The Latest Loot

I search far and wide to bring these pretty neat items (I think so, anyway) to the vintage market.  I am also very excited about some 50s bullet-bra, Marilyn Monroe style swimsuits I have waiting in the wings; and rompers, baby - rompers. I think some people can really pull off the romper trend. I am not one of those people. Heh.


70s Victorian Revival, Gunne Sax style dress with gorgeous poet sleeves. And Lace. And pearl buttons. And a sash. *sigh*



How cool is this Jackie Kennedy/Joan Holloway (of Mad Men) style dress? Check out the back:



The collar ties - in the back. So cute!


Boho embroidered belt. Love.  (sold)



Boho tooled leather purse. 



Totally groovy 70s train case.  (Sold) My mom had a whole set of this kind of thing in the 70s. Actually, she probably still has it someplace, seeing as she never gets rid of anything.

Have a great weekend, all!

Shoe Splurge!

After all my resolve in the saving money department, I succumbed to these shoes yesterday in some department store in some mall near where I was gathering some shop inventory.

My Mom was with me, and she did nothing to help me resist! But then, my Mom always encourages me to have whatever makes me happy. (d'awwwwwwww) In fact, she made noise about getting all three colors of this shoe.... (natural and blue, as well as the black). Geez, Mom.

In my defense: they were the one thing out of the car full of purchases, that was actually for myself.  The rest of the stuff I bought yesterday was for the shop and was paid for out of my business money! I promise!











These were $17.00. On sale. I like them because they're not too high, like most wedges are.

So..... yeah.

I'll do a shop update later in the week with all the new inventory I "gathered" yesterday.

Outfit: Cop-out.

I was going to post a pic of a great dress I bought and accessorized for under $20. One of my faves....

(Insert pics here)

But it has been unusually chilly here *pouts* and this morning I simply could not go with bare legs and could not bear  (ha ha) to wear the outfit with tights. It was just not working with tights.

Then my morning went to heck with a call midway to work about my horses running freely down the street, so I spent forty minutes collecting the horses back into their paddocks.

Next I lost all my keys - keys to barns, gates, antiques shops, other people's houses, my house, all three of my vehicles, various padlocks to various containers holding important things..... yeah. A friend is coming tomorrow with a metal detector to help me find them.

So, meanwhile, I'm driving with my spare key, and had to break myself into the house when I got home this evening. 

Then I thought I'd show one of my $1 Goodwill sale shirts, and what I wore to take my mom to dinner for her Birthday. But it just looked like this: skinny jeans, plain drapey black shirt, and purple suede heels.

Meh. I erased the pics off my camera. They were boring - even more than usual.  

On a high note: I  did have a nice dinner with my mom and sister, and I did buy a 1930s satin wedding gown with a glorious train on it. For a sickeningly low price.... I love it when the cashiers at thrift shops are dudes who have no clue about vintage fashion, or any fashion,  and toss out random prices on things that defy the imagination. Not sure if it's for my collection or for the shop. Undecided.

Plus I bought myself something cute and nice.....
 
Pics and more tomorrow. Right now I am going to crash on the couch and cuddle with my guy and my kitties with a nice rum and grapefruit juice.  

Weekend Fun

My peonies are blooming.  And the irises. And the honey suckle.... when there is a breeze you can smell the honeysuckle on the air. One of the many joys of living in the country.


My seldom photographed cat, Cosette. She is grumpy.


An old, hand dug well on our property. It is very dangerous, as children, pets, and even an adult - could fall into it. And it's 25 feet down to the bottom.


So Kevin filled it in.


Can you spot the yellow doggie playing hide and seek in the oat field???




Peanut butter cup cupcakes. With mini cupcakes on top.... hee hee


I had a yard sale in the front yard..... not very well attended, but I shall try again.


My station for the yard sale - a roomy wicker chair, a glass of sweet iced tea, and a book.

Saturday At Home

Thrifty outfit $20 or under example #2 is kind of "boho casual", for a Saturday at home, no make up, wild hair... you know.  Everything I'm wearing here I purchased last weekend while visiting my sister out of town.
 






