New shop in town: 'The Cupboard of Wonders'

Noticed an interesting new shop had opened up very locally - a range of 'stuff' that was good to rummage round in...

Owner said that these little dolls were hers when she was a youngster (that would have been some time ago by the looks of her...)

Nice enough stuff but owner was a little recalcitrant when it came to prices and actually what was for sale....

'Customers' behind me were heard to mutter how they: "....wished that I had kept mine as a child..." 

Shop owner looked a little smug at this point.

Owner came close to slapping  hands when customers went to pick something up!!

To be honest The Owner (now a proper noun!) seemed reluctant to part with anything.....

Owner muttered something about having to hold on to stuff because she was due to appear on 'Hoarders'....

I told Owner that she needs to get a grip....

The Owner said that she had a grip thank you very much and that grip was firmly around all the old things in her 'shop'.

The Owner  kindly spent a good hour or so digging out older photographs of the same cupboard taken over the past 5 years - give or take

The crowd gasped at the changes over the years

The Owner said that the 'stocking up' process has taken some time 

A constant stream of 'refinement' 

Oh yes - the good old days when it was nearly bare!

Those were the days my friend

We thought they'd never end......

PS: 'Are those more tins in that there cupboard Arthur?'

PPS: ' I do believe that they are Martha'

PPPS: 'Some people just do not know when to stop do they Arthur'

PPPPS: 'No Martha...............dear'

PPPPPS: 'I've got my very beady eye on you Arthur'

PPPPPPS:' Yes Martha'

PPPPPPS: Recently the Cupboard of Wonders had to be moved to another 'establishment' - The Owner could not be bothered, was too lazy, will always take a shortcut if she can,  decided not to empty the cupboard but coerced her children to help her shift aforementioned cupboard with  THE ENTIRE CONTENTS IN SITU.  The air was peppered with a few pleasantries; 'Just put your ruddy backs into it................STOP COMPLAINING........IT'S ONLY A TOE.......IT'S NOT THAT HEAVY.....WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE.......LIFT.........I SAID LIFT................FOR CRYING OUT LOUD LIFT THE ^&** THING......... AM I THE ONLY ONE LIFTING HERE......PUT YOUR RUDDY  BACK INTO IT FOR PETE'S SAKE...   YOU'VE GOT NINE OTHERS.....'  The Cupboard of Wonders does not lock so the extra dimension of door holding had to be factored in......'LOOK OUT ......IT'S TIPPING'!!!!!!!!

PPPPPPPPS: It was a seamless transaction........

PPPPPPPPPS: Cootard's Understanding Seamless ServiceS (CUSS) currently floating on the Stock Exchange

PPPPPPPPPPS: The Owner has just remembered that the Cupboard of Wonders is 'famous' and can  just be seen in the background of Mollie Makes Magazine here and some tins can be seen too I think....If you squint you will be able to read the Cupboard of Wonders is actually mentioned in print!  Such fame

A bit of vintage patchwork.....and some vintage tins....

Hello again - thank you for calling in on this chilly day. Welcome to new followers and sorry again that I cannot see some of your blogs to return a visit - not sure what to do.  Thank you for kind comments on previous tin post - I still have those tins but they are now  in the vertical rather than the horizontal and in a different room!  Thank you Down by the Sea re: other half and thoughts about tins - the last tin that I bought was this one here and that is now used for wild bird feed so that is 'ok' (though I do have some 'proper' bird seed tins.....).   Oh - I did buy a pretty tin at the car boot in the summer and I have just 'planted it up' for next Spring - I had an extra idea for that one so we will wait and see if that works (all revealed next Spring if my blog is still going by then...change my mind weekly).  I have in fact taken some nice tins to the CS and they are still there.....

Finding more and more of my photographs being used elsewhere lately - that no pin code thing is clearly no good!  Here is an interesting page that has used a photograph of my cushions - that had found there way to you know where - with no link to here of course! Nice that someone else gets the credit......just in case here are my cushions in their proper setting - home! I shall leave this sitting here for a while and ponder....

So I am rather partial to a nice bit of patchwork....and a nice old tin to go with it... of course



Really - you too!  Now there's a surprise....

It is interesting to 'read' old patchwork don't you think? I have some 1950s bits that have pieced using the problems page of a 'woman's magazine' - all a bit surreptitious with implied meaning throughout.

This is from 70s do you think - a bit more of a cheery read - Kleenex and Cornflakes!

The pieces above I particularly like - much larger pieces from the late 40s possibly?

Anyway a nice bit of clashiness going on

I have made  cushions out of some of this though there is a limit as to how many cushions one person can use in ones lifetime.  I might make some shopping bags out of the rest

Tell me: do you use cake tins for cake?  Well - blow me down...things being used for their original purpose!

