Barg of the Week: Marmite Birds

Supposedly the deal with Marmite is that you either love it or hate it; there's no mediocrity as far as that spread is concerned.

It would seem that a set of rather unusual antiques I purchased at a charity shop have a similar impact on people:

I am personally a lover of these funky birds (which is pretty self-explanatory since I invested in them)

I'm not sure how old they are, but apparently they were donated by an antique dealer who was clearing out his house. My guess is 1970s, but I could be wrong.

There are two sets, one with blue birds and one with red birds. I'm really interested in east-asian culture, so these guys immediately appealed to me.

There're displayed in 3D frames, much like real taxidermy...although with super-fake, incredibly tacky plants. Is it wrong that I love those plastic flowers?

Close-up of the hand painted birds and Chinese writing on the frosted glass. The ribbon edging is a nice touch.

There are little doors on the back of the boxes, which open to reveal LIGHTBULBS. I kid you not.

There you have it.

Complete with a rather old skool plug. Maybe this would help to indicate the age of my birdies? Can any electrical genius help me out here?

Regardless, the plan is to touch up the paintwork, modernise the electrics and get these babies on the wall. For £5 (only £2.50 each, good grief), I couldn't go wrong.

The question is, do you love them or hate them?

Wardrobe: Crazy for Coral

Suppp all! I'm afraid it's a late one today as I've been rather busy organising some messy sheds (yep, I still haven't finished yet).

The sun has finally returned to our part of the world, so this evening I went for something light, airy and full of colour:

I recently found some coral sandals to match my cardi, so chuffed!

Delicate chain detailing on cashmere.

Oh-so-shiny sandals. Love dem buckles.

Tan leather belt.

Cardigan:

From: Past job

Brand: Fenn Wright Manson

Price: £0.00 (free clothing allowance!)

Dress:

From: Julian House charity shop

Brand: Miso

Price: £8.00

Belt:

From: My sister (I borrowed it!)

Brand: Joules

Price: £0.00

Shoes:

From: Dorothy House charity shop

Brand: Clarks

Price: £5.00

Bag:

From: eBay

Brand: Unbranded

Price: £10

Second Hand/New: 2/5

Total Cost of Outfit:

£23.00

Lovely Things: Luscious Lampshades

Do you have a lampshade casting a shadow (quite literally) over an otherwise pleasant space?

We have several in my home which are dated and have seen better days. The great news is that there are many easy, creative ways to spruce up your current shade or start from stratch. Here are some pinteresting DIY solutions:

This innovative crochet shade is easier to makes than it looks! Check out the how to.

Apparently this colourful shade is from by Urban Outfitters, but it'd be pretty simple to create one with a similar impact from scrap wood.

I love how personal this design is - turn on the light and relive happy memories!

Using an old wire basket to create a unique shade. I like that you can see the bulb through it - the effect is very industrial.

I seriously never imagined that veneer could look so attractive. I have been proven wrong! You could achieve this look with just about anything in strips.

Fabric strips tied to an old metal frame - simple to make, big impact.

Have some mixing bowls to spare? Get on it!

This idea made me chuckle. The things people come up with!

It's amazing what a bit of twine can do to a plain old shade.

A hilarious solution to round this up. Just don't use them at the same time, okay?

15.06.13

When I charity shop, I charity shop.

I often see things that take my fancy, but have to be very strict as 1. I am not made of money and 2. I already have enough 'junk' (as some members of my family like to phrase it)

Can't say no to a bit of window shopping though:

In PDSA they had a whole shelf of film cameras and lenses. My sister collects old cameras, so I msged her this pic pronto.

This one was my favourite - such an interesting shape!

I love the simplicity of vintage packaging like this.

I then moved on to Dorothy House where these pretty storage jars in the window caught my eye. I could imagine them looking nice in a country kitchen.

There were three of these vintage mens shaving sets on a shelf. They were so shiny; the inner-magpie in me got very excited.

I love glassware! Especially coloured glass. This dressing table set was very tempting at £5.

I then went to another Dorothy House (there are three in my city) and saw this gorgeous little handbag. I have enough bags as it is, but the embossed leather and embroidery was very pretty.

Gorgeous embellished vintage bag.

I (tried) to try these gloves on but they were so so small it was unreal. Ladies in the old days had tiny hands.

On Saturdays my local market is also on, which is another big incentive to go to town.

A charming old wooden tool box. It has probably been established by now that I am rather partial to drawers.

Glass cases of tiny trinkets.

One seller always has lots of old hardware - his stall is probably my fave.

More cameras (and considerably more expensive than the ones in PDSA!)

Vintage beaded clutch bags - the most mouth-watering objects of the day. I didn't even look at the price tags!

I guiltily confess that I did make one purchase back at Dorothy House...

£6 for this bold St. Michael's shirt. How could I resist?

Love love love the necktie.

WHAT a funky print. I adore this shirt and put it on as soon as I got home.

Barg of the Week: Retro Shot Glasses

I like 70s patterns. And I like colour. And I also happen to like shot glasses. So I guess finding these was a win-win situation.

There are two different sets - the top row with the large floral print and the bottom row with the smaller design.

The top row are my faves. I especially love the bright blue one on the right.

Colour just fills me with joy, y'know what I mean? Who doesn't love colour! 

Even the white one (which isn't a 'real' colour) is eye candy if I ever did see it.

These are tasty, and they were all mine for £2.00. That's less than 20p a glass. You can see these featured on my Sexy Shop Counter post.