que chula

Mad Men style

vintage 50's strapless formal at Retreuxgirl

This is what you get when you plug "Mad Men" into a search on etsy. Clearly some people are really cashing in on the 50's dress (I'm not sure I'd want to pay $350 for a dress), but it's true, some of these are pretty hard to resist. Someone want to host a Mad Men party?

Vintage 50's pale teal party cupcake dress at Cassies Attic

 

Electric green vintage silk dress and coat at Sartorial Splendor

 

Apple martini chiffon tulle cocktail party dress at Forever Lovely Vintage

60's mod winter cape at jessjamesjake

Wonder Women

Love this Wonder Women print by Lucy Knisley at Society6. (via Colossal!)

 

Slide table

Have dinner then slide down the slide. Or more likely, do both at the same time. By Studio Klass.

Via handmadecharlotte

Mad Madsen Bike love

Hello Universe? I would really like one of these bikes. A small thing really...in the scheme of things. It would really make me happy. Thanks!  PS. Do you need to see the website? Here ya go....

DIY Monday

Maybe it's the sudden fall weather, but I really want to try some of these projects. I'm a dabbler--I've taught myself to knit, to sew a little bit, I've needle felted some toys, but I'm not really an expert at anything. That said, despite my lameness at knitting, I really want to try to knit this baby blanket. It's all garter stitch so there's no purling involved. It's knit from super soft merino wool (there's such a thing as soft wool?),  it's completely machine washable and the kit comes in lots of cool color combinations. Go see!

Super Easy Baby Blanket at the Purl Bee

 

Also on my radar, candy corn trick or treat bags at The Purl Bee. (Shouldn't be too hard right? Ha!)

5 for Friday

 Incredible embroidered portraits by Cayce Zavaglia (via Babble)

 

 Pheasants in Autumn Paint by Number at Surrender Dorothy

 

Ice Cream Sandwiches at Hip Hip Hooray

 

 
 Jelloware, drinking cups made entirely of agar agar.

 

Very cool record wedding invitation by Ello There (and lots of other great designs in the shop!)

For your walls

This is inspired by a trip to a vintage art gallery/shop called Double Vision in Venice where I saw a cool framed piece which was entirely made up of 1930's sumo wrestling trading cards. The owner told me they were incredibly hard to come by and took him years (hence the hefty price.) I fell in love with so much of the art in this tiny shop. I took a quick look around to see if I could find any sumo cards (couldn't) but it lead me to thinking of other collectibles you could frame or hang.

Vintage Japanese Game Wood blocks at Niftic

I'm not sure how I would do it, but I think the artwork on these vintage blocks is just super cool. Snap it up before I do!

 

Vintage Pennants set of 5 at Birch and Bird

Remember these? My brother had a Dodgers one in his room and maybe a few more. If I had a woodsy/cabin-y place, I would definitely make a wall of these.  There are some good ones to be found on etsy.

Vintage travel souvenir pennants at Sunny Day Rainy Day

 

 

I made a mixtape for you

Thanks to Pip at Meet Me At Mikes for introducing me to Firekites and The Rosebuds!

 

A little Grease! for your Monday morning

Part of the joy of having children is introducing them to all of the kitschy old things you liked as a child. Mary Poppins? Bomb! Too sad, I'm told. Tragic. Bugs Bunny? Shrugs, yawns, cries of "can we pleeeease change it now?" But recently, my daughter went to a birthday party where the parents taught the kids all kinds of old dances--the limbo, the macarena, the twist, the can can. It was a hilarious fun! And as our party prize, they sent us home with a cd of favorite songs. Much to my surprise this was on it and is my daughter's favorite new song. I had to show her the video...couldn't resist! It's love! (Though there were comments about her smoking and her age: "Wait! She's in HIGH SCHOOL? And that was a boy singing?? (Thought John Travolta's voice was "girlish") And how come she is smoking??" Anyway the video is still cool and it makes me smile. Happy Monday!

 

The Geographic Cure

Madrid. Photo by Diodoro

“Perhaps it goes without saying that I believe in the geographic cure. Of course you can’t out-travel sadness. You will find it has smuggled itself along in your suitcase. It coats the camera lens, it flavors the local cuisine. In that different sunlight, it stands out, awkward, yours, honking in the brash vowels of your native tongue in otherwise quiet restaurants. You may even feel proud of its stubbornness as it follows you up the bell towers and monuments, as it pants in your ear while you take in the view. I travel not to get away from my troubles but to see how they look in front of famous buildings or on deserted beaches. I take them for walks. Sometimes I get them drunk. Back at home we generally understand each other better.”

Elizabeth McCracken, An Exact Replica (via Quotenik)

Random favorite things

My new fave....a cute head vase from Chiasso.

 

2011 Monthly Planner--Embroidered Cover at Ginko Papers (via Bloesem)

 

2011 Tea Towel Calendar at Avril Loreti (via Poppytalk)

 

Wood chapel - Vernacular painting by Gijs Frieling. 

 

 

5 for Friday

Photo by Simon Fazackarley.

Sweetest elephant quilt ever found over at Pfeifer Studio. (oh yeah, and cute engagement photo!) Found via Honestly WTF.

Slim Aarons Cat Pool

 

Cinnamon Crumble Cake at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. Put it on the list of sweet things to bake (it's a looooong list)

Tea bird at LIttle Doodles (found via Where The Lovely Things Are)

 

DIY homemade kite tutorial at Giddy Giddy  

Best of Sesame Street Celebrity Appearances

My favorite is when Ricky Gervais tell Elmo he needs a celebrity lullaby and Elmos says, "So who's gonna sing to me? Brad Pitt?"

 

This one is sweet because of that sweet little girl. She steals the show--More of her!

(From the good people over at GOOD) I love GOOD, even more online than in print. Do you read their blog?

Ties for the littles

Mom cool tie by 42nd and Orange on Etsy

Watch out nephews! These little sweet little tie-on ties might be coming your way. They just kill me. I know you won't be excited by them and you'll probably cry that mean old auntie bought you CLOTHES instead of the Star Wars lego set you asked for. I can't help it! They slay me.

Spats

Herringbone and velveteen reversible spats by merryBe on Etsy

I never thought I'd be a spats kind of girl but these tweed ones caught my eye. I have several pairs of boots that I I don't really like that much  but I paid far too much for and and now I can't give them away! Maybe this is just the thing to give me a boot makeover? Or these gaiters which can be worn in so many different ways...really so clever!

Convertible Gaiters in blackberry and graphite at merryBe