No Pattern Required

Who else is looking for the perfect Easter Dress right now?  I found a couple of great outfits in my closet, but I am always on the lookout for more. Check out this outfit picked entirely from Etsy….

This little number from AdelaideHomesewn may be a little risque for church, but I love it!

Paired with a great vintage hat, like this one from wearingthepast

Or this one, from LipStickWhiskey

A white cardigan, like this one from hautecountryvintage,

and the right jewelry, necklace and earrings from tinseltown,

And, of course, shoes from FASHIONRERUN,

And I am all set for church!

I really like mid-century vintage and reproduction lamps.  Well…maybe like isn’t strong enough. I love them!  Tom will attest to that.  I have had to be physically pulled away from lamps in the past that I wanted. Sometimes I even try to grab them at the last minute hugging them to my chest and saying things like, “I never get anything I want” and “What if I just carry it around for a while?”  Yes, a pretty lamp has the power to make me THAT crazy.

If I saw this set of blue lamps from TheRelicTrail, I am pretty sure I would throw such a fit over them. Blue ceramic lamps with gold highlights and pink shades. Pink!  Ummm…yeah, over here.  Just put them right here, please.

P.S. These are reasonable $88 for the pair. THE PAIR!!  I could maybe do better thrifting, but I am darn sure they wouldn’t have pink shades. Pink!

Ahem.

Moving on, moderntoretro is obviously trying to kill me with the coolness of this amazing swirly pendant light.  I mean really, a teardrop shaped pendant with gold swirly accents that has light hole detailing?  That isn’t even fair. Come on.

Ok, I can only comment on the coolness of this next lamp from LiseVintageLighting after I get my heart rate under control.  Seriously. Deep breaths. Whew.

Check out that flippin’ shade!  Holy mother of god, I adore it.  And the tripod effect of the base mirrored in the three-tiered shade? Design genius. You know how people buy sweaters and shirts for their little dogs? I would bring home this lamp and love it so much I would buy sweaters for it. But that would probably ruin the design. And be a fire hazard.

Okay, this lamp from avintagerevolution is pretty in pink, but I mostly am just dying over that house!!!  Look at it! What a great photo backdrop. It must be in Florida.  I would love to see pictures of the inside of that place.

I am just on a roll with the three-tiered shades, today.  I can’t tell if this lamp from smalltownsusan is gaudy or awesome.  I think this is one of those things that you have to see in person, and if you buy it pair it with a chair that isn’t too crazy.  But man, if you could pull this off it would be fantastic.

Whew, I am tired from all that excitement. I might need to go thrifting to revive myself….

I have to admit, I am a sucker for an awesome vintage cookbook, no matter if the recipes inside are good or gag-inducing. Check out some of these awesome cookbooks on Etsy right now!

Cook like a 1930′s Movie Star with this great cookbook from collectiblekitchen.

Get a great deal on this set of 4 books for $4 from REdesignkc.  I really want to get my grubby mitts on that Knox cookbook…

Here is another Knox cookbook from goodlookin’, and it looks the originator of the Mid-Century Menu!  Each step of gelatin making is photographed.  Oh! I want it!

Here is a vintage Calumet cookbook from OldVintageCookbooks.  I thought this was a good pick for two reasons. One is that I LOVE my Calumet cookbook, and most of the recipes in it are used by the stars of Food Network’s (without crediting Calumet), from brownies to gingerbread to waffles.  Everything I have made out of it tastes great.  The second reason is because of the shelf-edging on the front of the book.  Look at it!  It’s adorable!

Or, you could starve yourself thin with this 1950′s diet book for teenage girls from Ry-Crisp, also sold by OldVintageCookbooks. Sheesh.

Creepy.

Here are some super cute atomic offerings right now on Etsy!  I adore that razor!

I ADORE vintage clothing. I have been snapping up vintage dresses left and right while I am out thrifting lately, but that doesn’t stop me from trolling Etsy for great examples of vintage fashion.

