Etiquette for The Parent Trap

And now, time for...

"Everyday Etiquette"

This week's etiquette lesson comes to us from the chapter entitled:


Let's join our lesson, already in progress...

Three Magic Words

Hi everyone! Today is my birthday and what better way to celebrate than pork! Hmmm...I should probably explain that...

One of my favorite vintage things are menus. Home entertaining dinner menus to be exact. Drinks, two or three appetizers, main course, salads, breads, desserts, it's all there and in high numbers. For whatever reason, I just find it fascinating. Maybe because I make a meat, a vegetable and one other thing, bada bing bada boom and I'm out of the kitchen. lol Or could just be because it all looks so fancy.

At any rate, I was watching a collection of Christmas shorts by the guys at RiffTrax and one of the shorts was "Three Magic Words" from 1939, created to promote pork. In it, "Mrs. Newlywed" has to make a dinner for her husband and guests and for some reason has no clue what animal pork comes from. (?!) But get past her crazy high pitched wailing and you've got a cutesy short with a ridiculously long menu for a woman who thinks pork comes from sheep. I immediately grabbed a screen print of it:

Now is that a menu or is that a MENU??? I just love it although I admit I had no clue what the heck half of it was. I figured out that the "paprika lettuce" was just lettuce with the ends dipped in paprika. But celery stuffed with Braunschweiger and Cervelat Cornucopias filled with cream cheese mixed with butter? I had no clue. I couldn't find the specific recipes for these but I did find out that Braunschweiger is liverwurst and Cervelat is sausage and my chest immediately started to hurt. Although, I might have to try that sausage stuffed with cream cheese and butter. Sure, I'll probably die but I bet it tastes good. :P

If you're interested, I found the entire short, unriffed, on You Tube, enjoy...and eat more pork! ;)

Crochet of Life

As an avid crocheter, I ALWAYS let out a yarn obsessed fan girl scream whenever I see crochet anything in movies and TV. ESPECIALLY when it involves old movies and TV shows because...well...old movies are awesome. :D

So imagine my squeal when I spied some hooking up (yarn wise) in 1959's "Imitation of Life":

That's the amazing Juanita Moore as Annie and always super cute Sandra Dee as Susie. The movie all around was great but the Crocheting is Awesome scene (as I like to call it) was my favorite. :D

Vintage Touches for a Brighter Day

Hi everyone!

I was thinking this week: While I would love to be living in a mid-century house decorated with mid-century furniture and gee-gaws, wearing authentic vintage clothing while planning vacations in my Shasta trailer, that's just not in the cards for me. And you know what? That's okay!

And it could be that some day I'll wake up with the resources and amazing good luck to find all of these gorgeous things, but right now I'm celebrating a "vintage" life in my own small way. Sometimes just having little "touches" of something with a history is enough to brighten your day and make you feel like washing the dishes isn't so bad after all. ;)

So the other day, I made banana bread in a Pyrex dish, hung up my sweet rose apron, put up my feet and listened to some Ruth Etting (on my modern day Kindle of course, HA!) while drinking a mid-morning cup of coffee from my pink Stetson melmac cup.



I love mixing up my decades and just having fun with my vintage treasures.

Slug Bug

Hi everyone!

Lots of radio silence around here, eh? This year has not been especially kind to me as I lost my brother on April 7th, 2012. Doesn't that sound weird? I mean I didn't "lose" him, he died so yeah....

Anyhoo, my vintage shopping and stalking has been greatly reduced but I'm hoping to hop back on board the vintage train soon. In fact, here's a cup I found on one of my last trips to the thrift store. I love the graphics on it!

Because that's what you want to ponder when having your morning coffee...bug problems.

This mug is personalized, on the back it says, "Baby". Cause you know, nobody put Baby in a corner...with bugs.

The Girl in the Flowered Hat

Hi everyone! Wow, it's taking me so long to update this blog that it really is vintage. LOL I'm going to get better at posting, I promise! I've actually got a few thrifty things to show off, once I stop being lazy and start taking pictures (sounds like some sort of lazy blogging Real World, lol). Anyhoo, found this sweet girl at a thrift store and just had to bring her home:

How cute is she??? I'm thinking 1960s-1970s? She's hanging in my craft room now and I do believe this picture inspired my new look over at Just Add Glitter and Stir. :D So how are y'all doing? Any cool vintage finds lately?

The Pink Azalea

Hi everyone! Wow, no vintage goodness from me since July??? Yikes! Well, I've got something now! lol Back in 2009, my good blogging buddy, Julie from Life With The Tucker and Wolek Clan surprised me with a 1950s Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book. My mom's birthday is tomorrow and I really wanted to give a vintage cake recipe a whirl so I got out the fab book Julie sent me and got to perusing the Cakes section.

