The side-of-the-road house.

Tomorrow is the day I gain a house and a mortgage. Just like a real grown up.

The last few weeks have been spent scrambling around for second-hand furnishings and bargains. My boyfriend is calling it my "side-of-the-road" house, because of my tendency to pick things up off the side of the road. Today I picked up this on Trademe:

At $1.50, it was hard to resist! It was the original basin out of a house built in the 1930's, so not far off the era of my house.
The bathroom at the house is in a rather sorry state. Needs a new shower installed at the very least, and has peeling wallpaper. I'm planning to take a set of "before" photos when we get there tomorrow. I have traded a few bourbon and cokes for a 4 litre can of "very light blue" paint, that i will use for an initial coat over the dark blue walls in the lounge. Later I can decide what the top coat will be.

I also picked up another very important item on Trademe.
Must be able to make the workers a cuppa!

Other second-hand items acquired:
JVC stereo amp $24 (to go with speakers I already have in storage)
Design Mobel mattresses, 1 Queen sized and one King sized. $150
Bedding and towels - hand-me-downs
Kambrook mini oven. $20
Tv 14 inch (old CRT) - hand-me-down.
Kitchen chairs - side of the road
Spouting and some roof iron - kindly donated.

I'm also getting Mum and Dad's old stove. It's been sitting in the shed for a year or two, and I think two of the elements need new thermostats, but it will certainly be better than the dodgy one that's currently in the kitchen. Could be a while before I can get it installed though. So gas 2 burner in the meantime.

More updates as they come to hand.
:-)

Wardrobe 2012

Ok, I admit, I have been dreading making this post. But it must be done, as I threatened myself with it at the start of last year. If you know that you will have to justify your purchases to the world at large, it makes you think harder about making them.
Remember my anti-fashion consumer minimalism post back in February? Well, here we have it, my clothing purchases for all of 2012. It's going to take 2 photos to get it all in.

photo 1 = The "new" stuff.

1. Cotton dress from Max. $39, March.

2. Sheepskin and wool slippers from Craftworld. $35. October.

3. Brogue style leather boots from a sample sale. $85. June?

4. Red leather knee-high boots from Overland. $349.95. September. *Ok, yes. This IS rediculous. I lusted after these for ages, tried to find them discounted at Dressmart, failed, finally put them on lay-by. Took me 6 weeks to pay off, by which time it was no longer winter. I've worn them a few times, but time will tell if this was an idiot purchase I guess.

5. Green and white polka-dot togs from K-mart. $25. November.

6. 2x black singlets from K-mart. $8 each = $16.November and December.

7. Black "skinny" levis from Dressmart. $59.95. May.

8. Berlei T-shirt bra from Farmers. $59.95. December.*purchased because underwire snapped in my only good bra, same model, making me think I had some awful lung problem because it hurt to breathe when lying down! I've since found that you can replace the underwire. I used ones from an old bra I was going to throw out. Now I have 2 good bras.

9. Socks from a dollar shop. $3. February. *featured in the original post.

10. 5 pack of black undies from Farmers. $19.99. July.

11. Missing Teeth T-shirt, purchased at concert. $25. February. *featured in the original post.

12. Blue levis (dyed black/indigo) from Dressmart. $39.50. May?

13. Heavy duty black leather belt from The Warehouse. $25. April.

14. Green leopard print scarf from Max. $39. March. *a truly stupid amount of money to pay for a commercially produced scarf. But I love it and wear it lots. :)

TOTAL: $821.34

....and now for photo 2:

The "not new" stuff.
These are mostly op-shop purchases, or home-sewn.

1. Black cashmere and wool Max coat. $8. Salvation army. April. *featured in THIS post.

2. Charcoal cashmere and wool Max coat. Trademe. $40. October. *I know, stupid right? I bought the same coat twice, and paid a lot more for it the second time. I just loved the first one so much that I put a saved-search on Trademe, for one in a larger size. Finally 6 months later one turned up. The bad news? A size 12 is still a bit too small. :(

3. Green merino singlet. Salvation Army. $6. August.

4. Black Velvet skirt. Salvation army. $12. April. *also featured in THIS post.

5. Modified mens shirt. Salvation army. $8. December. *inspired by number 6.

6 & 7. Modified mens shirt, and black pants. Salvation Army. $6 each = $12. December. *These were purchased for an end of year work function, which was "dress up as someone/thing from the Movies. I went as Mrs Mia Wallace - Pulp Fiction. The shirt took a lot of tailoring, and then some safety pins ripped holes near the armpits during the course of the evening. :( I've darned them but I'm not sure if I'll wear it again. Also, the pants are a bit too tight. I was going to leave these off the list entirely, since they were for a one off dress up party, except for the fact that they are still IN MY WARDROBE. So, no cheating!

