Wearing Carolyn and MUSI Leather Flower vintage shoe clips

Hello, everyone! Long time, no blog. I've been a busy bee lately. Between kids, house, Thanksgiving and projects, I've had little time for the internet but I'm back and excited to announce another giveaway, this time
sponsored by ShoeClips biz
Shoe clips are a simple way to add a little sparkle and glamor to your outfit. They are typically worn on the front of your shoes but I like to wear them on the back, sides or in other ways. Clip one to a ribbon in your hair, jazz up a plain handbag, wear them on your lapel or belt. They look chic on a hat band, ribbon choker or as an embellishment on a simple turban. Shoe clips really are one of the most versatile accessories.

I gave these boring black heels a new life with my vintage gingham shoe clips

 ShoeClips is a fantastic shop with a vast selection of beautiful modern and vintage shoe clips. Weather you love classic, understated elegance or bold glitz, you're sure to find the perfect shoe clip for you. They were kind enough to send me a few pairs of their clips. They may look delicate and dainty but they are quite sturdy with strong clips. You could dance all night and rest assured that both clips will come home with you. Here are a few of my favorite selections from ShoeClips

Anchors Away

vintage confetti clips

 

vintage MUSI Bows

vintage moonlight lucite

 "Inspired by a collection of vintage shoe clips and a mutual love of accessories, friends Karen and Lynn set out to bring back this once popular fashion accessory in a new and unique way. Dedicated to researching the latest trends, we continually strive to bring our valued customers exciting new items and exclusive designs along with many great vintage pieces. Our ever changing online catalog features styles from formal to casual and everything in between."


Now on to the giveaway....

One lucky winner will receive a $25 gift certificate to ShoeClips

♥ be a follower of my blog
♥ visit  ShoeClips.biz. and tell me what's your favorite style of shoe clip
♥ like ShoeClipsbiz on facebook

for extra entries
♥ blog about my giveaway (1 entry)
♥ tweet it or post about it on facebook (1 entry)

This Giveaway will end on December 2nd and the winner will be announced on December 3rd

Thank you so much for reading me and thank to to ShoeClips.biz. for the fab giveaway!

Outfits
green 40's tie from blouse- handmade by me with a 40's pattern
olive green 40's skirt- warehouse sale
assorted bakelite bangles
black pumps- target
black tee- thrifted
atomic salt and pepper shaker skirt- handmade by me using vintage kitchen fabric
vintage seamed stockings- antique mall

shoe clips- all shoe clips courtesy of ShoeClips

Long time, no post! Life has been keeping me very busy these last few weeks but I've made a lot of progress on my house and projects. I've been cleaning, organizing, crafting and playing with my babies. It's been nice but I'm happy to be back to blogging.

Last night was a much-needed date night. We went to TGI Friday's for dinner and to the movies to see J. Edgar. The movie was very long but we both really liked it. Leo DiCaprio is a fantastic actor and there were so many beautiful hats, hair styles and other costumes, it was quite a treat! J Edgar Hoover was such an interesting, passionate character. Pj and I both remarked on how intense of a person he must have been.

Daylight savings time is a fashion blogger's worst enemy but I found this little field next to my mother-in-law's house. The sun was setting but it yielded some neat photos. I think you may be seeing me here on date night more often! 

I wore my new 40's dress, which I bought on our trip to Springfield in September. It's such a delicate dress. I had to do a few repairs on the fabric so this dress will have to be a date night-only dress for a while. There are many occasions when I have to crawl around the car while we're driving, searching for a pacifier, blanket or toy to keep one of the kids from screaming. All of that twisting and climbing has resulted in a few rips on the seams of some of my dresses. Things like vintage stockings, delicate dresses and suede shoes are reserved for outings without the kids.

My coat is another story that must be told. It belonged to my step-great-grandma's best friend (that's a mouthful!). She passed away this spring and didn't have any living family. She left her estate in the hands of Grandma Joan. While sorting out her best friend's belongings, she found 2 vintage coats and thought I would enjoy them. They both fit perfectly and I feel so honored to wear them. I think of their friendship every time I put them on.

