Back to school...

I know personally, with 2 children in school this year (and only one income) it's going to cost us a motza to put our children into school this year!

Even though my girls both will attend a local Public School, book lists alone for the 2 girls this year topped $350, uniforms about $300 each (only buying basics) and decent school shoes around $80-120 per child.  That isn't including the Compulsory levy of $100 per child.  Hello New Year, buh-bye all the money I had in the bank.  

At a local Public High School where a young refugee boy will be starting high school it will cost his single mum $415 for their resource levy, and about the same again in uniforms ... that is without the book list.  

We are trying to help out some of our most disadvantaged clients with the increasing costs of our "free" education system.  

One of our lovely supporters, Erin from Repeated Originals has kindly donated to us this stunning Vintage Bridal Gown, to try and raise funds for the cause.

Desley has described the dress as "The guipure lace is wonderful quality and the two garments are in wonderful condition.  The guipure lace is European (maybe swiss) cotton guipure and would cost close to $1,000 to replace" 


The measurements are :
Bust 34"
Waist to 29"
Hips to 36"
Approx height to 5'4" - however the sheath dress does have generous side seams for alterations of up to 2" and the hem can go down about another inch comfortably.


We have listed it on eBay and would really appreciate it if you could share it with all your vintage loving friends.

Here is the :

Link for Vintage Swiss Guipure Lace Wedding Dress and Coat

we're almost out of the terrible 2's

Yep!

I've been a bit scarce from blogging of late, but with good reason.

We recently (probably in the past 4 weeks) have DOUBLED the number of people we have following us on Facebook! This is VERY exciting for me.  

I have been involved with Sandlewood Op Shop from the very beginning, and even before it's conception.  While the organisation Sandlewood has been around for many years, the Op Shop was the vision of my mum Desley, who spent many hours documenting, tabling and reporting so that the Organisation was able to get a Certificate of Sanction allowing it to operate the Op Shop.  The Op Shop was her "baby" as it were.  However, after ill health in November, she had to give up the reigns, and I was left in charge.

While I had always liked working at the Op Shop, I never enjoyed the mountains of paperwork involved (I still hate it!) and I was very frustrated by the prospect that we had.  We needed to grow the business in order to be able to help more people.  But to grow the business we needed to sell more, and with such limited time due to being taxi driver to my 2 girls, and a lack of honest & reliable volunteers I was stuck. Not only that, but space restrictions at the shop are so prohibitive that we aren't able to sell furniture etc, despite being offered it often by our donators.

When the Shop opened we used to sell things on eBay, but this same became too time consuming, and also very costly. 

Anyway, I started trying to hammer out a few things on Facebook, since anyone will tell you, I'm on it day and night.  Eventually we started getting more followers than just family and friends, and then something happened.  Literally within 2 weeks our followers doubled from around 250 to over 500!!

As a result, I've since been selling more via the Internet and meeting some really lovely, interesting people in the process.

But I digress, the point of my post.  

It's almost our Birthday!
We are turning 3 on the 31st of August.  

Source: enchantedmommy.com via Lee Ann on Pinterest

I need some help to try and think of a good special to run for our Birthday week.  It has to have something to do with the number 3 of course!   

The Great Adelaide Whirlwind Op Shop Tour

Last month on the Queens' Jubilee Long weekend we visited Adelaide.

It was the first time for us, with our main reason for visiting being *ahem* the Adelaide Zoo, so we could see the pandas.  

The reality was, that we just wanted to check out the Op Shops in another part of Australia!  


So on Saturday morning, we were absolutely delighted when Tami from More Than Vintage came by to collect us for what I have since dubbed the Great Adelaide Whirlwind Op Shop Tour, or GAWOST for short. 


Ever the host, Tami met us at our hotel and swiftly whisked us away to her favourite Op Shops to hunt for bargains and special little treasures.  All the while delighting us with trivia about Adelaide, like the population statistics {LOL - sorry it's an in joke!} 


After venturing into the first op shop, the boot of her poor car was heaving with all of our purchases.   


I was saddened to have to leave behind the.most.stunning! vintage blue dinner set, but alas there was no way to get her home safely to Brisbane :(  


We ventured into a grand total of 5 op shops in Adelaide on the GAWOST, in a period of just short of 3.5 hours.  Some were small, some were huge, but none really held more treasures than that first shop we ventured into bright and early on that Saturday morning. 


Just to prove it, here is Tami (left) and Desley (right) showcasing the results of the shopping trip back at the hotel.

We want to thank Tami so much for taking the time out to meet us, and to take us to her favourite shopping haunts.  We thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the GAWOST, and hope that we can come back again some time soon to continue on the adventure.


For those of you who haven't seen her store, Tami runs More Than Vintage where she sells an eclectic selection of VINTAGE - COUNTRY - SHABBY CHIC - VINTAGE STYLE - linen - craft - homewares - home decor.

