Friday Find

No 7 - vintage metal cabinets

These little beauties are my pride and joy.

I bought my first one for £2 from a junk shop in Cardiff when I was at college, and it was love at first sight. Subsequent additions to the collection came in at £4 and £4.50 from long gone junk shops in Sheffield.

I love the fact that each one has a different mirror shape and distinctive handle.

I confess there are also another two lurking elsewhere in the house, and I would almost certainly have collected more but they've got very popular and I can't afford to buy them now!

They hide all our bathroom clutter and always lift my spirits just by being there with their slightly rusty and battered exteriors.

Below them, on the loo, you'll find a warped tin portrait of this chap. A fine complement for their rusty bits and speckled mirrors.

K x

Friday Find

No 6 - Wade figures

As a lifelong collecter and hoarder I have boxes full of stuff that doesn't get to see the light of day very often. Things I'm attached to from childhood and bits and bobs I've picked up over the years because I like the look of them.

It's time for a clear out!

These will be first to go - I've had them since the 1960's, they live in a shoebox and, if Ebay is to be believed, a few of them are very rare and worth a fine penny or two.

They'll be going into our new shop 'Kettle of Fish Vintage' on Etsy next week.

Along with this little beauty...

See you there!

K x

Friday Find

No 3 - tin oil lamps

In 1988 I was very fortunate to be taken on the trip of a lifetime to Kenya. It was an amazing experience - truly unforgettable for many reasons, good and bad. Everything seemed very harsh and very real. 

We returned with a treasure trove of weird and wonderful things bought from street markets in Nairobi and Mombasa. The vast majority of my treasure was beads, but more of those another time.

These quirky little oil lamps are one of my favourite things. I love their mismatched, rusty appearance and how they're so beautifully put together.

One is made from an old tomato paste tin... 

   

...and both have top sections cut from a can of the fantastically named Cooper's Super Doom Insect Killer!

They're truly beautiful in all their rusty, patinated glory.

K x

Friday Find

I was rubbish at blogging in 2012.

I plan to be better at it in 2013. Let's see.

I figured a routine could help, so here's the first of my Friday Finds. Images of the things that clutter my house and make me happy. Things I might use, or may not want to part with. Treasure I've collected over many years. Muck hoarders. Things of beauty. The stuff of life...

No 1 - vintage button cards