OP SHOP. CHARITY SHOP, THRIFT SHOP HAUL.

I've been asked to blog often about the items I find at Op shops (oppy).

For readers outside of Australia you know these shops as either a Charity or Thrift shop depending in which part of the globe you live in - pre loved items donated to charitable organisations to raise money.

Shy Dolls.

I think by now everyone knows I can't pass up the chance to pop inside an oppy, if I don't get inside one for a while I start to feel like something's missing.

In the past week I've been inside seven of these treasure troves and picked up some really
needful things.

I can't show all my oppy buys here as I bought quite a number of items.

Arnott's biscuit tins celebrating Australia Day.

Well, I didn't find just one of these - but two in perfect condition.

I'll save them for next years Australia Day window display.

Shy dolls, sooky dolls or naughty dolls - also referred to as shy kids, time out, peek-a-boo, tantrum or corner dolls.

There were three of these in the one shop, I love them and both are very well made, only two came home with me as the other one was too floppy, it needed re-stuffing and re-adjusting and with all the other things I've got on at the moment I don't need to be adding anything else to my list.

The double vintage school desk was a garage sale find from Brisbane.

A wash of their clothes (and hair, which I put inside a laundry bag) and they've both come up really well.

The Cherry Ames Nurse Stories.

While these books are not first editions, they were a nice little find both in their dust jackets.

The Cherry Ames books were published from 1943 -1968.

Not all the original books had dust jackets, only 1-22.

Strawberry Shortcake vintage Berry Bake Shop.

I'm just a big kid.

I found this under a table (that's where all the best stuff is), it's in wonderful condition, all the pieces are there and as an added bonus it came with a bag of Strawberry Shortcake dolls, clothes and pets.

I did a Strawberry Shortcake window display not too long ago, I might try to work a different display around this lot.

By the way, the blue vase, red depression glass candy dish and table runner were both Op Shop buys a long time ago.

Strawberry Shortcake Berry Bake Shop.

I've dressed two of the dolls in the correct clothing, there are more in the bag which I'll get to later.

The little pets are Custard Cat, Gooseberry, Frappe Frog and Tea Time Turtle.

Vintage Cars in Australia.

This is a lovely hardback book with dust jacket, barely fitting on the scanner. I bought this for Gracie, she loves old cars.

It's a beautiful book with equally fabulous glossy colour pictures and it's currently in a revamped window display.

Flower Fairies, Cicely Mary Barker tin.

This is so sweet and is smaller than it looks in the photo.

I love the flower fairies and bought this little tin to go with the books.

I have a pile of fairy books and fairy items that I'll blog about very soon.

Wildflowers of Western Australia.

I'm not really into wildflowers of anywhere but even I couldn't pass this book up.

As you can see, the dust jacket is so pretty and the inside does not disappoint - it has some beautiful colour plates.

I think plants are strange things when you see them up close like this.

A chunky bracelet for me and a smaller one for Gracie.

I'll probably never wear it.

Emma, the country kitchen doll.

I can't get enough of these primitive dolls, you might not be able to see it but Emma has a miniature wooden rolling pin in her basket (how cute).

Folk Art Welcome Sign.

I never pass up a folk art sign, there's always somewhere to hang them.

If you're looking to invest in some books you really can't go wrong with the next two.

Carter's Price Guide to Antiques in Australia.

1991 Edition.

A lot of the bigger oppies are well aware that these books are collectable and the older the better.

You won't find these books for a couple of dollars but you'll still pay well under what they're worth.

Carter's Price Guide To Antiques in Australia.

1988 Edition.

The older the edition, the more it's worth but the oppy price will usually be the same no matter what the year.

I bought this because it looked interesting, a bit gothic looking.

I couldn't imagine wearing something like this.

Wee Macgreegor by J.J. Bell.

This book is undated, a hard back pocket book with a dust jacket.

It's from the Nelson's 1/6 novels.

Hubby liked this book because it's Scottish, honestly though how can you read a book like this:

"Paw, inquired Macgregor, staring at a number of photographs on the wall, "wit wey dae folk mak' faces when they get their likenesses tooken?"

"Och, jist - jist because she wudna. See, Macgregor, yer Maw's wantin' ye."

It's as bad as trying to read Shakespeare.

Tea bag holder.

Not very exciting, not very pleasant to look at, plain and boring, however I collect them and for some reason I don't come across them very often so I added it to my haul.

A nice little lot of books.

Three books about wars, two Noddy books that I already have, two Kathy Reichs books for Gracie, the Penguin published book of Picnic at Hanging Rock, Kal by Judy Nunn (this comes with great reviews so I'll stick it on the bucket list) and The Host by Stephenie Meyer.

I pre ordered the new publication of The Host for Gracie as we couldn't get the previous one in any of the shops, the bookshop later advised they were unable to get it in, went to an Op shop and there at the bottom of a box was the Host in tip top condition.

This is a very pretty little necklace, the pink and green stones look lovely together, just couldn't pass this one up.

Pixie O'Harris.

Anyone who loves vintage children's books would know of the Pixie O'Harris books.

Australia author and illustrator of Marmaduke the Possum, The Fairy Who Wouldn't Fly, Pearl Pinkie and Sea Greenie and an impressive list of other books.

The Bumper Book Series - 6

I don't like this book and I don't know why I bought it.

Pookie by Ivy Wallace.

Just look what I can find at an Op shop, this book is in  very good condition, shoved among some lesser books with people passing it by, no one wanted it but me.

