MANY FOODS ARE IMPROVED BY CHILLING

Fruit and fruit juices that are to be served for breakfast can be prepared and put into the refrigerator the night before. Exceptions are cantaloupe and pineapple, which cause an unpleasant odor if left in the refrigerator, unless closely covered.

[Fruit cocktails, hors'd'oeuvres, jellied soups, salad greens, salads and salad dressings, dishes for serving chilled items, aspic jelly, pastry and cookie dough, and "all kinds of cold beverages" are then given loving descriptions for how they can be used with a refrigerator and thereby enjoyed more thoroughly.]

Would you like to advertise your shop, blog or website on Va-Voom Vintage? Today marks the beginning of my new, exciting sponsorship program!


Va-Voom Vintage is a blog focusing on vintage fashions from the 1930's-1960's. I write about fashion, beauty, movies, crafts, housewifery and my vintage life. My readers are mainly ladies aged 18-35 from the U.S. UK Canada and Australia who share a love for vintage. 


3,448 Combined total of subscribers from Google Friend Connect, Reader, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloglovin' and Facebook


48,976 page views last month 
average of 1,579 page views per day {recent high of 2,486}
 

If you prefer, you can email me for a Paypal invoice and I will be happy to set up ads manually.


I love to host giveaways, write sponsored outfits posts, product reviews and have shop or site owners guest post on my blog.  In the past I have traded ad space in exchange for products as well. If you would like to collaborate on any fun advertising ideas, please contact me at the email address listed below.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Goodness, my poor blog has been terribly neglected this week. Pj started a new work schedule working three 12 hour days,then he's off for 3 days, then works 3 days again. The working days are crazy and exhausting but the off days have been wonderful! I've been awake early with the kids all week but it has given me lots of extra time for housework, cooking, couponing and being domestically awesome in general. I have made a little time for poking around in blog land, though and thought I'd share some of my favorite posts from the week....

One of my fab sponsors, Heyday gives away a beautiful red and wicker handbag in honor of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.


Betty Bee Towers has a beautiful post (and gorgeous pics) on loving yourself


Jessica writes about Maybelline's three quick 1950's tricks to eye beauty as well as her own tried and true products and tips on her blog, Chronically Vintage


My momma shares how to have an affordable "staycation" with pics of her Star Trek exhibit staycation


The Vintage Baroness must have read my mind when she posted about beautiful 1930's culotte dresses this week


Who else thinks Katie from The Little Red Squirrel is a genius? Did you see her adorable, clever trousers to jodhpurs revamp earlier this week?


I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

We know her as the daring depression era aviatrix who mysteriously disappeared but she was more to the fashion world than simply "Lady Lindy. Amelia Earhart was America's first celebrity fashion designer and the first to insist on selling separates to fit all shapes and sizes.
"I have always believed that clothes are terribly important in every woman's life....And I also believe that there s much of beauty in aviation-color and line that is exclusive to the air.."
Amelia Earhart in "Amelia Earhart Our Newest Designer. New York World Telegram December 29, 1933

Amelia Earhart was born in Atchison Kansas on July 24, 1897. Her mother raised her and her sister to be tomboys, wearing bloomers, climbing trees and playing with bugs. Her first "flight" occurred when her uncle helped her build a ramp, attached to the roof of a shed with a wooden box that she could ride in like a makeshift roller coaster. She flew down the ramp, into the air and crashed to the ground, later telling her sister "it's just like flying!"

 In 1920, she had her first ride in a real airplane with pilot, Frank Hawks. She said "By the time I had got two or three hundred feet off the ground, knew I had to fly." Amelia worked several jobs to save enough money for flying lessons and in January of 1921, she began lessons with the pioneer female aviator, Anita Snook.


In October of 1922, she set the world record for altitude among female pilots at 14,000 feet and n the following year, she became the 16th woman to receive a pilots license. 5 years later, she became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, although she was only a passenger in the plane. Finally, on May 20, 1932, she piloted a small  Lockeed Vega 5B from Newfoundland to Ireland, making her the first woman to fly solo non-stop across the Atlantic.

Amelia Earhart was the "Queen of the Sky"'. She broke several more world records for speed, altitude, transoceanic fight and women's aviation. She became highly decorated for her achievements in flight. She was a spokesperson for several companies of the time including Lucky Strike and her own luggage an fashion lines. She was an associate editor for Cosmopolitan Magazine, all to raise funds for her aviation projects.

