Category Archives: Vintage

DIY Vintage Crepe Paper Flower Hat

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by in Party!, Projects, Vintage

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My Mother-in-Law gave me this amazing How to Make Crepe Paper Flowers book for my birthday last year and I have been waiting for the right time to put it to use.  My copy is from 1922 and contains the secrets to making realistic flowers from crepe paper.  Needles to say, I am in love with this book!  Ebay has several copies for sale here.  The flowers turned out better than I had thought possible and we used them to make a special birthday hat for our friend Sandy.  To make your own Crepe Paper Flower Hat you will need:

*How to Make Crepe Paper Flowers book

*Variety of Crepe Paper (We used this 100 gms paper from Papermart, and each flower used less than one roll of paper)

*Headband

*Floral Tape

*Floral Wire (We used straight 18 gauge wire)

*Craft Glue

*Scissors

*Pinking Shears (optional)

*Card Stock for Patterns

*Ribbon to Tie Hat (optional)

1. Prepare patterns.  Our copy of the book did not come with the original patterns, so we followed the drawings in the book and made our own from card stock.  Label each pattern for future use.

2. Following directions from the book, make up flowers and leave stem wires long until you are ready to apply to the hat.  We used 9 flowers to make our hat.  It is helpful to hold finished flowers in a vase or cup as you go.

3. Lay ribbon over ends of headband about 2″ and glue.  (Our hat was a little heavy, so we added the ribbon to make it more secure for dancing).

4. Wrap headband with floral tape up until the point you want to add a flower.  (Start on one side of the headband and add flowers up and over to the other side).

5. Put a spot of glue over the floral tape and wind a 1″ strip of green crepe paper around the headband over the tape, gently pulling tight as you go.  This will be the visible headband covering, so try to keep it neat.  Our strip was about 15″ long x 1″ wide.

6. Trim the wire on first flower to about 3″, position it and use floral tape to secure to the headband.

7. Wrap green crepe paper over floral tape as you go, covering the headband between each flower.

8. Position the second flower and repeat the wrapping.

9. When all flowers are in place wrap the floral tape and crepe paper down to the other end of the headband and secure crepe with a little glue.

10. Allow the hat to dry.

Get your party on!

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Thrift Store Sweater Update

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by in Likes, Organizing, Projects, Vintage

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Some of my favorite clothes for the girls are vintage finds from thrift and resale shops.  Clementine Consignment in Manhattan and LuLu’s Then and Now in Brooklyn are frequent stops for us.  These resale shops also buy gently used clothing and will donate items they can’t resell, so they are a great resource for moving your kids’ outgrown items.  We got this sweater at LuLu’s for under $10, changed out boring buttons for pretty vintage ones and added black lace over the pockets.  Flea markets, Ebay and Etsy always have great stashes of vintage trims and buttons.  We keep ours in these big glass storage jars.  Our little white sweater is now as Josie would say: “fancy”.

Frozen Charlotte

09 Friday Nov 2012

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Chris dug this out of the back yard last week. I knew immediately what it was because I’d been hoping to find one since August. Chris missed her at first, thinking the tiny head was just a white shard of pottery. He stacked it on a log out back with some broken salt shakers and a red jug handle – (We are becoming quite the archeologists around here). I learned about Frozen Charlottes at this amazing museum in North Carolina this summer. Charlotte dolls were popular children’s toys at the turn of the century. I wonder who used to play with this one in our back yard, and what became of her as she grew. What other secrets are hidden out there? What secrets will my girls leave?

Vintage Finds: Globe Banks

23 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Organizing, Shop, Vintage

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We picked up this little pair of vintage globe banks at a Brooklyn antique shop this weekend for $10 each.  These banks are small- about 5″ tall and a good start to an inexpensive collection.  Ebay has quite a few globe banks listed here.  I love that they combine saving money and geography.  Banks used to hand these sort of globes out to kids to promote saving, (presumably in the institution stated once the globe was packed with pennies).  Our girls usually put extra change in our big glass jug by the front door.  Maybe these globe banks will be the start of their savings to travel the world.

Vintage Treasure

08 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Inspiration, Likes, Projects, Shop, Vintage

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Finds from a recent visit to Tinsel Trading Company in Manhattan.  Tinsel Trading is a magical place that has been run and owned by the same family for generations.  Their story can be found here.  They have the most amazing selection of vintage millinery flowers, trims, buttons…I designed many projects around Tinsel Trading finds when I was in fashion school and I used to visit often for inspiration when I worked in the city.  There is a huge set of drawers in the back of the store filled with an ever-changing array.  This visit it housed unused paper labels, cardboard animals and new old stock of red paintbrushes among other things.  I love wandering in without a specific project and letting the treasure speak to me.  I have yet to bring Ada, but Tinsel Trading is pretty much a crafty four-year-old’s dream.  Here is what I found:

* Reproduction French sticker labels.  (We will use them for jams and gift labeling).

* Vintage silver ribbon.  (Waiting to trim a package).

* Vintage gold stacking beads.  (I am thinking these would make a pretty necklace mixed with seashells we found this summer for Ada’s mermaid Halloween costume that I have been knitting).

