The phrase ‘vintage find’ seems to crop up everywhere these days, to the point that it’s getting a bit annoying. That said, i am about to write a post detailing all my recent ‘vintage discoveries’ shall we say, as its been a while since i gloated…i mean…shared the wealth of my recent travels around Edinburgh’s bargain trail.

Exhibit 1: The meadows festival in June is always ripe pickings for a canny eye. Here we have a lovely vintage wool picnic blanket rescued from the 20p box.

Exhibit 2: Birdies. I do love birdies. This (larger) picture also emerged from the 20p box. Got a clear theme going on here above my mantle. The illustration above is by my friend Julie, as an album cover.

Exhibit 3: This reminds me that last year I came away with this absolute steal: a set of Woodsware ‘Jasmine’ teacups and plates for £1. These are becoming hot property folks. Get ’em while you can.

Exhibit 4: (ok the ‘exhibit’ thing is wearing thin so hereafter i shall adopt a more traditional numeric approach). Also from the Meadows festival: a pretty gold-lined glass storage jar, to add to the bathroom collection of similar wares. 20p box again.

Five: Its not often i buy anything i can sew up myself, but the horsey fabric on these cushion seats really caught my fancy, and i knew they’d fit perfectly on my 4 Ercol Quaker dining chairs. Its like Cath Kidston, but before she popularised (butchered?) the country/floral/kitsch themes of early and mid-century fabric design. These come from one of my my regular haunts, Drum Farm Antiques.

Six: I am hoping to develop a new cushion design incorporating some of the embroidery peices i have picked up over the years. This recent find, also from the 20p box, stands alone as a beautiful sample which itself would/will make a great cushion cover.

Seven: I have acquired quite a few of these vintage shoe horns. They come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. Functional vintage items are becoming very popular as display.

Eight: I tend to grab material when i see it rather than work out its potential purpose at the time. This works well for patchworking. I fancied these 2 off-cuts from Shelter charity shop in Tollcross. Guess what – birdies again!

Nine: The ceiling lights are pretty dull in this house. But least they aren’t ugly. This one has been tarted up for just £5 with these 5 mismatched lampshades, also from Shelter in Tollcross.

Ten: Copper pans. Love. £5 from St Columba’s Hospice charity shop, Leith

 Eleven: Last but not least, these ultimate ‘finds’ have just arrived in the house this afternoon. I’ve lauded Ercol chairs in previous posts already, but i have not yet ventured into anything more substantial than dining chairs. Certainly the brand is enjoying a revival and in researching these chairs i discovered that a fully restored ‘studio couch’ (of which these chairs are a match) will sell for up to £1000. Handmade, solid elm wood and steam-bent to shape, this is well made furniture. These ones date from 50s-60s, they will need new webbing but the frames are incredibly solid for their age. This was certainly a high risk purchase though, which i don’t often do. I saw them on eBay on sunday night, ending in 20 minutes and for collection in Edinburgh. This seemed too good to be true, but didn’t allow any time to ask questions, view etc. I paid slightly more than i had hoped at £120 for the pair, but I was a bit giddy on opportunity (i have been looking for a pair for a while now), and is further confirmation of why i still find auctions super stressful! I collected them today and was grateful that they were true to the description. I will re-upholster them in time, but the tartan doesn’t seem so bad in real life.

And to finish, a very nice gift from my pal Ali, discovered in the family dressing up box and originally belonging to his granny. Check out the wonderful ‘housewife’ style tunic design…