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Monday 14 March 2011

Magpie Monday - St Patrick's Day theme

It's Monday, it's 14.08 and it's .....? No, not Crackerjack but my weekly dose of Magpie Monday where we praise all things bargain-hunting.

This week, I have worked hard on putting this together so hope you like my themed Magpie Monday all based on the fact that this week we celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Firstly, here is a globe sourced from Netmums for a fiver. It is a lamp as well and I just like my children and myself to have a sense of the world around them. Notice how tiny Ireland is in world terms and also what a great influence it has culturally in other ways.






Then there are books by Irish authors such as

Deirdre Purcell - Children of Eve
Marian Keyes - The Charming Man

and also Gloria Hunniford's wonderful book on facing life after loss "Always with you". I have always felt very interested in Gloria and Caron Keating's story as Caron's was the first death I heard about after the birth of my own lovely daughter. So it may sound daft or morbid, but I feel a connection. That way of thinking, in itself, may be the Irish in me.

Clothing wise, I don't have specific Irish items but I do have items in orange, green and white like the Irish flag.




I have a great orange Timberland fleece for my eldest son that was given to me by a friend of my brother's. He worked at a private school and I went through a period of getting loads and loads of bags full of clothing for the children with lovely labels like Mini Boden, Monsoon and the like. He also has a fair few khaki items acquired in the same way if khaki counts as green.

When going through my daughter's vast wardrobe, I had to be really mercenary or this post would be enormous. So anything that was any colour except orange, green or white was ruled out. I found a few green T-shirts acquired in big bundles of clothing from Netmums, a green shrug, a white shrug, a white T-shirt and some funky white shorts. Labels included supermarkets brands such as George and also Next.



For myself, my best bargain was a white dress with a patent black belt from Marks and Spencer. It was brand new with the labels on and marked up at almost £50 but I got it for a fiver from the RSPCA shop. It is one of those classic dresses - very Jackie O or Michelle O depending on your era.




My real orange find was a silky vibrant bedspread which I got from a very local charity shop for just £2. This is my style in case you want to know. I love bright colours with that rich feel to them.




At the weekend, my charity shop was very much curtailed. I don't drive and my husband was going on a jolly with work. We negotiated that I could have a little trip to the charity shop first thing in the morning before he set off. I told him it was essential because of Magpie Monday which made him give me a blank look.

My daughter got into the spirit of things and bought a green turtle. She has a thing about tortoises and turtles.




I was determined to find something Irish-related but could find not a thing. At the last minute as I was leaving, I found a little spoon for £1 which was giftware from Ireland in silver plate. That fitted the bill and I bought it specifically for this post.




I have enjoyed doing a themed Magpie Monday. Maybe we could sometimes have a challenge based on seasonal events, colours or whatever? If people are up for this idea, I am going to use Comic Relief as inspiration for next week's Magpie Monday and highlight charity shop finds that make me laugh. That and try to inject some much neglected orange into my wardrobe.

Look at other blogs with Magpie Monday bargain finds!

Me and My Shadow

13 comments:

  1. Wow you did really well with your St Patrick's Day Theme. I especially like the globe light, both my boys have one of these each in their bedroom, I think they're great. x

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  2. The bedspread is absolutely gorgeous x

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  3. Hi hun.

    What a very clever themed post I love it!!

    Your bedspread is great and I love the globe - I really must get one so DD can get an idea of the world.

    A themed Magpie Monday is a great idea. I shall kick it about on twitter and see if anyone wants to join in next week.

    Thanks hun and Happy St Patricks day.

    I'm scuttling off to see what's gone wrong with my linkie badge because it looks a bit wrong up there :-0

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  4. Love your post and your idea. Not so sure I could cope with green and Orange though ! (I am all white don't you know, all white) oooh, goes off into a corner and puts head in her hands.....

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  5. ooooh! Green and orange are my favourite colours (and I had never connected that to the Irish flag!) I adore the bedspread. Lovely finds, beautiful.

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  6. oh, and thanks for the nice comment on my blog.

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  7. I would love for you to visit my blog and see the thrifting parties I link up to every week.
    You would have a great time. Thrift Share Monday, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Thrift Thursday at Bloggeritaville, Junkin Finds Friday and a few more.
    Last Saturday the Pink Saturday ladies did an Irish theme.

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  8. What a bargain on the dress, always so satisfying to see the original price isn't it? And the bedspread is a great find too.

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  9. That dress was a steal very glam! I went to eh local auction today and cuold not believe my eyes how much great stuff there was! A box of books and they were good books to for only £2!!

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  10. great idea sticking to a theme might give it a go when i manage to find enough goodies :)
    love the globe im on the lookout for one for daughter as it will help loads with her geography knowledge!
    And the bedspread is lovely really nice colours!
    Look foward to seeing what you get for the comic relief theme!

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  11. I love your theme this week! Green and orange are beautiful colours. I love the light up world globe, it would be perfect for my children, I know they would love to pull the blinds and turn the lights off and stare at it! Bargain at £5.00.
    Thank you for your comment on my blog. Bx

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  12. What a brilliant selection of finds - love the M&S dress and the gorgeous bedspread. Like the idea of thrifting to a theme before, but it probably wouldn't work for me as I buy mostly to sell on.
    Will be back to visit again now I've found you x

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