Thoroughly Modern Vintage

Remembering

2011-11-11T20:23:00.005-05:00

This whole week has been one of remembrance, starting on Sunday with a Service of Remembrance at the Christ Church Cathedral. Every year, a list of fallen soldiers who were parishioners at the Cathedral is read; from the Great War through to the recent losses in Afghanistan. Among those is a member of the boys' choir of the Cathedral from around one hundred years ago: Lt. Edmund Gordon Brown. For me, one of the most memorable experiences of this past summer's choir trip to France and England was a graveside performance in Barlin, France (see page 6). The ultimate sacrifice of Canadians serving in France is still much solemnly appreciated almost a century later. We were very moved by the welcome we received in the town, as we were there to pay tribute this former chorister. In Sunday's service, I thought of mothers of previous generations and how, but for the time in which I live, I could be mourning the loss of a son. One does not need to know the deceased, but simply a bit of their story to feel a profound loss.

This photo shows my paternal grandfather as a youth at some point during the First World War. Still too young for active duty in this photo, he is labelled as Scout Thies on the back of the photo. His presence in the photo reminded me of how war made an impact on everyone in his community in the north of England and, with almost an entire generation lost, the whole society.

As a young man, my Grandfather moved to Canada where he was able to fulfill his 'cowboy' dreams and work with horses. During the Second World War, he traveled across the country training Cavalry soldiers. I believe that this photo of my grandfather was taken near the beginning of the War when my Father was very young. My Dad was very lucky that his Father was considered too old to fight overseas during this war and, unlike many boys his age, had a father to raise him after the war was over. Unfortunately, my Grandfather died before I was born, but I remember him through his story retold.

I feel fortunate to have known my Mum's Father who was a squadron leader in the Royal Air Force. He was not inclined to discuss his wartime experiences but I was able to learn his story through my Mum and my Nanan. I try to share all these stories with my children and hope that feel connected to those that served for their country long before they were born, so that they too can remember and appreciate the enormity of dedication and sacrifice of our Armed Forces.

Our Creative Space: I Saw the Light, Again!

2011-11-09T22:24:00.007-05:00

I have been complaining (just a bit) about the shortening days and decided to improve that a bit by creating more reflective surfaces in my kitchen. No, I have not panelled the walls with mirrors! I have simply started to scrub down the birch cupboard doors and clean the grime of my collectibles on display. I still have more to do tomorrow as I ran out of cleaning steam. While putting the items has been exercising some creativity, I really needed to do something crafty after all that scrubbing: Something quick and simple to satisfy my crafting craving. The sewing room has too many projects set to start and none with any 'instant gratification' qualities which, when you are in the middle of a big job, like "Spring" (Fall) cleaning in your kitchen, is required. I recalled how satisfying it had been to cover my phone books with Amy Butler paper and my eyes were quickly drawn to my next project. This unassuming box of printer paper.

This box usually lives on top of our computer armoire near the entrance to the family room so, if you look slightly higher than eye level, it is in plain view. It is not the ugliest packaging in the world but there is definite room for improvement. Amy Butler to the rescue! Using the same pad of her scrapbook paper that I had used on the phone books and my paper trimmer, I cut pieces of co-ordinating paper to fit the sides and lid of the box. I left a small border of the natural colour of the cardboard and pieced the pieces on the shorter sides of the box in a quilt-like fashion. I have used acid-free glue stick as my adhesive as I am rather frustrated with spray glue and decoupage medium at the moment. I will likely use a spray sealer finish to preserve the paper but that will depend on tomorrow's weather. Today we reached a near record 17°C so it would have been warm enough to use the spray outside.

It is amazing how such a simple project can make such a large impact on my well being. Having little bits of your personality peppering your living space must surely encourage creativity along with stimulating the desire to care for your space. I hope to be sharing larger projects soon but I also think it advisable to continue with this nesting trend and get a few more of these 'living environment' improvements checked off the list. I hope that I stay inspired to come up with other spur of the moment improvements. I am excited to be rejoining the linking of Our Creative Space (formerly My Creative Space) and can't wait to see what is going in other Creative Spaces.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like... Pyrex

2011-11-08T20:16:00.006-05:00

I understand, a little bit, why some people start to think about decorating for Christmas well before the start of Advent. The days are noticeably shorter and, even when we have clear skies, the sun never seems to shine for long. The Scandinavians counter this with candle light and light-reflective colours. As another Northern nation, Canadians would be wise to do the same. Of course, I always find that vintage Pyrex brightens my day so I am sharing one of my favourite pieces in my collection: a promotional Golden Poinsettia Casserole with warming stand that Internet sources suggest is from 1963. I have photographed it with my latest vintage Christmas tablecloth, a Marks and Spencer's Christmas Biscuit tin and two books bought at the library for just a few dollars. The book on the right is called Christmas Magic, was published in 1964 and has all kinds of 'period' crafts. As someone who prefers to make gifts, now is the time that I need the not-so-gentle reminder to get on with it and get those items made!

I could procrastinate just a little longer and enjoy the near perfect gold pattern on the lid of this casserole. On special promo pieces, the gold designs on the glass lids are often the first to show signs of wear or damage. The warming stand has some discolouration on the metal and the candles have been lit. I cannot wait to use this casserole for my holiday table. I actually have two of this design but my first one is in somewhat worn condition and does not have a stand. At 2 1/2 qt. capacity, it is a very practical size and I use my more worn casserole for storage of leftover turkey or an extra chicken that I have cooked at any time of year. I suppose that some might say that would be good reason to find another (perhaps less seasonal) casserole of this size. Maybe I will find ideas for other 045 casseroles that would fit the bill. Sophie at Her Library Adventures is having a Pyrex Party and is inviting other bloggers to share in the fun. More vintage Pyrex is sure to brighten the day!

My Favourite Find of the Year

2011-11-07T20:14:00.006-05:00

Sophie at Her Library Adventures is hosting Flea Market Find of the Year and since I love finding treasures I wanted to join her and all the other bloggers sharing their favourites. While I found a few things this year that could qualify as favourite, I think the item that I was most excited about was this vintage waffle iron. Vintage charm, elegant design, functional, and quality of manufacture are all qualities that I hold in the highest regard when making any purchase and what has driven me towards looking for used before new. This waffle iron is truly what my thrifting dreams are made of.

While I have not been able to precisely date the waffle iron, I am fairly sure it was made in the 1930's or 1940's. The original hang tag has graphics that suggests the late 1940's which I believe was the heyday of popularity for crinoline ladies. Designs for these waffle irons changed relatively little from their introduction in the early 1920's through the 1950's. Some companies started to make more changes in the later fifties and early sixties to create more consumer interest and in the 1960's models started to be made with different materials and were a little less long lasting.

Part of my excitement in finding this appliance is that it was never used! It brings me back to memories of my Grandmother making me waffles when I was a little girl. We have a waffle iron which never did as good a job as hers -crispy on the outside and tender in the centre - because of its nonstick finish. I am no longer able to use the one we have had for around twenty years because I have had a seriously allergy to eggs for the last 10 years. If I wanted to have waffles again it would need to be with an iron that had never cooked batter with eggs.

To find an "in new condition" appliance that is over sixty years old is especially thrilling when I think that many made at the same time are still going strong after so many years of continual use. I have started to condition the plates and made a few batches of egg-free waffles and have thoroughly enjoyed the results. This model appears to have been designed to have interchangeable griddle plates which did not appear on the thrift store shelf but I will keep my eyes open as you never know when you will spot your thrifting dreams.

Gala

2011-11-06T22:13:00.004-05:00

I have not had the opportunity to attend many galas. Even though my husband performs in quite a few of these types of events, the combination of my family responsibilities and the usual ticket price prevents my participation. Saturday evening was the Musical Dreams and Flying Machines gala for the Ottawa Choral Society at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and despite my illness that kept me lying low this week, I was able to attend. Since I have not attended many events such as this in Ottawa I was a little unsure about what to wear. My starting point was certainly to feature one of my vintage evening bags! At present, this particular purse might just be my favourite. I love the pastoral scenes in eighteenth century French paintings and to be able to carry that around as ones purse seems like a decadent luxury.

I find that a jacket will often be the other determining factor in my outfit. I had originally planned to wear the accompanying dress with this early sixties blush champagne jacket. One of the challenges in incorporating vintage pieces in your wardrobe is finding the correct foundation garment to provide the body shape and support needed. Without the perfect shaping/fit, I decided not to wear the the gown. I love the bow details at the fasteners of the jacket which seem reminiscent of the eighteenth century gowns on the evening bag. The three quarter sleeve length is my favourite just as it was for the ladies on the evening bag.

Instead of the long vintage dress, I paired the jacket with a short vintage inspired dress that my daughter insisted I purchase for myself last Christmas. The dress is in a heavy black satin inspired by the shorter but still fuller skirted styles of the early 1960's. It is the first evening 'little black dress' that I can remember buying and, because of the fuller skirt, is comfortable to sit in at concerts and even has pockets! The shorter length allowed me to indulge in the modern trend of patterned tights which, along with my shoes were thrifted. The other modern touch was the feathered head band which did not give me wings to go with the 'flying machines' but was a successful conversation starter.

Where I Have Been

2011-11-04T14:42:00.005-04:00

I managed to publish everyday for October and I have been missing from the blog world ever since. The under-the-weather feeling that was bothering me last weekend has required antibiotics and bed rest. I believe that the antibiotics actually has me feeling worse before feeling better and I am doing my best with the resting which is always easier said than done when you have four children. Fortunately, I have a rather delightful nest and some books from the library which makes the time a little more pleasant.

The theme this week for My place and Yours at Punky and Me is "Where I Sleep". While the link closes tomorrow, I think that its theme must be blog world serendipity. I have shared this space before and not much has changed. I have a few more rosy linens, including a small quilt on which my cat sleeps at the end of the bed. The best addition to this retreat is the vintage bed tray which I purchased from my friend Lynda when she still had her brick and mortar shop. It has a tilt feature that supports a book or magazine at an angle. It also comfortably supports my laptop, which has just been returned to me after a month of repairs, and prevents it from overheating.
We often decorate the public areas of our homes and procrastinate when attending to the more private spaces. When I am required to spend extra time in bed, I am very thankful that we have a comfortable bed in a welcoming room.

Blogtoberfest Day 31: Thrifty Hallowe'en

2011-10-31T20:12:00.013-04:00

Not too much thrifting this weekend due to the number of concerts and services in which the family was involved and me feeling poorly. On Thursday, my husband was told that the orchestra were expected to wear costumes for the Family Adventures Concerts on Saturday and Student Matinees today and tomorrow. Since he is required to play his instrument while in costume there are certain possibilities that would be out of the question i.e. anything that limits movement or the ability to hold the instrument, restricts vision or causes difficulty sitting are off limits. This year he did not have enough lead up time to really get creative but recently I found an Aussie cowboy hat that looks really good on him. On Friday we went to the closest Sally Ann looking for cowboy boots and found them! I really thought it would be a long shot but there they were.

Here he is showing off the hat while hiding behind its big, black brim. I suppose it wound up at the thrift store as a discarded tourist's souvenir just like all the beautiful Australian tea towels that I find. I have another Aussie 'drover's' hat that belonged to my Nanan. She regularly visited Australia to see her sister and her family and her older son. She loved to wear hats and encouraged my love at a very early age so I am thrilled to have her hat as well as this one.

We are really starting to feel the chill and the furnace is on at least a little bit everyday so I was happy to find furnace filters at the thrift store for less than half of their price at the hardware store. The crafty/nesting urge has brought me into our family room to do some handwork. This handwork basket is a recent find and has just the right amount of 'Granny Chic" to make me happy! It is the perfect size to put my felted sweater projects while I am working on them.

Since I found it, I have seen similar work baskets that have been made over but I am quite happy with the way it looks as it is and will give a full view in a future post. I have quite a few other projects on the go, including another sewing basket/stool so it is a relief to find thrift store items that do not require alteration. After searching for a long time, I have not been able to find a good craft/reading/task light when thrifting so we ended up buying retail this lamp. While the company makes a dedicated craft lamp, this one was less expensive and suited the room.

The youngest two 'shopped' for their costumes in our house. The youngest decided to fuse a clown costume with a skull mask which created the creepy, scary result he desired while his older brother opted for a 'nerd' costume. I really appreciated how creative they both were, working with what we have. It was a much more stimulating exercise than going shopping, even at the thrift store, for stuff that we will not need after Hallowe'en.

For other thrifty inspiration check out all the blogs that have linked with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Blogtoberfest Day 30: Almost There But Not...

2011-10-30T20:16:00.005-04:00

Well, Blogtoberfest is almost coming to a close; I am happy to have been posting almost everyday, but it has been a bit challenging this weekend, as I have been under the weather health-wise and I was frustrated by my adhesive disappointment. Here are the decoupaged pieces, which I am pleased with, save for paper that won't stick to the paint! Given that I was feeling poorly, I hoped that this project would boost my mood, but that was marred by the lack of adhesion, grrr. I think that my only option is to try using the 'modge podge' and hope for the best. I am really pleased with the combination of flowered papers. With Halloween tomorrow, other activities will be my focus.

Blogtoberfest Day 29: Work in Progress

2011-10-29T20:46:00.005-04:00

Back in September, in preparation for the urge to nest and craft with the cooler weather, I sanded, primed and spray painted these wooden office organization pieces. I needed to prepare the surfaces for decoupaging them with pretty papers. Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph them in the intermediate step of paint only and launched into applying the paper today.

Here are some of the vintage wrapping paper I have found while thrifting in the last year or so. My plan for the storage pieces is to use a mix of pattern and I quite enjoyed choosing and cutting the paper today. I was so inspired by how the project was coming together that I went ahead and braved the crisp air outside and applied the the spray glue to the wood and stuck on the paper. Generally, I was pretty pleased with the results and went inside to let the solvents of the glue dissipate for a few minutes. I retrieved the pieces a little later to let the glue dry fully indoors but have ran into a frustration: the adhesive is not providing a consistent bond! I do not think that I can lacquer them if there are parts of the paper not sticking to the wood, I am not sure that I can try white glue or 'modge podge' when there is already spray glue applied and I do not have enough paper to start again. Help!!! I do not remember having these issues the last time that I tried something like this and I am not sure how to rectify this situation. Any suggestions?

On a more successful note I was very happy that I had brought in all my geraniums and fuchsias into our sun room the other day as we have had frost at night. The sun room is only a three season room and the plants will need to come inside for the winter but it does serve as a quarantine zone where I can apply insecticidal soap and make sure that the plants are pest free before I expose them to my houseplants.

Blogtoberfest Day 28: Patterning My Dreams

2011-10-28T22:22:00.007-04:00

Many vintage sewing patterns that I find while thrifting are uncut, supporting my belief that dreaming about making certain garments is as important as making them. Some of my earliest memories are of sitting at the pattern catalogue counter turning the pages and dreaming about the dresses. Playing dress-up was a favourite occupation and this was just a mental extension of that activity. Other sewers must also feel this way, that possessing the actual pattern is a way to grab onto that dream just a little more securely, with the expectation of it being attainable. The pattern for the dress and coat combination pictured is cut, but the sew-in label that was available with the pattern was not used. I love the seaming details and would like to make it but that would require grading up the pattern size.

This outfit also suits my tastes and is fairly close to my size. As usual, I am a sucker for a jacket especially if it has three-quarter sleeves! The notched collar on the jacket would make a perfect spot for a standout vintage brooch. A brocade, lace, linen or raw silk are all fabric suggestions on the back that fire my imagination.

I cannot decide which view I like the best of this Vogue "young fashionables" design, styled for the young woman who emulates an older woman's elegance. This is somewhat the opposite of current trend of middle-aged women seeking to be fashionable often choosing styles that, at best, erode their elegance.
While in high school, I longed for the time when I could make and wear couture-inspired suits and gowns. This style features darting from hip to bust which was a common detail for fitting a figure before the prevalence of lycra.

The controlled fullness of the skirt would be easier to wear than the above sheath. Although it has bridal and bridesmaid's view, this pattern is also suggested as an evening or cocktail gown. The simplicity of the figure-flattering bodice, self-fabric belt and softly pleated skirt would showcase the beauty of the fabric without overwhelming the wearer.

This apron pattern from the 1940's would be a good place to start turning these pattern dreams into realty, the charm of a vintage design with the practicality of full coverage. It only requires 2 yards and I am sure that I have some great rick-rack for the trim.

Which designs are your favourites? These come from my collection of vintage patterns. I have more than a few collections that I have linked with Vintage Velda's collections post.

Blogtoberfest Day 27: Outings and Thrifted Outfits

2011-10-27T20:34:00.002-04:00

This week has been full of outings with my eldest. I was able to borrow two museum privilege cards from the library: The Museum of Science and Technology and the duo pass for the War Museum and the Museum of Civilization. With such a good deal, I have made several visit to each. I find that it is very easy to take the easy, comfortable route for wardrobe when home keeping and creating in the studio but that usually spirals into a not so good place for me. When an outing is in the plans, a little fashion inspiration is an excellent thing. With my extensive thrifted collection of clothes, getting dressed is another opportunity for creativity. I had planned to post several outfit photos but was unable to upload them to the blog. More than a little frustration has led me to conclude that today's blog post will not have any photos. I hope that everyone has a wonderful evening and I will try again tomorrow.

Blogtoberfest Day 26: Pin Cushions and thrifted sewing basket

2011-10-26T23:12:00.006-04:00

If you sew, even occasionally, you likely own a pin cushion which is this week's theme at Punky and Me's My Place and Yours. I have several in my possession: the one I have owned since a child, the vintage one that came in the pictured sewing basket and the magnetic one that I have used since my Mum bought me a sewing machine when I was 21. Ubiquitous as it is, the tomato pin cushion is actually very practical: some have an elastic wrist strap and the little attached 'strawberry' contains emery which keeps your needles and pins sharp and clean. When I was in second grade, my parents presented me with a Singer Junior Miss sewing machine along with the pincushion and scissors shown in this picture. A lot of doll clothes were made using that machine before I start using my Mum's Singer four years later. I have come across them at the thrift store and wonder if I should own one now? I am happy that I still have the pin cushion and scissors.

I did not buy the sewing basket for the basket, but for what was in it. I love vintage sewing supplies and this basket contained items that were definitely older than the basket. This photo shows darning wool, hook and eyes, pins and needles, a pin cushion, thimble and bodkin. The needles were all made in England in the town of Redditch which once produced ninety per cent of all needles in the world. The pin cushion had some hidden, slightly rusted needles, which I will see if I can clean up and I like its petite size which should be perfect in my chair-side kit in the family room. The bodkin is made of bone or ivory and is used for threading ribbon or elastic in a casing or eyelets and I am sure it will be more pleasurable to use than the plastic ones available now. I think about the former owner transferring all the vintage sewing supplies into the 'new basket'.

The yellow thimble is an early plastic, likely celluloid and fits me perfectly. I am looking forward to using it. With a fine level of finish and depth of colour it is very different than a modern plastic thimble that you might find in a cheap sewing kit. The fabric colour and design of the made-in-Japan sewing basket suggests the late 1970's or early 1980's and I think I will fill it with supplies for my daughter who is starting to show an interest in sewing.

Blogtoberfest Day 25: Clothing Care Secrets and More ThriftyFinds

2011-10-25T20:26:00.008-04:00

Clothing care is an important part of any one's wardrobe. While most store-bought garments have a garment care label, it is really only a guideline. When you make your own clothes or you have bought used clothes, a deeper knowledge of how to care for them is required. Most, but not all, can be laundered if proper care is taken. The "dry clean only" recommendation is purely a recommendation and is certainly not necessary for all garments. Jodi at Couture Allure has just posted an excellent tutorial about washing vintage silk scarves which is a happy coincidence. I would use the same advice for washing silk blouses. My intended post for today was touching on spot cleaning. The photo here shows a chocolate-brown linen skirt with a mark, which I believe is chocolate. While travelling in Europe this past summer with the choir in which my boys sing, I learned a new method while wearing the same skirt. The wife of one of the men in the choir, a long-time wardrobe mistress for musicals, operas, ballets and theatres, noticed some marks on the back of my skirt and said that she could take care of it. She grabbed a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer and applied it directly to my skirt and rubbed it in with her hands. Within seconds, the mark was gone and within a minute or two, the spot was dry, without a trace of a mark.

