'Magnifique'

A school holiday op-shop outing to visit Y's Buys (who must have the best craft set up of any op-shop in Canberra), Salvos and Vinnies in Belconnen, and while we looked around and hunted through racks of clothes and shelves of crockery, we did not seem to find a great deal that screamed 'take me home'.

We did find a few books, knitting needles and sewing patterns to add to current collections, an old version of Sim City that  still works on our old PC and Buffy Season 1 on DVD (the universe must have heard me saying I had never seen it).

YMCA Garage Sale

The first YMCA Garage Sale of the year is on this Saturday, 2 February.

8am-12pm
Mueller Street
Yarralumla

We didn't get to many last year, so am really looking forward to to this one.

Anyone else going?

Y? It's a sale.

I made a visit to the Y shop in Belconnen, and discovered that they are having a Half Price Sale.

The ladies behind the counter said It goes until this weekend, but if they do not shift enough stock, then it will continue next week. Also this sale is only at their Belconnen store.

Ops this week

Charity Book Fair
RB Smith Community Centre, Crawford Street, Queanbeyan
Friday 4 February (5-8 pm) and Saturday 5 February (10 am-2 pm)
Wide variety of second-hand and near-new books. Fiction and non-fiction at bargain prices.

YMCA GARAGE SALE
Meuller St, Yarralumla
8 am-12 pm
$5 bags clothes $10 boxes books.

Something for the Weekend

Saturday 9 October offers two of the less frequent op-shopping experiences

The YMCA Garage Sale starts at 8am in Meuller Street, Yarralumla.  Not the mega sales they used to be, the Y sale is still great value.

From 1-3pm, the Finnish Lutheran Church on the corner of Gould and Watson Streets is having a fete/op-shop.  TOF and I experienced this wee gem back in July and it was great.  If you get there early, you can buy coffee and Pulla (a traditional tea bun) from Noon.

To market to market

Reprinted from The Shopping Sherpa

With Rooruu in town for the Quilt Show (and pretend grumbling about the fact we hadn't arranged the exhibition opening to coincide) there was a mini bloggy meet up this morning.

This time I introduced her to Trash and Treasure, where I accidentally spent this week's grocery money on a number of treasures (with much encouragement from beside me) including the find of the year: a vintage laminate top table. In grey. For $20.

But wait! It gets better...It folds up!

So it's perfect as an extra work surface in my studio when needed, and able to be tucked away when not...Other treasures that followed me home: (Doll's hutch dresser: $5, doll's size sewing basket: $2, giant metal nut container: $5, 2 vintage rulers: $3, vintage snakes and ladders board: 30 cents (that was actually from Ys Buys), sewing machine accessories box: $2, record cabinet: $7 (from a blog reader! *waves*), Dover books, reading and writing clip art book: $2, vintage music case: $10)

(I'm feeling all very Fresh Vintage, being able to take a shot like this)

And here's a picture of the top of the sewing machine accessories box:Love that lettering!

Peachy

A good day frugalling for us today.

I picked up a pair of brand new snow boots for $20 ($300 retail) at a garage sale, along with some sewing fabric at $1 a piece.

But best of all, four Fowler's jars for $1.50 each at YMCA  Belconnen.  The Old Flame and I are loving bottling fruit, and these jars (long with the two TOF picked up for $1 each last week) are excellent additions to the working collection. 

Anyone know of fruit or jars going spare?  Happy to pick our own if your tree is overloaded and you don't have the time or inclination to deal with it.

YMCA garage sales

First YMCA garage sale of 2010

Saturday 6 February

8am - 12 noon

in the YMCA building in park on Meuller Street, Yarralumla.

See you there.

Lunchtime finds

I managed to pop over to Y's Buys at lunchtime today (yay! op shopping!) and spent $4.30 on this:

Four rolls of vintage wallpaper, a good dolls house scale, for $2 the lot (let me know if you'd like some and we can arrange a swap). Three rolls of vintage tape for $2 the lot. And a length of braid for another 30 cents. I was well pleased with my haul.

Belco round-up

The YMCA at Belconnen has half price on everything in store, so if you're after an orange and brown Monier crockpot with the original recipe book, it's yours for $5.

Vinnies has expanded their clothing racks, and they've got heaps of kids rash vests if you want to get in early for summer.

And there's a "silent sale" at the Salvos - I didn't find out about it until I asked how much the old magzines were. If you buy one of their reusable bags for 95 cents you can fill it with books for free. Bad luck if you wanted the 25 Gourmet/Gourmet Traveller magazines from the late 1980s and early 1990s, as I've greedily snaffled them.

Some favorite finds.

Hello,
Although this is my first post in this blog, I have been op-shopping in Canberra for as long as I have lived here, some 8 years or so. I think op-shopping is in my blood. I get that withdrawal mood when I haven't op-shopped for a while. ;-)

I'm going to share with you some of my all time favorite finds.

$1, Scullin Op-shop

It was covered in ugly dirty clear plastic. I almost walked out the door before went back to check it out. Bingo! Underneath the plastic was this stunning handmade embroidery. Still hanging proudly in the guest bedroom.

$8, YMCA Jamison (now Belconnen)

This is one of my earliest op-shop finds. Bought this some seven years ago and it's still being used as the most favorite TV blanket in the house. Every house guest has seen this. Also used as a background in many family photos. ;-)

What are your favorite op-shopping finds?

Second hand Show and Tell

(Reprinted from The Shopping Sherpa)

It was wonderful to have time yesterday to do one of my favorite op shop loops.

