[ scroll down for a tutorial and giveaway! ]
I love figuring out little accent pieces to add to otherwise plain outfits. Saturday I was wearing my favorite gray wool skirt and a light blue cardigan (it was cold here!), but decided it looked rather plain. None of my brooches in my jewelry stash seemed to work, so I put together a little “quick fix” piece! A trio of “cherries” (originally a holly berry spring from the craft store at Christmas), a little black velvet bow, a pin back, transformed to create a cute piece. It reminds me so much of the novelty costume jewelry brooches of the early 1940s! In case you would like to make one, I wrote a mini tutorial.
[ click here for a tutorial, or enter below to win a cherry brooch! ]
As a thank you to all my lovely readers for making my blogging so darn fun, I’d love to give away one of these little cherry pins! Entering is super simple: just leave a comment below (no tricks or catches!). Be sure to fill out the email line of the comment form; entries without a valid email address will not be counted. I’ll leave the giveaway open until midnight Wednesday (February 17), and a winner drawn at random will be announced Thursday! (Please note: this is open to all readers; international entries welcome!)
Did you do anything crafty this weekend? Good luck!
February 15, 2010 ·
132 lovely thoughts
posted in casey's musings,misc
· tags: giveaway, quick trick
[ be sure to click for the sources of these gorgeous images! ]
How did your week gone? This has definitely been an up and down week for me: it started out super-productive, ground to a halt Wednesday and Thursday (I was feeling very under the weather–yuck!), and today I have no time to linger long! hehe! I just want to take a moment to extend my warmest thanks to all your kind comments and emails of late–I feel myself very blessed to know so many wonderful people who can help when I have a question (like the other day with my hair!). You all are the best–thank you!!!
- I love how inspiring this lady’s outfits are! I want the first one!
- Gertie’s newest post on taking accurate measurements (no faking!) is really worthwhile.
- I just added this blog to Google Reader this week and have enjoyed reading it–I think you might too!
- Kathy wrote a very interesting post on how dishwashing was done in the past.
- We Sew Vintage is a brand-new vintage-sewing centric community blog that is worth keeping an eye on!
[ click for a larger view. ]
This week’s inspiration is from 1950, and another springtime inspiration! The plaid dress at the bottom has stolen my heart (bias cut pockets!), but the scallop detail on the hem of the top one is so pretty too! Oh, to have dresses like this hanging in the stores… lol!
Have a lovely, cozy weekend friends!
February 12, 2010 ·
10 lovely thoughts
posted in casey's musings,links
· tags: weekly inspiration
Thank you everyone for your lovely comments on my new ‘do post! Thank you also for the amazingly helpful tips and tricks on dealing with super thick hair and wet curl sets. I think I’ve decided I’m going to try the dry hair method, spritz it with setting lotion, and then sleep on that. Maybe it’ll work a bit better? I’ll be sure to let you all know! (I’ll also take some photos in the future of my hair without a set too; since there were questions about what the cut looks like sans set!)
There were a few questions asked in the comments that I thought would be helpful to post, rather than answer in email replies, so everyone can benefit. Firstly the topic of setting lotion. Yes, I do use setting lotion; the “Lottabody” brand, which Sally Beauty Supply sells. I have diluted it in prior sets, and it doesn’t do anything to help my hair withstand the humidity down here, so I use it at about a 50/50 (half Lottabody, half water), rather than the 1/2 or 1/3 dilution recommended on the bottle.
Now, about the blouse that everyone was asking about! I made this last year from a 30s pattern and a small piece of vintage fabric I picked up at a flea market. I wrote a post with a little more information on the blouse here. I have actually been toying with the idea (for a year now… yikes!) of either offering sewn versions of the blouse the blouse or copies of the pattern, or both, but haven’t worked up to it yet! lol. It’s one of my favorites, but I don’t wear it a ton since the fabric is so old.
The little barrette I’m wearing in the photos was a find at Forever 21 a month or so ago–I’ve noticed lately they have some cute hair accessories…
Hope you all are having a lovely day!
February 11, 2010 ·
4 lovely thoughts
posted in beauty tips,casey's musings
· tags: beauty, sewing
[ the new, sportier 40s look! ]
I mentioned in passing last week that I had my hair cut, and several of commenters sweetly requested to see photos! So here they are… I got about 6 1/2″ chopped off the overall length (it was to the middle of my back!) and had it shaped into the classic Middy cut (a bit shorter than last year’s cut). I had an eye towards doing styles like Lauren Bacall and Gene Tierney sported in the 40s.
These photos show the results of my first pincurl set with the shorter length. I’m fairly happy with how it turned out (considering my hair had been too long to pincurl for well over a month!). Though I am having one problem with pincurls: my hair is super thick (I’m not kidding; every stylist I’ve ever gone to is always amazed at how much hair I have!), and so the back pincurls never seem to dry fully, despite being in the set for 12 hours. I think I need to start setting the back with sponge rollers instead, rather than just pincurls, and do pincurls on the sides and front. Maybe that will help? Does anyone else have really thick hair and have any wise words? I’m tired of my wet-set curls not turning out right in the back!
As a side note: I’ve started adding some vintage goodies to my Etsy shop. There’s loads more to come (vintage clothes and accessories besides the patterns), but I thought you all might like to take a peek!
February 10, 2010 ·
67 lovely thoughts
posted in beauty tips,casey's musings
· tags: beauty
