Second-hand hunting!

I don't know about you, but I LOVE second hand items. All of the stories they can tell about the places they've been, the owners that kept them, and ultimately being given away or put up for sale. I adore the thrill of riffling through a box of junk to find some treasure.

Unfortunately, I've recently found that charity shops seem to be over-sorting their donations, I'm not sure why they aren't putting out the more junky bric-a-brac that I'm drawn to, or perhaps a dress that needs a minor repair, but I really think that the new place for second-hand hunting is the humble car boot sale.

Here you get all sorts of things being offered up for sale by all manner of people. It's so interesting just to people watch. I think the idea of collections is something that I've always found quite interesting. I think we all know someone who just adores a certain animal/ character/ TV show etc and gets inundated with gifts of this theme for years to come (my Nana Amber collects elephants). Quite often at car boots you will see someone selling their whole collection (or perhaps just a portion of it to make room for more!), and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Maybe it's a sad thing, that someone has suddenly got turned off the thing that has driven them to collect for so long. Or perhaps it's just a bit odd to try and sell your entire collection. Imagine if I purchased an entire collection of brass turtles (there was one there this weekend), I would feel a bit like I was cheating. Surely the point of a collection is to gather things up over time, each piece would tell it's own story and add something different to the other items. If you buy a job lot of someone's existing collection is that not a bit like buying a novel with all the pages missing? It's just a thought, I know most people won't sell their entire hoard to one like-minded person, they will more likely sell single bits over a period of time. What do you think about collections?

Anyway, I wanted to share some recent purchases with you. Some of them are for props for my business, some are for the new house, and some have yet to find a purpose besides me just loving them.

What are your thoughts on second hand? Can you still find the gems in your local charity shops?

Best wishes


Lianne x

4 little butter knives from a local charity shop. 20p each.

A close-up of one of the knives. Made in Sheffield like all great butter knives!

I adore the patterns and colours on this plate.

And these patterns. 20p each

Set of 4 very fine coloured glasses. £2.99

A collection of telephones? One of them is covered in fabric, I loved them all but purchased none.

A beautiful pin-art (is that the right word?) creation of a butterfly. For the new house £3. Car boot

Bold brass bangles. 75p each. Car boot

This wonderful wooden duck has a function...

He's a fully operational telephone! £4. Car boot

Wooden children's block. I love the bold colours and patterns. £5. Car boot

4 x cones of wool & mohair. This inspired me to get out my old knitting machine. There's a future post about that! £3 Car boot

Glass & cork canisters. Props from a charity shop. 40p each