Maybe Pookie isn't popular with children anymore?

You'll see more Pookie books in my fairy blog because Pookie has wings.

Ladybird Books.

It's not very often that I don't come home with at least one Ladybird book.

I've said this before - I don't really collect them, I just buy them.

I did pass up a small bundle of vintage Ladybird books due to the shocking condition they were in.

Pretty pink floral box.

This originally held one of those cup, saucer and teapot sets that all sit on top of one another.

 A quick clean with Mr Sheen and the box is as good as new, I have 'stuff' to store in this box.


Everything you see on this table was either an oppy, garage sale or auction buy, except for the vintage tablecloth - my Aunt sent me that one and the English Fragonard plate on the stand belonged to my Mother.

The gifts that keep on giving.

The House At Pooh Corner
Winnie-The-Pooh
When We Were Very Young

Pooh Books.

These three hard back books with dust jackets printed by Methuen, 1977 are in such great condition, a good find as I usually see these about in the soft cover edition.

These are just a nice little bunch to add to my
 Winnie-The-Pooh collection.

Mickey Mouse Christmas animation.


This is has never been used - thinking ahead he'll be part of a Christmas window display this year, I'll work something around him.

Pop-up, pop-out dolls house.

I did a post on these as part of my wooden dolls house post.

http://www.vintagecobweb.com/2012/04/wooden-dolls-house.html

I found this one waiting for me and the bonus is - all the cardboard family and furniture are still with it.

Some of these doll house pop-out books don't come with any family or furniture and the ones that did are long gone by the time I find the book.

The Enchanted Doll's House by Robyn Johnson.

Now this book is different.

The English Teapot you see was bought at a local auction.

Printed by The Five Mile Press in 2005 this book is not a dolls house book like the previous book.

Beautifully presented and educational.

There were several different types of these published.

This particular one deals with Victoriana and the Medieval period.

All the little flaps open to reveal something...

These pages describe the clothes during the Medieval - Tudor period.

Material like the red velvet is attached to the book so it can be felt by little hands.

This is one of the four Dolls Houses that pop out from the book.

Victorian dress with a fine piece of lace to touch.

Medieval Secrets.

Victorian Dolls' House.

Vintage amber lucite bangle, vintage metal clasp bangle and little Chinese bracelet I picked up for Gracie.

Hawkesbury Agricultural College Books.

These books were sitting on a table wrapped in this ribbon, they looked so nice I just had to slide the ribbon off and take a peek inside.

I doubt these books have ever been read.

 Inside each book is a bookplate with the name of the student that was awarded each of these books.

May Gibbs.

This was a real treat to find, never used - as new.

Just imagine having these adorable little posters on a wall, A-Z each one just as sweet as the next.

 A few things to know about Op Shops.

With the shift in re-using, recycling, bargain shopping and retro and vintage items being in demand, the oppy has turned full circle, no longer shunned by the community as a place to avoid in case someone you know sees you walking through the door, it's now the go - to place to shop.

Many charities have reported donations being down with demand at an all time high.

Last year was the launch of

National Op Shop Week.

Sponsored by Aldi, people were encouraged to donate like never before, especially unwanted clothing.

Prices.

There's been a lot of discussion about the prices some of the larger shops place on their items, while goods are donated, the oppy is in the business of making money and while they are run by volunteers they also have overheads.

Contrary to what some people think, they still have to pay for electricity (I think it should be free or heavily discounted to them), they will pay rent or council rates, phone etc..

The biggest expense in some of these shops is paying to dump the garbage that lazy, thoughtless, selfish people should be paying to dump at the tip themselves instead of off loading it in charity bins.


I had a conversation with a volunteer at an Op shop just over and hour from where we live, she rattled off a list of items her staff had found in bags of donated goods - you would be shocked at some of the disgusting items the volunteers found.

The Salvation Army have stated it costs their stores across Australia millions of dollars a year to dump other peoples rubbish.

Yes, some suburban larger shops are well aware of designer labels and collectable items and will adjust their prices accordingly, they also know their customer base.

Some refer to an antique and collectables price guide book and believe me - they're not afraid to use it!!

Opals, the one on the left is modern, the right is vintage.


In my experience the smaller out of the way shops will have lower prices but may not have the range of stock you're looking for, however you might get lucky and stumble across a barely touched oppy that does not advertise and is buried away in a back street of a small community where stock just builds up over time (ha ha, I know where this oppy is).   

I love the smaller shops and you can't go past a rural oppy, while some of them may not be large and overflowing with goods, I usually manage to find a little treasure and the search is all apart of the overall fun experience.

Boxed Designer Perfume.

This was a real find.

All intact and all smelling just the way they should.

Perfume can go bad so be careful if you're buying it to use rather than just having a nice vintage bottle and not caring about what's inside.

The better quality the perfume, the longer it will last.

I don't usually buy oppy perfume to use myself as I have my favourite perfumes but this lot was the exception to the rule.

If it's not sealed I take a good whiff before I buy.

Both tapestry cushions, the cat and the one behind golly are oppy buys.

They both washed up beautifully.

Avanti cup and saucers.

Too bad there were only two of these, I might come across more one day.

I very much like Avanti and have a full set of the mugs that were given to me as a birthday present.

These are stainless steel, have a decent weight to them and wash up nicely in the dishwasher.

The red glass sugar bowl was also an oppy buy many moons ago.



The kindest word in all the world
 is the unkind word, unsaid.
 -unknown




Thanks for

Michelle