cause everyone's searching for treasure;

I've mentioned before about my home sweet home town being pretty 

amazing for thrifting. York has it's fair share of charity shops, and the majority are filled to the brim with treasures. My two current favourites are the Oxfam 

store which has an incredible vinyl section, vintage cameras

 and some great vintage childrens books.

The second is the Sue Ryder shop which has the most incredible vintage and retro section, full of dresses to die for, vinyl, home ware and sewing patterns a plenty. 

Here are my favourite thrifted treasures I have found (and brought home much to my mothers annoyance) recently.

Lovely collection of vintage childrens books I've been saving up for when
I have kiddo's to read them too. The illustrations in some of them are so beautiful.

 How amazing is this casserole dish? Isn't the floral print super sweet? It only cost £2.

Pastel coloured mixing bowls have been in my top 5 must have list for a little while now,
I found these powder blue bowls in Oxfam for £5, I cannot wait to use them when I'm baking.

Ice cream sundaes are my favourite, so when I stumbled on these little beauties I 

snapped them up straight away and they were four for just £2!

These two bird salt and pepper mills weren't thrifted, but they were an absolute steal, they were £5  from 

the Urban Outfitters January sale, and I cannot wait for them to take pride of place on my kitchen table. 

Another none-thrifted item, but Brionny and me discovered these floral patterned tumblers
in the 99p store opposite our work. At just 99p for four I just couldn't resist.

These super sweet sugary coloured bowls cost just 99 pence each, and they are pretty similar 
to the brightly coloured beauts they sell in Cath Kidston too. 

Finally this funny little plate was less than a pound. I aim to create a feature on my 

wall with sweetly illustrated plates, so far I've collected this, a nursery rhyme inspired tin plate from my child hood, a cath kidston tin plate and a couple designed and created by the Brionny from Fox Bunting. 

My tips for successful thrifting - 


1. Make sure you take lots of change - most thrift stores do not accept card payments.
2. Be patient and make sure you have plenty of time to rummage.
3. Don't waste your money on things you lust after on a whim - I used to do this so often, and now I am much more careful over what I buy, I just don't have the storage space. 
4. Don't be disheartened if one week you find nothing, but the week before you've found an absolute peach. This happens often, but there's always amazing new things appearing in these stores on a daily to weekly basis.
5. Give yourself a spending limit - this will help you be much more careful over what you purchase and will often help filter out the things you want on a whim but will regret later. 

What're you favourite thrifted pieces? Do you know of any amazing thrift stores I
should definitely take a peek at? Let me know.


Sincerely, Alexa ♥ 

oh, what can you do, with a sentimental heart;

I don't know about you, but I even if I get a day or two off work I never seem to be able to get

 done everything I have listed in my head. I definitely need to be more efficient with my time. I've been super busy of late,  making sure I have my 30 Day Drawing Challenge up to date (I promise you this drawing a day thing is a lot harder than it sounds) taking driving classes, job hunting, working and planning entries for both here and for Ma Bicyclette.  Pretty much the only things that are keeping me grounded right now are my daily heart to hearts with Brionny and dreaming about future plans with Nicola. 

One thing that makes me pretty upset about being so busy is that I haven't had time to go thrifting for a few weeks now, so that's definitely how my weekend is goingto be spent - I am home alone Saturday and Sunday so I am pretty stoked for some me time. York is  amazing for thrift stores, I have a chest full of beautiful things which cost next to nothing saved up for when I finally move out (which is going to be the subject of my next post on Friday). I literally cannot help myself when it comes to pretty home furnishings, especially for my future kitchen. Do you love to thrift too?What's been your best purchase?

As promised here are my almost  up to date drawings for the 30 day challenge - I'm saving

the most recent ones for next time:

Day Four - Draw Your Favourite Place

(This is a kitchen in a house in the Lake District me and my friends and family have visited,

most amazing place ever.)

Day Five - Draw Your Best Friend(s)

Day Six - Draw Your Favourite Book Character 

  

Day Seven - Draw Your Favourite Word 

Day Eight - Draw Your Favourite Animated Character 

Day Nine - Draw Your Favourite Television Show

(Sorry, this is just awful)

Please remember to check out Ma Bicyclette for lovely posts from me and  my beautiful friends, and for my latest post later today "Cocktails and Cream Tea".  And if you're a new reader, follow my blog and my twitter and when I get to FIFTY followers I'll be doing a pretty generous give away (including some goodies from Fox Bunting). 

Sincerely, Alexa  ♥