This milk chocolate brown dress from Rerun’s shop is just too pretty, and it is made from two layers of sheer fabric. A vintage slip is a must!

I so want this gold wiggle vixen dress from lovesmenot, mostly because I want to wear it and see Tom’s eye’s pop out of his head!

Amazing and beautiful, this atomic print dress from landof1000dresses is fantastic. I am dying over that tiered skirt!

Happy Monday, all!  I am excited about today for two reasons.  One is that today should be the day I get my fixed computer back, which I am longing for like my fattest cat longs for canned food. Which is a lot.  The other thing is that Reader Sara from AZ is visiting me today at my house!  She came to score some local Mid-Century cabinets and decided to drop by for a visit.  Hooray!

So, this is going to be a short post, because I should be cleaning for her arrival.  I try not to pimp my Etsy store overly much on this site, but I just got these great photos from Kristin at the Meringue Bake Shop, and I just had to share.

These cupcakes were ordered for a bridal shower, and I provided the toppers!  Pretty nice, huh?  I love the photos they took.  They are really spectacular.

In any case, these toppers were a custom order for Kristin and were based off of the Happy Homemaker cupcake topper, which is about 3 inches.  The ones above ended up being 2 inches, and worked great on the mini cupcakes. 

Thanks a lot, Kristin, for the photos!

Just a quick post from Tom’s computer while mine is still in the shop.  A super cool (pun intended) selection of vintage ice buckets!

This great gray bucket is from patcheyeboxer, and is really cool glittery plastic.  Love the color!

This sweet bucket is a giant owl! From seller TheLovely’s and truly a unique bucket. 

From seller austinmodern, a fabulous teak ice bucket.  Love that color!

Here are this week’s picks for your mid-century bar from Etsy!

First, you need something to mix up those great classic cocktail recipes. Here are two great vintage cocktail shakers from libbygoodwife. Uhh…the fantastic Maytag stovetop is apparently just a bonus.

Secondly, something to serve your great cocktails. These atomic cocktail glasses from bythewayside should do the trick!

And last, but not least, is a way to keep all your mid-century cocktails snuggly and drip-free, a set of slide-on coasters by Hi-Jacs from Caraway Cache’s shop.

Hello, all!  I know I promised that I would post pictures of some thrifted dresses this week, but I had to let my mom borrow them for a presentation she is making about vintage sewing, so I am sans dresses this week. To make up for it, here are some great vintage dresses for sale on Etsy right now that I just adore.

This first dress is a fabulous black and white party dress from TimelessVixenVintage. I love the sash on this dress and the chiffon black and white overlay. We are going out to the nicest restaurant in town next week, and I wish I had this to wear!

Here is a great classic 50′s dress, a circle skirt red shirtdress from Planetclairevintage.  I love this dress, all you need is a white frilly apron!

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…this green raw silk dress from myfavoritevintage might be my favorite dress of all time! I adore the pintucks and all the little details. Gorgeous.

Morning all, happy Thursday to you!  We are almost done with this week. Thank goodness.  I thought this week would drag on forever. Whew.

Aaaaanyway, this week’s Etsy Round-up is in honor of my friend Nahrain, who had two plates of pasta spilled in her lap while we were dining out on the fourth of July!  Nahrain was a good sport about it, but that pasta was hot and she did get cut a little when one of the plates shattered.  She jokes that she took one for the team, though, because we all got free dinner because of it!  That Nahrain, what a trooper. So, this week’s Etsy spotlight is on Atomic Plates.

The first plate is a great atomic mobile plate from susantique’s shop. Love the unique design on this one. This apparently used to be restauarant ware at one time.  I would have loved to eat in that place!

Next we have some Atomic Serving Plates from hausproud. Not sure on this, but I think my grandma may have had the dish set that went with the center plate.  She had great taste….even if she couldn’t cook….

And last, but not least, are these great pretty, swirly snack plates by vintagegoodies. Love the design on these, very cool! Almost looks like an girly atom….