Creating

A tea towel,

one very attractive thrifted vinyl pouffe for $2

and a linen tablecloth...

A bit of pinning and sewing later, and there you have it, a Tasmanian souvenir themed addition to the lounge room.

I'm working on making a bit of a dent in the tea towel collection, with over 30 suitable for making into cushions I have no excuses, so expect to see a few more creations showing up here.

Thrifting aplenty...

 These two have come in very welcome this past week with Mother Nature bringing with her some much needed rain.
A real bargain at $1 each.

 And some Johnson of Australia luck coming my way, these saucers, 50c each.

And a Book Fair was held late last week in one of the local churches, so of coarse I had to go for a bit of a look see. These LGBs came home with me, the lot for 60c.



And finally, if you haven't already and would like to help celebrate Zaranne Handmade's first Birthday and reaching 100 followers (yippee), I'm holding a little give-away of one of my tea towel cushion covers,

(like these ones...)

then you can join in here.

Around here...

Days off... Oh how I look forward to mornings without the need for 5am alarms. Yes, that means waking up after the almost daily frosts have melted and minus temps have warmed into the positives ever so slightly. The to-do list on the fridge is overflowing: batches of brownies to be baked, cushion covers to be sewn, wall art to be created, prints to be framed and hung, farewell parties to attend, new cookbooks to be devoured, op-shops to be explored, picnics to be had, and winter seeds to be planted... I shall be busy.

May your days off be lovely ones.

Thrifting along

Spotted on the top shelf amongst all the 'modern' suitcases, this one was hidden. The usual thought went through my head, you know the one- I wonder which op-shop lady was pricing when this piece came in? The range of prices can be remarkable and quite unpredictable.  But what a surprise, a nice surprise at that, the case was marked $2, so of course it came home with me. Currently stacked with the rest of the cases, filled with floral sheets and tablecloths.

My new favourite piece of Pyrex, and how could it not be- pink floral, with a lid, perfect condition and $4. 

 Zippers with the sweetest pull pieces, which will feature on the prize for this give-away.

50c each

and a teacup, 50c.

1 year

Today marks one year to the day that I began this little blog here, Zaranne Handmade. I really had no idea what I was doing when I began, and had many a moment of thinking no-one was interested in reading or viewing my posts let alone feeling it was worth commenting on. Slowly but surely though, the comments appeared and the followers increased as did the assurance that I was kinda on the right track and that fellow bloggers liked my posts.

So a very big thank you all my lovely readers, commenters and followers for your kind words, encouragement and inspiration. It means so very much to know that I am a part of this here wonderful blogging community.

Thank you also for letting me share with you a part of me: my crafting, sewing, op-shopping, baking, gardening, the chooks, the kitties, the move, and the ever-expanding crockery and cutlery collections .

So in celebration of my one year blog anniversary and also secondly, my recent milestone of 100 followers, a little give-away is in order I think. And there being two reasons to celebrate then two give-away prizes are a must.

So I was thinking along the lines of a tea-towel cushion cover, like the ones above, seeing as I'm on a bit of a cushion cover sewing roll and they're about all I get time to make these days; plus a few other goodies both handmade and maybe thrifted, to two of my blog readers.

So if you'd like to participate in my one year blog anniversary and be in the running for a give-away or two, just simply leave a comment.

(Open to one and all, wherever in the world you call home)

x

Woollen

Now I don't really thrift much in the way of clothes (well nothing worth showing off here anyway), but a recent trip to Blayney and the discovery of the sweet little Anglican Op-shop there, choc a block full of loveliness revealed one piece of apparel I thought worthy of a blog post.

And here it is...

the sweetest woollen jumper I've seen in a long while. The scene depicted is very fitting too, as the picturesque drive to the township of Blayney reveals many a hilly paddock dotted with sheep, and fences lined with pine windbreaks against the grey Autumn sky.

And as the temps drop significantly here, with just last week the thermometer displaying -4C on the drive to work, I can see this jumper getting a fair bit of wear over the coming months as the weather only gets cooler. And for a grand total of $2 I'm sure I'll get my monies worth.

Op-shopping around

Cross-stitch tablecloth, $2

Four side plates for $2

And a new-to-me Johnson design in the form of two lovely dinner plates, 20c each. How I love discovering not-before-seen Johnson patterns, the array is amazing.

Pillowcase, 50c

Sheet, $2

And added to the 'To Read' list for 50c


Have you had some success in op-shopping of late?

And yet another..

tea towel cushion cover

tea towel: thrifted

zipper: thrifted

vintage sheet (end panels): vintage sheet FQ swap

bolster cushion insert: thrifted

Thrifted

A lone Johnson dinner plate, 50c

Linens

From top- 2 pillowcases, 50c each; single sheet, $2; and Queen flannelette, $4

And more Golden Books to add to the shelf, $1 for the lot.

Wishing you all a lovely week ahead.