8. Black linen short sleeved jacket. Salvation Army. $10. December. *Why did I buy this? Seriously. I haven't worn it yet.

9. Green merino hoodie. Salvation Army. $8. November.

10 & 11. Top and Skirt. Sewn by me. Fabric from Geoffs Emporium. $16. October. *top is based on my favourite top, and it actually worked out well! A surprise for a pattern I made myself. The skirt is based on a style my friend makes. A - line, with no fastenings. Just slip it on over your head.

12. Skirt. Sewn by me. Fabric from Geoffs Emporium. $12. * As above but in black so I can wear it to work.

TOTAL: $132

GRAND TOTAL FOR 2012 = $953.34

Almost half of which was spent on shoes! I am quite surprised at having spent so much. I had thought I was doing well!

Also on the purchasing front, my major purchase for the year! At long last I have a latex mattress! I wished I had gotten on to it earlier. The lovely people at FUTONZ helped me find the right comfort level. It was well worth the money. I don't have to stretch and crack my spine when I wake up in the morning! The bed is also much lower than the old innersprung mattress, and easier to climb into! Latex is an eco choice because it is a renewable product, can be organically farmed, is long lasting (up to 30 years or more, compared to only 5 to 10 years for an inner sprung mattress), has no issues with electromagnetic fields, and is naturally resistant to bugs and mold (great for asthmatics like me!). In fact, I'm off to climb into it now.

Happy 2013 everyone!

These boots were made for......walking?

These boots are my current obsession!
They remind me of a pair of boots I had in high school, that I had picked up somewhere second-hand. They had the same kind of detailing, but with a smaller platform and a blockier heel, soft thin leather.

These ones are "Regina" made by Doc Martens. I can't find any in NZ, (I think they might be last season's) but Wild Pair sell a similar style called "darcie" which I tried on for size. ;-)
I have never bought shoes on the internet before, but I am seriously considering it. I fear it could be a gateway purchase, which could lead to heavier internet purchasing.

Yikes!

O.M.G (skite skite skite)

Sometimes, something happens, and I think, "I must be doing something right" Today, this was it.

Le Creuset wok. Red. Salvation Army. $40. Excellent condition. Best I can figure, these don't seem to be available in NZ anymore (and after 2005 they started making then with a glass lid), but the large frypans retail at $250 - $500. :) EXTREME EXCITEMENT.

Lovely Max wrap dress. Salvation Army. $6. I'm wearing it out to dinner tonight to celebrate Mexican Flag day! Weeeeeeee!

I made Vegan Chilli Chocolate cupcakes to take with me.

It's too darn hot to sit in front of a computer.

DO WANT

I'd like to be sitting inside one of these just now.

I've been having a lucky couple of weeks. Money and free stuff keeps falling in my lap. I bought a Big Wednesday ticket, but I guess it's not that kind of luck. :( Can't win them all I guess!
The monkeys are somewhat heat affected, they are so hot they can hardly move. Poor monkeys.
I went to Wellington for one night to see Throwing Muses play. It was awesomewicked. I also spent the next day shopping before my flight out, ended up having to buy another bag for my lovely second-hand purchases, 2 of which were Kimonos. They are from a place called Asia Gallery in Kilbirnie (look it up!) They import second hand stuff from japan. The kimonos are mostly only $25 each, although there was a big pile of $5 kimonos in the middle of the floor also. I wanted to buy some just for the fabrics, but didn't have the room! :( Maybe next time.

Eating pizza and drinking beer at Fidel's on Cuba St is also highly recommended. Best vegetarian pizza. Yum.

What I've been up to.

Retail therapy ahoy!


As usual, christmas means an excuse to buy myself presents! And other people of course. :)

The gleanings of my Craftwerk excursion:
The diary (top right) wasn't my first choice, but while I went to get change, the lovely pale green print that I wanted got snapped up. You'd think I would have learned by now wouldn't you? :)
Ninja xmas tag/tree decoration by R.W.Scissors. Labels and notepad by Nut and Bee.
Croissant earrings by R.W.Scissors.

Bobbin earrings from Toggle stall.

Pencils from Jellybones.

I made experimental chocolate coconut truffles last week. They are WAY too much work to make on a regular basis! They are also incredibly rich and will make you feel sick if you lick the leftovers too much.

I designed myself a Christmas Wreath of pohutukawa and fantails, but when I printed it out on A4 it was kind of dinky looking. I really need to get it printed on A3 card. In the meantime I turned the image into cards and tags. :)

And finally, these are my secret books, which I have been meaning to photograph for ages. One day soon I'd like to make a giant one, from an encyclopedia or something. For really big secrets!

P.S ~ I had my strawberry apple jam on scones with cream for Sunday lunch. YUM!