White china day

It's often the case when I go out searching for treasure that I get a bit of a theme going on.  Not sure if its one of those subconscious things where you find one piece and then seem to hone in on similar.  This week's boot sale found us arriving late, the twins just didn't want to get out of bed at 6.00am, can't imagine why !  On arrival the cars were queuing down the road, a mixture of boot sellers and buyers.  It was chaos everywhere, the normal orderly lines were all over the place, I can only think that they must have had new stewards who didn't know what they were doing.  I could see the early morning booters in full swing as I impatiently  sat in the car, hubby decided not to cut in around the roundabout as I would and instead "faffed" about, this is always guaranteed to make me get slightly hot under the collar as I see all my treasures disappear into another buyers trolley.  In a fit of peak I decided I wasn't sitting around waiting for him to decide where he was going to park and jumped out the car with a backward wave and a comment of "find me when you decide what to do " !  and off I trotted...

First treasure of the day, pretty white and floral Gladstone bone china cup and saucer .

The same seller also sold me this pretty cake stand, unfortunately she was one of those people that assures you all is well with the item and you find out when you get home its not !  Wasn't the end of the world though, it was only the small base screw that was missing and my hubby always has the necessary part in his Aladdins cave of a workshop to fix it.  Again gorgeous White bone china with pretty pink floral pattern.

After the success of the Vintage fair a few weeks ago, I sold out of all my rosebud patterned china so I was really pleased to come across this pretty little Crown Royal jug and matching dinner plate (forgot to photograph the dinner plate sorry)

It seems I might be turning into a bit of booty totty for the local gentlemen of a certain age !  Believe me I am NOT flattered.  After being told I could trade my wares for a dinner date a few weeks ago, I was given this really pretty Johnson Brothers plate free with the Gramophone Unit we purchased and he also gave the twins Disney alarm clocks each, whilst telling my hubby how lucky he was to have such a gorgeous wife ! Lucky for hubby he agreed.

Next up this gorgeous, absolutely too die for Royal Vale Bone China white with pink spots tea set comprising of 6 cups and saucers, side plates, two sandwich plates and a milk jug !  They were really dirty, but I could so see their beauty shining through.  The lady was as thrilled as I was that I was so thrilled (if that makes sense) sometimes its hard to remain cool and to appear disinterested when you find a real treasure.  I just had to show how pleased I was with my find.  As you can see, lots of hot soapy water and they have washed up a treat. 

One of my favourite pieces of glassware is Milkglass.  You don't see much of it in this country and I spend many hours drooling over the pieces for sale on Etsy in America.  I love this hobnail design and was really chuffed to pick this piece up for 50p !

Finally this gorgeous wicker "bowl" in immaculate condition was mine for just £5 !  I was astounded, these days most people seem to think even the tattiest piece of wicker is worth a small fortune and I tend to pass them up.  I think it looks fab with some of my books nestled inside, not sure what I will ultimately use it for but its a wonderful, quality piece.

Thats my lot for this week.  Please take a moment to pop over and see what all the other magpies have found at this week's MagpieMonday.

Exeter Vintage and Handmade Fair

Saturday 16th July I attended my first ever Vintage fair.  Before the event I was really nervous about attending, worrying  I wouldn't sell anything, that my stock would look amateur next to all the other experienced stall holders.

Arriving early, as I still had to price loads of items, hubby ferried box after box of stock into the hotel where the event was being held.  It quickly became apparent that I had way too much stock for the space allocated.  We moved tables around and soon made ourselves a cosy little space to display my wares.  We decided to use the event to showcase a few pieces of the painted and reloved furniture we are hoping to sell.

As you can see it was very cosy, but I think it worked.  I was just a teeny bit nervous about the bookcase above which held lots of china, especially when the crowds started to appear (and there were crowds over 700 people through the doors on the day).

It was so lovely to see so many people I knew, including the lovely Jules from I need curtains for the windows in my head  (isn't that the most fab name for a blog!)  I so get what she means.  Many thanks to Jules for the pic below I pinched from her, please do pop over and read her account of Saturday.  Her lovely best mate also purchased my three favourite items, he has seriously good taste ! 