DOILEYS

Doileys are one of those things that are easy to pick up in an op shop (Sandlewood Op Shop is no exception!).  

Many of them are handmade with love by previous generations and although some can be slightly imperfect, there are many uses for them that can still show off their true beauty and all the hard work someone has put into creating it.

Here are five ideas for ways to use Doileys...

1. Frame them

Photo Courtesy of craftynest.com

2. Jazz up your Clothes

Photo Courtesy of blog.craftzine.com

Photo courtesy of gizbabe.typepad.com

3. Make a Lampshade, Cover a Coathanger, or make a Dreamcatcher Yes, I know this is THREE, but think of it as 2 bonus ideas ;) 

Photo Courtesy of  abeautifulmess.typepad.com

4. Create Dainty, Romantic Decor 

Photo Courtesy of twinklemama.files.wordpress.com

Photo Courtesy of greenowlcrafts.blogspot.com.au

Photo Courtesy of needle-exchange.ca

5. Create funky jewellery and accessories

Photo Courtesy of sweetpaul.typepad.com

Photo Courtesy of  sincerelykinsey.blogspot.com

Photo Courtesy of craftster.org

Welcome back .... introducing "5 ways to"

BUTTONS

WOW! It's been almost 12 months since I blogged for the shop. How fast that time has gone!

Recently Des has been spending a bit of time doing some research on different uses for some of the common things that get donated to the Op Shop. This has been generating a fair bit of interest, so I've decided that once a week I'm going to blog on 5 ways to reuse/recycle/upscale a specific item.

Today I'm going to concentrate on Buttons.  You'll find that at most Op Shops you can pick up an assortment of buttons but my personal favourite are Vintage buttons.  

They aren't as easy to pick up around the traps these days, but if you are lucky enough and happen to find them, they are little treasures!  

Here are  a few simple ideas that you can do to recycle old buttons.  Please note that none of these items are actually with us for sale - they are simply to inspire those who like to create. 

Photo http://craftsolutions.tumblr.com/

Photo : http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=287652.0

Photo http://blog.craftzine.com

Photo http://buttonitupbook.wordpress.com

Photo : http://www.etsy.com/listing/94077960/button-heart-lamp-shade-cream-lamp-shade

have you visited since we remodelled?

Remodelling is almost complete and we would like to thank all our wonderful customers for their patience during our crazy shinnanigans (aka the shop refit). 

The refit has been a huge success, with more people than ever visiting our humble little shop since we reopened with our new floorplan.  We have been receiving many compliments from people visiting ever since!

There is more space to walk around inside, our fitting room has moved, and our front window has had a complete transformation with new shelving which allows us to display many more items than we ever could have dreamed of !!

I must try to remember to take some pictures and upload them to the blog and the website!

Right now I only have this picture, which was taken Thursday night after many hours of frustration trying to assemble the shelves that form the new window display...

The window display is constantly changing as things are sold and new items are donated or unearthed from storage.

Recent new additions to the shelves include some great science fiction novels by Robin Hobb,  Lian Hearn and many many more (we received about 2 full boxes of sci fi books so if this is your genre, please pop in and have a look - we have many that don't even fit on the shelves yet!).

So if you haven't popped in recently please call by and tell us what you think of our new look shop! 

all the cool people come to Sandlewood Op Shop.... seriously!

Yesterday we had the pleasure of having Katie in our shop. 

Katie is a personal style blogger and has created the blog Be Inspired. 

Her blog aims to "teach you a thing or two about how easy it is to be fabulous, confident and stylish, on any budget".

She's also a guest blogger for MTV fora.
Last month Katie bought a great jacket from the shop, which you can read all about by clicking here

Her next piece will also feature another purchase from the shop, so be sure to check it out.

NEW VINTAGE CLOTHING THIS WEEK

This week we have several new vintage/retro clothing items which have come in. 

We're currently in the process of laundering and marking - some is already out on the racks, but there is more to come!  If you are a vintage clothing lover, call in and take a look!

What's in the window this week?

1940's VINTAGE FUR CAPE 

This is the most gorgeous fur cape with pockets. 

It is fully lined in satin, and the fur and satin lining is in gorgeous condition.

  

What's in this week's window ??

Thanks to our customers who regularly comment on how inviting and interesting our shop window display looks.

I try my best {even though I'm not a window dresser} to display a range of interesting items from within the shop in our front window.   I thought I might try and regularly blog what's in the window, in order particularly to give some of our interstate lookers a chance to see some of the wonderful items we get.

Above : Vintage ceramic Bookends,   Vintage Cake Plate now SOLD

Above : Vintage Teapot

Above : Painted Timber Sewing Box {school project circa 1946}, Vintage Candleholders & Dish, Vintage Oil & Vinegar jars, Vintage Cut Glass Sherry Decanter, Vintage Small Round Frame with roses {circa 1950's} 

We've also got a collection of gorgeous Olga Berg Vintage inspired handbags.  Most of them will convert to a clutch look simply by putting the strap inside.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Olga Berg, they make lovely bags - mostly evening bags.  Sitting behind them in this photo are some whimsical little wooden birdhouses.  Too cute!!

