A Thrifty Mirror

 Hello lovely chums, I thought I would show you one of the projects I've been working on during the last few weeks.

I did start working on it in our garage but the weather has been so perishing cold I brought it into the house to paint. Much to Morgana's delight as you can imagine.

I had been looking for an unusual large mirror for the dining room for some time. I really love the gilt 18th century ones but they come with a hefty price tag.

This one is for sale at £650. But some run into thousands.

Of course my house is not a grand 18th century country house, rather a marriage of Victorian stone with 20th century extensions. It has to be said it is not the prettiest of houses, but I grow to love it more and more.

The Victorian mirror I found on Ebay had been purchased by a local couple, well over 20 years ago, when they were on a motorcycling holiday in the UK. Found in an Antique shop, they had it sent to them and it arrived very badly damaged. They had fixed it up a bit but you could see the cracks and mended breaks in the dark wood.

It was my lucky day when they decided to sell it. I secured it for £10.

I started by giving the wood a good rub down and clean. Then using left over paint from my kitchen, I gave the mirror a coat of white paint, then two coats of a nice dark cream. Once they were all well dry I took some sand paper and 'distressed' the paint work slightly. I finished it off with some champagne coloured gilding wax. I'm very pleased with it and it works very well in my dining room.

Wee Gifts On A Budget

 

I do love a twinkly light and these gorgeous lanterns where such a surprise when I happened upon them at our local Chatsworth Gardens. So pretty, I found myself smiling from ear to ear. 

Now I've finished all the DIY jobs in the house and I'm furloughed for another couple of weeks, I've had time to make a few little things. I made some lavender bags, a few for us to stop the pesky moth babies from eating our clothes, plus a few for friends as little extra stocking presents. I had bought a big bag of lavender from a visit to Burghley House last year and happily have now made use of it.

The fabric was purchased in a little bundle of mixed fabrics, half price in January and the blue velvet ribbon was in my stash.

I also planted up these fancy Welsh Gaudy Ware teacups with dainty house leeks. The cups themselves were a chazza shop purchase £3.00 each, but they are early 19th century and the house leeks I picked up from Freecycle. I'm keeping one and gifting the other two. I think they look smashing.

I'll be back soon to show you my latest project which I collected this morning and the dearest little bobble hat make.

A New Cellar On A Budget

 

Followers of old will remember we've spent the best part of three years renovating our house, but somehow we've never been able to spare the time to clean out and spruce up the cellar. Not until now that is. In my last post you saw this corner in its 'before' state, this is the same corner after lots of deep filler, sweepings and lashings of a rather lush paint called, aptly, Victorian White.

I hope you like my pantry cupboard, I'm thrilled with it. It is a 1930s wardrobe that was gifted to us via Freecycle. When the Mister went to pick it up, the rather nice gentlemen who was in his 70s, said he'd had it since he was a boy. And now after a lick of Annie Sloane paint it will be good for another 70 years. Inside are small compartments with such labels as, Sundries and Underwear. These now house my excess tins of food and jars, perfect for Christmas and making a good deal of space in our kitchen.

I'm afraid I neglected to take a bigger picture of the 'after' door, but you can just see it in the right of the picture, now a gorgeous shade of Farrow & Ball calamine pink. And who is this lady you might ask? Well she is the keeper of the cellar, Lady Daphne Agincourt, you will see she has her beady eyes on the stairs to the cellar, making sure nobody but me gets their little mitts on the Champagne.

All the paint used for the revamp apart from the white paint I already had, the mouse and cheese shelf trim was in my stash, purchased God knows where and when. So the whole job has cost peanuts, which dear reader is just how I like it. Improvising and using up bits and bobs around the house.

Another small 'improvement' yesterday was implemented after the Mister hit his head yet again on one of the four low door frames in the Victorian part of the house.

Again a nice piece of haberdashery from my stash. Pom pom trim which can be seen from both sides of the door. If this doesn't work I'll have to get some, 'Duck or Grouse' signs made.

Happy weekend all.

Cake, Cream and Questions.

I have had a rip roaringly busy day and feel as though I have achieved much, and the day is not over yet. I feel the urge to blog.

Cake.

A couple of days ago I baked my first cake from the smashing Scandinavian book I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.

