Vintage 1960s and 1970s acetate scarves

Matamata Op Shops

I visited two charity shops in Matamata recently. The Op Shop is a traditional opportunity shop and has heaps of clothes and books and shoes – very cheap. I bought a bag of books for $3. Unfortunately, I arrived close to closing time on a Saturday so I didn’t have time to rummage properly but this shop deserves a look. Bargins to be had here.

On the main street is Twice Upon a Life Time Op Shop. It’s well presented but quite pricey. The lovely mirror – pictured below – was reasonable at $25 but I didn’t know where I would hang it in my house so I left it behind.

Buy of the Day

Lockdown is over and lots of people used the time at home to have a clean out of unwanted items.

My favourite find of the day is this Coca-Cola advertising board for $2.

Vintage Oroton purses

I’ve always loved this brand, it was my favourite in the 1980s. $2 each – great find.

Vintage tapestries

As the baby boomers downsize, I’ve noticed a number of beautiful tapestries arriving at the op shops. I bought two recently for $10 and $5 – yes $5 respectively.

I paid $10 for this metre long tapestry.

I paid $5 for this beautifully framed tapestry.

Buy of the Day – vintage brooches

I remember my mother wearing similar brooches when I was a child in the 1970s so I just had to buy these lovely brooches from my local op shop. My favourite is the red rose. xx

The four-day lifespan of my new Basics umbrella

While op shopping recently, I paid $2 for a new, with tags RRP $12 Basics-branded beach umbrella. I would never buy this item or a similar item new because, in my honest opinion, it didn’t look suitable for the job but I kind of hoped it would prove me wrong. Plus I didn’t have time to drive to Mitre 10 to buy a better umbrella.

Day one on the beach the clip, which holds the umbrella to the pole stopped working or broke, but overall the umbrella provided shade as long as it was secured to the pole by robe or a hair tie – we used both on separate days – otherwise the umbrella would fly off the pole and blow down the beach after a light gust of wind. It also meant the umbrella sat low on the pole but we were able to cope with that.

The wire arms of the umbrella often popped out of the small plastic bits holding them to the bottom of the umbrella’s skin. This was annoying and could have hurt someone if they were hit in the eye by the loose wire.

The pointy bit at the end of the pole that goes into the sand fell off.

Day two: the umbrella turned inside-out a couple of times in the wind – which wasn’t strong, and this put a lot of stress on the item so that a wire arm on the umbrella became misshapen and broke from the tiny piece of flimsy cotton holding it on to the skin of the umbrella. We put it back into place where it held for most of the day.

Day three: The wire holding the misshapen umbrella arm broke but the umbrella was still useable. We secured the broke wire to the pole with a hairtie and the arm of the umbrella had to be put back in place occasionally.

Day Four: After being turned inside out a couple of times during the day due to small gusts of wind the wire holding all the arms of the umbrella at the top of the pole broke and the item fell apart and became unusable by the end of the day at the beach.

This item is not suitable for NZ beaches. A slight gust of wind will blow it inside out. Dear manufacturers: There is no point making and selling these items – it will just end up in landfill within days.

Flowers in the Attic saga

Today’s find was Flowers in the Attic and Petals in the Wind published in the 1980s  – the original covers. The covers look like the past 38 years have not been kind! But the spines are good and all the pages are there – still readable.

 

Hospice Shop Helensville

This is a must-go to op shop. Sooo much stuff at very reasonable prices ie 4 kids books for $1, lots of clothes, furniture, household stuff etc. Easy parking beside this large op shop. It is on Mill Rd. Also visit the St Johns Op shop on the town’s main street. I didn’t have much time to go through this shop but it was clean and well organised.

 

Browns Bay op shops

The Red Cross shop and the SPCA shop were both well organised and very clean. We didn’t make it to Hospice this time but picked up a few CDs and books in both shops. So easy to get a park at Browns Bay and wander around the shops.