turquoise, brown and purple. Think I may lop orft the top though and turn it into a midi skirt as the strappy top is a bit too revealing for me :eek:

Then my fave find....in the 20p shop....a Japanese painting on silk, (rather Hokusai stylee), of an abstract woman figure in a conical hat gazing out to a couple of fishing boats. I suspect someone may have purchased it in Japan and brought it back here to have it framed - the frame style and colour is very sympathetic with the painting tho. Now for the downside....the silk painting and the glass are perfectly sound but the mounting board and the frame itself is very grubby and has been horribly bashed about and even had white paint splattered all over it. Dunno if it is restorable but I will have a bash...if not I shall be looking for a new frame in the 20p shop next week!!!

So that's two nice little projects on the go.....really looking forward to the challenges

Towser

Some charity shops give a volunteer discount, or at least you get first dibs on the good stuff.

Do you have to pay for everything or do you get some things for free? Is it really worth volunteering (I really need to cut my annual chazzer spend-it's huge) or should I keep my sparetime for things I need to trawl the chazzers instead?

Tip Re-use shop today:
Peter Storm bag £1
Fishtank ornaments £1
Plastic storage box £1

Hospice shop today:
Boys Superdry Hoody £6.50
John Lewis leather purse £12

luvchocolate

Towser wrote: »

Do you have to pay for everything or do you get some things for free? Is it really worth volunteering (I really need to cut my annual chazzer spend-it's huge) or should I keep my sparetime for things I need to trawl the chazzers instead?

Tip Re-use shop today:
Peter Storm bag £1
Fishtank ornaments £1
Plastic storage box £1

Hospice shop today:
Boys Superdry Hoody £6.50
John Lewis leather purse £12

Of course volunteers pay for their items, or at least we hope they do!!
Donations are given in good faith to raise funds for the charity.
Rent has to be paid just like any other retail premises.

VfM4meplse

Towser wrote: »

Do you have to pay for everything or do you get some things for free? Is it really worth volunteering (I really need to cut my annual chazzer spend-it's huge) or should I keep my sparetime for things I need to trawl the chazzers instead?

Tip Re-use shop today:
Peter Storm bag £1
Fishtank ornaments £1
Plastic storage box £1

Hospice shop today:
Boys Superdry Hoody £6.50
John Lewis leather purse £12

You do seem to get a lot from the chazzer! But I don't get the impression you're miserly.

I bought a BNWT pair of M&S leggings to wear around the house, under trousers etc for £2, and a Per Una work blouse in my size for another £2. It looked huge on the hanger, turned out to be much snugger in real life:o. Plus two smart winter scarves and a pair of fluffy bedsocks for another £2.

Pollycat

Towser wrote: »

Do you have to pay for everything or do you get some things for free? Is it really worth volunteering (I really need to cut my annual chazzer spend-it's huge) or should I keep my sparetime for things I need to trawl the chazzers instead?

luvchocolate wrote: »

Of course volunteers pay for their items, or at least we hope they do!!
Donations are given in good faith to raise funds for the charity.
Rent has to be paid just like any other retail premises.

I agree with luvchocolate
I'd be pretty miffed if the stuff I donated was grabbed by volunteers with no money going to the charity.

Maybe you should rethink your charity shopping habits or reduce your spend in other areas...

Yesterday I bought a pair of Next herringbone pattern leggings, with the intention of wearing them around the house but they fit really nicely so I've down-graded another pair for slobbing and will wear the new pair for going out.

And a Phase Eight top, 100% silk shell with viscose lining.
Not sure it's me, it's very floaty and quite dressy in a base of ivory with black and royal blue abstracts on it.
If you hold it out, it looks like it's made out of a large square. Am I making sense?

It's a bit like this but more ivory than colour.


I think I'll wear it once and see if I get any comments.
I've got a pair of M&S blue leggings with silver sparkles in them which I think will go well.
It's got the tiniest, faintest smudge of make up near the neck - any tips on the best way to tackle this please?

Both were £1.00 each from Air Ambulance.

Miro - your Japanese painting sounds fab. Good luck with the revamping.

dolly84

Pollycat - I really like the shape of that top. Try a bit of fairy on that makeup mark, if it is foundation fairy breaks down the oil in it.

Pollycat

dolly84 wrote: »

Pollycat - I really like the shape of that top. Try a bit of fairy on that makeup mark, if it is foundation fairy breaks down the oil in it.

Thanks, Dolly.
TBH, I had to look quite hard this morning to see the mark anyway but I will try fairy on it.

My

DigForVictory wrote: »

shrewd and lucky man!

has just given it the 'screwed up nose, pursed lips and head shake' verdict.
But it's not the normal style I'd wear so I think that had a lot to do with it.
And - I was wearing scruffy leggings and trainers when I tried it on...:rotfl:
Not a good look, really.

So I'll wear it and see what my lady friends say.
At the very worst, I've donated £1.00 to a very worthy cause.

Miró

Pollycat wrote: »

Miro - your Japanese painting sounds fab. Good luck with the revamping.

:mad::mad::mad:

I spent hours faffing about with it...got all the white paint off the frame and repaired it and touched up the colour with a felt tip pen. Found a new bit of mounting board and cut it to size. Noticed a few age spots, (orange splurges) on the silk and set about cleaning them with warm water and a Q tip but didn't help much. Used some sticky stuff remover to get the marks off left by some tape that was holding the silk to the original mounting board. Started to put it all back together and........crash...the glass slipped and shattered on me wooden floor!!!!! My language shocked the cat Then I thought as I had nothing to lose, (fully expecting to dump the lot), I decided to dunk the whole silk painting in a shallow bowl of water with a bit of Fairy liquid and that worked brilliantly. Fortunately the painted bits didn't run and the background came up a much lighter shade. Water was filthy! So pleased I got a quote to have a new piece of glass cut....7 squids :eek:. Got them down to £3 so picking it up this afty. Thought about buying another larger 20p picture from the 20p shop and cutting the glass myself but thought I may well end up in A & E. Anyhoo the maxi dress to midi skirt conversion went well....thank Gawd:D! Sorry about the long epistle

Called into a couple of local chazza shops yesterday and got a b/n pack of 2 pairs of memory foam shoe insert sole thingies for 50p and a b/n Autograph black leather belt for £3.

Like your top a lot...love a bit of float and waft....and yup, Fairy liquid has many uses!!!!

Pollycat

LOL, Miro.

If I'd dropped some glass on the floor, my cat would have been out of the cat flap and well into the next county before I got chance to open my mouth.

Glad the painting came up well. Any chance of a photo?

Re my top - I think it would probably look fab on you and all the other tall ladies but not so sure on a 'tad under 5 foot gal'.

rosie51

A exercise bike for £10 almost new. Similar on auction site £75 used.