Please note that these tins do not feature in the 'Tons of Tins' post - these are patchwork tins, not haberdashery tins.

Pluuuuhhheze get it right - if we mix patchwork tins with haberdashery tins we will get ourselves in a right old muddle and we won't know if we are coming or going.  I use biscuit tins for cake purposes because it is good to take risks in life...

I do like a bit of colour...

Can you tell that I couldn't decide which photographs to eliminate from the post so there are too many....

Sorry for delay in Weekend Bag tutorial - sewing machine hitch - ditto with giveaway post.....normal service is not resumed....

PS: Have you turned the heating on yet?  The BIG debate

PPS: Did you watch 'The Fabric of Britain' this week?

PPPS: Did you watch 'Science Britannica' this week?

PPPPS: Did you watch 'The Great British Bake Off'? We would like Ruby to win because we think that she is nice.

PPPPPS: Watching more telly than usual as we hunker down for the season in front of the fire

PPPPPPS: I have got the lids to these tins!!!

PPPPPPPS: The book -  'The Custards - my life in tin' -  is coming on a treat: full of laughs and jolly japes in the world of tin.  Who knew!

PPPPPPPPS: I wish that I had thought of 'Jolly Good Fellow' that is a pleasing wheeze that I enjoyed muchly.

PPPPPPPPPS: The book - 'The Custards - my life in tablecloths' - is not so pleasing to write - full of stains and jam droppage.  Not so many laughs in that one sadly.

Tons of tins for posterity

Today Mary is just basking in glory.... and she thanks you for kind words


Sorry - this post is a bit tinny!!!

I am posting these old photographs of mine here because all of this has now been dismantled  and transplanted elsewhere..... this arrangement no longer exists....feel a bit sad now.....

For posterity  I thought that I would show you some ('Some' said Arthur 'Did she say some?' 'I think that she did' said Martha) of my tins.  You can see them behind this blog when the first page is loading if you are quick!

This 'arrangement' never stayed the same for more than a day or two because I have would have to sift through each tin to find 'stuff' that I needed for sewing.  It would be far too simple to label each tin and remember what was in each one.  NO - I like to make life an adventure if I can so I add spice to my mix by playing 'tin roulette' every day (even though it would give rise to phrases along the lines of: 'Which ruddy tin is it in...' or something slightly similar...)

A constantly changing landscape of tins......Tinscape

I have gone on about vintage baskets in a previous post (somewhere) and I am particularly fond of children's tiny baskets (our  children were 'forced' to use them each Easter - whether they liked it or not!!).  There are some more of them in a cupboard....oh dear....I have recently sent some very nice baskets to the charity shop....I have recently been back to the charity shop with a view to buying back some very nice baskets.....hopeless.....

Each tin has some sort of haberdashery item in it - the 'Sew and So' needlecase below was mine as a child (of course...never throw anything away....).  As with tablecloths I have tins for Christmas, tins for Easter, tins for Valentine's Day...a tin for all seasons....

As this tin doubles up nicely as a radio I also use it to listen to 'The Archers'.....whilst chewing on a butter scotch....did anyone listen to the Last Night of the Proms - Dom misheard and thought that Crusty Alltopp was conducting.....

How we laughed...

I am rather fond of tins with a black background and bright coloured flowers - some time hence I may devote a whole post just to them

I am rather fond of brightly coloured tins....

Yes - I am rather partial to a nice tin.....

Clashy colours as always - do you find this toooo much?

Just wondered as I am very  intrigued as to what people think when they read this.  Thank you for commenting by the way - that helps me to gauge public opinion!

 You can't beat a nice old cotton reel can you - I have a post lined up of 'car boot finds for 2013' where I bought a carrier bag full of them for £3....it is hopeless isn't it.....

The little drum tape measure above  is tiny and wonderful - also from a car boot for £1 I think.

Kilner jars are very handy indeed for all sorts of things - please colour co-ordinate if possible

As no one has asked (!) I thought that I would tell you my approach to writing a post (unpublished posts now tally at 59).   I load about 20-30 photographs and then delete the ones that I think don't look so nice - I delete and delete until I am happy with the remaining ones.  Sometimes I cannot delete - which is why we end up with some posts having similar photographs - I could not decide which ones should go.  I then add words - sometimes the whole thing in one go or sometimes just a few words  at first.  I then might leave it for months and months and add a few more words over time.  I might delete some words too.  Then - when the time is right - I might post it here.  Sometimes I delete the whole thing and start all over again.

All I know is that it takes a long time....possibly why I am so protective of it all.....

