Darn It! Op-Shop Show-Off; January 21st, 2014

Haberdashery. Great vintage word, great vintage stuff. Notions, lisle. Also lovely words. Ahh.

She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain :Op-Shop Show-Off: October 8th, 2013

Three little words that make me go weak at the knees. "Rotary Book Sale". Can you guess who's is who's?!

p.s Excuse the tardiness, wrangling two sick children, you know how it is.



“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.” 
― Louisa May Alcott, Work: A Story of Experience


*p.s Amy just advised me of a art show happening soon at the at The Wairarapa Museum of Art and History, in Masterton in which Anne Taylor explores op-shopping, recycling and consumerism. It looks fantastic, I only wish I could get there. Maybe you can?

Bottled-Up: Op-Shop Show-Off: Oct 1st, 2013.

We went to swap a New World mini missing from our collection today, amongst other keep-the-kids-entertained school holiday larks. As we drove home I spotted the long forgotten Save the Children op-shop in Kaiapoi and wistfully asked Claud if we could go in. Probably sensing a buy-me-stuff opportunity she agreed with alacrity. I was taken with this lady as soon as I set foot in the door, whilst Claud took to a pair of ex-Burger King bambi deely-boppers. Fin cooed and gurgled, charming the elderly shop assistants who swarmed him.

Isn't she a funny old thing! She has appeal similar to that of a kokeshi; just a suggestion of an ear and a nose and no mouth, rendering her somewhat inscrutable. Her rather mod-darlek dress appealed too, and then I registered that she was a bottle, slip-cast, and somehow fathomed that she poured through her eyes-which thrilled me! Of course when I inspected her properly I saw the head is in fact the lid and the body the bottle, separated by a cork. Only slightly deflated, I gave it a good sniff but there was no lingering smell to give me a clue as to it's original bottled purpose.

So here she is, in her virgin, just found, un-marked and unresearched state. I would love to hear your theories as to where she is from, what she is for etc. before I set forth to try to identify her...


Or, of course, you could just show-off in the usual fashion!

A Snip? : Op-Shop Show-Off: September 24th, 2013

I've seen these variously described as bonsai tree pruners, needlework scissors, vintage twine snippers and as "... ideal for all kinds of historic re-enactment scenarios". However, despite their ye olde look these Spear brand scissors are modern, cheap and of the Made in China variety. I almost baulked at the price tag ($5, Salvation Army) but was won over by their handsome looks, lineage notwithstanding; and their utility-they are very sharp. I, I shall call them present string snips.



What would you use them for?

Pretty as a Picture: Op-Shop Show-Off; September 10th, 2013

I know most people participating in the Portrait Project  are keen on turning their pictures into books of the snapfish kind, and I'm not ruling it out for the grandparents, but not content with looking at our dear wee darlings grubby faces all day long we are keen to get these photos up and around the house too, and have been on a serious photo frame hunt. A serious but unyielding photo frame hunt. The op-shops are full of second hand versions of the expensive-yet-cheap-looking photo frames you get in photography shops, and photography shops the unblemished version.

Perseverance paid off in the end though as this absolute beauty turned up in a box of old picture frames at Rangiora Sales (known to locals as Rangiora Auctions, though it hasn't run auctions for half a century), a place well worth a visit if your in the area and have a half day to spare, it runs the gamut from spare parts to antiques. Wear warm clothing though, it's always absolutely freezing in there, even in midsummer.

Leather backed (I've yet to identify the leather, it looks like snake skin) and made of oak, decorated with a art nouveaux style gilt-metal flora, it was perhaps a Canterbury School of Art, arts and crafts era student project. I think it suits this favourite photograph of Claudine so well, not to mention suiting our Arts and Crafts bungalow, and is now in pride of place on the mantelpiece. If you are at all interested in that era or style, Simplicity and Splendour, The Arts and Crafts Movement in New Zealand, by Ann Calhoun will be in your local library if you are in New Zealand and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Ok, so one down, only another 103 to go!



Seriously though, any tips on where to find good looking photo frames so I can have a corresponding photograph of Findlay on the other side of the mantel would be most welcome.



If you have a second hand lifestyle related post you'd like to link up here, please do, we'd love to read it  x

Viking Man: Op-Shop-Show-Off: August 27th, 2013

Teak, rabbit fur and hemp rope. Made in Denmark, mid-century. I can find out nothing else out about this unmarked little Viking warrior I picked up at Riccarton Market for $3, other than that his country-men are very well travelled. But I don't need to, he is going straight to the little boys room (which is still swimming underneath a tide of stuff-to-be-let-go-of). Not much progress on that front as the little boy in question has been putting us through our paces on the sleep front, rendering any activity other than moaning about how tired we are irrelevant. Hence the late post today, totes forgot!

