CARMEN MIRANDA DOCUMETARY

CUP POST STUDS

I'm sorry for putting a minimal effort into this blog lately,
I would like to change that.

Since the weekend is here and the weather might be dull
here and there I though I make an inspirational post.

I'm gonna show you what you can do with cup post studs
and some bits that's not flat on the back.
Like these vintage buttons and broken hair elastic.
I usually sand things down with one of those 4 stage nail
files/buffer but it didn't work on these cherry buttons, I cut
off the "loop" as close as I possibly could and then trying
to sand the remaining bit off but they were a bit too fragile
and that's when the cup posts works a treat.

BEFORE

AFTER

This old hair elastic doesn't have a flat back and I didn't want
to even try to cut the back off since it probably would damage
the whole flower.
Cup post to the rescue.

BEFORE

AFTER

I got mine from eBay, dirt cheap.
I haven't used them for more than a handful of projects but
it's something that's handy to have in the craft supply box.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

ROYAL MAIL'S TAKING THE PISS!

Another rainy day. What else is new?
England is going down the drain more and more every day,
not just talking about the floods, the cost of things is really
an issue for most of us, a good example is postage.
Went to the post office after lunch to post a pair of earrings
who didn't weigh more than 18 grams incl. the envelope, I
ended up paying £3.30!!! WTF?!
Is it gonna be possible to keep selling on Etsy if it's gonna
stay this way?

I'm however glad that there's still places where you can get
your fix without breaking the bank.
Went into Poundland today to have a look if they had some
cool stuff, and they sure had! Check out these headphones!
It wasn't one of those impulse purchases because we really
do need headphones for the ferry to Holland, we learned last
year that 7 hours without them is very boring, there's a huge
TV screen but you need headphones to be able to hear. Duh!
Also convenient if I want to listen to rockabilly on my laptop.

£1 each! The polka dot ones are very comfortable.

Spending the rest of the day indoors revamping an old beauty
case and making hair flowers.

I wish you all a nice weekend!

AWESOME COLORS!

It's been a while since I bought new nail polish but today, as
we were picking up essentials for out vacation I found these.
The make is Collection 2000 and they were £1.79 each at my
local Boots.
I hope that yellow is THE yellow I've wanted for years.

While waiting for my turn at the beauty salon to get into the
tanning booth I went into my favorite charity shop and that's
where I found these two carved bangles for £1.20 each!
I know they are old because they are marked Foreign on the
inside, a sure sign that they are not a modern repro.

My next post will be no. 900!!!
It will also be the last post before I go on vacation.
I got something cool up my sleeve that I think many of you,
my dear readers, might like!

THAT'S BANANAS!

Here's another necklace I've made for myself to wear
at the Screamin' (rockabilly) Festival in Spain.

I made it early Saturday morning at the Hemsby rock
n' roll weekender. I'm clever that way, I always bring
a box of craft so I have something to do while others
are asleep.
I will blog about the Hemsby weekender tomorrow.

I purchased the plastic bananas, along with a whole
bunch of other small vintage plastic fruit from the very
lovely Amanda at Little Vintage Violet on Etsy.
(Excellent service! Check out her shop, she got tons
of cute stuff for really good prices!)

Still don't know if I should add any green leaves or go
for just bananas...

Picture borrowed from Vintage Stylez.

I purchased a dress just like this one back in 2007 and
I never really worn it and it hit me earlier that this dress
is just perfect together with both my banana and cherry
necklaces! This is on the list of things to pack. :)

MMM...

This is amazing! I want to eat my clothes
with whipped cream and a spoon!


In a store near you.

YESTERDAY

Yesterday my man had a day off so we took a trip down
to the seaside, Hayling Island, to pick up a 1950’s glass
cabinet I won on eBay last week.


£18, eBay.

Afterwards we went to Chichester where I got two really
amazing dresses, one from the One Legged Jockey.
It was very sunny and warm and it was nice to get out of
the house and get some quality time together.
We also did something we haven’t done the 5 years and
three months we been together, we went to McDonalds!
LOL!

I don't really blog about vintage shops because most of
them don't want you to take pics, so what's the point?
One Legged Jockey in Chichester however really must
and deserve to be blogged about!
I've been to a lot of vintage shops all over Europe and
Scandinavia but no one made an impression quite like
this one. Amazing stock and really awesome staff and
they played some really good music too! :)
If you're ever down that way I promise they are well
worth a visit.












You find One Legged Jockey at 9 Crane Street,
Chichester PO19 1LJ

STUNNING STOCKING FILLERS

I'm a big admirer of Miss Tayva and have been so since
2001 when I first discovered her as a sassy pinup chick.
I'm very lucky to also consider her as one of my friends.
Not only does she have the most wicked classy sense
of style, she's also one awesome jewelry maker!

I'm so excited that she's now making 1950's style lucite
bangles and earrings with glitter confetti. Loooove!
Make sure you tell your husband or boyfriend to stuff
your X-mas stocking full of her yummy jewelry.

Click here to get to her Etsy shop and click here to get
to her Facebook page.






Pictures from Miss Tayva's FB page and Etsy shop.

RIGHT NOW...

I'm enjoying a cup of Clippers orange and coconut tea.
I added a bit of honey and some fresh grated ginger and
it's the perfect beverage on a cold day like today.
Just saying...

IF YOU'RE GOING TO LONDON...

If you have plans to head this way make sure you
check out The Vintage Guide to London, it might
be quite useful.



The Vintage Guide to London is also on Facebook.