Another special thing for date night are pierced earrings! I rarely wear pierced earrings, because I have two little ones who grab and pull! Silly as it is, pierced earrings remind me that it's "me" time and that's worth everything to a busy momma.I really love my new deco style earrings from Poshlocket.


They're classic and sophisticated with a little bit of understated sparkle. The elegant lines of this design are the perfect accessory for a vintage girl in a modern world. They are made of a durable metal but are comfortable and light enough to wear all night without pulling on the ear. At the end of the night, when we went to pick up the kids from Grannie's house, I put them in the sweet pink bag that they came packaged in. Coral is one of my favorite colors to accessorize with. I really love coral and navy but next time, I think I'll wear them with green. Thank you, Poshlocket!


Outfit
Elizabeth Drop Earrings- Poshlocket
 1940's Dress- STD Flea market, Springfield MO
1940's V for Victory brooch- Flea Market (will share that awesome story later! :)
black t strap 40's style shoes- Amerimark
50's coat with fur collar- gift from my step dad's grandma
50's blueberry and velvet hat- estate sale
vintage black velvet box purse- thrifted



disclaimer-the earrings of my choice, worn in this post, were sent to me in exchange for a review on my blog.  To stay true to my readers and the spirit of my blog,  I only provide positive reviews of products that I truly enjoy.

Thank you to the ladies who entered the black rose ring giveaway winner from J Fein Designs. Instead of using a random number generator, I asked Pj to pick a number 1-14 and he picked lucky number 7, Betty2Tone! Congratulations to Betty on her win

I have a few more giveaways coming up so please stay tuned for more chances to win.

I hope to be back to blogging regularly this week. I've been cleaning like a mad woman, organizing and doing laundry so we can get Rhys back on cloth diapers. It's been exhausting but I'm glad to be doing it and getting back on a cleaning schedule, which will give me more time for crafting, sewing and blogging!!

It's been ages since my last giveaway so I am very excited to announce a beautiful giveaway sponsored by J Fein Designs!


J Fein Designs is a really unique company because they recycle vintage jewelry, cameos, buttons and other findings to create their pieces. I really love that they use sustainable wood, making their jewelry completely eco-chic.

Enter for your chance to win the signature black rose ring, as seen in NY Magazine and Today's Vintage.
The vintage rose is made of jet black lucite from 1940's Japan and the ring is hand carved sustainable sonokeling wood.  It's feminine but strong-  the perfect femme fatale accessory. I love to wear it with my dark grey 1940's dress.


 Knock 'em dead with your own Black Rose ring by J Fein Designs.

1. Be a follower of my blog
2. Visit J Fein Designs and tell me what your favorite item is in a comment below
3."like" J Fein Designs on Facebook

for an extra 2 entries, post about the giveaway on your blog, twitter, facebook, etc and leave a comment letting me know that you did.


J Fein Designs Giveaway ends on Monday, November 14th
The lucky winner will be announced on Tuesday November 15th





Thank you to J Fein Designs for my stunning black rose ring and for sponsoring this giveaway

These past few days have been spent cleaning, organizing and making plans for winter projects. This may sound completely insane but I'm in less of  mood to sew clothes lately. I really do want to spend some time making my house a beautiful, fun home. Here are some projects that I've added for my winter diy list. Click the links for the full tutorial for each project.

An atomic wall clock made with knitting needles from The Naughty Secretary Club

Retro pendant lamp made from paint sticks from Enjoying the Simple Things

Sputnik mobile using photo holder and Christmas ornaments from Old Brand New

Give your sofa a 50's style makeover with new legs, button tufting and throw pillows from Our Mid Century
My sofa is a cheap microfiber sectional from Weekends Only. It already has a basic 50's shape and simple little legs so I think some tufted cushions and pillows are in order!

