Find of the Day

I broke down and stopped in the thrift shop this afternoon.... I know I said I was going to save up my money for the big weekend with my Mom in 2 weeks, but hey! It's my birthday today! Aaaaand I am turning 30! So I figured I deserved a little indulgence.

Anyways, I found these shoes. Yellow leather slingbacks with a fantastic botanical print all over by BC Footwear. They fit me. They're practically new (still have the stickers). And they're just so silly (for my conservative dressing self) and spring-y!

And it didn't hurt that they were three bucks, either.

More on being 30 later.

VERY Basic Flower Arranging

These are my birthday flowers; from my parents.



 They're the Sam's Club variety spring bouquet of sweet pea, a rose, two pink carnations, a green daisy thing (Can't remember the actual name) and some fillers like purple carnation and some other kind of little purple flower that looks like a weed. (Sorry. I am not good at recalling all the flower names.)


But after a few days of them sitting on my table in the green florist vase, they just looked mashed together and as if they were languishing... so I had to arrange them. :)
 I am not super good at flower arranging, like my girlfriends Susi and Lisi; who had a business arranging flowers for weddings  not long ago. I had occasion to help them with the flowers for several weddings  - including my own; and I picked up a few skills along the way - although not anywhere near theirs.

 Anyway - so I picked out one of my favorite vintage vases, and a vintage "frog" - a heavy metal thingy that helps the stems stay in position.

 

 

 Next I cut all the stems way down - from about 14 inches to only 6, 7, or 8 inches. First I stuck in the rose, the green daisy thing, and the pink carnation - now only 1 carnation, as Dodge snatched one when my back was turned and shredded it! Grrrrrr.......

 

Then, I used the sweet pea and the other little fillers to fill in the gaps; trimming the stems to lengths needed to get a proper shape; without long leggy things sticking up all over.

 

After that it still looked like it "needed" something, so I put a couple stems of white and lavender hyacinth in the gaps. Now, it was perfect and smelled wonderful, too.

 

 

 I love Spring!

Recent Vintage Buy.

Oh..... hello there. I've had a busy few days. With Spring arriving, I've had lots of things to do outdoors and around the house.

I found this coat recently and bought it - for a mere $6.50. It is in perfect condition - satin lined, and a soft brushed camel, in a traditional trench coat style. From the early 1950s, from the looks of the label.

 

 I am just a little sad that I discovered it right as the weather is warming up, and I will have to wait till next fall/winter to wear it out much.



 I look rather awful in these photos.... I am a little sleepy and sun burned from the weekend outdoor activities.

 And lest you think I'm not wearing anything under the coat - I am:

 

A cute little brown 1960s textured wool number I bought  from Carol at Dandelion Vintage. I love her website; I have bought several things from her and I adore every one of them. This one was missing the zipper; which I replaced.  

I am also wearing the shoes I wore for my wedding three years ago; and a neat little vintage 50's pin I bought the same day as the coat but at a different shop; for only a "coupla bucks". 



Anyway.

 I haven't been shopping for vintage in the past several weeks; as I am saving my funds for a big weekend coming up.... the first weekend in April I am heading to a "rummage" sale at a auditorium back home in North Carolina with my Mom. The following day we're headed to a huge outdoors yard sale up in Virginia; along with stops at some thrift shops, a vintage shop, and several antiques stores in the vicinity. I am excited! I have a cash stash started in a tea pot in my china cabinet. :)

I'll be sure to document the trips with my camera and share the fun times here.


Happy Spring, everyone!

Thrifted Bookshelf

This is my niece (4) Emilie posing next to the bookshelf, which is in the guest/kids room. I decided to paint the back of it blue; as I had blue paint lying around and thought it would be cute. Not that you can see it once the shelf is full.

Vintage Victorias and Other Random Stuff

Yesterday I came home to find a package from my Grandpa on my back steps. I opened it and found this lovely Breyer model:

 

He's always been so supportive of my equestrian endeavors and of my teaching career, when I was still teaching. He called me and cried with me when one of my horses was hit in the highway and killed, and rejoiced with me upon all my wins and near wins during my trips to the show ring. He's also sent lots of books over the years. He's the best Grandfather ever. :)

 

 I don't eat cereals often, and even when I do, I never eat them with milk - soggy! But recently I discovered how I love almond granola with low-fat yogurt; and this morning I had it with some very decent hot house strawberries I got for $1.00 a qt. Usually I cannot stand store bought, hot house strawberries, but these were surprisingly juicy and actually tasted like strawberries are supposed to taste. Mmmm. I was so impressed, I took a photo, and decided to mention it here. Silly me.

 

 I bought this awesome book case at the Salvation Army thrift shop yesterday. For $8.00. It is solid, heavy wood, weighs a ton, and very sturdy. I despise flimsy particle board Wal-Mary variety shelving - they always look saggy after a while. I have been looking for solid wood book cases and this was perfect. So was the price.  I am going to paint it, of course; after I do I will show you the finished product.

I recently started looking for 1980's issues of Victoria, because they're getting rarer and rarer, and more and more expensive. I found these 6 copies on Etsy and bought them from this seller. They're all early issues; including the 2nd issue of the first run! She said she was going to get her hands on the first one and let me know so I could buy it, also.

 

 
This is the second published issue of Victoria Magazine.

 

 

 I love Victoria and started reading it in the mid 90's; all the way up until they quit publishing it around 2002 or '03 or something like that. They're publishing it again; but I haven't subscribed yet.
 Very little changed in the 80's - 90's; except for the hairstyles of the models and some of the fashions they show are decidedly 1980s (aHEM); but I forgive them.
 The loveliness is timeless, and the style is forever. When I need inspiration I turn to Victoria and she never fails to deliver!

 



 

New Feature

I labeled all my posts and categorized them into neat and tidy sections so it's easier to find posts on topics that interest you rather than sort through manually. Check it out in my sidebar. Have a great day!

Laura Ashley 1950s Revival

I bought this at a thrift shop this morning:



It's a classic 1980s or 90s Laura Ashley "1950s revival" dress. (In the 80's there was sort of a 50's fashion revival; along with the birth of the modern day Rockabilly "scene".)
Before you think I have gone off the deep end of the vintage fashion pool, hear me out on this dress......

The dress has a full skirt and built in crinoline. It has classic 1950s lines, and even the print is kinda 1950s. It's cotton. It's also a size 14 and quite large for me. (I had to kind of hold it up in the back for it to look right for a pic; thus my hands behind my back.) The waist sits too low - just a tad below the natural waist, a-la 1980's -  whereas a real 1950s dress would fit right at the waist.

 I bought this to sell in my Etsy shop, but when I got it on and fiddled around with it, I discovered that if I folded the skirt 4-6 inches up under the waist band thingy, it brought the hem up to a 50's standard level and brought the waist into a more natural spot; giving the whole frock a true 1950's vibe:



However, as you can also see, it adds a lot of bulk to the waist making me look bulky and "pregnant". So. I think I decided to keep it, and get my Mom - who is an awesome seamstress - to help me reattach the skirt several inches shorter and maybe jack up the waist band thing a few inches, and take it in in other places to fit me just right. Then I can wear it to summer parties and weddings with 1950s accessories, and nobody would know it was 1980s except you blog readers! Lol. So what do you think?

By the way: while I was at the shop I bought this adorable handbag, which will be in my Etsy shop this afternoon: