Merry Christmas Everyone!

Merry Christmas everyone!! I was actually hoping on posting this in the afternoon but I took waaaaaayyy too many photos and it is taking me forever to edit them! I hope everyone had a great holiday. Yesterday we spend Christmas with my mom's side of the family, and we don't see my dad's side for another few days, so Christmas itself was a rather quiet day spent around home. It was rather lovely just lounging about, in my new pajamas, looking at all my presents, drinking some fancy new tea and eating violet creams (these were a Christmas gift. I'd never had any before but I am officially in love!).

Warning, this post is a little picture heavy...

Christmas Eve:

These are soooo yummy. Recipe found here. I used white chocolate instead of icing
so they were easier to transport.  These snowflakes are giants!
We had to split one cookie between about 3 people!

Chocolate candy cane hearts.  I found the idea somewhere on Pinterest...
They look really good but were a little difficult to eat. 

Not what I was originally planning on wearing, but it was very comfy and warm.
The red peaking out is actually a Victorian style petticoat that I have hiked up to wear as sort of a slip.
The belt is part of the dress, which I have threaded through the space between two buttons. 

 Christmas Day:

My new nightgown set! I actually finished sewing it about a month ago but I was saving
it to wear on Christmas morning.  The pattern I used is actually the Vintage Vogue
 reprint of a 1930's evening gown and jacket, but I thought it made a lovely loungewear set. 

And now the presents! I didn't take pictures of everything but here are some of the more "vintagey" items. I used the handmade quilt I got as a backdrop for these photos. 

This is a stunning Edwardian brooch my parents bought me (which I picked out)

Signed copy of Maureen Jennings new book (she wrote the Murdoch Mysteries series).
 My mom bought this for me  when we went to her book signing a month ago. 

The only two seasons of I Dream of Jeannie I was missing! I now have every episode :)

Some cute pendants (that will soon be earrings) from Michael's new "Deco Chic" line of
jewellery making supplies. 

Stunning book of Art Deco illustrations

Four sewing books and one hairdressing book. All are reprints of original 1920's and 1930's books.
They are just fabulous!!

Gramophone sticky notes!

 The next few gifts were a complete surprise. They are all from my grandmother and are all family heirlooms or things she has bought over the years. I am definitely going to cherish these forever!

Not sure how old this one is, but my grandma bought it on a trip to Scotland. 

Also a piece bought by my grandma.

Also bought by my grandmother on a trip to Scotland. 

My grandfather wedding ring from 1947. The inside is engraved with the date and my grandparents names.

Beautiful ring that belonged to my great-grandmother. 

A pair of earrings from the 1800's (in their original box!)

I hope everyone has as good as Christmas (or whatever you celebrate) as I did. 

Happy Holidays!!

That's All

It's been a rough couple of weeks....

Thank goodness for retail therapy! Pretty things may not solve life's problems but they sure help ;)

(I should add this shopping trip was my first time out of the house, other than to campus, in almost 3 weeks! How is it that I can do so much work and still not get enough done?!)

Anyone know anything about "topper" dresses? I couldn't find any info about this lovely "new" dress I bought.   My best guess would be it's late 40s/ early 50s. 

That's All.

What I Normally Wear, Birthday Gifts, and Some Projects

I was going to do a proper post but instead here is a collection of photos of things from around my room. I've been taking lots random pictures of stuff with the camera by parents gave me for my birthday.

I will do a real post when I'm less sleep deprived, I promise! I actually do have some stuff I want to post about, including a blog award from the lovely Nabby. I haven't forgotten, just too tired to do a proper post! Also apologies for my lack of comments on everyone's blogs lately. I promise if I follow your blog I really do read every post. I've just been too busy and tired to come up with anything clever to say (although my "clever" comments normally sound something like "Lovely outfit!"...)

 Left-over chocolate butterflies are lovely with fresh local strawberries!

I knit myself some slippers from here. I think I just liked them because of the name!

I have plans to embellish them a bit but who knows when I will get around to that.

 When I was home on the weekend I managed to sew myself this fancy little 1930's top from one of the Vintage Vogue patterns. It looks rather purple in the picture but it is actually a light smokey grey colour. Now I just have to come up with an excuse to wear it... 

 I used to keep my sewing pins in a box but I wanted a pincushion too. This jar pincushion is the best of both worlds. Tutorial found here.

A couple of my birthday gifts. Ok, the Bob Hope boxset was actually a gift to myself. My dad wouldn't buy it for me. He thinks I have awful taste is movies :p 

 I am completely in love with this 1959 Needlecraft book I also got for my birthday. I actually have an earlier edition from 1947 and it is really interesting to see how the information and style of the book changed. The earlier version assumes the readers have a lot more knowledge and provides lots of "inspiration ideas" but very few real tutorials. The 1959 version assumes you can't sew without a pattern and provides a lot of easy projects! 

