Since I'm not much of a party girl (and I have two babies) I won't be going out for the New Year. We're all safe at home, tucked in our beds. I have my crochet hook in one hand and a glass of bubbly moscato in the other. Pj and I are watching a Star Trek marathon on Netflix cause that's how we like to party!

I still got to play dress up, though! Just for fun, I put on this gorgeous pink 1940's dress, which I've had for over a year and have not worn, even once! It has the most beautiful lace all down the front with pearl and rhinestones at the neckline. It came with the original belt and is in pristine shape. I really must find an excuse to wear it in public.


I hope that all of you have a very happy New Year's eve, get home safely and are blessed with no hangover tomorrow morning. See you in 2012, darlings!

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About Va-Voom Vintage
Va-Voom Vintage is a blog about retro fashions, hollywood glamor and living an old fashioned way of life, written by a vintage housewife and mom.  I believe in supporting small businesses and fellow bloggers to create a sense of community spirit within the blogosphere.

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Thank you to everyone for your comments on my last holiday outfit post! Since everyone really wants a tutorial for that skirt, I will make that my first sewing tutorial priority. I have a lot of beauty tutorials in the works but that one will be here soon!!

Yesterday afternoon, I made my very first makeup counter purchase. can you believe that I'm 26 and have only ever used drug store brands? Well, the MAC counter at Macy's has been calling me for a while so I took my Christmas money and had a little splurge. It was between Ruby Woo, Ladybug and Russian Red. I liked the color of Ladybug but loved the deep blue-red of the Russian Red.



Since I began the day by trying something new, I thought "why stop now, let's have some Bubble Tea!"
This is milk and honey iced bubble tea with tapioca pearls. It was interesting to say the least. I still can't decide if I liked it or not. Sucking up gummy green tea flavored balls in my milky sweet iced drink was kind of gnarly.


 We took the kids to the butterfly house after pitching the last half of my gummy bubble tea. Olivia was a little horrified of the tons of flying bugs but by the end, she kind of liked it. I had a huge butterfly try to land on my face. I guess it was trying to get to my new red lips!




On the way home, we made a stop at an antique mall, where I found a blue bakelite spacer bangle. I've wanted some blue bakelite for ages but haven't found any for the right price until yesterday. Also on my vintage wish list was a celluloid flower necklace, which was right next to the bakelite.


Check out my new vintage dress! I found it at a local thrift store for a song and at first glace, didn't think it was vintage. I really like the kind of modern print. the fabric is slinky and comfortable and I paired it with some yellow to brighten it up. Also, in the spirit of trying new things, I tried a new 1940's hairstyle with braids and a scarf. It was so easy and quick. I'll have a how-to post for this hairstyle as well!



                     Outfit
50's dress-thrifted, salvation army
yellow cardigan-thrifted, salvation army
black flats-target
yellow bangle and scarf- thrifted, St. Vincent de Paul
necklace-inherited from greta grandma Alma

Olivia loved her little train set and 'Lil Woodsies house. She yelled "Chooo-chooo!!" and "House!" when she opened them.  Rhys got a lot of little cars, animals and musical toys but was more interested in irritating Olivia than playing with his toys. She yells "Beeeeets!" (that's Olivia speak for Rhys) when he gets on her nerves, which I think is hilarious

In the afternoon, we went to Marmar's house. She lives in the most adorable 50's ranch house with a lot of the same furniture and decor that she's had for years.



We opened presents, visited and after everyone ate, mom and I pitched in with the clean-up. I always find myself cooking or cleaning in the kitchen on holidays so I pack an apron in my diaper bag to avoid messing up my holiday outfits. On Christmas, I got to wear my 1950's 12 days of Christmas apron.  While washing dishes with mom, she said "You're like a helpful,  little Betty Draper today...only much nicer!" Which made me look at her like this: 



I made my skirt especially for Christmas. It has little 50's felt reindeer and a sleigh on it. I based the design on this Santa and reindeer that my grandma had when she was a girl. I loved playing with this thing when I was a kid so last year, my mom passed it on to me for my children to enjoy.  I think I will add a Santa, reins and some sequins to my skirt at a later date.





