Charity Shop Treasure Hunting- Holywood

Holywood's maypole

Another instalment of charity shop visits, this time Holywood. They have about six or seven shops, and some vintage antique shops too. 

Its a nice little afternoon out too, with lots of quaint coffee shops, specialty delis, and independent boutiques. 

Vintage My Little Ponies. I also spotted a Rugrats doll- the ginger one? I want to say Chuckie? 

Lovely Irish linen

Royal wedding stuff is uber kitsch collectible. Charles & Diana trays, plates, moneyboxes, etc. 

More original packaging. Check out the top left suggestion of how to use your push-light. Fancy dinner time. 

The following items, apart from the last, are all from an antique shop beside the maypole. They are priced up accordingly, so you will pay more than a charity shop price if you want to go buy anything I show. 

I love the bird cage. It's a really big home interior trend to have bronze metal accessories, so this would be a show stopping centre piece of a room. There's even a bird in the cage.

The pair of dogs is a classic kitsch decoration and they come in all colours. It's a 60s/70s 'every home has them' furnishing, like paintings of gypsy kids by Dallas Simpson, or three flying ducks on the wall. 

And there's me! 

Lastly, I like to finish with the weirdest thing I spot, like last week's Mona Lisa, so here she is! 

Charity Shop Treasure Hunting- Ards, Plus the Origins of The World of Kitsch

The World of Kitsch has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 2009. I've had websites of my own since 2000/01, starting with digital camera photos of local gigs in Belfast, updating twice or three times a week as I bounced around partying in my early 20s. 

My gig photo website logo  

That also took on a form of its own with batches of photos of nights out being uploaded, this was before the times where a club would have a designated photographer taking crowd pics to have you cringe at the day after. My photos still made people cringe, but the site got a ton of hits, with its apt headline, "Like the Tatler, but full of wretches".  

If you want to nosy,  parts of that old site are still working.

In 2007 I got married & had Smix, and wasn't drinking or going out any more, so my online presence stilted. 

Then my old flat mate Ron suggested I start a blog, I think after seeing some of my charity shop purchases that week on MySpace, or early Facebook, or whatever I was using at the time. 

So he helped me chose Posterous, and set up The World of Kitsch, and now I had a place to post the photos of the weird stuff I bought for my house.

Then however, the blog took off in a different direction, and I was lucky to begin to work with brands and feature products outside the realm of second hand goods.  

The other factor limiting charity shop posts was that I ran out of room in my home to display any more junk. 

However in the summer there I found this corner cabinet, which I knew I could squeeze into my home, and I have yet to fill it. So I decided to try to keep true to the early blog, I'll be including some more charity shop hunting posts, picking one town at a time to pillage. 

Today I visited Ards. It's a great place to charity shop for two reasons. 

The first is the sheer number of shops, there's at least ten. The second is that there are independent charity shops, which means they tend to have more old fashioned junk, which is what I'm after. 

The best two are the Elim store and the Assisi shop. 

There's also a really great Oxfam, which is excellent for clothing. 

The Elim has stuff decades old, as well as a treasure trove of books to scour, novels and hard back information books. I filled out my Childcare collection a bit more from their shelves. 

I didn't actually buy anything today, but I did stand staring at this cabinet pondering was there anywhere I could fit just one more of these in my house.  

£40 is a really decent price for one of these display cabinets, and this one is a good size too. It was in the independent charity shop opposite Knotts. 

Lastly, Ards even had a version of the Mona Lisa! 

Oxfam Team Up with Dawn O'Porter to Launch Vintage Fridays

VINTAGE FRIDAY FOR OXFAM - FRIDAY 1 AUGUST 2014

Oxfam and Dawn O' Porter want to see you rocking your finest retro chic next Friday to raise money for a great cause. 

It's simple! Just don your fave vintage outfit or accessory with pride for #VINTAGEFRIDAY and donate £3 to Oxfam by texting Vintage to 70066, helping to transform lives around the world. Remember to share your pics! 

