I decided that I wanted a little craft project to do. It’s been ages since I’ve indulged in anything crafty and I just got the urge.

I needed something that I could pick up and put down easily, but what?

Sewing was where I landed and I spent some time pondering what this project could be. One day a random memory popped into my head of a stuffed toy kit I was given when I was about eight years old. It was then that I decided to make something similar for Bub.

I Googled ‘mole sewing kit’ and an image in the search results caught my eye - a kit that looked very similar to the one I had had. On closer inspection I realised it was the exact same kit.

I clicked the link and it took me to a blog. This lady was sewing the kit which she’d found at a car boot sale. But it gave me the exact name of the kit and I was able to Google that.

A few sites came up selling the kit but all where out of stock. Which isn’t surprising as they probably stopped manufacturing this years ago.

Some days later I was still thinking about this mole and I had a thought to try eBay. A couple of kits of the same brand where listed, but not the mole.

I wanted the mole.

I’d become a bit obsessed with the mole.

No other mole would do.

I had no choice but to abandon the idea and decided to browse other kits when I had time.

A few weeks later a notification popped up on my phone to say someone had listed a ‘Vintage Minicraft Ready to Sew Mole’. I’d saved the search! I don’t remember doing so, but there it was, the exact kit I’d had all those years ago.

It was £4.50. Obviously I bought it.

So why the photo of a lion? Well that was just to keep you guessing :) I found the lion kit languishing in my craft stash. I’ll be sewing him together too - after the mole.

Now I just need to make a start, but I promise to share the mole, who will no doubt be known as Moley, with you as soon as he’s been stitched into existence.

xx

Each month I'm posting my clothing and accessory purchases in A Buyer's Archive, inspired by Elise, to keep track of what I'm buying and spending, and to compare with that of last year.

THIS YEAR

When I looked at the items in my capsule wardrobe in mid November, I felt truly uninspired. Once I'd removed all the maternity clothes from the capsule I was left with my usual colour palette of predominantly navy, grey, and beige and it left me feeling flat. I wanted colour, and lots of it! So I indulged in some online shopping and I bought all the colours of the rainbow. It cheered me up to wear some colour, and I needed my spirits lifted. Clothes can be more than just garments to keep us covered and warm.


I was over the moon with my first purchase of the month - burgundy knee high boots, £24.99, pre-loved from ebay, originally from Topshop. I just adore them.

An ASOS order saw a pink jumper (£20.80 in the sale), and a colourful stripy jumper (£25.00) added to my wardrobe.

A small trip around the charity shops in Felixstowe mid month had me heading home with a not very colourful, but gorgeously soft grey and white scarf for £3.75.

A quick charity shop rummage in Ipswich offered up a gorgeous green Zara jumper (£3.99), and a grey pleated M&S midi skirt (£3.25).

I picked up a tapestry skirt for £9.00, and a statement necklace for £7.00, in a few Instagram sales. And whilst doing a few last bits of last minute Christmas shopping I came home with a pair of burgundy tights (£3.00), to wear with my new boots, and another scarf (£18.00) for myself.

But it doesn't end there!

An ebay search offered up a black mini skirt, won for £4.20, that matched the one I had in my mind's eye when I wrote my shopping list at the beginning of the year. I also bought a light blue pre loved Topshop midi skirt that took my fancy, I had some Nectar vouchers to use so this ended costing me just £3.00. I'm still waiting for this to arrive...

That's a lot of clothes shopping for one month, certainly more than I anticipated. But when you crave colour and have none what are you to do?


LAST YEAR

I made just two purchases in December '16. Two shirts, one ex-stock and one pre-loved, and both have been worn a number of times, and will continue to be worn.


The short sleeved shirt was £12.80 from ebay and the other was from Rachel the Hat in one of her Instagram sales for £9.00. Both excellent purchases I think.


Total for December: £125.98

Overall total for 2017: £663.03

Total at this time last year:  £742.39

Obviously my spending this month takes me over my budget of £600, but I am still under my total of last year, so I'm taking it as a win anyway.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! I hope 2018 brings love, fun, and positivity (and lots of gorgeous charity shop finds).
xx

Being the only bidder on an ebay item you've been watching for days feels pretty good.

