Heat Wave

I don't know if you all have heard, but the Midwest is experiencing a serious heat wave. We have been under a "heat advisory" for at least a week now, as if we need the weather man to tell us how hot it is. ;)

Last weekend, my beau and I went to a nearby city's annual antique/garage sale, which is held in a parking structure. It was super hot, but at least the coverage from the parking garage provided some shade. The pickings this year were pretty slim, but I did come away with a few finds and a couple deals. I found a Hawaiian print DeWeese swimdress for $5!! Pictures to come soon. I also found this early 60s tent dress, which has great patch pockets on the hips. I just love pockets on a dress.

Emily

60s Homemade Tent Dress: Royal Oak Antique/Garage Sale

Nine West Sandals: Plato's Closet

Vintage Ekco Pans and Strawberry Banana Muffins

I'm back!! And I have a sweet treat to share with you all. Years ago, when I first started shopping estate sales, I picked up a few of these cool Ekco muffin pans. Since then, I have tried several different recipes and different pan greasing techniques to try to avoid the muffins from sticking to the pan. And, while these pans are so cute, I had to shelve them because I was tired of my efforts sticking to the pan.

Yesterday, I felt the urge to bake and I needed to use up some fruit that was starting to turn. So with limited supplies in the pantry, I chose to try this recipe with the Ekco pans, since I could not find my regular pans. (The kitchen at Retroville isn't quite set up yet).

I swapped out the blueberries for strawberries and the result was delicious! And the best part....the muffins didn't stick to the pan!!! I sprayed a little bit of veggie cooking spray in the bottoms, but what I think really helped was that the main bonding agent in these muffins is veg oil, which helped make the muffins slide right out of the baking pan. I am so excited to finally find a recipe that works with these unique pans! Does anyone else have one of these Ekco pans?

Oh! and that lovely pink Depression glass plate that the muffins are resting on was a recent thrift score for only $3.50!

Emily

Don't Adjust Your Computer Screen...

My apologies for yet another blogging break. I need a little break from my internet world and will be back soon.

Thanks for reading!!

Sincerely,

Emily

Now Working as an Undercover Spy

Last week, I had a dressy family event that I was attending and it was actually cool enough to wear my new-to-me 70s London Fog trench coat. A good trench is something I have been searching for for years now. I finally came across this one on eBay and scored it for $20 including shipping. Other than it being slightly high waisted (its a petite, I'm not) it's pretty much a perfect fit. I might move the belt loops down a bit to compensate for the higher waist.

All day, I was pretending that I was an undercover spy. That, and Ingrid Bergman from Casablanca. ;)

Emily

70s London Fog Trench Coat: eBay

Dress (peeking out): Lost and Found Vintage

40s Red Earrings: Estate Sale

50s Peep toe Heels: Ferndale D.I.Y

Handbag: Vintage Gucci

A "Swirly" Skirt

So, this photo is also a month old, but I am super excited to share this outfit with you all. I had been longing to wear this skirt which I scored at a flea market for only $1, but didn't have the right top to wear with it. In comes this 60s homemade top, found at my church's rummage sale. The two compliment each other nicely and since they are also separates, I can pair them with other tops and bottoms. I am really on a separates kick lately.

So this skirt.... It once upon a time was a Swirl and someone along the way chopped off the top (tear!) and modified it to be a wrap skirt. I'm sure that when it was a dress, it was quite the Swirl. Butterflies and yellow piping!!! Anyways, enough longing for what was... it was a deal at a dollar and I knew I would really enjoy wearing it since I love Swirls so much. And I do enjoy wearing it. Probably my favorite skirt!

Emily

60s Top: Church Rummage Sale

"Swirl" Wrap Skirt: Midland Flea Market

Long Time, No Blog.....

I have been a bad blogger. Moving and school really has taken over my life. But, the good news is this week is my last week of classes and then I have two plus months of summer vacation before I start my final year of grad school. YAY!!!!

This photo is from nearly a month ago and my hair has since grown out. However, this is what it looked like when I first got it cut. This dress is a "swim dress" which is kinda big due to the smocking being stretched out in the back. I plan to sew in some elastic and see if that doesn't fix the problem.

The bush I am standing in front of is a spirea. It is along the back fence of my new backyard. What I love about this bush, other than its beautiful flowers and fragrance, is that it was once in the yard of my Great Grandmother's home. My grandma took a piece of it and transplanted it into her yard and it has since blossomed into a large, healthy bush. If I ever move again, I hope to take a piece of this bush and carry on the tradition. Hopefully, I will have the same luck as my Grandma did with the transplant. She had such a green thumb and I know she is loving my veggie garden.