** have you visited our website?? **

http://www.sandlewoodopshop.com.au/


We recently started a website, including information about the Shop and who we support, how to make a donation and other information about us.

There is also an "Items for Sale" page - and I will be listing things as they come in - in addition to our eBay auctions, this allows people from interstate to purchase items from us.

I have just uploaded 2 items - a great pair of vintage leather knee high boots- perfect for winter!, and a fabulous Country Road top that I just adore (if only it would fit me!!) .... so please stop by and have a look.... more items to come as time permits!

http://www.sandlewoodopshop.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=2&Itemid=4

** VINTAGE JEWELLERY HERE SOON **

We have a number of vintage rings on their way to us.  They include two stunnning estate opal rings and an oval shaped signet ring.  They will be all reasonably priced at around $100 so keep watching this space.

** vintage crystal necklace with matching earrings **

SOLD

This beautiful Genuine vintage (1030s?) 3 Strand Crystal Necklace has matching earrings, the longest of the strands measures 43cm (17 inches).


This stunning necklace is in immaculate order. These Aurora borealis crystals sparkle brilliantly, and are very GOOD quality (vintage swarovski?).

The necklace fastens with a silver tone hook and silvertone links.

The clip on earrings are also in great condition and are in the form of a flower (7 crystals), both silver tone clips are in good working condition. There is very little wear to the aurora borealis finish on any of the pieces. I cannot see any wear to the silver tone clasp. All hardware works.

** vintage dressing table stool **

SOLD

Look at this beautiful old dressing table stool which is a well made and heavy piece of furniture. It has an upholstered top which could do with a clean or replacement and is in pretty good condition for its age - the timber does have some bumps and bruises but nothing major.


I cannot be sure of its age - but it has the clean lines of an art deco piece. Unfortunately I cannot offer postage for this item as it is much too heavy.

The stool measures approx: 46cm tall x 53cm wide x 38cm deep

Currently listed on ebay - auction # 230430908000

** vintage cast iron Spong No 2 coffee grinder **

SOLD

This is a rare old piece of cast iron. The company name and country are embossed on the piece, along with the no. 2.


The design of this mill has remained the virtually unchanged since they were first made around 1860. This particular mill was made earlier in the century. It features a wooden handle and can be mounted on a table, shelf or mounted on the wall.

It is in excellent original condition.

Spong made five coffee mills, based on the famous spice mincer and numbered them according to size from 0 through to 4 (0 being the smallest and 4 being the largest). Each mill works in the same way; the whole beans enter in the hopper, are ground by the spindle and blades as handle turns and the powder falls and is collected in the bottom of the machine.

$85 ONO

** wedgwood pink jasper ware bowl **

This delicate pink Wedgewood Bowl arrived this week.  It is in beautiful condition and would make a great addition to any Wedgewood collection.

** vintage childs tea set - made in Japan ** SOLD

SOLD

How rare is it to find a complete vintage childs tea set in near mint condition?  Made in Japan, age unknown, probably manufactured between early to mid 20th Century.  This lovely set was donated this week along with crystal glasses; crystal bowls; a large European rug and many other goodies.

If you are interesting in any of these items please do not hesitate to contact us - unusual items are usually snapped up quickly.

** New Arrivals **

SOLD   - Vintage Formal Gown

Arrivals this morning include a beautiful vintage formal dress.  I will post pics as soon as possible.  It is a beautiful pale pink halter dress with a three layered skirt comprising of pink chiffon, fine white tulle and cream taffeta.  The bodice is chiffon over taffeta and features a pleated band of cream taffeta across the bustline.  Although it has no label it is size 12 and was worn by its previous owner as a ballroom dancing gown.  Priced at $65, it would be beautiful for any formal event.

** new stock arriving daily! **

This week we've already got some new and interesting things into the shop.

For those vinyl collectors, a huge selection of vintage vinyl has arrived in store. 
If there's something specific you're looking for, please let us know and we'll add you to our wishlist.

Also, for those of you who come into the store this week, you may notice some changes - we have new shelving units along the right hand side of the shop, making it look a little less cluttered {I did say a little}.

It will however, make it a LOT easier for all the readers to find books - since the books are now mostly put into order by genre.   I've also tried to group together multiples of books by the same author, so if you're looking at a particular author, Robin Cook for example, you'll find a stack of her books all together. 

One last thing for tonight - I want to send a huge thank you to Desley and Grace.  While I was away today they worked like troopers to tidy up our back room, which looked very much like a disaster zone for some time.  With customers constantly coming in and out of the shop, it made it very difficult for us to keep up with this ever-growing pile of clothes and other items and it seems that today they got it largely under control! YAY!