Saturday Salvo's Shop

We have been on a bit of an op-shopping hiatus of late, but a spare Saturday morning

provided the opportunity to visit the Salvo's shop in Weston and Phillip.

Sodafloss purchased a Carolyn Taylor double breasted tartan jacket, and an old schools straw boater from Onley Headwear in the UK.

Some $2 CDs and a DVD, and some more patterns for the stash.

Thanks to the I-op Facebook group, we also picked up a Wacky Racers curtain, that will be made into clothing. Unfortunately it had already been put in the soaking bucket before I got to take a photo.

Total outfit for $11? ...only from an op shop!

(Reposted from Fotofraulein...)

Sometimes I find gold and on my last day before heading back to work, I scored gold. I headed out to Salvo's in Fyshwick as I hadn't been to the southside of town for a while and in particular to Fyshwick.

Being a weekday it was quiet and there wasn't a queue for the change room. I'm on the hunt for a crop demin jacket. Do you think I found one? No, but of course I couldn't leave empty handed. On the half price rack was a linen Marks and Spencer skirt for $3. I love the black with the cream and peachy colour block hem.

Not one to usually look at the shoes today I did. And thank the op shopping stars I did! Funkis clogs $5, in size 41? Yes please! And they look brand new!

The thought of ironing work clothes does not thrill me, so during my first week back at work I headed into Vinnies Mitchell, picking up a cute, cool, non iron Liz Jordan top for $3. And to finish off my bargain $11 outfit, a handmade necklace, made by my darling friend Libby.

Liz Jordan top - $3 (Vinnies Mitchell)

Marks and Spencer skirt - $3 (Salvo's Fyshwick)

Funkis clogs - $5 (Salvo's Fyshwick)

Total spent: $11

Salvo's Mitchell

Reposted from Fotofraulein.

If I enter an op shop with something in mind, I always come out with more than anticipated.

I went in today to buy ice cube trays. I got them... along with a few other things.

Two Ikea ice cube trays for $3 each. I'm sure they are actually cheaper at Ikea, but hey, I'm giving to a charity and it's cheaper (and quicker) than a trip to Ikea in Sydney, so I'm not complaining. I also got a pink silicon Masterchef Muffin tray for $3, which I will also use for ice cubes for punch bowls or jugs of iced tea.

Brand new, still with the tags on, a Virtu Janey cardigan in dark gray for $15.

Although it is the middle of Summer, this will be a great edition to my wardrobe in Autumn or Winter. The cardy has large press studs down the side, so it means it can be worn numerous ways.

As it's too hot to take photos in a knitted vest, here are some photos from the Virtu site.

My ways of mending

One of my secret pleasures is hand mending and its friend unpicking.  I love the feeling that using a skill like sewing on a button and making small repairs without resorting to a noisy machine gives.  There is an immense feeling of satisfaction to be derived from hand-hemming.*

I'm not so fussed on sewing in the ends of my knitting, but that's a whole other story.

Unpicking garments to recut or reuse the fabric is something I learned from my mother and her mother, as  was unravelling knits to resue the wool.

This little hand made sewing caddy was $4 at Salvos Fyshwick this morning.

I love that someone made the little wooden rocking chair with orange corduroy upholstered seat/pincushion for a sewer.  It has the feel of a school woodwork project.

I also appreciate that it holds all the basic threads I use for hand mending, a thimble, some pins, sewing needles and the tools of the unpicker's trade, a quick-unpick, small sharp scissors and a fine gauge double pointed knitting needle.

*Yes, I will do hand sewing for other people.  And yes, I will charge in cash or kind.

Cross posted from Unravelled.

To eat or to op

Another opportunity to pop out to the op-shops at lunchtime with The Shopping Sherpa, this time to Vinnies and Salvos in Phillip.

The Vinnies store has made it a lot easier to look through their fabrics and machester - the 3 metres of red and while polka dot will be great for one of my daughter's textile assignments - at $3 p/m it is a lot better value than calico.