Skirt: thrifted, $4.00
Tank: H&M,  on sale for $6.00
Long horse pendant necklace - Etsy (a while back, so it doesn't count for my "thrifty outfit under $20" posts, hee hee)
Wood bangle, thrifted, $2.50
Flip flops, last year's

Total: $12.50

Pictured on my patio in the side yard..... I am proud of that patio, as I built it myself, and for practically free. Kevin leveled out my spot and dug in about four inches, and I hauled in rocks and bricks from a tumbled down chimney on the farm. I arranged them in a pattern on top of landscaping fabric. Then we bought a load of pea stone and spread it all around the rocks. I wanted something that looked aged and just as old as the house; and not shiny and new. I see I need to get some weeds off from it...... I've neglected weeding this past week for sure...

The 1950s metal lawn chairs I found on Craigslist, and paid $20 each. The wrought iron table I found in a barn on the farm. The wood box seen to the left of the photo is something I dug out of the dumpster a few weeks ago.

Yes, I like junk. I like a flea market, shabby patina on everything in my gardens. I like rust and cast off disgards from other people. I am weird like that.

 Happy weekend, everyone!

Shop Update: Home

As I said a few days ago: I'm getting rid of things again. Things I have stashed away and never use. Things I bought just because they were old and cool and I couldn't say no because I wasn't using the Force to resist the Dark Side.....


Awesome 40s metal lunchbox. (Sold)Great for storage. Very industrial. Very hip right now. I dug it out and added it to my "get rid of" pile.


Tin Jello molds. I can't NOT buy these when I see them. I just love kitchen gadgets from the oldie days.


Yet another set of tin Jello molds. See what I mean? I can't have just ONE. I have to buy them.all. I have several stacks. I am selling them off in sets of four or five.


  Bamboo handle Grapefruit spoons.  (sold) I found in the house when I moved in. So I am not guilty of buying them! They're real bamboo handles; true oldies. maybe 50s 60s.


Pink depression glass tea cup. Because I have a soft spot for pink depression glass and thought I might collect some; but this is the only piece I ever bought. 

To buy, click the links below each photo, or visit my Etsy shop for more info - click the "shop" tab at the top of the page.

Stuff... And Nonsense

As I left for work this morning I fondly looked over at my vegetable garden popping up in neat little rows and wished I could just stay at home and forget about all this working and making money and paying bills stuff.

 *sigh*

I've been feeling the need to simplify my life recently. Some things I don't have control over - like my suck-ing work schedule. I'll be glad when this lung transplant episode is finally over and I can get back to my normal schedule - my work from home all day schedule. I decided sitting with the elderly is not what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Some things I do have control over - like managing the times when I am not working to be more productive and not just waste it with Netflix, Hulu, Pinterest, etc. etc. Like staying in control of my spending habits (yesterday's post). Like keeping up with house cleaning and yard work. And I do have control over the stuff in my house.

 I have friends who have packed up and moved long distances, several times over; and their "stuff" didn't hold them down. One friend sold off practically all their worldly possessions before moving; then just started over with new stuff when they got a new house. Their "stuff" didn't have a hold on them the way my "stuff" has a hold on me.

I've never had to move all my "stuff". I've never had to reduce the amount of things in my house to fit a storage unit, or a moving van. I've never been forced to let anything go. And I'm grateful for that. My life, since marriage, has been really deeply rooted.... I left my parents and my childhood home with several boxes of my meager little possessions, and immediately started setting up house on my husband's farm. It's been four years now, and I seriously have a problem with "stuff"! Having a "old stuff" type of business doesn't help. I sell a lot, but for every one item I sell, I bet you I keep two. Or three.

My drive to simplify is helping me let some of my things go. Things I don't wear, don't use, keep packed away and never look at.....I have to let some things go. I've purged before, but not like I have in the past few weeks. I've let go of some things I thought I never would. If I don't do it now, what will my house look like in 10 years? In 20? The thought makes me shudder.

Some of it's going in my Etsy shop - mainly the vintage clothes and purses and antiques and collectibles that are easy to ship.

Plus, this weekend I am having a 2-day blow out yard sale.

It's going to be a good one. There might be crying, and kicking, and screaming, as I let some things go...

