In the spirit of Halloween, I thought I'd share my own vintage ghost story. I've lived in some pretty spooky old houses, worked for a few years in the basement of an old asylum and have experienced lots of bizarre things in general, so I'd not afraid to say that I totally believe in the paranormal!


 We all get attached to objects in life. Something was a special gift or was bought for an important occasion or held important memories. Through years of antique shopping, looking at other people's important possessions, Pj and I both have had some pretty strange experiences.

 Some of you may remember, back in April, the family and I went to a great estate sale on a rainy Saturday. It was a cute mid century house, loaded to the brim with exquisite furniture, appliances and fashion items from the 50's and 60's.  Pj held Rhys and Olivia came with me. Her and I headed straight to the bedroom to find the fashion things. In the bedroom, I was looking through gloves and scarves when Olivia looked at me and said "Mommy, this is Grandma's room." I was shocked because she has never said the word "grandma" before. She has a "Granny" and "Mee-maw" but no grandma. There were no photos in the room to indicate that an old lady had lived in the house. I ignored it, at the time, picking 2 scarves, a fur collar cardigan and a purse and heading to the basement with Pj and Rhys

my purse from the estate sale

In the basement, I spotted this perfect atomic floor lamp. I had been looking for a great lamp that the kids couldn't break and since this one was metal, I thought it was perfect! I bought the lamp, a 50's swim cap, a purse and scarf. The swim cap was a really cool addition to my hat collection and the new lamp was an amazing find for $15.



 For three days, no one could sleep. Pj and I both had nightmares and Olivia crawled into bed with us every night.



One afternoon, while washing dishes, Olivia came into the kitchen and casually said "Grandma's here". Again, surprised by her saying "Grandma" I calmly said "Honey, no one is here, it's just me, you and Rhysie."
she said, "Grandma is here. She's in the living room."
  I got a cold chill and wiped my soapy hands on my apron. We went to the living room and I asked her,
"Where is Grandma?"
Olivia pointed to the couch, but no one was sitting there.
 "What does grandma look like?" I asked.
Olivia said,  "She has hair...and black hands. She's a nice lady."

I immediately called my mom, who has dealt with these things many times before. The house was blessed the next day and "Grandma" was sent packing. That night, we all slept well for the first time in a week. I still have my cute lamp, scarf and such and Olivia hasn't talked about Grandma since but when I look at those things, I still remember our extra accessory that we brought home from an estate sale.

                             Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had a unique experience?

This morning, the weather wasn't too cold so we went for a little walk to explore our new neighborhood before the winter gets here. Olivia (wearing her "pokey-dot riding hood" as she calls it) found a dandelion in the front yard and made a wish.



We walked one block and down the street to the adorable Frenchtown Country Market. The market carries vintage jewelry and antiques as well as local produce, wine, coffee, fresh baked goods and basic grocery staples.They have a very sweet pup who greets customers outside and looks at children as if to say "Now, you had better behave yourself when you go inside."


The shop owner has been collecting vintage jewelry for years and stocks some very beautiful, reasonably priced pieces. I will certainly have to pop in frequently to check out her new arrivals.

locally grown gourds, Osage oranges, jam, coffee and other lovely muchables

 The Frenchtown Country Market was lovely and I am extra happy because they carry milk! My kids go through milk and produce like crazy so this place will be a blessing, being so close. If you're in my neighborhood (Near historic St Charles, MO) stop in to the Frenchtown Country market at 1106 N 2nd Street, St Charles.


 Olivia is the best little 3 year old antique shopper! She's been antiquing since she was in the womb and she is always so good to ask before touching and to not run wild. She especially loved these antiques because they are loaded with tiny pumpkins.

That's me scolding, "Lilo! Don't do -that-!" as she tries to toss a pile of wet leaves on her brother.

 So on to the outfit- I have had this vintage sweater for about 2 years and have never worn it. Not even once around the house. After today, I am loving it. These little basic sweaters are so cute with a little skirt and are quite practical when the weather gets chilly. I wasn't sure how I'd like the acrylic but it's actually so cozy and soft that I didn't want to take it off when I got home from work tonight.  I think I may have to keep an eye out for more colors! Also, the skirt is actually part of a suit that I've had for over a year and haven't been able to wear until now. Horray, weight loss!

I've had a lot of comments from readers and others about my shrinking waistline lately. As I've said before, I've been on the very effective stress diet for the past month or two. On the positive side, Ive been able to fit into all of my lovely dresses that were previously too small. Months ago, I set a goal for myself to lose 10 pounds and my reward would be an authentic steel boned corset.

