Glad tidings!

I had intended to finish Nick's Gladstone bag as a birthday gift but the leather repair was something I pondered for quite a while before taking action.  

(As you can see, Nick did most of the actual repair work).  

At this stage, the end lining pieces of the bag still need to be replaced - and I'm just about ready to do that task!

Nick received a vintage toiletries case as his birthday gift.  Like the bags, his "new"case also received a full spa treatment!  

The kit had many of it's accessories, though some had seen better days. Prior to gifting I replaced some of the manicure tools.  I also sourced a new brush, which fit the former soap-box loop.  

However, finding appropriate sized containers for the other loops was much trickier.

On the birthday, I gifted the case with the original items as well those I had replaced. I wanted Nick to choose how the case would be organised - because he would be using it.

Nick and I talked about the case this morning.  After inspecting the loops more closely, we decided to remove all but two of them.  

Once that was done, we took the case with us to Daiso and found a spray bottle to fit the former toothbrush holder loop. (We'll decant deodorant into the bottle).  

We also bought a nice soap holder and a small case to fit over the head of his new toothbrush. 

The razor was on special at Woolies and is same as his usual one.  (The small cologne was birthday loot).

Since taking these photos I've found another, smaller soap box which fits across the bottom of the case nicely.  It holds the toothpaste, dental floss and cologne - so the razor now wedges between the deodorant and black soap box.

I've published some footage of the toiletries case, my beauty case and our two bags. I'm really pleased with how they all look together!

You beauty, a day out!

Nick and I had a lovely day out, prompted by my latest purchase. The seller had offered to post for an extra $10.00 but we decided an outing was preferable. We were playing music and chatting as we drove South, so missed the first two GPS-instructed exits but luckily didn't overshoot into New South Wales (cos then we'd need a permit to get back into Queensland)!

What did I buy?  Another beauty case!  You can see my other two, here.  

I paid $10.00 to an op-shop for my first case, which I used for it's intended purpose.  I took it away with us on various adventures and then it did daily service during our stint of caravan living. My second case was $5.00 and became our much-used beverage case.  

In reviewing that post from 2015, it seems the second case came with a key and I'm now curious as to the key's location (hah!) - and whether, if ever found, it might fit my latest case, as they both have the same style latch/lock.

The original $10.00 case has some water damage due to extensive use (and isn't the right colour for my Gladstone bag), so is being de-commissioned.  I've cleaned it and put in a black plastic lining piece to cover the warped bottom.  My plan is to use it for sewing notion storage.

I've put a plastic lining piece in my newest ($30.00) case, for protection against spills etc.  The plastic pieces were intended as base plates for grocery bags and only needed their corners re-trimmed to be a good fit for the vanity cases.  (I found larger sized pieces of similar plastic at Officeworks and each of our Gladstone bags also has a wipe-clean removable lining base).

I'm very pleased with how well the new case co-ordinates with my larger bag and am looking forward to using them together.  (I bought the R keyring a while ago and have now ordered a second one - for my "monogrammed luggage")!