Housewifery

Perk up your cleaning

We all may dread the weekly big scrub of the house but there is no need to if we surround ourselves with fun and cute cleaning items.

My dear friend Alice was lamenting that she didn't have any cute cleaning things so I gathered this little collection just for her. I think every housewife should have these beauties in her arsenal.

 

I am personally adding this flrty little apron to my wishlist. Oh, and can we talk about the accessories? PLEASE! Go get yours over at Carolyn's Kitchen.

 

Don't settle for a boring plastic dish rack. Go fancy! Check out this gorgeous rack from ModCloth.

 

 
I'm a huge fan of these O-Cel-O sponges and they are the only ones I use. Mostly because they are just so darn cute and the retro patterns make me happy when I'm scrubbing away at stuck on food!

 

Switch out your regular slippers for these bow adorned "Slipper Genies" and let your puttering around the house also MOP the house. I have no idea if these work but how cute are they? Ok, I'm really tempted to try them

 

And let's not forget the best accessory of all. Our beloved Martini Glass. Now that you've made your house sparkling clean, sit back and enjoy some of your favorite beverage in this gorgeous glass.

 

 

You gotta have charm!

Friday night we took a little trip to our local used Bookstore to spend some store credit. I always find great things there and this but Friday night I found something amazing! I think I may have even jumped up and down a little when I found it.

There they were, in all their mauve pink glory. A full set of 4 volumes of the Nancy Taylor Course. I'd read about this course and had looked for a set for awhile and then given up when I always came up empty handed.

Back in the 50's and 60's there were numerous Self Development courses for women. Dorothy Carnegie (wife of Dale of "How to win friends & influence people" fame) had a very popular one. Nancy Taylor had another very popular one. What was great about Nancy's course was it was part of the Nancy Taylor Secretarial and Finishing School, which set up in about 300 cities in the US. Nancy offered Secretarial courses and a "charm and finishing course." It was a great source of pride for the Nancy Taylor School to boast that their graduates were well versed in proper make-up, hair, and fashion. Employers were very excited to have ladies that understood how to have "the right look".

 

The volumes that I found are for the Charm and Finishing course and I couldn't be more excited. There are charts for you to track your progress through the various "reducing" exercises. I was tickled to see that the previous owner of my volumes had dutifully noted her present and "ideal" measurements in blue fountain pen. Although she kept up with notating her weight measurements over the next few months, I'm saddened to say that she neglected to keep up with her ankle, waist, and neck measurements. Tsk Tsk.

I've just started reading (and attempting to complete) Volume one and I intend to share my progress with you and even some of the lessons, if you're interested. Although, I don't think I'll be notating my measurements here for you. ;-)

Until I can get some great pictures from my own set of books, you should check out this great set on Flickr.

Along the way we'll learn all sorts of great things about Hair & Makeup, choosing the right Hat and clothing, improving our speaking voice, how to be a charming conversationalist, and doing everything with poise and grace. 

Check out these great images from a Charm School in the 40's that I found via Life on Google.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Shoe Lust

Did any of you brave the stores for Black Friday? I stayed at home but I did spend a lot of time browsing stores online. I've spent the last few hours trolling ebay for gorgeous coats and I'm bidding on a few! I'd tell you which ones but I couldn't bear for you to outbid me. :)

Now I'm checking out some of the great deals on Solestruck. I recently learned about this store from a few friends and I'm hooked. I've been clicking around and there are so many swoon-worthy pieces that I thought I would share a few.

First up, the Betsey Johnson Geri. Oh Betsey, you never disappoint. This shoe would be so perfect with all of the wonderful tights I've been stocking up on. I'm a sucker for a mary-jane and I love the playful star detail.




I am SERIOUSLY crushing on the Nina Just Me SS but I can't decide which color. I think I'm leaning towards the burgandy though!







I've been flirting with the Steve Madden Impereal for quite some time. It's a gorgeous candy apple red and the cutest ruffle t-strap. I think it might just be flirting back.




Last but not least is the shoe I can never have. It haunts me. I can't find it anywhere (except overseas) and it saddens me every day. Seriously, every day. I'm that shallow. hehe. In fact all of her designs make me swoon. Introducing... Minna Parikka

Apron love

Are you lusting after those aprons in my last post? I know I am!

These two lovely retro sites specialize in fantastic cleaning fashion.

Cupcake Provocateur 

 

Bella Pamella