 Also my lovely friend Ruth and her toooooo gorgeous little girl.  Ruth blogs at Lemonade Life  another great blog to add to your list.

After a slow start I was soon rushed off my feet and had a wonderful day selling out of all my vintage cups and saucers, lots of plates, in fact most of the stock you see above sold.  I wish I had taken an "after" picture.  I also sold two pieces of our reloved furniture, three commission requests and had two offers to sell my stock in local bricks and mortar shops.  I think I can safely say my first Vintage fair was a great success.

One of our reloved items, the glam chalkboard. 

Beautiful shelf unit's hand crafted by my husband from the remains of the twins cots and painted with gorgeous vintage coloured chalk paints.

Lots more stock available soon for sale.  Please do contact me at info@thewhiteapproach.com  if you would like more info on our reloved furniture.

 

Nowt as strange as folk !

If you saw my tweets you will know the vintage fair I attended on Saturday was a huge success ( post soon ).  So I had the perfect excuse to get up bright and early yesterday, take hubby to work and pop by the Sunday morning boot sale to stock up on more lovelies !  It was grey and drizzly but I thought it would still be worth a quick look.  There were hardly any stall holders but the serious buyers had turned out in force.  This really made for a rugby scrum on any stalls with potential.  I decided to have a quick whizz around and actually got myself quite a little bounty.

The photo does not do these items justice.  The glasses are a really pretty pink colour.  The gorgeous decanter was really grubby with a lot of sediment.  I soaked it overnight with bicarbonate of soda inside and then filled it with diluted washing up liquid.  I think the pale pink washing up liquid really compliments the glasses don't you ?

I found this pretty Limoges Serving platter with three sections on the same stall as the glasses, its the most gorgeous soft faded pinks.  A perfect shabby chic item.  Can't find anything about it online apart from the fact that of course Limoges of France was and still are producers of fine quality Porcelain products.

I couldn't resist this great wooden wine carrier from the very upmarket french store Meme du Quercy ! oh ! la! la!

The next item is from the seller who I gave the title of this post to.  The Sunday boot sale takes place in a huge cattle market, on good days the whole site is full.  As yesterday was grey and drizzly the sellers were scattered around the site.  This chap choose the farthest point to pitch his van, as he had what looked like lots of interesting boxes and wares from a distance, I thought he was worth the trek in the rain to check out.  He did indeed have some treasures, he was loudly pronouncing that he had cleared out a rectory.  I picked my way through lots of filthy bits and bobs and found myself some pieces with potential.  People were queuing up to get prices and then I noticed most were putting down the items and walking away.

Odd!  Anyway, Happy with my little bundle I approached him.  At this point he snatched some items off a lady near to me and marched towards a table to display them again shouting at the top of his voice " go away maggots, go away maggots ! I don't give my stuff away, I don't sell to maggots only serious dealers need apply "  The poor lady looked totally mortified and hurried away, everybody looked aghast !  He continued to shout .

 What do I do now ? do I risk approaching him to ask for a price or do I just forgo my treasures in case he wants silly money for them and shouts at me !  I though maybe humour might work, so I approached him and said "I'm almost too scared to ask you now how much you want for these"  " I don't sell to maggots, you can have those for £5 "   I was happy with my price for my little lot so handed over my money. Phew ! I was about to walk away when he boomed "of course you can have them for free if you come out to dinner with me " 

This gorgeous white dish is not old I am certain of that but its such a pretty shape and it washed up a treat.  Think it looks lovely holding my moulded sugars.

The other purchases from this charming chap will have to wait until another day.

Finally for today I was lucky enough to be the first person to get to this lady and her box of treasures.  I was able to nab a whole load of gorgeous china, there was a lot of tutting and sighing going on around me as I pulled treasure after treasure out of her box !  Here is a tiny selection.

Please do pop over to Lizzie's MAGPIEMONDAY to see what the other thrifty ladies found this past week.