I decided on the lovely Pink Azalea cake: 

The Pink Azalea

Cakes "from scratch" aren't terribly different in today's kitchens, except maybe the use of shortening (then) as opposed to butter (now). This cake was pretty easy to do although I got a little fancy with it and used almond extract over the vanilla called for in the recipe. The frosting was another story.

I've made quite a few scratch frostings and icings before but this one called for just sugar, a little cream of tartar and a little water, boiled and poured over stiff egg whites. Which normally wouldn't be a problem except that when I went to remove the candy thermometer, it was hot (duh), I dropped it back in the syrup where it promptly broke adding the extra ingredient of glass. So out that first batch went and we started to boil again without the benefit of knowing what temp the syrup was before adding to the whites. Oh well. It's still pretty.

I colored one cake layer pink (added too much and it came out bright pink when the book called for "delicate". Oops!) and added strawberries to part of the frosting for the middle of the layers. The outside got doused in pink frosting and it is delicious!

My first foray into the world of vintage baking was successful (busted thermometer aside) and I can't wait to try another recipe from this book!

I Love Lamp

Hi everyone!

I have found some fabulous vintage treasures but for the most part, things like awesome lamps, furniture and accessories have alluded me. I rarely luck up into finding anything cool at yard sales for instance, but I've always put that down to me being lazy and not searching hard enough.

So the Fates were smiling upon me this past Saturday as I was taking the husband to work and drove past a house on my street having a yard sale. They had your usual junky "cleaning the house out" stuff but I slammed on the brakes and spun around as I saw something amazing peeking out at me over their white picket fence:

I know, RIGHT?!

Isn't it gorgeous?! And wouldn't you know it, it is in beautiful shape. The shade is perfect, it works and is right this minute sitting beside me looking awesome. My husband turned up his nose at it and I told him he was nuts. I also told him that I love this lamp so much that if our house ever caught fire, I would grab this lamp, take it outside and then come back for him. :P

I love lamp. Literally.

Date Your Family

Hi everyone!

I admit that with a new baby, a 2 year old and a husband that works most nights, our "family dinners" are practically non existent at the moment. Luckily I can live vicariously through this family's dinner...

Vintage Crochet Part 2

Hi everyone!

Well, here they are: my two (current) favorite vintage crochet booklets. I'm determined to make something out of these bad boys before the end of the year!

And a look on the inside:

And my absolute fave:


Oh my, I've got to try some of these patterns! Here's a look on the inside:

Any awesome finds for you lately?

Vintage Crochet Part 1

Hi everyone!

I recently got a lot of vintage crochet booklets off eBay the other day and wanted to share them with you! I so can't wait to jump into some of these and get to hooking, I love vintage crochet books so much...




And now for the slickest pair of crochet booklets you ever did see:

I told my husband I was going to crochet him one of these vests and he laughed in my face. Well, we'll just see whose laughing in the end...Muwahahahahaha!

Part 2 is coming soon : I've saved my two favorite vintage crochet booklets for another post. Have a great day everyone! :)

Space Age Vintage Knitting

Hi everyone!

One of my favorite things is vintage ads. One of my other favorite things is crocheting and yarn crafts. I so love when all of my favorite things come together to become one super awesome favorite thing. It's like scooping dark chocolate frosting right out of the can with a peanut butter cookie. (Sorry, I'm pregnant and hungry.)

Anyhoo, I saw this awesome 1955 ad on Ravelry and just had to share it with you. Presenting...

Space Age Vintage Knitting

(Image used with permission by Vintage Knits)

Are there any current yarn ads that come close to being this cool??? :D

Goodbye Miss Jane Russell

I was so heartbroken to hear of Jane Russell's recent passing.

(Image from: Bouquet of Tulle Roses)

She was everything fabulous, always glamorous, dedicated to her faith and refused to take crap from anyone. My favorite of her movies was (and is) "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Her autobiography, "My Path and Detours" was so interesting and I loved her views on Hollywood and what led to her creation of WAIF (World Adoption International Fund).



Ah, her eyebrows: sharp as a razor blade. How I envy those brows!

Rest in Peace Jane Russell...

Every Little Breeze Seems to Whisper Louise

Hi everyone!

Now that we are expecting a second daughter come this May, I've been looking through some old family pictures in an effort to find a good timeless name for our new little one. :)

My mom found these pictures of my Great Grandmother Louise who died when I was still quite young but to this day I remember her as someone I loved very much.











I remember she had a coo-coo clock that hung on her living room wall and I just loved it! (Still want to get one of those!) She also had these three ceramic cats on her coffee table. They were all orange, in different poses with green jeweled eyes. I would play with them whenever we went over to her house.

I wish I had known her when I was older. There are so many things I would love ask her! But at least I have these pictures...

Going Bananas, Fifties Style

Hi everyone!