*'Messages will be charged at £3, plus one standard rate message. By texting consent is given to future marketing by Oxfam. To unsubscribe from SMS send NOINFO to 70066'

DIY VINTAGE SWAP-SHOP - FROM MONDAY 28 JULY 2014 

We're calling upon the public to hold their own #THISOLDTHING vintage sale. Rally friends or colleagues together to do a closet clear out - be it at work, university or front room! 

There are no set prices, buyers can donate what they think the item is worth. All the profits and any items left over can be donated to Oxfam to help fight poverty around the world.

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For more info: www.oxfam.org.uk/shop/vintage

Join the conversation: #THISOLDTHING and #VINTAGEFRIDAY

My Recent Charity Shop Treasures, Dead Butterflies & Glass Birds

People often ask me how The World of Kitsch started. If you aren't a long term reader you might not know that it started as a blog cataloging my charity shop buys of vintage knickknacks, taxidermy, ugly paintings and any other oddities I collected to decorate my home.

Then my home became full, and there was no more room for new 1960s' cocktail cabinets to stuff with ugly ornaments, seaside souvenirs and mid-century crockery. So I began blogging about interesting products brands would send me, or local brands I wanted to encourage people to try.

As of 2013 I started including local hotel and attraction reviews, including blogging for Tesco about Northern Ireland's North Coast as a holiday destination for families. Now in 2014 I continue to feature interesting products, local restaurants & brands but I think it's time I return to my roots a little.

I'll be featuring more charity shop treasures, even if I can't take them home! But here are two recent purchases I couldn't resist. I can never turn down taxidermy at a good price, so I had to give these butterflies a home. 

I have a 1960s' boat shaped bar, so I collect mid-century glassware if it's in good condition. These beautiful bird glasses look brand new and I picked them up for £3 for the set.

1990s' Badges from a Charity Shop- What I bought Today

My brother & his soon to be wife Nicki held a coffee morning to raise money for the missionary work they are heading off to do this summer, straight after their honeymoon. I must see if they have a Just Giving page or the likes, so any of my readers who would like to help them can donate.
They've done this particular Methodist mission a few years before too. They go to Ibiza in the busiest season and work on the streets helping those who are worse for wear. Picking people up, getting them medical help if they've been injured, making sure girls who lose their friends get back to their hotel safely etc. It's a mucky type of modern missionary work, cleaning sick off clothes and dealing with aggressive party goers, but its nice to know young people like them are still willing to give up their summer to support their peers. And it gives a much more positive image of Christians than just standing outside nightclubs shaking their heads and forcing people to take pamphlets.

Anyway! The coffee morning to raise money was in Carickfergus, a town about 40 mins drive from us, where Nicki's Dad is the minister, and where they will be getting married in a matter of weeks' time. Carrick is filled with grotty charity shops. I use that term affectionately as shops like Oxfam and Heart Foundation are sleek and usually have a manager on a salary, which is why they don't have tons of crappy ornaments or gypsy paintings any more. Well, Carrick still has the old fashioned junk shop style charity stores, and I am so happy about it.

Lots of weird bits, but my one purchase was the very cool 1990s' badges. My son didn't come browsing with me. He stayed to man the book stall at the coffee morning, where he was a mini-Apprentice, putting the pressure on the elderly to buy novels!

Little Crying Girl and Lassie Painting, Jigsaw

A friend asked me the name of this artist only this week, and coincidentally I found this in a charity shop today.

It's by Charles Burton Barber, who was an artist for the royals, painting their children and pets.

The fact this is a framed jigsaw gives it extra kitsch points.

Too Bad To Buy

Spotted this temperature telling ceramic shell in a charity shop in East Belfast. I especially liked how the stamp on the bottom just said 'foreign'.
Dithered over whether it was worth my £1.50 & finally left it on the shelf.

 I don't really go in for shell kitsch & any item I'm not sure about I always just leave.

 Pretty damn ugly looking, mind you!

Claire

Handmade Bullfighter Picture

This was also £2 in the same charity shop. It tempted me more than the majestic gold thread eagle, but I'm rapidly running out of wall space.

Claire