Here is the same spot shown in the above photo after using the same method. You may wish to do a spot test in an inconspicuous spot on the garment, but as I understand it, most fibres will not be harmed by the hand sanitzer. From an environmental perspective and frugal slant this method wins over the spot treatments available to the home consumer or through the dry cleaner.

Now for a little thrifting: Here is a lovely pink melamine bowl. It is not vintage, but I have a soft spot for melamine and this shade of pink should work well with my vintage pieces. This pink is a happy colour for me and with some rather grey days in the last week, it gives me a boost. I am also very excited about this ribbon which is also not vintage but drew me in with its colour.

I love using wooden hangers for clothing care and these will work well for skirts and jacket. Good shaping through the shoulder or waistband require a solid hanger that offers enough support. When it is not necessary to launder a garment, hang the garment and allow it to air out, to dissipate the heat and moisture from your body, before returning it to your closet. This photo shows a packet of craft magnets and two hem clips along with a package of suction cup spiders to aid in Halloween decoration.

I also found pyjama pants for my husband and a long-sleeved polo for my eldest along with this somewhat homely stool. I have been inspired by the lovely Tif Fussel at Dottie Angel rambling on about dumpties. I love all of her crafty world and would like to stay there for a while. I hope that my stool will live up to the magic of Tif's inspiration. I found the Dottie Angel Blog through Sophie at Her Library Adventures but immediately recognized its style having seen it in Mollie Makes and Uppercase magazines. Her blog is fabulous and I am linking this post to Flea Market Finds.

Blogtoberfest Day 24: Not a lot of Thrifting but Thrifting All the Same

2011-10-24T23:02:00.004-04:00

With our eldest's birthday on Saturday and our activities on Sunday, this weekend did not leave much time for traditional thrift store searching. It did get me thinking about how I 'thrift' in settings other than a traditional thrift store (Salvation Army, Value Village, church nearly new), garage sales or flea markets. I read about many bloggers that attend estate sales and come home with wonderful vintage finds. I would be game to give it a try but there does not seem to be many or they are not well advertised in this city. Any tips of how to get into that loop? One place that I do not consider a thrift store but will occasionally shop at is a consignment shop. I generally find that their prices for clothing is too high for me compared to what I can find at a charity shop and the home goods are not often in keeping with my vintage tastes. I have had my best luck at this type of store with some books and a few select pieces of Pyrex. For instance, I found three of my Butterprint Cinderella Bowls to match the one that I already had and made a set of four. What was particularly gratifying is that those bowls were at their final marked down price just as the cache pot pictured here was. Although not really vintage, I have a small collection of this type of R.B. Bernarda piece from Portugal. I love the botanical drawing style which is similar to some of Portmeirion's patterns. We have as small amount of Variations which as its name suggests is a variant of the hugely popular Botanic Garden Series. I also cannot resist an attractive cache pot.

Another alternative to thrifting is getting something for free! I have a number of not so small pieces of furniture that were picked up curbside or simply offered to us by friends or neighbors. Because we have four children, we have often benefited from the generosity of others when it comes to hand me down clothes. This has been most helpful as all but the best quality or infrequently worn clothes usually do not make it to the wardrobe of the third boy. This weekend was especially exciting because our youngest was passed down a sweater and a pair of jeans that have never been worn. I suppose that we have all missed the opportunity to return a garment that does not fit but it was especially appreciated by our youngest who almost always wears what someone else has worn before.

We frequent our local library and take out DVD's, CD's,and museum passes along with our latest must-read book. It is pretty exciting to visit the amazing museums in this city without being required to pay the admission fee or membership. We have been family members of almost all of the possible institutions in this city but it would be very expensive to maintain memberships for them all. There is thrifting opportunity in the library too. Most branches of the Ottawa Public Library have a selection of books,magazines and CD's, either donated or discarded from the stacks, that are available for purchase. This past weekend, I was able to buy 5 CD's (including 2 complete opera box sets) for $1 each and 2 hardcover books for $2 each. I have found it very convenient place to donate my old magazine which some one else will be able to buy for a dime.

The treasures that I found today will be posted later this week but if you need to see more of the amazing finds that you can find at a thrift store, check out Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Blotoberfest Day 23: An Afternoon Out

2011-10-23T21:57:00.005-04:00

Today I went to hear the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestrawith their music director, Valery Gergiev, play two Tschaikovsky symphonies. As the wife of an orchestral musician, I have the opportunity to experience many fantastic concerts. Today was special not only because it was a world-renowned ensemble with a superstar conductor but because my husband got to enjoy the concert with me. I have noticed at concerts that there is a wide variety of fashion choices and that very few people take the effort to make it an occasion to dress up. Of course, the reason to go to a live performance is to hear the music, so I do not mind what others wear. But, I enjoy dressing for the occasion.
Today's outfit was not 100% thrifted! My dress and belt were bought on sale for more than 60% off at an after-Christmas sale.

The shoes, handbag and cardigan were all thrift. The handbag is blogged about here and the shoes and cardigan were found at my favourite Nearly New Shop. The cardigan is a lovely thin and lightweight silk and cashmere blend that is the perfect layer with a sleeveless dress. The brooch was also thrifted, but I cannot remember where I found it. I love the combination of mother-of-pearl and stones.

The headpiece, or fascinator, is one that I purchased when I went to New York City as a chaperone with my sons' choir. The Men and Boys sang a Sunday morning service at St. Thomas' Fifth Avenue. Outside of the church was a vendor who had a variety of feathered headpieces and jewellery, all of which she crafted herself. I love to bring home locally-made items as souvenirs. This headpiece is great to wear to a concert as it does not obstruct anyone's view as various hats can do. The boys also sang an Evensong today which we were also able to attend, although our eldest had had enough and got the giggles, literally a laugh track by the end of the afternoon.
Lots of music!

Blogtoberfest Day 22: Twenty-one Today

2011-10-22T21:36:00.008-04:00

Twenty-one years ago I gave birth to our first child, a little boy who put us on a slightly different adventure than we had anticipated, but one still filled with joy and wonder. This picture was taken within days of bringing him home.

Here he is at two years old, shortly after he had been very sick. This photo won a "cutest kid" contest (with the prize of a camera) sponsored by a local camera store.

Here is a photo of the two of us taken this past summer at Long Beach on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, the same familiar smiles for both of us.

Blogtoberfest Day 21: Thrifting Week in Review

2011-10-21T21:47:00.004-04:00

When I was a school-age child in the 1970's and early 1980's, Friday night was a pizza in front of the t.v. evening where we ate home-made pizza and watched our local PBS station's line-up: Crockett's Victory Garden, Washington Week in Review, Wall Street Journal and Masterpiece Theatre (which was also on Sunday night but my parents judged it too late to stay up for a school night). I remember being fairly attentive for the gardening show and Masterpiece Theatre but less so for the two programmes in the middle of the line-up but I am sure that I had a much better understanding of the oil embargo, the Iran hostages, crazy gold prices and rising interest rates than all of my school peers. It is possible that all that exposure prepared me for the economic world of today and embracing the thrifting life. Tonight we had home-made pizza but not in front of the t.v. because my husband had a concert so, instead, I will review some extra thrifting finds that I have not already posted. The rose patterned tea towel is at the back and was not actually thrifted but found at HomeSense at $2 for a set of two. At a thrift store price, I could not resist these towels, a Roy Kirkham rosy design that was made in Portugal. It did get me thinking about our changing buying habits and the success of discount stores like HomeSense (part of the TJMaax chain) and our appetite for a deal! I wonder if we, as consumers, have some responsibility with the decline in quality of almost all consumer goods. Collectively, we are unwilling to pay for the materials and labour involved in making something to last. As thrifters we are responding in two ways: we often seek out vintage, or simply second hand, items that were made before this retail business thinking was prevalent and we are channeling our desire for a 'good deal' towards pricing that represents, although somewhat arbitrarily, what society believes is the actual value of an item. I also believe that thrifters are more likely to value hand-made goods and recognize truly well made products. Whether it is enough to change the trend of cheaper and cheaply made products remains to be seen.

The clothing items seen here are: Gap boys pyjama pants and two pairs of Talbot's tailored, wool pants. The pyjama pants where around $4 dollars with no signs of being worn and the wool pants were both on the 99 cent rack. The ones at the front are flattering while the other pair I will re-work into something else. The two lampshades are Laura Ashley which was my go-to store in the nineties. I carefully purchased fabrics and clothes on my limited budget and waited for the very reduced prices at their semi-annual sales. I still have many of those clothes and household items that I made with the fabric which I believe attests to the quality of the company at that time. As Laura Ashley no longer has stores in Canada, and I only briefly looked in England last summer, I am not sure it is still the same.

Here are two cups that I also found this past week for 49 cents each! Both of them are in my favourite vintage shade of blue and go with things I already have. The cup of the left is made by Melitta and would have been sold with a coffee or tea set in the 1950's. The Melitta method is my favourite way of making coffee and this cup would not hold enough for me but I know that I will be able to put it to good use. The cup on the right is vintage Grindley which is the colour and pottery that started me collecting Utility China. I like a thin wall for my tea so this will also be repurposed in my kitchen.

This Friday, I am joining the party at the Thrifty Groove: 'Thrifty Things Fridays' as I love seeing what other bloggers have found almost as much as finding my own treasures.

Blogtoberfest Day 20: A little Last Minute Thrift

2011-10-20T22:44:00.004-04:00

Sometimes the opportunity to thrift comes in little snippets of time and quite often results in finds as exciting as longer sessions. This evening, with less than 45 minutes of time before closing, I took the opportunity for a quick quest at the closest Sally Ann. My first find is pictured in the centre, a bulb planter which is seasonably useful. I have always dug holes for bulbs with a small spade but I am interested in giving this a try. The next find was a sad Pyrex fridgie rather faded from dishwasher cleaning. It does not look too bad in the picture but its finish does warrant trying the oil trick to restore the finish that I used here. The two turquoise melamine plates made in Canada by Duraware will be a fabulous addition to my vintage melamine dishes. On the plates are six skeins of tapestry wool and a package of white rick-rack. Behind the plates is a white Royal Art Pottery bowl which will augment yet another collection of utility pottery. While some pieces pre-date the Second World War. Utility China was designed to fill the household needs of everyday Britons during the days of austerity during and for a while after the war.

The American versions of this kind of dishware were produced by Homer Laughlin, Fire King and Lu-Ray among others. This saucer is by Lu-ray and is in my favourite vintage blue with platinum bands. Behind the saucer is a chrome toothbrush holder made by Restoration Hardware. This is a design that I have been interested in for quite a long time but the catalogue price of $45 has deterred me. I guess, if you wait long enough your thrifting dreams may come true. Behind these two items are two books: Imperial Russian Style and a reproduction dot-to-dot made a local Almonte (one hour west of Ottawa) company, Algrove Publishing, that specializes in reprints and reproductions of old and out of print books. The founder of the company also founded Lee Valley Tools. Their Early Christmas Gifts Catalogue, which has long been a favourite, arrived today. I will be asking Santa for this.

The final find of the short session was this petit point silhouette of an 18th century couple. This would seem to contribute to yet another collection that I seem to be creating. The tin with the crinoline lady and gentleman was a recent find. The musical trio was a gift from my sister who purchased it from the artist, Steven Gu. I love Scherenschnitte and found this blog that celebrates it in all its intricacy and whimsy. The silhouette on the extreme right is one that I did 25 years ago for the poster design for my first flute recital where I used a photo of me playing to create the image. In the frame is a scanned image from the poster; I do not know where the original paper cut is now.

Blogtoberfest Day 19: Displaying Tea Towels

2011-10-19T20:17:00.003-04:00

After posting pictures of two vintage tea towels in beautiful Autumn colours, a follower, Gardener-b, asked if I had any ideas about displaying tea towels that I liked too much to use for their intended purpose. I understand how some towels might hold sentimental value or are just so fantastic a design to see them fade with use. I answer that question with this idea: use a vintage, wooden pant/skirt hanger to hang it on a wall or, as in this case, the side of a pantry cabinet at the entrance of my kitchen. Another idea that would be fairly simple to execute would be to use strong, simply designed magnets to display it on your refrigerator. This would not work for our family of six as that magnetic surface is in use as a command/information centre. Other possible ideas can be found here and here. If you do not mind sewing them, a cushion or an apron are good possibilities -I have used a new Christmas tea towel from TAG to make a cute holiday hostess apron. I particularly like this idea because you can change up your favourites and even have clothes pegs that could work. Any other ideas out there?

Blogtoberfest Day 18: Weekend Thrifting Thrills!

2011-10-17T23:09:00.014-04:00

Starting with Friday, I would say that I have had a rather stellar weekend for thrifting. This past Friday, as I have done for the past ten years, I had my hair done by a hair stylist who lives and works outside of the city in the community of Embrun, which is about 25 minutes east of Ottawa. I started having her do my hair when she worked in an upscale salon in the city. When she had her second child, she decided to work in a studio set up in her home which allowed her to pass on some savings to clients and gives me quality service at prices that I can live with. About a year ago I found a second hand store in Embrun which, for the three to four times a year that I have my hair done, I have added to my thrifting path . When I walked in last Friday, I saw these mixer/processor/blender bowls and blades without the motor for $10. These belong to the Braun 5 in 1 machine which is the type that I have had for almost 18 years and have spent more than $10 dollars when replacing a lid, blade or bowl. The parts are no longer available to order in North America as Braun is now distributing only its personal care products in North America. My Mum still has the predecessor, the Braun KM32, to my machine. It first came out in the 1950's and my Mum purchased one in the 1970's. She was pleased when, last year, I found a unit for her at the thrift store to use for parts. It has only needed minor repairs over the years but with parts unable to be ordered buying a unit at the thrift store becomes sensible so I was happy to do the same for mine. Both machines were designed and produced before the wide-spread practise of planned obselence over-whelmed the kitchen appliance market: With this quality in construction and design it is worth trying to repair them. At this store, I also found a small white with black enamel saucepan, some small, vintage Swedish candles and a little bit of trim in ivory and orange just waiting to be used on a Autumn themed vintage style apron.

The next morning, I was off to the Fabric Flea Market which is held every year to benefit a downtown public school. The vendors are made up of home sewers reducing their stash and professional re-sellers. Just in from the entrance, I rummaged through a table that had hundreds of patterns, sewing books, fabric remnants, buttons and laces and trims. This table was run by the public school that benefits from the whole event and is stocked by donations. The first thing I picked up to buy was a bag of about 10metres of this 1950's printed ribbon/lace. There were a few more bags of this same trim but I felt that I needed to set some personal limits from the start.

The next two bags contained various ribbons. The really wide ribbons(on the upper right hand of the photo) are vintage hat ribbons while the rolls are mostly gift or bouquet ribbons along with twill and seam binding.

The next picture is one of aged and stained bits of lace. Not everything in the bag is shown in this photo. I will wash the bits and pieces and try to remove the stains but try not to whiten them. That may take a little research but I suspect that a bar of Sunlight soap will be involved. Oxyclean might remove the patina of age and, if there is any silk, destroy some of the fibres. Even tea staining does not get the same subtle tone as simple age.

This fabric will likely be made into an apron. I collect vintage aprons and I have almost too many to count but the ones that wear out for me are the full ones. I love beautiful clothes and I have a busy household to run so full protection is a must! The dominant colour in the kitchen is blue with mostly red and yellow accents depending on the season and which direction you look. All of the colours in this fabric are found in my china on the plate rack which is Laura Ashley's Hazelbury.

I bought this fabric from a lovely lady who had all sorts of vintage fabrics and some vintage clothes including some made with Liberty fabric. This piece is likely from the late 1940's and is artificial silk, mostly likely rayon. I love the colours and I think that I have enough to make a sleeveless blouse to wear with a suit. She also had a vintage floral bedspread that was exquisite. It was the colouration and type of floral pattern that inspires Cath Kidston and Cabbages and Roses. I kind of wish that I had asked how much but I was pondering a bigger purchase. I also regret not getting her contact information as she was the type of vendor who is obviously in it for the love of the textiles and I would love to get know her.

Here is the artificial silk again with a little tray cloth/place mat that should look great with my aqua and pink Pyrex and a fascinating December 1939 magazine from England with a Canadian insert. I cannot wait to explore its pages in depth. I was acquainted with at least half a dozen of the vendors but did not have the chance to really chat with any of them. I also ran into people that I know from other interests. The mood was very happy with most buyers not looking to haggle and the vendors did not seem competitive or pushy but just there for a good cause and the love of fabric and everything fabric related.

The bigger purchase that I was pondering was eight 1.2 x 2 m panels of this vintage Gabrielle Cie. upholstery fabric to update the look in our family room. Some of the upholstery that I have already done has some of these colours already and the feel of the room is mid-century modern so this 1950's design will be fabulous. Recently I found a great deal on two upholstered chairs at the Sally Ann and since then I have been looking for suitable fabrics for slip-covers. I was glad that I had limited myself to that point as it was easier to make a bigger purchase when I discovered this material. The analogy of 'kid in a candy store' could not be more apt!

On Sunday the Thrifting Fairies called me again and some of the family made a late afternoon visit to Value Village where I was justly rewarded. The beautiful printed corduroy (1950's ?) and vintage Anchor Hoching Sun Tea jar were waiting for me! The colouration and design are amazing and look great with the two pastel pink platters, stamped Morn Glo, and Ice-o-matic that I found at the Salvation Army on Monday morning. Join the sharing excitement with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday. I love to see what everyone finds.

Blogtoberfest Day 17: Test post

2011-10-17T21:30:00.000-04:00

I am having comment difficulties, please stay tuned!

Blogtoberfest Day 16: Autumnal Tea Towels and Menu

2011-10-16T23:15:00.004-04:00

Part of the pleasure of change of seasons is experiencing little decor and menu changes. With the change of colour outside, I bring out of the linen closet tea towels in the rich, warm tones that echo those of the falling leaves. I have probably stated before that I use tea towels regularly and very rarely use paper towels. The tea towels tend to fall into several categories: old and worn ones for mopping up all sorts of messes and spills, clean and slightly faded towels are used to dry off freshly washed produce or slightly dampened to provide a temporary cover for dough, extra absorbent towels such as terry or waffle weave are usually reserved for drying clean hands, pretty and decorative towels are used to dry my hand-washed china and Pyrex with linen a must for glassware and crystal, and, at the end of the list, are the tea towels that I find so attractive or decorative that I cannot quite bring myself to actually use. I know, from the number of tea towels that I find at the thrift store, that many people do not use the tea towels that they have had in their possession. There are often very utilitarian designs alongside the souvenir towels. I suspect that they were received as gifts by people that do not actually realize how useful a tea towel might be. I am not really complaining when I get to bring home what they have not used but I am concerned that quality and quantity of tea towels has diminished. How often will you find an example like this one in 100% linen from Ulster Weavers named 'Tibbles and Woo"?

This example still has the paper label stating that it was made in Hungary with the pattern called 'Love Birds'. When I travel, I sometimes see souvenir and decorative tea towels but they are rarely made of linen and tend not to have the same quality of graphic design. I was tempted to compare these two vintage examples with modern, Autumnal themed towels that I also own and I have to confess that they were not interesting enough to bother photographing them. I do know that orange and brown were really done best in the late 1960's and early 1970's when these tea towels were probably made but I am sure that manufactures now could do a better job than they tend to do. Fortunately, great designs are available from some crafters on Etsy and other hand made market places. I am also thrilled to have found that Emma Bridgewater has re-issued some of her mother-in-law, Pat Albeck's amazing designs. Pat Albeck really is the mother of graphic tea towels and I will do a post about her shortly as she is so inspiring.

I mentioned menu changes above. This is a wonderful time of year for soup! Most recipes make enough for generous servings and left-overs which are perfect for lunch. Today, I made Tuscan Butternut Squash and Cannellini Bean Soup with Swiss Chard which I found in Fit Pregnancy magazine over ten years ago.

Tuscan Butternut Squash and Cannellini Bean Soup with Swiss Chard -serves 6

3 slices bacon or 2 1/2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried rosemary
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 (15 1/2 oz.) cans cannellini beans, drained
1 lb. squash, peeled, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups Swiss chard, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add bacon; cook for 2 min.
Add onion oregano, and rosemary. Saute for six minutes or
until onion is soft. Stir in broth, beans, squash, and garlic;
bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 min. Stir
in Swiss chard and cook for 10 min. more or until squash and greens
are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
Nutritional information per 1 cup serving: 210 calories, 3.5 grams fat,
21 % protein, 7 grams fiber.

