Carboot goodies!

Good Afternoon bloggers!

I'm having a bit of 'downer' today as I recently applied for an amazing TV entrant job and was unsuccessful. As many of you graduates are aware, its difficult finding a job- especially something you have dreamed about doing for a long time. Hey Ho, every cloud has a silver lining and I'm a great believer that everything happens for a reason.

Enough about that... I cheered myself up by doing a spot of thrifting this morning. 

At many carboots you will notice a lot of house clearence companies. Well I was lucky enough to be passing by and they were giving things away for free! If your anything like me, I jumped straight in and had a rummage. I'm really loving retro prints at the moment and I spotted this very ugly teapot with old flower prints on it. Mustard is a very 60s colour and I couldn't help but love this cute teapot. I've been hunting for a nice pot to put some flowers in and TADAHHHHH this is what I have created! Plastic flowers are prefect as the colours always stay and you never need to water them. (I'm useless at that).

I also purchased these old fashioned frames. I recently helped my family clear my grandmothers house and I found some old retro magazines. I pulled the pages out and have been looking for a cool way to display them. They look pretty cool huh?

I love buying unique clothes as I don't like to dress the same as everyone else. I spotted this lace top with tassels and it only cost £1. Its great for the summer as it can be worn as a cover up (so you don't get burnt) and will look cute with a pair of vintage Levi cutoffs. I can't wait to wear it.

Have you purchased anything nice recently? Or any bargains you'd like to share? I love hearing from you :)

Back soon,

Rachael xoxoxo

Bristol charity shops and sale haul

Good afternoon Bloggers, today I made my way back to Bristol as I'm moving out for good on Wednesday (sad times). These past 3 years have flown by and I can't believe all of my stuff has been packed up! This afternoon I decided to cheer myself up a bit and have a rummage on Gloucester Road. It is full of chairty shops and I enjoy this thrift the most!

I also checked out the sales in the city centre- there is so many at yeh moment! Shame I'm a poor student!

As soon as I walked into Marie Curie I noticed this skirt straight away. It has a beautiful Africa inspired print which is very chic. This would look great with a tan, especially with all the heat at the moment! Originally it is from Primark costing £10 but I paid £3.

From the same shop I also purchased this stunning Laura Ashley jug. At the moment these are becoming very popular to use as flower pots and when I'm back from university, I plan to do the same. Laura Ashley is quite pricey but you can get great bargains in store. I only paid £1.50 for this so I can't complain at that. Its small and very cute, will look great in my bedroom.

I popped into Dorothy perkins and noticed this. How wonderful is the pattern?! Its so georgous and summery. It will lovely with a simple black vest and my favorite vintage satchel! Paid £12 but got my student discount on top. Can't wait to wear this piece!

Have you ever thrifted in Bristol? Let me know your bargains!

Back soon, 

Rachael 

Xoxoxo 

Plymouth Charity shop haul

Good evening Bloggers! 

I spent my day off today visiting Plymouth Charity shops. I've never really been thrifting in the city centre as I'm usually with my partner who dislikes going in them. Mainly because his grandmother took him in all the time when he was younger! Either way he'll have to get used to it because I love a bargain and purchasing unique pieces!

One half of the city centre is full of boutique and high street shops where as the other half is full of charity shops. I must have spent about 2 hours darting from one side of the road to the other. 

Here is what I found:

This is a cute fitted skater skirt from Primark. Florals are a big hit at the moment especially with the lovely summer weather! It had a cute bow at the front and would look lovely dressed up for a smart work outfit with tights and a blouse or even just a vest top for the beach! I only paid £3.29 for it!

Another skirt? Yes another one! I love polkadots because it is very chic' and a popular pattern at the moment. Its a faded gray colour with bubblegum white spots. It's by a brand called hearts and bows that I have never heard of but after purchasing this skirt I'm definitely going to be looking them up :) only £3.95

This is my final thrifted purchase. Knotted t shirts are popular this season and are wore commenly with leggings  and sandals. This top is from oasis and features florals made with a light jersey material. I love the colours on this because it's very sumery and reminds me of Cath Kidston. £4.95 - which isn't bad for its amazing condition and brand. 