Wow, no post since June - yikes! lol Well, no worries I bring you sweet things in apology. :D During one of my vintage stops over the Summer I found this little gem. Actually it's not so little, this thing weighs a ton.

(Notice the grease pencil price, wasn't that sweet of someone?)

I was first attracted to it because of the great 1950s illustrations, like this one:

But once I looked at the Table of Contents, I realized just how "encyclopedic" this cookbook was:

There are many, many great recipes in this book but today I'm going to share the "Gold Nugget Cake" recipe with you.


Gold Nugget Cake

2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 sour milk or buttermilk
1 cup mashed bananas (2 to 3)
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 bananas, sliced

Sift flour, baking powder, soda and salt together. Add milk to mashed bananas. Cream shortening with sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients and milk mixture alternately in small amounts, beating well after each addition. Stir in flavoring.

Pour into greased pans and bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool. Put layers together with Banana Frosting and sliced bananas. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake and garnish with sliced bananas. Makes 2 8-inch layers.

Banana Frosting

1/2 cup mashed banana (1 large banana)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
1 pound (3 1/2 cups) confectioner's sugar, sifted

Mix banana and lemon juice together. Cream butter with 1 cup sugar, then add banana and enough of the remaining sugar to make mixture thick enough to spread.

If anyone tries this recipe, I'd love to know what you think! Do you like to cook from vintage cookbooks?

Of Ponies and Things...

Hey y'all!

Check out what I found the other day in my thrifty travels:

A little bit of Pyrex and a swank looking coffee pot but the most interesting thing is the one to the left: another one of those choppers! For those of you keeping count (why wouldn't you after all?) I now have three of these choppers I found in three different shops in three different colors...I smell a collection coming on! :P

And then, while traversing my basement which is dark and creepy and my husband refuses to go down into (picture me doing an Indiana Jones type cave exploration filled with giant bugs and poison darts that shoot from the walls), I found my My Little Ponies from the 1980s!!!

I've still got my carrying case, 7 ponies, 2 baby ponies, a baby pony buggy and various brushes and accessory what nots. (They all got a bath last night complete with conditioning hair treatment. I figured I owed them.) PLUS I found my Strawberry Shortcake dolls! Oh snap, I forgot to take a picture of those...hang on a sec...

Talk amongst yourselves!

Okay, I'm back! Here they are:

So they are nasty and filthy from being the basement over 20 years (I bought the house I grew up in a few years ago) and I'm not sure why Strawberry Shortcake is topless but there you are! I would assume the rest of their accessories are around here somewhere. I know I've got Raspberry Tart's pet monkey...hmmm... (and where the heck is Blueberry Muffin? That's her pet mouse Cheesecake there right? So I would had to have had her as well, yes?)

Ah well, that's for another day, another excavation I suppose. I can't believe I'm in my thirties and I'm already "vintage". *shudder* Wait, I love vintage! Nevermind, you can call me vintage. :P

Okay, I'm rambling at this point so I better stop while I still have readers...

Have a great weekend! :D

Etiquette for the Working Girl

And now, time for...

"Everyday Etiquette"

This week's etiquette lesson comes to us from the chapter entitled:

Let's join our lesson, already in progress...

I am a personal secretary for a major executive of my firm. When my phone rings should I say, "Miss Brown speaking" or should I say, "Mr. Carstair's office, Miss Brown speaking" or just "Mr. Carstair's office." -M.J.B. Flemington, New Jersey

You say "Mr. Carstair's office," and add, if you wish, "Miss Brown speaking."

-Hey Miss Brown, you just missed 5 phone calls while writing this letter asking how you should answer the phone. You're fired.

-Horshack would never have this problem: "Hello, Mr. Carstair-r-r's office!"

And that concludes another lesson in "Everyday Etiquette". Please tune in next week when we will learn what our calling cards should read when we're divorced and the ex dies. dum dum DUM!

**Questions and Answers from "Everday Etiquette: Answers to Today's Etiquette Questions" by Amy Vanderbilt, 1952-1956. Snark responses from "Maggi", 2010**

**Please note, all snark implied is just that, snarkiness. Please answer all phones correctly or we will descend into chaos...**

Ebay, Schmebay Strikes Back

Hey y'all!

First of all, I have to thank you for your support and sweet comments on my last post about the Ebay Dress of Disappointment. I'm happy to report that the story has a happy ending! Huzzah! :D

The seller responded to my e-mail, fortunately she was super cool about everything. She offered me a full refund and a shipping label to return the dress. Quite frankly, I wanted to keep the dress since I felt a lot of the problems were somewhat fixable so I counter offered to keep the dress in return for a partial refund. She agreed, I got part of my money back, bada bing bada boom (I'm saying that a lot lately...) and we're good. :)

I spent the morning washing and pressing the dress (it had that lovely Vintage Musk smell to it big time) and then mended the holes along the seams. (Go me!)

