Let Thrift shopping thrive in 25!

Rosa_Damascena

It was a glorious day in town yesterday and I couldn't resist testing my ability to withstand the delights of the chazzer by stepping into the Mind store in Camden. I was seriously tempted by the sleeved full collection of Roald Dahl's "Tales of The Unexpected" in a single tome but that changed as soon as I saw the price: £45 (faints).





I understand from a Google search that it is a rare copy - but it was actually re-printed in 2011.

Miró

£45!!!  Blimey 

Our three local car boot sales are now in full swing, soooooo, managed to find a picture frame the perfect size for the previously purchased flower painting for £2.  Fits perfectly but *sigh* I’m not sure about it.  Seems to have sucked some of the vibrancy from the picture somehow.  Would love to know what others think?  The frame is wood coated in dark grey plastic, (I think), so would be hard to paint.  Just not sure…..

Rosa_Damascena

@Miró - the painting has dark and cool tones and whilst I like the unfussy nature of the frame. its colour draws your attention straight to the dense middle. If you have time, why not rough the plastic on the frame up with a bit of sandpaper and paint over it in silver? even if it is not block colour, it will help the lupins stand out.

Just a suggestion - others feel free to disagree!

Wednesday2000

Floss said:

Wednesday2000 said:

My schoolfriend's uncle was in Squeeze.

Was, or still is...? I've seen them quite a few times and in fact saw them twice on their most recent UK tour last year.

I'm not sure. I haven't seen her in about 20 years!

Miró

Rosa_Damascena said:

@Miró - the painting has dark and cool tones and whilst I like the unfussy nature of the frame. its colour draws your attention straight to the dense middle. If you have time, why not rough the plastic on the frame up with a bit of sandpaper and paint over it in silver? even if it is not block colour, it will help the lupins stand out.

Just a suggestion - others feel free to disagree!

Thanks, I was thinking along similar lines….painting it silver then distressing it a bit so the frame isn’t quite so stark!

@Magpie 100. Got my third batch on the go today, think I’m addicted now.  Still haven’t got my hands on the black lentils tho….may have to resort to bloomin’ Amazon *boo hiss* in the end. Now realised how easy it is to adjust the flavour…too gingery…bung in a few squirts of tomato puree and garlic paste and hubble bubble a bit longer….fab!  Now my mission is to actually visit an actual Dishoom’s….nearest is Manchester I believe 😟

Today’s car boot goodies black velvet M & $ trousers 50p, (sadly didn’t realise they were short fitting so will bung ‘em on Vinted) and an M & S blouse also 50p, 

Potternerd

This weeks goodies:
M and S black jumpsuit with silver beaded trim down arms and legs £6
Fossil black shoulder bag £4.50. No Fossil key and it needs a small repair to the stitching, but still a bargain IMHO.
Tommy Hilfiger denim shirt dress £10
Adidas pale blue Gazelles in VGC £14

goldfinches

Just popping my head round the door in a rush to say I spotted this interesting note at the end of a Guardian newsletter article written by the person who deals with donating the items they've consumer tested to various charities.

 "Oh, and if you need a blender, check out the St Christopher’s shop in Crystal Palace."

Thought I'd just quickly post it here in case anyone is nearby. I'll be back later on to reply to all your messages and add my latest finds once I've dealt with the bins, recycling, food waste and so on.

Wednesday2000

^I was thinking of going to Crystal Palace next month as it happens. I used to live in south London.

I had a massage appointment near the St Vincent's shop in Westcliff so I popped in. I wasn't expecting anything new as I was there a few days ago, but there was a maxi dress with a £45 tag for £6 and two scented candles that I picked up in there.🙂

Brie

Rosa_Damascena said:

@Miró - the painting has dark and cool tones and whilst I like the unfussy nature of the frame. its colour draws your attention straight to the dense middle. If you have time, why not rough the plastic on the frame up with a bit of sandpaper and paint over it in silver? even if it is not block colour, it will help the lupins stand out.

Just a suggestion - others feel free to disagree!

I know there's lots of times a simple frame works well but I don't think it does in this case.  I'd suggest something bigger by at least 2 inches on each side with a matt in a pale pink or green shade.  Then a black frame will be fine.

edited to add - I don't know how big the picture is but I add matts to mine cheaply using colour construction paper from hobbycraft - £2 for an A3 pad of 30 sheets of assorted colours.

goldfinches

Apologies to everyone on this thread for the wall of text, I've been frantically busy this week and wanting to be outside as much as possible so I have been putting off posting my replies and latest finds. 

@cbsexec - ouch, those are extortionate prices even if the furniture is brand new, I hope wiser heads prevail in the coming weeks to save you the upheaval of moving. Good to hear you found some more reasonably priced things but any chance of a photo for us to admire?

@DigForVictory - hope you had a nice Mother's Day and that the currant bush isn't sulking after being repotted.

@Miró - the shops around here still accept both cds and dvds and I'm having a lovely time snapping up all the things I missed the first time around so I'm sure your local ones will be thrilled to receive your bag full. I intended to make the dal this weekend but decided to postpone it to make the most of the good weather which shows no sign of changing yet but I'll report back when I do get round to it. I haven't tried the Dubai choc myself partly because I don't care for chocolate and nuts together and partly because I haven't seen any on the shelves yet.

@amj714 - thankyou, I expect I looked a bit odd what with the walking stick poking out of the top of one of my panniers and all but I managed.

@Rosa_Damascena - I'm really enjoying the Squeeze songs, the lyrics are so clever. The Queen album is dreadfully poignant listening, Freddie Mercury had such a wonderful voice. I like to think that he and Aretha Franklin are singing Respect together now.

@Wednesday2000 - very impressed by your connections, I'm really enjoying singing along to the album when I'm doing the washing up. Any chance of a photo of your finds for us all to see?

@Rosa_Damascena - Wow, that's a price and a half isn't it! If it's a rare copy wouldn't they do better to put it on the website where more collectors could find it? 

@Miró - I agree the frame is wrong but can't see how to change it to make it better IYSWIM. You've lost some of the purple lupins/delphiniums on the right hand side which really seems to make a difference to the overall composition to me. Could you try holding a series of different coloured materials behind the painting and seeing what effect the colours have?
There is a Dishoom at home Bacon Naan Roll Kit which I've heard good things about if you can't get to Manchester.
Pity about the trousers; very easy to miss that sort of thing I find but I do like the blouse, perfect for spring.

@Potternerd - I'm very envious of your Adidas, I never find such pristine examples.

I had to pop up to the chemist last week so on the way back treated myself to a browse in the Oxfam bookshop and bought these three books for a grand total of £6.50.



Then on Saturday I dropped into my favourite BHF shop and pounced on an unbranded but sturdy non-stick 9" x 13" baking tin, £2,  a Quechua 10 litre daysack £7.50, a rechargeable scrubbing brush £5, and a pair of Phase8 trousers which have since gone back due to not fitting despite being my size on the label!



Sorry about the massive data dump and hope you all managed to stay awake!