Midweek pretties

I do love a bit of vintage jewellery. The boys and I dropped some clothes off at the charity shop, and while the eldest browsed the bookshelves for 'Beast Quest' books, I had a quick rummage through the saucer of  earrings on the counter. These were very tarnished, although I don't think they're silver, and one of the tiny pyrite stones is missing, but I thought they were worth £1.95.

A previous owner liked them enough to mend them, as they have different clips on the back.

I've been having a play with the photo effects in Picasa - trying to make a bit more of an effort with my pictures. I quite like this HDR look, what do you think?

I found this marcasite brooch in a junk shop a couple of years ago. It's a pretty good match for the earrings. Now I just need an emerald green evening dress and a suitable event to wear them all too...

Lakota x

Linking up with Favourite thing on a Friday

PS. The winner of my Facebook competition is Mary Lynn Riffe. Please let me know your address.

Frock on a Friday!

Yes, it's a bit of a rarity round here to find me taking part in Frock on a Friday - not because I don't love frocks, I do - but because I loathe having my photograph taken. Whether or not a piece of my soul is lost remains to be seen, but I figure you can't be too careful. Anyway, I decided it was worth battling the camera demons to enter Ceri's amazing competition over at Style Eyes, and decided to wear my most recent vintage purchase - two posts for the price of one. You might have seen entrants strutting their stuff with somewhat more élan on other blogs - the idea is to showcase an outfit with an ethical element to it - whether second hand, bought from a free-trade/eco-friendly label, handmade or recycled. 

Yeah, squinting into the sun is so flattering...

Outfit details

70s maxi - eBay

belt - charity shop in Ireland

denim jacket - swapped

vintage clip on earring worn as brooch - found in attic

vintage wedge shoes - stolen from mum

30s earrings - charity shopped

Indian glass bracelets - bought by husband in Hydrabad

seed necklace - bought by me (direct from maker) in Thailand

Nail varnish - China Glaze 'Gothic Lolita' + Barry M 'hologram'

(neither tested on animals)

This was not what I wore to the park this afternoon with Boy2 - it would not have stood up to all the dinosaur fighting and tree climbing he insisted on. However, it is what I changed into when I got home - school's out and so was the sun!

Have a fabulous weekend.

Linking to Flea Market Finds

Magpie Monday
Thrift Share Monday

Lakota x



My Facebook competition to win a copy of 'Junk for Joy' ends tomorrow, so pop over if you fancy getting your hands on a book full of upcycling ideas. 


I've also been shortlisted for a BiB award (in the 'LAUGH' category), so if you've ever laughed at my eBay nonsense or the things I've dug up on Pinterest, I'd love your vote!

Oh, and in an ever more bonkers turn of events, I've also got a nomination for 'Blog of the Year' in the MAD awards. So, y'know - feel free to nominate me again! That one appears to have actual prizes. 

The future's orange

It's been half term and I've not been feeling that great recently, so I haven't really been doing much in the way of second-hand shopping. Also, I've got to be honest and say when I have looked, very little has really jumped out at me. If anyone could send me some thrift karma I'd be very grateful. However, I did find this  - which given the fact it's bright orange, with lairy 70s flowers on it, even I couldn't miss.

Tala Bread Bin

It cost me £3, and doesn't have a chip or a dent on it. Not only that, but it matches my nails.

Pretending I've got a Lamborghini 

[Matching your nails to your bread-bin proves you're in advanced stages of housewifery]

By happy co-incidence the tea-towel which lovely Loo sent me yesterday is also sporting an eye-popping orange floral, reminding me of my parents' bedroom wallpaper when I was tiny. Loo's parcel cheered me up no end, wrapped in the tea-towel was also a Habitat canvas shopping bag - I love the peacock and fox design - a birdy brooch from Acorn and Will and a rather marvellous 'build your own' cardboard crocodile. I made him immediately and he is currently guarding my earrings. She also cleverly made the box for the brooch herself - using orange origami paper.

Also on the orange theme - check out what I found when we were getting suitcases down from the loft recently. I bought these trousers round about 1996 and wore them not only clubbing but just generally out and about. I like to think that these are future vintage. It's no wonder I wore sunglasses almost permanently then...

Mid 90s skin-tight kick-flare leggings

Sadly I don't have any photos of me rocking these, I will have to ask around.

I'm not sure how many of you will appreciate this - but I'll leave you with club classic The Orange Theme by Cygnus X. Happy nights days...

Lakota x

Linking up with Liz for Magpie Monday

Vintage Valentines...

I'm off to the Museum of London today, where one of their collections is over 1,700 vintage Valentine cards, dating from the 1800s onward. Sadly it turns out that they only have a few on display at the moment, but before I go I just thought I'd share some of the twentieth century's finest examples. What else has so successfully made the transition from the 1820s to the present day I wonder? The tradition of sending Christmas cards might be on the wane, but woe betide the man who doesn't send a Valentines card to his lover.

Whilst lots of bloggers have probably written a similar post I'm happy to go with the crowd on this - the kitschier the better! I think it might be the terrible puns - these days the only place I'm likely to get a job utilising my caption writing super-power [ok, it's not quite flight or x-ray vision] is for a British tabloid, but if I'd been born 50 years earlier I like to think I could have come up with some great cards. Here's some of my favourites:

Hipster girl in floral headpiece a la Desiree

[1960s]

1950 card with 'real' eyelashes

Who dunnit - the mascara wand or the sharpened pencil?

