Tuesday 23 June 2009

Ah, bargains

It's been a long while since I've managed to get out for some good op-shopping. But I'm on a mission - to throw a wedding without spending a fortune. So the hunt for decorations (namely glassware) is on. A good 18 months in advance, no less!

On Monday afternoon I headed to my two usual haunts - Phillip Vinnies and Salvos, both within a kilometre or so of each other.Working with a pale blue and green colour scheme, I picked up a few good glassware pieces from Salvos, namely some blue spanish glass vases for $4 each - matching, and all looked pretty much brand new.

Later at Vinnies, I found a gorgeous little green spouted cup, perfect for holding a little posy of white flowers. $2.50, and totally lovable.


Next to it is one of a pair of milk glasses, with an image of a cow being milked on the side. $4 for the set, multi-functional as both glasses or vases, and damn cute to boot!

But this was the real find of the day:


Olivetti vintage typewriter, $10 - found in the clearance corner at Vinnies. I think it was presumed broken - it wasn't typing properly - but after I 'adjusted' the cover a couple of times (i.e. gave it a good bang) it sorted itself out, and now it works like a dream. I love it!

Vinnies in particular is good for cheap glassware - in the clearance corner you can find pieces for as cheap as 10c - but Salvos has a much larger range. There were a couple of great heavy brass candlesticks in Salvos too - not right for my deco scheme, but a total bargain at $15 for the larger.

Now, off to find some typewriter ribbon.... and start that great 21st century novel.

6 comments:

Taphophile said...

My first typewriter was a very similar Olivetti - can't say it was love but I'm fond of it now I don't have to use it for other people's typing!

Nice buys.

AMCSviatko said...

Glad the typewriter found a good home. I "Quick Brown Foxed" on it a while back and scoffed at the original price they wanted for it...

miamoto said...

SS, was that you who typed 'this typewriter is a rip off' on the paper?

I did spot your 'quick brown fox'es.... other gems on it were 'I love my mum' and 'candy is for babies'.

LaLa said...

You have probably already thought of this but I have read of a wedding where they had a vintage typewriter set up for people to write a message on (instead of those horrible stuffed cream bears they used to have)

miamoto said...

Absolutely, LaLa.... that's why I bought it :D it seems to be pretty common at lots of weddings I've seen featured on US wedding blogs... probably popularised by Martha Stewarts wedding website.

Cheap Thrills said...

Congratulations on your mission to not blow the budget. I had a similar mission for my wedding and it was amazing how the limited budget led to more and more creative ideas. I believe the AVERAGE Aussie wedding now costs $30,000.