Caves of wonder

Being a history geek I automatically take an interest in all things vintage. Not the fake fashionable vintage but actual old things and the best place to find old things is charity shops. I haven't scoured charity shops for quite a while because a) I haven't had the money (it adds up) and b) I haven't stayed in a house long enough to fill with my own stuff.


I've recently started to take an interest in old china teapots and teacups and who doesn't love vintage jewellery (although I highly doubt the good stuff will be available in a local charity shop).The thing with charity shops is that they can either be a cave of wonders full of gorgeous little buys or a dumping ground for people's old junk. It's always a bit of a gamble but its worth a look so on the way home from town yesterday we popped into the British Heart Foundation just to see if they had any bargains. They had one small brown teapot but no other china worth writing home about. As I was getting ready to leave Gareth pointed something out to me, something that I completely fell in love with.......an old wicker picnic basket.

These photos aren't very good, my camera is pretty old now but I'm hoping for a new one for my birthday this month! They don't show this basket in its full beauty! Its a mix of dark brown and light brown wicker with a brown leather strap and piece of brown leather around the lock. The lock itself is a small gold twisting lock that twists into place to lock the lid shut. The basket is lined with a blue and white checked material with pockets sewn into the sides. It is absolutely adorable and for £4.99 I couldn't say no!

The problem is, I don't go on enough picnics to justify owning such a beautiful picnic basket. If I could drive I would probably pack it in the car and take it to the beach, the woods, the park etc but, as I can't drive, I don't do these things often so using it mainly as a picnic basket would be a waste.

I thought it would make a cute sewing basket but I don't sew or knit so thought maybe a magazine storage basket....but I'm not completely sold on this idea.....I need help. I need suggestions for how to use this basket at home....any suggestions?!?!!