Christmas Party Outfit

Last night was my annual Christmas party with some of my friends from high school. We all go to different universities so we rarely get to see each other. It was really nice catching up with everyone. No one else every dresses up, but I am always looking for an excuse to put on a nice dress.

Dress: 1950's Jonathan Logan Dress from an antique store in Orono
Scarf: A gift from my mother

Earrings: Red bow mini Christmas ornaments I stuck on earring hooks

I wasn't expecting any presents from my friends but a few people brought me a lot chocolate. I will be lucky if I can still fit into my dresses by the new year! One of my oldest friends (we have known each other since we were about 4 years old) also completely surprised me by giving me this darling teacup! I realised after my last post that I had completely forgotten to share with you my favourite Christmas present. My mother passed down this old family ring. During the summer she let me look at all the old family rings and presented me with my favourite for Christmas! Yes it is a mans ring. I have man hands and none of the women's rings would fit...
I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday! I have a few posts planned but those will have to wait until I have enough time to gather pictures.

That's All.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone's holiday is going well. I am finally enjoying a much needed rest. Yesterday we hosted the Christmas celebration for my moms side of the family. We were supposed to be visiting my dads side of the family on boxing day, but due to my uncles work schedule, we are no longer sure when we will get to see them.

Anyways, yesterday went better than expected. My cousin was recently married, with means there was a lot more people to entertain than normal. After scrambling to try and find enough table settings, chairs, and food for about 11 people, we settled down to a nice evening of chit-chat and food.

I was going to wear my Grandmothers old dress but due to fear of my uncles and cousins dogs accidentally tearing extremely delicate fabric I decided instead to wear this 1950s dress from Adelines Attic (and avoid the dogs as much as possible).

Not enough matching plates? A neat trick is to use a few plain white ones and place a small plate from the main set on top. This allows for a cohesive look, without needing to buy new plates!

I am always in charge of dessert making. This year I did a Gingerbread cake with Eggnog sauce, a Cherry Candy Cane Jello dessert (for lactose intolerant family members), and various other little chocolate goodies.

My parents, grandmother and I gathered around the tree to open our presents this morning. I got some lovely things (including some vintage dresses!). Here is a quick snapshot of a few things and one of the lovely wrapped gifts. I went eco-friendly this year and wrapped all my gifts in magazine pages.

Now I am off to stuff my face with left over goodies. This has been a very lazy Christmas day, and I couldn't have asked for a better present.

That's All.

Last Post of the Term!

Just a quick update:

Exams are nearly done! One more tomorrow, followed by moving out of the apartment. Going to be a very, very busy day tomorrow... I haven't been up to much other than studying. Which means I haven't been leaving my room so no pretty outfits. Pajamas have been basically all I have been wearing this last week.

I did get dressed for my exams though. I even bothered to do my hair one day. (No pictures of my face. I woke up that day and the circles under my eyes were so bad it looked like I got punched in the face!)
Starting on Christmas Day I am hoping to do a succession of outfit posts of my holiday party looks. At the moment I am thinking about one every other day for about a week. That seems a bit ambitious though, so it may be scaled down to one big post.

Well I should start packing.

That's All.

Blog Maintenance Time

Seems a few blogs are taking the time to redo their look. And since I am never happy with the look of my blog, I decided to do a bit of a makeover too. You will notice the new header. What do you think? I was getting a little sick of seeing my picture every time I checked my blog. More importantly, it made checking my blog awkward at school (I could just imagine everyone sitting behind me thinking "Is she checking out pictures of herself on the internet?")

I am thinking about organizing my sidebar links as well. That might take some time though. Most of the blogs I follow have a similar theme so it will be hard to organize them into categories. Maybe by country?

Any suggestions or advice is always appreciated. Hope everyone is having a lovely week. Now back to studying for exams...

That's All.

Antique Market Goodies

One exam done, three to go. So far it isn't going well. I am always amazed how I can be able to do all the practise problems, have all the formulas memorized, and still do badly on the exam.

I took a much needed trip to my favourite antique store today. It may be my last visit before I move back home for another 4 months. It was warmer today so I decided to dress up a bit. All my dresses are back home already so I just wore a big poofy skirt, a sweater and black ballet flats. The flats were a bad idea though, since I had to wait for the bus in several inches of snow.

The hat I bought at the market. It was in a pile of other hats which were all $4! They had had a tough life. If I had a hat block I would have bought more to try and reshape. This one seemed in decent condition though. It is black velvet with the cutest little bow at the back. I also bought some postcards. My collection is strictly from before 1920, and I only buy ones that have cute messages on the back. This time I obtained ones from 1912, 1910, and 1902 (my oldest one so far!). To add to my collection of scanning materials, I bought two magazines. I think I need a larger scanner though. It is too small to fit the whole magazine :(
That's All.

Questions, Answers and Pretty Pictures

I was tagged by Tickety Boo Tupney in one of those Q and A things. It seems as good an excuse as any to take a study break. I was going to post pictures related to the questions but that seemed like too much work, so here are my answers as well as some random pictures.

