Charity shop favourites

 Today I thought I'd share some of my favourite recent purchases from charity shops. While we've been slightly cursed with a very tight budget to be moving into our own place, we're both incredibly blessed to live in areas where the charity shops are both cheap and plentiful. So here are some of our purchases over the past few months, they're all currently packed away into a variety of shoe boxes under my bed but I cannot tell you how excited I am to unpack them all in a Somerset postcode so we can get using them!

I wish I had a better photo of this dresser set, but this is the only one I have to hand! I apologise that these photos aren't up to 'blogging standard', but hopefully I'll learn. These photos are just ones I grabbed off my phone from excited iMessage exchanges showing off my purchases to friends. This set was from my favourite charity shop, the East Lancashire branch of PDSA. The two stands were upside down in the shop and being used as candlesticks, however they are now the proud homes to my most used lipsticks and my cotton pads. The ring holder now also contains odd hair grips and earrings. What I loved most about this set is that the colour matches my brush pot holder perfectly, which I picked up in TK Maxx a few years ago. Although beautiful, I fear this set will probably stay at my home here, as I'm warming towards a greens/yellows based bedroom when we move. Again, beloved Lamby may end up staying. I saw him in a box of brick-a-brac tack, left him, then spent that evening thinking about him. He's now the home to a cactus my mother bought me just before I set off to uni, so we shall see where he ends up living!

Since we confirmed our decision to move in together I've tried to ban myself from the clothing rails of the chazzas, and kept myself to the homeware shelves. However, sometimes a striped shirt like this one jumps out at me and I can't help myself. It's originally M&S and while mustard is a colour I'd never usually wear, I love it. The pigeon mug seems unused, and it looks as if its fate lies in becoming a pen pot for my boyfriend's desk space, as he's taken a particular shine to it. The L'Occitane tin bowl was another brick-a-brac box find, this time in the village where my mother works. Although I'm not sure what it'll end up being used for, I'm sure it will be handy for keeping our bathroom tidy.

I'm pretty sure this Cath Kidston keyring was only 25p! It seems it was a design for Shelter, a collaboration I had no idea about. I always say I'm not a big fan of CK... But then I remember I have a purse, some dusters, a keyring, some candle holders and a big mug by the brand. Oops! I'm saving this wee keyring until we get the keys for the new place so I can have a fresh start. The keyring currently on my bunch is a Nation of Shopkeepers one which replaced their members' cards (meaning cheap/free entry and discounted drinks), and I guess I won't be frequenting that place often in my future, so a switch up seems necessary.  The cookbook was only cheap, and if anything I bought it for the portion sizes. I'm used to either cooking for one, or making huge batches and freezing the leftovers, but seeing as I'm going to be regularly cooking for two come summer, I think it could be a good help. I've got my eyes on the vegetable pasties already!

One of my favourite things to do on day trips into town is to have a good potter around the homeware sections of department stores, and I always end up eyeing up the Tala cook's measure. I'm too stubborn to pay around £7 for a glorified measuring jug that'll likely scratch in no time, so I was delighted to find this sturdy stainless steal measure in Shelter for only £1! It has both French and English labelling for things such as sugar, cocoa powder and raisins, alongside ml/fluid ounces. I also love that this one has a tiny pouring spout, something that I've never seen on other dry measures. Finally, here's a classy changing room selfie (a small child walked in on me in my bra soon after this was taken) of a beautiful Topshop shirt that I picked up for a couple of quid. It's the perfect length to wear over leggings but looks equally nice tucked into some jeans. It's very similar to a Kate Moss shirt from many, many moons ago that I loved, but the fit was so awful I never ended up purchasing one.

Well I guess this has been a good insight into my life, I probably visit my town's charity shops at least twice a week, so I'm sure there'll be more posts to come like this (although with better photographs, I promise)!

PS if anyone has any idea how to put photos next to one another I'd love to know! They show up next to each other on the create post page, but not when published!