I rarely use bacon and today used turkey instead of chicken stock. I had slightly more squash, stock and Swiss chard than the recipe called for but that just meant there will be leftovers for lunch. With it we had a simple Bruschetta made from day old baguette(much thriftier way to buy bakery bread), 1 tomato diced with about 5 cloves of garlic. After slicing the bread, I drizzled the slices with olive oil, spooned around a teaspoon of tomato mixture on each slice along with a small amount of mozzarella and bake each slice on a baking sheet and rack for about 5 to 7 minutes at 350 F.

Blogtoberfest Day 15: On the Shelf

2011-10-15T21:53:00.004-04:00

I have accomplished a recent bit of rearranging to display some of my evening bags on a shelf in our dressing room. A dressing room you say! It is not as fancy as it sounds and was fairly common in houses of this age (late 1960's). It is quite compact with room only for a built in vanity and chair with our actual closet also very modest in proportions. We also have an en suite bathroom but it is nothing like the huge en suites that many new houses contain. However, this post is really about what is on this shelf and I will show more of the dressing room some time in the future.

I collect vintage evening bags and since I do not often have occasion to use them, I really love seeing them on a daily basis. I will create a more detailed post about the individual purses with better detailed photos and as much information as I can find. Also on the shelf are photos of my four children when they were much younger, a little Limoges miniature and some headpieces and costume jewellery on a counter-top towel stand. The towel stand makes a perfect storage rack and adds height to the overall display is a re-purposed thrift store find.

Since this post is about what is 'on the shelf', I thought that this shelf on the bottom of the plate rack in the kitchen is an important addition. This collection of red-handled kitchen gadgets is also one that I like to see every day. Some of my collection are usually on display in this spot although I have also displayed other things here. The kitchen tool collection also warrants a more detailed description or maybe a series of posts. To view what is 'on the shelf' of other bloggers, go see the meme My Place & Yours at Punky & Me.

Blogtoberfest Day 14: Autumnal China On the Table

2011-10-14T23:37:00.002-04:00

Usually my taste does not favour the colours of the Fall for linens and china. All of that goes out the window when the leaves actually are bright gold, orange and red. Growing up on Canada's West Coast I did not experience the dramatic changes in the colours of the foliage as the season changes. While I find the dramatic extremes of temperature difficult, the show of Fall colours helps me find enjoyment in this climate. Our dining room is often the focus of my seasonal vignettes. With the room used for occasional eating and, often homework, it is a struggle to keep the large expanse of table clutter free. Regular change of the linens and other decorative items helps a bit, just like inviting people over usually prompts us to put away the little bit of clutter to which we are accustomed. The pumpkin tablecloth is a rough woven linen from Sweden. I purchased it from a former neighbor at her garage sale at least 15 years ago. The tin canister I blogged about last week along with the red Pyrex bowl. The squash and gourds are on a large cake plate that was my Grandmother's. I will post more detail about it soon!

The cream pitcher and bowl were found on separate occasions at different thrift stores! They are marked Leda, Wedgwood & Co Ltd with information indicating that they were not made by the more famous Josiah Wedgwood Company coming from this fascinating UK site: www.thepotteries.org/. I love these pieces but not so much that I would commit to it being my only set. Fortunately, bits and pieces work very well with other similarly coloured china.

The small beeswax candle in the first picture is held by this saucer made by Alfred Meakin. The stamp on the back indicates that it was made after 1937 and that the pattern is 'Marigold'. While it would be lovely to have the matching cup, the little candle works well. Beeswax candles are suitable for indoor air quality which is especially important as the weather cools and we are indoors with the windows shut. The antique brass candlestick was a gift from a former neighbor and I believe was hand made in Nova Scotia. The beeswax taper was thrifted as was the large pillar candle in the centre of the arrangement. I could not believe my luck finding such a large beeswax candle at the thrift store. My Father kept bees and my Mother made candles with the beeswax. I remember how precious the wax was and how many hives it took to produce such a substantial candle. I love the sparkle that candlelight brings to the shortening days and follow the Scandinavian practise of adding that sparkle to late afternoon as the daylight fades. Another important addition to air quality is the use of houseplants. Chrysanthemums are especially noted for reducing indoor air pollution so they are not only decorative but useful. Buying a locally grown flowering plant is often less expensive than cut flowers and, with qualities good for our health, seems like a very thrifty purchase.

I am again joining the "Show and Tell" hosted at My Romantic Home where other bloggers give us a peak at their treasures.

Blogtoberfest Day 13: Another Collection

2011-10-13T20:40:00.008-04:00

With a post everyday, I have had the chance to recall how I really learned about blogging. The answer was Google Search: Vintage Apron. That started everything really. I had a few vintage aprons and I wondered if there was anything on the web about them. What a Pandora's Box that was! Some of my early (and still) favourite blogs from that initial search were Jane's Apron, Apron Thrift Girl, Oodles and Oodles, BitterBetty and The Apronista. Of course, reading about other apron collections and seeing their aprons only fueled my collector's zeal and I now have more aprons than I care to admit to.

Cooler and wet weather started today and I have my daughter home sick. The combination has led to a pottering about the house/resisting hibernation kind of day for me. I am not sure that I accomplished a lot but this apron is just the kind of apron to boost my energy. I love the crispness of the colour combination and the design balance with the diagonal seam across the panel balanced by a classic 'feature pocket'. When I have looked at various vintage apron patterns, this particular apron does not strike me as a familiar design but it has a familiar feel to the design. I suspect that the maker of this apron had some design input and was strongly influenced by what other homemakers were making.

This apron would be called a chicken scratch apron because of the cross-stitch and smocking worked into the gingham fabric looking like chicken prints in the dirt. This one is more the smocking variety than the cross-stitch type of apron. This was often used as an introduction to embroidery for young girls. I remember some of my earliest needlework was cross-stitching in the squares of gingham. An apron is the perfect size for a beginners sewing project and could be proudly worn when completed. The golden colour of this example is perfect for Autumn.

As sewing skills improved, you could make a fancy apron to be worn when entertaining. This one uses a combination of sheer cotton voile and a print with violets. The colours and style of the border print suggest the 1940's to me but I would not call myself an expert on dating fabrics -more knowledge being a goal! I remember receiving cards from my Grandmother that she had likely saved from the late 1940's or early 1950's that have a similar design feel and colouration to the border print. A bit of the print is appliqued with a very short straight stitch which suggests that the sewer did not have a zig-zag machine. The edges all have small, neat hems and the border is attached to the body of the apron enclosing the seam. The result is something that any hostess would have been proud to wear.

This last apron really strikes a nostalgic chord in me. I think that the print is fabric left over from making kitchen curtains, most likely in the 1960's. The weight of the fabric is most definitely suited to curtains. When I was very young in the late 1960's and early 1970's I remember a number of kitchens with these characteristic prints showing coffee pots and coffee grinders, wine bottles and fruit baskets. Often kitchens were decorated in this type of wall paper. A coffee shop that I remember from my childhood, the Copper Kettle, had such wall paper in pink and beige tones. The memories evoked by this kind of design and colour combination are almost as strong as what is evoked by the scent of certain things. I suppose that makes things such as our home environment important to our children in ways that we do not usually think about.

I tried to connect my Pyrex post to Vintage Velda's Collections and Collecting Party with limited success so I thought that I might try again. Please go the link to see what some other bloggers collect.

Blogtoberfest Day 12: Clothes, Clothes and More Thrifted Clothes

2011-10-12T22:44:00.005-04:00

When I started thrifting I did not initially have much success finding clothes that fit me, were of good quality and that I liked. It was a similar learning curve to learning to shop for flattering clothes after having my first two babies. At first, it seemed like there was never anything that ticked any of the boxes, let alone all of them. Over time, I learned which garment manufacturers would usually fit and suit me. Knowing which companies make clothes that work for you is a good start when searching the racks of the thrift store. Some of the clothes made by Nygård International have been clothes that suit me when it comes to basics. Even though it is still a Canadian company, the clothing is now manufactured elsewhere. The black pants and white linen blouse are both made by the company and I believe the jacket might be. The jacket is missing its label but does have the care label which denotes that it is 100% cashmere and also has a Canadian union made tag. The classic design and quality materials and construction suggest one of the higher end Nygård lines.

Alternatively, the jacket could also have been made by the well-regarded label Louben. Also a Canadian company, all of the garments that I have seen with this label have also been labelled 'Made in Canada' like this double-breasted camel hair jacket that I found at the Cathedral's Nearly New Shoppe. Camel hair has always been a classic luxury fabric that has come to the forefront of fashion in recent years. This jacket will definitely fulfill some Modern Vintage Fashion Maxims: giving new life to something used, quality material and workmanship, and vintage styling (late 50's/early 60's)that looks perfectly modern.

When shopping at the Nearly New, I also found this Betty Barclay skirt. I immediately liked the fabric and seam detailing but was unfamiliar with the label. This skirt will probably have a shorter life in my wardrobe but will add spark to my classic pieces. It is very tempting while thrifting to fill your cart with clothing that is on trend when the prices are so low. Ideally, a wardrobe should be created in the way that our grandmothers gradually built there wardrobes with mostly classics that fit them well and were made to last. Excitement came in the form of accessories or the 'new piece' of the season. Buying 'too much' can be a good thing when you are experimenting with determining your style or grappling with body size changes as long as you can be discriminating about what you actually wear i.e. it should fit and you should be wearing the garment rather than the garment wearing you. Most thrift store clothes are inexpensive enough that if they do not work you can donate them or,if you make the decisions of what not to keep while the tags are still on, return them.

I wore two thrifted outfits today: The pants, blouse and jacket for the day and this dress to an orchestra concert. A plaid, early 60's style dress is like several similar ones in my closet but is the first one that I found at the thrift store. The shoes, my handbag(not shown), and headband are also thrifted. My wrap is silk and baby alpaca and was bought retail. It is a Fair Trade, made in Peru item that I love and use frequently. While not exorbitantly expensive, I may not have felt comfortable buying it new if it did not possess both its ethical and sustainable qualities. Loving it also made it easier but if you are not mindful when shopping it can be rather difficult to differentiate what you truly love and what is just catching your attention.

Along with sharing what is possible with a thrifted wardrobe in this post, I wanted to encourage a balancing of how we now build our wardrobes. Thrifting gives us the opportunity to discover which clothes really work for us without it being so expensive that we cannot afford to learn from mistakes. We can also start to fill our closets with quality, lasting items like our vintage sisters and determine which retail we choose to support such as hand-made, fair trade and sustainable clothing.

Blogtoberfest Day 11: Gratuitous Pyrex

2011-10-11T22:31:00.003-04:00

Today, I present pictures of most of my vintage Pyrex collection. I will let the photos do most of the talking. At the top is a Butterprint refrigerator set sitting on top of a yellow 503 which is beside some other little fridgies and the cream pitcher of my Laura Ashley Hazelbury set. The next shelf down is mostly Flamingo Pink: 2 cake pans (one in much better condition than the other), 1 round casserole and 1 square baker along with a lime pie plate and a Butterprint Casserole. On this shelf is a lidded clear glass Fire King loaf pan, some vintage kitchen gadgets and an espresso maker. The lower shelf shows my thrifted Descoware and a set of Butterprint Cinderella Bowls.

More pink Pyrex in two Pink Daisy oval casseroles (one is divided) and a space saver. I also have a Poinsettia Promo and a 2 qt. Golden Acorn Space Saver along with two aluminum lids for the freezer which would likely have been originally sold with the Pink Daisy or Turquoise Snowflakes. I also have a Pink Daisy 043 casserole that was in use when this photo was taken.

This cupboard is mostly turquoise Snowflake but includes the JAJ Fiesta casserole and lime green 2 qt. round casserole. On the top shelf there is a casserole in a stand nested in a Glasbake lasagna pan. I collect mostly Pyrex and in the colours and patterns shown in these pictures but a few other things, like the lasagna pan, have found there way into the collection because of the colour. Under the Tupperware jelly mold is a turquoise mixer bowl made by Glasbake for Sunbeam nested in a white with turquoise flower bowl that is Marked 'Maid of Honor'. I have read (but do not remember the source) that Pyrex manufactured some of the 'Maid of Honor' exclusively for Sears and that this line was marketed to brides. The square clear Pyrex baking dish I bought long before I discovered beautiful and colourful Pyrex. The 'gratuitous' in the post title really just refers to the fact that I could look at Pyrex or pictures of Pyrex all day, for no particular reason other than I love it!

Blogtoberfest Day10: Thankful for Thrifting!

2011-10-11T00:23:00.002-04:00

While hanging out my laundry on this sunny, warm Thanksgiving Monday, I realized how thankful I truly am for thrifting. I am thankful not just because I find all the goodies that delight me and the diamonds in the rough but because it puts me in a place that I am more comfortable with in the consumer cycle. Before I started regular thrifting, I considered myself a mindful consumer and savvy with a deal. I purchased the best quality and long lasting items wherever possible and tried not to buy what I did not need. One drawback was that I found passing on what was not longer useful to me difficult because I had put so much thought and resources into that item. Also, as consumer products became less expensive, it became harder to resist the deal and frustrating to encounter the reduction in quality. Stepping out of this part of the cycle has been refreshing. What started as looking for vintage Pyrex, sewing notions and aprons has extended into almost everything I buy. Clothing for the family, gardening gloves and a dishwasher cutlery basket!

The small step ladder and the enamel tub holding the the geraniums were both thrifted. Amazingly these tender plants are still thriving outside! In my thrifting adventures I have even found a replacement brass rose for my Haws watering can. I have found that if I am able to buy much of what I might need on a daily basis via thrifting, when I want something more specialized and expensive, I am able to do so. I have also become more aware of the life the things I bring to the thrift store when my family no longer has a use for it. It is a subtle difference but it is making the process of de-cluttering that most of us struggle with just a little bit easier.

Today was a day to clean-up the garden and put it to bed for the winter. I was grateful for the huge help that I had from my mother-in-law in this somewhat daunting task. She helped to cut down the dead foliage from the foliage and filled three more of the pictured yard waste bag. We have three large compost piles but really appreciate the municipal yard waste collection at this time of year. I still need to clean up the vegetable garden, herb garden and the bed adjacent to the compost on one side of the house. By the end of the week I will start to bring some of the tender plants into our three season sun room and spray with insecticidal soap in preparation of bringing them indoors for the winter. I have had varying success with over-wintering geraniums and fuchsias so I will also do a little more research this week. The geraniums here are in a thrifted basket on a curbside find of a chair found after I missed out on these.

I am looking forward to working with these finds from the past week and again, I am thankful for thrifting yet again! I have found more interesting textiles at the thrift store than anywhere else. While great textiles can still be found at select fabric stores, both brick and mortar and online, most of the best fabrics and trims are now directed to the garment industry. I just love the trims here and I am looking forward to remaking the damaged tablecloth on the left into a new apron.

I will likely make tote bags with the drapery and upholstery fabric on the left but I not sure what the lighter weight fabrics on the right will wind up as -I may just need to enjoy them in my stash for awhile.

I know that this scarf is a welcome addition to another stash of mine: my collection of vintage scarves. I was very excited to find this miniature bottle of Je Reviens by Worth. I like to wear this vintage scent in cold weather and it is impossible to find. Apparently it is still available at Harrods but I did not get there this past summer. The little 'made in Italy' framed print made me think of Julie's recent creativity at Jane's Apron. When I first saw it, I thought that the frame would be plastic and that I would try Julie's treatment but now I am kind of liking it with the reproduction of a 18th c. French painting.

When the geraniums are ready to be brought indoors, I have some more cache pots to contain them. I have always been inspired by the Swedish style of lining up a few pots of geraniums at the window to remind us of warmer weather. The opportunity to share my thrifty finds in this blog is also something for which I am thankful. Other blogs are also sharing their finds on Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Blogtoberfest Day 9: Thanksiving

2011-10-09T20:54:00.004-04:00

Much about our Thanksgiving celebrations were the same as usual: the boys sang in the morning's service, we had a light lunch anticipating the feast to come, and family came together celebrating with a traditional meal. There were a few changes this year. Our daughter sang at another church where she has been engaged as a professional chorister and, I can never remember having such warm weather for this holiday! The temperature was 28°C or 82.4°F with a humidex of 31°C or 87.8°F! I really had a challenge to figure out what to wear that looked suitable for Autumn but was not woolly or too warm (no outfit pictures today).

With the sun shining, most people were smiling today and feeling that they had much for which to be thankful. But with these temperatures, I really did not want the oven on for three or four hours so the decision was made to cook the turkey on our gas grill, resulting in a resounding success! Yummy! I made the two types of stuffing separately in two Pyrex casseroles which went in the oven for less than one hour. While the stuffings were in the casserole I made a new (to me) version of pumpkin pie in the lime green Pyrex pie pan that I found Thanksgiving weekend last year. I have a serious allergy to eggs which presents a challenge when baking. We also have gluten intolerance in the house which is also challenging when baking and especially so with the lack of eggs. On previous Thanksgivings I have been unsuccessful in my search on the Internet for a suitable recipe but today's search yielded a winning result: Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pie! It was slightly different than pie made with egg (that I recall) and tastier than those made with tofu. Everyone loved the pie and it was gone in about fifteen minutes.

While I do not expect that we are likely to have such warm weather for Thanksgiving in the future, the other changes were ones with which we can be both happy and thankful.

Blogtoberfest Day 8: More Fashion and Vintage

2011-10-08T21:10:00.005-04:00

As our Indian Summer continues, I have a chance to wear yet another warm weather outfit. This one is particularly special to me as my Mum made and wore it in the 1970's and I liked it then. She made it using a Diane Von Furstenburg cotton knit print. A ready to wear dress using this fabric would likely have been one of her famous wrap dresses but my Mum did not like that style on her. On my head is a Vera scarf that I have owned since the mid-1980's. The Fossil bag was thrifted as were the brown wedge sandals. With the Autumn light and red dress, the tan handbag looks rather reddish but the tan colour is similar to the wedge sandals that my Mum wore with this dress.

I love finding vintage notions that inspire new vintage outfits. Two of my favourite bloggers that come up with beautiful vintage inspired home-sewn wardrobes are Bethany at Bitter Betty Blogs and Casey at Elegant Musings. I am sure if they had found this belt buckle and dress clip (only one I am afraid) they would be showing the finished project with a tutorial which is the direction that I aspire to with this blog. My baby steps have been to post every day and finish up some lingering projects.

A project that I might finish quickly is to improve the look of this hat. The feather on this one appears rather ragged. I am fairly sure that the feather is original to the hat so I plan to add to it rather than remove it. Yesterday, I tried to link to My Romantic Home's Show and Tell Friday and had technical difficulties so I am presenting the link today. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving her in Canada so I hope I can still post after all the planned turkey. With the weather we are having, the plan is to cook the bird on the barbecue!

Blogtoberfest Day 7: Back to Vintage

2011-10-07T20:20:00.004-04:00

With continued summer-like weather, I have been enjoying hanging out freshly laundered tablecloths to dry in the sun and thinking of the al fresco refreshments that could be served with this vintage wire glass holder. Unfortunately, one of the glasses has one piece broken off and is missing its charming cosy. Glue for china does not work on glass. Are there other suggestions? I love the swan pattern and would guess that it is from the 1940's but likely post-war. I will have to ask Barbara at Oodles and Oodles who often showcases vintage glassware on her fabulous blog. The wonderful thing about the blog world is that if you collect something, most likely someone else does too and they usually like sharing pictures and information.

I like to collect vintage purses -well maybe not just vintage, but that is another post! This black crocheted purse has an expanding capped closure. I have seen this closure on bags from the early 20th century but the black crochet body of the purse really suggests war time materials. Is it possibly a homemade bag using earlier hardware? Up-cycling from a different time?

In my collection of purse related items (and vintage ephemera) I have this booklet published in 1945. It has instructions for purses made using similar methods and materials. This is just a photograph of the cover but I may scan some of the pictures for a future post. This ebay link shows some of the pages.

With continued summer temperatures forecast for the rest of the weekend, I need to ponder whether I will make a traditional turkey dinner for Canadian Thanksgiving on Sunday. The forecast suggests that we could even eat outside. Maybe I will use the glass holder (minus the broken glass).