Why did you create the blog?
It seems like such a long time ago since I started this blog, but looking at my blog history it hasn’t even been a year! I was already reading a few vintage blogs at that time, and found them very inspiring. For those of you who don’t know, I am currently working towards getting a Bachelors degree in Mathematics. It is a lot of work and not much fun, so blogging is a way for me to escape for a little while into a world of pretty things. I don’t think I would have continued on with this blog if it weren’t for the amazing online vintage community. You guys really are fabulous!

What Kind of Blogs do you follow?
I follow a lot of vintage blogs, some sewing/crafting blogs and a few book related blogs. I am always on the lookout for new blogs to add to my list. My only requirement is that the blog must have pretty pictures :D

Favourite makeup brand?
I have a slight chemical sensitivity, so I don’t wear much makeup on a daily basis. But when I do wear makeup MAC is my favourite brand. I also like Suncoat, which makes some great natural cosmetics.
Favourite clothing brand?
Don’t really have one? I think one of the exciting things about wearing vintage, is that it is all about the individual piece of clothing, rather than a brand name. I love finding old dresses that were handmade, and I love making my own clothes. If I had to pick, maybe Chanel? Although I have never actually owned any real Chanel.

Your Indispensable makeup products?
My daily makeup routine consists of MAC foundation, Suncoat mascara, and cornstarch (used as a facepowder). Those would be my top three, but maybe also a good red lipstick for special occasions (or just when I want to feel pretty).

Your favourite colour?
Anything colour other than orange. I don’t really have a favourite colour, but I hate most shades of orange.
Your Perfume?
Most perfumes react oddly with my body chemistry, so I have found Burberry is one of the few I can actually wear. Anything else tends to smell weird on me. For daily use, I have a mixture of cinnamon oil, clove oil, orange oil, and homemade vanilla extract. It smells like Christmas!

Your Favourite Film?
Gosh, this is a hard one... I don’t really have a “favourite”, but for the purpose of this I will say “A Lady of Chance”. It is that last silent film Norma Shearer made. It is super cute film, with a good sense of humour, a feisty heroine and gorgeous outfits. What more could you ask for?
What Country would you like to visit and why?
I have always wanted to visit Britain. I would love to see the scenery in parts of Scotland, and the vintage shops in London! I would also like to see more of Canada. I have lived here all my life, but it’s a big country!

To be chosen by blogger…
Favourite Author? I have a profound love of books. And by love I mean addiction... Seriously, I have no more room! Why do I keep buying more books?! My favourite authors would have to include Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, PG Wodehouse, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lewis Carroll, and Dan Needles.

I am supposed to tag people to pass this onto, but I really can't decide who to pass it to. So if you want to do a post answering these questions feel free! I would love to read your answers, so leave me a link if you decide to fill this thing out :)

DIY Faux Fur Stole

Gosh, it has been nearly 2 weeks since my last post. Not quite sure where the time went. It was all a blur of assignments and projects. Now exams have started, but that seems almost a "break" compared to the last few weeks.

The weather has gotten very cold very fast. This means no cute dresses for outfit posts :( I am hoping to make myself a warm pair of stockings over the holidays, but that will have to wait until I am back to my sewing machine. But speaking of sewing projects, here is a cute little sewing project I made last time I was home.
I would never wear real fur, but after seeing some faux fur stoles online, I seriously wanted one. The problem was I seemed to be unable to actually buy one anywhere! So I decided to try and make my own. I didn't have a pattern or anything, but here is what I came up with:

1) Measure out 1/2 meter of faux fur (note the fabric I used was quite wide which is where the length of the stole comes from)

2) Sew along the long end (right sides together), so that you end up with a long tube.

3) Fold the tube so that the seam is in the centre. Draw on a "tail" shape and sew along lines. Flip fabric right-side out and check shape. Adjust until it looks right. Don't cut off excess fabric as it helps to make the tail more solid.
4) (With fabric flipped right-side out) Fold the other end in half, such that the fold is on the opposite side from the long seam. Sew, then flip over (the seam should now be in line with the bottom seam).5) Attach eyes and nose. Then hand stitch the bottom of the face closed.

And that's it. Hope that was clear. It was a little difficult to describe, but feel free to leave me a comment if you don't understand anything (I am more than glad to help!)

One last thing: Welcome to all my new followers! I can't believe there is nearly 75 of you now! Thank you all so much for reading :)

Santa baby, forgot to mention one little thing

Due to the fact professors are evil, I haven't had much free time this week. I have so many assignments and projects due in the next 2 weeks, I barely have time for sleep. Thus no outfit post or anything this week. But I feel compelled to post something so here it is:

I love cocktail rings. I always have. You know, the big bright shiny ones. Due to a very limited budget, I only have a few cheap ones, but with the holiday season I thought it might be time for a mini splurge. As I was flipping through a 1941 issue of Photoplay, I came across a small article about rings. So for your viewing pleasure, here are some photos from the article:
The last one is my favourite, but I am loving Martha Scott's hair in the second last picture.