Keep an eye out for my next purchases- here on nottooshabby,

Rachael xoxoxo

Carboot Haul

I love going to the carboot- as some of you may have guessed from my recent blog posts! Today the sun is shining and there are many bargian hunters around! Fancy seeing what I purchased?

I love old leather tatty looking bags and you'll never see me without my satchel. Today I saw this lovely lady who seemed to know a lot about chic and vintage pieces. She had this adorable bag for sale which is right up my street.

It is a leather bag and the lady stated it to be over 30 years old! It's very tatty and rough but I like leather that looks worn. The lady wanted £12 and I offered her £8 and she accepted. In places like topshop or asos market street it would go for about £60 as it is a fashionable piece at the moment.

To complete my wardrobe that I blogged about the other day- I've been looking for a shabby door knob. I originally used the one that came with it until I saw this beautiful one today! Its a handmade porcelain knob and I paid £1 for it! It looks great!!

Over the last few days my dad has been doing some digging in the garden and he found this old bottle. I washed it out and purchased some plastic flowers for 50p to put in it. It looks lovely in my bedroom. What do you all think?

Back soon,

Rachael xoxoxo

Latest 'thrifted' clothing

Good morning bloggers!

Today I am going to share with you my latest thrift shop clothing purchases. 

Buying second hand clothing is such a huge trend at the moment and is a great opportunity to buy fashionable pieces at a low price.

Additionally, searching in charity shops and carboot sales is perfect for finding unique purchases. A lot of clothing companies have got onto the bandwagon of old clothing and are bulk buying and selling them on for redicolous prices!

I prefer to search for it myself and I know my money is well spent by giving to charity.

Here are a few pieces I found at my local thrift shops in Cornwall:

This is a Riverisland blouse featuring vintage inspired lace and polkadots. It's not an old piece of clothing but the style of it is very 'now'. It has no arms but I decided to wear it with my DIY collared lace cardigan. I also like to use my favourite bag of all time- my Moroccan satchel. One day when I am successful I would love to buy a personalised professional satchel like Zooey deschanel! 

I purchased this denim cut off top from a local charity shop for my town. Denim is making its way back into the fashion industry. For only £3 I couldn't say no! It looks cute with my clock necklace.

If you hadn't noticed, that's displayed on my new wardrobe I recently posted about :D

This is the top I'm wearing simply with black leggings and a vest. The more simpler you keep the block colour pieces, the more it will stand out. REMEMBER- less is more!

I'm also wearing a patterns headscarf wrapped around my bun. 50p from the carboot!

This is my final piece I would like to share with you. I love lace, so much!!! Its a cropped design made by newlook which only cost me £1. I wore this with a black skater skirt but not tucked it. Its light and floaty- perfect for summer and you can dress it up or down.

I'd highly recomend buying from chairty thrift shops because it's all for a great cause, and like me I'm sure you'll find some fab bargains too!

Back soon, 

Rachael xoxoxo 

DIY upcycled wardrobe

Hi everyone!

 You all know how much I love my vintage and shabby chic pieces! Well today I am going to show you my latest upcycled piece of furniture. 

In one of my previous posts I mentioned the end of my 'university days'. On top of that, the amount of clothing I had at my student house in Bristol and my home in Cornwall was crazy! 

Last year I painted a tall boy wardrobe which was so cute and perfect for my room at the time but I didn't consider the size of it when moving home. 

So, for the last few weeks I have been looking for a decent sized wardrobe. My room isn't HUGE so I couldn't have a queen sized, but just enough for my mountain of clothing.

I searched so long on EBay, gumtree and local newspapers for one but I hadn't seen any that I knew were perfect.

Anyway, near my home is a regular carboot on Wednesday and I popped over before my busy shift of waitressing at work. To my surprise, a gentleman with a large van pulled out this retro wardrobe.