 Before my love of vintage clothes set in, I was all about corsets. I read everything that I could find about the history of corset-wearing and how the ideal female form has changed throughout history. From historical corset construction to the invention of the modern bra, I was hooked. I even made a replica of the Queen Elizabeth Effigy corset, which had about a billion boning channels. Foundation garments have a major impact on fashion and beauty and that has always been a fascinating topic to me.

the original effigy corset

 For a long time, I've been curious to try wearing a corset on a daily basis so I learned how to measure my body for a corset, how to break it in and all of the proper care of a corset and a body while wearing one. Due to my large bust, I have frequent lower back pain and a corset would be the perfect thing to help my posture. I reached my 10 pound goal, just in time for Corset Story to contact me to review one of their lovely corsets.


 I'll be wearing and reviewing their white waist training underbust corset for (at least) the next 8 weeks. This week, I'm breaking it in a few hours every day and getting used to wearing it. This corset is serious business- 24 steel bones, durable fabric and laces in a practical creamy satin. I was really surprised at the heavy weight of it when I pulled it out of the mail box! I can already feel the difference in my posture and my back pain is non-existent when laced up. Wearing a corset is actually much more comfortable than I thought it would be!

Lacing up my corset

Every week, I will make a new post on my personal corset-wearing progress and experience as well as some history, corset wearing tips, safety and links to lovely tight-laced unmentionables.

Check out my Pinterest board "Laced Up Lovely" for more historical corset eye-candy.

Disclosure: Corset provided for review by Corset Story. Va-Voom Vintage is an affiliate of Corset Story

 Good morning and happy Friday. I'm so excited, we finally have internet service at the new place!! Aside from the limited capabilities of  my phone, I haven't been online in over a week. I have my new blogging headquarters set up in the living room so I can enjoy the morning sun and sounds of the neighborhood waking up while I write.


 Since my livingroom is all mid-century, I thought I would have trouble finding a suitable, affordable computer desk. Last weekend, while popping into Goodwill for a small tv, I spotted this reto sewing desk for $15! It's the perfect size for the monitor, mouse, clock radio and keyboard. I love a desk that's too small to accumulate excess junk. More pics of the living room, once I get my pretty things on the walls.

I'll be reupholstering my dinette chairs this spring and since I have one too many for my kitchen, one will be aqua or green to match the living room.

Yep, I said aqua and green

                                                                 via uglyhousephotos.com

                                                               via urbanoutfitters.com

                                                                         via caroselloblog


Anyway, back to unpacking and cleaning house today. Yesterday, I washed laundry by hand and dried it on the clothesline, which is something I have never done before. I mean, I wash my little vintage dresses and hang to dry but until you've hand washed bath towels, husband's jeans and a million yucky toddler tee shirts and blankets, you've never really lived.


My grandma says that you've never really lived until you've dried towels on a clothesline in the dead of winter. She says that you hang them and they basically freeze instantly. When they finally start flapping in the wind, they're ready to come in. I promised her, I will do that at least once this winter.

source

Well, chickadees, I'm getting the rest of my moving done this weekend and since I don't have to work till Tuesday, I'm unpacking, hanging my clothes, getting situated in the new place. I just started hanging my clothes (which are currently in trash bags for easy moving) and I think if I did it non-stop with no sleep, it would take me a week to complete! I'm really excited about my new, sturdy closets and new storage/display possibilities for everything. My sister is coming tomorrow to help unpack and hang clothes and I am so thankful for her help!!

In other news, do you think it's too early for garden planning? With the amount of produce that my children consume in a week, I think growing our own really is the only way to do it. I started a Pinterest board today with some really awesome garden ideas. Victory Garden, anyone?


While I'm away, I thought I'd leave you with a few recently found blog reads that I have been enjoying a lot lately.

Atomic Redhead
Lady Audley's Secrets
Evie's Tea Room
My Vintage Visions
Sew a Little Love
Just Peachy, Darling

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

I hope that everyone is having a lovely week so far! We've been moving all week, taking a few loads over every day. It's kind of nice to spread it out and unpack as we go. This Sunday, we'll get our beds and fridge over there and then the real fun begins!

I have absolutely no idea where I'm going to display my vintage hat collection. In my old  apartment, I had them in the foyer and trailing up the stairs on the walls. The walls in my new living room are plaster so anything that I hang will have to be with those sticky hook thingys so I don't screw up the walls....and 76 hats makes for a ridiculous amount of sticky hooks. Perhaps they will decorate my drywall bedroom walls this time around?

