eVintage Blog Tag - Prints!

It's time for Wednesday blog tag again! The fashion magazines are predicting that prints will be hot for summer…large florals, bold brushstrokes, graphic designs.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PRINT OFFERED IN YOUR INVENTORY?



I have this really cool Nelly Don Hieroglyphic print dress - blue and white on black cotton.


WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF NOVELTY PRINT?
Something other than the normal flowers, plaid or checks. Something fun with a little whimsy.

MOST AMAZING NOVELTY PRINT YOU’VE EVER SEEN?
There was a Dorothy O'Hara 1940s Buddha print dress that was awesome and a 1950s dress that had crows in the shapes of letters.

SIZE MATTERS….WHEN WEARING PRINTS, DO YOU PREFER BIG OR SMALL?
I like them both. Something tiny to make people really look or something big to make people go Wow!

COLOR OR BLACK AND WHITE?
For novelty prints I like color, for more fun.

WHAT DESIGNER DOES YOUR FAVORITE PRINTS? (think Shaheen, Pucci, etc)
I love Vested Gentress novelty print - frogs playing golf, horses with tails, dogs with fire hydrants.


Check out the eVintage Blog Tag every Wednesday. Follow the links to read the posts from all of the participating blogs. I was tagged by Vintage Joy and now I'm tagging Diary of a Mad Vintage Addict

Spring is awesome!

We had such great weather this week, it was hard to get any vintage work done. I spent one morning cleaning out the screen-in porch. Took everything out, swept, bleached the floor then we stained and sealed the wood floor (it had never been done before) Now the floor looks nice and dark and shiny and it should be easier to keep clean. This is where I usually eat if it isn't too hot, during the Summer. I like to set out there at sunset too, just looking into the woods, watching the little birds, squirrels and bunnies.
The hummingbirds returned this week, yeah! I'm so glad to see them back. I've seen two boys, Ruby Throated. I have 3 feeders out so far. I also saw the first Skink, he was trapped in a bucket by the hose spicket. I set the bucket on it's side near some bushes so that he could slink out when he was ready.

Then a mini vegetable garden was started. I cleared out a seciton of the garden, just below the screened-in porch. My dad put a little fence around it to keep the bunnies out. Yes, that is a rhododendron in the vegetable garden. We just planted around it. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and eggplants. We planted the same stuff down the shore that same day, in an even smaller space. Vegetables remind me of my grandpop, who was a farmer, he planted a garden every year.


Bandito! We have a raccoon coming to visit us regularly again. We haven't seen one in about a year, at least not in the daylight hours. This is a super fuzzy photo, because I was zooming with the camera, and it wasn't very bright outside. Bandito sits there and just shovels little pawfuls of corn in it's mouth. I don't know why I call him/her Bandito. When I see it out there, I just think 'Bandito'


In non-Spring news, these two little gals moved in last week. I bought them to fix up their hair and make them some pretty dresses. They are Nancy Ann Storybook Dolls from the 1940s.




Bye for now, Carol

eVintage Blog Tag - I want Candy!

1)The colors of CANDY! What’s your favorite candy colored vintage piece in your collection?
Currently at Dandelion Vintage - here are some pretty vintage slips that are the color of milk chocolate, red licorice and cotton candy -



2)What’s the sweetest accessory you’re offering right now, or if you don’t have one for sale, tell us about one of your own!
Also from Dandelion Vintage - Minty mint-green wallet and keyholder.



3) Sweet tooth? What’s your favorite candy?
I like chocolate - Kisses, candy bars, chocolate covered peanuts. Yummy.

4)Ice cream…..chocolate or strawberry, and why?
Chocolate!

5) “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, classic film or Johnny Depp re-make….and why?
The classic, I hate remakes.

6)Is your personal style sweet or salty? Explain!
I'm very sweet of course.

Check out the eVintage Blog Tag every Wednesday. Follow the links to read the posts from all of the participating blogs. I was tagged by Vintage Joy and now I'm tagging Diary of a Mad Vintage Addict

Choosing slipcovers

Fixing up day at the cottage. Things got moved around and messed up when we dropped off the wicker and the kitchen set during the winter. I just got in there today to sort things out, put things back in their proper places etc. Opened the windows to air the place out and picked up all the moths balls. I think. I hope.
I have to take the wicker outside and scrub it and paint it. But I was too focused on deciding what I was going to cover the old cushion with first. I had 3 choices - a bedspread, some fabric and this 1940s barkcloth daybed set that I bought on ebay from froufrou several years ago. This was the winner. It's actually too big and half of it is folded under the cushion, but I think I can pin it to stay in place. I have regular bed pillows inside of the cushion covers on the back of the couch, I think two pillows in each will make them nice and firm.



But now I have the chair and rocker with no matching cushions. This pink pillow is too busy on the couch, isn't it? It's just that I have more of the pink fabric and I could easily make pretty cushions from it for the two chairs. I like the way the pink looks on the white wicker. But I'm not sure yet how it would look with the black sofa. The daybed, which is between the couch and rocker, is covered with a green and ivory Bates-like spread, so that's another pattern to deal with.


Check out this gal, I lover her. The table is glass top wraught iron. 1970s patio furniture. I wrapped the embroidery around cardboard and put it under the glass. The embroidery was bought on ebay many years ago. It's one of those printed Voguart types.



I took a walk up on the beach and it was beautiful. People were out in shorts. It's hard to believe that it's April.

I don't have a swimsuit

You know, I haven't worn a swimsuit in about 10 years. If I sit out in the yard to sun, I usually just wear shorts and a tank top. I'm not worried much about tan lines I guess. It's just that I haven't been able to find one that suits me, or fits correctly. I'd love a vintage suit, but I'd be afraid to mess it up. I wouldn't go swimming in it, just pose in the yard with platform sandals and a parasol.
Here are 3 that I'd love to have -



1. 40's Cole of California Silky Rayon Peek-A-Boo Swimsuit Bathing Suit M - from Glamoursurf.
2. PINUP Vintage 40's Blue SATIN Jersey BIKINI VERY SEXY! - from Northstar Vintage.
3. 1940s 2pc Strawberry Print Swimsuit - on ebay.

This morning I'm off to check out the beach, which is erroding terribly, and to do some more work on the garden.

eVintage Blog Tag - Maxed Out!

This week's eVintage Blog Tag theme is the Maxi Dress - 'We’ve been hearing it nearly every Spring the last few years . . . the maxi dress is back! Vintage sellers rush to their stashes of full length 70s dresses ready to supply the fashion forward with the real deal. A newer spin by the industry touts the maxi length as a “patio dress”

MAXI OR PATIO DRESS, AND WHY?
I like the sound of Patio Dress, it makes the maxi seem like a more casual kind of dress, for everyday wear.

FAVORITE MAXI DRESS IN YOUR INVENTORY?
Here's a rainbow of Maxi Dress styles - a great Mexican Wedding dress - perfect for casual Summer wear, a Tropical-Hawaiian type maxi in super lightweight fabric, Black Cotton velvet maxi for the Goth Gals and a strappy Maxi-Cocktail for an evening out on the town.




AS A TREND, WILL IT BE A HIT OR A MISS?
I think a Maxi or two could easily work their way into your wardrobe. I'm not a big follower of what celebrities wear, but I have to admit that Gwen Stefani makes a Maxi look very good - for a casual day at the beach or out at a special event.




DO YOU WEAR MAXI DRESSES OR SKIRTS?
I'm short, so it's a hard look for me to pull off.

PROS AND CONS?
A Maxi dress seems like an easy outfit to put together with just a few accessories. Cons would be finding the right print and style for your height and shape.

I was tagged by Vintage Joy and now I'm tagging Diary of a Mad Vintage Addict

Vintage Violet interviews Dandelion Vintage - Jersey Girl to Jersey Girl

Fellow Jersey girl Bobbi Lee Hitchon interviewed me for her New Jersey vintage blog - Vintage Violet . Pretty cool. I feel like a little celebrity!

