Who doesn't need a pretty party dress? Thrift Store Thursdays

 I found a bunch of gorgeous vintage designer/couture dresses this week!

Vintage couture 1950s 1960s sequined velvet floral party dress by Bernetti New York.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/128083199/vintage-couture-1950s-1960s-sequined?ref=shop_home_active

   Vintage 1950s 1960s sequined summer swing dress in greens, browns and yellows by Mort Schrader. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/151766231/vintage-1950s-1960s-sequined-summer?ref=shop_home_active 

Vintage Couture 1950s 1960s layered / bandage black wiggle dress with lace.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/150995930/vintage-couture-1950s-1960s-layered?ref=shop_home_active

 Drop dead gorgeous vintage 1960s dark vibrant pink beaded accordion pleated chiffon maxi gown by Jack Bryan. 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/151762944/drop-dead-gorgeous-vintage-1960s-dark?ref=shop_home_active

The Walking Dead

Zombies are on my mind (again). My husband and I have just finished Season 3 of The Walking Dead and for weeks it has permeated my dreams and subconscious. I love apocalyptic, human nature under a microscope, survivalist television shows / movies and The Walking Dead is right up that alley. So a few weeks ago my son Quinn asked me if I would hang out with him and do art/collage together. I love our crafty time together - so I said sure and started pulling out a bunch of magazines to spark the process. I didn't start out with any particular plan in mind and my method is usually pretty random. I look through my books/magazines and tear out any pictures that interest me, then I go through my cabinet of odds and ends, gathering whatever catches my eye. (for this piece I used vintage earrings, a doll arm, 1950s flashcard, dice from a randy adult game, a mouse trap, paint swatches and cardboard stomach from a children's educational kit). With a little luck, patience and artistic ability I hopefully end up with a finished piece. I can't wait for Season 4!!

Thrift Score Thursday - Mid Century Madness

A few photos from my thrift store finds this week! It was a good week for mid century goodies.

A gorgeous colorful mid century Still Life Oil Painting

You can view more photos of this here: (and/or to purchase)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/127914216/colorful-vintage-60s-mid-century-modern?ref=shop_home_active


 Fun pair of vintage 50s/60s eyeglasses decked out in rhinestones!

You can view more photos of this here: (and/or to purchase)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/128787283/theres-a-sparkle-in-her-eyes-vintage?ref=shop_home_active

Would those glasses look great with this awesome bold graphic so very Mad Men dress?

You can view more photos of this here: (and/or to purchase)
https://www.etsy.com/listing/113199811/stunning-mod-geometric-vintage-1950s?ref=shop_home_active&ga_search_query=50s%2Bdress%2Bbrown

Hoppy Easter!

Our family had a wonderful Easter and hope you did too! We go to a bit of a zany church - Westminster Presbyterian in Burbank - and each year we have the most wonderful service. My favorite part of the service is singing the "Happy Song" by Chris Tomlin. But because our church doesn't do anything boring - as soon as the song starts the room exlpodes with beach balls flying through the air as adults and children sing, dance and hit beach balls up, across and around the sanctuary. See the below video for the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g57DCNkUjeA

We had some fun with Easter this year and I made the boys this cute bunny sandwich - super easy!
You will need:
2 pieces of bread
baby carrots
blueberries
bag of shredded zucchini (I used a bag of carrot/zucchini slaw)
gummy candy
Directions: Using a large drinking glass I pressed it down unto the bread to make the circles. We made cream cheese and jelly sandwiches - but you make peanut butter/ jelly, etc. Then I used whole baby carrots for the ears and a small slice for the nose. Finally I added shredded zucchini for the whiskers, blueberries for the eyes and gummy candy for the mouth. The boys loved it!

Quinn and I also had an "Easter date" and made these yummy candy kabobs! Quinn has a major sweet tooth so he loves to bake together. We bought the rabbit peeps, the chick peeps and the peanut butter cups at the store. But we made the chocolate dipped marshmallows.
You will need:
Marshmallows
Sprinkles of various colors/shapes
Chocolate chips
Wood Skewers
Directions: Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave - about 2 minutes on 50% power (don't use full power or they will burn). Then we rolled the marshmallows into the liquid chocolate and then dipped them into the sprinkles.

I also made an Easter Brunch invitation for my Etsy store. I love retro graphics and I illustrated my own bunny for the invitation.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/123295974/easter-brunch-bunny-egg-hunt-party

Below are a few more photos of our Hoppy Easter!

Thrift Score Thursdays

Found a few fun items this week!

Fabulous 1940s Sawdust Doll. Isn't she pretty? She belongs in a fairytale!

High fashion WWII black felt tilt hat with stunning magenta curled ostrich feathers.

And a colorful floral mid century Lilly Pulitzer dress. Perfect for spring!

Under the Big Top!

I was at the thrift store last week and found a roll of orange perforated event tickets. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them - but I knew I could find a fun way to use them in the house. When I got home I wandered around the house brainstorming about how I could re-purpose them and ended up in our youngest son's room. Gideon's room has a circus theme and I spied the perfect place that I could use the tickets to revamp the room.

Gideon loves books and we are lucky enough to have a built in bookshelf in his room. On close inspection the tickets were the perfect size to glue onto the front edges of each shelf. I brushed on Modge Podge on each edge and pressed the tickets down. Then - since I love to color coordinate - I couldn't help organizing the books by color as well - alternating each shelf. Once I had the books organized I had two whole shelves left for displaying some of our vintage circus treasures. In addition to using a page from a 3-D circus book, I dug up a retro Fisher Price Roly Poly Bear, a fun Little People clown, a plastic candy holding weiner dog, a colorful stuffed Humpty Dumpty and a vintage magnetic monkey puzzle. See below for before and after.

Gideon's room has been a labor of love and I am absolutely thrilled with how colorful and fun it has turned out to be. For the ceiling Mike and I wanted it to feel like we were under the Big Top - so we created our own stencil and painted the ceiling a vibrant blue. Around the light fixture Mike painted a star pattern using gold metallic paint. Gideon's bedspread and circus wall canopy are from Ikea. I found the curtain valances at the thrift store and scoured the fabric district for gold/white striped fabric to make the drapes with.

It took me several months to find all the art and other decorating items for Gideon's room. My crafty neighbor Cathie Filian http://cathiefilian.blogspot.com/ gave me a vintage book full of amazing circus illustrations. Using a thrift store frame, Mike and I finally chose this incredible tiger to hang on Gideon's wall.

I love Helen Dardik's art and on her Etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/shop/helendardik) I found the perfect print! Gideon is a Leo and so what more could I ask for then the Mr. Leo colorful circus art she created (on the right). A friend made the fun collage on the left and I attached the clown feet to it from a toy the boys no longer play with. Add a fearsome lion head, a cymbal playing monkey, a circus train on parade and wallah THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN!

Vintage Christmas Card Display

I found a stash of vintage 1950s Christmas cards at the thrift store the other day. The graphics are fabulous and I wanted to figure out a way to display them somewhere in the house. So after a brief brainstorming session, I grabbed a few wooden clothespins, spray paint and a bit of string.

I spray painted the clothespins red, dk green, medium green and yellow. Mike screwed in little hooks for me in the kitchen wall above our vintage stove. I stretched and knotted the string to each end of the hooks and pinned the cards onto the string with the colorful clothespins!

Tada! A quick and easy way to display your holiday cards!