Mid Century inspired wall art using toilet paper tubes from Growing Up Creative You could use some different paint colors and arrange these into interesting shapes for a totally unique, vintage look.

On October 23rd, I met up with these models for a 1930's wedding photo shoot. This time, I got the pleasure of being behind the scenes, styling hair, makeup and helping pick accessories and dresses for the models. I've never really styled another person before amily and friends) so it was both a challenge and a great time!! I assisted the models throughout the afternoon, holding props, sticking in more hair pins and laughing heartily.
The models were really fantastic, professional and interesting people. My favorite part of the day was getting to know them while I styled hair and makeup. They are all such unique people with different backgrounds and interests. One model was a ballet dancer, another played violin, another had the most fantastic personality and made me laugh all afternoon. It was a truly wonderful time. I enjoy modelling but I think I enjoy styling even more. We talked about what they do outside of the modelling world, places they've been and experiences that they've had. Who knew that fixing hair and makeup could be so much fun?!





The Wardrobe
These clothes were all borrowed from a collection belonging to a small local museum. They can't possibly preserve these garments for all eternity so they are currently stored away and occasionally put on display. Photos of the garments are being complied into booklets to be sold and made available for costume/history/fashion studies. Proceeds of the booklet sales fund the museum. The project will show future generations what these garments really looked like and how they might have been worn. These clothes were generously donated to the museum by family of the garment's original owners. Some of the articles have documents regarding the history of the items including who wore them, what year and to what occasion. It was really fun helping to choose the wardrobe for this shoot and learning the history of each item.
I brought some of my personal collection of jewelry and accessories for the models to borrow.

The Car
Our gorgeous 1936 Cabriolet was borrowed from a local gentlemen who takes it to car shows. The car belongs to his mother and has been in his family for years. He has rebuilt a new engine and what-not so this car will soon be taken apart and rebuilt. Aside from the paint and tires, everything in the photos is original. Isn't it amazing?!






Zizi was our beautiful bride, wearing a sheer cream 1930's dress with flocked daisy print and veil made by me on the fly. Her bouquet is from my wedding and her something blue brooch belonged to my great great grandmother.



Arcana was the maid of honor in beautiful peach satin 30's gown, which fit her perfectly. Her vintage fur stole was also borrowed from Kay's personal collection



B.H. played the part of the groom and wore this fantastic 30's trousers, vest and coat. The buttons of the coat had a really nice leaf imprint and the coat tails made the whole look. Here he is, looking quite dapper with our sweet ride.

Oh, my...what a busy week it has been! We had the annual family birthday celebration, pumpkin carving and of course, Halloween! Here are some scenes from the weekend.....

Pj's family gets together every October to celebrate birthdays of everyone instead of spreading it out all year. We had pizza and lots of kids running around playing together. I wore one of my favorite 50's dresses and quick and easy hair. Here I am with my sweet little man.



On Saturday night, we carved a few pumpkins in our kitchen. This was Olivia's first year getting to help. At first, she didn't like the yucky pumpkin guts but she really had fun once she stopped being squeamish. She fed pumpkin guts to her jack o' lantern on a Disney princess plate.


I was Lucille Ball for Halloween this year. It was a pretty easy costume since I already had the clothes and accessories. I used one of those temporary hair color sprays, which colored my hair more red than I had expected! yikes!!

 But it was cute anyway. Emma from The Fiercest Lilliputian was also Lucy this year and I think she really looked adorable!!
Pj was the wolfman. I did his makeup for him, which is always fun. I think his costume turned out pretty awesome!





Rhys was baby Darth Vader and Olivia was Princess Leia. Olivia really loved trick or treating and Pj and I both had the best time taking the kids around for candy. We trick or treated in Pj's uncle's neighborhood, which has horse drawn wagon rides every year. Olivia really loved the horses!! I haven't had that much fun since I was a little kid.

Rhys Vader with Aunt Nellie

Uncle Pj chases Hannah

Princess Lulu waits to go trick or treating