The Blue Owl

A friend of mine told me about a shop up the road from us called The Blue Owl, she mentioned the words "homemade", "baby clothes" and "crafts" and predictably I was sold on checking it out.

Basically this shop is all about stuff I love. Essentially it's a children's second hand clothes shop. There are two good parts to this, I can buy really high quality, hardly worn children's clothes AND I can sell my outgrown baby clothes (that I don't wish to keep for Alexander 2) through them!

I had made a personal pact with myself during pregnancy that I would get on the eBay selling wagon. My newfound inner eco-warrior that cloth bumming has released, demands it of me. One mans junk IS another mans treasure. Secondhand is not just for the frugal, it's for EVERYONE. Now I'll be honest I haven't got around to selling on eBay as of yet, the listing, the horror stories of tedious complaints and the drive to the post office all put me off. With my new discovery of The Blue Owl I needn't bother! I just take my old baby clothes us there (providing they're a half decent brand) and they will sell at roughly half the price of the original RRP and I will get half of that! Brill!



What else does The Blue Owl do? BEAUTIFUL handmade taggies and baby blankets. Quirky greetings cards and wrapping paper. Some home decor bits like bunting, ornate notice boards and bookends. Also super nice smelling candles and bath bombs which make the whole shop smell divine.  Finally they have a little table in the middle of the shop where you can sit down and make your own jewellery! I NEED to take my niece, she will love this.

The whole place is, in a word, charming. The whole place looks good with it's vintage, country cottage atmosphere. Smells good thanks to the strawberry sorbet candles. And it just IS good with it's responsible approach to recycling children's clothes, sourcing locally made products and generating creative outlets for children. I had to post it up.

So what treasure did I find? Well, as rarely as this happens in any shop least of all a second hand shop, I found EXACTLY what I was looking for! A gorgeous John Lewis snowsuit. Immaculate condition, £10 and suitably roomy to last her the entire winter. I am over the moon with it!

Lessons:

1. Go to The Blue Owl.
2. Recycle.


In other news I thought I would share, as it will probably feature further, that I am officially enrolled on to a photography evening course! I am so excited about this. Of course, already, I am light years ahead of myself planning the decor of my at home studio and wondering where we're going to fit my dark room. But in reality this is something, it's a first baby step and who knows... I'm nothing if not an optimist.