vintage life
10/20/2011
03/10/2010
Tupperware Mania
I really really want to host a Tupperware party and I think I am going to! I've reached out to my nearest representative and hope to hear back shortly. I have visions of a themed party. All of my lovely ladies shall come in their best vintage look, we'll sit around and eat some delicious treats that I make from my vintage cookbooks. We'll have a gimlet or two and "ooh and ahhh" over some candy colored Tupperware!
Oh, and have you met the Tupperdiva? This site makes me so happy. It has Tupperware Catalogs from the 50s and 60s. I dare you to visit and not squeal with delight. I did! When I was researching how to contact a representative I noticed that you can host ONLINE parties as well. Would you like to attend an online Tupperware party? I'm not sure how I'd make it as much fun as an in person party but I sure will try. So tell me, would you come?
Living Retro
I love my lovely modern loft but I do daydream about having a gorgeous vintage house all decked out in retro-finary. Lately I've been drooling over some pretty inspirational pictures from lots of great sites so I thought I would share them with you one by one.
I cannot wait to check this site every day. I love watching the transformation as people find tarnished vintage fixtures and furniture and then bring them back to life. They also have an amazingly inspirational photo gallery. I haven't explored the entire site yet because there is SO much to check out. The Forums look like the place to be though! I also have to admit that I would just love to sit down and have a chat with Pam, I think we'd get along famously! How could you not love the lady behind Save The Pink Bathrooms?
I've got lots more favorites to share both here and at Love, Dolly. So keep checking back. Now enjoy some pictures from Retro Renovation and be sure to head over there and check out the site.
At the Car Show
Just dropping in to share a pic or two from the 11th Annual Bombshell's Booze, Broads & Hotrods car show. It was a great time. Lots of AMAZING pre 1965 hot rods and pretty gals. :)
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.
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 £1. 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.
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
** 1 British pound = 1.4984 U.S. dollars **
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.
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.
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
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
I hope you have had a wonderful day full of family, good food, and fun.
I'm thankful for so much this year. Not the least of all are you lovely readers that come back day after day to see if I've posted anything.
I have to admit, we had a luxuriously small and low-key Thanksgiving this year. It was wonderful not to be stressed out about traveling and cooking, but I'm sad that we didn't get to spend it with our families. I'm also a little bit ashamed that the microwave was very much my friend this year. Not much came from scratch this year but it was all served with love and that's what really matters.
This weekend I'll be decorating the house for Christmas and I'm so excited. It really is my favorite season.
Now I'm off to enjoy some pumpkin pie!
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