Buying second hand furniture

The majority of furniture in our house is second hand and I love it. I don't have modern tastes so going to Ikea doesn't work for me (although I love it and could stupidly spend a fortune in there on picture frames alone). I've found that second hand furniture shops and larger charity shops are always bursting with beautiful pieces that I desperately want in my home!

For a while now I've been looking for a standing lamp with a big traditional lampshade. My friend Katie and I would often go furniture shopping together and we'd stumbled across quite a few but they were always really over priced.

Then one day we stumbled across Martlets Furniture Warehouse in Portslade! I never even knew it existed yet it was packed full of amazing pieces including the perfect standing lamp including lampshade!

I was pretty chuffed to find this and it was only £20 which I thought was really reasonable (I'd seen them going for £50 without the lampshade).

On a different trip I also found this slipper box for £8. I hated the fabric but as my Stepdad - Richard -  is an upholsterer I asked him very nicely if he'd re-cover it for me.

I had this gorgeous Alexander Henry fabric (a piss take of a very well known traditional fabric) which Richard thought was a brilliant idea. Doesn't it look amazing?

All of the chairs in our house are second hand. Our kitchen chairs (that are short of a kitchen table at the moment - I'm on the hunt!) came from Martlets Furniture Warehouse (the one on the right) and I found the other on the street!

Another one of my favourite second hand shops in Brighton is Shabitat on the Lewes Road. Granted, there is a lot of horrible stuff in there but you can also pick up some real gems. I found this wheel backed chair in there for £7. 

The tapestry on the seat was lovely but no amount of cleaning would get it to look any nicer so Richard recovered this for me. Knowing how much I change my mind (and tastes) Richard suggested he recover it in calico and secure velcro around the edges so I can make a loose cover. That way if I hate the fabric, I can just make another one!

So now I just need to get on and make a loose cover!

In the picture below of our lounge - most of what you can see is second hand. The pine sideboard was given to us by Tom's Mum and Stepdad (they also gave us a huge pine wardrobe and a chest of drawers that are in our bedroom), the coffee table I picked up a few years ago in a charity shop on the London Road in Brighton and the TV stand I got from a house clearance! In fact there is even an end table (hidden behind the sofa I'm afraid) that I got for £2 from a car boot!

Even our lovely "pimp chairs" we got about fourth hand - as they have done the rounds amongst our friends and we are now the proud owners!

Do you buy second hand furniture? What pieces have you found that you've loved?

Featured Crafter: The Pigeon's Nest

I love, love, love sharing amazing crafter I happen upon and The Pigeon's Nest is no exception. I was fortunate enough to meet Bex at a clothes swap event I attended with the lovely Miss Merrien. Katie had met Bex at a previous swap event where they both had their beady eyes on an owl jumper. Anyway, I discovered Bex was also a blogger and her blog Musings From The Pigeon Nest became a daily read!

Bex recently launched her online shop The Pigeon's Nest. I caught up with Bex to find out all about her new venture!

You've just launched your online shop "The Pigeon's Nest". Tell us a bit about it. 

The Pigeon's Nest is my little outpouring of crafty things I have been fiddling with. Every item is unique and individual, because they are truly handmade. I physically hand cut out each petal, each eyeball, each bunting triangle, and I love doing it. I love the fact that if you visit The Pigeon's Nest one week, the next week there might be completely different stock. No two items are exactly the same, so when you purchase something, it really is just yours and no one else has it. I have had more ideas as the process has worn on about things I want to make and sell, so stock will constantly be evolving, but keeping the same ethos.

I try to upcycle as much as I can in my shop.  I am proud to say that every hair accessory that I will be putting up in the shop is made with 100% upcycled fabric, as are the bunting triangles. I guess The Pigeon's Nest, for me, is sharing the pleasure of handmade one-offs.

Hettie - The Pigeon's Nest

What inspired you to embark on this venture?