A few more patterns are added to the stash, all with a 1980's theme - a blouse pattern from the Brooke Shields signature pattern collection and a knitting pattern with each of the models standing in front of a 'popstar poster' (Madness anyone?).

Also love our 'The Ugly Dachshund' Little Golden Book.

'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).

I'm dreaming of an op-shop run

As the The Shopping Sherpa alluded to in the previous post, I had  an inkling that an op-shop run was needed - and it was not going away.

It is fun to not only have another 'I Op' colleague to work with and being able to pop out for a quick look around in a lunchtime break.

My finds are all from the Salvos at Fyshwick - I don't normally purchase 80s style dresses ($9), it's for my teenage daughter who loves to look like she goes to school with Ferris Bueller and definitely can not remember big shoulders the first time around.

Digging through the vintage sewing patterns, I found my 'score' of the day - vintage Disney cloth patches. The stash of patterns, cloth patches and tapestry threads came to a grand total of $4.

Hopefully more lunchtime trips will be planned.

A lunch run

One of the (many) fabulous things about where I work is the easy lunchtime access to a selection of op shopping ...err opportunities.

This week Teak has been muttering about her growing urge to do an op shop run and last night I had an op shopping dream. So it was clear we needed to head out at lunchtime. We chose the Fyshwick/ Narrabundah option this time.

Teak did well at Salvos Fyshwick (and has promised to share her scores here). I bought a wooden puzzle for $1, inspired by Jan Hogan's work Little Red Riding Hood which is part of the excellent 100% Books by Canberra Artists currently showing at The Watson Arts Centre.

I did very well at Vinnies Narrabundah, scoring a number of finds for my stall at next month's Sydney Miniatures Show. The plastic baskets (one large: $2, four small: $1 each) and the black and white boxes ($2.20 for the set) will be used by shoppers to hold their items while they shop the stall. And the wool (250g 8 ply in yellow: $7.50 and three balls of 4 ply: $4 total) will be used to knit my next colour range of miniature pouffes.

One and a quarter hours later, and $20.70 poorer, I returned to work a satisfied shopper.

Southside Samplings

We have squeezed in a few visits to op-shops on the Southside, in January (it is handy that a Salvos shop is located in the same area as our Doctors).

It seems there have been some cupboards been cleaned up over summer, and I have managed to add a number of sewing patterns to my collection. Just after Christmas we managed to find a set of leather bound Les Miserables books, published in the 1950's. Sorry no photo, as they were given away as a January birthday gift.

The Salvos at Tuggeranong is apparently way overstocked with books - we picked up a some hard copy Harry Potters for $1 each, including some with the 'adult covers'.


Vintage sewing patterns, a 12 cup Bodum, and European phrase book.



1980's dress



some Disney

ETA: with the Salvo's store - not Smith Family shop.

Salvonista - Saturday 20 October

Salovinsta mobile boutique will be in Canberra this weekend:

Saturday 20 October
10am - 5pm
Gungahlin Place, Gungahlin

Check out Salvonista for more details.

Salvos Weston reopens

Saturday 16th June at 9am.

More from Mitchell

Salvos Mitchell is having a book sale until Saturday, with tables filled with books priced from $2.00 to $4.00 each.

I may or may not have staggered out with a rather large pile after my visit this afternoon...

From the latest issue of BRW

Charity begins at the stores: "The Salvation Army's shops have gone from cluttered to classy. The cheak and now chic Salvos stores have had a professional revamp and it's worked."

A bit further away ... in Bowral

I know Bowral does not technically fit within the ACT & surrounds area, but I thought I would share my find from the Salvo's shop.

My new addition to my sewing machines is a very ornate vintage Victor De Luxe. Made in Japan this machine is in great condition. For $10 it was a purchased on a whim, it would either work (which it does) or make a very nice decoration.

It was 50% off manchester, so this souvenier tea-toel from Land of Legend on the Gold Coast was purchased for 25 cents.