I LOVE MUA

I've been meaning to blog about this for quite some
time now but for some reason I haven't got round to
do it until today. Sorry about that.
OK, let me start (or start over, I lost the entire post
due to some failure on Blogger) I, like many female
bloggers in the UK, have tried Superdrugs £1 make-
up range, MUA.
I must say that I'm very impressed!
The quantities and quality of this makeup range is
really good. You get a lot for your money.

I've tried some of the cheap brands before and most
of them have been really bad so I was a bit hesitant
to try MUA at first, even though it was just £1 each,
so I only got myself two items to start out with and
it wasn't long before I was back for more.

MUA's nail polish sure kicks ass!
I do a lot of work in the kitchen and with that a lot of
washing up but this nail polish really stays on.
The bottles are rather small but to be honest, I don't
need a big bottle of shimmery green nail polish since
it's not my everyday color, I only use this occasionally.


Nail polish shade 5, Nail polish shade 13

Shade 1 is perfect for the casual day makeup, shade 4
is really good for the evening. Very well pigmented.


Blusher shade 1, Blusher shade 4

I love, love, love this eye dust!
Shade 5 is my favorite and it works well both for day
and evening. Superb!!!


Eye dust shade 1, Eye dust shade 5

If you ever visit the UK, make sure you pop into one
of Superdrugs stores and try some of these products,
you won't be sorry.
So far there's only 84 stores nationwide who sell MUA
so be sure you check the list of the selected stores first
before you get all excited. ;)

CHECK THIS OUT!

I just have to blog about this girl because she's amazing!
Marisa, my heroine, gave herself an assignment to stop
shopping at the mall and instead spend only $1 a day for
one year on clothing and then revamp it into something
unique and fashionable to wear.




Frugal, environmentally friendly AND creative.
What's not to like?

Now visit her blog New Dress A Day and get inspired!

MY NEW FAVORITE FRAGRANCE

I got a new favorite summer fragrance!
Amor Amor Delight from Cacharel.
I rarely find perfumess I really like, most of them make
me queasy after a while but this one is a winner!
I got this one at the airport, 100 ml for £34, bargain!

BAD ODOR?

We all love vintage handbags, don't we?
What we don't like is that some has got a bad odor.
Here's a few clever tips I've learned over the years,
hope they work as well for you as they've done for me.

Baking Soda
Baking soda is a perfect odor remover.
Make a baking-soda sachet to keep your bag smelling fresh.
To make a sachet, cut off the foot portions of one pair of
new knee-high stockings, fill the toes with baking soda, and
knot to close.
This also works wonders in your closet!

Soap Bars
My mother in law always brings me organic lavender soap
bars but I rarely use them since I prefer liquid soap.
They do come in handy in my handbags though.
I just cut off one of the sides of the plastic wrapper (do not
remove the wrapper) and put it in my bag and let the bar
stay in there until I need to use the bag.
Put the soap back after use.
Lavender is such a classic and delightful scent but you can
use a soap with your favorite scent, of course.





Good luck!

I LOVE TASCHEN

This is porn for us vintage (fashion) loving gals!


TASCHEN 20th Century Fashion - 100 Years of Apparel Ads
by Jim Heimann and Alison A. Nieder

I'm a huge fan of Taschen and I've had my eyes on this
one for a while but the bookstore didn't want me to flick
through it and I didn't want to give them my money, since
they weren't very nice towards me as a potential buyer, so
I borrowed from my local library instead.
The book contains 100 years of apparel ads and a lot of
history too, as most Taschen books, this one is a really
great resource.
Make sure you borrow it or get a copy of your own as a
Xmas/Hanukkah gift this year.


This is one of my many favorite ads!

MAKE IT!

My heart is beating a bit faster as I'm writing this.
I'm excited because I just came across something totally
fab at Curbly.com.
Soon, very soon the DIY design community Curbly will be
releasing a DIY book with Mid Century Modern projects!
It will be available both as a book and as a PDF.
Check it out!








Pictures are borrowed from Curbly.com

WORK IN PROGRESS

Seems like many of my fellow bloggers don't have any
inspiration right now, I on the other hand have tons!
Winter time is the perfect time to make clothes for the
upcoming summer and you can escape to sunny beaches
in your mind while you're sewing.
If you need some inspiration for making cute summery
outfits I strongly recommend one of my favorite books,
Sunkissed by Joshua James Curtis.
You'll find tons of pictures of pretty girls in beautiful
summer wear and you might also get inspired to copy
their amazing hair styles too.


I'm currently working on this tie top a la 1944.
I use a yellow gingham fabric, I'm almost done, I just
need some white satin bias which I will get later this
week when my favorite haberdashery is open again.

LINT REMOVERS

Some say that diamonds are a girls best friend but
I think a lint remover is a girls best friend, for the
one who really love her clothes.
I've been to a lot of car boot sales and seen a lot of
jumpers go for 20 pence because they are covered
with lint/bobbles. Some people can't be bothered.
Anyway, in this day and age when the economy is
the way it is this is one good tool that should be in
everyone's home.
I've tried two of the many lint removers that's on
the market and my favorite is the lint remover from
OBH Nordica.
They can be found in the big stores in Scandinavia
and also on a lot of websites.
This thing should make an excellent gift.
It's small and very handy and it removes lint in no
time and I do mean it.



I also tried the lint remover from JML, who can
be found in the big stores around the UK.
This one is crap! It's big, very loud and it doesn't
remove the lint 100%, it seems like it just "combs"
the lint without really removing it.
I was so disappointed that I actually sent it back
to JML.



It seems like all lint removers on the market runs
on batteries and if you're planning on buying one
as a gift for Christmas/Hanukkah or for a birthday,
why not buy rechargeable batteries too?
If not, don't forget to recycle!