Its an Art Deco 1950's gentlemans wardrobe! I must admit, I really hate furniture before it has been shabby chic'd! I paid £20 for it which was amazing!!! For an extra £10 the seller chucked in a matching chest of talk drawers! 

I got the gentleman to deliver to my home and during my whole shift at work I was super excited to crack on with it.

Firstly, I sanded it over to create a grip for the paint. I then washed the inside with a weak bleach mixture to remove the old furniture and must smell. 

I painted it with B&Q's own branded all purpose paint for wood in a duck egg blue colour (my favourite).

Three coats later I was able to rough the edges using sandpaper and create false appearing scratches and knocks.

TADAHHHHH

Its a perfect fit! I love the round edges because it gives my room a less harsh appearance because the wardrobe is quite big. It looks cute with my stacked suitcases, rabbit light and birdcage!

What do you all think? 

Back Soon,

Rachael 

Xoxoxox

'Walkies' in Marazion

So last week I moved back from university after 3 long years in Bristol. So over the Summer I have decided to explore my home town a bit more! I never really appreciated where I lived but having lived in a city, it is nice to be by the seaside too!

Today I went down to Marazion, its a small town close to Penzance and is home to St Michaels Mount - the castle in the sea! 

If the tides in you have to get a boat but I was lucky enough to walk across the cobbled path.

Remember the bad storm we had a few months back? Well that completely ruined the path and today was the first time i have seen it restored! 

The sun was also out and it's been soooooooo HOT! 

Here's me and my partners dog called Connie! She was more interested in running off chasing seagulls!! 

This took us about 10 attempts to get her to keep still! Cute picture though!

I'd recomend you visit this beautiful town! They have a variety of cute chic shops and some lovely pubs too! Perfect weather for a pint of Cornish cider.

Back soon, 

Rachael

X

Me, Myself and I

I just though I'd update my blog with newer pictures of myself and life :) I recently purchased an iPad, and yes ... I know.... I'm one of the those! I have finally joined the crowd, and I didn't realise what I was missing out on!

I purchased the App called Instagram and I can't believe how good it makes photographs look, instead of being the usual standard pictures, you can add affects to them to make them look old, vintage and chic.

I love this app, so here's some personal pictures I'd like to share with you :)

Below is my border terrier dog called Jake who was playing in the snow this weekend in Wolverhampton and me and the pooch taking pictures :)
I only have around 2 weeks of university left so it was good to see the family last weekend and then I can go back to Cornwall for summer!!!
And below there are also some pictures of myself :)

My D.I.Y patchwork notice board for jewellery #shabbychic #vintage #cathkidston

   

Good morning everyone! It's a beautiful sunny day at university in Bristol, but unfortunately I'm tucked up in bed trying to be 'productive' and do my essays! 

I haven't been blogging for a while as my computer has been broken and I have bee commuting for the university library's with my tonnes of workload. 

But today I want to share with you my home made DIY notice board :)

I purchased this notice board from Argos for less than £10 but you could probably find a cheaper one depending on the size you desire, I wanted a pretty big on to store all of my jewellery.

This is VERY easy to make. All you need is scrap pieces of material, tatty string which you can buy from craft shops or B&Q and a hot glue gun which you can buy on EBay for less than £5!

I placed all the material on the notice board until I was happy with the way it fitted together and then I glued it to the cork. I glued string around the edges to tidy the sides of the material as a lot of them began to fray... And there you have it :)

I used a mixture of Cath Kidston oil cloth and old vintage fabrics which I purchased from craft shops for a couple of pennies. Many craft shops also offer small bags of scrap material which is ideal for making a patch work feature.

Instead of traditionally using this as a notice board, I decided to use it for my jewellery. As many of you girls know, it is soooooo hard to store and this is a great way of keeping them on display and having them tidy in your room :)

So what do you think? Please leave me comments as I love to hear your feedback :)

OOTD My New Lipsy Dress. Ideal Wedding Guest Outfit

I thought I would share with you all, my new Lipsy dress which I purchased at a bargain price of £18, thanks to the sale and I needed a new dress to wear to a wedding.

