I bloody love a good rummage through a rail full of vintage togs. Whether it’s in Beyond Retro or just my local Oxfam, there’s always the joyful prospect of uncovering a treasure- like the time I found a MaxMara coat for £30- SORRY ABOUT ME! So when VoucherCodes sent me an invite for their Winter Blogger Swap Shop Party I was more than a bit excited- and not just because they’d promised there would be mac & cheese there. So, slinging on a new cream vintage jumper and a slick of my new favourite lippy (Kiss Of Life by Kate Moss for Rimmel- literally the same colour and texture as MAC’s Ruby Woo but a mere sliver of the price) and OFF I TROTTED!

The idea for this genius event is everyone digs around in their wardrobe for five items of clothing or accessories that they no longer use. You bring them along, and exchange them for a set of ‘stamps’. Then, once the rails are bursting, you get stuck in and trade in your stamps for other people’s swaps! Whatever’s left over at the end then gets donated to charity. WINNER.

I teamed up with the lovely Hannah, the brainchild behind the brilliant Crafternoon Cabaret and whilst the rails were being dressed, we had a wander round.

Obviously the first port of call was the bar. The boys from HireTheBarman were busy mixing up elderflower and gin cocktails, so I mean, it was always going to be a great night really wasn’t it?

As well as keeping us nicely watered, there was a veritable DELIGHT of delicious things to munch too. WARNING: this next bit contains pictures of the fittest mac and cheese you’ve ever seen- courtesy of Anna Maes. Don’t do anything stupid like lick your computer screen now.

TOLD YOU!

macaroons have come a long way since Acorn Antiques

Once the rails were open, it was every woman for herself! Luckily though, there was so much booty on offer that I think everyone came away jolly pleased with their wares. We did one lap then settled in for some other treats whilst the hullaballoo died down a bit. And NO we didn’t just hang out by the bar (though we did have a few pit-stops there.) We teamed up with fellow blogstress Katy and went to meet the lovely gals from Vanity Van who supplied us with glittery Christmas lips!

Little Miss Katy

ALL SET TO SPARKLE THE TITS OFF CHRISTMAS!

As I previously mentioned, Hannah runs a bitching event once a month called Crafternoon Cabaret– I went once and made artwork out of buttons all whilst indulging in some daytime drinking (my favourite kind.) Given that I had a craft EXPERT on hand, it seemed silly not to go over and have a go at the activities on the craft table, all supervised by Sew Over It, who were there sewing monograms on everyone’s new items. We settled down to make some nice, easy headbands. Within minutes I had superglue all over my hands and was STRESSED.

I was really glad Hannah captured my excellent crafting skills.

However, with a bit of help from Hannah I NAILED the hairband situation.

The picture she’d taken of me was uploaded to Instagram and hashtagged and the lads from Rife were printing them out as polaroids. So we played a fun game of INCEPTION because we’re really mature and not annoying at all.

Me holding pictures of me holding pictures of me holding pictures of me (lipstick by Rimmel, jowls by me)

spot the bellend

The lovely lads and their birds

Those fabulous birds are the creation of an AMAZING balloon artist called Twistina who made all manner of inflatable accessories. I’d never seen a unicorn made out of balloons before!

As well as our swaps, we were TREATED to a goody bag with bits and bobs from Boden, Dorothy Perkins, House of Fraser and Matalan to name but a few, including some gorgeous Christmas decs!

because nothing says Christmas like a furry tartan heart

As for the rest of my haul…

I did RATHER WELL! Some of my favourite items were:

a sensible and practical pair of shoes for the festive season

a lovely pearl statement necklace from Dorothy Perkins

a snuggly woollen scarf, topped off with my initials (THANKS Sew Over It you are babes)

a brand new pillarbox red handbag from Dotty P’s too

a smashing black beret so I can pretend I am French and sophisticated

IT WAS A BLOODY BRILLIANT NIGHT! Thanks so much VoucherCodes- you really know how to throw a party! To have a little video glimpse of the bash, have a gander at this! Ten points if you spot me. I’m the one being a bellend. As per.

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