Vintage Necklace

At a garage sale this weekend, I found this gorgeous necklace, which is oh so vintage! Its a crotched rose cameo, on a nice old silver chain.
I paid only $3 for this beautiful piece!! I'm so excited to wear it!

This is it... on my summery skin ( ie. my freckles are coming out now that its summer). I didn't have any one to take a picture for me, so I did my best.

And here it is again... see how nice it is!

I know its not vintage decor...but its vintage, and that's what counts.

I'm pumped and ready for more garage sales! Every weekend until garage season ends, I am there!!

Vintage Luggage

The other weekend, while at a second hand store I found a beautiful suitcase... for a great price... so I purchased it

I just need to clean her up a bit with some leather cleaner and she will be ready to rock!

I absolutely love vintage luggage! Too bad its not so practical anymore. Maybe if I had someone else to carry it for me, Id use it... or if it was just to gorgeous to let sit at home

Do you have any vintage luggage?!

Crate & Barrel

Modern Monday continues with Modern Furntiure and Home Decor stores.
Crate and Barrel is set to open in Edmonton in the next few months. This has got me very excited, as I have heard such good things about the store. I have never been in one myself, but have shopped online and was given a lovely candelabra for christmas from there.

Ive picked out a few items online that I think would look lovely in my apartment

For the living room, which is purple, black and zebra print... a lovely chaise lounge, a gorgoues, sofa, and a bar...of course!

For the bedroom, which is in transition towards gold, pink and black. A pretty gold bird cage, and a glass jar to hold, well, whatever I fancy

Modern Monday- Random Rooms

Good Morning! Its Modern Monday! And we missed last Monday, so its going to be extra good today...hopefully!

 These are some photos from House and Home...which you should all know by know... I love.

They are, of course, modern rooms, but they have a little vintage flair. The first photo has a fabulous, solid wood desk, which adds a rustic touch to an otherwise dainty and girly room. The picture to the right, uses a collage of photo frames, which again feels vintage.

The picture below, also uses frames in a vintage manner, however, it is what is in the frames which makes it all the more vintage. Also, note the headboard, which I think it great!

Summertime and day dreams

Ah, the end of the week... and the last weekend of May! June is sure to bring many garage sales, car shows, and junk hunting. I really am, very interested in finding vintage treasures, so my goal this summer will be to go to as many garage sales as possible. I wish I had a garage of my own however, to store my lovely treasures and to work on and refinish others. I dream of owning a vintage store and of selling refurbished and upcycled vintage items, as well as the real things. 
In the meantime I will just have to search electronically for oh so lovely vintage pieces, I wish I owned.

Hey, have you all heard of Vintage Life Magazine?!

http://www.vintagelifemagazine.com/

Its a fabulous magazine, dedicated to... you guess it... vintage lifestyle. Its from the UK, which is a wee sad for is Canadians, who cant get it in the local chapters, and how to pay quite abit for a hard copy prescription.

Eeee, this post is getting a little frantic and all over the place, which means is time bid you adieu.

Adieu!

Retro Recipe- Marshmallow Confetti Bars

Marshmallow Confetti Bars

My mom use to make these when I was younger and they are so yummy. There are literally four ingredients, but combined, they make heaven. This is a recipe I found online. I know my mom has it on a recipe card... or rather, had it...

1/2 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
I package of butterscotch chips
I small package of min rainbow marshmallows

In a glass bowl, combine and heat butter, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips. I suppose you could do this in the microwave, or if you fancy, do the double boiler thing with two pots.
Stir until everything is melted and combined.
Add the marshmallows until they are evenly coated. Use more or less marshmallows, depending of your taste.
Spread the mixture into a lightly greased pan, about 8x8.
Chill until set.
They serve and enjoy!

What an easy recipe. So easy, I'm going to have to make some this weekend!!

Now to be honest, I don't really know how old this recipe is, but it seems like it would be retro. One of those simple, fatty treats, moms would make for their oh so sweet children and their friends. Or that they might bring to a potluck, block party, or bake sale. So serve them up on a retro platter, with some fancy napkins and have your self a retro time.

Shabby Apple

For just a brief moment, we are going to talk about fashion... but vintage inspired fashion! The best kind! For the Love of Blogs ( http://forblogs.blogspot.com/ ) is hosting a giveaway... a dress from Shabby Apple!!
http://www.shabbyapple.com/

Shabby Apple makes gorgeous vintage inspired dresses. They also make maternity wear, bathing suits, workout gear and children's dresses. The price point is amazing! Most vintage inspired clothing is very expensive and for what? Shabby Apples dresses are quality designs that will make you look fabulous!