Calico Angels

So many talented people around.  Take a look at the work of a lovely lady called Penny, she is one of the mum's at No1 son's school who regularly comes along to help with the school fete.  I am amazed by her talent and have said she should be selling her beautiful creations.    She seems oblivious to how wonderful her items are so I offered to pop a few of them on my blog, in my Etsy shop and to also take some along with me to The Exeter Vintage and Handmade Event I am selling at on the 16th July.  I am certain people will buy.  Penny very generously gave me an offer price for my readers, so if you would like anything featured here, please buy before the 16th July. 

Traditional English Ragdolls, completely hand crafted. The attention to detail is wonderful, from the "rouge" cheeks to the tiny buttons sewn onto the boots.  Penny tries where possible to use vintage materials for the clothes and also has a wonderful "vintaged paint effect" for the stockings and boots.   Each one is different. Penny can even make you a personalised doll, if you send her a photograph she will make a doll with the same colour and style of hair, matching eye colour and will even try to match an outfit for you !

Standard Ragdolls - the four on the lower two steps are available to my readers for £19.50 !!!  a total steal for the amount of love and craftsmanship that has gone into them.  Normal price will be £39.50.

The Ppersonalised Ragdoll - largest on the top step is on offer to my readers for £35.  Normal price will be £60.

Penny decided to bring along a selection of these pretty little birds to the summer fete and they were all snapped up immediatelyy (she seemed totally overwhelmed and surprised)!  I managed to grab this one out of the hands of the headmistress!  Well my need was greater.  All her own design, they have lovely hand stitched detail with gorgeous beads and graduated hearts.  She can make them in any colour combination you like.  Special offer price to my readers of just £10 ! 

These Calico hearts are sure to be a best seller I am convinced!  Each one is hand painted with an original design and then Penny uses  "vintage distressing"  to give a wonderful soft effect to the design.  Softest pastel colours and each one an individual work of art.

Available for £5 for my readers - normal price will be £8.50

If you are interested in buying any of the items above, please let me know in the comments below and I will be in touch.

THANK YOU

I've discovered a secret weapon !

This weekend we thought it was about time we sold at the boot sale rather than buy.  I spent a few hours on Saturday opening cupboards and sorting out clothes.  I put together a respectable selection of bits and bobs,  nothing to set the world alight but probably make us about £50 I thought.

We were up bright  and VERY early at 5.00am, waking the twins (oh what a pleasure that was to turn the tables on them for a change ) .  Seems the World and his dog decided to sell at Exeter cattle market this week.  It took us over half an hour to get in.  We unpacked and were immediately set upon, the early morning rush began in earnest, women pulling clothes off the rails and out of boxes   "How much ! How much ? for this and this and this. "  My poor hubby, not used to this kind of female frenzy decided to take the twins for a little "walk" .  I knew what he was upto,  he wanted to mooch the other stalls. Off he went leaving me to deal with the hoards.  An hour or so later he emerged, Jarvis had acquired one of those horrific plastic, battery operated guitars and Milo a bag full of lego.  By this time I was bursting for the loo and desperate to take a look around myself.  I made my excuses, gave hubby vague instructions on our prices and wandered off with a casual remark to call me on my mobile if he got stuck.  I didn't expect much from him but as trade was slack, he was not likely to do too much damage.

Within a few paces I found this beauty

Gorgeous cast iron well, "iron" I love it, rust and all, its really heavy, perfect for holding open the door.  Bit pricey at £3 but I figured I had sold a few bits so why not.

A little further along I happened upon this tray full of cutlery !

A quick google when we got home revealed they are a varied selection of EPNS varying in date from the 1920's to 1960's.  In  need of a good clean but I loved the shapes, initials and weight of them all.  A total steal for £5 including the tray !

This little lot was a bit weighty so as I was only a minute from our pitch I decided to pop back to hubby and drop them off.  Wow!  He was doing a roaring trade, surrounded by women all giggling and laughing "oh really"  "that's a good price" "your boys are gorgeous" natter, natter, natter. ! Hhhmm! I bet he's selling all my precious stuff off for pennies .  Not so, he had doubled the prices I had given him and the women were falling over themselves to buy the stuff ! I HAVE A SECRET WEAPON! WooP !  What a winner, not only can I sell at the boot sale, I can leave my hubby to sell too whilst I go shop ! RESULT!