First stop was Salvos Mitchell where I picked up a book and a paper making kit for $5 total (just what I need: another hobby. But for under $5 I figured it could sit in the craft cupboard until inspiration struck. And if that never happened I could donate it to the Community Arts tent at The National Folk Festival next year)
Salvos Belconnen provided me with three CDs for $4 each: Hoodoo Gurus' Ampology (especially pleased with this one as I don't have any Hoodoo Gurus on CD and this is a very comprehensive double best of collection), Norah Jones' Come away with me and The Whitlams' Torch the moon (another double CD which contained a cover version of my favorite Icehouse track)

Keeping to the music theme, at my next stop ( Y's Buys Belconnen) I picked up some recorder tuition books for $1 each. This week I rediscovered a recorder I picked up second hand ages ago and had the sudden urge to do something with it. So I'm planning to reteach myself to read music, a skill I last used about twenty five years ago. I surprised myself last night by discovered I can play Depeche Mode's Just can't get enough by ear...

And at Vinnies Belconnen I found this.... err... thingy for $3: No idea what it is but since it looked like it could be a spinny weavy type thingy I bought it on the off chance that it could be useful for Taph. Any ideas what it might be?

YMCA garage sales

I saw this on the door at the Belconnen YMCA shop.

I guess the last line is the important line. Future sales will be the first Saturday of even numbered months (First Saturday of February, April, June, August, October and December).

I wonder if they realise that these dates include the October long weekend and Easter 2010 is going to be April 2 until April 5.

YMCA CLEARANCE SALE

Saturday 30 May

10am – 3pm

YMCA Yarralumla, Mueller St.

(next to the tennis courts)

Clearance SALE - All goods reduced to clear – best offers accepted.

SALE INCLUDES:

Clothing, Manchester, Fabrics, Books, DVD's, CD's, Records, Toys, Games and Bric-a-brac.

We are also offering our famous $4 a bag Children's and Adults Clothes.

[YMCA Volunteers will be running the sale].

ETA - yes there was a sale last Saturday (23rd) and there will be another this coming Saturday (30th). It is small and is inside the hall only. According to the person I spoke to at the Y - this will be the last for the year.

Hello, I'm new here! *waves to the old hands*

Hello, I'm Zoe, a long-time op shopper, somewhat less long-time Canberra blogger (here on food and here infrequently these days) and very new member of the I op therefore I am team of Frugalistas.

Our car is in for repairs this week, so I made the most of clearish day last week to traipse around with traps with my 2 yo for assistance entertainment.

We went to the Salvos and Aussie Junk in Mitchell, to the YMCA in Kingston and the Salvos in Fyshwick. I had an appointment in Belconnen in the afternoon, so we finished up with a lightning raid on Salvos at Jamison, which confirmed its reputation (in my house at least) as the most "dreamin'" overpriced op shop in Canberra. I ended up with a most satisfactory haul that I think's a pretty good reflection of my particular op shopping fetishes - cookbooks (especially the Time Life Good Cook and Foods of the World series, some vintage and modern Australian cheffy type ones - here a TL Foods of the World folder with the Middle East volume), weird stuff about cats, cast iron cooking pots and pans, ($13 for saucepan, frypan and lid that fits both) vintage melamine (50 c), mystery kitchen appliances, some kids' videos (50 c each) and the occasional clothing item (a very nearly new pair of size 10 1/2 shiny patent boots for $25 from Salvos Mitchell).

Score of the day was the mystery appliance, which was $5 at the Fyshwick Salvos upstairs. It turns out to be the Benriner Cooks' Helper, $79 new at the Asian supermarket at Belconnen Mall. Even better, the manual's on the web, so my older son's been having "vegetable spaghetti" in his lunchbox. I love the internet ; )

Young man ... Go to the YMCA

On Saturday Taph and I went to the YMCA garage sale, because it is fun, to go, to the YMCA garage sale (Sorry, but as I write this, that song is still going through my head).

We got there after 12, and in doing so were able to pick up a couple of bargains. Taph managed to pick up all this Tupperware for a couple of dollars.

Y's Buys news

Y's Buys has everything half price at the moment: not sure how long for.

They've also just received a huge stash of handspun wool, which works out a 75 cents a ball after the discount.

Also in Belconnen, it looks like Colleen is back at Vinnies as their wool bin was full as well, with some rather interesting looking bags of yarn in there...

Say it isn't so!

I picked up a flier for the next YMCA Garage Sale when I was at Y's Buys today:But did you notice? *sigh*

A few other Xmas closing dates.

Here are a few other Xmas closing dates for op shops in the Belconnen region.

The Y Shop
Closes 23 Dec. Re-opens 2 Jan

Vinnies
Closed 25 Dec - 29 Dec & 1 January
open 30 and 31 Dec

Another Chance (Scullin)
Closes 12pm 20 Dec
reopens 10am 19 Jan

A thrifty find at the YMCA Garage Sale

A thrifty find and the Garage Sale
Originally uploaded by redmag

Thanks to both our human and canine alarms sleeping in...and a pre-arranged vet's appointment......I didnt have time to get much past the boxes of manchester at yesterday's YMCA garage sale...but i did strike gold there...this is one of the 5 table clothes I managed to stuff into my $4 bag - along with napkins, sheets, and a great little crochet granny square....although this one was bought with the intention of being chopped up and made into toys....after washing it seems too lovely to slice and dice and might end up on our table instead!

Nothing better than a good op shop on the weekend to make the coming week seem quite insignificant! Hope your hunting went well too.