I didn't say that vintage was dead in Jersey though. I said that I was a hermit and didn't get out much, and didn't think many people around here wore it. I live near the shore, people here are in shorts and flip-flops. Some even in the Winter.

Two days of hard labor

We had some nice weather this week, so I headed over to Strathmere to work on the garden. My Dad put down new borders and a load of mulch a few weeks ago. So we went to Lowes and bought some perennials. Of course there were a few hydrangeas, some phlox and other complicated names. One was some kind of blue Columbine, a sweet Victorian-looking flower.
Here's out back at the cottage. The daffodils were there already. I trimmed the edge with the seashells that I had in there previously.





Inside the cottage, a new-Vintage wicker furniture remains unpainted. I'll get some time to work on them eventually. Plus I have to get some new cushions. I got the couch, chair and a rocker for $85, which I think is a bargain.




Here's the left and right side of the garden in front of the house. We put two holly shrubs in there too. What was so hard about the job was that my dad put about 6-8 inches of mulch in there, even deeper in some spots. So just digging through the mulch to get to the dirt was a chore in itself. My dad worked on putting up the new door while I did the garden. My Dad put new siding and new porch on the house during the last 6 months. He was going to wait until next year to get a new door. But I want everything to be all nice and matching now, so that the house is all finished. So I ordered the door and bought new furniture for the porch because our old stuff is mish-moshy. I love this house. This week was the 26th anniversary of my parent's buying it.





The next day I went over and cleaned, because we have friends coming down to stay next week. Scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom (with barely lukewarm water because the hot water heater was just lit that morning) vacuumed everything including the stairs, which I hate to do. Now it looks all nice. We already did our yearly work there during the winter (paint and new carpeting in the attic and new carpet in the lvingroom) There's always work to be done in a 100 year old house, especially when you rent it out for the summer. There's natural wear and tear and people on vacation sometimes seem to lose regard for other people's things.

Picture Perfection

You know that I'm a big fan of Rosalind Russell, and you know that I Love bulldogs, so you know that I squealed when I saw this perfect photo -



I grabbed this photo from It'll Take the Snap out of Your Garters

eVintage Blog Tag - the 1960s

Today’s theme for the eVintage Blog Tag ...the 60’s. I was tagged by Vintage Joy

Are you a MAD MEN kinda gal (ritzy cocktail dresses, wiggle silhouette, draped and ruched silk chiffon, pointy toe stilettos, a cigarette and martini) or a MOD dolly (sleek lines, go go boots, oversize sunglasses, pilgrim buckle square toe shoes, paper dresses, micro mini skirts, patterened tights, white lipstick and fake lashes)? Do tell.

MOD OR MAD MEN?
Mad Men.

FAVE PIECE IN YOUR INVENTORY FITTING THE BILL?
For a Day at the office - a cute Purple Wool Shift Dress
For night - a simple but sexy Black Strappy Cocktail Dress



ICONIC EARLY 60s STARLET?
Ann-Margret



LATE 60’s?
Pattie Boyd -



SINATRA OR THE SWINGIN’ 60s SCENE?
Swinging 60s Scene

Follow the tag over to Diary of a Mad Vintage Addict

Free stuff is cool!

Friends of ours let us have an old china cupboard. At first we had nowhere to put it, so it spent a month out in the garage. Then I had the idea that we could put all of our Strathmere stuff in it. We collect old postcards and things about our house and the town. So we cleared all of the things that my Dad had piled on the cupboard during the short time that it was in the garage (tools, a radiator, car fender etc.) and carried into the house and up the steps (my legs are aching today from moving it) Cleaned it up and turned it into a perfect display case for our treasures!

Happy 100th Birthday Bette!

I posted about Bette's 99 birthday last year, so I have to post for her 100th Birthday this year!









I had to include the Sailor outfit photo again! (you know, because I'm obsessed with sailor clothing)