Blogtoberfest Day 6: More Totally Thrifted Wardrobe

2011-10-06T23:07:00.004-04:00

Today has been busy and although I had few thrift finds, my camera battery died after my husband took this picture. For anyone who loves my vintage kitchen finds or things that I have made, fear not those posts are just around the corner. Instead, another fashion post: A linen suit from Talbot's with brown leather belt, also from Talbot's, a blue linen blouse and a Liberty chiffon scarf in my hair all thrifted! The suit and belt were found at my favourite Nearly New Shoppe were the pants and jacket had been separated and the pants were on a $2 rack and I was able to remember seeing them when I was trying on the jacket. I do not remember which thrift stores provided the blouse or scarf but I find both very useful. I love wearing a jacket. If the fit is good, it really pulls a look together and gives flattering definition to my figure: petite with curves. Looking at the photo, I realize that I should shorten the sleeves slightly and I might benefit from some modelling tips. The blouse is sleeveless which is my go to style in the summer. In combination with a jacket, you are usually able to manage any temperature variations that you might encounter. The look inspired by Out of Africa and Grace Kelly in Mogambo has been a recurring theme in my summer wardrobe since an early eighties ad campaign of Ralph Lauren. I have looked for images on Google but have yet to find anything more than the images repeated for his paint line. I wonder if anyone else remembers that campaign, what year it was and who photographed it?

Blogtoberfest Day 5: Butterflies!

2011-10-05T22:03:00.004-04:00

This Fall is full of transitions: My middle son has started highschool, my daughter has started university and my oldest has finished his programme that he has been in since he was six years old. As he is about to turn 21 this month, the public school special needs programme he was in ended at the end of June. Our community does have programmes for adults with special needs but there are not enough and there are very long waiting lists both for spaces in specific places and funding in general. While we are investigating the most suitable options for him, he is home with me. A few days a week we go on outings and to other activities in the community. Every year Carleton University has a Live Butterfly Show in their greenhouses.

This pictures show a butterfly that landed on my son's arm. On landed on my shoulder. There were more people in the greenhouse than he is usually comfortable with but he was very happy. He seemed to enjoy seeing the butterflies flying freely around. I think that we will make a repeat visit with the rest of the family this weekend.

We have been having a last blast of summer weather which has inspired me to continue with my nautical inspiration for my outfit. I wore the same shoes and belt with a thrifted striped T-shirt and H&M linen navy pants (also thrifted -Ottawa does not have an H&M) and a jacket from Coscto with a vintage brooch. I bought it before most of my clothing shopping was second hand but with its neutral colour and cotton lyrca fabric it has stayed a favourite in my wardrobe.

Blogtoberfest Day 4: Tuesday's Totally Thrifted Outfit and a Vintage Casserole

2011-10-04T23:01:00.002-04:00

While I do not consider myself a fashion blogger, I feel the need to share my love of a totally thrifted outfit. The exquisitely made purse was found at the Salvation Army and inside is discretly marked in gold letters, Holt Renfrew, Made in France. I seem to recall that silk scarf tied to the purse was also found at the Sally Ann. The Talbots double-knit dress was fom Value Village and appears to have been unworn before finding a spot in my closet. The belt was a birthday gift from my daughter who has developed a discerning thrifting eye. The shoes which are right on trend with a cork wedge heel were from my favourite Nearly New Shoppe. What fun to be 'in fashion' mixing vintage with modern in the periennally stylish nautical look with it all thrifted!

Even before I started to collect vintage Pyrex, there were a number of vintage cookbooks in my rather large collection of cookbooks. I am sure that many people have large cookbook collections which occaisionally are thinned out with the discards being donated to the thrift store. The 1968 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Casserole Cookbook is one that suggests practical ideas rather than just curiosities. In the cooking for a crowd section is a recipe simply titled Chicken Bake on p.132. As I had cooked chicken waiting to be eaten already in the fridge, I thought that I would give it a try. The original recipe feeds 24 so I halved the recipe and still have two meals. (In this picture, already minus two portions in a Gold Acron Space Saver.)The Recipe follows:

Chicken Bake
1 pound medium noodles
1 cup butter or margine
7 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 10 3/4oz. cans chicken gravy (5 cups)
8 cups diced cooked chikcken
1/4 cup chopped pimento
Bread Crumb Topper

Cook noodles in la large amount of boiling salted water until tender; drain. Add 1/4 cup of butter and 1 cup of the milk. In kettle melt remaining 3/4 cup butter. Blend in flour, 1 teaspon salt, and white pepper. Add remaining 6 cups milk all at once. Cook quickly, stirring constantly, till mixture thickens and bubbles. Add chicken gravy, diced chicken, pimiento and moodles; mix. Spread mixture into two 13x9x2-inch baking dishes. Cover and bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
Bread Crumb Topper
Combine 1 cup fine dry bread crumbs with 3 tablespoons melted butter; blend in 4 ounces process American cheese, Shredded (1 cup). Sprinkle atop. Bake 10 minutes. Serves 24.

I made several alterations besides halving the quantities. I used gluten-free noodles that I slightly under-cooked. I reduced by half the proportion of butter and used 2 tablespoons of potato starch instead of all-purpose flour. I also used homemade gravy also made with potato starch and used two smaller casserole dishes. The topping was made with gluten-free bread crumbs and shredded old cheddar cheese and casserole was a success!

Blogtoberfest: Day 3 Recent Thrifty Finds

2011-10-03T22:13:00.006-04:00

I have wanted to rejoin Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Mondays for quite some time and this Blogtoberfest commitment is allowing me to do so. Sharing my thrifting finds is one of the pleasures of blogging and thrifting and I love reading about other peoples finds almost as much as finding my own treasures. With all the travel we experienced this summer, I was unable to do much garage sale shopping and have yet to go to an estate sale. So most of my searching is at Thrift Stores and I visit many of the same ones frequently. The red Pyrex mixing bowl is in pretty good shape and will eventually be handed over to my daughter for her emerging collection of Pyrex Primary. The floral Le Sportsac was found at Value Village and I am sure that I will put it to good use. The lace and trims were found at another Value Village and are most definitely vintage. Most are still on there original cards and were made in England. Part of the thrifting thrill is imagining what I might make with them.

This tin was found at what was likely the last garage sale of the season. I love crinoline girls, silhouettes and the colouration is so autumnal. I wish that I knew how I could get the adhesive tape residue without damaging the paint on the tin. I estimate that it comes from the late 1940's. I also found a dresser scarf, to be shown in a future blog post, with embroidered crinoline girls made by one of the ladies holding the sale. She made it when she was still a girl and was completely unsentimental about selling it at a garage sale and resisted the other lady's suggestion of giving it to a grandchild.

The potato ricer was another find at this sale. I am a sucker for kitchenalia especially anything with red handles but I am running out of good display space in my kitchen. A white, footed milk-glass bowl was another find at the sale.

My favourite thrifting spot has been the Nearly New Shop at the Cathedral. Many of my best clothes and accessories have come from this shop. The shop gets lovely donations from the parish and an upscale consignment shop in the city. The scarf is my second Liberty scarf found in this shop. Liberty is know for pattern and colour and their scarves are highly desirable. I have been meaning to look into two other Church thrift stores in the the city and happened to be in the neighborhood of one the other day where I found the hat stand! For a lady who loves hats, this is a must and has been on my wish list for quite a long time. I can't wait to make a purse with the plastic handles. I intend to use the beaded belt as a purse strap but I think that my daughter would like to take ownership.

Hop over to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday here.

Blogtoberfest: Day 2

2011-10-02T19:38:00.005-04:00

A big part of our family's life has, for a number of years, been our children's involvement in the Cathedral Choirs. Our daughter was in the Girl's Choir for over six years and is now singing in a professional choir in our city. This past summer, the Choir of Men and Boys toured France and England. This is the second overseas tour for the boys and me. This photo was taken on our first day in Monet's Garden in Giverney, France after an overnight flight from Ottawa.

Today was the first service of the new choir year with the commissioning of new choristers to positions of leadership. My older boy is now the oldest boy in the choir and today was made a Prefect. Leadership, both musical and social, is taken very seriously by the Choir and gives boys the opportunity grow in ways not easily found in today's world.

Today was a two service day with a pot-luck lunch between services. There were many tasty offerings available for the choristers and their families. By popular request, I made Quick Chicken Korma from one of my favourite Madhur Jaffrey cookbooks: Quick and Easy Indian Cooking.

With it being the Eve of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the second service was a blessing for the animals. Dogs, cats, a rabbit, a chinchilla, two guinea pigs, a budgie and even a turtle were blessed by the priests and serenaded by music. We brought our two cats last year but decided against it this year. Even though I had my camera with me, with all the excitement, I forgot to get a photo of the vintage hat I wore with my vintage inspired outfit.

Blogtoberfest 2011

2011-10-01T22:24:00.002-04:00

Summer travels are now memories, school has started and some major transitions have occurred. In order to get back in the blog saddle, I have decided to accept the challenge to create a post every day in October which is the idea behind Blogtoberfest . It has be months since I have posted anything so this will be a radical change in behaviour. Some days I may have to just share a vintage goodie or show and work in project but the main idea is to share what gives us joy and makes us tick and get back in the habit of writing. Our grandmothers wrote in household journals and diaries and wrote letters to loved ones but the modern equivalent must surely be the blog. Join in the fun and leave a comment or make your own pledge.

Wearing vintage hats

2011-06-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

I live a modern life that moves along at a pretty rapid pace but when I change my hat I can appreciate it from a slightly different perspective.

vintage hats, a set on Flickr.

Always busy but there is always time for hats, especially the vintage ones!

New Thrifted Things to Share

2011-01-30T21:47:00.012-05:00

Part of the excitement of thrifting is finding things that you, or someone you care about, collect. I collect all three of the items shown here: vintage tins, handbags and hats. There is something about designs lithographed on tins that just grabs my attention and affection. This one has designs based on the illustration from the Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady by Edith Holden. I have seen the book a few times while thrifting and knew it to be a favourite of my maternal Grandmother. Edith Holden was much influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement and is a part of a long line of female illustrators that include Kate Greenaway, Beatrix Potter and Cicely Mary Baker. Unlike her commercial work, the diary was written and illustrated for her own personal satisfaction and she had no intention that it would ever be published. Could she have know what pleasure it would bring to future generations? Even though I have owned it for over twenty years, the decorating book based on her seasonal observations gets pulled off the shelf from time to time as it is not as dated as other such books from the same period. It is funny how clothing trends are already embracing the late eighties and early nineties as vintage looks to be repeated while most of the decor trends from the same period are now reviled! I definitely need to find the original Diary for my library in my thrifting forays and I would love to find some of the Noritake China.

This black suede handbag was made in the Republic of Ireland for the Simpson's department store chain most likely in the early sixties. Like Eaton's, Simpson's is no longer; both department stores had venerable histories in this country. The Bay, another iconic company in Canada, is no longer under Canadian ownership. Thrifting definitely inspires one to think about more than just the things one finds. This purse is in like new condition and its quality representative of the goods carried by Simpson's.

The bag has little brass feet and is just roomy enough for many of the extras that the modern woman carries that her vintage sisters would not have dreamed about. Mme. Dariaux says about suede: "No longer elegant for dressy women's shoes, but excellent for sports; black suede (or, better still, antelope) is smart in gloves or a dressy handbag with a jeweller's clasp; washable suede gloves, like the Kislav line, are practical but rather heavy." It is presently my go-to bag!
This hat is a charming little confection made in England out of rayon(labelled viscose) velvet. Anna, my sister in millinery, felt it to be very "eighties winter wedding" which worked very well for a double service choir day last weekend on one of this winter's coldest days. Pictured with the hat are three pieces of jewellery: the red clip earrings are unsigned, the china flower brooch is marked Staffordshire, and the rhinestones hoops are another pair of Sherman's. I think that I may be acquiring too many pieces of costume jewellery and I am working on a solution...stay posted.

My love of lithographed tin extends to trays as well as tea and biscuit tins. I know more than one person who might covet this chinoiserie tray by Worcester Ware. The condition is great and still has the label with care instructions on the back. It is not my only piece made by this company so I will need to share more in future posts. All of the items I am sharing this week are things that I collect and possibly have too many.

Of all of my collections, my Pyrex is the most difficult to store. Much of what I have, I use regularly but I keep acquiring more! Fortunately, 'pyrexia' (not the fever) seems to be infectious and my Mum has caught it from me. This square baker is from the Verde pattern. For Christmas, I sent her two of the Bake Serve Store Casseroles in Verde (link shows Butterfly Gold). Now that I have shared this dish with the blogosphere, I will wrap it up and send it to my Mum. To share more thrifty treasure go to Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

Orphans

2011-01-17T16:23:00.012-05:00

For me, part of the appeal of thirfting is rescuing useful or beautiful items from being forgotten or thrown away. I have many treasure but some of these "diamonds in the rough" are rougher than others. I like to call these "orphans" and I have found them in places other than thrift stores: One of our cats is from the humane society and quite a few pieces of furniture have been curbside finds. Also, many of my house plants have come to me as orphans; they are the marked down African violets or orchids that are not full of blooms and nobody else seems to want them. In the world of Pyrex collectors, red dishes from the early "primary sets" are much sought after. This little red fridgie has definitely seen better days with its lack of a lid and obvious dishwasher damage.

Priced at $1.99, I figure that it was worth taking a chance on this cutie. After washing it, I applied vegetable oil and let it sit for a few hours before giving it a little buff. Significant improvement, I would say and certainly a serviceable piece of Pyrex. I hope that the photos show the difference. While I have put away my overtly Christmas linen, I cannot bring myself to put away the wintery patterns such as snowflakes.

This little cream jug was also found in my latest thrifting foray. I have been collecting this type of "utility china" for a while now. It started with just one, but, of course, has grown. It is marked Royal Art Pottery and you can find similar lovelies on Kitschen Pink's Utility China flickr stream.

These earrings were also found on my weekend thrift mission. The box does not present them in an inviting way. They were an unclaimed auction item at the Salvation Army and I was able to purchase them for $10.00. That is more than I usually pay for costume jewellery at the thrift store but I was sure that I was getting a good deal. I did! They are signed Sherman. The overall design of the piece is what usually catches my eye and then I consider its condition. Now that I have a large number of pieces I am starting to consider resale value and whether a piece is signed can effect its value.

These are the other finds of the weekend: the rhinestone earrings and cameo brooch are signed Coro, the round earrings are Monet and the lovebirds brooch is signed Gerry. Sorry that the contrast in the photo is not good enough to show the detail of jewellery but I really wanted to share the cute mitts that I also found last weekend.

Enjoy all the other thrifty finds at Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday

Back at Last

2011-01-11T20:56:00.009-05:00

It has been almost a year since my last post. I do hope that I can be more regular in my updates this year; One of my resolutions, really! Things are much the same, with family life dominated by activity. Music and dance fill the days while I try to accomplish the essential domestic activities of food preparation and homekeeping. I still squeeze creative pursuits and treasure hunting (thrifting. mostly) whenever the opportunity presents itself, but I have missed sharing it with the world.
A recent find are these embroidered leather gloves, which will be perfect for warmer weather. Gloves seem to make a bit of a comeback in fashion every few years. There were some beautiful winter ones available last winter, as well as this season. In the climate in which I live, gloves are absolutely essential for almost half of the year. I believe it is a good policy to make what is necessary an asset. Of course, these gloves are not winter gloves but come from a time when a lady did not leave her home without hat and gloves. I will find use for these gloves, as even in late Spring, here in Ottawa, we may have days that vary widely in temperature, varying from early morning frosts to afternoon temperatures exceeding 20 degrees Celsius.

The practise of wearing gloves comes pretty naturally to me: I wear them for protection from the elements, while in the garden, while washing the dishes, etc. and, as can be seen in this photo, it is a life-long habit. (More about this photo can be found here.)In my favourite style bible, Elegance, Mme. Dariaux states "Glove etiquette is not at all as complicated as many woman believe. In general, gloves should always be worn on the street but never indoors, except at the theatre, at a formal reception, or a ball. They should always be removed when eating, even if it is no more than a cocktail canape. But a lady never takes off her gloves in order to shake hands (unless, of course, they are very soiled gardening or riding gloves) and furthermore, she never needs to apologize for keeping them on." This last sentence, I hope applies to me, when I keep my gloves on when going into stores, where and when I might have cold hands, or when I wish to avoid touching door knobs and shopping carts (I am not a germophob but a certain amount of caution seems sensible). More information on wearing gloves can be found on my favourite vintage fashion blog, Couture Allure's Friday Charm School and another post in the same series of posts.

When I found these gloves, I also purchased this English JAJ Pyrex casserole. This is a pattern that I have never seen and will need to do some research to date it; I am thinking late 1960's. I hope to join the Pyrex Collective and benefit by all their enthusiasm and knowledge. I could spend hours searching through the Pyrex Love Flickr stream to see if others have posted pictures of the same pattern. This piece is quite large and will be perfect for casseroles and storing leftovers. With all the activity in this household, meal planning has included planning for leftovers(or making an extra meal for another day). The colourful vintage Pyrex, as other Pyrexics know, brings much pleasure to the everyday activities of preparing, serving and storing food.
I love how both vintage finds can so easily slip back into use in our modern world.

My Creative Space: Stuff Done, More to Do and When Do I Do It?

2010-03-11T11:39:00.008-05:00

The dish garden is done despite the lack of supplies. Using my make do and mend hat, I decided that a little bit of Styrofoam packing peanuts should work at the bottom of the planter. Like the commercially produced dish gardens that we have received as gifts, this planter does not have drainage holes and I was not sure anything was needed at the bottom except that it seemed a little deep for it all to be soil especially since I think most indoor potted plants like to feel slightly pot bound. When I started this little project I also found myself without moss or decorative stones yet there are stones in the photo but I did not get back in my van to procure them. Procrastination had yet again saved the day! A few years ago when we installed a large climber in the back yard for our children, we investigated the possible solutions for a safe surface under the structure and concluded that 18 inches of pea gravel was the safest, most practical and economical option. The closest gravel and soil company gave us a Ziploc bag sample of their smallest gravel but it was not actually pea gravel and we went with another local company. We had intended to return the sample but never got around to that so it has instead been used to create a top dressing in the dish garden.

With all the musical and dance activities my children have been involved in I am inclined to adopt the kind of garden activities in last week's creative space. All the driving around and the arrival of a gift that I won from another blog's giveaway made me think back to the crafting I did as a teenager. The Teddy Bear Book comes from the early eighties when hand crafted bears were gaining in popularity. I also received these lovely sheets of paper with rubber stamped vintage images which reminded me of the teddy bear images that I used to draw during boring classes in high school.

This is a photo of my family in 1983 in front of our stall at the local Christmas Fair. Most of the things we sold were made by my Mum who spent hours making fabric boxes and frames and Cabbage Patch Doll clothes. I made hand-embroidered lavender sachets using recycled fabrics (I had similar interests even back then)with free-hand designs and baked pounds of Scotch Shortbread! I think that I might also have made some hand drawn items as well. I was a busy almost straight A student, serious music student and battled less than optimal health and when I look back, I cannot believe my productivity.

Here is one of my teddy bear sketches. I had created a series of early twentieth century bears named Arthur and Lavender who went on all sorts of outings and adventures. I believe that here they are off to the opera. When I was pregnant with Number 1, I thought that I would take time to bring out the sketch pad and trying an improve on my adolescent doodles but of course that never happened. Finding time to create was almost impossible and needed to be directed in a more practical manner.

I will share more of what I won in Amy's soon and would like to remind everyone that there is still time to enter my giveaway. Most importantly, a nudge here to check out all the fabulous creativity hosted by Kirsty at her inspiring blog.

Last of the Single Digits!

2010-03-09T22:26:00.003-05:00

Number 4 turned nine today which means this is his last year in the single digits. I am using a photo taken during our trip to England last summer as most of the photos taken of him lately have him dramatically hamming it up with very goofy expressions. Everyone woke up cheered by his excitement this morning and shared a large English style breakfast with sausages and potatoes before he went off to school. In the afternoon, Numbers 2 and 3 helped me to make our usual birthday cake recipe into cupcakes to share with the boys at the choir before their rehearsal this evening. Number 3 had a great day at school and revelled in the attention of his choir singing Happy Birthday! The Choir sang an Evensong at St.Georges Cathedral in Kingston on Sunday and is preparing to participate in a performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion this coming Sunday. Along with a birthday and musical activities, Number 4 also had his first ballet exam this week and is pretty sure that he did a good job. All this activity and still only in the single digits. My blog is also a single digit and you can still enter my giveaway for another week.