It all started in a small non-chain tea and cake shop in my home town last summer, squished around a little table with my best friends. I looked at the vintage china in front of us, the yummy cupcakes that we were scoffing and the tea, and stated, 'I want to do something like this....run my own business, I mean.' They nudged me on, and at New Years, again surrounded by these wonderful women, I decided that my New Years Resolution was to swing forward wholeheartedly into a handmade shop. The fact that they have been supporting me the entire way through is what has inspired me to take this leap.

What got you into handmade?

Ever since I was a child, I have been making something. I grew up in a family where creativity was encouraged and hand-me-downs were a way of life. My grandfather makes the most amazing cakes, jams and chutneys, so from an early age I have always loved the idea of making something from almost nothing. I also have the attention span of a small grasshopper. I like doing projects that mean I can change something into something else. The freedom of having unique stock means I can make what I want, change my mind if I like, and respond to customers more fluidly.

And I can't lie...I also like the smug factor - 'Oh this? I made it' or 'Oh this? It's one of a kind' - I love that feeling and I'm not ashamed to say it!

Bobby and Joon - The Pigeon's Nest

Where did the name of your shop come from?

Over 10 years ago, when I was studying Performing Arts at college, where I first met 3 of my 4 besties, I was given the nickname 'Pigeonface'. Mainly because I would bob my head to any beat, I dressed in grey and I would pick at any unattended food. Pigeon sort of stuck, and I am still called it today. My craft space is also my sofa, so nesting is probably the right term for me when I'm making. So it would have seemed crazy to call it anything else!

The Pigeon's Nest

What's your favourite item in your shop and why?

It has to be the Heel Covers. I moved 2 hours away from my friends and family to live with my HTB, so I spend a lot of time on trains with a small overnight bag. I am awful for throwing my high heels in with my frocks and whatnot, only to find that they have snagged on something. The Heel Covers started out as something for me, for my own personal use, but once people saw them they were asking for them for birthdays and Christmas.

High Heel Covers - The Pigeon's Nest

What's next in store for The Pigeon's Nest?

Well, stock wise, more of the same but I am going through a bit of an Amigurumi phase at the moment, so am quite tempted into making Knicker Drawer Mice, crocheted little mice stuffed with stuffing and lavender to keep your undies smelling nice!

Greg - The Pigeon's Nest

Business wise, I really want to tackle a Christmas fair this year...I better be proactive and book one soon! 


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Bex has also very kindly offered the readers of Skulls & Ponies a 10% discount for items over £10. To benefit from this discount just enter the code SKULLSANDPONIES when prompted at checkout. The discount is valid for 6 months. 

Charity Shop Bargains

I love charity shops; I love second hand stores; and I love car boot sales. There is nothing better than getting a bargain. I recently picked up a brabantia breadbin for £1. It was good as new and even the lady at the counter was pretty astonished at what a bargain I'd found!

In Brighton one of my favourite places to go charity shopping (or thrifting for any American readers) is George Street in Hove. It's one long pedestrianised street packed full of charity shops. I recently picked up this beautiful red and white polka dot dress. You know when you enter a charity shop and you eye it straight away? Well off I toddled and tried and it on and lo and behold it fit like a glove.

I also spotted this one - which will perfect for the summer months:

If you are after some tips on charity shops you should check out A Thrifty Mrs - she's done a fab video recently all about this topic!

Do you like charity shops? What great finds have you discovered recently?

The monotony of migraines and how my little friend depression comes back for a visit

You may have noticed that my blog has been very light and fluffy recently. This is mainly because I've needed it to be light and fluffy. I needed it to be full of pretty pictures, and nice quaint things to distract me away from real life.

I'm in week 5 of cold turkey due to having medication overuse headache. When I first wrote about going cold turkey off the triptans I was feeling pretty positive - I was expecting the first couple of weeks to be hard and I was prepared.

The problem was I found the first two weeks were relatively easy. Sure I had chronic headache but I'd been expected much worse (imagine having the worst hangover you've ever had - that's what it was like daily). Week 3 was riddled with side effects (mainly depression) from upping my dose of amitryptaline (the preventative medication I take) and week 4 was filled (every day) with bad headaches and migraines.

