A very warm hello to all the new visitors and followers that made there way over here from Sew Retro this past weekend!
I joined and made my first post on Friday, and have gotten the most wonderful feedback from readers. It is such a fun community full of so many incredibly talented ladies (and maybe men too?). Just browsing the pages and looking at other people’s sewing projects is really inspiring.
This week is going to be crazy for me, as I am sure it will be for everyone else that lives in the US, as we all need to prepare for Thanksgiving. I am going to try my very best to update regularly this week, so expect to see a lot of baking around here!
Here is a funny little vintage Thanksgiving commercial that I just love.
One thing in my home that I have always wanted an upgrade on are my dishes. I have a ton of vintage pieces, most of which seem to be serving bowls or platters, but none are matching. I don’t even want to get started on the dishes we use on a daily basis. I am still eating out of a mix of hideous Ikea bowls and a set of unmatching various floral patterned thrift store plates.This drives me crazy when I want to invite guests over for a fancy dinner party.
Lately I have been looking into different sets of dinnerware that I can start investing in. I don’t really have the funds right now to buy an entire set, but I have found a few different lines that I love, and hope to start buying pieces and build up a set over time.
The first, which I discovered about two years ago, when I picked up a serving dish from the collection at a thrift store, is Franciscan Oasis.
Anyone who watches Mad Men will recognize this next set from Betty Draper’s kitchen. These are Vernon Ware Raffia. They are a bit more elegant than they appear in this photo. They are also green, but look tan here.
This set is really fun, and also from Vernon Ware. They are called Anytime.
I really love this set. I like how the pitchers are in the complimentary blue color. This set is by Metlox called California Del Ray.
I love all these dishes for different reasons. Right now I am really into the last set, but who knows how I will feel tomorrow. I may even find a set I like better than all these.
What do you think? Which set do you like best of these, or any other sets?
Last night Russ and I went to a going away party for some friends of ours, who are moving to Japan. My girlfriend Dani loves having themed parties, so she insisted it be a hat and wig party. Naturally I chose to go the hat route, and pulled out one of my favorites, which I had been waiting to debut for an event like this!
Dress, shoes, earrings, necklace: Thrifted
Stockings: Estate Sale
Hat: Ebay
This week seems to have gone by in a flash. Unfortunately I haven’t been wearing anything creative enough to post on the blog. Between a sick husband and having dental work done that required numbing, I haven’t really done much but try to keep up with schoolwork, housework, and try to find time to rest in between.
Earlier in the week I wanted to try out my new stand mixer. I made a yellow cake with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting. Of course the cake turned out amazing, but even more amazing was how well the new mixer works. After having used it once I love it far more than I thought possible. I have used the Kitchen-Aid mixers in the past, and while they work well, they can not compete with my little vintage Sunbeam. I love the two sizes of flat bottomed rotating bowls, and the fact that the mixers actually touch the base of the bowls and incorporate all the ingredients well. I am looking forward to using it this weekend to make cheddar and chive biscuits.
Yesterday before I went in to the dentist I stopped by Joann Fabrics and found that all the Simplicity patterns were on sale for a dollar a piece. I bought five retro patterns. Some of which I don’t think I will wear, but hope to sew for gifts instead. I am most excited about pattern #3673, which I have seen several of the girls over at Sew Retro make. I have some fabric that I picked up about a month ago at a thrift store, and am really hoping I can get the whole dress cut out today.
Yesterday Russ and I went estate sale-ing, as we do most Saturdays. On a usual weekend we typically find a good handful of vintage, scattered around various estate sales. More often than not, if we do fin vintage items they are extremely over priced (FYI there are a lot of vintage-hunters here in San Diego). Most Saturdays we head to about five or six before we feel we have got our moneys worth.
Yesterday however we went to two sales. The first claimed to be an estate sale, while all they had were a few measly tables out on their lawn, with stuff the Goodwill wouldn’t even want. At the second we hit jackpot. As we drove up to the sale I could see the backs of yellow upholstered mid century modern chairs through the enormous bay window, I knew we were about to find gold.
The house was filled with incredible, drool worthy, early 1960’s furniture. If I had the budget for it, I would have taken the house as-is, with everything, including the orange shag carpeting. Unfortunately we are young newlyweds, and aren’t really in the market for the caliber of antiques they had in this home. I did however walk away with some great smaller finds; 7 boxes of stockings, all my size (2-3 pairs per box), the only thing Russ picked out which were some great swing compilations on vinyl, a new alarm clock (I had been using my cell phone to wake me up!), some genie slippers, and some odd conditioning heat cap…..which I still need to investigate.
That is all that is pictured. I also got some incredible brown leather driving gloves, light blue cloth napkins, sparkly blue 60’s place mats, a kitchen scale, a cooking encyclopedia…..and….my new pride and joy…..a stand mixer!
It seems like I have been away from the computer quite a lot over the past two weeks! While it is nice to take a break, I have tons to post about, and tons of blogs to catch up on. I don’t even know where to begin!
One majorly exciting thing is that I finished a dress last week, and finally wore it out of the house on Monday. It is one of the simplest patterns in the history of the world I think. It has only three pieces to cut out, sew together, and then wrap around yourself with a few little buttons. It is also completely comfortable, and great for doing work around the house.
I had planned on starting another dress this week, but the fabric I picked up at the thrift store is just a tad too small. Instead I plan on starting some cute little aprons to give to some of the women in my family for the holidays.
I hope everyone had a fun and festive day. Mine turned out quite lovely, thought I am still feeling the after effects today!
My best girlfriend, Sharise, came over dressed as Sherlock Holmes. Alongside Russell, dressed as Wild Bill, the three of us found a party to go to. After about forty minutes, we realized we would probably have an equally good time at home, so we headed back….only to dance around the living room, eat lots of candy, and drink far too much champagne.