But you can enter the giveaway if your apart of For The Love of Blogs and win a dress!! So, one, join for the love of blogs, if you haven't already, two, go to shabby apples website and salivate over the pretty dresses, and three enter the giveaway. Easy as pie!

http://forblogs.blogspot.com/2011/05/shabby-apple-giveaway.html

I'm so excited to have been notified of Shabby Apple! A good, well made dress, is hard to find these days, and well, not everyone actually fits into genuine vintage dresses!

http://www.shabbyapple.com/

Wallpaper

I love wallpaper!! 'Expensive', textured, patterned, deep, rich wallpaper; retro, bright, tacky wallpaper! I got an email yesterday from style at home and it had a little section on wallpaper, which has made me think more about my love for wallpaper. I seem to recall a time, not so long ago, when wallpaper was dated and everyone was taking it down from their walls. Am I remembering correct?

When I was little my mom was all about the "borders". There was a different 'border' in every room. Mine had a Micky mouse border diving the wall in half. Actually my whole room was covered in Micky Mouse decor- my mom made me curtains, she hodge podge my garbage can and laundry basket, I had an entire sheet set of mickey mouse, and Micky mouse pictures on the wall.

Anyway... every room had a border, but no wallpaper, as that was a thing of the past...

Now, I believe wallpaper is making a come back. It is so versatile and can change the entire look of a room. I want to wallpaper my apartment so bad... but, I rent.

I'm going to keep an eye out for fantastic wallpaper out and about. I have a fantastic picture at a salon opening, of myself and my horrible ex, but in the background is the most beautiful wallpaper. Alas, the picture is on my broken laptop.

Here are a few pictures of wallpaper that style at home thinks we will "love"

I also recently watched a tutorial on wallpapering furniture like coffee and side tables, which I thought was a fantastic idea...Ill have to see if I can find it again

But back to the vintage side of wallpaper....in the kitchen. Oh how lovely!! I can just picture it, bright and cherry, with matching decor and appliances. The stuff dreams are made of.

Thirsty Thursday- White Wine Spritzer

Well, well, its already Thursday and that means it time for a new drink!! This weeks drink is rather easy but it so refreshing... its actually one of my absolute most favorite drinks. A White Wine Spritzer!

Now, all you will need for this drink is: white wine ( its usually made with dry or Chardonnay, but sometimes I use Pinot Grigio), sparkling soda ( like Perrier or an equivalent), ice cubes, and a wine glass.

There are not any exact measurements, but once you've made it a few times, you'll figure out just how you like it.

Fill your glass either 1/4 or half with wine... depending how quickly you'd like to get drunk...
Add less sparkling soda than wine, so if you have half a glass of wine, ass 1/4 of soda.
Add a few ice cubes, as its best when its nice and cold
Enjoy!
Its that simple!

The first time I had a spritzer was in Eastern Europe...in the summertime, so it was very hot... I've been in love with the drink ever since. It has a classy, retro feel to it, so drink up!

I like to use heart shaped ice cubes! See how cute it looks!

Enjoy

* all these pictures were found on http://weheartit.com/

mid week rut

Good Morning Cats and Kittens!!
I'm stuck on an idea for a weekly Wednesday post! ho hum. Any ideas of anything you'd like to see?! In the meantime, I'm going to search for beautifully designed rooms, that make you quiver with delight. i Posted in my other blog me with my bicycle, but in case you didn't read that post... here it is for you too. I have a mild obsession with vintage bikes... mines faux retro, but its a start, plus I got it for free...

weekend finds

Well, I made it out to one garage sale this weekend... which was kind of a bust... but I did find some lovely vintage items at the second hand store and The Antique Mall by my house.
The Antique Mall in Edmonton, is having a fabulous sale this week. All the vendors have marked down their stalls. They are adverting up to 50% off... but I only saw up to 35% off... which is still a great deal.
Ive been meaning to buy a butter dish, but keep forgetting. In the midst of my browsing, I remembered!! So, the hunt began. There were plenty of clear glass butter dishes, and not so retro looking ones, so I kept looking. And upstairs, tucked in a dim corner, I found my butter dish!

Its looks so nice with my tins too!!And it was basically a steal!

I'm going to try to go back before the sale is over! And so should you!

http://www.oldstrathconamall.com/

I also went to a second hand store, in the west end of the city. Its newly opened and in a nicer area of town, which means better selection which has not really been picked over yet. I found a gorgeous light blue suitcase and an amazing bread box!

The bread box is olive green and huge! My loaf of bread looks so little when its inside. It even has a stamp on the bottom saying September 1969!!