Right, I'm off for more coffee before he wakes again! Do link up anything relating to second hand living and I shall happily prop up my eyelids with matchsticks and enjoy perusing x

I am a girl in a material world:Op-Shop Show-Off :Tuesday August 6th, 2013

Retro Linen teatowel, $8 Trademe.  To be transformed into a Martha Stewart Linen Tea Towel Sun dress for Claud at some point in the not too distant future (approx. before next summer is over).

An off-cut of sheepskin, 50c, Rangiora Charity Barn.  To be transformed into a Sarai Mitnik Faux Fur Collar (featured in Mollie Makes Magazine, way back) for Claud at some point in the distant future (before next winter is over?).

Navy wool blankets; $22. Trademe. The last of the colours I needed for my Hudson Bay Point Braided Rug Project (TBC sometime in the next decade?).




Op-Shops. Making making affordable for all.


Have you bought anything second hand for making or creating purposes lately? Do tell!

The Hewn Spoon. Op-Shop Show-Off: 30th July, 2013

This flat bottomed wooden spoon was thrown in when we bought pottery from an elderly local craftswoman/ex-craft gallery owner. She suggested it was made by Levi Borgstrom, but its not. It's teak I think, not a local timber, and it's rustic with a capital R.  It's clearly hand hewn, somewhat inexpertly too as there is a random chisel scrape in the bowl of the spoon, and the tail is just unevenly hacked off. What it does share with a Levi Borgstrom (we're into treen and have a few) is it's ergonomic comfort in hand. The handle still feels like a branch rather than dowel.

The main point of difference from a Borgstrom though is that I'm actually allowed to use this one! The husband lives in fear of dying before me. Not because you know, I'd be lost without him, or he'd have a shorter life or anything, he just worries I'd feed the cat out of the Hamada and stir my broths with the Borgstroms. (I will too, I hate fetishising craft). In the meantime this wannabe is perfect for scrapping off all those congealed, slightly burned bits in the bottom of a pan after a roast which taste so good or make gravy, and hack you off when it comes to pan scrubbing hours later.

I have several well used wooden spoons in my kitchen, including one that always smells of curry, but I could never contemplate buying a used one though my local salvos stocks them. Ick and tut. Surely it's unhygienic?! Except, perhaps if it was old/carved then I might scald it before I used it? Not that I ever scald any of mine. Also, a sycamore chopping board is high on my op-shop wish list and I wouldn't mind if that was obviously used either, just because I'm just so desperate for one. And I probably wouldn't even bother scalding that. No. Logic.

So, I'm interested to know, is there anything you just couldn't contemplate buying second hand, logically or illogically, or is it all fair game?

At which juncture I'll just mention one of the highlights of our honeymoonal trip to Paris; the obligatory flea market jaunt. Stop romanticising about pre-loved Hermes scarves and chipped stoneware jugs right now and instead imagine...a second hand g-string stall (true story).




As always, I'd LOVE it if you linked up any second hand shopping related posts x

Agee with me? Op-Shop Show-Off; July 23rd, 2013

Ah, the Agee jar. Not just for preserves? How do you use yours?

Le Moulinette de la rogue: Op-Shop Show-Off July 16th, 2013

 I found my handwritten recipe notes from the Italian cooking class I took years ago as I unpacked another box of household effects post earthquake repairs a few weeks ago.  Cat's heirloom cookbook came to mind as I laughed at the memories evoked by the scrawled entries, missing ingredients and stains (we were encouraged to drink red wine steadily through every class. heh).

It's a testament to the brilliance of the course and my love for Italian food that I've retained all but one of the dishes we were taught in our current family eating repertoire. Gnocchi was my nemesis. Initially I embarrassed myself in front of the class by being repeatedly incapable of picking up the skill of the fork wrist flick necessary to shape the little buggers. Undeterred, privately I attempted to make gnocchi again.  Close your eyes and imagine chewing a slug cum one of those escape-from-you-hand-toys and you then know how that turned out. 

That issue was the lack of a potato ricer, but ever the grinch I just couldn't bring myself to spend $50 on a single use cupboard cluttering gadget and so since I've tried pretended gnocchi doesn't exist. Which is quite hard for a pasta and potato addict. I get really excited when I see it on a menu, especially when it's paired with sage and I vow to revisit it often. Then I go to the deli, prevaricate over the $50 potato ricer and put it back again... until next time. 