My Creative Space: Desperate to Garden

2010-03-03T22:22:00.004-05:00

The new Volkswagen Beetles have a bud vase; our minivan has a holder for small tropicals. Actually, the cup holder was the method of transport home for a new plant to add to my indoor garden. The objective is the creation of a new dish garden. We have received several dish gardens as gifts, but invariably, the plants grow at uneven rates, or one of them fails to thrive. To remedy the situation, I have bought a few new plants, fresh potting soil and cleaned up one of the previously used containers.

While I know winter will soon be over, seeing blogs from locations where Spring has already sprung, or speaking with my Mum who lives in British Columbia have made me desperate to get my hands dirty and work in the garden. It is my hope that these indoor substitutes will hold me over until the soil warms up enough to work. These are only the before pictures of my dish garden. Like many projects, I thought I was prepared, but ultimately forgot to get any moss or top dressing of pebbles as well as gravel or other material to provide enough drainage. Has anyone tried using styrofoam packing peanuts at the botton of container plantings? Just like I am frustrated by snow still on the ground, I am frustrated by forgetting essential materials. Maybe I will finish tomorrow...arggh!

Other creative spaces at Kristy's blog may have completed projects.

My Not So Secret Cache

2010-03-02T11:43:00.018-05:00

Living with a long winter and loving flowers the way I do, it is absolutely essential that I have a large collection of house plants, especially flowering ones. I also occasionally spoil myself with cut flowers but I find that flowering plants tend to last longer and require slightly less maintenance to keep them looking good. This post is not about indoor gardening but about how to complete the look. Most flowering plants can be bought at the grocery store and are usually (relatively) locally grown in greenhouses but their plastic pots are dressed in a colourful foil or plastic sleeve which might be acceptable presentation in the store but does not work for me in my home. Just as a fashionable outfit requires the right shoes and purse (I would say hat too) to complete the look, potted plants need the perfect cache pot to show the plant to its best advantage. The cache pots available along side the plants at the grocery store are usually uninspired and expensive so this is where the beauty of thrifting comes into play.

x;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XZP8y19cHeg/S41FpfEo7tI/AAAAAAAAAig/T3w-khT1wDA/s320/thrifted+cache+023.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5444084103578709714" />For some reason there often seem to be a plethora of beautiful cache pots in the various thrift stores that I frequent. Many of them are vintage and beautifully made. I can also rely on quite a few Ikea examples which always provides a good selection of colours and simple designs. The hob nail milk glass makes a perfect match with the pink hyacinth and even improves the supermarket metal cache pot behind it. The pair of pots (in the photo above) holding the daffodils are just the perfect shade of light aqua, are marked West Germany and are lovely counter to the yellow of the mini daffs.

I know that many people force bulbs very successfully but it is not yet something that I have tackled. The crocuses were in the planter a few weeks ago and now they have died back ready for me to put them in the garden. The bulbs can be quite short-lived indoors in the winter as a house is just a little too warm for them. I hope that the spent bulbs will be able to naturalize our flower beds and eventually bloom again. I like the idea of stored potential in a bulb and that something that has given me mid-winter pleasure will have a second life in the garden.

Bulbs are not the only flowering plant I like in my indoor garden. African violets never fail to tempt me with their many varieties of leaf and options of blossom colour. I am particularly drawn to the sugared quality that the flowers have. I am not so much an aficionado as to belong to a club and propagate them but I do find the ignored orphan varietals that turn up on the supermarket shelves impossible to resist. When I have nursed them back to health they get to enjoy a prominent location in a beautiful cache pot like this mid-century Toperhof Keramik made in former East Germany.

As the days and nights are getting to be almost equal, the blooms on this Christmas Cactus are about to open. It is looking lovely in this sweet pot that was made in Japan for this Los Angeles based company for known for Head vases than cache pots or other ceramics. I can't believe that I turned down my Grandma's lovely examples when she was distributing some her things to her granddaughters because I was fascinated by them as a child. I was especially partial to the elaborate hats found on the glamourous Head vase ladies.

To be desirable to me, the pots do not need to be marked or even vintage but to be of an appealing colour or shape. This aqua one is unmarked but a lovely colour and form that compliments the white hyacinth. It also happens to be a perfect foil against the lovely vintage tablecloth with pussywillows and birds(!) and a fabulous squarish basket in the same shade of aqua. I have other cache pots that I have already blogged about and certainly will find more. Just like shoes, hats, and purses, one can never have too many!

A Giveaway to Celebrate my Blog's First Year!

2010-03-01T13:48:00.008-05:00

The best way to celebrate Thoroughly Modern Vintage's anniversary is with a give away for which I have two thrifted items to send off to two lucky recipients. The first item is this lovely vintage brooch with enamelled white heather and lilac-coloured stones. It might be signed (with the stamp very smudged) or it might be a copy (?) or repaired version of an Exquisite brooch as it is slightly different on the back from the one in the link and the one that is already in my collection. What ever its provenance, it will add a delightful vintage touch to many an outfit and it is just lovely to look at!

My second item available is this wonderful cookbook in absolutely mint condition! I have the newer printing but when I found this 1996 version at the thrift store I knew that I needed to pass it on! I cook from the recipes in this book at least once a week and have mentioned the book in a previous post. Many of the recipes do require a pressure cooker to be truly quick, but I believe this piece of equipment from our grandmothers' kitchen is an excellent addition to our modern kitchens (in its updated form). I love how this book gives me the option to make healthy, quick and flavourful dishes even on days when I have little time to be in the kitchen.

Like Birthdays and New Years, anniversaries are a chance to look back at the past year and reflect. I have noticed there were long periods of time when I was not posting and I would prefer not to let that happen again! I started this blog to share things that I find, things that inspire me and what I make and I find a lot of pleasure in sharing. That pleasure is increased exponentially when I have feedback in the form of comments, so, to all who have commented, Thank-you! For readers who have not commented, please don't be so shy!

If you are interested in winning the brooch or the book, please leave a comment. If you do not have a blogger profile (with an email or blog) and do not wish to create one, please leave me an email address so that I will be able to contact you if you are the winner. Also, let me know if you would prefer the brooch or the book but if you cannot decide, I understand and could put you in both draws! I plan to do the draw on March 17, so that leaves everyone just over two weeks to enter.

I look forward to reading your comments. Thank you for your interest in my posts.

My Creative Space: Vintage Loveliness and a Question

2010-02-24T21:24:00.005-05:00

My Aunt has all sorts of vintage treasures; stuff that she has saved over the years. She especially loves pretty things and shares generously. Her inventiveness has been to my benefit as she used some vintage wall paper to wrap a birthday gift for my Mum last year and my Mum passed it on to me. I thought about how I wanted to use this scrap of 1950's loveliness and realized that I wanted to see it regularly. After some consideration I decided that I wanted to use it for a bulletin board but a little further pondering made me sure that I did not want to litter it with pin-holes. With those parameters, I decided that it would be best used as a facing for a magnetic board.

I soon set about looking for something I could make into a magnetic board with the wallpaper. I kept my eyes out for months in the thrift store: I knew that I had seen steel magnet boards that might work for this project. Alas, the thrifting fairies were eluding me and I found nothing suitable! I started to look in the hardware stores for a cookie sheet of the right size made of a magnetic metal. No luck! Finally I went to Wal-mart and found a magnetic cork board which at 17" square was not quite the size that I had in mind but was the closest yet. Life has interfered with my crafting lately so I did not get to the project right away. Last Friday, when the Salvation Army was having their fifty per cent off sale, I finally found what I knew was out there: An Ikea steel magnet board 16" x 23" for $4.99 minus 50%.

So now I have a few questions. First, I believe it better to use more length than width of the wall paper's design so I think that the Ikea board would work best even though I would have preferred it to be slightly wider. Does anyone have another take on this? The second question is which adhesive should I use to hold the paper to the steel (or maybe cork)? I do not expect anyone to pick the Gorilla Glue (I just love the name) but the other four are likely candidates. Wednesday is usually a day that I can accomplish a little in the studio but today my husband and I went to the funeral of one his colleagues who had been a founding member of Canada's National Arts Centre Orchestra and well-loved by all. I just have not had the oomph to get to the project today but that has allowed me to ask the questions that I have yet to work out. I am hoping that all the creative people sharing on Kristy's blog can give me some guidance.

An Education

2010-02-24T10:10:00.012-05:00

Last night, my husband and I went to see this film which we have wanted to see for a while. Somehow over the holiday and through the surgery period we just could not make time to go to a theatre where it was playing. Living in the suburbs gives me a large house and garden but sometimes keeps us away from more urban pursuits. Fortunately, we live fairly close to a second run theatre that is housed in that suburban scourge, the shopping mall and last night was Toonie Tuesday so the frugal me was happy (unfortunately the seats are not as comfortable as the multiplex cinemas and the people that were in the theatre talked!). If you love vintage, especially early 1960's, you will not be disappointed by this film. The handbag I have pictured here is from the late fifties or maybe the early sixties and fits right in with the style of the film.

The charming young actress Carey Mulligan plays the lead as a young school girl destined for Oxford but questioning the reason for such educational ambitions. It could be said that this story, it is based on the memoir of journalist Lynn Barber, puts the finger right on that point when young women started to think about careers beyond being a teacher, nurse, secretary, and, of course, wife and mother. The society in general was supportive of the idea but was as ambiguous about putting it into practise as it might still be. Having the right kind of education was seen as the goal for the parents of the film's protagonist which would not have been unusual for many couples whose children where born near the end of the war. They knew what label to put on it, they maybe just did not know quite why.

The handbag is labelled Lodix England -Handbags of Taste. The only online information I have located is other vintage handbags for sale and nothing about the company that made them. I find this particularly sad as it means we are losing our society's identity as manufacturers and becoming one of sales people and consumers. The label says "Handbags of Taste" which it certainly is and when it was originally purchased it no doubt was intended to last (which it has) and bought for its quality. Interestingly, unlike today, the label is on the inside whereas today the labels are emblazoned on the outside for everyone to see.

The young Miss Mulligan has been called: "the new Audrey Hepburn". As an huge fan of Miss Hepburn, I find this kind of label unfortunate as it would be impossibly overwhelming to try and live up to and negates the talent and charm of this newcomer as well as that of the original. The clothing style of the film, her slim figure and on-screen presence do suggest similarities but I think that this is not a comparison any young actress of integrity would welcome. Just as Audrey knew, I hope that Carey knows that it is what is inside that counts not the outer shell that we see at first glance.

For me, what I really love about the handbag is the design and quality of the inside of the bag. It allows me to carry almost all that I need when I am out of the house with the exception of indoor shoes and a book or magazine. The pockets are useful and orderly, the original mirror is still in its pocket, the suede is of beautiful quality and has been well cared for. From the few other bags by the same make available online, I believe that it is missing a coin purse but that does not detract from my appreciation of this vintage handbag.

Thrifting and some thoughts

2010-02-21T22:01:00.006-05:00

Going to the thrift stores can seem to be more than slightly addictive. For someone who likes to make things it offers all sorts of potential materials to alter or work with. Often I find raw materials: lengths of fabric, ric-rack and seam-binding and buttons. Other times I find things to be transformed: worn-out purses with hardware to be re-used, shrunken sweaters, hats, damaged linens and broken jewellery. This habit that started when looking for raw materials has transformed the way I shop and how I look at things. I have always been cautious about how I spend money while still having an eye for luxury and quality. When I was looking for sweaters to felt, I started to notice sweaters that suited me and were in beautiful condition. I also started to find other articles of clothing that suited me and before long I was looking to the thrift store first for most of my wardrobe. I have often been able to find very good quality labels, like this cardigan from Holt Renfrew and try out colours I do not usually wear, like this turquoise.

Although I have on occasion been surprised by what I find, the best clothes tend to come from specific stores. One of my favourite sources is the Nearly New Shoppe at the Cathedral. This is were I found this Liberty of London and it is not the first Liberty item I have purchased there. I have also found some of my beautiful vintage handbags and costume jewellery that I will feature in a future post. Many of the donations made to this charity shop are made by people who bought quality items that were made to have lasting value. With a few exceptions, this is not now the norm in the retail world and is a refreshing advantage when it can still be found in the thrifting world.

Along with the Liberty print shirt, I found two silk shells, one black and one winter white, that will be good under jackets, a black and white gingham shirt in silk and another old purse to add to my collection. At some point soon I would like to actually model the garments that I thrift like my favourite thrifty fashion blogger, Missa. First I need to figure out how use a tripod or a mirror and then maybe I could grow a few inches and lose a few pounds (and about ten years). I am kidding about the second part but I am starting to think a lot about a vintage diet. After teaching pilates in the fitness world for ten years and living the ballet world for much of my childhood, I approach the idea of a diet with many reservations. That said, I have been thinking a lot about how our society eats now as compared to how our grandparents ate and I think that there is a need for further examination. It would seem that I am not the only one to think about this as Queens of Vintage has wondered this and the Imperial War Museum in London is featuring an exhibition on the Ministry of Food. While I would not say that I am fat, I no longer fit into some of my favourite vintage finds or some of my favourite clothes from the past. In an house with three young boys, it would seem likely that I am simply eating a little too much for a forty-something woman whose favourite physical activities do not involve snow and sub-zero temperatures.
Just as I am not inclined to make resolutions at New Year's, I will not declare that I am on a vintage diet but I am certainly going to think a little more about easy it is to eat a chocolate bar and how I really do not need to eat the whole thing to enjoy it. I do hope to bring some war ration recipes to the blog and with time, I may be able to use the lovely vintage buttons on a jacket for a slightly smaller me.

My Creative Space: Make Do and Mend

2010-02-18T22:32:00.005-05:00

My Mother once commented that I must lie awake at night dreaming about projects to do. I have to admit that she was right. Of course, sometimes even when we dream of doing big things with our creative energies life has an habit of getting in the way and our creative muscle goes unflexed. This is where we need to find pocket size projects that fulfill that need but that we can fit into slivers of time. We also may need to redefine our creativity. Make do and mend is an old idea that really had its day during the Second World War when shortages made it an absolute necessity. The concept of scarcity is foreign now but we can choose to apply some of the vintage strategies it demanded.

If our Grandmothers stained or damaged a garment, most of them could not afford to toss and replace the item as so many people do today. Clothing was far more expensive relative to income and was chosen with care for longevity in a way that few of us consider now. This may be why there are beautiful vintage clothes available sixty or seventy years after they were made. I usually wear an apron to protect the clothes I own but on rare occasions it is hanging on the hook in the kitchen instead of being usefully worn by me. The sweater pictured here was being worn by me when I splattered myself with a bleach solution. It should have been a 10 per cent solution which would not have removed colour from the fabric when I immediately tried to rinse it out but it was not. I was left with a sweater I really liked that had some horrible bleached out spots at its hem. I tried to re-dye the area with a 'sharpie' pen but the colour was not intense enough. This is where my habit of lying in bed thinking up projects came in handy and I decided that maybe black lace appliques would cover the offending marks attractively. I did need to purchase the appliques but they are the kind of thing you might see at the thrift store. Covering the bleach marks took very little hand-sewing and I decided to balance the effect by placing an applique on the shoulder. While I was happy with how it looked, I further embellished the appliques with some seed beads that had been purchased for another project.

The relative speed and success of the sweater mend has inspired another quick repair: one of the pictured bobbie pins had lost the marquise-shaped stone. I have a nail polish of the same amethyst shade as the stone and layered a few coats in the setting. Now the missing stone is hardly noticeable and I am not too upset by its loss. It is just a good thing that it is not one of my favourite vintage pins with a lost stone.

Be inspired by all the other creative spaces on Kristy's blog.

Shrove Tuesday and Vintage Aprons

2010-02-16T22:48:00.007-05:00

My kids love Shrove Tuesday (or Pancake Day as they sometimes refer to it). They are not alone in loving pancakes and having them for dinner is extra special. Shrove Tuesday celebrations can be communal and have more recently included connections to the Catholic traditions of Mardi Gras. The Cathedral where the children sing holds such a supper but yet again our family activities did not mesh with the event. We usually prepare two batches of pancakes (one egg-free for me) and have them with maple syrup and sausages (mild Italian are not traditional but are preferred). I thought that since this post is mostly about food it would be the perfect opportunity to share some recently acquired vintage aprons. They were all found on the same day, at the same thrift store at fifty per cent off. I have found fewer and fewer decent aprons lately and the prices have been going up so findinf so many good ones on sale was a special event. This one appears to be home-made and uses an eye-bending print. You certainly would not want a whole garment made out of this fabric but an apron is just fine.

This one is also hand-made and uses french seams to join the panels. I love print as it reminds me of delftware. My pancake recipe is very basic: 1-2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 Tbsp. melted butter or oil, 2 cups of flour, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt. Whisk the liquids together, mix the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients and stir out most of the lumps. Pour out batter onto a med-hot griddle or skillet (buttered or oiled depending on how much seasoning there is). When the bubbles in each cake have popped and the edges have dried, flip the pancakes. Finish cooking and serve hot!

I really love this apron especially for the deep pockets and the orange seam binding; it also appears to be hand-made. The pockets go all the way to the bottom of the apron and would be perfect for house-keeping supplies. The print suggests the 1950's to me. When I made the second batch of pancakes I increased the milk to 1 3/4 cups and added a powdered egg-replacer or you could use the usual amount of milk and use a flax seed and water egg substitute. In the past I have used other milks(rice, soy, etc.) with success and have even used water as my liquid (pancakes are a bland food, but water makes them too bland in my opinion). I chose to make my pancakes buckwheat and substituted 1 3/4 cups light buckwheat flour and 1/4 cup chickpea flour for the all-purpose flour used for the rest of the family. Do not be discouraged by the taste of uncooked bean flour in the batter. Just don't taste it after all you would not taste the batter if it has raw eggs would you? I also added 1/4 tsp. xanthan gum as it tends to improve all gluten-free baking.

This apron will go with my other gingham smocked and chicken scratch aprons. It looks like it has had a pretty hard life but I couldn't leave it on the rack when I was bringing home all the others. I have other green gingham aprons but not the darker shade which works well with the black embroidery thread navy ric-rack. Pancakes were a weekend ritual when I was growing up and one of the few foods that my Dad had learned to make. We have continued that tradition and Number 3 makes excellent pancakes on his own. Our weekend mornings have tended to be busy so the tradition has waned a little but Shrove Tuesday should help that.

My daughter really liked this apron and insisted that I buy it! She loves the high waisted short skirts that are in fashion right now and this apron mirrors that trend even though I suspect it is almost as old as me. Our daughter likes to bake so a full bib apron is more practical for her but maybe she will want to take this apron when she sets up her own home. The batter for pancakes can have many variations but it is universally thicker than the batter for crepes. Sour milk and butter milk make excellent pancakes and require a little more baking soda. I have had pancakes made with over-ripe banana puree, rolled oats, chocolate chips and even left-over egg nog (before my egg allergy). It really does not need to be a special day to have pancakes for dinner; they can work very well when you have nothing else planned and not a lot of time. The ingredients are most likely in your kitchen and substitutions work surprisingly well.

Modern Vintage Valentine's Hat

2010-02-14T21:46:00.013-05:00

Anyone reading more than a few posts on my blog would have noticed how much I love flowers! The inventive beauty of nature is an inspiration to all who seek a creative life. Flowers are traditional gift for St. Valentine's Day and this beautiful potted cyclamen from my husband melted my heart. He also treated me by preparing the family's dinner. Last evening two members of the family performed in two separate concerts: our daughter sang with her choir and my husband conducted a concert of mostly romantic French music with the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra and flute soloist, Joanna G'Froerer. Despite my concerns about my daughter's recovery, I could not be at two places at once and brought the boys to see their Dad conduct. Both concerts were enjoyed by all who performed and attended.

The hat on which I was working in my last post was ready to be worn this morning to the morning's service at the Cathedral. While it is not required to wear a hat at our church, a few of us choir Mums enjoy the opportunity for some headgear! I was hoping to achieve an early 1950's look for my reworking of my thrift store find with a subtle (or not so subtle) nod to my love of hearts. I tried a more vintage hair style but it worked better with my hair down and slightly wavy(I would have liked to have time to do more of a pin curl wave).

I have a small collection of hat pins, one of which I used to keep the cap securely on my head as it was a bit windy this morning. Even with the hat pin, I needed to re-pin the hat after I hung up my coat but at least I did not lose my hat. The felt had a fair amount of body that was increased by the scalloped border of hearts. Although it may be somewhat season specific, I am quite happy with the results.

