Antique Mall and Craft Store Finds

A few weeks ago, we went to an antique mall here in England.  I was on a search for a jar of buttons.  I’ve seen them in American antique malls, so I was hoping to find some here.  I have a huge button collection back home in America, but I had none here.  I particularly wanted a large variety of interesting buttons, not new ones in sets.  I ended up finding more than the buttons.

Yes, I did find my buttons!  They cost a bit more than I wanted to pay, but the price wasn’t horrible.  There are some really nice and interesting buttons in this collection, so I’m pretty happy with them.  I wanted buttons partly because I needed them to make a header for my new blog, which is called “Like Buttons in a Jar.”  However, I would not have bought them for that reason alone.  I also have lots of Tot School plans for these buttons!

I also bought a set of cork coasters.  These will be used for pin-pricking sorts of activities in Tot School.  The set of biscuit cutters, I bought especially because I’ve always wished I had some!  The table confetti I bought because it included snowflakes, which I wanted for my January sensory tub.  I’m sure I can find other uses for these things too.  All of these items were very cheap.

You may be thinking that these items are not necessarily antiques!  In fact, only the biscuit cutters were listed as vintage.  Dagfield’s, the place we went to, is actually made up of several “malls” on one lot of land in the country, with some malls selling a variety of antiques and others selling craft or hobby items.  The mall where I purchased these items was a mix of expensive antiques, somewhat cheaper vintage items, and ordinary flea-market type items.

After leaving Dagfield’s, we went to Hobbycraft, which is my favorite craft store in England (similar to Hobby Lobby or Michael’s).  I was happy to find a lot of stuff on clearance.  I also bought some Valentine things.

First, we have a Valentine gift bag and a piece of felt with hearts all over it.  If you have any ideas for how I could use these items in Tot School, please let me know.  I seem to be fresh out of ideas.  I bought them, hoping I could think of something!

I also bought some wooden flowers and something called FloraBase, which happens to be scented.  I thought I might use them in a spring sensory tub.

I also bought a wooden heart container with a hinged lid, a bag of LOVE foam stickers, and a bag of silky stuffed hearts which are also stickers. 

Since I’m asking for help with ideas on those things I bought, here are some wooden hearts I received in a care package from the US a few months ago.  If you have any ideas for how I might use these, please tell me!

There are so many homeschool and/or tot school bloggers out there who are SO creative.  I like to think I’m creative, but with two other school-age children to homeschool, I don’t have as much time to think up ideas for my tot as I’d like.  I get most of my ideas from blogs I follow!  So, suggestions are very welcome!!!