I dropped off my treasure and popped off for a bit more retail therapy.

The chap selling these serving dishes was so desperate to pack up and go home he almost begged me to take them.  "I really don't want to take them home again, they belonged to my gran, you can have all of the for £1.50"!

They are in need of a tiny bit of TLC but the glass Pyrex serving dishes are in perfect condition.   

What about this gorgeous quilt, it was well hidden under some old sheets and covers, but one look at the kind of things the lady was selling made me investigate further. I was so glad I did.  Its handmade and more than covers a standard double bed.  As soon as I got home I popped it in the washing machine and hung it out to dry in the glorious sunshine.  Apologies for the photographs, I was unable to get the whole quilt in the pics and it was blowing a bit, but I am sure you will agree its a beauty of a quilt for £8!

I am always on the lookout for lampshades, especially these gathered material type.  The pink one is Laura Ashley and really well made, the White one is quite old and has an old style fixing but hubby assures me we can get the necessary widget to make it fit either a lamp or hanging fitting.  The pale pink one was £3 and the white one just 50p ! again, the lady just wanted rid, and as I had hesitated because of the fitting she said "please take it for 50p" !  Ho could I refuse, it still has its original cellophane wrapping.

Finally, this little trio of royal standard fine bone china pretty cups.  No saucers but a steal for 50p each.

All in all not a bad day at all.  When I got back to our pitch hubby had done a roaring trade, so not only was I able to have an unexpected shopping spree but we also came home with a lot more pennies in the purse than we expected.

RESULT !

Please pop over to Lizzie's MagpieMonday to see what the other ladies have found this week xx

 

Another Project to add to the list

I was thrilled to bits when hubby won this unit on Ebay.  He has taken to bidding on items that are collection only within a 25 mile radius of our home.  It is proving very lucrative, we won this item for £21.  Its in a sorry state and needs lots of love and care, but I just know once we have given it "the White Approach" treatment it will be a lovely piece of furniture.  We plan to pop it in one of the alcoves on one side of the fireplace in our living room.  Hubby is building a custom computer unit with a bookcase above in the alcove on the otherside of the fireplace.  So this lovely piece will balance it out beautifully.

I have no idea when we will find the time to renovate it, but will be sure to show you all when its complete.  Along with the living room makeover which is the last room to be completed in our home.  Just need to find somebody to make me loose covers for the sofa and new curtains and we will be done.

AGZB8NYXCY5U

Rain ! Rain! Rain!

Rain! Rain! go away,

come back, but not on a boot sale day !

Sadly I was unable to go to my beloved boot sale this week due to the non stop rain, but also because it was No 1 son's 16th Birthday and Grandma came to stay.  We have been very busy, I did have a few hours while Grandma entertained the boys to get my Vintage China business up and running, please pop over and like my facebook page.  I am really pleased with the welcome page The White Approach.

Here are some pieces I have picked up on previous bargain hunts.

Totally immaculate bright sunny yellow metal scales.  Purchased, well I say purchased he sold them to me for £1 !! about a month ago.  TIP :  If you see a young lad selling off his grannies items, pounce on him.  He will have no idea of their Thrifty, vintage value.

In my favourite charity shop in the world, tucked way out in the back.  They have a shelf where they pop candle votives, marked 10p !  Its the place I look second, after the china shelf.  I have so far managed to pick up about 10 glass candle holders.  You can never have enough pretty candles scattered around your home.  From the dining table to the bathroom. I adore candles .

Along from the glass shelf are the boxes that hold the cups and saucers.  50p per cup and 50p per saucer.  I scoop them up on a regular basis. Whether I can find matching sets or not.  These are rarely the gorgeous English bone china ones that I covert, but occasionally a gem surfaces.

I love the pattern on these Lord Nelson Pottery Oasis cups and saucers.

That's it today, promise to try harder .  Please pop over and take a look at all the other great thrifty finds at Magpie Monday

Dottie Angel

Perfect, perfect life .......

Dottie Angel's Once Upon a Time from Etsy on Vimeo.