Another Dr Oetker cookbook from a charity shop in Austria, focusing on winter and Christmas treats this time. I don’t really have much to say about this one, I just thought the photos and styling were cool.
Category: Charity shops
Puffin Annual 2 (1975)
Second volume. This time with Tove Jansson, leylines, derelict canals and a strange comic about insects.
Superbook of Things to Make (1974)
Another charity shop book- this time from the 70s. It’s a slightly strange mix of technicolour things made from recycling bin objects or fabric scraps, and then a section about making candles.
Op Shops of Katoomba
While I was in Sydney, I went for the day to visit my friend Zoe in the inland mountain town of Katoomba.
Puffin Annual One (1974)
This edition has a behind the scenes of Captain Pugwash, extracts from Tove Jansson, Jill Patton-Walsh, an article about CS Lewis, and interviews with various different authors.
Dr Oetker Book of Cakes for Special Occasions (1998)
Another book from a charity shop in Austria. I love how incredibly cack-handed some of the cakes are. Most themed cake books are impossibly professional, these ones actually look like the result you’d realistically get.
Das Große Bastelbuch für Kinder (1996)
I got this craft book for kids from a charity shop in Austria earlier this year. Austria doesn’t have the same volume of charity shops as the UK, but when you do find one they’re usually really good, especially in small towns, where vintage isn’t really a big thing.
Jane Asher’s Fancy Dress (1983)
This charity shop fancy dress book is certainly… something. Lots of 80s actors modelling the costumes.
Op shops of Melbourne
In Australia, charity shops are called op shops, short for opportunity shops and Melbourne has really great ones
Fanzine Ynfytyn 27- Solitude Standing digital version
In 2016 I left London to house sit in the small town where my grandparents had lived. After a sequence of unfortunate events involving electricians and train strikes I ended up spending the whole summer pretty much alone in a town full of old people, where I knew no-one and there was very little to do, and I had very little in-person contact with other people. A situation a lot of other people can relate to at the moment I think.
Bognor Charity Shop Finds
Here’s the best stuff I got for very cheap in the excellent charity shops in Bognor Regis (the only entertainment there). The reasons for so many good finds is fairly grim- lots of old people in the area who die and have house clearances of all the 60s and 70s stuff they were hanging on to. Everything cost less than £5.
Fanzine Ynfytyn 27
I’ve done a new zine about that time in 2006 I accidentally spent a whole summer alone in Bognor Regis. For £2.50 you get both the zine and the mini zine I made at the time for the 24 hour zine challenge. Find them here.
Charity shop finds
I haven’t found as many good charity shop items lately as over the summer, but there’s been the odd few things. I got this vase for £2, which I’ve planted an aloe vera in, for my own plant version of Sideshow Bob.
Recent charity shop finds
The good thing about spending the summer in a small town full of old people is that there are a lot of charity shops and jumble sales, they often have good stock, don’t overprice and there aren’t a lot of other people looking for the same things as me (which is more likely to happen in a big city).
Fabric stash
I have a lot of fabric. Mostly remnants from charity shops or from my nan’s stash (she was a dressmaker / tailor). I haven’t done any sewing this year, because I lost a lot of weight in February due to a nasty bout of gastritis, and it seemed silly to make something that would later be too small, or to try to guess at what my normal fitting would be. I’m back to my normal weight now though, so I can go ahead.
70s craft books ahoy
I like buying 70s craft books from charity shops. I’m not sure what it is about them, but maybe it’s the colours and the quite often bizarre project suggestions. Here’s 2 of them scanned in.
Charity Shopping with Tukru
On Sat I went down Rochester with Tukru to do some charity shopping. She got Ike & Tina Turner and Human League records, a unicorn colouring book for zine purposes (she’s a big unicorn fan) and I convinced her to get some Agatha Christie books.