But there is one thing I have learned about "stuff":  There is plenty of it in the world. There is more than enough stuff to go around. If I sell off all my stuff today, there will be twice as much stuff tomorrow.

Tax Day, Thriftyness, and Rockabilly Inspirations

This is me, enjoying a tasty IBC root beer on a warm day. 

Jeans: Gap, thrifted $5
Pink gingham top: H&M, thrifted off the $1 rack at Goodwill
Green leather sandals: Bronx, thrifted while on vacation at VA Beach, $4.00
Fakelite Bangle: thrifted, $1
50s sunnies: thrifted, $1

Total: $12.00

I am going to start sharing "thrifty outfits" under $20 as part of my summer long resolution to spend less money.... 

It's Income Tax deadline day in the US. Hubby and I were hit with a huge tax bill this year. Because of the nature of his work,  we don't get a tax refund check like most people do. I get a W2, which usually you get a refund check from, but my refund was kind of "absorbed" into our joint filing status. So we write a check to the IRS and pay our taxes. It is sobering, to say the least.

So much so, that I have vowed to really try to curb my spending habits. I have been spending a lot of money on the house.... between supplies needed to strip the lead paint off the floors and staircase and my recent collecting of numerous vintage prints and artwork for the staircase wall, I've been flinging money around like a Hollywood starlet, it seems. Last weekend it was a 2 day trip to Virginia Beach to visit my sister, and douse myself in shopping, a charity fashion show, malls, and of course plenty of delicious food.
This week it was a Craigslist "gotta have" $350  antique china cabinet to match my antique dining table.

It's gotta stop. 

I consider myself pretty thrifty - I mean, $350 is a great deal on a solid oak antique china hutch, y'all! And it matches my table. 

But even thrifty purchases add up to a bundle when you make thrifty purchases fifteen times a week. (Ok - so fifteen times a week is a bit of a stretch - but you get the drift.)

So this summer, I'm vowing to keep my personal clothing and accessories spending to a meager sum - $20 for any (new) outfit, tops.  I might add items to new things to what  I already have, or whatever, but if I buy an "all fresh stuff" outfit, it has to  be at - or under - $20.  (I am excluding shop inventory spending from this resolution.)

(I thought of vowing to keep my house remodel/redecorate spending to a bare minimum, but I am not sure I can stick to that very well. We'll see.)

 So this is my first "thrifty outfit" post. I love Rockabilly inspired looks for summer. None of this outfit is vintage - except the bangle and sunnies.Basically, when I am feeling a Rockabilly inspiration coming on, I roll up some jeans, throw on a gingham, plaid, or similar top, add some poufyness to my hair somehow or another, and accessorize with vintage inspired shoes and jewelry.
 

Shop Update: Purses

50s Navy Blue Velvet Clutch.


Completely rad 70s metal mesh cross body purse. 


60s raffia purse. I love it's robin's egg blue lining! Too cute!

Gearing up for my pop up shop in May - by stocking up on some groovy new inventory. :)

Rediculously Excited

A few weeks ago I got a convo (a message via Etsy's own site generated email message system) from an Etsy Admin (A staff person at Etsy's offices in New York) stating that one of my items had been chosen by a photo shoot designer for the website Style Caster for an upcoming photo shoot. They wanted to "borrow" my item; and of course I said yes!

The story was published today, and here is how they used my blouse in one of the photos:



You can see the feature at Etsy's Blog

Or you can read it directly at Style Caster.

Unfortunately someone has reserved the blouse already, so it's sold - unless they back out; I am waiting to hear back from them. But you can look at it in my shop.

A Lovely Spring Day!

My sister ran her first 5K race today, and of course I was there to cheer her on and take photos.

And of course I wore a vintage outfit. It's spring! It's time for my vintage stuff to emerge into the world again! (I pretty much only wear it in warm weather; silly, I know.)



My sisters and I after the race; fueling the runner up on carbs!! (My sister that ran is Naomi, on the left. That's me in the middle, and Noelle, the youngest,  on the right - in case you were wondering.)




(Sorry for the cruddy photos. Either they're too far away or in a shadow. I gave up.)









