Michael Powell Second Hand Shopping Win

I picked up this little cross stitch from Savers ringwood the other week. Normally I have a problem with buying second hand cross stitch when it pops up in opshops because quite often even if I like the design there will just that one stitch that is the wrong way round. My eyes will inevitably keep being drawn to that one place...over and over. 

But this one was lovely and despite being a bit squished in the frame a complete bargain. I'd looked at designs by Michael Powell before and liked them but nothing had inspired me (yet) to buy. I'm generally a design opportunistic buyer - I see I buy, I don't search. Also I'm not a fan of doing cross stitch designs that rely so heavily on backstitching.  I get disheartened waiting for the design to appear and stop stitching or feel at the end that the backstitching was too messy or invasive to the finished design. I think there is probably a greater chance of me not liking my finished work when lots of backstitching is involved too though that might just be personal bias rather than substantiated fact.

 

So I get my purchase home and open the frame up to see it I can tighten up the design since it wasn't sitting well in the frame and got a pleasant surprise. The frame was actually hiding most of the cross stitch :)

So for $2 I got a fully completed, well done mini cottage IV designed by Michael Powell and a spare frame. A very good day.

I brought a more appropriate frame and here you go, all the lovely with almost none of the work. I feel a little guilty. 

The design is framed up a little wonky but it's not really noticeable with the design set back from the glass. 

Easy Upcycle; tea light burner to hanging pot

Just a quick and easy Upcycle I got the time to do today. I brought the above little pot at a Vinneis second-hand shop the other weekend for $3. It was clear that in it's previous life it had been used to burn tea lights in as the inside had a liberal amount of smoke residue. A bit of dish-washing soap and elbow grease got it cleaned up easily.

the fly-wire on top of a tea box

The holes at the bottom were too big to be used immediately as a pot. Conveniently I had stashed some old plastic fly-wire mesh that would work for covering the base and stopping my dirt from pouring straight through. I cut it to a rough circle and shoved it in the bottom. Crude but effective. 

And before anyone asks, yes I do tend to hoard random stuff - but it eventually comes in handy as seen today. (or eventually gets thrown out - whichever option comes first)

With some more hemp rope as used in my treasure chest only this time brown I created the hanging part of a hanging pot. :) Everyone should have a spool of string running around the house somewhere, it's so useful and versatile.

I cut 4 lengths twice as long as I wanted it to hang. Then I doubled them over and looped them through each hole at the top of the pot, like you would a phone strap. One string for each hole.  I then looped them all together at the top using one strand to wrap around the rest and hold them all secure.

Progress shots at this point:

Though really there were like 3 whole steps to this protect so I'm milking it a bit.

 

Add some dirt and a little succulent plant I picked up at a garage sale last weekend for just this purpose and here you go, 

done;

 I'm hoping the succulent will grow to fill the top and delicately dangle over the edges while not obscuring the pretty pot.

Floss, floss and more floss.

Anyone remember the bag of second hand floss I picked up at Savers in November?

Well today I utilised my free weekend time to sort it. At $3 such a bargain.

So from a bag of random floss to 34 bobbins of colour. I'm going to use these plus the leftovers from the kits I've done to make some cross stitch buttons. (Self covered).

The amount of brown makes me speculate that the kit the floss originally came from may have been a teddy bear of some sort.

More from the Land of Secondhand

More secondhand shopping! 

This time it's a glut of cross stitch. I'm currently very happy and shopped out. It actually looked like someone had had a mini stash clean out.  There was 10 or more cross stitch kit just hanging there waiting for me when I dropped in to Savers - ringwood.  I managed to leave some that I found less appealing on the shelves for someone else to discover but still feel like I got more than my fair share.

So without further ado I give you my lucky purchases;

Cost a whole $1 AUD.

If I get the time I'll make it up for my Nan for Christmas.

My favourite, $2 AUD. I feel guilty it's such a bargain.

Sleepy kitty close up.

Big bag of mixed floss, it'll find a use I'm sure.

Very interesting floral bell-pull $3 AUD.

My phone randomly rotates my photo's. I give up.

And again $3 AUD for a serious bargain on the kookaburra.

I love kookaburra's they're so very distinctive.

Secondhand Shops = much love

I love looking around secondhand shops. You never know what you'll find. I also conveniently live within walking distance of five.

This weekend I visited Savers - Greensborough (a suburb in Melbourne). Twice in fact.

Savers is a chain of secondhand goods mega stores in the US, Canada and Australia. They give a bit of their profits to charity but I'm pretty sure the company makes a fair bit considering all the stuff they sell is donated and I'm sceptical of how much (%wise) actually gets redistributed to those in need.

Their pricing of items also seems a little bipolar, some good stuff is reasonable but absolute rubbish will have ridiculous prices and some things you could get cheaper new at a normal shop. Just plain odd.

Will this stop me shopping there? No but it is something to keep in mind. It helps avoid the big spends on stuff I don't really need.

But on from the depressing and slightly bitter.

I won't go through all the stuffs I brought but please admire the little lace butterfly. He was a bit costly for what he is at $4 AUD but two days later I still don't regret it so I know I made the right decision.

He's much cute.