Vintage Chicks

Vintage Shoes

I love history and one of the off shoots of the junk business is that in a way you become a historian of weird items.  I found these men's shoes yesterday while I was at a local thrift store.  I stopped and looked at them because they were just so compelling.  They are truly hideous but of very fine quality.  I kept walking back and looking at them and finally decided just to take a chance and buy them.  I have been blessed (cursed) with being able to pick out something expensive from any pile of junk.  My radar must still be working.  These are from a very exclusive men's haberdasher in New York.  They were located on 5th Avenue and during the seventies it was the place to see and be seen. The brand was started by a mother and daughter team that was legendary for their exclusive taste and distinction.  Of course, the store is long gone.  The building itself was replaced in the 80s by another hideous sky-scraper, but the legend of its owners continues.  Whoever owned these shoes must have felt like a million bucks walking into that store and purchasing "the thing" of the time.  They kept them all these years.  They still had their original shoe trees inside.  I have a few things of my own that I no longer wear but keep solely because they remind me of a wonderful time and place.  I guess that is why I am a junker.  I am always on the look out for the piece that tells me a story about its owners. I realize its always just speculation but Saturday I think I found one.

Bracelet Bonanza

Linda and I had Friday off so we took advantage and went junking.  It was a pretty slow day and I wasn't really excited about anything until we arrived at our last stop.  I had picked up a few small items and was about to check out when I stopped and checked out the jewelry display.  My eyes popped out of my head like some cartoon character.  I asked the lady if I could look at this set of seven bracelets.  They were very, very, very inexpensive.  She handed them to me and said.  "These are just some old plastic bracelets."  The voice inside my head was shouting, "Are you kidding me.  These are bakelite.  The holy grail of all  funky jewelry."  I told her I would take them and then quickly paid before she could see my heart beating out of my chest.  When I got to the car I did the rub test.  Bakelite will smell like formaldehyde when rubbed until it gets warm.  They all smelled!!! Who would think that sentence could be exciting.  I had planned on listing them but I just can't help myself.  I think I will have to wear them for awhile just for fun.

I Miss My Legs

Linda gave me a great pair of boots for a Christmas gift and I have not worn anything else on my feet since Mid-December.  They are   wonderful and my feet have been toasty and skid-proof because of them.  However, I love shoes and just when I think it is warm enough to change out my footwear it either snows or rains.  To complicate my shoe craving the Spring catalogues are starting to arrive.  Yesterday I got the "Spring Fling" from Garnet Hill and was faced with this.   Not only is she showing her legs but she appears to be standing on the beach.  I think that is really rubbing it in.  I have not seen my knees since sometime back in October.  I am a glutton for punishment so I went to www.anthropologie.com just to rub a little salt into the wounds.  I found this adorable skirt. It would be so cute with a little black t-shirt and a pair of Converse, no lace tennies.   ARRRRRRRRRRRG.  I miss my legs.

Bounty Of Balls

I keep telling myself that I absolutely will NOT buy any more Christmas ornaments.   But...........I could not pass upthis bag at my favorite thrift.  It was only two dollars.  And I am pleased to announce that when I got it home it contained 38 unbroken Shiny Brite ornaments.  There was only one casualty and the rest were just great. There are several hand painted ones and a few lovely pink and grey. I have no regrets about my purchase. Life is short and rules are made to be broken.

Vintage Handkerchief's

I have always loved hankies.  I always carry one in my purse.  My Father always had a fresh pressed one in his pocket.  I just can't seem to resist them.  This weekend Linda and I were out shopping for our booth.  We ran into a huge bunch of pristine hankies from an estate sale.  This woman had traveled extensively and I think she must have purchased a hankie from every country she traveled to.  She also had a charming bunch of children's hankies.  They were a bit pricey but we did pick out a few. They have wonderful graphics and a few of them were signed.  We seem to have had a certain fondness for elephants.  Notice the mouse band in the corner. The Florida one has wonderful graphics and it looks like it has never been used or washed because it still had the original tag on it.   We probably over indulged but they sure bring me a lot of joy just to look at them.  They almost make you want to catch a cold so you can use them!!!!!!

For The Birds

After I put all my Christmas decorations away the house just looked too plain.  I made this bird nest out of paper shreds from an old cook book.  After I got it all glued together I put it inside a bowl to help it form it's shape.  I took it out today and was pretty pleased with the results.  I know Spring is not coming anytime soon, but one can always hope.

Special Edition

No I am not embarking on a new adventure selling groceries but I am featured in my local newspaper. You can access the site at www.magicvalley.com.  I was in the Home and Garden section of Tuesdays paper.  It was a small article about do-it-yourselfers and their upholstery attempts.  I have been doing small,simple projects for years and I gave them my spiel. I have been touting the use of paper to decorate with so much lately that Karma gave me a little reward.  While I was looking for an image to go with this blog I found this old Piggly-Wiggly ad.  I thought it was really charming.  It would be cute printed out and used for wrapping a package or framed to hang in your kitchen.

Circus Cat

 As you get older I think you take things with a grain of salt.  That is why I am allowing this most unflattering view of my bum to be shown to the world.  There is a bigger story here than my own personal vanity.  This is my cat Gene Wilder "Tater" and this is his blog world debut.  Last Saturday I came home from shopping and began putting away my produce (thus the unflattering position).  All of a sudden I felt a thump and realized that Tater had jumped from the hutch where he normally watches the world to my back. He was not a bit afraid and walked back and forth as if I were a stage.  At first I was a little upset as any overindulgent parent would be when faced with ones inadequate parenting skills but then I started to look at the big picture.  Maybe Tater is headed for great things like joining the circus.  We could perfect our act and take it on the road.  If I could just  come up with a name.

Still Tickled Pink

 In a mere twenty four hours I have transformed my Sun room with only the aid of several Swiffers and one pink cabinet.  It just makes the whole room so much more homey.  Please excuse the bird pictures.  I did not realize I had not leveled them out yet.  Just a few more tweaks.....................................

Tickled Pink

The Vintage Chicks went to Shoshone to check on our booth and per usual we ended up bringing home more than we took.  I spotted this FABULOUS pink cabinet and had to have it.  It is quite narrow but is just so charming. It was too long to fit into the Jeep so we had to make a fast call to "The Brother" and have him come to our rescue.  He was quite a sweetie about the whole thing.  He picked it up and delivered it right to the house.  We got it moved in and now comes the fun part of filling it up and creating a whole new vignette in the sun room.......more to come.