Anyway, check out my new salt and pepper shaker collection! The original owner collected them for years and passed them on to her daughter, who gave them to me! This first one will have to go on my new mantle, don't you think? He's way too cool for the kitchen!

Since we're packing up and getting ready to move, I thought we'd have a moving sale so I can pack less inventory to come to the house with me. This week only, get 25% off everything at Va-Voom Vintage Shop, using coupon code welcomehome25 at the checkout

Moving sale ends on Saturday October 20th. Happy shopping!!

I hope you gals love vintage home decor because I'm going to be doing a LOT of posts on the subject in the future. Thank you, everyone for your congratulations on the new house. Yes, I've lost a ton of weight these past few months. I've been on the very successful "stress diet". While it's not the healthiest way to get slim, it's quite effective! We moved a few car loads of things over yesterday and I already unpacked my 50's kitchen canisters and silverware and found a place to hang a little metal owl that belonged to my great grandma

From your comments, I read that some of you have vintage homes too! Rosina Lee from A New Vintage posted some incredible vintage decor  this morning and she inspired me to share some of my Pinterest finds too! Here's some home decor inspiration for all of us from my Pinterest board, Little Vintage Dream House

 via
 via

 via
 via
 via
 via

Well, I have very exciting news to share today....we signed a lease on an adorable house in the historic district and we got the keys last night! We dropped by this morning so I could take a ridiculous amount of pictures. We have a beautiful rose bush, a cute little bird house, metal awnings on all of the windows and a funny little bread/root vegetable box in the kitchen drawer.
 

 The house was built in 1930, in Frenchtown- a historic neighborhood of St Charles, Missouri. Frenchtown is a neat little place. It was almost completely under water during the great flood of 1993 and has since become pretty run down and sad. In the past few years, new businesses and home owners have been doing their best to fix up the town and restore it to its former beauty. Destroyed buildings are being torn down, old ones are being painted and cleaned up and new parks are being built. There are a lot of cute new gift shops opening up and houses ready for new owners.There's a load of amazing history behind my new neighborhood but I"ll share that later...

 Our little house is quite small and cozy. It only has two bedrooms but there's a huge basement, dining room, vintage kitchen, small fenced in yard and all sorts of beautiful vintage details. I cannot wait to get it all decorated with my retro furniture and decor but I'm too excited to wait to show it off.

old, pink tiles in the bathroom...and it has a pink and white swirled sink!

 My fabulous vintage kitchen...yellow counters and tiles will look awesome with my retro aqua kitchen theme

Another room? No- this is my second wardrobe! It's a closet off the dining room with three sturdy metal bars for hanging my clothes plus shelving up top for shoes and other fashion shenanigans.

from my back yard- my little house with cellar doors leading to the epically huge basement and that little side porch goes right into my kitchen- a favorite feature in this house

the dining room, which will be super cute one I make some vintage kitchen curtains and get my retro dinette set in here. The wooden panels are hideous but hey, it's vintage! haha!

Before Elvira, there was Vampira- the original 1950's goth girl and television's first horror flick host.




Embed from Getty Images
Vampira's real name is Maila Nurmi

Vampira was inspired by Morticia Adams and Snow White's Evil Queen

Maila modeled for pin up artist, Alberto Vargas and paid most of her bills throughout the 50's by working as a pin up model .


Embed from Getty Images Get The Look
Steal some of Vampira's sexy-scary style with these classic pieces and of course, don't forget about your unmentionables to shape that perfect Vampira hourglass



DRESS |     BULLET BRA    |   NECKLACE  |   SHOES   |   UMBRELLA  |   GIRDLE





Maila Nurmi was quite cutting edge for her time. Her signature look included black hair, skin tight black dress with a plunging neckline and the most pointy brows in Hollywood.

See more about Maila and her timeless character in  "Vampira The Movie"







*disclosure: This post contains affiliate links*

image via Vintage Purls

 Yesterday, I started knitting the 1940's Bobble Jumper.  I actually started it last week, while working the overnight shift. However, at 2 am with American Horror Story to distract and freak me out, I really couldn't pay attention to knitting.

image via vintage purls

 I got a few inches of it done yesterday and the lace pattern is actually working out pretty well! I am always worried when I start a new pattern with stitches that I don't know how to do- will it turn out? Thank goodness for You Tube and all of the wonderful knitting websites out there, teaching me to knit as I go along. My sweater is a fluffy white and I think I will add the colored knots in green...maybe blue....maybe red....I don't know!



 Speaking of knits, check out the drool-worthy knit pics that Lisa from Snoodlebug posted this morning.