On Monday I had my 4 week review with the GP. She said things are as they should be - and that it's time to try upping my dose again. On a good note, the intensity of the migraines has improved - but the frequency is still regular and disruptive to my daily life.

Yesterday was not a good day. I felt extremely depressed and it was far worse than the side effects from week 3. I've spoken on my blog before about suffering with depression. So when a drug you take (that ironically is an antidepressant) starts sending you off down that path, it is terrifying. Tom came home yesterday to find me in a heap on the stairs, violently sobbing and feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. When you are in the midst of depression, it's hard to realise it might be a side effect. Tom hugged me and listened to me talk as I ranted and raved about how all this struggling, all this hard work was pointless and futile and how I couldn't do it any more. I won't go into the detail of my thoughts and feelings but needless to say, I really wasn't in a good place.

After a few hours I managed to calm down enough to rationalise the situation. I'd felt like this a few weeks before (but nowhere near as extreme) and it felt very similar to when I first went on Prozac a few years ago for depression -  it got a lot worse before it got better.

I struggled to know whether I should write this blog post - as it's not pretty or glamorous and I'm pretty sure people are sick to the back teeth of me talking about migraines. I know I sure am. However, I started trying to think about the future and about hope and about if things do get better. I wanted to have a record of the process I went through, not just for myself but for anyone else that ever has to go through this suffering. Our bodies are predisposed to forget pain (obviously or women would not have babies!) and so when you look back on a situation it can sometimes be hard to remember it all. So hopefully this might be a useful post to someone, somewhere, sometime.

Today I don't feel great - but it's a marked improvement from yesterday - and I'll carry on fighting. In two weeks time I'm supposed to go back to work full time - another thought that terrifies me. I've been doing 3 days a week currently, and even that's been hard. It's so frustrating when you can't live a normal life and feel like such a burden on your friends, family and even society.

But, as my Dad always says (in an ironic way of course) - chin up!

I also wanted to share something I came across on the Migraine Trust website. I recently took part in their Travelling Migraine Diary. Basically, you get sent a diary where you can read through other migraine sufferers stories and then complete your own. They then upload all of their stories to their Flickr page.

Here's mine:

Source: The Migraine Trust - Flickr

Source: The Migraine Trust - Flickr

It was really useful to read other people's stories and to know I'm not alone. Migraine is such a lonely illness - so knowing other people out there experience similar side effects or similar symptoms is a little comforting. 

As I said in my diary entry - I will keep trying and I refuse to give up. Let the battle continue. 

My collection of Willow Pattern

For some time now I've collected Willow Pattern china. In my last house I didn't have enough space for it all, so I packed it up and stored it in my Mum's attic. My Mum recently came to visit us in our (not so new) house and brought it with her. Needless to say I was pretty excited to unpack it all.

The story of my collection started with my Grandmother. When I'd go and visit her I always remember her serving me tea in a cup and saucer (and with a ginger nut on the side). When she passed away I got the cups and saucers and the matching egg cups she also had.





I absolutely loved them and then saw them wherever I went - at car boot sales, charity shops etc and started collecting them.



What I really wanted was the teapot and was over the moon when one afternoon several years ago I got a call from my mum saying she'd found a pristine teapot and coffee pot for the measly sum of £2!

However, in one of my many house moves - I managed to drop the coffee pot lid. I was devastated. When it happened I actually let out a scream as I saw the lid falling (in slow motion I swear!) to the ground and smashing into tiny little pieces. It does make a fantastic vase - and I'm still on the hunt for a lid.

Rocky sat amongst my collection

I recently found these willow pattern tiles in a second-hand furniture shop in Lewes.

The plates and bowls we use daily, but the "special" items (or "for best" I should say...except I actually mean "never") I've now got on display.







My beautiful Highgrove tea set was given to me by Tom. It was his late Grandad's and I absolutely adore it. I think it looks very cute sandwiched between the Willow Pattern!



My love of this pattern was simply based on the beautiful design - but the story of young lovers that goes with it just makes it even more special. All the bits of the picture represent a part of the story.

