Girls' Own Big Weekend

It's been a big, busy weekend for VB and I. Yes, we're totally rockin' out here in the suburbs, the weather has suddenly improved this week, bringing with it a fresh surge of energy for all sorts of activities.

Since my 6-degree morning a couple of weeks ago, the heater has now been packed away, winter stock has been pulled from the racks and put into storage and my little sunroom, so cosy to inhabit during winter daytimes, is now almost unbearable after 9am and will continue to be so for the next 8 months.

Saturday morning saw a fair spot of vintage treasure hunting- and finding!

Above and below, just some of what I bought, minus the sunnies obvs.

My most exciting find was an old razor strop (on the basket behind the phone), they're not worth a lot but the lady I bought it from said it belonged to her father who had been a barber, and it was his all-time favourite.

With VB and Lisa Enright, photo by The Stitchin' Bitch

Still rockin' on Saturday night, we went to some far-off 'burbs for a (adults) roller skating birthday party. The old-style timber rink was awesome, to my mind so much better than the modern concrete equivalents. This was only VBs second time skating and she absolutely loves it, even insisting on entering the skating limbo comp, I wish I had a photo of us going under the bar as apparently she looked hilarious.

And yes, that *is* a chenille bedspread I'm wearing on my bum! I'll have to show this outfit properly later, it's a bit mental but then that's the whole point isn't it.

Painting started off our Sunday, VB 'helps' a lot as you can see, note the vegemite toast on the lawn!

Midday saw us run around the corner to a local school fete, I mostly went to meet the principal as I'm looking to send VB there next year (can you believe she's nearly 5?!) but VB took full advantage of the massive slide, so big you can hardly see her at the top there.

Ah yes, here she is, not scared at all, and still in the dress from last night. They tell me it's called 'choosing your battles wisely'.

Excuse the grainy iphone pics, but we had a lucky score with clothing on Friday, what we bought was hanging over the rack on the left, so it was time to spend a few hours hanging, pricing, steaming and properly sorting clothing stock, especially as the Brisbane Vintage Fashion Fair (our biggest) is coming up the weekend after next.

 The other side of the stockroom was equally busy!

As you can see, VB came home with several bags full of treats from the fete, the main prize to my mind being the fuzzy felts, I had several as a child and absolutely loved them. And yes, this is all tidy now.

Tired but happy

See you soon!

Reasons For Not Blogging, Part One

Was it Ian Dury who did that song, 'reasons to be cheerful, part one' ??

It's one I always remember, and have always liked. Am I the only person who thinks of an old song that kinda matches the circumstances of their life on any given day??

Regardless, it's Ian Dury who's hitting the high note for me this week.

I'm still beavering away on the 'secret project', (which, by the way, will be revealed in a few days' time). Until then, have a wee look -and maybe groan?- at the state of things and the sheer amount of vintage stuff under my house.

It's not often that I show pics like this, but I think once you've seen them you'll understand my relative absence.

My work table, yes, there's only just enough space for the stock book on one end. Katherine Boathouse, stop ya sniggering!!

VB of course thinks it's funny, the little bugger

Can you spot any treasures??

All will be revealed soon chicks, so stay tuned!!

How-To...Do Shabby Furniture

There are lots of ways to create the shabby look. These are ideal projects for the beginner, as mistakes are fairly easy to hide and imperfections are part of the look. This is one of the furniture projects I've been working on this past week, and is typical of the kind of shabby look that my projects end up with.

What you have to work with and the look you're aiming for can make a vast difference to the final outcome.


We're not talking 'take any new-ish piece paint it white and sand off the corners' here. Nuh-uh! I want some seriously old crusty stuff that I can really get my teeth (or sander) into and give it an industrial upcycled look, rather than a slave-to-the-trend-of-everything-white look.

I want anything in our shop to look like it's come from a 1940s garden shed, not a Rachel Ashwell book!

This 1930s or 40s kitchen chair is ideal for a shabby project; not too big, not too difficult, and not a problem if I were to muck it all up as it won't be an expensive item.

First, go hard with a coarse sand. Always sand along the grain of the wood and don't bash the edges, you'll fix them later so don't worry if you can't get in to every corner. I didn't bother with any cleaning first as it will be done later.

Better already, and thanks to the badly peeling paint, it didn't take long.

Take a screwdriver and clean out all the crusty stuff along the grooves. This chair had been under an old house for years so it was pretty bad.

Next, sand along the joins and edges by hand. Boring, but vital!

Sanding again, this time with a fine grade paper. You might notice my finishing sander here...no, I'm not pedantic, this is a lightweight sander which is great if you're a small girly like me as it's much easier to handle than a full-size model, so I use it for nearly everything.

Once the sanding is all done, wipe the chair over with a damp cloth. You may also need to brush dust away with an old hairbrush or similar if there are any little grooves for it to get stuck in.

Once the chair is completely dry, I run my bare hand all over to make sure I haven't missed any rough bits.

Give a coat or two of estapol, paying particular attention to the edges, joins and grooves. This gives a nice smooth finish, seals the timber and lifts the colour.

The finished product.

How-To...Remove Icky Vintage Sticky Price Tags

See this pretty little lucite case?? A bad case of sticky price tag residue.

If you buy lots of vintage things like I do, I daresay you've had this problem too.

Here's the quick and easy way to solve it using just a couple of items you already have at home.

No matter what I did, this one wouldn't come off easily, and who wants to spend an hour cleaning something they've just bought, right?

Take some cotton buds and metho (white spirit)...

I always pour a bit into the upturned lid for ease of use.

Simply dip the cotton bud into the metho, and wipe the sticky stuff off.

Yes, it's that easy!!

As long as you're quick and gentle, this is safe to use on lots of different surfaces, including glass, leather, laminate, metal and all sorts of plastics.