melbourne op shops & the goodness they bring

yesterday i went on a thrift shop spree around melbourne's south eastern suburbs. here's a run down of the places and treats i discovered:

1. St. Johns Op Shop, 302 Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick. okay, this one was actually closed but had all sorts of neat stuff in the window and will definitely be visited again.

2. Salvation Army, 366 Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick. a smallish Salvo, but lots of clothes and some neat linens. i picked up a 1970's looking zipper foot for $1 and this ball of 70% cotton, 30% wool that is sooooo soft for 50¢.


3. St. Catharine's Op Shop, 523 Glenhuntly Rd, Elsternwick. this one looked so promising from the street - old chairs and various items strewn about the doorway - but inside it's tiny. i didn't find anything i wanted here but a dreadlocked girl was buying a heap of stuff so there must have been a few treasures.

4. MECWA Op Shop, 136 Wattletree Rd, Malvern. a very small shop with mostly clothes but they had some very cool cushion covers in the front window (5 for $50, I would have bought one or two but I definitely don't need 5) and a beautiful blue glass vase set for $45. a bit pricey, they know what's good at this one. i bought this cute as can be embroidered hankerchiefy thing for $4, i've got grand plans for it already!



5. MECWA Op Shop, 299 Waverley Rd, East Malvern. this is a less expensive version of the above and i've visited it before (last time i bought a large wicker bag to store current knitting projects in for $5). they have a fantastic slightly rusty old looking bird cage out front that i want but just can't quite justify buying yet, it's only $5 too. this time i found a flower press for $4 and snapped it up.


6. Salvation Army, 400 Princes Hwy, Noble Park. the BIG one! this place is huge, more like the Goodwills and Value Villages that i know back in Canada. TONS and tons of furniture, some expensive but most really cheap. lots of glassware, heaps of clothes, not quite as much fabric and yarn as i'd like though. i scored a little dresser for $29, since it's really time to unpack that last suitcase that's on the floor in the bedroom, and a picture frame/display case thingy for $4. sweet!

7. Savers, 210 Lonsdale St, Dandenong. Savers is basically Value Village in the Southern Hemisphere - huge, tons of clothes, lots of manchester (sheets and stuff). not too much furniture at this one and although they have heaps of stuff, i only got this wee little embroidered hankerchief for 99¢.


6. Salvation Army, 17 Pultney St, Dandenong. nothing good at this one, it's fairly small. the only thing it has going for it is that it's only a few doors down from Savers so worth a visit if you're there anyway. (i'm not sure why the addresses don't have them on the same street?)

so i had a few good scores and got the dresser that we really needed. it was really fun to explore, i'm feeling quite brave in the car these days. amazingly, the best deals of the day where actually found at Spotlight on Wattletree St. everything in their remnant bin is 50¢ right now and i found some great stuff in there.

beautiful soft grey/blue wool felt (if anyone is ever in need of wool felt, this location has HEAPS, probably about 20 colours. $9.95 a meter, though.), three big pieces of thick white toweling, a smallish piece of a lovely dark grey brushed cotton type fabric, and a chunk of calico. all for 50¢ each! plus they have a bunch of yarn at 75% off, which is just a crazy savings, really! i certainly don't need any yarn but when 4 balls of pure wool in a great colour are only $5, who am i to turn it down?