I am as you know dear reader trying not to indulge over muchly in calorie laden food. But I have decided that to make just one cake a week would be OK. Especially as I normally have one slice and The Mister valiantly eats the rest, to save me from myself. He's a brick.

The first cake, a chocolate and apricot pound loaf didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. Kinda dry I felt, although The Mister had no complaints. It may well be down to the fact that my oven cooks a wee bit hot. So if I make it again I will turn it out earlier than the recommended hour and let it firm up in the hot loaf tin, outside the oven.

Next Wednesday I have some friends over for afternoon tea and will be making a second selection from the book, chocolate and coconut cake. The choice of cake was largely decided by the fact I have left over chocolate from the first one and a pack of desiccated coconut in the pantry.


I have also been 'pimping' up my bargain face cream from Lidl. I use their Cien Q10 moisturiser because I find it every bit as efficient as the Nivea Q10 one it replaced, at a fraction of the cost.

It is rather bland smelling though and I do like my face potions and lotions to have a strong floral fragrance. I usually only get a really fine fragranced one when I get free samples from Espa or Elemis. So to get the expensive salon effect I have added my own essential oil blend. Camomile, Rose Geranium and Frankincense. The latter being especially good for more mature skin. It smells divine and strangely, feels much better too.

I also put a few things on Ebay today:

a rather fetching Wade teapot

and some pretty Ming sateen cotton fabric

Lastly, I have been trying to understand some of the mysteries of my Blogger dashboard in a bid to improve my blog. And so I have to ask you dear blogging chums for some advice. I have discovered during my research into setting preferences that I have my custom robot txt and my robot header tags disabled. My question is should I enable them to help my SEO and are there any down sides to doing so?

Also how does one set up labels on the sidebar of a blog to categorize topics and subjects so that folk can find posts more easily.

Sorry about the homework, but if I can't ask you guys who can I ask?

Another Money Saving Expert (Apart From Me)

I've been on a multi mission of sorts these last couple of weeks. De-cluttering big time. Donating to my local chazza shops, books, DVDs, a few home wares and some lovely good quality clothes that I haven't worn for years and am not likely to wear again. Well defo now as I've given them away.

I also sold a couple of party dresses and two jumpers on Ebay, which have paid for the tweed brogues from Clarks that I wanted. The 20% reduction offer eventually came through, plus I bought them through the Top Cashback site, and gained a few extra quid there too.

My philosophy has always been to only buy things that I really love or need, but I'm trying to take that up a notch and be even better at it. It feels good to get new things but by 'eck it feels good to get rid of stuff too. I even Freecycled an indoor Orchid I've had for over 8 years. When The Mister listed it on Freecycle he put "it has fallen out of favour with my wife". I'm sure the lady who came to collect it gave him a look of sympathy, she must have thought, watch out you might be next on the hit list.

In keeping with all things frugal and money saving, I wanted to mention the weekly 'money saving' email I get from Martin Lewis. I would think that most of you are already in receipt of his wisdom, as his email goes out to about 10 million people a week. But just in case you don't get it, I wanted to show you what you are missing.

There's a lot of useful information in his email and quite often a little gem or two. He highlights special discounts, deals and money off coupons. For example the Dr.Oetker range of pizzas have been on special offer for several weeks now. If you buy a pizza with the £10 logo on it as seen in the picture below, you will find a code inside the box which entitles you to two vouchers, one £1, and one £1.50, money off your next pizza purchase. You simply go on to their website and they send you an email with the printable vouchers. (If you are really lucky, like me, you might also win a £5 voucher off your shopping, at the store of your choice). Morrisons have been selling the pizzas at half price, £1.49, for a good few weeks now, I'll let you do the math, as our American friends would say.

In this week's email he also brought to our attention a £1 money off coupon for the Covent Garden range of soups. Again a download from their website. Morrisons are selling a number of the soups at £1.00.

I hope you're getting my drift. The shopping above cost me a total of 96p. Thank you Mr. Lewis, you are indeed the King of coupons.

A Little of What You Fancy

I've always been an independent, some would say, strong willed kind of a girl. Right from the word go. As a baby, at primary school, through secondary, well you get the picture.

I know my own mind, can't be swayed, leader not follower etc

On the odd occasion I have even been known not to take the advice of someone, when It's pretty clear what they're saying is sound. (You can probably hear my husband howling with laughter at that last understatement).