The plate design tells the tale of Koong-se (the daughter of a wealthy Mandarin man) who falls in love with her father's accountant (Chang). Due to different social classes her father forbids the relationship and keeps them apart by building a high fence around his house to keep him out. The father plans for his daughter to marry a Duke. The Duke arrives by boat with a gift of jewels and the wedding is to take place under the willow tree. On the eve of the marriage, Koong-se and Chang run away with the jewels - running over the bridge.

They manage to escape and live happily for years to come. However, one day the Duke finds out where they are and seeks revenge. He sends his soldiers out to get them and they are killed. The Gods, who are moved by their sad story, turns them into doves. You can read the whole story here.




Do you collect anything? How did your collection come about?

How to stop yourself spending money unnecessarily

I am terrible for spending money; whether I have it or not! In fact I often tend to find pretty things I want to buy when I don't have money - yet that doesn't seem to stop me...

Tom and I are trying to save up for a deposit for a house at the moment. We aren't desperate to buy - and we love our current rented house, but we want to be putting money aside every month. Yet my terrible shopping habit has been stopping me saving as much as I wanted to.

So recently, after a massive splurge after pay day I decided enough was enough. It had to stop. So I put in place some strategies to help  me stop spending so much money and thought I'd share them here.

1) Don't be afraid to take it back

It's so easy to just say to yourself "Oh well what's done is done...I've bought it now." That is a load of old rubbish. Most shops will let you take stuff back if you haven't worn it, it has the tags and you have your receipt. This is exactly what I did - after an £80 binge on clothes in H&M - I took £50 of it back. Yep - I really liked everything I bought but I tried it all on and thought to myself "When will I actually where this?" If you aren't going to wear it regularly or don't have an occasion for it, then you don't really need it.

2) Write all your spends down

This tip came from the ever excellent A Thrifty Mrs. Everything you spend - just write it all down. I thought this was a good idea because when I was keeping a food diary for my migraines I noticed I ate much better! It's a bit embarrassing if everyday you have to write "four cupcakes and a bar of dairy milk". So I thought the same logic surely must apply to money right?

My way is to write things down in the day in the notes app on my iphone.

Then when I get home I write everything down in a little notebook and keep a running tally of how much I've spent. So far - this has worked quite well as it guilts me into not spending as I know I'll have to write it down in that book!

3) Take photos of potential buys

I am an impulse buyer. I see pretty things and like a magpie I am drawn in and HAVE TO HAVE IT OR ELSE I'LL DIE. Ok slight exaggeration but you get my drift.

I'm not proud of how materialistic I can be and I hate how consumerism can drag me in. So, when I get that feeling and see something pretty I like, whether it be a dress or a mug, instead of impulse buying it - I take a photo.

As silly as it might sound - it does actually work! Obviously this won't always work but then you can use the strategy of the next point.

4) Think about it for a week

I currently have only one pair of jeans - well trousers actually. I found 2 pairs of jeans I liked and that fit - but in total they would have cost me £50. In the past, I would have just bought them anyway but this time I tried them on twice and tried to move around in them. The problem with jeans for me is they need to be ridiculously comfortable and perfect in every way or I won't wear them. So I wrote down the size that fitted me and the make and walked away. I'm going to spend some time thinking about it and will go back and try them on again. If they aren't there - then maybe it wasn't meant to be.

I recently did this with my desk that I bought for my craft room. The one I found that I loved was £130 which was a lot of money. I walked out of the shop, did a lot of searching in second hand shops to try and find something cheaper and two weeks (and a lot of hunting around) later I decided I did really like that desk and so bought it.


By waiting - not only do you appreciate it more but you know you really want it and it isn't just an impulse buy.

5) Leave your debit card at home

If all else fails - then leave your debit card at home and take out a small amount of cash. If you haven't got it - then you won't spend it. This doesn't work for everyone - some people find they are more likely to spend cash but I'm much worse with my debit card!



Have you got any other tips to stop spending? I'd love to hear them. I'm determined to put a stop to my spending habit!