It was a windy day, so my skirt is getting blown all kinds of funny ways in these pics. Ha.



Skirt: Vintage, thrifted
Shirt: Thrifted
Cardigan: Vintage, (from my shop - I decided to keep it.) estate sale.
Belt: Thrifted
Shoes: Thrifted
Velvet rose bud brooch: Made my me, using scraps from my Great Grandmother's sewing basket

Cat Photos and Remodeling Woes

Here are some photos of my "kettehs" I discovered on my laptop while at work.





These were taken last summer when Buggs was still pretty much just a baby thing. All the cats like to sit on my lap and look at the computer with me. (Or, in this case, sit on the computer.) Especially if I am watching other cat/animal videos. And they love watching the screen scroll, and the cursor move around. Silly things.







Kevin took these of Phileppe last year. He had a smudge of grease between his eyes from lurking under tractors in the equipment lot/shed. So cute.

Anyway...................

I had a day off yesterday and what do I do with it? ................. I don't take a shower, or even get dressed, hardly. I throw on some holey, frumpy old jeans and a frumpy, half shredded tee shirt.... yeah, real cute. Then I spend all day sanding, stripping, and scraping paint off my staircase.  

All.Day.

(With a few snack breaks and a dog food/ice cream run.)

 Ugh. This staircase project is turning into a much bigger ordeal than I originally thought. But then again, the whole darn HOUSE is turning into a much bigger ordeal than we originally thought! I've discovered with old home restorations, it always looks like one simple thing on the surface; but when you start getting down through the layers, and into the nitty gritty, it's a whole different animal. So the "Oh yay! I'm going to re-do the staircase in one week; it's gonna be so fun!"project turns into "Oh wait. I am going to have to take the paint off the whole thing.... not just the stair part. Oh wait. I'm going to have to sand it, too. Hold on a second. I'm going to have to re paint the entire 2 story expanse of beaded board wall now.... with a brush. Oh yeah.... and I am going to have to strip the entire floor while I'm at it........."  Yeah, it's hard, yucky work, but really..... I do enjoy it. And if I want my old house to look completely awesome, I'm going to have to take the time to do it right... and not just try to cover everything up in more paint. I tried that after I moved in .... and it just screams "shortcut!!" So I'm going to do it right, even if the work does kick my butt! I am almost done with it; the painting part won't take as long as the removing of the old paint part. Then I can show you photos. :)


In May, I am going to have my first ever booth at a craft show! I was planning on bringing some of my hand made stuff; like my vintage silverware wind chimes, up cycled vintage sewing machine boxes, button jewelry, burlap bunting banners, etc. etc.
But just this morning the woman in charge asked me "Don't you have some kind of clothing business?" I said, "Um, yeeeah, I sell vintage clothing on line." and then she said.......

"Bring it. Bring all of it."

To which I said "REALLY?!!!!"

And then she laughed and said "Sure!"

So.... I will be having my first "pop up shop" in May!! I am already devising ways to decorate my canopy and space there. It's going to be SO cool. I am SO excited.

*grins*

Have a great weekend, and a glorious Easter, y'all!

Shop Update - Jewelry Edition

In these hard economic times, everyone is looking for ways to save money (or at least you should be - lol). But it's so hard to not buy pretty things! Inexpensive costume jewelry of the vintage variety is a good way to perk up your spring and summer frocks inexpensively.

Lucky for me - and for you - I happened upon a stash of costume jewelry in the local antiques mall for very fair prices. And I scored a few pieces at the local Goodwill - which is unusual. I almost never find decent vintage costume jewelry there anymore.


For tea lovers. 


Aqua beaded earrings - 50s


This bow brooch has a loop for wearing as a pendant, as well.


 Fantastic springtime floral clip ons.


Blue and silver beaded choker, 60s


60s beaded cluster earrings


12 KT gold filled circle pin with pearls - 50s


Pink beaded necklace 60s. 

I've been going for a more streamlined, uncluttered, less busy and "propsy" look in my shop's jewelry section also. This week all I've been doing is taking photos of jewelry. I still have some to go.

To purchase any of these pieces, click on the links below each photo.