I won these burgundy knee high boots for £24.99, and then kept everything crossed that they would fit and be comfortable. And they do, and they are!

They're in really good condition with minimal wear, originally from Topshop. They arrived this morning, and, in true Hazel fashion, I spared no time in getting them on my body. I bought them to wear with my green skirt, and I will, but today I'm wearing them with a midi dress I was given for my birthday, because I think they look fab with this too.


The heel is covered in suede which is a bit daft if you ask me - it's not very practical is it? - but isn't the shape of the heel lovely? I know these are going to be worn a lot.

Have you had any good ebay wins recently?

Each month I'm posting my clothing and accessory purchases in A Buyer's Archive, inspired by Elise, to keep track of what I'm buying and spending, and to compare with that of last year.

THIS YEAR

I made a few maternity purchases in early November. A denim dress, which I thought would look great with a long sleeved striped t-shirt underneath (£3.70), and a motif t-shirt (£4.00), both pre-loved from ebay. They've been folded up and stored away until I can decide what I want to do with them.

I also won some Clarks boots, very similar to those pictured, for £21.00, but they're a wide fit (I didn't read the description properly), so they're going back on ebay.

Then I bought some pants, three pairs for £14.00 from Next. Not exciting, but essential. I liked the colour combination of these, I don't wear white pants and generally every pack includes a white pair, which is annoying.

So not much in the way of purchases for what feels like a higher spend than usual.

LAST YEAR


I bought three items, a grey t-shirt from ASOS, £17.00. And one in pale neon orange, £7.00. And a neckerchief I found in a charity shop, £1.99.

I still have the t-shirts, the grey one needs mending but the orange one has been worn a number of times, both have been put away until the spring. The neckerchief didn't get worn much so went to a carboot sale in the summer, I think I sold it for a pound.


Total for November: £42.70

Total so far for 2017: £536.55

Total at this time last year:  £720.59

I'm still on target for my £600 budget, but I have been doing a bit of online browsing and there are a number of things that have caught my eye. Can I resist?

What have you been buying this month?

Each month I'm posting my clothing and accessory purchases, inspired by Elise, to keep track of what I'm buying and spending, and to compare with that of last year.

This Year

I hit up ebay early in the month and purchased some yellow shorts (£3.70). I can't wear yellow around my face as it washes me out but I when I saw these I decided to take a punt. And y'know what? I kinda like them.

Of course just buying one pair of shorts wasn't enough, and I found these denim shorts (£1.99) winging their way to me after I was the only person to bid. Originally from M&S they're really nice, I like a longer length so these are pretty perfect.

This Monsoon gypsy top (£3.70) caught my eye. I thought it would be cotton but it's a jersey fabric so I'm not sure about it... it might find itself back on ebay.

My only new purchase of the month (purchased before signing up to the Fast Fashion Fast) was this epic ASOS skirt (£25.60 with 20% discount). I fell in love with the colour, the fullness and the pockets. It's now the object of a #30Wears mini challenge, as a result it's already been worn a lot, and the pockets well used. Although with a full bottle of water in each pocket I did feel like a donkey with panniers. But I do love a pocket.

My most boring purchase of the month was a two pack of hosiery (£4.00). I needed some to wear with a knee length skirt to a fancy pants restaurant we were heading to, bare legs weren't appropriate, so it was a last minute dash to Asda.

Then I had another ebay spree (the Fast Fashion Fast only prohibits high street shopping, not pre-loved). I purchased a Hobbs top for £17.17. I wouldn't normally spend so much on a pre-loved item but when I looked at my summer capsule I thought it could be a versatile piece so I placed a bid and hoped it would fit well.

Then I became enamored with the floral print on this wrap top, I was the only bidder so it was mine for £3.50. Sadly this feels awkward to wear so it won't be staying in my wardrobe.

My next purchase was a pre-loved shirt dress for £4.49, swiftly followed by a pre-loved French Connection skirt for £3.00. I adore them both, just look at those prints!

After adding a number of colourless items to my wardrobe last month, I think I've upped the colour quota nicely.

Last Year

Light Brown Heels  |  New Look  |  £24.99
I wore these out to dinner, and to a wedding. For their second outing I wore them for 14 hours, and have, ahem, a vague recollection of dancing (like no one was watching) at the end of the evening, with no hint of a blister. Win!