About a week ago I was reading Sue's post here, she pointed out, quite rightly, how silly it would be to buy 'Christmas' bed linen to dress your room for the festivities. I concurred, a complete waste of money, a right con from the marketing bods who get us to part with our hard earned cash. Yes, yes I thought, how ridiculous.

That thought lasted for all of a nanosecond when I suddenly spied the frivolous example she had posted on her blog.

Instantly smitten.

Straight over to the website to take a closer look.

Then of course I started reasoning with myself. We do need some new bedlinen, one of the sets we use is mighty ancient. And, if I decommission that one, and give it to my chum Ann she will recycle the fabric into something wonderfully crafty like a rag rug. So no waste. 

I had recently said to the Mister that any bedlinen we buy in the future should really be white so it will fit in with any colour scheme. But our bedroom at the moment is mainly cream and grey, so wouldn't a nice red bed set make the room warm and cosy? Why yes, and doesn't this set have a lot of my favourite things printed on it? Yes again.

Now the tricky bit, to get a discount on my purchase. This is essential when buying something new instead of pre-loved. First thing, sign up to the Marks and Spencer site for details of any offers. Also check with Top Cashback to see if they offer a percentage on M&S purchases. Then sit back and wait.

I arrived back from a trip up North yesterday. Whilst away I had popped into the huge M&S store in Manchester to check the bed linen out, just to make sure I loved it as much as I thought. I did.

Checking my emails last night, a little message from M&S offering 20% off a wide range of products. I quickly double checked our duvet size, then placed the order via my Top Cashback account. As it was free P&P with orders over £50.00 I also ordered another two small presents that I needed and got 20% off them too.

In total I saved over £17.00. And the duvet set is now out of stock and no longer on their site. That was a close call, phew.

If you think you would like to make a few essential purchases at M&S the discount code is NOV14EM and is valid on clothing, homeware and beauty, until November 24th.  Not that I'm encouraging you, you understand.

Super Scrimpy Face Cream

A few years back I watched a TV programme that set out to analyse face creams and challenge the claims of the manufacturers. I think the presenter was a chemist of some sort, anyway she was an 'expert' in her field.

She sampled very cheap creams, mid-range and very high end ones too. One of the expensive creams had caviar in it as I remember. I have just checked the prices on-line for a cream that includes caviar and spied one retailing at £512 for a standard pot. The manufacturer claims it is the ultimate experience in firming and lifting your skin.

After testing all the creams the chemist concluded that it was best to go for something mid range that didn't upset your skin, as she felt there wasn't much difference between them, and that no cream would stop the signs of ageing.

I do tend to swap about with face creams a little bit, especially if there are deals to be had. But I quite often use Nivea Q10.

It has some sun protection in it and is usually sold around the £10 mark. Every now and then it is reduced to half price and I stock up. It's a nice reliable face cream

Last month, on the way back from Reykjavik, I made a duty free purchase of an Icelandic organic herbal face cream. It was three times what I normally pay for my Nivea cream. It smells divine, but I haven't noticed any visible difference to my skin.

So last weekend I saw that Lidl had their own version of a Q10 face cream for sale at half the normal price, 99p, it's usually £1.99.

Well you know what's coming next. Of course I had to buy some. I figure if it's terrible I can always add some essential oils to it and use it as hand cream.

I wonder if any of you blogging thrifty bods have bought it, and what you think of it?

Thrifty Christmas

The tree went up today. I really enjoy putting the decorations on it, as most of them have special memories. I'm not the kinda gal that buys new decs every year to introduce a theme and ring the changes. I want the comfort of familiarity and tradition. The first ones that go on are the ones my boy made at nursery and primary school.

Then a couple my Mum gave me years ago. She died over 20 years ago now so her decorations are like a Christmas message from her every year.

I don't go over the top at Christmas with decs or anything else for that matter. We have a few extra treats and because we don't buy mountains of food and drink we don't stuff ourselves or waste anything. More is definitely less at this time of year.

I have been doing a bit of sprucing up on the house front but still haven't spent loads. Finally got round to painting the two front doors of the house. I bought the paint ages ago whilst Homebase had a special offer on. Here is a before, during and after.

It took over 5 hours to rub the doors down properly, but elbow grease is free and I'm really pleased with the finished result. The little cream 'trowel' door knocker on the small side door was purchased over 5 years ago, it's finally been put to good use.

