Granny-chic shopping finds

These charity shop finds are spread over the past couple of months. I have cut back on random, impulse buys, partly because of lack of funds, and also as a part of trying to be more mindful in my spending. I have been taking stuff into the charity shops and trying to stick to a rule of nothing coming into my house from the charity shop unless something has gone out. HOWEVER....all rules need to be broken sometimes....and these are the recent finds.

A granny-esque pyrex casserole with lid. I especially like casserole dishes with lids so I can forego clingfilm or other disposble coverings that just go to landfill. Plus the flowers are cute and it is a good size.


I found the hand embroidered egg cosies, all four for £1 in a charity shop down the road from my house. It is quite a recent shop and I do not often go in except to poke through the basket of old linens. I never go in with my kids as there are too many cheap toys in there ( as in under 50p) and we have enough already. Seriously, where is Santa going to go? I asked T this recently and I said he needed to sort through what he doesn't play with and give it to the charity shop. His solution? "I will give the toys to the charity shop and then after Christmas go and buy them all back, because I don't want to get rid of any of my toys" Anyway back to the egg cosies, I do buy old linens and embroidered pieces partly because I think they are undervalued and need to be reinstated with some respect. There is a lot of great needlework out there chucked in the 50p basket. And I think they look good too. So, as everybody in this house dislikes boiled eggs I am thinking these could look sweet framed up in Little I's bedroom. Any other thoughts on potential use?

I needed some warmer cardigans and found these two lovelies...

The warm wool cardigan, from Next (how to describe the colour? beige? taupe? mushroom? weak old lady tea?) yes, I think I will say it is old-lady-weak-tea in colour, and it has a nice retro shape to it. I have already worn it on cold days and it is great. I do like a bit of granny-inspired dressing.

A red and grey (a favourite winter colour combo) wool cardigan - very warm. Originally from Benetton this gave me a flash of nostalgia - I can remember the excitement when Benetton opened in my home town when I was a teenager - all those perfectly folded woollens in so many colours. I only had one friend who could afford to actually buy in there.

Not much sewing going on here as my machine is still not right. I have been ploughing through my necessary but boring sewing pile feeling virtuous, so far I have taken up one pair of trousers for Little I, and patched one pair of jeans for Mr Minnado. Still to go, a pair of jeans to be taken up for T and another pair for Little I. These sorts of jobs are best undertaken while watching a film I think.