Bardot top  |  ASOS  |  £18.00
Loved this with my dunagrees, but I haven't worn it yet this year.

And I bought some pants. Three pairs for a tenner. Perfect for wearing under lighter clothes and an absolute essential for summer.

Total for June: £67.15

Total so far for 2017: £332.10

Total at this time last year: £354.88

Once again I feel like I've purchased a lot but all of these things are in my capsule wardrobe for summer, and I'm still below my total for this time last year. Half way through the year I'm just over the half way point of my £600 budget, so with some careful spending in the next six months I should come in below target with ease.

Check out the #buyersarchive hashtag to see posts from everyone taking part.

After a frugal February I expected to make quite a few purchases this month and I was right. I kinda went a little overboard with my spending.

This year

Maxi skirt  |  pre loved via ebay  |  £0.99
I can imagine wearing this, with the hem skimming the sand of a far away beach. It'll probably skim no more than the streets of mid Suffolk this year, perhaps the pebbly beach of Felixstowe, but I can live in hope! It needs mending (the seller didn't mention a rip), and probably taking up and it's super long, but I'm looking forward to wearing it.

New Look heart shirt  |  £4.00  |  F&F floral top  |  £3.00  |  local charity shop 
Looking ahead to my capsule wardrobe change over I wanted to add a few prints for spring. A little rummage in my local charity shop offered up these two tops. I love the little hearts!


New Look Shirt dress  |  pre loved via ebay  |  £6.50
I have a black shirt dress that I love, it's easy to wear so when I spied this floral version on ebay I couldn't resist - it's perfect for spring.


T-shirt £4.00  |  Dress £24.99  |  Dress £9.00  |  all New Look
New Look had a sale, what was I supposed to do? 


ASOS boyfriend jeans  |  pre loved via ebay  |  £9.99
Too much of a bargain to pass up, they still had the tags on (originally £30.00). The seller purchased them last year but had never worn them. 

The prospect of warmer weather clearly sent me into a bit of a buying frenzy!

Last year

In March last year I spent £78.19.


T-shirt Bras  |  New Look via ASOS  |  £7.99
Standard stuff, worn a lot. Not much else to say.

Skirt  |  clothes swap  |  Free!
I love this skirt. After altering it I wore it a lot in the spring.

Long cardigan  |  H&M  |   £14.99
Worn once or twice but I went off it after a short while. I'm going to try it in my spring capsule and if it doesn't get worn it'll be popped in the charity bag.

New Look Sunglasses |  New Look via ASOS  |  £12.99
Worn a lot, and will be again when the sun comes out.

Bras  |  Next  |  £20.00
I wore the black one once but soon realised that it wasn't a good or comfortable fit. They both went to the charity shop.

Dorothy Perkins dress  |  £0.99 and New Look dress  |   £1.24  |  both via ebay
Neither of these stayed in my possession for very long. The one on the left didn't fit well. The other was rather more colourful than the ebay photo led me to believe, both were given to charity within days.

Black heels |  New Look  |  £19.99
Thankfully these are much more comfortable than the ones I purchased earlier in the year. I've only worn them an few times but they're comfortable and a good staple to have.

Some good purchases last year in the New Look bras, sunglasses, and heels. The clothes swap skirt was definitely a winner. But once again I feel I wasted money. I'm hoping that this won't be such a common theme when I look back at this year's purchases next year.

Total for March: £62.47

Total so far for 2017: £118.45

Total at this time last year: £182.68

What have you been buying this month?

Look out for the #buyersarchive hashtag on Twitter to see others taking part. 

This year I'm joining A Buyer's Archive again with Elise, to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories. I took part in 2016 too.

This Year 

I'm all set for winter clothes, but I did buy myself a cardigan that tickled my fancy in the Sainsbury's sale - half price at £14.00 (how could I not?), and a bra from Next £22.00, it's the first non wired bra I've worn since I was about 14 and it's unbelievably comfy.

I then purchased a cute polka dot neckerchief from ebay, £4.99, and whilst there I spotted this denim jacket for £6.99 - something that I've been keeping an eye out for - and couldn't resist.

Last Year

Looking back to January 2016 I didn't buy much, but still managed to spend £58.00.



