On the road - vintage goodies in regional Victoria

It has been nearly two months since we went to Daylesford and there has simply been no time to blog about it at all. In fact there is a major backlog of posts swirling around in my head that hopefully will flood out when I have some more time. Life has been full, too full in fact for my liking, so it is nice to slow down and reminisce over those Daylesford days.

One of the things I like most about exploring a new place is sniffing out all the op shops and second hand stores. To find something to add to the collection back home and also give fond memories of the places we went to. While we didn't have any luck in the oppies around Daylesford, it didn't matter because just around the corner was the biggest collection of vintage ephemera I have ever seen.

Would you believe that when we planned to go to Daylesford I had no idea that on the edge of town was one of the largest collections of vintage and second hand goods in the southern hemisphere? I'm talking about the Mill Markets of which there are three locations - Daylesford, Ballarat and Geelong.

If you can picture a warehouse the size of a football field and then some,  you get the rough idea. It was so big we had to take a pause half way around and have lunch in the cafe! Trying to choose goodies from this kind of smorgasbord was a little challenging, but knowing I had to squeeze any purchases into a suitcase did help.

When overwhelmed with options only the most special items would be coming home but I was more than happy to swoon over all that retro colour.

So how about the goodies?

A lovely child sized apron for my girl,

An amazing retro pvc lined bag that  knew I have a true passion for pvc lined bags (this is my third),

an amazing hat the exact size for my girl ( this was the one item I chose from the Ballarat store),

a lovely old print,

and a roll of wallpaper that was sealed up and I chose for the colours ( presuming it was florals) but opened to discover it was in fact a bunch of crazy disco floral animals. Check out the 'fro on that lion/poodle creature!

As if the Mill Markets were not enough, there was also the Daylesford Bazaar in the main street but thankfully nothing was calling  my name there.

On the way to Ballarat we stopped at a tiny town called Talbot, population 258. Incredibly there was not one, but two antique shops in this tiny town. It turns out they were owned by a husband and wife, and they each had their own shop. His was enormous and chock full of more traditional crockery and furniture. Hers was more my style with vintage kitchenalia and early Australiana items. Their shops were on either side of their house, where they could pop back for lunch and to see the pets. To me it seemed a wholly ideal scenario for two collectors with different tastes. I not only found the little green egg cup but also this lovely pastel set of bowls.

The unexpected highlight was the drive back to Melbourne on our last day and all those outer suburban op shops. These three pieces of milk glass set me back $5 for the lot.

I was however very restrained and left this lovely collection for someone else.

And then at the final hour I stumbled over a wonderful pink sewing case for $5 shortly before getting on the plane - a perfect carry on bag.

In our last few hours we also made a flying visit to Gleaners Inc in Brunswick, what a lovely, lovely shop ( I may or may not have bought a dress (or two) in here).

A brief visit to the site of  "The Block",

and that was Melbourne and Daylesford and all the goodness in between.

Never the same

We moved house yesterday, into the lovely house two streets away that will become our home for the next few months. As I spent the last two weeks packing our life into boxes, it occurred to me that Betsy will never be the same. She will never look just like this again. All the bits and pieces that my two small children create and bring home from school and kindy have been pulled down from the walls and many may not go back up there again. There will be new creations, new school awards, new interests and fads and the entire feel of our house will be different.

So with every box packed, pauses were made to snap pictures of all these colourful memories of the little children we have had living in this house. Roboboy was four and Liongirl was 18 months when we first moved into Betsy and there are so many memories of early childhood tucked up into the rooms of this house.

When we move back into the new improved Betsy, my little children will not be so little anymore. Roboboy will be seven and a half and Liongirl will be almost five. When we unpack their treasured items, some of them will not be wanted anymore. Will Roboboy still have all these favourite stuffed animals sharing his bed every night? I can only hope we have a few more years yet, especially for that vintage wallpaper dresser that makes me happy every time I walk past it.

Liongirl's room will be quite different when we move back as these big windows will no longer be there, instead there will be a set of high louvres. No doubt she will want considerable say in how we decorate her new room.

Despite a tinge of sadness over the fleeting nature of childhood, there is high elation over the hopefully fleeting life span of my remaining custard walls. This is the last section of wall in the hallway that remains custard, it will be the first to go when I get stuck in there repainting my very empty house.

Back soon with some pics of a very bare Betsy, serious deck demolishing action and hopefully the arrival of some excavators to start the old girl's makeover.

Turquoise pyrex, vintage wallpaper and collaborative embroidery

There has not been much op shopping action around here of late. Decluttering will do that to a girl, but I must say I was missing having a good ferret. There is nothing better than stumbling across a bundle of Little Golden books that are all new to me, titles I have never found before. Only to be topped by four rolls of this amazing blue vintage wallpaper and some turquoise pyrex. Oh happy days.

