A Course in Cosmetics (1922)

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Easter

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! I hope everyone had a lovely long weekend. I've spent the days wandering some new hiking trails, spending time with friends and family, and sketching in my new "nature journal". (More on that in an upcoming post). 

Of course, I dressed up for Easter Sunday. Normally I go all out, but this year I decided for a slightly more casual look (or as casual as one can be in gloves and a hat). Instead of lots of petticoats and fluff, I went for a simple 1930s/40s cotton dress. I love this dress but it is very delicate so I only wear it on special occasions. 

I also took the opportunity to wear some of my vintage accessories:

Vintage Gloves. I love the subtle blue embroidery.

Rescued vintage hat with a sprig from the floral
department at Michael's to give it a bit of colour.

My favourite brooch (circa 1920)

 The image I started this post with is an Easter postcard from my collection. I love collecting pre-1920s postcards, and only buy ones with writing on the back. I may post a few more later this month. Below is what the back of this post card looks like:

I wish everyone a good upcoming week! Mondays after long weekends are always hard aren't they?

That's All.

Old Bed Sheets

It's been rather a stressful week. My old cat isn't doing too well and we know she doesn't have a lot of time left. She is happy at the moment, but her old body is starting to fail. I'm just thankful for every day I have with her. Work has been disappointing this week too, as a lot of my sessions were cancelled. This was likely due to the long weekend, but it means my pay was cut in half. 

So what's a girl to do when she is feeling down and has no money? Make a skirt out of a bedsheet apparently. I had a worn-out bedsheet my parents gave me when they were cleaning out the linen cupboard. It looks vintage and is the perfect spring mix of cheery yellows and oranges. I decided to make a circle skirt out of the material. Sum total for this project? $1 for elastic. Yup, new skirt for $1 and 30 minutes of my time!

I don't have much to wear with it at the moment, but I paired it with a white cardigan and some red/plum accessories for my weekly knitting morning. I put a flower in my hair, since hair flowers always lift my mood. 

Little treats like this skirt, and coffee with a friend, really help during times like these. A cute outfit doesn't make the problems go away, but it does work to even things out a bit. 

I'm looking forward to the long weekend. Britt and I have a hike planned for tomorrow. We have a looooooongg hike planned in about 2 months, so this is a smaller "training" hike. I love spending time in nature and getting some exercise at the same time. Much better than going to a gym. 

I hope everyone has a lovely Easter weekend!

That's All.

Peacocks and Hugs (1917)

A peacock inspired costume and a Chaplin-Fairbanks hug. Just because both are awesome. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

That's All.

Meow

Despite being April, the weather around here is decidedly chilly. To combat the cold weather, I have been wearing a lot of longer skirts. With thick stockings and ankle-length skirts, my legs stay toasty warm no matter what the temperature outside. 

Longer skirts can be hard to wear without looking a little dumpy. I paired this tan skirt with a leopard print sweater and Victorian-style ankle boots. The black and leopard counterbalance the otherwise rather drab skirt. This skirt actually used to belong to my mother, but she thought it looked too dated. So yay! Free skirt for me!

In other news, my Etsy shop has a big sale going on right now. Most of the blouses, as well as a couple dresses and the bloomers, are all discounted. The sale lasts until the end of April so take advantage while you can! I don't have sales very often since my clothing is priced lower to start with, but I want to create some more pieces for summer which means I need to sell some current stock first.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

That's All.

Elderberry Tea Recipe

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've posted or even been online. The reason for my absence was a horrible flu-like virus that knocked the stuffing out of me. There was a few days where I was too sick to even watch tv or read a book. Thankfully I am getting better now, although I'm still not quite recovered.

I'm really not used to getting the flu or even colds. I attribute that mainly to the wonder plant that is Elder. When I was at university, I was sick quite often until I started consuming elderberry tea or syrup. I'm no medical professional, but this stuff really works. I went from almost always having a cold to almost never having one!

I love making my own blend of teas and often use my own herbs from the garden. Below is my favorite elderberry tea recipe. Elderberries can be a little difficult to find, but Mountain Rose Herbs sells some good ones online. I've bought them in health-food stores as well, but be warned that some have a bit of an after taste. You can use either catmint or peppermint for the tea. I like catmint for it's soothing properties, but peppermint is better if you are congested and may be easier to find in stores.

Elderberry Tea

Ingredients:

1 Teaspoon of (dried) Elderberries

1 Teaspoon of Catmint or Peppermint 

1/2 Teaspoon Rosehips

1/2 Teaspoon Elderflowers (optional)

Combine the herbs and brew as you would loose tea. Steep at least 15 minutes for maximum effect. 

Blouse, Buster, and Knitting

It's been a busy week. My tutoring job is picking up and I have several new students. With my wrists feeling better I've also be going for knit nights with my friend again. Of course now I work evenings so they have become knit mornings. I must come up with a cuter name then just "morning knitting"... any suggestions?

I've also been sewing a bunch of new stuff for the shop, which will hopefully be posted in a week or two. Somehow I managed to find a little bit of time to sew myself something too. This blouse has been on my "to-sew" list for ages. The fabric is a very light poly-cotton blend which doesn't wrinkle, making it the perfect blouse for to wear to work. I dressed it up a little for knit morning with a hat and skirt/vest combo.  

(I'm squinting since the sun was ridiculously bright!)

Outfit Details

Skirt, Blouse, and Earrings - All made by me!

Vest - Thrifted

Hat - Icings

Blouse close-up. The purple buttons I used are vintage. (I'm knitting a blanket square if anyone was wondering)

The 1940's Blouse Pattern

 Like my new pillow?

Yup, I now have a Buster Keaton pillow. Isn't it awesome? Want to know what's even cooler? I made it myself! I'm stupidly proud of this pillow but I love it so much. I used inkodye and a printed transparency of Buster. This was my "test project", and I have a bunch of other inkodye projects planned. I just adore the effect and it's really easy to do! 

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

That's All.

Knitting

My wrists are finally improving and I've been able to knit a little bit again. It seems my wrist problem is linked to my posture, so if I fix my posture knitting should be fine! I can't tell you how overjoyed I am. The thought of never knitting again was terribly depressing, and what would have become of my rather large yarn stash?! Anyways, I have started a new sweater project on circular needles (less stress on my wrists) and have been browsing knitting pattern books. 

One book I came across in my search was this book from 1908 put out by Columbia Yarns. There are a range of great patterns in this book. These are a couple of my favourites:

You can flip through the book below or use the menu bar below it to open it into a large view. 

I've never actually knitted a pattern from before 1920, but I may have to give one a try. I love knitting from vintage patterns. Any other knitters into vintage patterns? What is the oldest pattern you've worked from?

That's All.