Magpie Monday - Winter Warmers

Saturday was the quarterly (if I remember to go to them all) test of endurance and pointy elbows that is the Cardiff NCT sale.  Squeaky & I bundled into the car with my friend & Squeaky's and off the four of us went for a shopping expedition.  If you'd seen the contents of my bag, expedition was the right word, you'd've thought we were off to conquer the Antarctic by the amount of food 2 toddlers seem to need.

We hit one of the charity shops before lunch (there's LOADS on that road, and you can usually pick up a fair haul of bargains, but having the girls with us kind of slowed us down a bit), where I found this gorgeous Pampolina hoodie/cardigan.  It looks to be brand new, there's not a bobble on it.  I love the colours, I'm not one for pastels, and I'm really not going to miss her in this am I?  The embroidery on the hood is fabulous (though it seems to be more a decoration than a proper hood, it doesn't sit right), and the detail on the breast patch, wow!  SPARKLES!!!!  Every little girl needs sparkles from time to time, right?

The ladies in the shop were struggling to size it, it's a German brand, and like a few continental brands I've found, the label just gives a measurement, not an age. We guessed at roughly a 2-3, but it comes up a little bit small and is a spot-on fit for Squeaky right now.  Perfect for the chilly weather.

My friend picked up a vintage dressmaking book, a Wombles bed linen set (screamingly 1980's, I think I had the same one myself) and a toy laptop to entertain the girls over lunch (which was left in the cafe when we finished, it'd served its purpose!)

Then onwards to the NCT Sale.  The usual rugby scrum of over-entitled mommies, grannies and volunteers who are REALLY regretting volunteering and would much rather be sipping a latte in Starbucks.  I'm going to spread these finds out over the next few weeks, but today is all about the snuggly warm stuff.  The rails weren't inspiring me, I have to admit, so I spent my money on the rummaging tables in the middle of the room.  There, I spotted a Laura Ashley girls cardigan, again looks to be brand new, hiding amongst the George at Asda babygros.  I know I just said something about not wearing pastels, but creamy-beige doesn't count, does it?  I just fell in love with the detailing.  Covered buttons & the collar, oh.  I'm a sucker.  But £2.50?  For Laura Ashley?  I brought it back to its spiritual home, Laura Ashley was from Merthyr, so it's only right that the cardigan comes here.  That's my excuse anyway.

And finally for this morning, also hiding out on the rummage table, though I honestly don't know why... a Ted Baker hoodie, for the princely sum of £1. It would've been rude not to, for that price.

We learned a few ideas for how to handle the next sale better - merge our shopping into one bag, so only one person needs to queue, and the other can wrangle toddlers, then settle the money up afterwards.  The queues are crazy, and that seems to be where most of the patience (and tempers) are lost, adults as well as children.  Still, we each came away with a bag of bargains, and enough to keep the washing machine busy for a day or two.

Why not pop over to Missie Lizzie's place & see the other bargains?