And here's what the fuss was all about:

As you can see, the measurements listed were off as well. I'm a little bit of a Chesty LaRue but no way the chest measurements were as big as what the listing said they were. No worries, I'm currently exercising and all that healthy what not so it should fit a little better soon. :)

The dress screams, "Ethel Mertz Lives!" I think. Lucy may be the icon but it's Ethel's wardrobe that I look for (and can halfway afford most of the time). lol Fun!

Thanks again for your advice and virtual shoulders to cry on, I so appreciate it!

Happy Friday everyone! Any fun vintage plans this weekend?

Ebay, Schmebay

Hey y'all!

Okay, so I count myself as a halfway decent vintage shopper. I don't (well I try not to) shop stupid outside of my budget and most of time I stick to the "Second Time Mine" rule where if something is still at the store next time I go and I can afford it, it's mine.

Anyhoo, all this to say that the other day I bid on a 50s dress on Ebay when I shouldn't have...I mean we had the money but I didn't need to be spending it, know what I mean? So I prayed and prayed that someone would outbid me, of course no one did and the dress was mine. Blerg. (I got it for a good price but still...)

But no worries, I paid for it right after winning it, apologized to the husband and learned my lesson of "No Bidding on Ebay If You Don't Need to be Spending Money, Stupid". So the dress arrives today and I felt like I was living a page from 1950's Atomic Ranch House's Ebay book (bad chapter, not the awesome pink appliances good one). Let's see if I can explain this in a way that makes sense and doesn't take up 10 pages...

Okay so I don't buy from Ebay often. I know it's like a great source for cheap vintage stuff but all told I've probably bought 5 things on Ebay during my years of being signed up over there. No particular reason, I just don't. I also don't dig confrontation although since getting older I've gotten better about that. But at any rate, whenever I've had a problem with Ebay or Etsy or wherever, I calmly and sweetly contact the person, get it dealt with, move on.

SO ANYWAY - This dress I bought was listed as having a couple of rust stains (which were pointed out in the listing) and no holes - otherwise fine condition. I get the dress today and the Priority envelope it had been sent in was almost all the way opened. (The tissue paper they wrapped the dress in got stuck to the sticky on the envelope so it never closed.) How in the world this dress got to me without damage or coming out of that envelope, I've no idea.

But the dress is fine so whatever. Then looking at the dress, I discover that there are indeed holes in the dress, specifically 3 where the seams are coming apart. But I figure, well I can sew that up. So I very kindly e-mail the seller to let them know that if they use those envelopes again, they may need to be taped just in case and the ad said no holes but I found some in the seaming.

Okay fine, e-mail sent - very sweetly I might add. Then as I was getting ready to launder the dress, I find an actual hole in the skirt which got me thinking that the seller didn't really look the dress over very well since I found this hole and the others pretty quickly and the ad said the dress was "free of holes". So I took a picture of that as well (I had sent a picture of the other holes for the first e-mail) and sent a second e-mail. (Plus, I realized later that the bust size was also misrepresented but at that point, whatever - that's the least of my problems here).

That was this morning and now I'm just waiting on a response from the seller. I'm not mad or anything actually, I'm just not sure what to expect since I'm not a frequent ebay-er nor immediate yeller at people for stuff. lol I'm also not sure why I'm blogging about it either except that I feel like in this virtual vintage world we live in, I guess I need a little hug and an "everything will work out". LOL Especially since I already feel like a moron for buying it in the first place...stupid poetic justice...

Any thoughts or opinions from the Ebay Masters out there?

But so this post isn't a total loss, here's a picture of some cups I found at a thrift store a month or so back:

AND on a super happy fun note, Vintage Christine from I'm Not Old, I'm Vintage is having a 100 Followers Giveaway so go check that out! :D

I hope you're having a great day! :)

Kitchen Kollection

Hey y'all!

Just wanted to share a few new finds with you on this fine Saturday...

I found another chopper! This one is burgundy-ish and has the plastic thingie-do at the bottom to protect the glass:

My mom gave me this steamer out of her collection:

She also gave me this Trav-L-Bar she found a while back:



*Speaking of collections, my mom has the best collection of hats. I've got to remember to take pictures of them to show you.* I found this syrup...uh...container? Pitcher? I'm drawing a complete blank on what this is called and I'm too lazy to Google whatever. :P Anyhoo, it's heavy duty glass and metal, this thing is going to last forever.

I looooooove this popper! It looks brand new, it has a little instruction booklet and the power cord looks like it's never even been plugged in:

Of course part of the reason I bought it is for the groovy picture on the front:

What can I say? I'm a pushover for illustrations. :P So that's it for now! I have been wanting to do an outfit post but the weather has been yuck lately so since I've started vlogging, I may just do a video instead. :D

Have a great weekend y'all! Do you have any vintage type plans?