I always think it is interesting to see what bloggers wear on a day to day basis. Often only "interesting" outfits get posted, but I thought it would be fun to take a picture of what I normally wear to class. As much as I love wearing dresses and skirts, when I'm getting up at 6am for class it is rather the last thing on my mind. For my long days of classes (8am until 9pm!) I often opt for mens-wear inspired items.

Blouse and Vest: Smart Set

Trousers: Winners

Earrings: Made by me

Tie: Shamelessly stolen from my dad last time I was home

What do you wear on a daily basis?

That's All. 

Old Photos, Books, and an Award!

The last few weeks have been decidedly boring. I get up, go to work, come home, go to sleep and that is basically my day. But I have managed to get out a bit on weekends and do some antiquing.

I checked out what was advertised as Eastern Ontario's largest antique mall. I found it rather disappointing. The overall quality was poor, however I did find a few old photos to "adopt". I always feel so sad when I see photos of unknown people whose families have forgotten them or died out. I had to buy a few, but I have had to place them on my bookcase so they don't stare at me while I'm sleeping (I love the photos but the idea of dead people staring at me while I sleep seriously creeps me out!)

I also went to the Kirby Church book sale. It is a small, old church just outside of Orono. They are trying to raise money to move it to the museum site and have started selling used books again on Saturdays. Paperbacks are only 50 cents and hardcovers are a dollar. I may have bought a few books.....

I have also a bought two other books at antique stores over the last week. One is a 1920's dancing guide and the other is a 1947 needle-working book. I highly recommend trying to get a copy of the needle working book. It is great for both beginners and for more advanced needlecrafters, and has a great range of project ideas!

In other news, I have been kindly given an award from The Paper Doll Says "Let's Have Tea!". Thank you so much! I think I am supposed to pass it on to some great blogs with less than 300 followers, so I am passing this onto:

Lauren Hairston
It'll Take The Snap Out Of Your Garters!
Baby Steps into Vintage
Butterflies and Daisys Vintage
Honey Hi Vintage
That Vintage Broad
I've got an Island
Good Rockin' Baby
Porcelina's World
Susan's Diary- Vintage style meets heavy music
The Modern Day Flapper
Tickety Boo Tupney

So feel free to pass this award on if you want to!

That's All.

Postponed DIY and a rather boring weekend.

I wanted to thank everyone for their positive comments about my DIY seamed stockings post! I especially wanted to thank those who posted about my post. I was very flattered but due to my computer not letting me comment I was unable to express my appreciation. I have decided to try doing more DIY tutorials on here. If there is a certain type of project you would like to see leave me a comment! I will try to accommodate any requests :)

I had actually planned to do a DIY post today but the fabric store didn't have the trim I needed to complete the project. So here are two pictures as sort of a sneak peak. Can you guess what it is? (I'll give you a hint, the two pictures are actually two versions of the same project.)

This weekend has been quite boring since my mother decided to get sick and has now made me sick as well. At least it has given me plenty of time to work on my knitting for the Briar Rose knit-along. So far I have the back done and the collar.

I also went completely mad and turned my books the wrong way. I decided the books on my bookshelf looked ratty (all my pretty books are on display elsewhere in my room) so I turned them so you see the pages rather than the spines. I like how it looks but it might make locating books difficult (well slightly more difficult since they were already double stacked. 400 books do not fit very well on one tiny bookcase!).

That's All.

Photoshoots, Treasures and a Giveaway! (Extended until Oct 29th)

Thanksgiving weekend was a lot of fun! On Saturday I had a photoshoot with my friend Britt. These are my favourite of the photos (there were close to 300photos in total!)

The two other days of the long weekend was spend with family (I love family trips to the coffee shop. Mmmm Chai Lattes.....). One of the best parts of being home is being surrounded by my favourite treasures. Most of my favourite things stay at home when I am at school (in order to prevent them being damaged in transit) and I really do miss them.

My Teacups!

Northern Electric Telephone Circa 1940
(Still works!)

One of the many sewing projects I will finish... someday...

I love this teapot! It belonged to my great-grandmother. It was up at the cottage but I rescued it from certain destruction last time I was up.

Some really old books I've found at used books sales (the newest one is from 1911!). The lovely bookends were a wedding present to my grandma when she got married in the 1940s. They look very art deco!

And now for the giveaway! To celebrate reaching 50 followers, I am giving away:
1) A green and silver necklace (I used to make and sell jewelery at craft-sales. I no longer have time but I have lots of leftover necklaces!)
2) Disk 1 of Philip Marlowe radio broadcasts (from otrcat.com)
3) A little knitted bow attached to a hair clip, knitted by me :)

This giveaway is open to all my followers. Just leave me a comment telling me what you would like to see more of on my blog :) For an extra entry you can post about my giveaway on your blog and just let me know you have done so. Last day to enter is Friday October 22nd. Good luck!

One last thing, I just wanted to thank Sara for also giving me this award. See the previous post for the blogs I nominated :)
That's All.