Sunday 19 August 2012

Twinwood!




It's festival season again and we're getting our stock ready for Twinwood Festival. It's taking place over the August bank holiday weekend and is a celebration of all things vintage and Glenn Miller. 

We're taking our marquee and again we're sharing with Clare at Second Hand Rose. We've got loads of vintage goodies from clothing for both men and women and a nice selection of bric a brac. 

Here are some pics from last year:











If you like dancing, vintage tunes, nostalgia, vintage shopping and stunning old vehicles then this is the festival for you! There are still tickets available and the day tickets are a bargain! Follow this link for further info: http://www.twinwoodevents.com/tickets.html


Sadly this Twinwood Festival will be the last time we will be trading as Toadstool Vintage. Everything must go so come along and grab some bargains!! We will be taking a break from trading for a while and Toadstool Vintage will be no more. 

We want to thank everyone for their support over the past 4 years and we hope you will still support us through Worcester Arts and Vintage Events (WAVE)

I have started my own blog so please come and follow me on my new journey. I'll be sharing with you all my treasure hunting finds together with general news and ramblings of my life as an ex vintage trader. 

Take care everyone!

Loll
x

Sunday 10 June 2012

Jubilee Flea Weekend



Hi everyone! Sorry this took me so long to post but wanted to include something special I made using one of my Worcester Flea vintage purchases....read on to find out more!


This was my star find, and also first purchase, at last weekend's Jubilee Worcester Flea. It's from the 1970s and was an anniversary edition hence the unusual colour. It's fully functioning and comes with three different attachments (including the traditional K attachment) together with the original instructions. At a bargain price of £10 I had to snap it up as soon as it emerged from the stallholder's car boot! Buying this Kenwood Chef was a walk down memory lane for me as my Mum had a white one while I was growing up and it always made such amazing cakes. These mixers were introduced in 1950 and were priced at £19 10s. 10d. (£19.54). It has a revolutionary mixing action known as  the "planetary action" which means it manages to mix in every bit of ingredient in the bowl. 



These were a bit of a cheeky treat for myself from the lovely Sarah at Bringsty Vintage Living. They are super cute glazed pottery inkpot sized pots which cost me just £1 for all 3! I'm going to use them to put my make up brushes in on my dressing table.



This cute piece of German tupperware had to be mine! At just £3.50 I had to have it to have pride of place in Bertie our caravan. 



Next up I had a bit of crazy tin excitement in Sarah's tin basket! I couldn't resist this three bears themed tin together with these cute tiny tins containing their original contents. The Johann Faber's pencil tin contains the original paper interior complete with pencils which I've shown in the below photos. So lovely! 






Here's a little pic of one of our lovely stallholder's collection of Royal themed items which just added to our Jubilee theme for the day. People got into the spirit of things even in the pouring rain and howling icy winds so I'd like to thank each and every one of them for their support. 


Yummy union jack cupcake made by my niece Alexandra.

On bank holiday Monday we spent a lovely day with my family in Northampton where my super creative sister planned a day of Jubilee fun which included crown making, guess who with post it notes and lots of scrummy cakes and party food! We had a lovely day and it was great to unwind away from home.




Finally, I had to share this with you. As you may have learnt, I'm obsessed with all things handknitted. My lovely, and talented, sister Sandra has spent the last year and a half making me this beautiful orange and red knitted bag. So cute! I was eyeing up the same bag at Wonderwool Wales last year and Sandra sneakily bought the pattern and set to work making me one of my own! 

Tom had to work on the bank holiday Tuesday (the joys of working for an Engineering company) so I spent a very productive day clearing out some old stock and turning our spare room into more of a dressing room for me than a stock room. Worked out really well and I now feel like I have a whole new wardrobe to choose from! 

All in all had a lovely old royal time and hope you all did too!

Loll
x











Friday 11 May 2012

Bank Holiday Treasures!


Hello!

This weekend we (well I say we but it was I really as Tom was living it up in Hamburg on a stag do) had fun and frolics at The Worcester Flea on Sunday and then got all dolled up in our 40s finery for the VE Memories event at The Commandery on bank holiday Monday. Great fun was had by all and as usual some treasures were purchased by moi!


Here's me in my fantastic 40s style green shoes and silk dress together with the must have headscarf turban.

40s makeover supremo, our very own WAVEster Jo adding finishing touches to her makeover of Jo. 




Here are some of my newly acquired old treasures....


Stunning Art Deco wind up mantle clock.


Gold tone flower brooch now adorning my faux fur coat. 




Beautiful upcycled cabinet decorated with  an old picture of birds. 

Favourite charity shop find of leaf Wedgwood plates for just 20p each! And I couldn't resist this lovely tan leather wallet from Julie Thomas's stall at The Flea. 



I love this little vintage souvenir from Weston Super Mare. It's a mother of pearl purse with a sectioned interior which was probably used for carrying stamps or tickets. It's in lovely condition and was the stallholder's mum's so has a bit of a story. Couldn't say no for just £4!