Long navy cardigan  |  £8.00
This was worn a lot over the year, it was in 3 of my capsules last year, and is currently in my winter capsule so it was definitely worth it's £8.00 price tag.

Sports bra  |  £4.00
Purchased for pilates, so this wasn't worn at all after the first few months of the year...

... moving swiftly on ...

Black heels  |  £6.00
Comfy in the shop, uncomfortable when I got them home. I couldn't be bothered to return them so I took them to a clothes swap in February, where I found a white midi skirt that became a firm favourite last year.

Next cream wrap cardigan  |  £40.00
I loved how this looked in my mind, but when I realised in reality it looked more like a bath robe, I put it away. It didn't come out of the wardrobe again until I listed it on ebay in December and sold it for a paltry 99p. I love getting an ebay bargain, but feel a bit miffed if I'm on the other end of it.

It feels like I wasted £50.00 last January. This year, I've already worn my Tu cardigan a lot, and as I say, the bra is super comfy, the neckerchief super cute and has been worn twice, and the jacket is exactly what I was looking for, so I think these will all turn out to be worth their pricetag.

I am hoping to spend less on clothes and accessories again this year, and this is an OK start. I'm not sure if I'm going to set myself an overall budget (I have been pondering £600) or to just aim for less than 2016.

Total for January £47.98

Total so far for 2017: £47.98

Total at this time last year: £58.00

What have you been buying this month?

Look out for the #buyersarchive hashtag to see others taking part. 

This year I'm joining A Buyer's Archive with Elise, to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories.

Zara dungarees  |  pre loved via ebay  |  £13.00
After seeing my best friend rock a pair of dungarees at Latitude I decided to give them a go. I searched ebay for a pre loved pair and bought these, thinking that they were sufficiently non kids TV presenter-ish.

I wasn't sure when I first got them out of the packaging, but after an iron, a bit of a wear, and a prance around the bedroom I decided I liked them.

I swapped these into my summer capsule after discovering that the zip on my white dress had broken *sob*. They've slipped seamlessly into it's place and are actually more versatile than the dress. I don't think Andy likes them, but they are so comfy and easy to wear, and he's hardly around to see me wear them at the moment anyway! I've a feeling these will be sticking around for my autumn capsule.


Scarf  |  £4.00
I temporarily forgot that scarves where on my banned items list. Oops. Sadly, it's not even that practical as the open weave keeps snagging on random things. Pretty colour though.

Miss Selfridge short dungarees   |  pre loved via ebay  |  £7.21
I absolutely didn't need these but when has that ever stopped me? They don't fit quite how I expected them to, so they'll be going back on ebay (or more realistically into a charity bag because, let's face it, ebay can be a bit of a faff).

Slippers  |  George   |  £4.00
Because, slippers.

Pants (not pictured)  |  3 pairs for £10.00

Total spend for August: £37.21

Total so far for 2016: £526.85

My total seems to be happily climbing up and up, so I'm hoping that I won't spend anything next month (I certainly don't need anything), but we'll see...

Check out the #buyersarchive hashtag on Twitter to see posts from everyone taking part, usually Kezzie, Lucy, Janet, Donna and, obviously, Elise.

When I say youth, I mean my childhood. I wore dungarees a lot when I was little, I loved them.

However, after the age of ten, when my Mum made me wear a hand-me-down pair of red dungarees with small ice creams all over them to a party (a party!!), I refused to step into another pair ever again.

Until now.

These khaki lovelies were a recent ebay win. They arrived, I ironed them, I wore them. And I'll wear them tomorrow, and possibly the day after.

Have a great weekend!

This year I'm joining A Buyer's Archive with Elise, to keep track of my spending on clothes and accessories.

H&M dress, top left |  pre-loved from ebay  |  £16.78

ASOS dress, top right  |  pre-loved from ebay  |  £18.00

I have to admit I hadn't planned on bidding on either of these dresses but after a few glasses of Pinot I placed a cheeky low bid hoping for a bargain, but then I got competitive and kept upping it when I was outbid.

Lesson: Never drink and ebay.

That said, I love both dresses (they have pockets by the way, both of them - pockets!) and have already worn the ASOS dress to a wedding.

I've no idea when the other one will be worn but I love it, so I might just have to create an occasion to wear it. Or perhaps pop it back on ebay and hope someone else has a few too many glasses of vino...?