A few weeks ago I had a lightbulb moment as I was reading the deeply wonderful Rachel Eats. An old mouli: of course! I hunted, and held out for one with the three blades so it could multi-task. Trademe once again came up with the goods. For half the price of a new potato ricer I couldn't press "Buy-Now" fast enough.

The Mouli was invented in 1932 by Frenchman Jean Mantelet who was dissatisfied with his wife's lumpy mash! It proved immensely popular and lucrative and Mantelet's company morphed into Moulinex. My mother still calls a food processor a "Moulinex" in the same way she still calls a vacuum cleaner a "Hoover"; they were and remain big in Europe.

So there I was this morning, full of good intention: crack knuckles, crack gnocchi. Photo gnocchi,  eat gnocchi. Do foodie linky with Ange; Treading Gently... Linky with Hettie, and then Op-Shop Show-Off the hell out of my mouli baby. I fed in the first steamed potato and the mouli handle promptly disintegrated in my hand. Sigh. After I made potato cakes, scarfed potato cakes etc I emailed the seller.




Hi there,
I just used the mouli this morning for the first time and unfortunately the plastic turning knob just disintegrated in my hand. I've attached a photo so you can see what i mean.
When my husband gets home i'll see if there is anyway he could make/attach a new handle-i've been looking for a mini mouli with three disks for ages so id prefer to fix it if i can; but in case we cant could you let me know how to go about returning it to you/obtaining a refund.
Thanks,
Max Bennett


and he replied

Hi Max

Sorry to hear that you have broken the handle.

We used this item for over a year and never broke it and you have managed to in very short time!. Seriously I cannot be held responsible for the way in which you used it so unfortunately there will be no refund.

There is a way that the handle can be fixed:

Get a piece of hose clear black whatever that is slightly bigger or less than the handle top, heat it and force it over the flange.

Alternatively a large wooden ball from a craft shop, redrill it out and slip it over the handle end loosely. It could be held with a locking clip of some sort if a more permanent solution was required.

Sorry that is the best advice I can give.

Kind Regards

James

Sigh.
Here is the reply I want to make:-

Ah salesman of shoddy goods, your are also a peddler of shoddy advice. Husband says neither of these methods will work. But I am impressed with the surprising detailed thought you've afforded this issue. Must have been quite hard without an actual mouli in front of you. A cynic might think you gave this some forethought and reached the same conclusion my husband did, but then decided to sell it rather than put it in the bin where it belongs. I am that cynic.

ps. Your lying about the kind regards too



I'd also quite like to add a bit in about 'fit for purpose', 'consumer guarantees act', 'give me my money back you toad' etc but according to the Trademe site there is no comeback on private seller sales such as these. I did not know that, did you?

I haven't decided yet whether I shall vent with a further email as outlined above, or just let it go like a fart; it stink but I'll quickly forget it,  so if you have any suggestions for additions to my draft email, or any op-shop fizzles of your own to share please feel free to make me laugh!



Next time gnocchi, I'll get ya, next time  *shakes fist*

Handy Scandi Tablecloth:Op-Shop Show-Off:Tuesday July 9th, 2013

I'd been very fixated on the vintage Danish tablecloths Danish blogger Birgitte sells on Etsy.

Then I think I found one. Rangiora Charity Barn, $2. YES!

Things that shriek "YES!" No ironing necessary; looks and feels like thin woven wool; good looks.

Things that say "nah, but I love it anyways". It's a long, long way from home!

It would be kicking a serendipitous gift horse in the mouth to mention that I'm a little disappointed it's too small for my dining table so instead I'll say I'm thinking maybe oversized scarf/wrap as it's just too lovely for relegation to my pet textiles cupboard.



*It was so brilliant to see so many of you linking in last week with some class finds. Hope you've had as fortunate a week and can link in again x

A Bit Candle Lit. Op-Shop Show-Off: Tuesday July 2nd, 2013

Candlestick, vase, ornament? However you like it, I like this very much. Art Nouveau-esq in colour and form (albeit a little on the chunky side) it suits our little Arts and Crafts era house down to the ground, and has come in handy for the candlelit dinners we have daily throughout winter.

Regardless of it's beauty and utility though, I can't go past anything with a makers mark I don't know. I was especially curious as this one has such a "HELLO NOTICE ME" makers mark, like an (American as it turns out!) celebrity desperate to be identified. It's rather scribbled nature is quite at odds with the grace of the slip-cast form, or perhaps I'm too used to kiwi ceramics with their tiny, tidy impressed potters stamps?

Ok, so a doddle to identify. Van Briggle pottery, Colorado Springs. But hard to date, somewhere between 1940 and the present day; the pottery continues to churn out reproductions of its artist founders original Arts and Crafts era works.