Today was also a debut for the lovely vintage brooch I received for my birthday from my Mum and a newly thrifted skirt. The colours in the skirt seem to complement the lovely illustrations on the cover of Laura Stoddart's All For Love which was a gift for my romantic husband. This lovely book is already being enjoyed by both of us and I highly recommend it to all; even the more cynical among us will find something that makes their heartstrings ring. I wish us all a little romance in every day.

My Creative Space: Silk Purse from a Sow's Ear?

2010-02-11T00:00:00.002-05:00

I love hats, always have and I sure I always will, so I get excited when I find them at the thrift store. This one was too small for me but I bought it anyway because I have a friend who wears more(?) hats that I do and has slightly smaller hat size. The hat was too small for her so then what do I do with it? I am sure some might re-donate it but I just looked it as a creative challenge. I love the colour and it is good quality wool felt. I am in the middle of a Valentine's Day idea that I hope my family prefers to my fascintator. All will be revealed in a few days! Check out all the creative successes found at Kristy's blog.

A Sense of Accomplishment

2010-02-10T17:08:00.007-05:00

A lot has been accomplished lately in the Thoroughly Modern Vintage household but not the kinds of things that are easily tangible. The most important event has been the successful spinal fusion surgery for our daughter and parenting/nursing care that has allowed her to have such a speedy recovery. The medical care that she received at the hospital was excellent but she needed twenty-four hour comfort care from her parents. This was perfectly reasonable considering the seriousness of her surgery, and, of course, the resultant pain, but surprised us slightly as she is usually such an independent girl. Fortunately, my husband had time off of work and my sister was visiting so someone was able to be with our daughter at the hospital and the boys at home at all times. She is at home now and recovering well. Meanwhile, I am trying to catch up on the domestic front and actually feel like I am accomplishing something!

Ironing is often the first chore to slide when things get busy but pressing a dozen shirts (10 for my husband and 2 for me) gave me a quantifiable sense of ac- complishment. I actually enjoy ironing. The smell of steam on the cloth and eliminating creases gives me more than a little pleasure. I am especially enjoying my fresh, new cover which looks very pretty in the sitting area of our bedroom.

The enjoyment while ironing was augmented by the sun streaming in the room and the lovely company of Clara pictured above. Isn't it funny how the small things we accomplish help us to put our life back on an even keel?

Taking stock

2010-01-08T10:30:00.007-05:00

For many people, this point in January could mean resolutions made and possibly discarded. I am not inclined to make resolutions because of the New Year (and certainly not make them public if I did) but rather to take an inventory of the past year: what was accomplished, what I learned, what I prefer not to repeat and what I especially enjoyed. This blog is not yet a year old, but it has been a way of sharing some of this past year although maybe not quite as much as I had intended.

The year has been full of many rich experiences for the family as well as a few challenges. December was very much a culmination of some of the most time consuming family activities. Numbers 3 and 4 performed with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company's The Nutcracker. Daddy was playing in the pit but had permission to watch them for the first act of one show. They were both cast as "party boys" in the scene where Clara receives the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve and then as "mounties" during the battle scene with the Rat King in this Canadian version of the ballet. We loved how they looked in their vintage style of little boys clothes. There were seven performances with the weekend having matinee and evening shows. A week later, the boys were singing the Messiah with the Choir of Men and Boys of Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa followed by Nine Lessons and Carols on Dec. 20 and Christmas Eve mid-night mass as well as Christmas morning and New Year's Day.

Our daughter had a very busy month singing both with her duties a head girl of the Girls Choir of Christ Church Cathedral and in her debut singing solo with Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra in their annual Christmas By Candlelight Concert. Here she is in the gown made by me and the beautiful pashmina that Daddy bought for her. She also enjoys the benefits of thrifting and was wearing beautiful Italian-made gold leather sandals found by my Mum and me during one of our trips this past fall. She sang beautifully and we were very proud: her father playing in the orchestra and me and her siblings, grandparents and aunt in the audience.

The dress came together easily but still required a lot of my time to complete. There was even a last minute change of mind about the silk roses on the bodice which were removed late in the afternoon before the concert. I was very pleased to have my beautiful sewing space to work in.
The next day, my husband conducted his colleagues in the National Arts Centre Orchestra for their annual fundraising Christmas Fanfair Concert that raises money for the local food bank and the Snowsuit Fund which provides much needed winter clothing for children in the city. The concert was a great success with his colleagues enjoying his leadership as much as the audience enjoyed the music.

After Christmas, we hosted all the families of the Men and Boys Choir for a dinner party. Thanks to thrifting, I had enough cutlery and cloth napkins for sixty people. The menu was quite vintage: stuffed mushroom caps, vegetables with ranch dip, hummous and pita (not so vintage but very popular with my boys), cream of cauliflower soup and peppery cheddar crisps, baby greens tossed in a simple Italian dressing, baked ham, scalloped potatoes, green and yellow beans with baby carrots and home-made rolls, trifle, seasonal cookies and mincemeat tarts. I wore my high heels, pearls and vintage apron and felt Julia supporting my role as hostess.

With all my thrifting, love of clothes and vintage collecting I like to have opportunities to wear some favourites. One of the choir Moms made a special request for some of the hat wearing ladies to wear a great hat on Christmas Eve. This was the perfect opportunity to wear a 1950's hat that I found this past summer. The photo was taken at about 1:30 am after the midnight mass so my french roll was starting to fall out and was getting a little tired. I wish that we had taken pictures at the church so that I could share all the other hats worn that evening. If I were to have made a resolution, it would be to share so much of what I enjoy like the many bloggers that inspire me. I was specifically inspired by a meme at Curly Pops. I had intended to go month by month with links back to specific posts but I think I would rather share some of my favourite memories as the new year unfolds.

My Creative Space: Performance Anxiety

2009-12-09T23:21:00.003-05:00

In my sewing studio is a half finished evening gown for my daughter. I am not yet panicking, but it needs to be ready for her performance on Saturday. Even though this performance is a big deal for her, she does not seem to be too anxious in anticipation nor am I worried for her. My anxiety does not even lie in what is left to do or the fact that despite my years of experience in dressmaking, I have yet to insert an invisible zipper. The source of anxiety is the fact that this dress is the first outfit that I have made for her since she was a small child and I hope that it will live up to her expectations. The silk dupioni is lovely to work with and I will get an opportunity to use some of my vintage boning that I picked up at the Fabric Flea market (not called for in the pattern but always a good idea for a gown). I am trying take the time to enjoy the process but with all the activities at this time of year not making mistakes is becoming my biggest priority.
Enjoy all the creativity of the season over at Kristy's blog

My Creative Space: What is Waiting on my Ironing Board

2009-11-26T13:43:00.003-05:00

My sewing room has welcomed a new tool: a Rowenta Pro Iron! My trusty T-fal is still working but I was getting a little worried as it gets used a lot. The T-fal is fairly light weight which is perfect for garment care. Sewing can benefit from a heavier iron that produces a lot of steam. I have had a few irons in my years of home keeping and have been disappointed with some of them. Many of the more recent models do not seem to get hot enough and almost all of them have an auto shut-off. The Professional model Rowenta is designed for sewers with one of its best features being its lack of auto shut-off. It gets nice and hot and produces a lot of steam. Unfortunately, so far all I have had time to use it for is ironing some of my vintage linen tablecloths like this rosy one. It works very well for linen but its weight would deter me from using it for all my ironing.

The reason for the new iron's lack of use in the sewing room is due to the combination of my children's many activities and the effect of certain flu symptoms dancing through the family. This virus seems to come back to haunt you just when you think that you are feeling better. While I have been under the weather, I have been very thankful for a well organized bedside table well stocked with all you need when needing extra rest: favourite books and magazines, carafe and glass of water, tissues, lovely porcelain flower-shaped tea light, pen holder and basket with lip balm, hand cream and a thermometer. Extra pillows, a reading shawl and my lap top allow me to be inspired by all of the creativity out in blog land.

Elegance and Beauty

2009-11-03T22:04:00.009-05:00

Materialistic is not a word that I would use to describe myself, but I love collecting and surrounding myself with beauty and I love to collect books. This blog has given me reason to record and share things that I find to be beautiful. With illness in the family, I have missed the opportunity to photograph all of Autumn's glory so will instead share a picture of one of the columbines that I planted this summer. Despite feeling sick, yesterday I ventured out to bring a friend a birthday gift: the book DV by Diana Vreeland. Books can be risky gifts but sometimes you know when it suits the person to a tee. My friend is as close as any person I know to possessing the legendary dramatic style that was Mrs. Vreeland. Of course, when I gave her the book I started to think of other books that I have about beauty and style icons and guides to achieving beauty and elegance in life. One of those books is one that I have read but do not possess: A Guide to Elegance -For Every Woman Who Wants to Be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux. Mme Dariaux, who was the directrice at Nina Ricci, made a substantial impact on me when I read my Mum's copy as a teen and led me to be more inclined to look to some of old Hollywood's stars more than my contemporaries for inspiration. The book also inspired some rather fun fiction that I read in the past year also called Elegance
An early influence for me, as well as legions of others, was Audrey Hepburn and one of my favourite books on her is Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit written with love by her son. I enjoy its insight into her humanity that shines so beautifully in her films and her work with UNICEF. My admiration for her led me to What Would Audrey Do? which I found to be full of useful ways to add elegance and grace to daily life.
Recently, I was able to find a lovely book about another public figure who embodied elegance and beauty: Grace Kelly - A Life in Pictures. I was thrilled to find this book at a second hand book store and makes me eager to review all of her fabulous film roles -good for a quiet Fall evening in! I was reminded of Grace Kelly when I found this vintage train case at the thrift store. It is in beautiful condition made in England by Morton of London. Unfortunately my Internet sleuthing has not given me information about the company. The train case is smaller than others that I have seen but that makes it a possible to use as a handbag. What can be held in the train case suggests what is found in Caroline Cox's How to Be Adored - A Girl's Guide to Hollywood Glamour. A small delicious tome, it includes information on charm, etiquette and personality tips as well as creating a glamorous image. All of the books mentioned require us to concentrate on our personalities to find elegance and style like these beautiful icons of the past. If these women can inspire us to greater humanity, beauty will be found.

Hallowe'en creativity

2009-10-31T23:24:00.007-04:00

Number four wanted me to call this post creepy crafting but I am not sure that it is the best description of our pumpkin at the front door. My husband gets really crafty about once a year and it is with his jack-o-lantern masterpieces. Some years he has made more and they have always been with design detail contributed by the children. Some years he has been on tour with the orchestra he plays in or has a concert in the evening but this year he is home and available for fun. As we have many small children in our neighborhood it is much better to have silly pumpkins than scary ones.

Number three and number four in costume: a grime reaper and Harry Potter. I feel a little bit slack these days in the costume department as these were purchased although Number four is wearing his choir uniform's shirt and tie and a knitted vest from Nanan. Their older siblings had more creative home-made costumes: Pingu, Little Bo-Peep, knight(indoor -tabard, leggings), queen (would let me say she was a princess), fairy, Legolas(elf from Lord of the Rings), and Dark Rider (also from Lord of the Rings). I did make Number three a pretty good bat costume but when you can find some costumes for $20 or less and you know that they have lasting play value it can be pretty difficult to direct crafting time to costumes.

My creative contribution to Hallowe'en this year was a batch of chocolate cupcakes. I tried out edible decals for some of the decoration but found them somewhat difficult to work with and not quite as impressive as the packaging's photographs. I am glad that they were bought at a discount because I know that I will not be trying them again. I made these on Friday night which was a good thing as Number one started having flu symptoms later in the evening and I am feeling them now too. Number two went to a theatre screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a few of her friends and seems to have had fun.

When I was a kid, after Christmas, Hallowe'en was my favourite celebration and it was not because of the candy. I loved getting dressed up and can remember all of my costumes from the age of three. By the time I was ten, I was making them myself. At number four's age, I have distinct memories of the eerie feeling that ghost stories, decorations and even the wind blowing in the trees evoked and I am pretty sure that my children have felt that too. I hope that the richness of this kind of inner life continues to feed them their whole lives.

Fabric Flea market and Recent Thrifts

2009-10-28T23:02:00.008-04:00

Most sewers have abundant stashes of fabric! After a time, we sometimes wonder why we bought so much of it. The organizers of a sale that benefits a public school in Ottawa's urban core have capitalized on this knowledge. The Annual Fabric Flea market brings together sewers (and other fibre crafters) to sell off what they don't want and buy what they do. I was very restrained and bought only two lengths of fabric but my self-control was challenged when it came to vintage sewing notions. I think that I was most excited by the purse frame (on the left hand side of the photo) and the printed bias binding was also a score. I love the packaging of the mending tape and the zip lock bag contains seven fabric covered belt buckle kits. I am looking forward to making a holiday apron with the fabric. Presently, I am drawn to birds in design.

In this photo, the most exciting thing for me is the book. The Bishop Method of Clothing Construction is a book that my Mum has. I remember reading it in her sewing room when I was first learning to sew and I feel it really completes my vintage sewing library. These books were written when the average woman had sewing skills and many women who wanted well-fitted, fashionable clothes would make themselves most of their wardrobes. I will likely scan some of the information to share but another blogger reviews the book here. The second length of fabric I purchased is five metres of shell pink silk. It is 115cm wide so there are lots of possibilities with this fabric. The lady selling it also had the suit pattern that she had planned on using with the silk. Maybe it is because I was making similar patterns in the eighties, but I had no inclination to purchase her pattern (I have difficulty thinking the eighties are vintage). The graphics on the box of boning may have been what prompted me to purchase it but my Mum said that it would be of better quality that most of what you buy now. The best part of this year's flea market was definitely that I went with my favourite sewing buddy, my Mum.

At a community wide garage sale I found this vintage sewing table. It needed a little cleaning up and I need to find a small screw that will work for the little knob waiting for it in one of the drawers. The rounded sides of the table are bins to store your handwork and have hinged lids on the table top. The crocheted lace was thrifted and the orchid was a gift from my Mum-lucky me!

The two lamps picture here on the buffet were purchased from the same vendor later on in the sale. My Mum thinks that they are probably from the late forties. They cast a beautiful light in the room and I cannot wait for their debut at a party.

My Creative Space: Autumnal Inspirations

2009-10-22T23:15:00.006-04:00

Autumn is an exciting time in our household: two of our children have birthdays, the concert season starts up again and cooler temperatures inspire many of the indoor pursuits that make a house a home. While I am not presently playing any concerts, I have benefited as if I had. The beautiful bouquet of flowers pictured here was presented to my husband at a concert he played on Monday night and I get to enjoy them!

Today is my eldest child's nineteenth birthday and it somehow seems a bigger deal than many of his other birthdays. I am walking around somewhat in shock that I am old enough to have a nineteen year old child. It really seems like only yesterday we were driving to the hospital with Mozart's Duo Concertante playing on the car stereo. I remember waking up from a nap and having my water break, then leisurely taking a shower and then eating some toast and tea. Number One was born a few short hours later and our whole world changed. Every body's life changes when they have a baby but ours changed differently than most as we soon discovered that our new son had Down Syndrome. This is not a post about disability but inspiration. I like to think that my son's special needs have inspired me to be creative even if creative means figuring out how to laugh at a situation rather than cry. I have certainly needed to find time for myself so I could make things and I feel fortunate that my temperament was accustomed to doing so. Because there are many things that Number One cannot do, I have learned to see more of what is there (in the world) than what is not and relish the little things like fall flowers and chocolate cake. The birthday cake I made today is our standard recipe using the Moosewood Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe. The whole family enjoyed about half of it after singing Happy Birthday and really the day did not seem so shocking after all.

Here is another Autumnal tablecloth that is inspiring me to keep the cake keeper in use. See what others are inspired to create at Kristy's blog

Thankful for Family Thrifting

2009-10-14T22:56:00.009-04:00

This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada and I have a lot to be thankful for: a beautiful (relatively) healthy family, a comfortable home and (almost) enough time to be creative. I am also thankful for being part of a family that possesses the thrifting gene. My Mum has been visiting from Victoria for the last few weeks and we have enjoyed more than a few visits to my local haunts. We have had a great time and found some real treasures.
I think that we spotted this Buxton jewellery box at the same time. Mum treated me, insisting that all my vintage costume jewellery needed a home. She also put hours in cleaning and polishing the leather. I have thoroughly vacuumed the insides and just need to replace some of the satin lining as it was previously removed in two sections.
I plan on posting more about the vintage jewellery in future. I love wearing it and always receive many compliments when I do. I now have enough of a collection that when I see a piece I have to really love it or know it to be a collectors piece before I purchase it. This weekend I will go to the Fabric Flea Market with my Mum to look for vintage sewing treasures.

My Creative Space or How Inspiration can prevent you from blogging

2009-10-08T14:51:00.005-04:00

The last few months has been full of bursting at the seams inspiration: travel, music, family life, gardening, food, thrift finds, and creating little bits of beauty in and around the home. Many memories have been created and although I have taken the photographs to document them, I have yet to share through this blog. I have barely even kept up with my favourite blogs that inspired me to start to write about all that feeds me creatively. While I can know that my trip to England interrupted my habit of posting, I never would have expected to be away from it for so long. I suppose it is like a fitness routine where the more workouts you miss, the harder it is to get back into the routine. It is very easy for other aspects of life to fill up the time that it takes to create a post and while I enjoyed the break I missed the sharing.
I cannot possibly catch up all in one post so I thought that I would just share something small. The picture above is from our second day in England when we where punting on the River Cam. This is just one of the beautiful sites along the river with plants growing right out of the walls. We were in Cambridge for two weeks in July and saw many people dressed for weddings at the various Chapels and Churches in the city. Many of the guests were wearing fascinators. Two weeks ago, I made my own version to wear to the wedding of good friends. I had altered her dress to fit her including hemming it which meant that I had a few feet of tulle about six inches wide. Using a thrifted headband (the colour of the dress I planned on wearing) and a lone vintage Sherman earring and other scraps in my stash, I fashioned this little trifle. I think that I was the only one wearing any headgear or a hat but I enjoyed wearing it anyway.

Enjoy what everyone else is doing in there creative spaces at Kristy's blog.

My Creative Space: Patience or four more sleeps

2009-06-24T22:08:00.018-04:00

Patience is a great skill for creative people to acquire. Sometimes we just need to trust that all the work and preparation will lead us to our desired outcome especially when we are not sure what the end product will be. Years of gardening has nurtured the skill in me. You would not bother to plant something without the belief that it will grow but the speed and habit of that growth are never absolutely known. This peony is a case in point. This is our ninth summer in this house with much of the present garden already established by the previous owners of the house. The garden possesses another peony just outside our dining room window that has produced a profusion of blossoms faithfully every summer. There was this other plant that we were fairly sure was another peony but we had yet to see it bloom. The condition for peonies were being met in its location so it was somewhat baffling that it had never bloomed and we could have given up on it. I decided that I would give it one more year in its spot before I would move it. This year we have this beautiful solitary bloom. Definitely worth the wait!

I am pulled away from actually making stuff this week: I am processing an unfruitful appointment with a specialist about a chronic health problem, my daughter got a body cast today that will stay on for six weeks this summer to help correct a spinal problem and I am preparing for the trip to England with the Choir. Of course, I am still planning new projects and am always doings some of the mental preparations for a multitude of plans. Active creativity this week is to be found problem solving and making family meals to suit our sudden heat wave. I like to prepare food that is seasonal and the ingredients pictured here make a salad that I wait all year long for. I love fresh strawberries but would never dream of buying them out of season. We have some developing plants in our veggie patch but not enough for this salad yet. The recipe for the dressing is simple: 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 3 Tbsp. oil, 3 Tbsp. water, 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 tsp. sesame seeds, 1 tsp. Poppy, 1/4 tsp. paprika, 1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 chopped scallion. Whisk the dressing up and toss with spinach, sliced strawberries, and almonds or sunflower seeds. The two smaller pyrex dishes are recent thrifts and go with the Butter print bowl that I already have. I will keep my eyes open for the lids and other pieces of refrigerator sets. The cheerful prints and colours make me understand why there are obsessive collectors of pyrex.

I could not believe that I found this Emma Bridgewater Biscuit tin for $1.99 with the sugar tin inside it for free. I am sure that whoever donated the tins did not understand how desirable Emma Bridgewater is. Tucked in behind is a lovely camisole from Jacob and a blue enamelled cast iron dutch oven that I believe to be Descoware as it is marked made in Belgium and I have done a little research as to its shape and colour. I am particularly excited about this find and feel it will clean up brilliantly. More about it in a future post except to say that a enamelled cast iron dutch oven has been on my wish list for quite a long time and I really had never expected that I would find it in a preferred colour and at thrift prices.