 

On June 1, 1937, she and her co-pilot Fred Noonan took off from Miami to begin her quest to circumnavigate the globe. They completed 22,000 miles of the journey when they reached Lae, New Guinea. On July 2nd, they took off from Lae headed to Howland Island. The U.S. National Guard was stationed at Howland, waiting to guide her in. These are her transmissions to the island.

 7:42 am "We must be on you, but cannot see you—but gas is running low. Have been unable to reach you by radio. We are flying at 1,000 feet."

8:43 am "We are on the line 157 337. We will repeat this message. We will repeat this on 6210 kilocycles. Wait."  a few minutes later, she radioed, "We are running on line north and south."

Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were never seen or heard from again. Search efforts went on, scanning Islands throughout the Pacific. Rumors and conspiracies surround her disappearance but no one has ever been able to confirm her fate. This 2009 article from Discovery news discusses a possible resting place of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan, citing that they may have crashed on an island in the Pacific Republic of Kilibati.

Although she claimed to have sewn her own clothing in college, her sister stated in her biography of Amelia that "she simply sewed two lengths of dyed material together gathered one end on a narrowed belt and turned the other end up so it cleared the floor eleven inches all around." A 1928 New York Sun article proclaimed "Miss Earhart Spurns Fashions" and fan letters told her to do something about her hair. In spite of her unconventional style choices, she was still named one of the top 10 best dressed in 1935.

Amelia's clothing choices:





Since women's aviation was relatively new, Amelia designed a flight suit for the ladies of the Ninety-Nines as well as jump suits for herself.


 In an attempt to make Amelia Earhart a household name and make money to support her aviation, she debuted her own clothing line in 1934. The line included affordable, practical designs for active women like herself. She took inspiration from her love of flight and used it all of her fashion designs. In an interview, she said she always uses "something characteristic of aviation, a parachute cord or tie or belt, a ball-bearing belt buckle, wing bolts and nuts for buttons." Her garments were made of parachute silks, durable cotton and tweed and featured flight-themed details such as buttons shaped like airplane wheels and propellers. The clothing line appeared in very neutral shades of brown, gray, red, blue and taupe.

1934 Vogue

1934 Vogue

            She also had a line of Stetson hats and lightweight, practical luggage for women who travel.This is my circa 1960's Amelia Earhart train case


In spite of her efforts, the Amelia Earhart clothing line was a flop and ended after its first season.


 Check out my post about the movie and Amelia's fashions, Friday Night Fashion and a Movie: Amelia 

      On Thursday, we went out for our weekly date night: dinner and Dark Shadows at the movies.
 I wore an entirely new outfit. I was feeling like a big poo all day (note the wild hair) on Thursday and the only way to get me out of the house in a good mood was color.

Thankfully, my brand new, gorgeous, fabulous, comfortable  wedges from Modcloth came in the mail.


These shoes looked amazing on the site but reviews noted that they run quite big. I usually wear a size 9.5-10 and have wide feet so I ordered a size 9. Like many other reviews said, the ankle strap could use an extra hole to make them fit a bit tighter but other than that, these shoes are perfection! The color is darker and more golden than the Modcloth photo and they are gorgeous. If they had these in other colors, I'd probably buy one of each. I wore them all day and they were wonderfully comfortable.

Also, my new favorite skirt from local St Louis vintage shop Retro 101. I went down last weekend to meet a blog reader and while shopping, I spotted this gorgeous skirt. I think it may have been part of a two piece sqaw/patio dress. Do you think I should make a matching blouse this summer?

My hair pin curls best on towel dried hair with lotta body setting lotion, so that's what I have to start with

 Begin by parting your hair way off to the side. I used the arch of my brow as a guide for the part.

Work in rows from one side of your head to the next. I rolled the first row up. The front is sectioned into 2 rows of two curls, all rolled away from the face with this side section hanging down


this little section off to the side is rolled down. 





I did this around 5 in the evening, slept in it all night and took it out the next morning for a brush out.


 Brushing out a pin curl set is vital to the finished look. In the beginning of my pin curling days, I had no idea how to brush out a set so my hair looked very clown-like.

This video is almost 15 minutes long but will show you exactly how I brush out this set. It really does take a long time to do but in the end, it looks fantastic. In the video, I share a few tips and tricks for how to de-frizz and how to sculpt your hair into waves.

Please pardon my mid-western "just" and "kinda". It's funny how you never realize how you speak until you hear yourself, right?