One last thing, I just want to give a big thank you to LandGirl1980 for giving me a blog award :) When I have more time, I will try to think of some more bloggers to pass this onto, but for now thank you very much!

Winter Mode and Christmas Crafts

The last few days have been cold and blustery. Dresses have not been an option for school, so I have slipped into "winter mode" in terms of my clothing choices. This is a typical outfit, not actually vintage but rather vintage inspired:

Top: Elsa's (She owned a great little store in my home town but it retired now)

Wool Pants: Winners

Flower: Made by Me

Lipstick: Ruby Woo by MAC (I love this colour!)

It is getting closer and closer to Christmas everyday! I am getting quite excited and have already started making some new decorations. I have a lot more on my "to-make" list but that requires a trip to the craft store. I am still in the process of making some of these, so this is just a little sneak peak. Martha Stewart's website really does have the best Christmas craft ideas. Most of the above crafts were based on tutorials from there.

On the sidebar of my blog, you may notice I have started a poll. I would love if you could take a second and vote on what type of posts you like to see here. Just leave me a comment if you have any other suggestions. I write this blog because I enjoy doing so, but it is nice to know what people want to see more of :)

That's All.

Stockings, stockings, and more stockings!

I was at my favourite antique market yesterday, since I have about 3 days during which I don't have to worry about working on assignments or studying (it is the first real break I have had in about 2 months!). While I was there I stumbled across one of the best deals I have ever found there. One of the vendors had a bag of 17 pairs of stockings for $20! I couldn't open the bag to inspect them before buying, but at that price I decided to take a chance.

Some of them are still in the original boxes and bags! There seems to be quite an assortment: seamed, seamless, black, blue, taupe, white, etc. I also got several metal garter clips.

Only problem? I am terrified to actually wear any. I started to try on one pair and discovered it has several runs in it that I made a 100 times worse. I feel so guilty! After a bit of research, I discovered I am supposed to soak them before wearing.

Do you ladies wear vintage stockings? I haven't yet decided what to do with them. Two pairs have runs but the rest seems in decent condition. I would hate to ruin them but it seems a shame to not wear them :S

This pair is my favourite, seamed with painted flowers.

Remembrance Day

In honour of remembrance day I thought I would post a poem I learned in elementary school.

Please Wear a Poppy

By Don Crawford

"Please wear a poppy," the lady said

And held one forth, but I shook my head.

Then I stopped and watched as she offered them there,

And her face was old and lined with care;

But beneath the scars the years had made

There remained a smile that refused to fade.

A boy came whistling down the street,

Bouncing along on care-free feet.

His smile was full of joy and fun,

"Lady," said he, "may I have one?"

When she's pinned in on he turned to say,

"Why do we wear a poppy today?"

The lady smiled in her wistful way

And answered, "This is Remembrance Day,

And the poppy there is the symbol for

The gallant men who died in war.

And because they did, you and I are free -

That's why we wear a poppy, you see.

"I had a boy about your size,

With golden hair and big blue eyes.

He loved to play and jump and shout,

Free as a bird he would race about.

As the years went by he learned and grew

and became a man - as you will, too.

"He was fine and strong, with a boyish smile,

But he'd seemed with us such a little while

When war broke out and he went away.

I still remember his face that day

When he smiled at me and said, Goodbye,

I'll be back soon, Mom, so please don't cry.

"But the war went on and he had to stay,

And all I could do was wait and pray.

His letters told of the awful fight,

(I can see it still in my dreams at night),

With the tanks and guns and cruel barbed wire,

And the mines and bullets, the bombs and fire.

"Till at last, at last, the war was won -

And that's why we wear a poppy son.

"The small boy turned as if to go,

Then said, "Thanks, lady, I'm glad to know.

That sure did sound like an awful fight,

But your son - did he come back all right?"

A tear rolled down each faded cheek;

She shook her head, but didn't speak.

I slunk away in a sort of shame,

And if you were me you'd have done the same;

For our thanks, in giving, if oft delayed,

Thought our freedom was bought - and thousands paid!

And so when we see a poppy worn,

Let us reflect on the burden borne,

By those who gave their very all

When asked to answer their country's call

That we at home in peace might live.

Then wear a poppy! Remember - and give!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Brrr, it is getting cold outside! I woke up this morning and it was snowing!

The sight of snow has gotten my starting to think about Christmas. December is such a busy month, so I need to get most of the Christmas planning done in November. Instead of giving everyone gifts, this year (for my moms side of the family) we are all being assigned one person and get to buy them a $100 gift. This means less little gifts and instead one big one!

After much consideration I have decided what I would like most is a vintage suit. It is both practical and fun. I have been looking through some of my old magazines and I have come up with these for inspiration:

I have posted this picture before but this is my dream suit. The longer skirt likely wouldn't suit me (hehehe pun) but isn't it lovely?

And then I see a pretty dress like this and all thoughts of practicality fly out the window... I want a pretty evening gown for Christmas :DThat's All.