Giveaway: Win a ticket to Cybher 2012

*****THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED*****

Hey all - I'm pretty excited about this giveaway and hopefully you will be too. If you are a blogger then you should have heard about the upcoming blogger event - Cybher. What? You haven't? Where have you been hiding? Never mind! I'm here to tell you - it's an amazing event and you could be in with a chance to win a ticket right here on Skulls & Ponies!

 

About the event

Cybher is the first all inclusive female blogger event in the UK and it's due to take place in London on Saturday 12th May 2012. There are some truly inspirational bloggers speaking at the event including some of my faves:

Jo Gifford of Dexterous Diva
Muireann Carey-Campbell  (aka Bangs) of Bangs and a Bun
Nickie O’Hara of Typecast
El Jones (aka A Thrifty Mrs) of A Thrifty Mrs
Lori Smith of Rarely Wears Lipstick (who you might also know if you read BitchBuzz)

Not to mention a whole host of other amazing bloggers and speakers. You can check out the full list here.

I was pretty excited about this event - so leapt at the chance to go and ran off to buy my ticket without checking my diary. Stupidly....I had double booked it with The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. Doh.


The giveaway
Anyway, instead I am giving you the chance to win the ticket - worth £100! There are no catches - I won't expect you to write a blog post for me (unless you want to which would be awesome...but you certainly don't have to), I'm not asking for you to hand out my business cards or promote me in anyway - I'm just giving my lovely readers the opportunity to go to an event I was super excited about. It will undoubtedly be a really useful day for any blogger! Plus it's a pretty awesome way of saying thank you to you lot who subscribe to my blog! Yay!


How to enter
All you have to do to enter is leave a comment below saying why you'd like the chance to win. A winner will be picked at random on May 1st 2012.

Please leave a way I can contact you in the comment box - I'll need to email you for your full name and blog name in order to get the ticket transferred into your name (N.B. The lovely organisers of Cybher have confirmed they are happy to do this for me - and I'll organise it and double check it is all sorted before you go).

If you are the lucky winner - you will need to arrange your own transport to the event - but all the information is available on the Cybher website.

Please only enter if you are available on Saturday 12th May 2012 and can get to the event in Central London.  


For extra entries
For extra chances to win:

1. Follow me on twitter 
2. Tweet about the giveaway "I'm in with a chance to win a ticket to Cybher2012 over at @skullsandponies' blog www.skullsandponies.com"
3. Like my facebook page
4. Blog about the giveaway (be sure to include the link to the giveaway!) 
5. Follow my blog through Google Friend Connect, Bloglovin, RSS, Email (all links to subscribe are in the left hand panel)

For each extra entry - leave a separate comment below. There must be a separate comment for each entry or I won't be able to count it. 

This is a UK event - so I'll leave it open to everyone but you must be able to get yourself (at your own cost) to London!

I'll choose a winner using random generator on the 1st of May 2012. Good luck everyone!

Skull purses and the one where I finally get my craft on!

It's been a long time since I've done any crafting! Moving house and getting Rocky (not to mention all the migraines) hasn't left me with much time to get down to some sewing. I finally found some time to use my lovely new craft room and so got stuck in!

I have a massive stash of fabric and love sitting and unfolding it all to remind myself of what I've got.



These are some of my absolute favourites - can you tell I like bold prints?



A few weeks ago I posted about our amazing shower curtain. Unfortunately it was slightly too long so I took it up. Once I'd done it I realised I had quite a bit of fabric left over so decided I'd make a little purse.



The pattern I use to make purses (I've made quite a few of them already!) is from Pip Lincolne's "Sew La Tea Do" book.



It's a very simple pattern; so much so that I just can't stop making them! (Can you spot the purse in amongst my crate of fabrics?!)



Of course Rocky had to try and help when it came to measuring :)



My trusty Singer in its cover. I made the cover from an old dress I had. The dress didn't fit very well but I loved the fabric!





The finished results! It's so cute I can't wait to start using it to house my make up!





Have you made anything lately? What have you made? Do you have a favourite thing you like to make or find yourself making it often? I'd love to know!