Happy New Year

Happy New Year darlings!

Tomorrow is my birthday (yes I'm a New Years Baby) and so I wanted to stop in now to wish you all a very happy new year. My lovely man has surprised me with a spa day today so I'm off to enjoy some pampering and prettying before our dinner date. I wish you all a wonderful evening filled with lots of resolutions and merriment! I'm still working on my resolutions but I'll post them here when I have them finished. Maybe I'll think about those while lounging at the spa.....

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Lovelies!

Crafty Sick Day

I still have this darned cold lingering so I think I'm going to stay in today and be crafty. I've got a long list of things I'd like to make this weekend but I can't list them because some are presents and I don't want to ruin the surprise! What are YOU doing today?

Budget Shopping 1937-style

I was sipping my coffee and reading the Daily Mail online when I came across this little gem. A woman found her mother's shopping list from 1937. She fed a family of nine children for £2. The Mail estimated the equivilant today would be about £40. It's a lovely little article. This part really made me smile:

She said times were hard but the family never went hungry because of her mother's careful shopping.

Mrs Read said: 'We always had a full table. We never ever wanted. She never stopped working. She was the first one up at 5.30am and the last one to go to sleep.

'She lit the stove in the morning to do the baking. Breakfast was always ready for us when we got up.'

So ladies, keep in mind that every little bit DOES help and makes a difference. You should definitely go read the whole article but I wanted to share the shopping lists here.

Emily Bonwick's shopping list from August 15, 1937 - Total cost £2

1 lb tea - 2s (shillings)
1 lb butter - 1s
1 lb back bacon - 1s 5d
1 lb cheese - 8d
1/2lb lard - 4d
3 oranges and 1 jelly - 1s 3d
1 packet of dried peas - 4B=d
Flour 4B=d
12oz preserving sugar - 2s 9d
Small Rinso - 3B=d
4 lbs sugar - 9d
2 lbs tomatoes - 1s 4d
Jar of salmon and shrimp paste - 3d
Custard powder - 5d B=lb
Biscuits - 5d
Tin of health salts - 3d
Bottle of sauce - 5B=d
Tin of corned beef - 6d
2 lbs of collar bacon for boiling - 1s 9d
12 eggs - 1s 9d
Quarter of ham - 7d
Apples - 4d
Dolly Blue - 1d
Small can of Libby's milk - 3B=d
1 lemon - 1B=d
Candles - 2B=d
Rice - 2d

Equivalent figures based on average supermarket price 2008 - Total cost £41.88

PG Tips - £3.45
Anchor butter - £2.42
Unsmoked bacon - £4.76
Medium Cheddar cheese - £2.99
Value lard - 28p
Hartley's orange jelly and 3 loose oranges - £1.14
Frozen peas - £1.67
Plain flour - 43p
Silver Spoon caster sugar - 59p
Fairy household soap - £1.53
Silver Spoon granulated sugar - £1.68
Loose tomatoes - £3.41
Jar of salmon and shrimp paste - 53p
Custard powder - 86p
Plain digestives - 59p
Andrews liver salts - £1.93
HP sauce - 89p
Tin of corned beef - £1.38
Bacon - £1.27
12 free range eggs £2.72
Prince's ham - £1.40
Six Gala apples - £1.57
Thick bleach 70p
One pint semi-skimmed milk - 45p
1 lemon - 30p
Dinner candles - £1.25
Basmati rice - £1.69

Make-Do and Mend

I've been toying with the idea of creating my own clothes for awhile now. I own numerous vintage sewing manuals and a fab little sewing machine. I've been a little scared to try but tonight I ordered two cute little 50s patterns from ebay. One is a skirt and the other is a robe. I think those should be easy enough to start with. I daydream of being able to create my own amazing wardrobe but I think I better take it one step at a time.

One of my favorite little vintage sewing pieces is a lovely little pamphlet from the 40s, "Build your own wardrobe; Do it thus - and Sew!" It's got so many great tips on refashioning your current clothes and "making do." that I thought I would share it with you.

Damn Good Vintage has scans of the individual pages if you'd like to see those. But I made a really high-res printable pdf version for you and you can get it right here. WARNING: This is a pretty large file - 70MB - so grab a cup of tea or get started on your cleaning.

Do you sew your own clothes? I'd love to see some of your projects and hear your advice.

Winter Wonderland

12 Decorations to make in a jiffy

I know we're all in the midst of decorating for the Holidays. I'm almost done and I'll share some pictures when the very last string of lights is up but in the meantime I wanted to share some really great tips from Real Simple. I just love Real Simple!

Easy Holiday Decorating 101 is a great collection of 12 decorations you can make from the craft store without lots of crafty experience. No glitter and glue to clean up after! Some of these definitely fall into the "why didn't I think of that?" category!

Here are some of my personal favs from the article...

Feathers & Fairy Lights
Wrap your banister with fairy lights and feather trim. This would also look so pretty along a fireplace!


Jingle Bell Knock
Who needs a boring doorbell when you have some sleigh-bells jingling? Thread some festive ribbon through the tops of giant bells and tie them to your front door. This is also a great excuse to use all of that ribbon I know you all have! ;)


Felt Placemats
Wow, this one really made me slap my forehead. I have PILES of colorful felt and I never once thought of creating place mats out of them. What an easy way to brighten up your holiday table.


Snowmen-scape
I can't wait to try this one out. How cute are these little snowmen? I want to perch them on every ledge in my house, especially since they are so easy to make! Join two Styrofoam balls with a toothpick and then stick them down with double-stick tape. Voila - instant festivity.


These are just some of MY favorites but there are even more to choose from, 8 to be exact. These ideas are a great way to perk your creative side into high-gear and look beyond the typical decorations and make things more personal.