Poncho  |  ASOS  |  £20.00
Less exciting than two pretty dresses with pockets, I also purchased this khaki poncho to take to Latitude. In the end it didn't get worn, the weather was glorious! I was convinced that with the wet weather we'd been having, and the fact that last year the weather was really good, we couldn't possibly be so lucky a second time. Still I rather have it and not use it, than not have it and need it.

Bikini  |  Debenhams  |  £26.00
Purchased for the possibility of swimming in the lake at Latitude. We didn't swim in the end so now I feel the need to wear it. I'm thinking it's time to let the world (or a tiny number of people in a small seaside town in Suffolk) see me in a bikini for the first time in 6 years.

Ombre Poncho  |  Tu  |  £12.00
Because it was just so pretty.

Sunglasses  |  H&M  |  £7.00
Because my other pair keep sliding down my nose...

Bracelets  |  H&M  |  £3.99 and £4.99
When killing time before an optician appointment, what is one to do but shop?

Sandals   |  Tu  |  £16.00
I customised them a little by cutting off the highest strap. I'm not hugely taken with these but I haven't found any so far this year that I really like that fit well. These will do for now.

Festival hat  |  Latitude  |  £10.00
When you get sunburn on your scalp, and your nose, and will be spending all day outside, you need something to shade your face.

Total spend for July £134.76

Total so far for 2016 £489.64

Check out the #buyersarchive hashtag to see posts from everyone taking part.

I issued a spending ban. But I caved. I doubt anyone will be surprised. I wasn't.


I was in a charity shop, back in November (in my defense I was making a donation), when I tripped and fell into the changing room with some knitwear.


And then I was pondering what to wear over the festive period. You might recall a red dress I picked up at a clothes swap? I wanted to wear it but I needed a shrug or cardigan of some description to wear with it, so this teeny tiny eBay purchase occurred.


And whilst that was going on, this dress happened (Monsoon, £8.50, excellent condition - how could I not?).


And this jacket.


But that's it I promise.

Except for some long sleeve t-shirts to wear under jumpers, but only after I discovered three of mine had holes in them. But that really is it.

Apart from a Next jumper that I bought in lieu of a novelty Christmas jumper. It's super, super soft, and has really long sleeves. It's so cosy and I was starting to feel poorly and, heck, I just wanted it! What's more because I bought it instead of a Christmas Jumper, I can wear it all year round and I've worn it a lot already. So, it's totally justified, right?

Do spending bans ever work?

I can always rely on my friends ability to have fun at a party. I went to a joint 40th birthday party recently and it was an excellent night. The theme was Hollywood Movies and we were invited to dress up as either our favourite leading actor or go for red carpet glamour. I went for the latter - any excuse to wear fabulous shoes!

I pondered my outfit for a while, I didn't want to spend a fortune and I wanted to wear things already in my wardrobe, but I rather fancied wearing a big skirt. When I saw this Coast skirt on eBay (BNWT) for £25 and knew it would be perfect. My initial thought was 'wear it with a stripey top', but I talked myself out of it, telling myself I had to wear something dressy. I spent ages trying to find something and in the end, as you can see, I went for the stripes and I'm so glad I did. I felt fabulous and very 'me'.



The top is a new addition to my wardrobe, I hope it washes well and keeps it's shape because I bought two, I liked it so much (you can never have too many stripey tops). The clutch bag is from Boohoo, it's not  place I normally shop but I was running out of options (and time). A word of advice - never try to buy a clutch bag after Christmas. There were a few I liked on eBay but I kept being out bid, the search of my local charity shops proved fruitless, and even the New Look, Accessorize and H&M sales didn't have anything to fit the bill.


The necklace I've had for ages - it's Monsoon but I won it on eBay in 2011 and this is the first time I've worn it. I love it but it's not the easiest thing to dance in (I say dance - jumping about like a loon is rather more accurate). As I boogied with the likes of Austin Powers, The Black Swan, Cruella De Vil and Scarlett O'Hara, it kept flying up and hitting me in the face. Now I understand how big boobed girls feel.


The shoes were a Christmas present from Andy 4 years ago (isn't it hard to take photos of your own feet?) and this was the first opportunity I'd had to wear them. One of the guests at the party didn't think that it was me because 'I looked too tall'. They were surprisingly comfortable, although I did take them off to dance for fear of injury.