Outfit
circle skirt-handmade by me
red sweater- thrifted
50's necklace, earrings and brooch-inherited from great grandma
red and green bakelite bracelets- Christmas gifts from Pj and Amanda last year.
shoes-Amerimark
petticoat- estate sale

 On Saturday night, we celebrated Christmas eve with Pj's entire family. Aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and lots of little kids. I love that his whole family gets together for one big shin-dig.  The best part of Christmas with Pj's family is all of the little kids. This year, we had my two babies, my 2 nieces and 2 of Pj's cousins kids. One of the boys got a music set so they all got together to play in a marching band. Rhys couldn't march so he sat on the side lines, dancing and playing the tambourine.




When we got home and tucked the munchkins into bed, Pj and I set out all of the gifts and stockings for the kids and promptly crashed. 


  I wore my awesome "new" 50's dress, which is totally vintage but also handmade by me
 It started out as a plain green 50's dress that zipped up the back. Sadly, it was way too small in the bust, so I chopped off the skirt and used a 50's pattern to make a new bodice. The bodice fabric is this adorable vintage diamond print pique that I found at an antique mall a few months ago. I used scraps of the old bodice and new fabric to make pockets.  I also wore my brand new, beautiful cherry bakelite brooch , my Christmas gift from Pj.

Thank you to everyone who voted in my poll! I really appreciate reader feedback more than I can say. With the new year around the corner, a lot of bloggers are working on changing things up a bit and so am I.
 I love tutorials most of all and while they can be time consuming to write, I truly do enjoy sharing what I know with all of you. 

  I have a few reader questions that you have left in comments, which I plan to cover in a tutorial. So, if you think I've forgotten you, don't worry. I prefer to answer questions as thoroughly as possible so you get all the info you need!

This year, I will be doing loads of hair and makeup tutorials with some beauty tips, skin care and fashion how-to's thrown in the mix. My victory roll tutorial is in the process of being rewritten with new information that I've learned over the past few years. That will be re-posted within the next few weeks! Also, by popular request, I'll be doing a tutorial on yesterday's hair this week.

Does anyone have any other tutorial requests? Please leave a comment or email me anytime with your requests!

We celebrated Christmas at Pj's mom's house on Friday evening. We all had a wonderful time and ate loads of delicious cookies. I love My mother-in-law's old-fashioned Christmas decorations!

That's baby Pj

angel tree topper made my my sister-in-law when she was a kid

         
           This was a new hair style for me but I liked it so much, I'll be doing a tutorial for it soon!






outfit
40's style blouse- thrifted
vintage a-line skirt- thrifted
shoes-borrowed from my momma
vintage seal coat-thrifted,
assorted bakelite bangles-antique malls
vintage green brooch-St Charles Antiques

                      I just wanted to pop in and wish all of you sweeties a very Merry Christmas!

 The holiday madness begins today and won't stop till sometime next week. I'm usually quite a grinch but this year, something is different. It might be my babies, Lulu and Rhys-beast, who have killed my inner scrooge. I'm in much happier spirits this year than I have ever been before and am very excited about seeing their little faces on Christmas morning.

 I won't be on much this weekend but I'll return next week with all of my fabulous holiday outfits,  pics of the festivities and fun things to come in the new year.

                              Hoping your holidays are merry and bright! xoxo

Olivia and I, January 2010- my first 50's dress and early attempt at vintage hair

Two years ago, I was a bored housewife and new mom. I had a 3 month old baby girl and was tired of spending every day in sweat pants and a pony tail.  I felt like I lost track of who I was and I needed to do something just for myself. I wanted to invest more time in myself and to reconnect with the world. I wanted to meet people, make new friends and make my mark on the world instead of being swallowed up by my endless pile of laundry.

My first 40's dress and victory rolls- a splurge from Retro 101- and still a favorite

 Out of all of that, Va-Voom Vintage was born! I saved my Christmas money and Pj took me shopping to the vintage stores in St Louis. I bought a few dresses and hats, sewed some things here and there and my vintage obsession began. Since then, I've made a lot of friends (including my best friend, Amanda), had a great time and really changed my life for the better.