Being of an over-ordered disposition (I find it hard to think of candlestick in anything but pairs) I'm contemplating getting it a matchy mate . Happily this shouldn't be too difficult as they appear to be two-a-penny on Ebay!


Hope your as delighted with your op-shop finds this week. Do link up if you blogged anything secondhand related, we'd all love to come over and take a peek x

a little (more) iittala. Op-Shop Show-Off:18th June, 2013.

iittala is popping up all over the place it seems, and happily Rangiora is no exception to this hopefully enduring trend. These Tsaikka two glasses turned up in the salvos 'special-stuff-we're-going-to-overcharge-you-for cabinet' ($10) just this week. Designed by Timo Sarpaneva in 1957 for iitala, Finland, these tea glasses are still sold by the company today. Perhaps mine are modern, possibly they are older; I only wish I had a moment to try to date the box (the wee fella is teething). Either way they scream "UNWANTED WEDDING PRESENT"!
I have to admit I bought them in a "ooh, cool, ittala" frame of mind, rather than a "what am i going to use them for really" frame of mind, and it didn't take long for me to kinda un-want them too.  I mean, I'm that person who whines every time a cafe hot chocolate comes in a glass (it's winter for eff's sake, I want my drink to stay warm: and I'd quite like to be able to pick it up too thanks).
The other thing is the handles. Now I'm not sure what the etiquette is on criticising a design classic but, well sod it. Firstly, they lack elegance. The shapley glass and it's filigree holder: all loveliness. The handle: apparently jimmied together by a farmer from number eight wire. And yet, completely contradictorily they induce elegance. In that they force one to stick out ones little pinkie when sipping from them. For which reason Terry totally refuses to drink from them, preferring to sup not sip.
So if i'm not keen and he's not keen, then what to do?
Would it be complete sacrilege to snip of the offending handles with wire cutters to make a pair of classy flower vases instead do you think? Let me know in the comments.

And do let me know if you've ventured into second hand land yourself this week; and if you blogged it do link in too x

Linen Love. Op-Shop Show-Off:July 18th, 2013.

I like my kitchenalia country-style and I have been hankering after more of these stiff old linen tea towels since I found my first last year. They never come up in the op-shops I frequent so I finally bit the bullet and saved 'linen tea towel' as a search on Trade Me, New Zealand's answer to Ebay. Whilst not as cheap as I would have liked ($17, plus p&p) they are exactly what I like, so were therefore worth the extra expense. 
We used them when we made farfalle on Sunday, whilst it rained and rained and the drive flooded, and then the street. I fed and caught the pasta strips, Claud cranked. Then we pinched and pressed to make bow ties butterfly shapes which we ordered in neat lines, practicing counting. The linen spirits away moisture from the surface of fresh pasta preventing them sticking together when you gather them up to throw in the steaming pan.  
The plus-sized model of the tea towel world, they also make a rustic-chic table runner, polish glasses beautifully and make for excellent, post-cooking child butterfly wings.


How do you like your kitchen gear? Shiny and sleek or shabby chic?

Have you posted about your second hand shopping antics lately?

Do share if you did so we can all come and ooh and ahh! Just click on the linky below...

In the deep Midwinter. Op-Shop Show-Off: May 21st 2013.

I have a what I believe is known as a harlequin set of kitchen mugs; aka mismatched, some of them op-shopped, some of them new. I swooped on this one with glee. A little worn, but still rather fetching in a 50's manner, it's my first Midwinter. 
I had no idea the range of Midwinter pottery was so vast. I've narrowed this down to the 'Fine' shape and 'Sienna' design, from this Midwinter pottery identification guide, as designed by Jesse Tait: about whom it was said, "..The work she made as chief designer of Midwinter Pottery was characteristic of its time: cheerily and wittily modernist, exuberantly abstract and imbued with the forward-looking visual style of the Festival of Britain".
This particular mug may have been a sample or a second. It has the number 14 stamped on the bottom in tiny green lettering and has what appears to be a cracked handle which has been professionally reglazed and refired.


So tell me about you. Did anything interesting find it's way home with you from the oppy this week?

are you an Op-Shop Show-Off? 

or more modest about your superior second hand shopping abilities? 

do you like to linky?

it’s charitable, green, cheap, exciting, fun, nostalgia inducing, potentially lucrative and often just plain necessary. whatever your reason for second hand shopping we’d love it if you joined us on Tuesdays here at blackbirdhasspoken.blogspot.com for Op-Shop Show-Off, a linky open to all, all week, to link up a blog post about any aspect of your second-hand shopping life. tell us your op-shopping philosophy, or divulge your secret hunting techniques. let us know about your wants, or skite (English translation= “show-off “) about your amazing finds. review the best op-shopping spots in your town, or request or give information on your fascinating finds, you’ll always be talking to an appreciative audience here.