I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do with it... I want to start selling vintage items... so maybe I'll start with this gem.

Garage sale season is definitely upon on and so long as I remember my camera, which I seem to have a hard time doing, Ill have plenty more vintage and retro finds to show you!

Serving Dishes

 Anthropologie is a great place for kitchen ware with an antique and vintage feel. Although its not the real thing, its a great stand in for when you cant find that perfect vintage piece. Ive posted a few items for serving, as it is Retro Recipe Day.

Etsy, again, has so much vintage, retro and antique items to offer. Ive found a couple pieces from Etsy, for serving. Etsy has an eclectic  mix of retro items so you really never know what you may stumble across.

Im still trying to get to some garage sales and markets to find my own fantastic vintage pieces.

Well, it is the weekend, so happy hunting!! Maybe Ill get to a garage sale too!

Vintage Cooking Blog

I just found this blog, which is all about old fashioned cooking, etc, and I though it fit very nicely with todays topic, Retro Recipes! So if your into vintage cooking and baking, you should check this blog out!!

http://littlemissoldfashioned.blogspot.com/

Retro Recipe- Corned Beef Hash

Its time for the very first Retro Recipe Post!

If you try this recipe out please let me know! Id love to hear how it goes for you!

Like I mentioned, I'm a vegetarian, so I wont be making this recipe, but its actually one my dad use to make for me all the time when I was little... and I loved it. In fact, it was my favorite meal...

CORNED BEEF HASH

Now, Ive only made this once for myself, quite some time ago, so I looked up the recipe to give you exact measurements. And yes, it is made with canned meat! Here is a recipe somewhat similar to how my dad use to make it:

1 tin corned beef
1 onion
1 tin mixed veg (or any leftover peas and carrots' chop small)
1 tin plum tomatoes
seasoning

mashed potatoes

chop onion finely and cook. Add to corned beef and well drained tomatoes, mix well. add vegetables and seasoning, (I like to add half tsp celery salt and salt and pepper) Stir together to mix. cover with mashed potato and cook for 30-35mins until golden on top. Serve with veg of choice

 

nom nom nom

 

Its actually much better than you would think and its very cheap! So go ahead, try it out!

a special drink on thirty thursday

Look at what I found in the fridge at work! I just love soda in glass bottles! And Boylan's soda are extra yummy because they are natural! Yumm yumm. What an excellent treat on Thirty Thursday!!

Cocktail Party

Seeing as its Thirty Thursday, I thought I should share with you some retro inspired bar, party and cocktail related home decor!

Its warming up outside, so Ive chosen a variety of bright coloured and happy items to get your inspired!
From left to right: green glass- Anthropologie, blue pitcher- Anthropologie, set of 6 glass with blue design- Ikea, larger set of glass with Citrus design- Etsy.com, boat ice cube tray- modcloth.com, stripped straws- Urban Outfitters, shaped ice cube tray- Ikea, martini glasses and shaker- Etsy.com

Etsy is a fantastic place to find vintage barware!!

So there you go! Your inspiration for a fabulous weekend cocktail party!

Thirty Thursday- Tom Collins

Its Thirty Thursday!!!

Why not get the weekend started tonight with an oh so yummy cocktail?! If your like me, you usually stick to the few cocktails you know how to make or that are programmed into you already... like vodka cranberry, gin and tonic, rum and coke, vodka slime.Or in my case, white wine spritzer, bloody mary, vodka and anything.... Well, cocktails are really not as hard as one might think. Ive now got the bloody mary memorized... and it wasn't as scary as I had thought it would be to make!

So, today's Thirty Thursday cocktail is

Tom Collins

You will need a cocktail shaker for this recipe, but if you don't have one... I suppose just get creative

2 ounce of gin

1 ounce of lemon juice ( or if you fancy... lemonade)

3 ounces of club soda

1 orange slice

1 teaspoon of fine sugar

and 1 maraschino cherry

In a shaker half filled with ice cubes combine the gin, lemon juice and sugar. Shake well. Strain into a 'collins' glass 3/4 filled with ice cubes.Add the club soda. Stir. Garnish with the orange and cherry

If you don't like gin, there are other variations of the Tom Collins which include rum or vodka.

A 'collins' glass is a tall and somewhat slender glass. You can find retro looking ones at Rockabilly or Antique Stores. In Edmonton for example, you can find them at Rowena, The Junque Cellar and The Antique Mall, among other places I'm sure. So why not get a little retro and find a genuine collins glass for your new favorite drink... the Tom Collins.



