Project Fridge Magnets

I finally found a use for those promotional fridge magnets that get shoved in your letterbox every so often. For years, I would use them for a while before finally throwing them in the bin, trying to ignore my feelings of guilt at adding perfectly good (albeit ugly, irritating and unwarranted) resources to landfill. But after seeing them used by a teacher as backing to create new, quirky magnets for their classroom, I actually willingly collected a whole lot of those unwanted magnets through Buy Nothing. Since then I have transformed portrait shots of politicians, outdated calendars, and ads for local businesses into magnets of dice and scrabble tiles (with plans to add foreign coins, buttons and bobbin cases to the collection). I have always liked the look of the Keen’s curry powder jar so I even turned an old one of those into a magnet, making me feel a bit Andy Warhol… while in reality being much more like the mum from The Castle.

Time Warp House

This experience felt as magical as finding a 1950s Dior dress in an op shop (something I haven't encountered but dream of).

A while ago I happened upon a garage sale, being held in the front yard of an old house. For $20 I bought a wooden coffee table which trumps any white lacquered IKEA version just waiting to bow under the weight of a few books. The real magic began, though, when the new owners of the house said I could have a look inside as everything was for sale. I'm not sure exactly what era the decor would be but it is gorgeously, unashamedly, from a whole other time. So much pattern, colour, texture, liveliness, character and joy. Here are some photos the new owners kindly let me take*: 

However unrealistic this is, wandering through that house made me imagine spending the hefty sum of a house deposit on a similar 'time warp' place. I see myself renovating, yet saving some elements to restore as quirky, interesting features. I would like to at least be greeted each day by the magic of sublime Art Deco doors...I know this might fit into the 'Dior dress in an op-shop' category of dreams but it is still a lovely idea to hold onto!

*When I spent an extensive amount of time with my tripod and SLR camera taking photos, they gave me looks of friendly bewilderment you might give someone who appears harmless yet slightly unhinged.

Good Sammy Geraldton

I discovered this dress at Good Sammys in Geraldton for $30 with the original tag still attached and I found the perfect opportunity to wear it when I attended WA Ballet’s Alice in Wonderland late last year. After my first outing to the ballet years ago where I wore jeans to opening night then shamefully noticed all the people dressed as if attending a ball, I have always wanted to be one of those lavishly dressed audience members. They do still let you in wearing jeans, of course, but how many places anymore do you get the opportunity to be ostentatiously over-dressed?

This dress, with its intricate patterning and all-over dusting of iridescent glitter was perfect for the magic of an evening ballet at His Majesty’s Theatre. It also was also an indulgently fitting choice of dress for taking in the sparkle of city Christmas lights after the ballet!

The Wonderful World of Children's Books

I often leave op shops armed with stacks of children's books, all at about $1 or so each, to add to my classroom library at school. Sometimes, though, I'll find a retro or vintage book I have to keep for myself...the type full of nostalgic illustrations, shades of colour you forgot even existed and quaint writing. Here are two such treasures - The Great Big Book of Knowledge from Vinnies Wembley for $2 and Disney Presents The Wonderful World of Knowledge: Space for $2.25 from Salvos Midland. The Disney book has that incredibly joyful, optimistic and over the top vintage cartoon vibe throughout, and The Great Big Book of Knowledge gives you that forgotten world kind of feeling.

DIY Op Shop

The Salvos now have an online op shop which I haven’t visited, in an effort to save money… multiple, hard to resist op shop purchases can really add up! Instead, I’ve been having my own at home ‘op-shopping experience’ (without the spending money part). All you need to do is leave stuff forgotten in somewhere like the shed then rediscover it years later. Even better if that discovery originally came from a second-hand shop, like these cards I found in a box inside a box in the shed. I bought them years ago from a vintage shop on Chapel Street in Melbourne. They seemed at once adorable and whimsical both back then and the second time around as a forgotten-in-the-shed DIY op shop find.

Op-shop Review: Petticoat Lane, Merredin

I visited Petticoat Lane op-shop in Merredin several times between 2015 and 2016.
The name and exterior of Petticoat Lane seems to suggest a wondrous jumble of vintage charm. The exterior features a sign written with old-fashioned lettering, almost foreboding black iron bars, and one of those old deli open signs advertising Coca Cola propped up on the pavement.

Although during my first visit to the store, the second-hand stench, dim lighting and vast amount of easily accessible, chain store clothing did not match the magical expectations I had, things got better over time.

The lighting brightened and the odour faded. I once came across a spectacularly disgusting eighties dress made of ruched black velvet and puffy green sleeves, also in velvet. Though it was nothing like that romantic idea of beautiful vintage clothing it was authentic; perfect in hilarity and ugliness for a dress-up party. At another time, in search of an ‘eighties Kylie’ costume, I bought a magnificent black spotty dress with puffy sleeves, ruffles and a bubble hem.

The country op-shop pricing system, where the stock price is calculated at the counter and most items are never much more than a couple of dollars, was a new discovery to me. Once, I bought a vintage-style dress in a lovely, thick cotton. When the lady working there put the sale through, she said to me tentatively “$3?” as if she was asking an exorbitant price I would surely be outraged by. I happily paid the small sum with coins and left with the feeling that I had just had a tiny adventure.