My Buys at the Fair, 2013

The first day of the fair, I looked at stalls but didn't buy anything. I did note that several stalls had bargain boxes, and I headed back to them the second day. The woman I had bought most vintage pieces from last year was not there this year, but there were some vintage items on a few stalls.

A woman named Joanne was selling her mother's collection, including the boxed Barrett's aquarium (she threw the empty toaster box in for free). Joanne also has a couple of boxes of 60s and 70s dolls house furnishings, from her mother, which I hope she will email me and Anna-Maria about when she's ready to sell them. The Jean roll-top desk was on another stall.

I loved the Scot Tissue toilet rolls in pastel wrapping paper - I remember similar wrapping from when I was a child. (I may even have some in a scrap book still - I remember pasting a piece in, as I thought the colour and design was beautiful!!!)

The little doll was on Diana Simms' stall, Diana's Gifts, where I found some vintage pieces last year too. She also had my best find of the fair, another doll:

 

All she could tell me about the doll was that it was from an old dolls house. Does anyone recognise her? She has a wooden head with painted features, metal hands and feet, and her legs and arms are made of plastic coated wire.  I like her expression, and her clothing! I don't know yet where she will live ...

The cutlery and jars of preserves shown on this table were also from Joanne. (The table itself is not from the fair.) I was delighted to buy an African violet in a pot - my grandmother kept a row of them on her bathroom windowsill. I have to admit I have forgotten who I bought it from, though!

The wonderful tea cosy was made by Win Garside, of Baulkham Hills (NSW). She also had Paddington Bear tea cosies, cosies with bees on them, rabbit-shaped cosies - it was quite hard to choose!

The wire mesh food and cake protectors were, I think, made by the woman from Victorian Dollhouses and Miniatures, from the ACT. She also had tiny boxes of Coats crochet cotton which she had made, handwinding the rolls of cotton.  I took a card so that I could look online, but their website features mainly their dolls houses and dolls house components. From that stall, I also bought some sheets of wallpaper - 3 embossed designs, and one that could be used for flooring or 50s/60s textured wallpaper:

3 more artisan-made pieces: a tiny knitted vest by Helen Palenski from New Zealand (Anna-Maria bought a tiny 1/48th scale tea cosy and a knitted 12th scale sock monkey of Helen's); a cloth doll by Marilyn Halcomb; and a beaded cover for a milk jug by Faery Fantasys:

More bargain buys, between 50c and $2:

I've included the cutlery here again, as it was only 50c! Joanne said she thought it looked rather crudely made, and it certainly is larger than 12th scale, as many dolls house items for children to play with were ...  

The little dolls (Liddle Kiddles?) could do with a wash, so I might experiment with using denture tablets to clean them, before I try on more valuable dolls (the Dolly Darlings, for example) ...

 

The purple table was from Anna-Maria's stall - a half-price offer I couldn't say no to (besides, I like the colour - it's the same purple as in the Kaleidoscope House!) The vases of carnations will go in 1960s or '70s houses, I think. The red, white and black vase was another of Joanne's mother's items, more recent than the cutlery and Barrett's accessories. I couldn't resist the box of Cluedo, complete with coloured game pieces - we had great fun playing Cluedo when I was growing up, and we still have our set, that looks just like this one!

Also from Anna-Maria are these two beautiful pieces:

A herb garden and a waterlily pond, both made by New Zealand miniaturists. I bought these when I visited Anna-Maria in Canberra, and saw her collection - and her stash! 

And from an old wares place near Bathurst, some more wallpaper:

The flowers on the middle pattern are too large for a dolls house, but I hope you can see the embossed columns in the white part, which I will be able to use.