Our trip to Prague

This year I decided that I really wanted to spend New Year away from Sheffield. I had initially thought about going on a trip to the Lake District, but then we saw a really good deal on a three day trip to Prague. We delayed booking it a little bit too long and missed the New Year, so we ended up going on January 12th instead. We flew out from Manchester airport and arrived in Prague at about 9pm. We took a taxi to our hotel which was fairly basic but very clean. That evening we walked through the city centre and in to the main square. We stopped at a restaurant and Mark decided to buy a litre of beer, the photo below should give you an idea of how large that actually is!

The next day we walked in to town and saw many of the sites that Prague has to offer. The historic buildings are beautiful and the astronomical clock is truly incredible.

Death, represented by a skeleton, chimes it's bell each hour and the images of patron saints appear at the windows above the clock. 

Our next stop was Prague castle, which has stunning views overlooking the city. We also were lucky enough to see the changing of guards. 

Just behind the castle is St. Vitus Cathedral, it is free to enter and is truly stunning. I have never seen such intricate stained glass designs. 

The food is particularly good in Prague, especially if you are a big fan of meat. We had read good reviews about a medieval themed restaurant, which has to be seen to be believed. 

It's not every day you see a food establishment with swords and maces on the walls! The food was excellent though, very reasonably priced and the beer worked out at only £1.50 a pint.  

The next day we visited a Dali exhibition. I later found out that I wasn't supposed to take pictures, so shhh! 

We took a trip on the fenicular railway up to Petrin Hill. The views from the Lookout tower are fantastic and definitely worth the walk to the top. 

There is also a mirror maze!

Despite the weather being very cold - thick jumpers, hats and scarves definitely recommended - I loved Prague in January. It wasn't overly busy with tourists and the crisp blue skies made everything even more beautiful. 

Next week I am even getting to go on that Lake District trip that I had wanted! My sister has booked for me and Mark, my two sisters and their husbands, my niece and my Mum and Dad to go up for a long weekend, I can't wait! I am definitely a very lucky girl. 

My New Years resolution for 2014 is to go on more adventures and I definitely think I am already going the right way about it. My two aims are to visit Iceland for the first time and to go back to New York, so fingers crossed we will be able to afford at least one! In the spirit of travelling, I bought myself this print from Walsh Walsh and Son on Etsy. I can't wait to frame it when our living room is ready!

Vintage Sheet Swap UK

Hi All! Just a quick one to let you know that I will be taking part in Mary Emmon's vintage sheet swap. If you want to get involved, all of the information that you need is available here. I can't wait to see what the postman brings in March!

The Vintage Fair

I've had two brilliant weekends of selling my vintage wares, first of all was Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Market and then The Vintage Fair at the Sheffield Town Hall. I have to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and made my car a lot lighter on the way home!

You can tell from my grin hat I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Thanks to the lovely people at The Vintage Fair who I stole this picture from! Anyway it's safe to say that I am becoming a bit obsessed and I am booking myself in to as many fairs as will have me, so here are the ones I have planned so far for the rest of the year with (hopefully!) even more to come...

                                          

And finally here is a sneaky peak at a few of the items that I will be bringing along with me. I am particularly taken with the 1960s scooter dress by Marcel Fenez, it's made from a thick wool fabric and absolutely perfect for Autumn/Winter.

                             

                             

                             

                             

A Mini Shop Update!

I have done a mini shop update, but there is much much more on the way so keep checking back! How fabulous is the turquoise and orange maxi dress? Oh how I wish it fitted me!

Holidays!

I thought I would share some of the photos from our holiday this year to sunny Cornwall! I know it's not the most exotic of destinations, but because we are saving to decorate our house we thought we would try and save some money by going camping. I was preparing for torrential downpours and had packed wellies and waterproofs but honestly we could not have picked a better week to go, it was non-stop sunshine and thats something you don't get very often in good old England!

We stayed at the Polmanter camp site in St Ives which I would recommend, it has great facilities including a swimming pool which we used every day. We visited a lot of different places; Newquay, St Michael's Mount, Truro, Penzance and Lands End - and of course I couldn't resist doing a spot of charity shop shopping while we we there. I really enjoyed going to St Michael's Mount, it's a castle built on top of a small island which you can walk to at low tide. We arrived a bit early and the path was still under water - the sea was icy cold and I couldn't feel my feet by the time I had crossed! 

I think the only downside that I can think of was that the weather was so good that our tent was like an oven by 7am in the morning so we woke up really really early every day. That and the sunburn!

We were definitely not put off camping and have already been planning some mini camping breaks before the end of the summer, I am thinking maybe Whitby, where would you recommend?

Minnie's at Mary's Marvellous!

Yesterday I had my first stall at Mary's Marvellous Vintage and Craft Fair. I have spent the last week or so prepping all my stock, pricing everything, making sure I had enough business cards, remembering table cloths, buying clothes rails, making bunting and cramming everything in to my teeny tiny car. It's safe to say that I am a worrier so I had planned for every possible eventually in my head, there were lots and lots of lists involved!

I needn't have worried though because I had such a great day. The event was 1960s themed so I was rocking a beehive and a rather snazzy dress that I picked up from a charity shop.

(I also brought all of my vintage clothing but it was on the opposite side)

 Here you can see my bunting in all it's glory, I knocked it together using some spare pieces of vintage fabric that I had and the spare binding from my chevron quilt. I was quite pleased with the overall result.

There was a scooter rally in the church grounds, and I was particularly taken with this fabulous Bedford camper van.

All of the customers were really friendly, I enjoyed having chats with people who love vintage as much as I do. My whole family also came to visit me which was really sweet. There were a lot of wonderful stalls and I had to be really really careful not to spend all of the money I'd made there and then! To all of the stallholders that I met, thank you for making me feel welcome and it was lovely meeting you.

The day was super long and by the end of it I was so so tired, but it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot and will definitely be applying for spots at other fairs in the future.

*** If I have used a picture of your stall, please let me know and I will link up to your website!***

Exciting News!

I have some exciting news to share with you...Minnie Vintage is going on the road! That's right, I have been accepted as a stallholder at Mary's Marvellous Vintage & Craft Market.

It will be my first ever stall and I'm having a minor panic thinking about all of the things that I need to organise before 27th July! I am really excited about meeting other local vintage sellers and vintage lovers and am hoping that people will like my stock enough to actually want to buy things from me! The theme of the July market is 1960s with prizes for the grooviest stall. I have a dress in mind to wear and have been practicing a gravity defying beehive, the only thing that has stumped me is how to make my stall look groovy.

Have any of you been stallholders yourselves? Are there any hints or tips to making your stall a successful one? I would love to hear your suggestions.

 

If you are local to the area, St Mary's is a brilliant vintage and craft market and definitely worth checking out. If you are free on the 27th come along and say hi! There is even going to be a scooter rally in the grounds! For more information, check out the website here.