We were also very lucky this weekend to bag a lovely pure wool rug from Freecycle. Initially I was beaten to it but the person couldn't be bothered to collect it, her loss I say. I left a very polite request with the owner and he got back in touch. It has a small bit of damage and smelt a bit musty, but the mister has given it a good shampoo and it looks brilliant. Now it has the whiff of Highclere about it. And it's very cosy underfoot.

Calling All Scrimpy Bloggers - 30 Ways to Save £1.

Money Supermarket are running a 'competition' to find the best 1,000 money saving tips. They are calling on all bloggers to supply them with their own best top 30. There are prizes and cash incentives for participants



Here are mine.

1. Don't guesstimate quantities when you're cooking or making fresh coffee, or indeed adding fabric softener to your wash. By using a measure or scoop you will find the best amount for the job and won't waste extra ingredients or product unnecessarily.
2. Use large pretty wallpaper samples or old vintage scarves to wrap presents. Brown paper carrier bags are also good turned inside out to cover parcels.
3. Look out for new and unused items in charity shops. After Christmas especially there are loads of good quality bath and beauty sets that can be recycled as birthday presents. But do check they are still sealed and in date.
4. Jumble sales are good sources for fabrics for patchwork and also yarn. Woolly items can be unpicked and  the yarn reused - they did it all the time during the war to ring the changes.
5. If you see a good deal on everyday items, buy a few extra but don't overstock. It ties up your funds, takes up space, and items can go off before they are used, this includes toiletries.
6. Use reward cards and loyalty cards but not slavishly. Always analyse what is on offer elsewhere.
7. Don't accept supermarket prices on face value. For example tomatoes can be sold price per kilo, price per pound or by number in packet. Decide what you would like, then convert the measurement to one common denominator by using the supermarket scales. You will then have a clear indicator of true price.
8. When following recipes substitute similar ingredients that you already have rather than buying extras - herbs and vegetables can easily be interchanged. Have the confidence to develop and tweak recipes. Make notes about what works.
9. Invest in a slow cooker. Not only does it use less energy but you can use cheaper cuts of meat and your food will be tremendously flavoured. Cook double the amount and freeze second helping for another time.
10. Don't be afraid to experiment where food is concerned. If you have leftovers and you don't think you can use them up in time, freeze them. Even small amounts like wine and meat juices can be frozen and used in sauces at a later date.
11. Don't compost the ends and outer layers of onions, celery leaves, carrot ends, wilting herbs and their stems. Pop them in a bag and freeze. You can add to the bag as and when, then when you need to make a stock you're not wasting whole veg. You can also do this with chicken bones.
12. Eat more vegetarian meals and use beans and pulses. Use dried not tinned as they are much cheaper. Make sure you follow the cooking instructions though.
13. If you like spicy and curried food buy an already mixed blend of spices (like garam masala) rather than lots of individual spices. They cost more and can lose their flavour and intensity if kept for a while.
14. If you like the idea of raising your own livestock or keeping chickens but do not have the space find a partner who does and share the cost of raising and looking after them, then reap the benefits together.
15. Sign up to newsletters from suppliers or companies you are interested in. You will be the first to know about offers. That's how I learnt about the free three month Arts Council pass, which will be valid until the end of this July.
16. Share your knowledge about thrift with others, they will reciprocate. Always ask friends and neighbours when you are looking to have work done, they usually know someone local who is good value. This also keeps the money flowing in your local area.
17. Sign up to other thrifty blogging websites as they might come across something you've missed. Like this competition.
18. Check out local venues for days out and events that are free to local residents on production of proof of address.
19. If you're travelling to London by train for the day you can get 2 for 1 entry on loads of attractions, just produce your rail ticket when paying for admission.
20. Don't buy new book titles order them through your library and be the first to read them for a reservation fee of 80p.
21. Or if you like lots of fiction organise a book swap with friends and neighbours. You could add a small fee and donate to a book charity.
22. If your tee shirts are in good material order but faded, collect a batch of them and dye them - it will give them a new lease of life.
23. If you like expensive magazines buddy up with a friend and take out a subscription each to a favourite mag. You can swap after you have read them, so you will be getting the mags at a quarter of the cost. You might also get a free gift with your subscription. I recently got a pair of real pearl earrings with my 'The Lady' subscription.
24. If you don't have funds to buy glossy magazines, check out the best of the supermarket ones. Morrison's is every bit as good as the high street ones and it is free. Also, Waitrose will discount their magazine to zero if you have a 'My Waitrose' card. At my branch you can also help yourself to a free tea or coffee without making a purchase. Great for taking on the train.
25. Don't buy small versions of toiletries for holidays they work out very expensive. Either just take your larger bottles half empty or decant what you need for the first few days then supplement your requirements with the hotels free toiletries. Keep the free shower caps they make good food covers.
26. Organise a clothes and accessories swap with friends and work colleagues for a new look.
27. Don't just switch energy suppliers, take advantage of off peak tariffs like economy 7.
28. Buy large items and household furniture secondhand on Ebay and use the 'collection only' app that you can find on Money Saving Expert. You can often find a real bargain and you won't pay postage or have far to travel and in some cases they will deliver for a small fee. I bagged a solid oak Edwardian fire surround for £4.99.
29. Don't forget to sign up to your local Freecycle group where you can give and receive stuff for free. You could extend this idea yourself and offer to swap skills and help with your friends and neighbours. For example swap babysitting for a haircut, car washing for eggs etc.
30. Try not to rush into buying, plan ahead, a little research here and there may reap great rewards. The three elements for successful thrifting and saving money are effort, imagination and creativity.