                                        

I reviewed the sculpture pin curl tool from vintagehair.com yesterday but today I thought I'd talk about how to use it! It's very easy, even on the first try. Here's how....

 I start by brushing my hair out, making sure there are no knots. My hair tends to pin curl best on towel dried hair with lotta body setting lotion. Part hair as desired and section off a piece of hair to curl


                                 Choose small or large curls and insert the pin curler at the scalp.


                        Comb the tool through to the end of the hair and wrap the ends around the tool

     Rotate the tool either up or down, depending on your desired style and roll it all the way up to the scalp


                                                                    remove the tool


                                        pin the curl into place or use pin curl clips to secure it

               Stay tuned tomorrow to see my Rita Hayworth pin curl set using the Sculpture Pin Curler!

Good morning, lovely ladies!
 Today I have a guest post over at Lollipops and Roses for her Show and Tell Tuesday post. The post features my collection of vintage novelty brooches.

 Do you have a dearly loved collection?

Hello everyone! I hope that all of the mommas out there had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend!! We had a great weekend. Saturday was spent getting our family portraits done, in vintage style of course. After photos, we went to my mother-in-law's house to celebrate Mother's Day with her. Pj made her favorite dish, shrimp creole, which is what his dad made for her each time she came home from the hospital after giving birth.

On Mother's Day, I had breakfast and mimosas in bed while I watched Mad Men. The kids let me sleep in till almost 9:00, which was such a rare treat! We had dinner at my mom's house followed by playing at a local park until dark.

 Anyway, I wanted to show you some of our vintage family portraits! My sister's friend, Roxanne is an amazing photographer and I've been dying to get some photos done my her for years. She did a fantastic job getting my kids to smile and look at the camera, even though all they wanted to do was run off and play.

                                            All photos by Roxanne Spooner Photography


 

 I wore my Paris Market Dress that I made last year for Easter.  To tie in the colors from the kids outfits, I accessorized with  Bakelite jewelry and a green bolero. I used a pair of over sized Bakelite earrings as dress clips to keep my bolero in place. See more on The Paris Market Dress  here


Pj doesn't dig on vintage so he put together a modern, vintage-style outfit with his own rugged twist, He wore a button-up shirt with rolled up sleeves, his favorite vest, grey corduroy pants and one of his trademark hats

 Olivia wore her green vintage dress from Brenda Sue's. I love the embroidered yoke, peter pan collar and little rhinestone buckle. I did make a green hair ribbon to match but she fell asleep in the car on the way to the park and it slipped out!



Rhys wore a vintage yellow seersucker romper that I picked up from my local antique mall last month. He looked a little naked in just the romper so Pj had the idea to put a little striped onesie on underneath.

“I don’t mind being burdened with being glamorous and sexual. Beauty and femininity are ageless and can’t be contrived, and glamour, although the manufacturers won’t like this, cannot be manufactured. Not real glamour; it’s based on femininity.”- Marilyn

 Marilyn lead a fascinating roller coaster of a life full of scandals, critiques and drama. Although she is undoubtedly one of the most iconic people of all time, there was so much more to her story and her personality than being a bubbly blonde. She played the dumb blonde in her movie roles but was something quite different in reality. While I cannot possibly cover all of the important parts of her life and career in a blog post, there are many great books on the subject. You can also check out Marilyn Monroe.com for information about her life and her films. For her beauty secrets, photos, diet and exercise regimen and unknown facts about Marilyn, see her at The Lovely Marilyn Monroe
Embed from Getty Images Marilyn was born Norma Jeane Mortensen Baker on June 1, 1926 to Gladys Baker.  She had a sad beginning to a tragic life. Her birth certificate listed Martin Mortensen as her father but a misspelling on the certificate caused confusion about who the father really was. Mortensen left Gladys shortly before Norma Jeane was born. When Norma Jeane was a small child, Gladys showed her a photo of a man with a thin mustache by the name of Charles Stanley Gifford and claimed that it was Gifford who was her true father.
Gladys suffered from severe mental illness and was hospitalized several times throughout Norma Jeane's childhood. Norma Jeane spent her early life with abusive foster care or with her ill mother. As a young woman, her foster parents, Grace and Doc moved across country when Doc got a job offer and they left Norma Jeane behind. Before they left, Grace arranged a marriage between Jim and Norma Jeane so that she wouldn't have to go back to state foster care. Jim didn't want to marry her at first but he eventually accepted. Soon, Jim joined the merchant Marines and he also left Norma Jeane behind while he went off to war. Norma Jeane got a job in the Radioplane Munitions Factory as a parachute inspector.
 An army photographer noticed her in the factory and took some pictures of her. He encouraged her to join The Blue Book Modelling Agency so she did! She bleached her hair blonde and became one of their most successful models.