Emily

60s Swim Dress: Bloomfield Hills Vintage Clothing Expo

Sweater: St. Vincent De Pauls

Shoes: Re-Mix

Bakelite Earrings: eBay

Another Sneaky Peek

Yesterday, I spent some time over at "Retroville" moving some of my stuff in and playing around with some different things. Most of my vintage stuff has been living in a storage closet in my parent's basement, so I really haven't had a chance to see it all together. I honestly was worried that much of my stuff that I have been collecting would not mesh well together, since I have purchased little items here and there. However, yesterday I put this little table and lamp together just for fun and instantly knew that all of my stuff would come together.

Isn't this barkcloth amazing?! It was my Grandma's and she had saved a lot of it, all in different sizes. This piece fit well over the top of the table, which was also hers. The lamp was found at a thrift store for only $9 and the shade was found at an estate sale, I think for only $5. The lady thought I was crazy when I asked if I could just purchase the shade sans lamp. It's a fiberglass shade and it actually got crushed in my car, however you would never really know it unless you looked closely. I was able to fix it by using my steamer to smooth out the wrinkles and bind the slits together.

I really like how this came together and will probably keep it like this when I get all my stuff in place. It was so much fun to play around, fix things, and begin the decorating process. The whole little vignette only cost me about $15, since the table, barkcloth, and candy dish & ash tray were my Grandma's. However, I am sure I could have found similar pieces at the thrift store or an estate sale and would have still be able to put together something cute for not a lot of money. Being able to get a great look for not a lot of money is one of the many reasons why I love vintage so much. I am able to stretch my dollar, while decorating in a style I love. :)

Emily

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It has been raining here pretty much every day since the beginning of last week. With the exception of this weekend, the sun has been hiding. Yesterday, the sun was out and the humidity set in. I wore this sweet little wrap dress for a trip to the store to get some more veggie plants and some dirt.

I found this dress marked for only $12 "as-is." I really couldn't figure out what was wrong with it, since it was deadstock, complete with its original tag. I then noticed it only had one tie and the other one was missing. I knew I could just sew in some hooks and eyes and wear a belt and the dress would be good as new and a super cheap deal in a retail setting.

Oh, I also chopped off most of my hair at the beginning of last week, on a lark! I am still getting use to it and figuring out how to style it, since this is the shortest I have every had it. :)

Emily

50s Wrap Dress: Lost and Found

Belt: Salvation Army

Just a Glimpse...

...at my new casa. :) Within the next few weeks I will be making a move over to my Grandma's house, which was built in the mid 1960s and still has much of its vintage charm left. I cannot wait to get all my vintage furniture moved in, which I have been collecting for the last few months.

Today, I worked on getting the yard in shape. My mom has kept it looking very nice, but I wanted to add some vintage touches to it. I found these repro chairs at K-Mart of all places, on clearance for only $37 each. They were quite the pain to put together, but thanks to some help from my handy dad, I got them together.

I got this vintage plant stand from this past week's estate sale haul. It was only $5 and I knew it would look great on the porch. After I found the stand, I figured some uniform pots would look the best and found these galvanized pots at IKEA. I need to go back and get some more, since I was planning on using the large one one the bottom, but decided it would look better on the table instead. I am going to pick up some red flowers next weekend at the Farmer's Market to go in the big pot that is on the table.

Since I will have a back yard, a vegetable garden was in order. I dug out the garden today, but haven't planted the above veggies. I am waiting until I get them all so I can better lay out all the veggies. So far I have some strawberries, tomatoes, green beans, and summer squash. This plant stand was also an estate sale find and goes so well with my back porch furniture. No pictures of those yet, as I am still working on making the cushions for the love seat out of some vintage barkcloth.

Over the next few weeks, I will probably be sharing much more of my new home with you all. And any gardening success. :)

Emily

A Puppy in a Basket

Last week, I mentioned that I found an awesome plastic shopping basket at the thrift store, pictured above with my sweet little Pumpkin inside. I was super excited about it because I make the weekly trip to our local farmer's market and knew it would come in super handy. Plus, since it was plastic, I could rinse it out to keep it clean.

So imagine my surprise when on Friday, I found the basket pictured above at an estate sale. This one is wider and I knew would be perfect to hold house plants that I knew we were going to purchase this past weekend. And, it was only $1.

I am so smitten with both.... maybe too much so! ;)

Emily

40s Dress: Mother Fletcher's

Sweater and Flats: Target

Belt: Kohls