Magnificent vintage ties

On a recent visit to the Salvation Army in Woden/Phillip, I hit the jackpot! Magnificent vintage ties!!!

A few small stains that I'll need to work on, but other than that they are in great shape. A couple of Pierre Cardin in there too. At the same time, I picked up a pair of vintage Van Heusen grey wool trousers that are currently at the tailors.

Trousers - $7

Ties - $1 each

$13 in total... jackpot!

Beyond Canberra: The Goulburn Treasure Trove of Oppies

Hello everyone! I'm a long time follower but this is my first post to this blog. I am a huge op shopping fan, currently residing in the lovely capital. If you'd like to check out my op shop finds over the last few months, the best place to go is my blog: .Simply Me. I only started blogging a few months ago, and to date most of my posts are about op shopping in Canberra and Perth! Otherwise, from now on I will also be posting some of my finds on here. 

My friend and I decided to go on an op shopping roadtrip to Goulburn last weekend- perfect timing as Monday was a public holiday in the ACT but not NSW. Here are the shops we visited, and some reviews:

Australian Red Cross Clothing Shop

146 Auburn Street. Goulburn

Don’t bother with this place. They try to be “upmarket” and have prices to match, but not the goods. I saw several ‘Expression’ (Kmart brand) products with prices ranging from $15-$20. They were probably cheaper new! I didn’t see anything worthwhile, nothing retro/vintage, and the prices are sorely inflated. For example, $13 for a used straw beach hat (no brand name). In a town with so much competition, I’m not sure how this place survives. The only shop where neither of us bought a thing!

Big Heart (Mission Australia) Op Shop

Shop 2, 148-158 Sloane Street. Goulburn

This was my favourite oppy – so cheap and such amazing retro crockery. They charge by the kilo for clothing ($5 per kilo)- my friend found an amazing vintage skirt and it cost her... wait for it.... 70 cents! Crockery was priced between 50c and $5, and books are 5 for $2.

Salvation Army — Red Shield Family Store

123 Auburn Street, Goulburn

This place is reasonably priced with sale racks up the front (vintage blouses for $1 when I was there). They have a large range of crockery and bric a brac, which unfortunately is mostly unpriced. You are at the mercy of the staff member who makes up a price on the spot, which I find a bit frustrating. Definitely worth a look see and on the whole the prices are good.

Smith Family Store

Ellesmere Street, Goulburn

This place had the best retro/vintage stock of everywhere we visited. I picked up my stunning 80s dress for a vintage ball there for $12, marked down from $25. They have a really large range of clothing, with less bric a brac. Clothing prices range from $2 - $10, with vintage items up to $25.

St Vincent De Paul — Vinnie’s Centre

Central Arcade (opp. Post Office), Auburn St, Goulburn

Friendly staff and standard prices, mostly ranging from $3-$10 for clothing. They didn’t have much crockery or bric a brac in stock on my visit, it was mostly clothes.

Trish’s Trash & Treasure

1 Fenwick Cres, Goulburn (entry from Bradley St)

From the outside, we expected this place to house mostly furniture but inside we were surprised and amazed at the treasures it holds. Plenty of crockery, a lot of it dusty and dirty and you need to sort through it all to find the gems... but find the gems we did! The prices are very reasonable – my tea set (tea/coffee pot, 4 mugs, sugar) was $5. The prices varied though- I was surprised to see that a vintage Willow tray in very poor condition was $20. My friend picked up some hand painted pie dishes for $2 apiece.

And now (drumroll please....) for the day's finds:

Handpainted baking dishes, $2 each. Lemon water jug, $1. Tea set + potholder, $5.

Coffee set (pots, mugs & sugar holder) $5, Tasmanian pottery teabag holder $2.

Mushroom jar $2, strange pottery piece 50c. 

Pyrex 50c! Arcopal France bowl, 50c.

Vintage bag $3, Johnson Australia Pottery bowl 50c.