My best friend, Amanda and I on the first day we met, sorting our vintage warehouse finds in a parking lot.

 I cannot thank you enough for reading my blog and especially for your comments and emails. Without my dear readers, I'd be blabbering on to a wall. I read each of your comments and still get all giddy when I have a new follower. I appreciate all of your feedback, love to answer your questions and cherish all of the friends that I've met through writing Va-Voom Vintage. I've found so many wonderful blogs and have been inspired by all of you.

I hope that through my adventures in fashion, I've inspired someone else to slick on some red lips, break free of the sweat pants and make time to be glamorous every day.  In the next year, I hope to make Va-Voom Vintage a better blog with tons of tutorials, gorgeous outfits and all of the things that I love to write and you love to read. Please do keep the feedback coming and don't forget to vote in my poll!
Much Love, Darlings!
x
Brittany

In 2010, I had a lot of fun with my Friday Fashion and a Movie posts, which I did every friday for an entire year! I really enjoy themed posts . In 2012, I want to continue in that direction with Friday Fashionistas

 Friday Fashionista posts will explore one influencial fashion icon from 1920-1965. We'll discuss her career, her style and what she did to impact the fashions of her time and of today. I'll also post images and polyvore sets to inspire you to recreate the iconic style of the week's fashionista.

 I have all of the fashion icons for 2012 already lined up and I can't wait to learn more about each of them.My first Friday Fashionista feature will be Friday, January 6th.

 I'm crazy for at-home beauty recipes. When I was a teenager, I'd clip out all of the beauty recipes in my Seventeen magazines and keep them in a little folder for later use. Here are some of my favorite beauty tricks and the best part is, you can find a lot of these ingredients in your fridge!

 Glamour magazine covers the extreme beauty regimes and secrets of our favorite vintage starlets

Foods to Eat and Wear from Prevention Magazine

At home pore strips from Petit Elefant

Home Made toner recipes from Hello Glow
 Old Fashioned remedies and beauty recipes from Grandma's Attic


 Retro Beauty Tips from Retro Petite

Earlier this week, my sister, Chelsea came over to make fudge, cookies and other holiday treats to give as gifts. We made a big mess of ourselves and the kitchen but we had a blast. We both wore vintage aprons. Hers has the prettiest scalloped floral detail and mine is embroidered with our Great Grandma's name, Alma.

We made Chelsea's fudge recipe, Hello Dollies, Snowman Poop and wonky looking buck-eyes. We used the buckeye recipe, but substituted 1/2 cup of peanut butter for Nutella. Instead of dipping them like buckeyes, Chel decided to just dunk the peanut butter balls completely Yum!!

 

 We all had a little too much chocolate but it was so yummy. We screwed up the fudge but Pj got home from work just in time to bail us out and make a fresh batch.

 Olivia loves to take pictures. I have word that Santa will be bringing her a camera of her very own for Christmas this year!

 Have you planned your holiday outfit yet? If you're tired of the same red and green, try pairing unique shades of red and green with another unexpected color.


Today,  I experimented with cranberry and mint with navy and I'm loving the effect. It's festive enough for the holidays and translates well into different seasons.

 We went to Bass Pro to take the kids to see Santa or "Chem-a" as Olivia calls him. Olivia was excited at first but that didn't last. As soon as the flash went off, Rhys started to cry, which made Olivia cry. They looked pretty freaked out in the picture but we got them both to look at the camera so that's pretty miraculous! Considering that this was our first Santa visit, I think it went pretty well. I snapped the beginning of the big melt down after the flash went off.



 Rhys looked so adorable in his little outfit, a shower gift from his Aunt Amanda. Olivia's Christmas dress was from Costco earlier this year.






 


Outfit

Navy a-line skirt- thrifted
vintage hat- antique mal
navy tie neck blouse-The BaleOut
mint cardigan-thrifted, Salvation Army
shoes- Amerimark
30's rhinestone earrings-garage sale
cherry dress clip-antique shop in Springfield, MO
purse-thrifted, Salvation Army