Button up....

A week off at Cow & Ghost Towers. A few days away booked in Devon with the hope of finding some goodies for the stall. A few days before to catch up. Doing some cleaning and tidying. When the weather improves every spare second will be spent in the garden, so dusting while the going is good.....

Struck by the number of buttons we have around the house. I buy them when I see them, but hadn't noticed how they'd mounted up. Often dip in for craft and sewing projects, and usually end up spending a few minutes just looking at the general selection. 

Colour co-ordinated  to match our blue and white bedroom, and an old chocolate box on top of the wardrobe. When I was young, most houses had a tin or a box where buttons and buckles were stored and added to. 

Sill vases are a favourite, and this one has slowly filled up......

Lastly this tin lived in my grandmother's under stairs cupboard. It belonged to her mother. As a child I can remember spending rainy afternoons playing with them and sorting by colour and size. Happy memories.

Hope this inspires our followers to dig out a stash or start one up. Happy collecting.

A Fine Romance

Wonderful day at the Derwen Fairs vintage event in Carmarthen town. Great to see so many friends. Always a great atmosphere. Thanks to all who braved the wind and rain to visit. Two more fairs at the same venue later in the year. Looking forward.

There was a wonderful and diverse selection of items for sale. We love vintage book cover art at Cow & Ghost. Our particular favourites are children's books, but were delighted to come across these vintage romantic titles.

We'll be bringing them along to future events. The dust jackets would be wonderful in frames. We've recently added framed vintage art to Cow & Ghost stock. We also had great fun over Christmas completing a jigsaw in this style. There's no stopping us :-)

A night out

It's been a very quiet January at Cow & Ghost. It's been a good chance to sort stock and we've had time to do a few buying trips. Lots of nice things for fayres later in the year.

Our good friend had a milestone birthday earlier this month, and this has been the weekend of the party. Delighted that it was a 'vintage' theme. Brilliant night, and some wonderful costumes. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Looking forward to our next fayre on Saturday, February 6th in St Peter's Hall, Carmarthen. Always an enjoyable event. Please come along and say hello.

First fair of the year.

A brilliant start to the new year for Cow & Ghost. Fantastic two day event hosted by 'Derwen Antique Fairs' at The National Botanical Gardens Of Wales. Really busy and lovely to meet so many nice people and catch up with old friends too. The setting is magical, and a great time to see the gardens with spring bulbs popping up everywhere. We were in the large dome glasshouse which gave us a wow factor backdrop.

Some lovely new items found new homes, but lots more new stock gathered over the winter to bring to future events. Lots of the Welsh wool blankets we love, and a new line in Welsh Wool cushions that proved very popular.

Our next event is again hosted by Derwen Antique Fairs. 'The Vintage, Retro & Antique Fair' will be in St Peter's Hall Carmarthen on February the 6th, 2016. Always a great event. Please come along and say hello.

That in between time.....

The weather is not quite like this lovely illustration from 1952, but we live in hope at Cow and Ghost Towers. Having a quiet few days at the in between time of Christmas and New Year. Lots of plans for the business in 2016. Spending this time sorting and sourcing stock, which has led to quite a few ideas. Some fayres already booked, and we will of course be returning to our usual favourites later in the year. We're starting with The National Botanic Garden on January 9th and 10th

Wishing all of our friends, customers and followers a very happy and prosperous 2016.

See you all soon.

Christmas

We're decorating for Christmas at Cow & Ghost Towers. Perhaps slightly predictably we have a lot of vintage decorations. We love the style and colour of mid 20th century decorations. We were lucky to inherit pieces from Grandparents, and have added pieces when we see them at fayres and sales.

Particularly fond of these pipe cleaner people. I remember them clearly from my childhood. When the Christmas boxes come out it's like greeting old friends. My maternal grandmother had a box of 6. They were sadly split up over the years. One remains. My paternal grandparents had one. They have been keeping each other company for many years, but this year have two new friends we were lucky enough to buy two from a vintage website. We'd love to add some more.

A few other treasures....

Thank you to all our customers and followers.

2015 has been a brilliant year.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2016.

Best wishes,

John & Kevin

The Other Side Of The Stall.....

A rare day off at Cow & Ghost Towers. We decided to wander down West to Aberaeron and the neighbouring National Trust estate Llanercharon. Both the town and the property are high on our list of favourite places. Wonderful Christmas fayre in the outbuildings of the beautiful John Nash villa.

Really nice change to be on the other side of the stall. Wonderful selection of crafts, food and re purposed vintage items. We came away with several bags of goodies and a lot of inspiration.

Many rooms in the house decorated for the season in the style of the early 20th Century. Fascinating to walk around and get a taste of how things would have been 100 years ago.

We're already looking forward to returning next year.