So, there you have it, my red carpet outfit for £51.00. Not bad eh?

Love

For week 3 of Wearing it All Again I decided to focus on dresses with just a small interlude at the weekend for the most cat-tacular jumper of all time. Isn't it awesome?!


The week was another busy one with a day working in a studio in town and a last minute meeting in London - I had to wear my long grey maxi dress twice thanks to having nothing meeting worthy clean and ironed. But the challenge continues and I can't believe it's the end of the third week already.


I also can't believe that I haven't mentioned this before now, but look what Secret Santa sent me, the cutest button necklace. I love buttons!


OK, so the maxi dress is a little summery but on a bright day (which it was) and with the heater turned to max in my office, I was able to kid myself that it was June for a while. I love this dress even though it is ridiculously long and I kept getting it caught under the leg of my chair.

I'm contemplating a blog sale as I have a huge bag of clothes that I've been thinking about selling. Have you ever done one / bought anything from one? Do you think I should have one or stick it all on eBay?

Hope you're having a great week!

Love

I've been enjoying this challenge so far. I'm wearing three dresses for 33 days and it's so nice not to stand at my wardrobe in the morning and wonder what to wear. Admittedly, these early days will be the easy part, I'm just wearing each dress in it's most simplistic form and will take it from there.


Day 4 - A simple addition of a long cardy and contrasting belt.

Day 5 - The t-shirt under my blue dress is a dark purple but the photograph hasn't captured it at all. As I slipped on these blue plimsolls I smiled to myself as I'll soon be wearing this dress with some fabulous heeled sandals for a wedding reception. Today though it had the rather more mundane task of being what I wore to a committee meeting.

It turned chilly so the addition of a long sleeve t-shirt was a welcome one, but I resisted tights for just one more day - I'd shaved my legs, wouldn't want my efforts to go to waste, hehe. BTW Caudalie Divine oil... very nice - divine in fact.


Day 6 - I like the contrast of this t-shirt underneath and it was most welcome as it was decidedly chiller today. I think the necklace added a little zing!

Day 7 - Today was definitely a three layer day, tomorrow I predict the hosiery will make an appearance. When wondering how I was going to style this dress I remembered a wrap cardigan that I used to have several years ago that would have been perfect. It didn't take long for me to find this dark green version on eBay. I won it for £1.04 - can't argue with that!

How would you style any of these dresses?

Love

I've had a busy few weeks. I mean silly busy. When I sat in my car yesterday sobbing a little, because B&Q was closed due to a power cut, I realised that it would probably be a good idea to slow down and relax a while.

So, this morning, I've been doing just that. I've achieved exactly zero with my day so far, which actually means that I've achieved everything I set out to do.

A recent eBay purchase arrived this morning - a pretty silk dress from Warehouse - for which I paid the grand sum of £3.50. I'm going to wear it to a wedding reception next month, weather permitting. I played dress-up when it arrived and have worked out my shoes and accessories which, teamed with the good hair day that I'm having today, really cheered me up.


I tried to pick out a dress for my one in, one out wardrobe rule but I ended up trying loads on and failed in choosing anything to get rid of, I just fell back in love with some long forgotten dresses.

This afternoon I'm going back to B&Q, I have to get more paint to finish my office - a project that seems to have taken far longer than it should - because I need move all my office furniture out of the hallway, as we have a new carpet going down in the hall, stairs and landing on Wednesday.


This is my current carpet, you can see why I'm so pleased to be seeing that back of it. There are huge patches of it missing in places thanks to the previous owners dogs. I have to admit I had to go upstairs to find a spot that didn't have too many bits on - I really can't be bothered to hoover it now... bye bye hideous, hideous 70s carpet, hellooooooooo neutral wool loveliness!

Tomorrow I have some work to do to meet a Monday deadline, but it won't take all day, so I've decided to choose a recipe from one of my many not-used-very-often cookery books and maybe I'll have a wander round a local carboot sale. If I feel like it.

What's your favourite way to relax?

Time for Two Birds Inspiration Monday again. It's Allessandra Ambrosio this week - no idea who she is but what a fabulous name!