During her modeling career, she gained the attention of 20th Century Fox. They loved her look and decided that she needed a new name to accompany her beauty and glamor. After long deliberation, they chose the name "Marilyn Monroe". Monroe after her mother's maiden name and Marilyn after Marilyn Miller. Although Norma Jeane didn't care for the name "Marilyn" she kept it anyway.

Marilyn worked from 1948 to 1962, starring in fantastic films such as The Seven Year Itch, How to Marry a Millionaire, Some Like it Hot and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes to name a few. Many directors, producers and fellow actors complained about her inability to arrive on time and to remember lines. She confided in a few close friends that she had a terrible stage fright and no talent at all. She received negative critiques for her outlandish and overly sexual outfits, dances and behavior in public and on set.  In spite of everything, the world was captivated by her.


Marilyn had three marriages. Jim Dougherty, Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller. It is said that she had numerous affairs including Marlon Brando and John and Robert Kennedy.

 On August 5, 1962, Marilyn was found dead in her home at the age of 36. The final report stated that she died as a result of drug overdose and probably a suicide. Many theories still circulate regarding the actual cause of her death. Some say she was murdered, others claim a conspiracy involving the Kennedys or Mafia. The last person that Marilyn called on the phone was John F Kennedy.  Fashionable to the end, Marilyn wore her favorite green dress by Emilio Pucci and her makeup done by Whitey Snyder, who promised to do her funeral makeup if she died before him. She rests at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in the Corridor of Memories, crypt number 24. Joe Dimaggio placed roses at the site for 20 years after her death.

Good morning, lovelies!

 I am so honored to report that I have a guest post today over at The Girl with the Star Spangled Heart! Stephanie is on vacation this week at Disney, celebrating her birthday and having a fabulous time. The Girl with the Star Spangled Heart is one of my very favorite blogs so please do pop over and check her out. See the scarf tutorial here



 My post today is about how to make this adorable 1940's hair scarf, based on an original. After making this one, I had so much fun that I decided to crank out a few more with other scraps of fabric so you will probably be seeing me in these quite frequently this summer.

 Thank you again to Stephanie for inviting me to guest post on her fabulous blog. Have a wonderful time and a safe trip home, sweetie!!

 On Saturday, Pj had to work a little later than expected so my sister came over and we went to this enormous annual flea market. It was miserably hot so we didn't stay long but I did score some amazing vintage finds, even though we arrived 2 hours before closing time. The day was so hot that our feet burned if we stood in one place too long so I'm surprised that I spotted any good finds at all!


These pink 50's cat eyes were in pretty bad shape. They were bent all out of shape and very dirty. The 40's pair were also extremely dirty but in pretty good shape considering the age. I gave them both a good soap and water scrub down when I got home and ran the pink pair under a very hot tap and bent them gently and slowly back into shape. Olivia has tried to claim the pink pair for her own all week so they are now locked away where little hands can't break them. I think I will need to find a pair of pink sunglasses for her too!


I've been searching for a pair of crochet gloves for over a year but I haven't been able to find a pair that fit...story of my life! I found these buried in a box of scarves and vintage linens and fell in love.





 From the same seller as the sunglasses, I spotted this train case a mile away. Trying to not look too excited when I couldn't find a price tag, I took a casual peek and prepared myself to make a deal with her but she said "5 Bucks and it has the key"....needless to say, no dealing necessary! I adore the shape of this case and the lining and little purse make it extra special. Like many gorgeous train cases this thing smelled like it had been filled to the brim with cheap perfume so I set it outside for 2 days, open to let it air out then set a dish of baking soda inside and closed the lid. Works beautifully!

Train case lining matches this little bag

A gentleman and his wife had a wonderful booth filled with old children's books, watch pieces, tools and vintage home decor. I almost overlooked this little hat until I saw it peeking out from a hat box. It needs a new veil and maybe some millinery flowers but it's a beautiful base to start with. See the other side of the hat in the photo above.


Speaking of flea markets, check out this post on how to shop at a flea market by guest blogger, Liz from Zilredloh on The Girl With the Star Spangled Heart, all about how to shop at a flea market. Stephanie is on vacation this week so she has lots of fabulous guest posts scheduled, including a sewing tutorial by yours truly coming tomorrow!