Made With Love by Kat

Some time ago I compiled my top 10 tips for junk shop shopping for Craftier magazine's "Frugal Crafting" issue. For those of you who haven't had a chance to see them, here they are: 1. Get up early Most car boot sales “officially” start at 8am, but traders get there from 6am (or earlier!) to set up - and professional bargain hunters get there at the same time to make sure they get the best bargains as soon as they are unwrapped. 2. Don’t rush Charity shops, thrift stores, junk shops and car boots all have one thing in common - if you’re going to find a bargain you have to be patient. Set aside a good amount of time so you can have a proper dig around without feeling you have to rush back to your desk. 3. Learn to haggle Just because there is a price on a tag doesn’t mean that’s what you have to pay. Go lower than you are willing to pay and hopefully they will meet you in the middle - or even agree to your first offer!>/p> 4. Befriend your charity shop mana...

I am so ridiculously in love with Topshop at the moment. I popped in there this weekend to find something to wear for my Halloween "zombie flapper" outfit (think The Great Gatsby's Daisy Buchanan... as she would look now) and accidentally spent a hundred quid. And that was after I reluctantly left behind the gorgeous vintage-sequinned slouchy blazer, which I know sounds wrong in words but was so very right with my new silk drop waisted dress. They've got some amazing twenties-inspired stuff in at the mo that made me drool a little bit. I did, however, splash out on a dove grey ruffled bolero, which at the time I thought would be one of those "wear once" items, but it turns out it makes everything in my wardrobe look amazing. It's coming out again this weekend with a trompe d'oeil t-shirt and my skinny jeans - if I can get the mud out of them. Pretending to be in a fashion shoot by wearing your best jeans to turn the horse out in a muddy field may loo...