As many of you know, I love a good bargain, but finding one is Lipsy really is a true 'finders keepers'. Lipsy fashion is usually super stunning, but very dressy, and I rarely ever need to get dressed up for an occasion, so I didn't want to waste money buying a gorgeous dress that never gets worn. However, I did decide to buy this fancy going out dress!

I picked this gorgeous light pink coloured ruffled bandeau dress It was in the sale for £18, reduced from £60. It's a gorgeous colour, and the fit is amazing. It really makes me feel like a fairy princess! It's fitting in the right places, but the floaty ruffles and layers covers up my bad bits :), The sheer fabric is lovely and light. The black detail,  and support gives it some edge without the straps. I love it and I couldn't wait to wear it !

This is me and my wonderful fella at the wedding :)

This is all of us girlie's, including the beautiful bride.

 

With my outfit, I also wore suede black heels from New look £20 and a Matt finished silver clutch bag which was £6 from the New Look sale with matching silver jewellery (pre-owned). I also curled my hair and pushed it to one side (I usually have it straight and fancied a change).

 

 

What do you think of my new bargain dress? Have you ever purchased any bargains from Lipsy? Please share :)

 

 

DIY Vintage Levi Short Cut Offs

 

 

Good Morning :) I have been up and early at the crack of dawn today! And I would like to share with you my new DIY Vintage Levi Shorts!

I love cutting my old jeans into shorts and I always get questions about how to do cut-off shorts. I have never done a tutorial because I thought it was really simple but I have been asked several questions about it so here it goes. I am focusing on standard Levi distressed cutoffs :)

 

What you will need:

1 x pair of jeans that are one or two sizes larger (for the standard levi cutoffs, mine are LEVI 501)

1x good pair of scissors that can cut through fabric

*8x cups of bleach (optional)

Washer & Dryer*

 

1) Pick a pair of jeans that you would like to cut. I always choose pants that are a size or two larger than my normal size because I dont want it to be so tight around my thighs!

 

 

2) Use a pair of shorts that you already have whose length you like and match the crotch of those shorts with the pants. Then use a ruler (or a book) and a pen to mark a line going accross. After you have made this line cut across.

 

 

3) Then fold over and line up the side you have cut to make sure both sides are even.

 

 

4) And now you should have something like this :) Try on the shorts to see if they are short enough if they look a bit wierd they probably need to be shorter (who wears short shorts?). I also cut about 1 inch slits on the side of the shorts so that they don’t stick to my thighs.

 

 

5) Now, you can either cut them slightly shorter for your desired look and frey the edges. You can do this by taking the end of the scissors with your right hand and hold the shorts tightly upwards with your left (the hand holding the scissors should pull the other end). Now scratch along roughly with the scissors. You will start too see the fabric shaving off. Or, like me, you can just fold up the edges.

 

 

 

6) Many people like to bleach wash there cut offs, I haven't bothered this time as you can see, they already have the tatty bleached affect already. But here's how to do it if you desire :)

If you are going for the cutoff and not fold up look, I advise putting your shorts through a wash after you have freyed the edges as this makes the 'tattyness' come out more.

 

Put about 8 cups of bleach and enough water to submerge them. Levis 501′s are already treated so it takes a long time to change the color. I would leave them in bleach for 5 minutes then let them hang for 30 min and repeat this until you achieve your desired colour.

 

 

 

It doesnt matter if you mess it up, because you can always buy another pair from a charity shop for less than £5!!

So, what do you think? Have you made any DIY clothing before?

If so, paste a link in the comment box below, i'd love to see it :)

Rachael x

OOTD Bargain Purchase, my not too shabby Rubbish (s**t) Shirt Night.

Well, I apologise for the lack of posts recently, I have been ever so busy with the amount of university work deadlines! But I do have to share with you my bargain purchase of the week, mainly for my flat mates birthday, Rubbish, (s**t) shirt night! I know my blog is all about Shabby Chic, but as you can see, my shirt is definitely that!