And just for a bit of fun, enter some free competitions there are always loads on-line. Someone has to win it may as well be you. if you don't like what you win gift it or sell it.

Be Inspired, Be Patient, Be Rewarded.

Like most people I get sent a lot of information either by email or through the post, about new products on the market. From a lot of desperate sellers trying to shift their goods. 

Fair play to them. I mean if the well heeled weren't buying at the top, how would there be anything in the Chazza shops for the likes of you and me eh?

I really love the high end catalogues from Toast, Plumo and my favourite Anthropologie. I flick through them exclaiming, how much? they must be kidding! and who buys this stuff? 

But I must admit I normally do love the look of their products. I even succumbed once and paid £99.00 for a teal blue dress from Toast. But honestly, never again, the dress was ok, but the quality was pants. 

So now I let them inspire me. Then I go out on the hunt for something similar in the Chazza shops, or boot fairs or indeed Ebay. So much more satisfying then paying bundles for something mass produced, probably in China.

This from Plumo, 'soft and colourful throw woven from mohair and wool in a subtle checked pattern. Made by Irish weavers, 70% mohair/30%wool.' £115 each.

This from my local chazza shop, soft and colourful throw woven from mohair and wool in a subtle checked pattern. Made by Scottish weavers in their homes, 70% mohair/30% wool. £3.50.

With a little bit of time and effort I think you can find most things you want, at a good price without sacrificing quality or style. 

What have you found lately?

My Best Money Saving Tip

This is the last stitch of the scary sewing project, hand sewing the hems. The whole project has taken me about five days in all, and although the curtains are certainly not 'perfect' from a professional curtain making point of view, I'm very pleased with them. 

(Sighs of relief all round and a huge saving of £500 made).

The pencil pleat uniformity is a bit iffy and wouldn't stand up to scrutiny, but hey the ribbon is sooo pretty it kinda makes up for it. I was hoping the ribbon would lift the plain curtains from bog standard to bespoke, and I think it has.

I would say if you're thinking of giving this sort of thing a go, but like me have never done it before, give it a try. Look on the Internet for tutorials, ask friends for their tips, take your time and it will work :)

We have spent some money on this room, but we have stuck to a budget, and we now have a lovely room that we will use, instead of an ugly one that we didn't want to go in. 

Most of the larger items we have recently purchased, art deco cabinet, sofa and fire surround have all been found on ebay. The rug was Ardingly.

Pure wool. Only £50.00.

This 1930s fire surround was an unbelievable £4.99.

So now I'm going to let you know how we found such incredible bargains on ebay. Otherwise known as my best money saving tip.

By using The Money Saving Expert's local ebay deals mapper. 

This handy little gizmo can tell you all the items that are listed as 'collection only'. By entering your post code and the amount of miles you're willing to travel to collect, you will be able to scroll through a veritable cornucopia of delights, and grab some bargains.

You may even be lucky and find some sellers who are willing to deliver for a small fee.