Going to the chapel (outfit #15)

This is my 1960s, empire waist dress with puff bell sleeves.  I inherited this dress from a dear friend.  My clip-on coral earrings, beaded handbag, and white gloves came from thrift and estate sales.

Happy Sunday!

   

Scallops and lace

This is Elowyn's 1950s frosting pink dress.  It has a scalloped bodice with buttons, ruffled sleeves, and lace collar.  This dress was new, never worn, with the tags still attached!  It was made by Young Life and was purchased on ebay.

This is E's "uh-oh" face.

This is the back of the dress with original tag.

Little Betty Buttons (outfit #14)

I'm a little late on my Sunday outfit post this week.  I promise I was doing something really important, instead of fulfilling my blogging duties.  This is my late 50s Nan Dorsey swimsuit with aqua button details.  The sunglasses are 1960s Optique brand and they still had the original sticker on them...$1.25 baby!  Both purchases are from ebay.  My vintage parasol belongs to my stepfather and I believe it is from the early 1900s?   
                   

 Happy Tuesday!

Slowly but surely

  When we bought our home, seven years ago, there were a lot of things I loved about our house.  Our kitchen cupboards were not one of them.  They were honey oak colored and I've always loathed them.  It's taken us a really long time to get up the courage to change them.  Of course the work involved with painting cabinets was a deterrent, but the phrase "resale value" kept rearing its ugly head.  I finally had an epiphany.  This is my kitchen.  The next owner can change the house to their taste.  The only person I need to please...is ME!  Okay, my husband should like it too. ;)  First, I bought a deep chocolate brown, an espresso color that I thought would look sophisticated.   We started to take the cabinet doors down and again, I asked myself, was this what I really wanted?  Why had I really chosen this color?  IT WAS SAFE.  Was it going to make  me truly happy? Not really.  I returned to the paint store and exchanged the paint...for Peacock Feather blue.  I'm totally smitten. Here is the before, accursed honey oak:

And now Peacock Feather...

I also primed and painted the refrigerator with chalkboard paint.  It's the perfect place to write phone messages, grocery lists, schedule reminders, and inspire each other.

I'd love to replace the back splash and figure out a way to camouflage the dishwasher.  I'd also love a new apron sink, and a George Nelson Saucer Light for over the kitchen table.  I'm not sure those last two are in the budget....ever, but a girl can dream! What do you think of my "ice cave"?

Stay gold, ponyboy

  With the addition of each child, we've had to shuffle our children to different rooms.  Eventually, our eldest child ended up in the basement bedroom.  This room had become a furniture catchall, playing host to our guests and a hodge podge office set up.  I didn't want our eldest child to feel like he was being exiled into the basement abyss, so I planned a surprise weekend renovation.  Our son left for a three day weekend with one of the grandparents, and my husband and I pulled up the carpet, painted the walls, made a headboard and painted the furniture.  I had intended to paint the floor, but to my dismay, we discovered that the linoleum was cracked and damaged.  We ended up driving forty minutes to pick up wood laminate flooring and we installed it in record time. All the paint colors I chose, ended up being the wrong hues, but with so little time to complete all the projects, we just went with it and hoped for the best.  The bright citron yellow ended up being garish and the charcoal gray was too dull.  Thankfully, our son was pleased with our efforts, so I moved on to another list of projects.  Now that I finished the shared bedroom of our other two sons, I'm ready to revisit the basement bedroom and make it into something our son can really love.  I've asked our son what things are really important for him in his bedroom.  His one request so far has been to include the color gold.  I found a picture of this gold Eames shell chair and thought it would be the perfect addition to his space.

This chair carries a price tag of $2,500!! No amount of scrounging in couch cushions or piggy bank smashing was going to fund this purchase, so a little creativity and spray paint would have to suffice.  I found a beige plastic shell chair at the thrift store for $2.50, which I primed, and spray painted metallic gold and matte red.

Not bad, considering I saved 1000% of the cost!  What do you think?

 

Berry picking dress (outfit #13)

This is my 1940s feed sack cloth dress,  with red piping and over-sized pocket.  This is one of my favorites!  It's simple, soft, and has a really sweet berry and flower design.  I scored this cutie on ebay.

Happy Sunday!

Hi ho silver

One of the most popular genres in film and television in the 1950s, was the Western.  Whether it be Roy Rogers, or The Lone Ranger, little boys were all clambering to be cowboys.  Here is Tavian's retro western wear, scored at a thrift store.

Ascot, anyone?