 

Basically, the title 's**t shirt night' means you and your friends have to buy the worst shirts you can get your hands one! A shirt with the most awful, clashing and terrible patterns on that make you stand out...pretty much the similar kind of shirts your dad would wear in the 1980's!

 

 

So, what do you think? :)

 

I purchased my shirt from a local charity shop, near my student house in Bristol for just £3.50. First of all, many charity shops sell really old fashioned shirts with crazy patterns on. Secondly, you can buy them at a reasonable price but most importantly, you are doing something good as all costs go to charity!

 

My shirt is a mixture is blues with french writing all over it and funnily enough the clothing label was called 'banter'. (what a coincidence). It is a mens shirt with poppers along the front, and I must say, it is very warm to wear, not that it makes it any more appealing to wear!

 

You can buy some unusual shirts (like my friend on the right) from Primark, and all other leading shops but unfortunately the price tag is a little off putting for one night only!

 

It is definitely great fun to dress up with your friends :) and even though I thought my shirt was ever so bad, the amount of people that kept asking me where I purchased it from was crazyyyy!

 

With my shirt, I also wore a Dickie bow tie, knee high socks, vans and denim shorts.

#number one rule: make sure you stick together, as many members of the public genuinely thought I would dress like this normally :o

 

 

So, have you every wore any crazy shirts in public before? And what do you think of mine? Terrible... I know!

 

Rachael x

Disaster Designs. My new vintage style purse and weekend bag ♥

Not too long ago, my mum was in Wolverhampton visiting my Gran and she came across a purse, of which she fell in love and wanted to buy me for my Birthday. Unfortunately, she saw the bag in a boutique shop window, and the shop was closed & she had to come home the same day. When she arrived home, we sat and tried to search for the purse, typing into Google the description of it. Soon enough we came across a few on Ebay, but none new or cheap. It was becoming increasingly apparent we wouldnt be able to find a site that stocked it. 

 ♥
 

 December 17th was my Birthday, and so my mum set about on a mission to track down the purse so she could give it as a surprise. Funnily enough, Amazon now stocked it.

The Company is called "Disaster Designs" and they have a handful of different ranges within it. This is the "Paper Planes" range (The cutest in my opinion). It is somewhat in the more pricey range, but nothing too extravagent, and totally worth it.

♥

I just wanted to share with you how pretty some of the items were. Of course I got the purse, and also a cute envelope vintage style weekend bag. (which im pretty sure will com in useful, travelling back and fro from university!). If you're looking for something utterly adorable (Passport Cover, Coin Purse, Wash Bag, Compact Mirror...)

I'd highly reccommend you give this company a little search on the interwebz (Or check stockists as it can be stocked in independent shops & Boutiques)

 

♥

                                                                               



This is my beautiful tape measurer purse :)


 

& This is my vintage love letter weekend bag £60

 

 

♥

 

Have you purchased any cute vintage style accessories before like Disaster Designs?

 

Rachael x

Shabby Chic Valentines Day Gifts For Under £10 #bargain #ebay

 

 

♥

It's less than 3 weeks until Valentines Day, and even if you're single this year, I've put together a few little treats that are less than £10 each! You could buy something for your loved one, best friend, or maybe for yourself without breaking the bank!

 

♥

Maybe you could create your own personal message in a bottle, or even buy some chic heart coasters for the tea lover! These are all available from eBay and are under a tenner including delivery! Wow.. bargains! I love the personalised wooden hearts and might just have to buy it for myself! And how cute is the wooden quote sign?

Happy Valentines shopping!

 

 

1. Wooden Personalised Heart

 

2. Wooden Personalised Heart

 

3.Wooden Quote Plaque

 

4. Hanging 'LOVE' Photo frame

 

5. Heart Glass Candle

 

6. Wall Plaque 'LOVE'

 

7. Chic Heart Coasters

 

8. Personalised Message In A Bottle

 

♥

 

 

Rachael x