Behind the scenes there has been some crafty action happening at school in preparation for the school fete. A call out for vintage doilies and embroidery talents. This amazing masterpiece is on show in the school foyer ( way beyond my talents I might add but oh so inspiring).

Having never embroidered before I was determined to have a go and trotted out a few simple ones (no I absolutely did not do those incredible birds, just the words). It is actually quite an addictive past time once you get started, I think I managed five in total. They are all going towards some master plan that a bunch of uber creative mums at school are hatching. I for one cannot wait to see the end results on display at the fete, even the junior school are involved with those amazing stitched hearts above.

And look what just appeared on the oval, now we have the doily tree sharing company with  the crochet tree  from last year. And it is so exciting to rock up to school and see all the new creative contributions being deposited daily at the office.

Goodness, I think Fete fever is starting to take hold. Now I just need to try and behave myself at the Trash and Treasure....

A little pink and green house

So, the leftovers have all been eaten, the wrapping paper has been recycled and there are new presents to keep the kids busy. Time, me thinks, for some crafty pursuits. This little house was supposed to be ready for that special birthday last week.

There is nothing better than being surrounded by a pile of vintage wallpaper and the biggest decision of the moment to be what colour to put where. This wonderful assortment came from Ada Bea (who makes and sells her own very inspiring range of little houses), also a selection from Pomme de jour who sends out little bundles of assorted patterns she has collected.

I decided to use predominantly a pink and green combo for this one as that was probably the most acceptable  colour combination for miss Liongirl.  So here is my ta- dah!

And this was the plan from the start.

To go in this spot,

in here. (I won't whinge about the quarter strength Hog's Bristle wall colour because you all know how much it bothers me already). It actually looks the least hideous in this room as it gets so much natural light.

So, I'm off to make one for myself now. With quite a lot less pink this time. Just wanted to share the view out my lounge room window where I have been plonking myself regularly to drink cups of tea.

Actually maybe looking at all that pink and green had something to do with my wallpaper colour choices.

The neighbour's poinciana and our pink crepe myrtle happen to be flowering at the same time which I don't think has coincided in the past and it is glorious. And obviously quite inspiring.

Time for another cup of tea.

The pink-a-thon begins

It's only a few more sleeps until my littlest girl has her fourth birthday. The invitations have been sent, the theme chosen, the cake planned and the countdown of sleeps remaining  is  discussed daily. There has been no time for all the Christmas hoopla, we are in serious party planning mode. And this means some serious pink.

So I have been busy working on a birthday present surprise project for my pink loving girl. Remember this shelf for $15 from the oppie near the sea?

Well, I finally got around to painting it white and preparing it for a wallpaper makeover. I wanted to do something similar to the dresser I did a while back.

This time I decided we needed a whole lot more pink. Thank goodness for Ada from Vintage sheet addict opening her little blog shop on the other side of the world. She has THE best stash of vintage wallpaper I have seen and she is selling it in mixed bundles and also by the metre/roll. Needless to say, due to prompt international postage, Christmas came early at my place.

The Mod Podge dries so quickly in this hot humid December weather, lucky I'm a fast worker.

So, do you think it's pink enough? We'll have to wait and see what the girl thinks.

Love you, my sweet pea minxy girl.

Giving Back

Thank you for all the lovely feedback on my first attempts at frocks. As I mentioned last post, after 200 posts,  now just over 200 followers and nearly two years of blogging, it was definitely time for a thank you in return.

 I started blogging as an attempt to re establish some creativity in a life consumed by a having a complicated child. I had no idea that noticing and recording the small things in my complicated world would have such an impact on how I felt about my life and especially my children. The unexpected icing on the cake was the connection to all those other mothers relishing their children, crafting themselves happy, renovating houses and appreciating the joy of vintage sheets. Thank you all for your kind words, advice and inspiration.

So without further ado, I would like to announce a little giveaway to share the goodies around, so to speak.  There are three parts to this giveaway, and you can enter for just one or all three. First up is a set of eight vintage sheet fat quarters in the brightest colours, the absolute favourites in my stash. This part of the giveaway is open to all Australian and New Zealand Bloggers.

Part two, includes some recent op shop treasures that I already have but were too lovely to leave behind. A gorgeous bessemer tray, an Enid Blyton novel and a tiny handmade mushroom (more about these later). This part is only open to Australian bloggers ( these are heavy, and international postage is scary).

 Part three is open to everyone, anywhere in the world. A selection of vintage wallpapers and a small bundle of vintage sheet scraps.

So, if you want to enter, just make sure you are a follower of my blog and leave me a comment on the post telling me if you are entering for parts 1, 2 or 3 or any combination. The giveaway will close this time next Monday.

If you are not into vintage sheets, wallpaper and Enid Blyton, I do apologise. I may have a selection of doors, windows, floorboards and a carport to  get rid of  offer you in the new year.

Disclaimer - the fat quarters may have some decidedly wonky edges, cutting fabric is not a precision sport for me.