We were very fortunate in our op-shopping to come across a variety of crockery that would pass as 'period' - there's always room for improvement and it'll be upgraded as we go, but it's enough to start off with :-)
I was very excited to find some pewter spoons, and with a little adjustment with a file I now have the first set of period metal spoons I've had in 20-odd years of re-enacting (sad, isn't it?).
Decorations from old costumes were recycled - another thing to upgrade once we have time...
Some things were made from scratch - my tunic is a silk brocade, a copy of a twelfth century Sicilian brocade; the collar pattern comes from a bowl of the period and the cuff pattern from a column head. They're worked in Opus Anglicanum-style laid-and-couched gold thread, embroidered, and beaded with carnelian, citrine, malachite, turquoise, coral, and pearls (mainly freshwater, but grandmother's Mikimoto cultured pearls are in there, too).
One of the silliest things I ever heard was a long-standing re-enactor informing a newcomer that the pearls on her costume were "the wrong size"… Tell that to the oysters ;-)
We've even got together a collection of toys for the kids - documentation for toys in our period is a little bit thin on the ground, so we've had to rely on what came before and what came directly after the early 13th century.
An interesting find in Big W - the original earring is gold ;-)
It occurs to me that we've spent much more timing making things than photographing them - as it should be :-)
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