We're all different...

Tins display all g/done and dusted now.....

PS: Currently writing a book entitled: 'The Custards - my life in tin'

PPS: Currently writing a book entitled: 'The Custards - my life in tablecloths'

PPPS: Currently writing a book entitled: 'The Custards - my life in cake'.............

PPPPS: Good to see Arthur and Martha back in town - they are been on their sojourns for a little while

PPPPPS: Great British Bake Off hotting up

PPPPPPS: Currently preparing a GIVEAWAY COMPETITION (a giveaway with an edge!!)  before work gets extra busy - I have taken on some extra work so reduced time here sadly.....or maybe that is a good thing....don't answer that one..

PPPPPPPS: Thank you to those who visited my rather grandly entitled 'Vintage Shop' - the shop with nothing in it.  It was work in progress but as I do all too often I pressed the publish instead of save button.  I am a bit click happy and this happens with posts too - sorry for the confusion.  I will leave it there for now as a constant reminder for the 'to do' list.

PPPPPPPPS: Passed the course that I have been studying for the past two years - now a Fellow.  There are some other members out there I think....

PPPPPPPPPS: I have studied something (ranging from RHS to NHS) most of my adult life.....I might put it on hold for a while now....

PPPPPPPPPPS: Weekend bag tutorial not yet of sufficient standard for public viewing - I should not have mentioned it perhaps!

PPPPPPPPPPPPS: Off to Milton Keynes this weekend...............there will be some  cakes there I hope

PPPPPPPPPPPPPS: Mary is a little miffed that she does not feature in this post

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPS: Question: When I click on some names to look at your blog I am taken to Google Plus and cannot see your blog - so sorry if I have not visited.  I do not understand Google Plus and I cannot add anything else to this laptop because it will explode with overload.  In addition - I was the first person that I knew to get the internet and therefore have had the same old email address for 17 years.  I hate deleting or sorting so my mail box is always 'nearly full' (I like reading old messages as a pastime) - if I have have too much mail the in box implodes and then explodes.  'Tis a fact of modurhn life.  I may have mentioned before that in the early days of the internet friends would gather round to watch a photo of Mount Kilimanjaro take five hours to load up....

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPS: Slightly cheesed off with seeing my photographs on 'you know where' but of course with them stripped of all attribution now....is it really that desperate! Saw one today that has been used a few times that said: 'Nice to see my pins pop up' But it was my photo (not that you would know it)......

The one where Mary gets all dressed up....

Mary doesn't have a great deal to say today....

I think that she is too busy just  flaunting herself!

She got all dressed up for a sunny day

...and popped on a 'new' bag (this one has cupids on and I think that the original pattern was called the Love Letter or something similar)...

...admired herself with her 'new' embroidered collar

(quite a lot!!!)

Reminded herself that she was in dire need of some 'neck work'.....!

Informed other half that this was not a 50p purchase from a car boot  but an indulgence in lieu of shoes .(those years of 50p purchases from car boots have resulted in being able to 'splash out' sometimes)....Mary has no need of shoes.........but she has been working particularly hard this year so thought that she deserved it......

Mary would very much like to meet the person who made this and congratulate them on such beautiful work - was originally sold in a department store and still has the original label (and price - 7/11) attached.

Mary liked these photographs most of all -  nice and patchy.

Mary has gone into hiding whilst this room is being 'refurbished' for the new saison....room should be 'done' by Christmas....vintage wallpaper (from 1956 to be precise) will be preserved - phew!

Tra la la
Fiddle de dee
Mary has gotten all dressed up
For tea......


and cake.........

PS: I can see that I am one post behind in replying to kind comments - off to work now (in the rain....) now but will reply later today.  I try and not to have empty promises and will not be sidetracked!

PPS: Working tomorrow (Saturday) - just thought that I would let you know...

PPPS: Working on weekend bag tutorial (want to make it 'right')

PPPPS:  Shoe situation now a little more needy because of the rain

PPPPPS: Well done to Sister Sue for raising THREE THOUSAND POUNDS for Cancer Research with her vintage tea party (some very nice cake, china and 'bits and bobs' can work wonders)

PPPPPPS: Thank you for encouragement as always

PPPPPPP: Just catching up watching an episode of Dragon's Den and CANNOT BELIEVE the people who run The Makery in Bristol were flogging kits to make purses for FIFETEEN POUNDS  but then again that's business I reckon - perhaps the question is more WHO IS PAYING THAT- I will undercut that by half and make MILLIONS.  UNBELIEVABLE.....

Finally PS of the day - I very much love modern illustrators such as  the work of Claire Phillips seen here on  Etsy - see I can do moderhn too you know!