Vinnies Mitchell Monster Sale

(Reposted from FotoFraulein)

I have a bit of an op shop addiction. But I like to think I have it somewhat under control. Somewhat, but not totally. Where does this obsession come from? Thrill of the chase? The hunt for a bargain? Being a poor university student for so long, which has seeped into adult life? For me, I see it as all of the above, plus I am giving to charity, rather than large multinational corporations. So, as I love op shopping and thrift stores so much, I'm going to do posts on my blog on Thursdays of my thrifting finds and anything ACT related I will repost on I Op Therefore I Am - ACT.

Towards the end of November 2013, the St Vincent de Paul in Mitchell had their monster sale. It started on a Friday, one of the great things about working in Mitchell, a visit fitted perfectly in my lunch break! 

The Vinnies warehouse, where the magic happens twice a year!

I spent $16 and what did I get?

Grace Hill Dress - $6

Capture Black Bolero Jacket - $3

The fabric in this dress has a real 1950s feel, with a satin waistband and neckline. I love pink and gray together and thought it would be great for Summer Christmas parties.

For work, I got this Suzanne Grae short sleeve top for $3. I loved the pattern and I find these tops a great alternative to t-shirts.

Both of the tops I bought have the art deco style sunrise motif. I do love art deco and when it's on fabric,  even better! Also for work and a casual Summer look, I picked up an Epilogue long sleeve top for $4. It is slightly hi-lo at the back, made of light weight polyester, quick drying, no ironing. I wear a lot of white, black and gray, so it goes with many things in my wardrobe.

So all up, a sensible shop, with quite a few good purchases. Have you been op shopping of late? What bargains have you picked up?

A message from Zonta...

'Girls, Girls, Girls,

Have you had the chance to clear out your wardrobe over the past twelve months?  Please think of us when you do, we want your clothes – The Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast will be holding the sixth annual Pre-Loved Designer, Retro & Vintage Women’s Fashion Sale on Saturday 1 March 2014, and we need your help to make it a success.

This is our major fundraiser, to give women and girls a better chance at research, education and training, provide birthing kits for women in developing countries and to supply women in local shelters a small amount of necessary items e.g pyjamas and shampoo, soap.  

If you are right sizing and restyling…please give us those unworn outfits languishing in your wardrobe – your unwanted clothing can help us provide awards to assist women who have no qualifications to embark on tertiary education for the first time.

If you have good-quality, contemporary items of clothing that you can spare – including bags and scarves – let us know and we’ll come and pick them up.

Email Zonta  with your address and phone number  to arrange collection.'

Christmas opping

Thought you might find a quick round up of some northside op shop Christmas trading hours useful (of course I should have thought of this before I left the house without my camera, so phone pics it is...)

Salvos Jammo:

Ys Buys Belconnen:

 Vinnies Belconnen (who win my prize for prettiest and clearest sign, but with points deducted for use of past tense for a future event):

 And Salvos Belconnen (Who win my prize for most confusing and negative sign):

 And, finally Vinnies Dickson which is also clear and easy to understand, with bonus points for outlining normal hours and wishing us a happy Christmas:

 Speaking of Christmas, here's further proof that you can buy anything at an op shop:

The op-shop guide to the Christmas market

I saw this story on the Canberra times Web site, and figured it was worth reposting a link to it here.

I would suggest it, read it, and then go through what you are about to donate to your local op-shop.

Here is the link to the story.

Ask and ...

Christmas baking began this weekend Chez Taph and TOF.

No sooner had the first fruit cakes hit the oven than I realised we didn't have enough cake containers for the 8 cakes to be made.

I blame the massive cull we did when moving house and finally consolidating collections in August.

A moan about not having enough Tupperware left our Facebook friends incredulous and a little gleeful at our predicament.  In a reply post I suggested a visit to the Green Shed might yield some cake tins but I secretly held little hope this close to Christmas.

Such sanguinity is borne of years of op shopping disappointments. It is a truism of op shopping that one cannot expect to find the exact thing one is after first off.

A lunchtime trip to Mugga Mugga yielded not only two Christmas themed tins in the exact sized required but a piece of furniture I described to TOF that morning to store our laptops and portable devices that I didn't know even existed.

Return of The Smith Family Store to Canberra

The Smith Family has reopened their Woden store, selling clothing, accessories and homewares, and are offering opening discounts of 25% until November 30.

Corner Launceston & Easty Streets

Phone: (02) 6232 5374

Opening hours:
Monday to Friday: 9.00 am to 4.45 pm
Saturday: 10.00 am to 1.45 pm 

The Brotherhood of St Laurence in Victoria has just started a series of short videos on how to get the most out of op-shopping.

I didn't learn anything new, but as a lifetime op-shopper, I am not the intended audience for this video.

What tips and tricks would you give to a new op-shopper?

A Raid on the NSW Op-shops.

This weekend we have a funny thing happen. In Canberra we get the Monday off as a public holiday, but for NSW it’s another normal working day.

For Taph and me this means a chance to raid the ops-shops of NSW on a normal working day. The question is where we will go.

We can go South and do Queanbeyan, Cooma, Nimmitabel, and then track back to Adaminaby?
We can go North and do Goulburn, Moss Vale, Bowral and Mittagong?

We were saving Yass, Harden, Young and Boorowa for later in the year. ideally that would be during the cherry season.

With so many options what should we do?

Also we need your help. If you know of any little shops in or near these towns that have not been reviewed here, then let us know.

New Opportunity

It is an exciting day indeed to find a new op-shop has opened. The new MS Opportunity Shop is located at Tuggeranong Homeworld (Soward Way, Greenway).

Opening hours Monday to Friday - 9.30am - 5pm and Saturday 9am - 2pm.

Now to just find some time to visit.

Winter wonders

I have a friend from out of  town who visits Canberra each year for the Craft & Quilt Fair. And it's tradition that we meet on the Sunday morning for Trash and Treasuring, followed by brunch.

This morning we went to both Jamison and Woden. And this morning we both bought typewriters (hers is a beautiful teal Olivetti, mine a more subdued cream Brother).

 I was excited to discover dolls house miniatures for sale at both markets and went a little overboard. The beady-eyed amongst you may notice a miniature typewriter beside the full sized one...

Other finds of the morning: a book on Banksy ($8), a rubber stamp that says 'bullshit' (50 cents), Powder Puff yarn for knitting miniature flokati rugs ($5, including colours not shown here). And a display case (not from Trash and Treasure but from Portobello Road at Old Bus Depot Markets) for $20.

And these mini socks were bought for me by my friend:

Because everyone needs miniature hand-knitted black and white socks, apparently...