 Hens party / wedding gag g-strings, 50c each.

Yellow stripe water jug $1, Op shopping bag {>>

Lambada leather tote, $10

 Unusual felt & knitted framed picture, $3

 Vintage orange skirt, 70c!

The most spectacular find of the day is yet to be posted, it's an amazing 80's dress that I'll be wearing to a vintage ball very soon... I will post photos after the event in my blog!

Today's Finds

I have not been op-shopping for ages - I am going to try to get to a few this week....

Today was Salvos' at Tuggeranong. They had 50% off all red ticket items - not that I noticed until we were paying. There were a lot of 1980's inspired clothing - think big chunky patterned jumpers.

A Josephine Chaus shirt - I love the
thickness of the stripe - $7

For my daugher, a BNWT, ValleyGirl
stripe pinnafore - Red Ticket Item - $2.50 

1980's dress - $7

Degrassi Schools Out DVD - the end of series movie
the ABC never seems to screen $5
The Jane Austin Book Club $1 (they had another copy marked at $3)
Snoopy Book $2

Just for Kids at Salvos

Anonymous from the comments asks:
Hi, I saw an add in the northside chronicle today for a Salvos stores "just for kids" sale from the 9th - 16th of april. at the mitchell store. but can't find any more info on what on offer or the opening times. have they done this before? is it worth me dragging kiddies out for?

Anyone have any info?  There wasn't anything in store at Mitchell when I was there Monday.

Sounds like it's discounts on kids clothing, possibly toys, too.

Do post or comment if you have more info.  I'm not going to have time to ring them tomorrow.

Homage

We couldn't get to the Charny Carnie today, but some of our purchases were apposite. Fortunately the only mullet we spotted was $6 a kilo at Fyshwick markets. ;)

Crocs, Vinnies Monster Sale, $3 and Bogan Pride DVD, Vinnies Dickson, $4.

On a classier note, we picked up this Wedgewood coffee pot in the Pennine design for friends who have collected this pattern for more than 40 years. It was $2 at Salvos Fyshwick Bargain Basement.

How to celebrate Canberra Day...

...head interstate to op shop!

Taph and I headed to Goulburn for the first time in far to long to update the I Op listings.

And just as well we did: there've been some changes since we last visited.

Father Riley's op shop closed down last Thursday. Not that you can tell from the front:

It was only when the front door didn't open and we went round the back that we found some staff and were told they had closed. We also discovered that the Salvos that used to be at the back of the arcade has moved:It's now located at 123 Auburn Street: on the other side of the road, at the other end of town.

Hours are Monday to Friday 9:30am - 5pm, and Saturday 9:30am - 12:30pm. At the moment they have a special on summer clothing: Ladies or children's summer clothing is $2 a bag.

Inside is large and airy, with a good craft/ manchester selectionand a number of "rooms" set up with the furniture they had for sale.
What we didn't like was the lighting: with only half the lights on it was difficult to see the details of some of the clothing in the centre of the shop.

And, although there were many interesting things, they were all marked with the dreaded "NFS". The woman behind the counter explained that they kept the items to make interesting displays. I just found it very frustrating that every time I spotted a treasure from across the shop, on closer inspection, it bore the dreaded "For display only" sign.

The prices seemed inconsistent, but on the high side.

And a newcomer to the scene since we last visted: The Purple Patch, run by Anglicare at 232 Auburn Street.

Open Monday - Friday 9:30am - 4:30pm and Saturday 9:30am - 12:30pm, we found this a very inviting shop which sounded good and smelt divine. The wooden floorboards were a lovely touch for a Canberran (as was the beautiful fireplace I spotted behind the large sized clothing rack). And the fact that I managed to grab a bag of three balls of Jo Sharp and Aliseo wool for $5 total and Taph found the cutest black and white spotty sundress for $3 (they have half price on all summer clothing) made us very happy.

Did you head across the border to op shop today?