I had to have this hedgehog pin from a local charity shop for just £1 and I fell in love with this Celtic amber coloured brooch from The Worcester Flea. One day I will have some padded display frames on my bedroom wall for all my lovely vintage brooches, just like Dita Von Teese. 




Ta ta for now!


Loll
x

Saturday 5 May 2012

Bank Holiday Frolics!


This weekend we're busy bees with TWO events happening over Sunday and Monday. 

First up is The Worcester Flea on Sunday 6th May and the sun is set to shine so it's going to be a lovely day all round! Come along and have a mooch, we'll be open from 10:30am until 4:30pm. 




Next up WAVE are helping The Commandery in Worcester to commemorate VE Day in style with a 40s fashion show together with vintage stalls, re-enactors and talks on life in the 40s. The vintage stalls will be open on Monday from 11am until 4:30pm. A great excuse to play dress up and enjoy some nostalgia!


See the Facebook event page for further details - Event




See you there!

Loll
x

Thursday 19 April 2012

Get the 40s look!





On the next bank holiday Monday we're spending the day celebrating the 1940s and everything wonderful that came out of it! We'll be at The Commandery as part of WAVE to comemorate VE Day in style.

To get you ready for joining in the 40s fun I thought I'd do a bit of a blog post on make up tips.




In the 1940s the male/ female balance shifted and women went to work while men went to war. For this reason make up was generally kept very simple to be practical in the daytime.

Eye makeup was kept very natural with brown and beige tones underneath nicely shaped eyebrows. Try sweeping some soft black or brown eye liner on to your upper eye lids to recreate that vintage look. They weren't afraid to use a bit of mascara too to add a touch of glamour!  

Your skin should have a flawless finish so try foundation with a matt base together with a very pale rose tinted powder.



The emphasis was always on the lips. Create a sense of allure using lip gloss over your lipstick to give a luscious finish. When recreating the 40s look nowadays people tend to go for the traditional red but they did use other colours such as orange and fuschia.

Right, hope those tips help you get ready to come and join in the 40s fun this bank holiday weekend! There will be loads to see including a fashion show, a 40s canteen and a great selection of vintage stalls. It's open from 10am until 5pm and the vintage fair is open from 11am until 4:30pm. For further details and 40s hints and tips check out our blog. Come and join us!

Loll
x




Monday 9 April 2012

Make Do & Mend - Retro Table Transformation





I fancied doing a little project after we bought this cute retro 1950s style table and it needed a new top. It would originally have had a formica top but this was removed before we bought it. We tried a couple of times to sell the table as a project but had no takers so thought I'd tap into my creative side and have a go myself.
 

Original condition

I have an abundance of old sheet music, some of which was starting to fall apart due to age, so I thought it was perfect for this project. I found a bottle of PVA glue in the garage and got tearing! If you fancy giving this a try yourself you don't need to go for expensive PVA glue. I used a bottle of cheap school PVA which I bought from The Works for just £2. I only used a tiny amount too so a bottle will last you for many more crafty projects to come! 




I started the layering process a section at a time by brushing on a thin layer of PVA over a small section and then sticking down the torn up pieces of sheet music. Then when the whole table was covered I brushed a thicker layer of PVA over the whole surface. For this project I made sure all the pieces went over the edge of the table and then when it was all dry I ran a sharp knife around the edge to make a neat finish. If you were using a thinner paper or fabric then you could wrap the paper/fabric over the edges and secure it underneath but this sheet music is very brittle so I decided to trim around the edges.






Ta da! Here is the finished table.


As a finishing touch I have gone around the edges with some PVA, which I brushed on fairly thickly, to ensure that the paper edges stay stuck down.

I'll be selling this lovely refurbed table at our next Worcester Flea on Sunday 6th May so if you fancy something unique come and have a look!

Happy Easter!!

Loll
x

Thursday 5 April 2012

The Worcester Flea - April 2012




Last weekend it was the wonderful Worcester Flea Market which I co-organise as part of WAVE. The sun was shining (which was a welcome surprise!) and as always I came back with some goodies for myself too.




One of our lovely stallholders gave me a wonderful gift of two vintage record cases for my growing collection of 78s. It was a lovely suprise as I had mentioned to her that I was looking for one. This one pictured above is my fave and also came with a few records as an added bonus! Can't wait to have a play and see what they sound like. Thanks again Cassie! 




To repay Cassie for her kind gift I had to have this cute soft black leather key case decorated with painted daisies from her stall. It's super handy as I always carry my door key loose in my bag. Had great fun working out how to attach my keys.  





Here are some pics below of what we had for sale on our stall. If you see anything you fancy why not send us an email and see if it's still available.















This time we started a new feature to The Worcester Flea - Item of the Month. This month I chose this stunning navy leather bag from the 1970s. Check out our blog for more details and photos.




The next Flea is going to be on Sunday 6th May so get saving your pennies and stick it in your diary!


Loll
x