 How to link up?
1. post your second hand shopping related blog post.

2. link to Op-Shop Show-Off in your blog post, so your blog readers can come over and peruse or post in the linky too.

 3. scroll to the bottom of my latest Tuesday Op-Shop Show-Off post and click on the linky tool, then follow the three easy steps.

 4. don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know you linked up.

 5. have a look at some of the other linkers posts/blogs, they're all people after your own heart!

 6. grab the Op-Shop Show-Off Button from my sidebar to decorate yours (paste the code into a HTML gadget under the 'add a gadget' part of the layout section in blogger and save).

the ultima op-shop find. Op-Shop Show-Off; May 14th, 2013.

I have mentioned before my husbands op-shopping prowess. he's totally on form at the moment and found these classy glasses in his lunch hour yesterday. 5 hand blown iitalia (Finland) Ultima Thule glasses, designed by Tapio Wirkkala, according to my 70's decorative arts book. 50c each. so cool ice is not necessary!
apparently these come in different sizes but this is the only size i've ever come across-we have a singleton i found eons ago. terry is overjoyed at this significant addition to his drinks cabinet collection.

hurraa! (Finish for 'cheers'), and hurrah too!!!

are you an Op-Shop Show-Off? 

or more modest about your superior second hand shopping abilities? 

do you like to linky?

it’s charitable, green, cheap, exciting, fun, nostalgia inducing, potentially lucrative and often just plain necessary. whatever your reason for second hand shopping we’d love it if you joined us on Tuesdays here at blackbirdhasspoken.blogspot.com for Op-Shop Show-Off, a linky open to all, all week, to link up a blog post about any aspect of your second-hand shopping life. tell us your op-shopping philosophy, or divulge your secret hunting techniques. let us know about your wants, or skite (English translation= “show-off “) about your amazing finds. review the best op-shopping spots in your town, or request or give information on your fascinating finds, you’ll always be talking to an appreciative audience here.

 How to link up?

1. post your second hand shopping related blog post.

2. link to Op-Shop Show-Off in your blog post, so your blog readers can come over and peruse or post in the linky too.

 3. scroll to the bottom of my latest Tuesday Op-Shop Show-Off post and click on the linky tool, then follow the three easy steps.

 4. don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know you linked up.

 5. have a look at some of the other linkers posts/blogs, they're all people after your own heart!

 6. grab the Op-Shop Show-Off Button from my sidebar to decorate yours (paste the code into a HTML gadget under the 'add a gadget' part of the layout section in blogger and save).

with a rebel yell, she cried more, more, more. Op-Shop Show-Off:May 7th, 2013

my further finds from last weeks riccarton market jaunt included these colourful little numbers to add to my crown lynn colour glaze collection. yes, plates! at long, long last. i love that happy-hoppy-skippy feeling you get when you score something to add to a collection.  

 whilst on the subject of collections i should mention that kiwi collectormaniac Linda the Op-Shop Mama has started up Collection Selection, a collections linky, the spot to find out the fascinating what's and why's of people's collections, including some of mine. 

get thee there (and here!) and show us your stuffs people!





ps. song title post titles. fist pump!

are you an Op-Shop Show-Off? or more modest about your superior second hand shopping abilities? 

do you like to linky?

it’s charitable, green, cheap, exciting, fun, nostalgia inducing, potentially lucrative and often just plain necessary. whatever your reason for second hand shopping we’d love it if you joined us on Tuesdays here at blackbirdhasspoken.blogspot.com for Op-Shop Show-Off, a linky open to all, all week, to link up a blog post about any aspect of your second-hand shopping life. tell us your op-shopping philosophy, or divulge your secret hunting techniques. let us know about your wants, or skite (English translation= “show-off “) about your amazing finds. review the best op-shopping spots in your town, or request or give information on your fascinating finds, you’ll always be talking to an appreciative audience here.

 How to link up?
1. post your second hand shopping related blog post.

2. link to Op-Shop Show-Off in your blog post, so your blog readers can come over and peruse or post in the linky too.

 3. scroll to the bottom of my latest Tuesday Op-Shop Show-Off post and click on the linky tool, then follow the three easy steps.

 4. don't forget to leave me a comment to let me know you linked up.

 5. have a look at some of the other linkers posts/blogs, they're all people after your own heart!

 6. grab the Op-Shop Show-Off Button from my sidebar to decorate yours (paste the code into a HTML gadget under the 'add a gadget' part of the layout section in blogger and save).