Flea Market Finds

01 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in Likes, Projects, Shop, Vintage

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Happy October!

My friend Leslie and I spent a kid-free morning yesterday at The Elephant’s Trunk Flea Market.  (Thanks Dads!)  It was a beautiful fall day, despite a few sprinkles, and the leaves had just started changing colors in Connecticut.  We both found some great stuff and had a lovely lazy morning wandering around.  I am still jealous of the bright blue and red umbrella Leslie scored!  Flea markets are my favorite way to spend a morning.  I love nothing more than wandering around and getting ideas, thinking of new ways to use old things, and finding inspiration.  Here are my finds:

Ironstone butter pats – also great for holding small jewelry or marbles, spices when cooking, or for mixing watercolors.  Ebay has some here.  (The opal glass is for Ada’s collection).

Glass drawer pulls in various sizes.  You never know when you will need the perfect set!  I am putting the small set on Ada’s dresser today.  The rest will be saved for future projects.  Etsy has some here.

Balsa hat form.  I went specifically to the flea for this and found the perfect one for $25.  I love it when that magically happens!  I am using it to photograph my headband crowns for my opening-soon Etsy store.

Giant wicker basket.  I love this thing!  I bargained it down to $35, and had no idea what I would do with it.  I was thinking of maybe using it for a laundry basket, or blanket storage, or towels, or maybe a future baby bed…It seemed to grow when it got into the trunk of our car and by the time I got it home it seemed really big.  Ada and Josie saw it and begged to put it in their room as a ‘nest’.  They have been reading books and snuggling bears in there.  I am still not sure where it will end up, but it is good in the corner of their room for now.  This figuring out the perfect use for something that was once loved by someone else is exactly why I love the flea market.

Pumpkin Queen

24 Monday Sep 2012

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We started fall off with apple picking and antique shops this weekend.  Chris found this giant pumpkin at Sun High Orchards after we picked 20 pounds (!) of apples.  I am excited to perfect a maple apple jam recipe with them this week.  The girls went on their first pony rides at the farm and Josie did not want to share her pony with any of the other kids waiting in line.  I scored a pair of vintage juice glasses decorated with fall leaves (for $.99 each !).  Ada found this crown at the last antique shop and decided it could live on the pumpkin when not on her own head.  There is officially a chill in the air today.  Welcome Autumn!

DIY Knit Baby Bootie Gift

20 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Party!, Projects, Vintage

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These knitted Mary Jane booties are my favorite new baby gift. The pattern is so simple and can be found here (for free!). This pattern uses less than one skein of sport weight yarn, making it the perfect pattern for that half ball of precious cashmere. (Soon I’ll post the hats I made for Ada out of really expensive, but oh-so-amazing cashmere yarn. Chris nearly had a heart attack when he found out the price, but the hats were by far her favorites and are now being passed on to Josie). The most important part of this project is to find the perfect vintage buttons to finish up the Mary Janes. Ada loves to help search through the button jars with me for just the right pair. We wrapped the booties in some craft paper and tied them up with variegated yarn. More Last Minute Knitted Gifts has a beautiful section on wrapping with scrap yarns. The card by making a simple washi tape collage and trimming the edges with pinking shears. My favorite square vellum envelopes can be found here. Welcome little one!

DIY Floor Lamp Refresh

13 Thursday Sep 2012

Posted by in Projects, Shop, Vintage

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I found this lamp, in a sorry state for $10 at our local junk/treasure shop.  I loved its lines, but in needed some work.  (This was before Chris and I made our “No More Projects” vow to each other.  We both have lifetimes worth of projects and are trying to limit the new ones walking in our door…I am really bad at keeping this vow, but just for the record so is Chris).  This particular project involved rewiring with a vintage-look fabric cord, spray painting with this matte metallic, scoring a perfect glass torchiere shade for $3 at a stoop sale, replacing the candle sleeves and all four bulbs.  (If you are going to do your own lamp rehab and don’t feel confident wiring, you can purchase cord and bring it to a lamp repair shop).

We are both really happy with how the lamp turned out and it makes such pretty light now in the dining room. Kind of makes me give the junk shop projects a long second look…

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Wool Felt Coaster DIY

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Projects, Shop, Vintage

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We made these wool felt coasters from some square lace doilies we found at the flea market. They are a simple cut and stitch project which requires very minimal sewing skills. Round doilies could be substituted if you have those. The simple X stitching we used will work for any shape, and a larger set of doilies would be great as trivets. To make the coasters you will need:
*Wool Felt (This is our favorite)

*Small Doilies

*Pinking Shears

*Straight Pins

*Sewing Machine

*Thread to Match Doilies

1. Cut felt into squares to match doilies using pinking shears.  (Our squares are 3 1/4″).

2. Iron doilies if needed.

3. Center each doily on top of a felt square and pin in place.

4. Using a zig-zag stitch, sew an X through each coaster as sewn.  Be careful to remove pins as you stitch and to not let the fabrics buckle.

5. Tie the stitch ends on the underside of felt and trim.

6. Make some cocktails!