Pants, Prizes, and Shower Caps

I'm home for reading week! (Actually I've been home for a few days but this is the first day I've felt rested enough to really do anything.) Upon arriving home, I discovered two packages waiting for me. I love getting packages in the mail. Opening them always feels like Christmas!

The first package contained my lovely new trousers! I ordered them from Dangerous Garbs on Etsy. I am completely in love with them. They are super comfy and very flattering. I was terrified they wouldn't fit, but they are the perfect size for me! Canadian winters can get rather cold and snowy, and since I have 40 minute walk to school (and another 40 minutes back), wearing trousers is a necessity most days. These pants are definitely going to become a staple in my wardrobe. 

When I have time I will have to get some better photos. These pictures don`t do the trousers justice!

The second package contained the prize I won from a giveaway over at Subversive Femme. Despite knowing what was included in the giveaway, I was still amazed when opening the package by how much stuff there was! These treasures have already been looked at and carefully put away so as not to get lost in the mess that is my sewing room at the moment. But before I put them away I thought I would share a few scans some of the lovely items she included. (But first go check out her blog! It really is a great blog and she posts some lovely free vintage knitting/crochet patterns!). 

(Back of the previous pattern. It was too fabulous not to share.)

This may have to be my next knitting project.

Or maybe this one!

 These next two images are from the above magazine. I wish these patterns were still available! How perfect would those dresses be for spring?

She also included a notebook, a red lipstick, and a sweet little brooch, all of which I forgot to photograph.. Oh well, I'm sure they will make an appearance on the blog sooner or later...

And before I go, I just have to share with you my new shower cap. I basically just cut a large circle from an old umbrella and sewed an elastic to it. Isn't it adorable?  

That's All.

Something a little different

I must admit, I have been feeling a lack of blogging inspiration lately. I'm not quite sure why. I mean, yes I'm crazy busy with school, but normally I still have the desire to blog. I was considering going on a break from blogging, but I have decided to do something different instead. I tend to blog about recent antique finds, vintage-y places or things I've seen, scans from my magazine and ephemera collection, and a few outfit posts. And that's about it. I have plenty of other interests and I have no idea why I don't share them on here. I've gotten it into my head they aren't "vintage" enough, but as an experiment over the next few weeks I might try posting about some different stuff.

After a rather brutal week in school (like really really bad....), I decided to spend the weekend catching up on things around the house. I cleaned the kitchen and bathroom, and then got busy making stuff in the kitchen. I love to cook and try new recipes. The first thing I tried to make was sugar-free vanilla macaroons. They seemed really great until I tried to pick one up and it crumbled into a million pieces. I know have a jar of toasted vanilla shredded coconut which, although not what I planned, is super delicious.

Next up was something for dinner. I saw this recipe for Tomato and Feta Tarts. Oh my goodness, were they good! I may make them for company in the future since they were very simple but rather impressive. And did I mention tasty?

Whoops! I forgot to take a picture before starting to eat it!

And then I made Ginger Beer from scratch. Not quite sure why I decided to make ginger beer, since I've never really been a big fan. However I've found that homemade almost always tastes better than store bought, and I am incredibly in love with my ginger beer! It was a lot less difficult that I imagined and produced a LOT of ginger beer. I would highly recommend this recipe.

Then to finish off a lovely evening in the kitchen, I made three non-food items. I am a huge fan of natural beauty products. In fact, I've tried to cut virtually all nasty chemicals out of my daily routine. I love experimenting with making creams and other beauty products. I decided to make myself a solid perfume, natural gel air-freshener, and what turned out to be a great lip balm.

The first thing I made was a solid perfume locket. This has been on my to-make list for a while so I'm glad I finally got a chance to. I loosely followed this method, and used cinnamon, clove, sweet orange, and vanilla oils to scent it. It smells amazing and makes my skin super soft wherever I apply it. I would use a higher concentration of essential oils if I made it again, but other than that it was a success.

Last time I was home I picked up some packets of gelatin that we have had sitting around for at least 15 years. As a vegetarian, gelatin is not something I would normally buy, but since it would have to be thrown out anyways I decided to make a gel air freshener. Once again I used cinnamon, clove, sweet orange, and vanilla oils. It worked well but not quite as well as last time I made one (using peppermint oil). I think I should have added more oil or used a stronger scent (such as lavender or peppermint).

The last thing I made was actually an attempt to make a hair pomade. A long, long time ago I posted a recipe for homemade hair pomade. I used it for a couple weeks and loved it, but it was a little too solid and I no longer tend to use it. I was trying to create a better recipe and ended up with an amazing lip balm instead. If you want to make your own it's basically:
1 part cocoa butter
2 parts beeswax
4 parts coconut oil
Step 1) Melt together (I used the microwave in short bursts)
Step 2) Stir and pour into your container
Step 3) Let cool and harden.
And that's it! If you don't like coconut you could add some other oils/flavorings, but I love coconut and find it tastes lovely. I may remelt it and pour into a proper container. I thought it was going to be a pomade so my choice of container wasn't the best!

Well that turned out to be a bit of a longer post than I expected. Please let me know what you think. I know this is my blog and I can write what I want, but I would like to post about stuff my readers actually find interesting. Now I'm off to spend an afternoon curled up watching old movies and knitting. I plan on making the most out of my one free weekend :D

That's All.

Valentines

With Valentines Day coming up so soon, I thought I would share with you these darling homemade Valentines I bought at an antique store last year. I know very little about these, other than the fact they are completely adorable! I love the homemade quality, and the cute little poems a couple of them feature.

What is everyone doing for Valentines Day? I plan on curling up (after class of course), with my knitting and a cup of tea, and watching a marathon of Fred and Ginger movies. I always prefer Valentines Day when I'm not in a relationship. I know that sounds odd, but I enjoy spending the day pampering myself. When I was in high-school I used to hold a tea party for all my single friends. It was great fun and I wish I had time to do something similar this year. Oh well, tea with Fred and Ginger is always nice ;)

Victorian Calling Cards

School has become rather hectic as we enter "midterm hell". I have what feels like a million assignments due and three midterms next week alone. So just a heads up posts may become even less frequent over the next few weeks. As I have a spare minute (i.e. if I study one more equation my head will explode), I thought I would share my little collection of Victorian Calling Cards. I picked these up on Etsy with some of the money I got for Christmas. Aren't they sweet?

I find the idea of calling cards completely fascinating. I have been reading up about them in some of my reprints of Victorian etiquette books (yes I have more than one book on Victorian etiquette... Doesn't everyone?). Often they were simply dropped off at a friends house (handed to a maid or other servant) to show you were thinking of them and had stopped by. The cards in my collection that don't appear to have names actually have the name hidden under the picture (which lifts up). 

Well I should get back to studying. Oh, in case I forget, I should mention that I have created a facebook page for my Etsy store. I just thought it would be a great way to keep everyone up-to-date on my latest patterns, and give sneak-previews at some of my works in progress. I also plan on sharing neat vintage sewing and millinery resources I come across. If you are interested feel free to like my page.   

That's All.