I went outside earlier today to take some outfit shots, a gust of (freezing cold) wind blew over my fixed-once-with-superglue tripod and snapped the top clean off. The camera took a beating too, luckily it was my compact digital camera and not my new Samsung. It still works - in a fashion - it's stuck on one setting now.

That's two cameras that have perished in the making of this blog!

So, with no tripod I had to make do with good old fashioned mirror shots, I don't think the result was too bad.


I knew I'd wear this as soon as I saw the inspiration picture, it's a Monsoon tunic from eBay, I believe I paid £5 for it. I really like it but probably wouldn't have worn it with a belt if it wasn't for this inspiration. It's another thing that was bought with the thought 'it'll look lovely with sandals in the summer' running through my mind. It's amazing how many items get purchased because of that thought, so many that you'd think we were blessed glorious hot summers. If only!

Hope you've had a lovely Easter weekend.

Love

I know. Weird, right?

Having looked at what I purchased last year, I was shocked by the fact that 33% of new purchases hadn't been worn (or maybe only once). So I made myself a promise to reduce my spending in 2013 and actually wear the clothes that I have (I know I've said this before, but bear with me, I'm fighting against 20+ years of bad spending habits here).

I'm not going to impose a spending ban (it invariably has the opposite effect and sends me into a spending frenzy - my biggest monthly spend last year was September after a spending ban in August). Instead I'll be trying to stick to a monthly clothing budget. In the light of my clothes spending being over £1,700 in 2012, I'm going to try and limit it £700 this year. This gives me a budget of £58 (ish) each month.

So, how did I do in January?

The top four items pictured below are the result of an eBay frenzy in early January (before the monthly budget was introduced) and totals £19.78. The two scarves on the bottom row fed my scarf obsession and led to the realisation that reducing my scarf intake was going to be tough! The khaki shirt is something I have been keeping my eye open for. These items totalled £34.99.


In all I spent £54.77, and four of the items are pre-loved, so I'm pretty happy with that and I LOVE my new scarves!

In order to succeed in this I think I'll definitely have to avoid eBay, the thrill of winning an auction is too much of a temptation. One day I'll share my most ridiculous eBay purchase with you and you'll see what I mean!

Love

I kept a record, month by month, of my clothing and accessory purchases for 2012 (you can see all items here). Taking part in Frugal February made me wonder how much I spent and I was interested to see what I buy and what I wear and use. I'd say it was a typical year of spending although taking part in Frugal February and Only Once August stopped my spending temporarily.

M spending was as follows - Jan £181, Feb was frugal, March £272, April £50, May £86, June £180, July £293, August was Only Once, Sept £309, October £178, November £128, December £74.

Which is a total of ...



Wowzer! I purchased a total of 138 items of which 42% are pre loved, 9.4% no longer belong to me (mostly donated to charity) and 33.3% have been worn / used once or not at all (yet) but this does include a lot of recent purchases, and, just so you know, I'm not counting my ritual of 'wear around the house immediately after purchase' as 'being worn'.
Percentages courtesy of this neat little website, maths is not a strong point for me.

The most expensive one
Kurt Geiger shoes, half price at £105.00. Sadly these are in the 33.3% of 'unworns' but I will remedy this and be back to share the photos.



The most worn one
Simple above the knuckle ring from The Bohemian Collection (previously known as Wired Jewellery). This rarely leaves my finger, silly, simple little thing.



The one I wish I hadn't bought
Stupid, dumb, silly hat. It looks huge on my head, I'm never going to wear it!



The best of the pre loved
It's hard to pick just one item, but at the moment this bag is getting a lot of love. It's Monsoon but I won it in an eBay auction in September for £13.93



The one I was most surprised by
When the peplum trend first emerged it made me shudder. I couldn't think of anything worse than something that flared out over the hips. But I tried it and liked it, once again reminding myself to never say never.



The one I wish I still had
This H&M cardigan just seemed to work with everything. Why don't I have it anymore? It got kittened, thanks to Tinker and her penchant for digging in her tiny, pin sharp claws, I ended up with a big hole on the right shoulder. Shame.



Have you ever kept a tally of your purchases? I've really enjoyed keeping a record and looking back over what I have, what I love and what I no longer own.

What would you do with £1,700 if you couldn't buy clothes?

Love