The photo here is of the thyme carpet starting to grow in the spaces of some rather ugly cement pavers on the east side of our house. I started planting the space between the pavers with thyme three years ago with replanting when some of the plants did not survive the winter. We now have a beautiful destination in the garden that smells delicious where once there was an eyesore. The patience gardening has taught me has allowed me to know to wait for things our family uses until I can find them second-hand and give them a second life. In parenting, I know that even when an expected chore is not always initiated by my children, it is right for me to continue expect that it eventually will be.

I need this kind of patience when I tell myself there are only 4 more (three when publishing this post) until I leave with my two younger boys for their choir trip to England. I know that I will experience many inspiring sites and sounds that will fill my creative space for a long time. For other creative spaces, check out all the other posts linked on Kristy's blog

The Latest Thrifts

2009-06-22T22:30:00.010-04:00

I hope all the fathers in your life had a great day. We had a fairly quiet day that started with me bringing my husband his morning coffee in bed. He usually does it for me so it was the least I could do. Number 3 brought him freshly made waffles with butter, maple syrup and maple flakes on them. He often makes pancakes on the weekend but this was done with no ceremony and was a bit of a surprise. I did not think to take a picture so I have put in one of my husband's favourite flowers in our garden, the poppy!

When I walk into a thrift store, I make sure I cover all my essentials that include aprons and linens, cookbooks, china, pyrex, sewing supplies and brooches. I also always look at the carts the staff are using to restock the shelves. That is where I found this two volume cookbook from Gourmet Magazine. My Mum has a slightly older(I think) version of this set. This printing is still in its presentation box and the books still have their protective plastic dust jackets. My daughter found the Christmas menu tucked inside. It is from the Carleton Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Ottawa. We have lived in Ottawa since 1990 and I do not remember there being a Four Seasons Hotel in the city while we have lived here. When we arrived in Ottawa, we were shocked to discover how few good restaurants we could find and how expensive the good ones were. I would have tried any restaurant at a Four Seasons Hotel at that time. A few years before my Nanan (maternal grandmother) treated my mother and myself to one of the best dinners I have ever eaten at the Four Seasons Vancouver. Ottawa has improved markedly in availability of good food since the nineties but we are not quite as interested in eating out these days and tend to stick with a few favourites. The tea towel has a fibre content label stating it is made of linen and cotton in German.

I could not resist this apron. I do not believe it to be vintage which is a usual criteria but it is charming. Its construction suggests it may have been commercially probably for tourists. I am not sure if it is Russian with her headdress being a Kokoshnik or whether she is wearing an Ukrainian Vinok. Does anyone have an opinion? She would be perfect for wearing while making holiday treats.

I love finding sewing and crafting books. I really have not been to many garage sales this year but an ad at the grocery store mentioned a sale with sewing stuff! That was enough to get me out. I could not resist some of the retro kitsch in these titles as I am slightly nostalgic about the rock painting and candle making of my childhood. The sewing books are very useful but this sale just got better and better.

Twenty-five cents each for these still very current patterns. The top pattens might even entice my daughter to learn to sew. The sale got even better.

There was fabric! Lots of fabric. The four pieces on the left are Laura Ashley and the middle print in greens and purple is Daisy Kingdom. The pink print should work well to line a bag but the blue piece at the back right of the photo is three metres of silk. I think I hear a early '60s sheath dress calling out for this fabric. Maybe I even have a vintage pattern that I will not have to re size in order to make up such a dress. I forgot to photograph the more utilitarian fabric lengths I bought. It was the only sale I went to and sometimes one is more than enough: I found great stuff and I met two sisters who were very friendly and enjoy sewing as much as I do.

Many others also love garage sales. Check out what they are sharing at Rhoda's blog

Six (un)important things I love

2009-06-19T13:41:00.017-04:00

I have been tagged by Katherine with the following rules:
Pick 6 unimportant things you love
Mention & link to the person who tagged you
Tag 6 of your favourite bloggers to play along
(don’t forget to comment on their blog to let them know they’ve been tagged!)

Well I have changed the title a little bit because everything I love is important to me even if it is not that important in the grand scheme of things. Apart from life's essentials anything can be important to someone. I am not including my family in this list because they are essential and come before sleeping and eating if needs be. After that:

1.Music
For me music has inspired how I look at and respond to the world and even how I think. As a little girl, music made me dance and my days were filled with song. I loved standing by the piano at ballet class with my hand on the sound board. I was able to identify songs and ballet music and at a very early age was fascinated by anyone with the ability to play an instrument. It should not be surprising that most of my formal education prepared me to be a flutist. This path was derailed by a serious hand injury and my Father's early death but was not completely abandoned. I am married to a full-time musician who played violin professionally for the first twenty years of our relationship and has added the viola for the past two. He also conducts a community orchestra that I usually play in.
With his multiple disabilities, Number 1 does not seriously study an instrument but has benefitted from music therapy and enjoys experimenting with a variety of instruments. He is happiest when listening to music. Number 2 started to play the 'cello at four years old and became skilled enough to be learning some of the Bach Suites for solo 'cello a few years ago. She started to play the french horn at eleven in her school band and it has become her principal instrument and of course, she loves to sing and sings well. Number 3 started the violin at six and endured his lessons for a year. He was never satisfied with how it sounded and asked to learn to play the harp at eight. This past year he also started percussion in the school band and singing in the Choir of Men and Boys. Number 4 has yet to start formal instrument training. We have suggested violin or piano as we have those instruments and the ideas have been met with no sustained interest. He heartily enjoys singing in the choir and has expressed the desire to play the trumpet. Number 4 will likely start lessons on the cornet (related but slightly different than the trumpet) when we return from the choir's trip to England.
While I grew up listening to and still enjoy almost all types of music, I inevitably have favourites. If I found myself on a desert island with an old fashioned phonograph (desert island -no electricity or batteries) and one record to last me all my days, I would pick one with a Mahler symphony on one side (maybe number 4 or 5) and Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs on the other. I have done a little you-tube surfing but have yet to come up with the specific recordings that I might want.

2. Books
Books, and more importantly reading have been (along with music) a salvation in my life. As a child, I suffered from chronic poor health and experienced more than a little social isolation. Both of these situations were made manageable by the reading of books. The physical act of looking at books engaged me long before I could read and some of my earlier memories involve the illustrations in my favourite volumes. We lived in a remote community but my house had a rich library and books were often treasured gifts. Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House series was a childhood favourite that helped me connect to my own Grandmother and develop my love of history. By the eighth grade I became a lifelong fan of Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy. I still do not quite understand my love of Hardy at that age but the Austen makes sense. I am not capable of picking a favourite but a small library of favourites contains many of the classics of English Literature, some more contemporary fiction in addition to as many art, design and other reference books as I can afford and store.

3. Flowers and plants
For beauty (and practicality), plants are the winners. I cannot really describe my appreciation of and for flowers and other plants. Working beside my Mother in her greenhouse as a school-age child contributed to it as did observing my Father keeping bees but words cannot fully express my admiration for the plant kingdom.

4. Useful things with history
Aprons, tablecloths, kitchen utensils, buttons, sewing notions, travelling trunks, pillowcases, utilitarian furniture -difficult to specify all but if it was a useful object that shows its age and could be used as originally designed or repurposed I want to rescue it and find it a home. A careful line needs to be walked here because I could wind up with a pile of junk. My husband requires me to state a very strong case for said object and such scrutiny usually leads to something pleasing in the end.

5. Tools for creating My sewing studio, sewing machine,fabrics, notions,my batterie de cuisine, my laptop, camera and everything else involved in the creative process delights my senses and sparks ideas for new projects. For me,whether it is mending kid's clothes, making a meal, or working on a long dreamed about art piece, a creative life is essential and the correct tools help make that possible.

6. Sparkle with patina
This last thing is a little newer to me than the other (un)important things. I have always tended to wear very little jewelry and have slightly understated clothes but in the last few years I have often added a vintage brooch to whatever outfit or outer-wear I might have on. I have a few new pieces made in a vintage style that I use for winter coats, etc. but I really enjoy the vintage brooches best. I like that I am giving new life to something that was previously enjoyed and they just make me smile when I look at them.
Here is just a few of my collection.

I would like to see what these other bloggers love:
Fine Hand
Little Lovelies
Tweed Thoughts
Two Pink Possums
Thrifted Treasure
Fuzzy Dragons

My Creative Space: Out and about

2009-06-17T17:35:00.023-04:00

Sometimes the need to be creative takes a back seat to the creative needs of other family members and lately that seems to be the case for me. In addition to all the winding up of activities, this family did a little travelling this past weekend. Numbers 3 and 4 dance but being boys they do not have a lot of male company in their classes. Last Saturday, No.3 had an opportunity to change that for a few hours when he auditioned for this production. Along with about three dozen other boys he got to put himself through his paces with others his age. He would now like to try taking some hip-hop and tap classes as well as his ballet and stage classes and he made a new friend from near London, Ontario. He is pretty sure that he will not get a call back because there were a few boys who were really advanced that were asked to stay a little longer and he is just happy to have had the opportunity to audition.

While Number 3 was at his audition, the rest of the family decided to have a picnic lunch in a nearby park. Adjacent to the park is a popular destination for Toronto families through many generations. Within this site there is a museum that tells some of the history of the area and of the immigrant experience in Toronto. We enjoyed meeting the volunteer interpreter Kay and her story. I took lots of pictures of the buildings and plants which I will put up on my flickr account. I was quite taken with this mule form of sedums.

The whole neighborhood of Cabbagetown is made of beautifully restored nineteenth century small houses or cottages. I took many pictures of all the little individually architectural details with this one very finished.

The ones I like the most show a little of their age.

Does this look like these chairs are on the curb? I was not sure and I did not have the room in the van but I was sure tempted! I have wanted some of these for awhile so maybe they will show up closer to home. My family was groaning that I was taking a picture but you find inspiration where you find it which leads to what I spotted in ritzy Rosedale.

A pink garage! I love the whimsy of this scheme but its locale reminds me that wealth can help when it comes to eccentric expression. We have a deep, lipstick pink front door but I not sure that candy pink would work in our suburban neighborhood but the ivy across the roof line might.

After the audition, the whole family did the quintessential Toronto tourist experience and went up the CN tower. We chose not to go up the additional Sky Pod as it was expensive enough just going to the observation deck. The view of the city is spectacular and certainly changed from when I ate lunch in the restaurant as a teenager in 1982. The restaurant is much fancier than when I ate there so long ago although my meal of Salisbury Steak was Canadian Haute Cuisine at the time. We chose not to feed our family a dinner at elevated prices and found an Indian restaurant nearby which was more appreciated with more down to earth prices. (Sorry for all the bad puns!)

So after getting cosy with the public sculpture, we hopped in the van to start our long drive home. While this was the farthest away day trip we would try, the kids have proven to do well with road-trips which has inspired me to think of some new destinations.

For creative spaces closer to home spend some time travelling through Kristy's blog.

My Creative Space: Where my mind would rather be!

2009-06-11T22:12:00.011-04:00

As we are presently working on our taxes for self-employed income which requires some creativity but not the kind you share, I thought that I would post about something more creative. Behold the puppet theatre that I made for No. 4. It is photographed in my sewing studio because the playroom is still suffering from the studio make-over (had to put the stuff somewhere) and the addition of a drum set. The theatre was a Christmas present that was not too difficult or expensive to make. The challenge was coming up with a design. I wanted to make something light enough for a child to be able to move yet strong enough to be used regularly.

Cardboard makes up the form and shape of the theatre. The kids had previously received an Ikea cardboard puppet theatre that had issues with stability and durability. I created the size and shape I wanted out of cardboard which I then stapled to one inch pine strapping to re-enforce its form. Using spray tack, I applied polyester batting to the panels and then used the same spray tack to hold the fabric. I wrapped the fabric around the frames and stapled into the wood. All three panels were created this way with the central one being larger and having the opening which I re-enforced with 1/2 inch strapping. The hardware for the curtain was installed before upholstering the centre panel. The panels were attached using four hinges and the staples were covered by hot-glueing decorative tape around the frame as shown.

The fun part was the decorative trims and the curtain. The printed fabric and the curtain fabric were both in my stash but the trims had to be purchased. Remember to have a bowl of ice water handy when using the hot-glue! Now sit back and watch your children entertain you, puppets optional.

I will be distracted from helping my husband finish the taxes by all the creative spaces at Kristy's blog.

Thrifty Treasures

2009-06-08T23:50:00.023-04:00

On my list of must finds has been a Liberty of London printed blouse. Last week I spotted one when I popped into the Nearly New Shop of Christ Church Cathedral and discovered that everything in the shop was fifty per cent off. My husband found a sport shirt and I found a beautiful old handkerchief and a silk square in a beautiful icy blue. Before Christmas, I found a beautiful brown patent leather Ferragamo purse and a brown printed Liberty silk scarf so I knew that this was a location with potential.

On this occasion I also found a Kasper jacket. As a student of fashion history, I have been aware of the designer for a long time with his designs being in the Vogue Patterns catalogue years. This particular jacket seems to be like many 'designer' clothes in that it is just an off-the-rack item with a designer's label sewn in but it does fit me well and it is pink!

The Liberty blouse also came with a skirt and shirt jacket. They are slightly faded compared to the blouse and the styling is fairly dated (or too old for me as my daughter said) so I think the parts are slated for a reworking. I am not a big label chaser but the quality of Liberty fabrics is well known and the beauty of the prints is almost matchless. Liberty of London is definitely a place I want to visit when I am in England with the choir. This was definitely my thrifting high of the week but I was also able to make another thrift store visit and some Saturday Garage Sale finds.

I occasionally find hand potted pieces and have a preference for blue glazes. Here is one that caught my eye shown here in our family room with Lily of the valley from the garden. The glaze matches the fruit bowl we use in the kitchen so I can see that this will be used frequently. The other photo shows another cache pot which is one of my recent thrifting obsessions. It is sitting on a new, thrifted linen skirt which combines my favourite blues with a light brown and should prove a versatile addition to my wardrobe.

Another cache pot, this one being made in West Germany with an apron in blue. Have others noticed how we often find items in themes or colours without intending to. The blue apron is beautifully handmade and if you click on the picture to enlarge it you can find the perfectly matched pocket. Sometimes the shorter stitch length used in some home sewing can create an obviously homemade look which is not the case in this apron.

Saturday's garage sale finds included some Ikea storage containers and rail system spotted by No. 3 with plans for its use for his art supplies. We used the same system in my recent sewing room makeover and it is very reasonably priced but he bought it for $2. He is already becoming quite good at finding good bargains and enjoys it like me. He just needs a little more experience in figuring out what we will actually use.

I am a sucker for vintage office supplies, so this mail scale was an exciting find. It does seem odd to me that an item (dated 1982)from the time I was in high school is vintage but I am sure that I will encounter such vintage items again. I certainly remember the postal rates of the time and remember with fondness the letters I received from my long distance boyfriend of the time. I had No. 3 study the scale for a while to figure out what it was and within a minute he had it even though the scales at the post office now are nothing like this one.

I found these jars and the carafe when I went back to pick-up a wood and cor-plast Ikea wardrobe with the van. I will use for summer storage of the snowsuits and parkas. The jars and carafe were free!!! Sometimes the best deals are the things that others have passed over. The jars will likely be used for food storage. With a family of six, I buy a lot of food stuff in bulk through a natural food buying club. It is less expensive and avoids excessive packaging. The carafe still had the tag on it and will allow us to make more than one pot for entertaining. There is also a vintage jar chopper. I already have one so I am not sure if I will keep it.

I love to share all my thrifted and garage sale finds and I have found other bloggers who like to do the same at Rhoda's blog where many other are sharing their treasures.

Clicking my heels to the Limestone City

2009-06-06T21:46:00.019-04:00

Yesterday I went with my boys, a few other Moms, and the rest of the choir to Kingston for a concert at St. George's Cathedral.On the shores of Lake Ontario, Kingston is an historic city famous for its limestone buildings. Unfortunately for sightseeing, our trip was brief and focused on the concert. While the boys were rehearsing and accustoming themselves to the beautiful acoustics of the Cathedral, I went for a little walk with some other Moms. Many of the interesting boutiques were closed but we did find a thrift store! The March of Dimes has their ERA Modern Vintage store right downtown. Apparently the store was once a new designers and vintage store and then just a vintage store. It now seems to have standard "boutique" thrift store stock with maybe a little more than average vintage.

First I found the Laura Ashley Balloon blind and then a 70's blouse pattern. My Mum has been updating my childhood room as a more serviceable guest room. She has maintained the pink and green colour scheme and has used predominantly Laura Ashley fabrics for a quilt top she started over twenty years ago. In previous thrifting I have found other Laura Ashley pink and green and I am sure that she will find this piece useful and, priced at $2.00, I could not leave it there. The blue blouse on the pattern's lower right corner is something I desperately wanted when I was about ten years old. I think it was called a handkerchief blouse and seem to remember my Mum making one for me somewhat reluctantly. Finding these items was fun but the best was yet to come. One of the Moms found a very flattering dress and while she was trying it on, I revisited the small section of shoes. I have actually found a few pairs of thrifted shoes lately which seems far more unlikely than finding garments. I was totally intrigued with these shoes but at a size 8 1/2 AA they were both too long and too narrow for what I usually buy. When I remembered reading recently that vintage shoes are smaller than the same size would be now, I tried them on. Who knew there is vanity sizing in shoes!

These shoes fit! This is good because they are lamé which would not stretch if they were too tight. So my inner Dorothy felt right at home clicking her silver slippers in the Limestone City. (As a child I read all the Oz books and found the ruby slippers in the movies a little upsetting). The young woman at the cash seemed enthused that I was already wearing vintage (bag and brooch) and so excited by these shoes and asked if I would like the bag in which they had arrived at the store. The bag was a vintage Ogilvy's bag and in the bag were a small hand full of Simpson Sears receipts with notations on what they were for. Part of my love for vintage is that it has a history. When I know even just a bit more about something, it makes it all the better. Obviously these shoes were special enough to be saved for a long time and they have most definitely been worn.

The concert was a wonderful success and if the trip to Kingston can be thought of as a dry run for the up-coming trip to England, it bodes well for the travelling and the music.

My Creative Space: the heart of my stash

2009-06-04T17:19:00.016-04:00

Two little boys have been born lately, so that means getting into baby sewing mode. While I love the projects in Amy Butler's book with all that has been going on recently, I thought I would stick with the tried and true. I found this fabric at Ikea recently and while I try to use a lot of thrifted fabrics this collection was so cute and right there in front of me. Needless to say, I was unable to resist and as I knew there would be some baby sewing coming up, I already could see a purpose.

A hooded towel is my standard homemade baby gift in the last few years along with the occasional double layered receiving blankets. A lot depends on the season in which the baby is born. I made the first about twelve years ago after being unsatisfied with what was commercially available at the time (thin, non-absorbent stretch terry). I made that towel for our Preschool's annual fundraising auction at the request of the director who paid quite a bit of money to be the successful bidder. I had previously sewn items for the auction (over five years at that point) and the director knew that her daughter in law was expecting the first grand-daughter. It was very frilly with eyelet across the hood and lilac fabric on the hood. This lemon yellow towel was made shortly after for No.3 who was still doing internal acrobatics. I used the Hey Diddle Diddle Laura Ashley fabric for the hood and an accompanying stripe for the bias binding. The towel has faded considerably after being used by two boys for around three years each. For No. 4 I made two additional towels which I have packed away to give to the right person.

Here is another Laura Ashley fabric with just a little bit left over from some projects that I made for my first child. I am thinking of using this for one of the towels (I made one for No. 4 in this fabric). I really love this fabric for sentimental reasons and the quality which may be why I have yet to use it all up. I have no reason to hang onto it yet I have. I suspect that this may be a reason why sewers can have such large stashes. Of course, we are often addicted to buying new fabrics and could never possibly have the time to sew it all, yet some of it is truly difficult to pass on even when we know that we no longer have a purpose for it.

