And the list goes on...

Last week I worked on bank holiday Monday and therefore had an extra day off in the week. It was really nice as it meant I was in work one day, off the next, back in and then off again. It felt like a very short week.  I made use of the fact that I had the car one of the days and treated myself to trip to the fair town of Chepstow, 4 miles down the road. I have written about the place before as it is abundant with charity shops and little second hand stores, many more than my own town of Caldicot (and of a higher calibre if there is such a thing when describing charity shops).

I bought many gorgeous things and had a wonderful afternoon with not even the constant rain deterring me from my mission. First things first though...the shoes.

Two pairs from the British heart foundation shop. The first pair are a blue leather snakeskin effect shoe from none other than Karen Millen, a shop I love but never visit. No point if you don't have £500 for your average shopping spree. Beautiful clothes don't get me wrong, the tailoring is exceptional, the fabric superb but the price tag is definitely not for me. A pair of their lovely chaussures will easily set you back £100 or more but these were more reasonably priced at £6. And BRAND NEW. Jackpot.

The second pair, at £4 have a great quirky, vintage feel to them that instantly conjure up images of polka dot summer dresses and picnics at the beach. I just adore them.  

With long straps to wrap around the legs, they ooze summer (let's hope we have one) and will definitely make the holiday edit in a couple of weeks time. 

And they even have a eerie message just for me imprinted on the base, "she who dies with the most shoes wins".  Meant to be. Complete with a wedge heel, great for comfort, height and support, they tick all the boxes. 

I also found this little gem of a picture frame. It was an empty rectangular frame for £2 but I quickly saw the potential. I had bought some miniature letter cards last year on the internet and they have been burning a whole in my creative pocket ever since. Rectangular frames like this seem to be rare so I was over the moon when I saw it. Not only that, but the spectrum coloured paper you see here was inside the frame already so I used it as the ideal backing to my glued letters, making sure I covered the shop wording advertising the frame itself. I was so pleased with the result.

So what else.....well, a small wooden box frame that will soon have a second life breathed into it. I will post a picture when I have finished with it. I also found this little badge for 50p. I may just pin it to a handbag in homage to my old city of Bristol. This typeface (or the "Bristol scroll" as it is more commonly known), was the brand of the old bristol bus service many moons ago. It has since become somewhat of a vintage icon and is painted on walls in many different quarters of the city, and as such badges like his have become rather sought after.

Now this, I am so happy with. A glass container with 6 colour glass stem champagne flutes.  A friend had a much larger version at her home in France and I loved  it the minute I saw it. It (and the champagne contents) off-set the terrible pigeon stew that awaited me at her dinner party and the subsequent disgraceful aftermath in the loo all weekend. I had never seen anything like it before (or the aftermath) and I certainly never thought I'd find one back home for £6 (in a Tesco box!). The nicest aspect is that I know I will think of her every time I look at it. Fond memories of an amazing year will flood back every time.

Minus the pigeon.

And last but not least a small wooden smile sign for another grand price of 50p. I haven't decided yet if I will leave it in its original colour or sand it down and spray paint for a particular room. It's fate is currently undecided. John has since seen one in Wilkensons for £4.99 and I paid 50p. Smile? Yep.

So there you have it, a real mixed bag of charity shop finds all in one afternoon and no bank was broken in the making of this trip. 

I really hope you all have as much fun rummaging around your local second hand shops, doing your bit for recycling!