Salad threesome - You 'bowl' me over

I'd have worked 'toss' in there somewhere...

[1970s]

Was this ever a phrase?!

[FHM version: You give me the horn]

Puns? Check.

Small child showing underwear? Check.

Dubious sexual advances? Check.

Speaking of which...

Need a what - restraining order? You know it.

[Slightly rapey looking Edwardian card]

Then we can marry and you can mend my clothes FOREVER!

Brokeback Mountain was heating up...

...and Ennis had the perfect card for Jack

[1960s]

I'm at a loss as to why a little girl who appears to be weeing on a barrel

makes a suitable Valentine, but that's the joy of vintage for you.

I love this one, a random mix of niche fashion commentary

and unnecessary quotation marks

Perfect for hat wearers Helga or La Dama

No words of love are best delivered on a pig's bum...

...Valentines Day is all about the STEAK!

(Maybe not for veggies Eartha Kitsch and Vix)

Puss in Boots explores BDSM. And Mary Janes

Okay...this is not going to be a healthy relationship

Ahem.

You can buy vintage Valentines cards for just a few pounds, so they're an affordable and adorable thing to collect. Some have been signed, but there are plenty of dead-stock examples available which would be a fun alternative to making your own (or buying one from Paperchase).  

I'll leave you with one of my favourites, I love the artwork and it's sweet and funny - so much nicer than most you can buy these days:

Happy Valentines Day everybody!

Lakota x

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

If you can't get enough vintage Valentines, there's a load more on my Pinterest board. For the perfect present, see my previous post.

In which we raid the lost ark

I was up in the loft yesterday - something I try to avoid - as Mr FHCS insisted we start sorting out the cardboard city up there prior to the move. [I'd prefer to just ferry the boxes unopened to our new loft, like we did last time we moved. It's cold up there, and there might be spiders]. However, it was worth it, because in a corner of the eaves and covered in filth, was this suitcase, presumably left by the previous owners of the house. Or their predecessors' predecessors. We'd never seen it before anyway. Obviously I spotted it and went 'oooh, what's that?' whereas Mr FHCS rolled his eyes and attempted to dissuade me from making him open it with dire mutterings about tarantulas and dead bodies and wasn't it too grimy to bother with?

Grot of ages

It was a tense moment, but no bats or mummified corpses fell out a la Indiana Jones, just some rather anti-climatic bits of sawdust. Therefore I got my way and was allowed to take it downstairs to clean up.

Baby wipes to the rescue once again!

I gave it a bit of leather spray too, although sadly I don't think it's actually leather. It's quite nice though, don't you think? Especially for free.

So now we have more to put in the removal lorry than we thought. But it comes under the useful heading as I can pack things in it! Score!

Lakota x

Linking up to Magpie Monday
                     Flea Market Finds
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I've been an awful good girl...

Hello again, apparently I scared some of you with my last post [hey, I just find these people, I'm normal] and lovely Loo was traumatised enough to request 'a nice cosy post about charity shop finds'. I've actually yet to set foot in one this year - I know, the restraint - but luckily a lot of my Christmas presents this year were of the vintage variety, so I'll share those instead.

My lovely aunt and uncle are keen antique hunters and spend a lot of time going to fairs. They're always happy to have things to look out for, and when they heard I'd found some homemaker china at a boot sale they started tracking down some other pieces for me. When I got down to Wales I had a birthday present of cereal bowls waiting for me, then unwrapped this very cute pair of espresso cups on Christmas day. 

For when I'm in a girlier mood, I also received some pink floral china (various cups, saucers, sugar bowl and cake plates) which my mum had picked up at a flea market and bought for me on behalf of my Grandad. Mr FHCS had an attack of apoplexy at the prospect of a) stuffing this much china into our already dangerously overladen car to bring home again b) only to have to immediately pack it for the move, so it's still at my parents' house for now. It'll be perfect for when I finally throw a Vintage Tea Party using the Angel Adoree book MADQ bought me for my birthday. 

Also from my Grandad via my Mum (she'd be a great personal shopper) was this amazing dark wood box, which I love. It's designed like a louvred sewing box, but we think it is an 'apprentice piece' made by a  trainee carpenter to showcase his skills. It's not showy or fancy but Mr FHCS can vouch for its solid construction, having walked into it in the dark. I'm undecided what to keep in it yet.

Amongst the presents from my sister and her beloved (they got engaged just a few days before Christmas at their favourite Welsh beach) was this Pierre Cardin silk scarf:

and my sister in law picked out these beautiful unworn vintage kid leather evening gloves for me. They're gorgeous, but do leave black smears all over everything - including my face - which does slightly lessen the glamour factor. Does anyone have any suggestions? Would dry-cleaning them help?

Oh, and I should mention this gorgeous bulb atomiser of Vol de Nuit shimmer powder (from my parents). How glamorous is this for a dressing table? The original Guerlain fragrance was released in the 30s, but the powder has a light enough scent that you can wear it in addition to your usual perfume. I now have a glittering décolletage, Bella Cullen style.

I won't go into all my gifts as I feel horribly spoilt as it is, but suffice to say that this month I will also be having lots of fun with a variety of nail polish colours whilst finally watching the full first series of Mad Men. Rock and/or Roll. 

Lakota x

Linking up to Flea Market Finds
Magpie Monday
Thrift Share Monday