Here is some of my baby/child friendly stash which includes some pieces from my Mum. The fabric is two piles deep on the shelves and behind these pieces there can be found the Holly Hobbie fabric my Mum did not get to use for my sister and me back in the seventies. In this shelf there is some early purpose-made quilting fabrics which is where you might find some hidden hearts. Kristy has challenged us all to hide some hearts for us to find. I was always more interested in the hand quilting stitches than the piecing even though I love looking at other peoples traditional quilting blocks so most of my "quilting" fabrics have not been used for quilts. I am inspired by Jane's quilt and may try piecing in this way.

Another shelf two stacks deep of fabric (mostly) for children. This group contains flannelette and knits. Most of the knits were purchased while pregnant with No.4. I made towels, blankets and layette items and was thinking about some clothes but my iron died unexpectedly. It takes most sewers a bit of consideration time to figure out which iron they want to use with a fair bit of analyzing the pros and cons of the previous one. This is not a good activity for a very pregnant mother of three young children. By the time I replaced the iron, I was not doing much sewing or ironing. I now frequently review what is available in irons just in case I need to make an emergency decision.

How do you approach your stash? Is there a sentimental reaction? What about guilt? I like to look at mine and dream up projects. Look at others enjoy their creative spaces at Kristy's blog.

Brighten up the day

2009-06-02T20:44:00.015-04:00

We have had a fair bit of cool, wet weather lately which with the anti-climatic feel after a concert and a bit of a head cold has been getting me a little down. The rain has made the garden lush and the cool temperature has prolonged the bulbs. Trillium are Ontario, Canada's Provincial flower and a stylized bloom can be found on all sorts of official Ontario documents. While the plant is protected in many parts of North America it is only protected in provincial parks and conservation areas in Ontario. The plant is very sensitive to being picked or transplanted so we leave the one under our lilac tree well alone.

When I went back to take another picture, the white petals (bracts actually) had started to turn a mauvy pink. We have a large, irregular lot with quite a bit more garden than is the norm for suburbia. Despite having so much space devoted to flower beds, I tend to leave the blooms in the garden. There are beds along one side of the house that contain the herb garden and the beginnings of a cut flower garden but when I see the plants flowering I find it really difficult to pick them for the house. I do, however, pick all the violets and johnny jump-ups (miniature violas)that grow through the lawn before it is mowed and display them in little cream jugs that I like to collect.

Pretty aprons have the ability to brighten my day. For everyday I tend to wear a bib fronted apron but I find more lovely half aprons when thrifting than full ones. This lilac one is perfect for spring and I have had it hanging in my kitchen since just before Easter. The trim of a striped fabric is pieced and perfectly mitred at the centre front point. The tie is also pieced with both solid and striped fabric with the striped fabric in the last half of the ties and showing as the tails if tied in a bow. On each side of the body of the apron there is are gathered panels which add to the grace of this apron. This little number manages to be flirty while still possessing elegance.

Here is another hand-made apron than has lovely details with the most striking being its composition of panels and the solid pink under panel contrasting with the print of the upper panels. The pocket is bound with the same pink bias binding the panels of the apron. Tie One On is a great resource for all things apron-y including links to vintage aprons on flickr. The Apronista was my first blog source of all things apron and introduced me to some of the great books. Apron•ology is a great publication which I have been enjoying that features newly created aprons and is available in a giveaway at Julia's blog.

My garden has many of these Lily of the Valley so I had no problem bringing a few blooms into the house to enjoy the heady scent. After enjoying the the Trillium, aprons, and Lily of the Valley, my day has definitely brightened up and it looks like the weather will improve later in the week.

My Vintage Kitchen

2009-06-01T21:23:00.010-04:00

I do not have a true vintage kitchen as the one original to the house was not salvageable. Some of the houses in our neighborhood still have their original forty year old kitchens but many do not. For us the decision was made for us as the original builder's kitchen was of inferior quality(compared to other features of the house) and was truly falling apart. I do have quite a few utensils and decorative items that are at least as old as the house. I have already posted about some of my vintage cookbooks and will certainly feature more. This latest book, Food in History is supplementary reference to my older cookbooks as well as to the understanding of the importance of food preparation in our history. The cache pot has a sticker Töpferhof -Keramik HANDARBEIT DDR Römhild. Its simple mid-century designs will work well with the red accents in my kitchen.

The tin is marked Fortnum and Mason with the Royal Warrant and probably held biscuits. I like store food in tins or glass when possible and find the autumnal roses charming. My vintage kitchen has many aprons and this is my newest. I love the use of the gingham, ric-rac and orange accent stitching.

The pocket is especially detailed edged with the ric-rac and orange stitching and with the pleating using the check of the fabric (click on the photo to show the details). I have several chicken scratch gingham aprons which I will blog about but this apron has the most interesting use of gingham and ric-rac I have ever seen.

This tablecloth is my latest in my vintage collection. Like our grandmothers, I enjoy a fresh tablecloth in the kitchen and love the homey look it brings. I have a classic eat-in kitchen where the kitchen table is the heart of our home. Changing the tablecloth really gives the kitchen a new look with each colour scheme and pattern. This pattern reminds me of the graphics in my fifties and early sixties cookbooks and I know that I remember seeing wallpaper like it when I was a kid. Using a cheery tablecloth is vintage homemaking idea that is worth bringing back. Soon I will share my vintage utensils and cookbooks with more aprons and tablecloths.

My Creative Space: Inspiration and Cross-pollination

2009-05-29T10:44:00.014-04:00

The focus of my creativity this week has not been in the studio or even being inspired by other blogs. My main focus this week has been preparing for a concert organized by my husband performing with his colleagues and our daughter. His fellow musicians graciously donated their services to help him raise funds for an upcoming trip to England of the Men and Boys' Choir of Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa of which our two boys aged 8 and 11 are members. I was involved in publicity and helping to oversee some of the little details to make it run smoothly. The programme featured my husband and fellow National Arts Centre Orchestra musicians Donnie Deacon and Margaret Munro Tobolowska the lion's share performed with harpist Caroline Leonardelli.

This young lady sung four beautiful Italian art songs from the 18th century accompanied by harp. As proud parents, we were delighted with her performance and her desire to help the Choir's upcoming trip. We were thrilled for her and hope she enjoyed the praise as much as we did on her behalf. Our daughter has been singing with the Cathedral Girls Choir for five years and this year has had some important solos and is one of two head girls (each leading the two sides of the choir). Her ease and poise that her experience in the choir has helped her develop allowed her interpretation to shine and her audience to fully enjoy the music.

My creative contribution for this event was the donation of a felt purse to the silent auction held before the concert and during the intermission. The body and handle of the purse was created with a thrifted, felled(felted) sweater that was purchased slightly shrunken already. Some sweaters are so beautiful and in such good condition that I hesitate to purchase them for felling because I believe they still have life left in them in the their original form. With this particular sweater I felt no guilt for continuing the process. I find that fair isle patterns often shrink up the best for creating purses with the final product create a dense felt that is thick enough (but not too thick) to create the body of the bag.

The lining of the purse is made from a thrifted curtain. When I found the curtain on the rack I recognized the print to be Laura Ashley which was confirmed by the selvage within the hemmed sides of the panels. The button closure is a vintage button and the wool I use for the needle felted designs comes from the side seams of the sweaters that I remove before felling. I love the sculptural qualities I can achieve working with scraps of felt and I enjoy combining the three dimensional applied designs with the needle-felting. On a scrap of ribbon, I was able to use the alphabet feature of my sewing machine to create a label.

This week I have enjoyed how my family's musical/dancing talents have inspired me. I also am thrilled with the way sharing with other bloggers seems to inspire us all, whether it is to try new techniques or just to keep going doing what we do knowing that others are interested in what we create. I spent several enjoyable days reading all the blogs linked to Kristy's blog and would encourage others to do the same. One of the most satisfying things about blogging has been making new blog friends. Imagine my delight when I read Katherine's blog at Woolywotnots and found that she had dedicated her post to me! What a flattering incentive to continue sharing. It looks like she is finding the yo-yos as addictive as I do. I love her knitted collectibles and how she shares her inspirations. All of this creativity is definitely benefitting from cross-pollination.

Mummy glow

2009-05-24T20:37:00.012-04:00

Today is a basking and recuperating day. After a very successful day of performances by my younger two, we are all trying to recover from all the effort leading up to and including the day. Like many families, our household buzzes with the many creative outlets that children enjoy. Our younger two boys are involved in some slightly out of the ordinary activities for eight and eleven year olds. They both sing in the Men and Boys' Choir of Christ Church Cathedral were they are immersed in the tradition of Anglican(Episcopalian in the US) Church music and they are also part of the professional ballet training programme at the School of Dance in Ottawa.

Both boys had a 7:45 am call to be at the warm-up and dress rehearsal with other students from the School of Dance who were guest performers in the National Arts Centre Orchestra's Family Adventuresconcert. A series designed for families with young children. Number 4 even got to give flowers to the event's narrator, former prima ballerina, Veronica Tennant. They each had two performances as there were 1:30 and 3:30 shows. The boys have had to learn some very important skills in performing for the public and one of the most important is the waiting that goes on before it is your turn. While I was able to watch the boys from the audience sitting with their older siblings, my husband had the honour (while doing his job) of playing in the orchestra behind them. He has played for many great dancers over the years but this was pretty special for him and his colleagues who have seen the boys grow from infancy.

After their dance performance, the family hopped in the van and drove to Ottawa's Christ Church Cathedral for a concert of English Church Music. The boys were fed and watered and readied for performance while the parents and guests participated in a English pub-style dinner. The concert started at 7:30 and even the parents and others who hear them every week were transported by the music. The concert was being recorded for broadcast on CBC's Choral Concert on Sunday,June 14. The concert and fundraising campaign are leading up to the choir's upcoming trip to England in July. The men and boys will be staying at Cambridge with a Concert at Selwyn College on Canada Day and then at week in residence at Ely Cathedral. The tour will also involve some sightseeing and will finish with Evensong at St.Paul's Cathedral. I am very excited to be accompanying the boys as one of the parent chaperones. I feel so fortunate that the boys are able to benefit from being part of this tradition and sing music that can take them to a higher place. They enjoy working hard learning the music and singing together; they also enjoy playing floor hockey games before and after rehearsals and of course being boys quite a bit of food.

Today was really a day just to enjoy (and catch up a bit on tidying) and reflect on yesterdays beauty while I looked at today's flowers. As a parent, all we can do is provide the right environment and encouragement. Just as in a garden, you can only provide what the plant needs and encourage its natural habit of growth. We are back on the horse tomorrow with rehearsals, dance classes and school. Thursday will bring a fundraising concert that my husband is organising for the trip. It will be a concert of chamber music with some of his orchestra colleagues, my son's harp teacher and our daughter will be singing. She has been singing in the Cathedral Girls' choir for five years and is now one of the two head girls for the choir. The girl's choir tradition is much newer but it has been an excellent musical and learning environment for her and has given her some of the opportunities that can come from an all-girls environment. She is just starting to branch out a bit more with her solo singing but has already been asked to sing in next season's programming for Ottawa's Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra. So I will be doing a little more basking later this week.

My Creative Space: How I found religion with Amy Butler

2009-05-21T22:23:00.012-04:00

I love Amy Butler's designs and would gladly spread them around my whole world so sometimes I just have to go and spread the word. This book does not contain all the secrets of life but it does look pretty. I am not really a paper crafter but I love the available supplies. Around the corner from my sewing studio, I have a curbside-find dresser with all my supplies: bone folder, various adhesives, cutting tools and embellishments. It takes up part of the laundry room/extra pantry space adjacent to the studio. When we have finished painting, etc. I will post photos.

The little book started out as an extra date book given to my husband by the local musician's union. Calendars become obsolete rather quickly and I had yet to find a purse size book for myself. The ugly, black plastic cover was a problem I could fix and Amy Butler showed me the way. Well not actually, but her paper and stickers inspired me! I used card stock sized paper which was a little short for the height of the booklet but that gave more reason to use the stickers. I also glued in a length of narrow pink ribbon to mark the pages. Of course, I need to work harder at daily observance of said book but that may take practise.

My post's subtitle is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reference to how design-centred are lives have become. For creative types, it has always been the case but for the rest of the world this is a new revelation that is fed by manufacturers and marketing. Organization is the saviour of our modern world! Organization is required for all the stuff we are encouraged to accumulate. I do believe things have gotten more than a little extreme with de-cluttering/organizing television shows and magazines devoted to this trend. In the end, it seems to suggest that more consumerism is the answer, the concept of which I do not agree. It is better to eliminate what truly is unnecessary and improve what remains. Not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, my modern vintage philosophy advocates organization and finding beauty in order, while trying to use what you already have. So here is my little kitchen 'desk' makeover before; a little cluttered looking and not pretty.

The Amy Butler effect here is covering the phone directories. I still prefer to look up a number in the books rather than online but I hate the way they look. We do not have cupboard or drawer space I was willing to devote to phone books so I think this solution works well. I used sheets of Amy's double-sided 12 x 12 scrapbook pad, using two sheets per directory, craft glue stick and my dymo label maker. I think that the overall effect is a big improvement. The pens, pencils and scissors etc. are all in two Ikea plant pots found at the Thrift store. The improved appearance should increase our motivation to keep the area attractive and functional.

Do not forget to check in with who other creative spaces at Kristy's
blog.

A current thrifting obsession

2009-05-20T22:43:00.009-04:00

After experiencing a little blog guilt, I thought I had best publish a post.
I have been working on something else but we will see if I get that done. Last week, I promised the Indian recipe which I include in this post. People have asked how I find what I do or comment that Ottawa has particularly good thrift stores/garage sales. I do not believe that this city is noticeably better or worse than other Canadian cities (I cannot comment on England, Australia or the USA yet) but how you go about looking can make a huge variation in what you find. Besides the obvious, visiting a location regularly, changing your search method can make the difference. I have shopped when I had a larger block of time and rather leisurely searched through the aisles and I have found rewards for my time but I have had more success with a much shorter chunk of time available to me where I have needed to improve my efficiency. Firstly, have a literal or mental checklist of the things that you are usually interested in eg. aprons, china, sewing notions. Next, be aware of other items that you might find that could be of value or interest through reading other blogs so that you can make a good choice if you happen to find such items. For instance, if you were to see a Pyrex dish that is not in a colour or pattern you would use, what is the condition and price and can you think of a friend who might want it. Walk in the opposite direction to your usual pattern. A newly identified household need often has previously unnoticed candidates practically jumping off the shelves.

Some of these strategies resulted in the purchase of this cache pot. My husband does not like the plastic pot covers in which house plants tend to be sold and for awhile I searched in the mark-downs of the floral department but usually did not find anything I really liked. I was already thrifting but had not looked much at ceramics. The first pots I found were often from Ikea or unmarked and their simple lines have served their purpose well. I have since found hand potted, prettily painted or ceramics of more interest. This one is marked Churchill, England and the glaze has some of the qualities seen in other English potteries. My amateur Internet sleuthing has yet to reveal any information. The basket weave texture works well on the hand embroidered tablecloth my Mum gave me that has a basket pattern in the same colour stitched on it. It is interesting to see what appears when you look for it.

The lamb vindaloo that I cooked last week can be found here and the tandoori chicken I made but did not post about can be found here. I do cook other food besides Indian but my children love the seasoning and it fits very well with the unpredictable weather we are having in Ottawa. For the taste, instruction and understanding of Westerners cooking Indian, I highly recommend any cookbook by Madhur Jaffrey.

My creative space

2009-05-14T23:05:00.014-04:00

With many of my children's activities approaching the year's big finales, my creativity is definitely found in dribs and drabs; little things that I can pick-up and put down easily. A year and a half ago, we gave my daughter two sizes of the Clover Yo-yo makers and a charm pack for Christmas. While she happily expresses creativity in baking, she has never showed much interest in sewing and crafting. This crafting idea caught on and kept her busy through the rest of the Christmas holidays. She liked it enough that she decided that should would like to make a throw out of the yo-yo's. Once we had used all the samples in the charm pack we went to the fabric for more of the same line which was Moda's Chez Moi. Unfortunately, they only had a few of the prints in stock, but we bought several metres of what they did have. Unfortunately, shortly after getting at the new fabric, she became sick with mono and lost some of her interest. She did a bit when she was recovering but was quite overwhelmed with the need to catch up with her school work. When she started learning to make the yo-yo's I made some along side of her to help teach her, understand how the makers worked and to keep her company. I soon discovered, as my daughter had, that they are addictive to make. We stopped at some point for a variety of reasons and it has remained a dropped project until recently. I am happy to say that I am back at it and with a up coming (Victoria Day)long weekend, No. 2 should be joining me.

This is another dropped project that has been picked up again. The garden and other things pulled me away from this but I believe that I was also doubting my vision on this project. This is a jacket that I have had for about eleven years. I love the colours and texture of the linen check but I was finding the styling a little dated and overall a little boring. I want to create a vintage safari look (think Out of Africa) and I have started by applying a tatted lace edging made by my Grandma. Amazingly there is just enough edging for the collar and lapels.

On the back, I wish to create some interest. I found this open-work and lace tray cloth(?) and I have shaped it slightly and I am tacking it on the centre of the back. Where there are wear holes or tears that I cannot fix, I plan to sew vintage mother-of-pearl buttons. The buttons in the front and on the sleeves will also be switched up (I hope mother-of- pearl) and I have a pocket hanky and a few other lace bits to try. Does anyone have any ideas of what else I could do? (with out decorating it like a wedding cake).

Tomorrow the post will include a recipe from this book as cooking has really been my creative time lately. My family needs to eat more than I need a revamped jacket. If you would like to see where others have their creative space, check out Kristy's blog.

Lucky Me!

2009-05-13T22:04:00.010-04:00

Look what came in the mail! I won a give-away from Nadine at Little Lovelies. This little crocheted Egglet is simply darling and beautifully presented. Following her blog is very inspiring and I am very excited that I get to enjoy Nadine's work firsthand. It is great to look at creative projects that use a skill that I do not have. Lately, crocheting has drawn me in and all I can do is a simple chain. Nadine has been showing her work in making granny squares with inspiring colour combinations.
Also tucked into the parcel are three covered buttons. Take a closer look.

I love buttons and will just be enjoying looking at these for quite a while. Hours were spent going through my Mum's button box when I was a kid and I have told her that I want to inherit it! She feels pretty much the same as me about buttons so she takes this request seriously. When I was a child, I visited a lot of fabric stores but my favourite was a haberdashery or notions shop called Buttons and Bows. Apparently it is still at the same location so I will need to visit it in my next visit to Victoria.

I was also lucky the other day because we had the opportunity watch our sons dance both Monday and Tuesday night. It is wonderful to see the culmination of the year's work and dedication but the thrill is to see how much they enjoy themselves. So why the skillet pictured at here you ask? Well with the two boys at pre-performance rehearsals, we had the chance to eat a quick vegetarian meal. But what to make? We have onions, garlic and tomatoes along with some pasta and cannellini beans in the pantry. I had the makings of quick, impromptu pasta dish. I chopped two onions and slowly browned them in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil over medium to medium-high heat. Cook them slowly enough to bring out the onions sugars and then add 2 to 3 cloves of chopped garlic and 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes. Chop two tomatoes (mine were vine-ripened but unfortunately not organic) and slowly cook them down (around 7 minutes). Add the rinsed and drained beans to heat. While putting this together I found a block of cream cheese in the refrigerator which was perfect for holding the dish together and marrying the flavours (I only used half the block) and added a small amount of Parmigiana and chopped,fresh flat leaf parsley(from the window sill) before tossing it with the pasta. I photographed it before adding pasta as I had gluten-free quinoa fusilli and my husband and daughter had regular rotini. The meal conversation was very quiet compared to usual and somewhat refreshing to be without our vivacious carnivores.

Of course, seeing a special performance means dressing up a little. I have always loved linen and silks. I look forward to wearing this jacket in linen which is beautifully cut and embellished with the taupe skirt (pictured in the back ground). Recently I found a sleeveless silk blouse at the thrift store which works perfectly with this outfit(great print and fit too) and the jacket is the ideal base to one of my vintage brooches.

Another thrifting find is this vintage wicker handbag. I use my felted purses in cool weather but I like summer-like textures as it gets warmer. This purse is in good condition and although it does not have a label, it does say Empire Made on the inside. The Liberty scarf was found at our church's Nearly New Shop. If you love print and pattern, Liberty's can keep your attention for long stretches.

Nadine included a personal note in the parcel which was typed (with a typewriter) and information on creature comfots blog for making free postage labels. My old Smith Corona needs to be used again. Sharing my luck inspires me to have my own give away soon.