Weekly Features

Good Morning, guys and dolls! Well, like I mentioned Ive been updating my blog ( and my other one as well). So this week is a little scattered and has no theme or cohesion.
Ive decided to do a few weekly features. This is what Ive come up with so far

Modern Monday- which I did this Monday, which is pretty self explanatory








Thirsty Thursday- a new cocktail recipe for ya'll to try












Retro Recipe- probably on Fridays. I'm going to search for retro recipes... casseroles, shake and bake chicken, jello moulds, etc etc. I'm a vegetarian but will post meat recipes, as I'm pretty sure vegetarian were not too common in days past. So I wont be trying all the recipes, but that doesn't mean you can't!

Ill still be posting about retro decor and furniture throughout the week as well. And as I plan to be going to garage sales, antique sales and flea markets, Ill post my findings! Please leave comments so I know how you feel about my blog and the direction its going. Suggestions are welcome as well! And stories of your own retro decor are encouraged to be shared!

Shows and Sales

Thanks to the lovely blog I came across yesterday ( also noted in a post yesterday ) I have been updating the look of my blog! Im not so computer savvy, but I think Im doing okay.

On the weekend, as I was driving through town I saw a sign for an Antique Sale... unfortunately I was on my way somewhere, and couldn't stop. But this weekend, I hope to go to a garage sale or two...
But this made me think perhaps I should list some sales on here so we can all know about them.

So keep an eye out during the week for an updates on sales, shows, markets,etc in the Edmonton and surrounding area ( maybe if I have time to search, Ill post some Calgary and area ones as well )

Market & Sale Listings:

Kjijiji now has a new category: Garage Sales, so no matter where you live you can always check that out! It appears, however, that people are using this category, not to list actual garage sales, but to list stuff they just have for sale. So unfortunately, this week, kijiji is a bust.

GARAGE SALES
May26(12-8) and 27(10-8): garage sale at 10559 149 steet.

Multi Family Garage sale 11427-137 street. May 20 4-8. May 21 9-6. May 22 9-4

May 20 (10-6) May 21 (9-4): garage sale at 4107 149 street

May 20 (5-9) May 21 (9-5): garage sale at 4798 111A street.

May 20 (9-6) May 21 (9-8): garage sale at 2111 131 Ave

ANTIQUE SHOWS & SALES

May 16-18: Antique Roadshow in Sherwood Park, at the Sherwood Park Mall

June 10 & 11: 2nd Annual Vintage Chicks Sale in CALGARY.Priddis Community Hall- 15 mins west of Calgary on 22x.

June 18-19: Acadia Vintage Retro and Antique Expo at the Acadia Recreation Centre in CALGARY.

I found a great websites that list Antiques shows and sales in Western Canada. Here is the link if your interested:
http://www.discoveringantiques.com/collectibles-canadian-antiques.asp

That's all for today, but Ill be sure to list more as I find them. Don't forget to look in your local newspaper for garage sale listings, that's where they usually can be found!

For The Love of Blogs

Hey Cats and Kittens....

I came across a new blog...which is a blog for blogs!!
Its a great resource to find new and lovely blogs to read and also a place to get your own blog out there.

Check it out:
http://forblogs.blogspot.com/

Modern Monday

I think I'm going to try out a feature post... "Modern Mondays" which will feature modern furniture and decor... either retro or vintage inspired, reworked, or completely modern. What do you think?

Well here goes the first Modern Monday

If you don't know by now, I love house and home and style at home, and often browse their websites for decor ideas and photos.
Here is one I found today, of a loft living room, which uses vintage furniture and colour to create a unique and modern atmosphere

A great place to buy modern decor and home nick knack's is Anthroplogie. There is one in Edmonton, in West Edmonton Mall. Don't think all they sell is over priced clothing, they have some beautiful dishes, kitchenware, candle holders, picture frames, bedding, etc.
Here just a small peak at some amazing 'modern' household decor and design pieces from Anthrologie.

I absolutely love this shower curtain! And it is very modern indeed! It also comes in other shades, so not to worry, you wont have to change your bathroom colour scheme just so you can have this fabulous shower curtain!

http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp

Urban Outfitters also has a 'home' section, with a younger, hipper vibe. Both stores also have really great sales and mark downs, so don't be afraid to check them out! You never know what great price you might find.

My own personal favorite modern piece from my home is would have to be my purple suede curtains. Ill have to take a picture of them to show you. I have three purple panels, and three sheer zebra print panels, which alternate along the window. They definitely are a statement and help tie together the colour scheme of my living room: black, purple, and zebra print.

Please let me know what you think of my new feature. I know I promised you more on chairs... but that will just have to wait.