December 24, 2012

Party Like It's 1949

Since I never really had a housewarming party, I got together with some of my friends and decided to host a 1950's themed Christmas party at my house instead. We had a really great turn out and a lot of fun! For party favors, I designed some refrigerator magnets and labels for 45s, and gave out mini coke glasses with candy cane straws. We watched Miracle on 34th street, had a hula hooping contest, winners for best costume, and served all sorts of 50s themed food—it was soo much fun!!!

These are the girl and guy winners of the costume contest


























The Coca-cola glasses and straws that I gave away as party favors


I designed these labels and then we stuck them on the front and back of about a dozen 45s, like this one

















These are the refrigerator magnets that I designed as party favors 




 Don't they look so genuine?!






















I hope all of you have a very, very Merry and blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year too!

October 14, 2012

Beep Beep!

For quite some time, I have been looking for a bike because I wanted something vintage but still in good shape. I was starting to get restless because I know that all I do is sit in a cubicle all day and get no real exercise. A lot of my friends have been finding things on Craigslist, so I thought, "Why not?" Right away I saw a posting for an adorable bike in my area and thought it couldn't hurt to go have a look at it. After looking up the address, I realized it was a shop right across the street from me, and they had a whole stock of similar vintage bikes! It is owned by a really nice man who moved here from France. He had such a great variety of vintage bikes and offered to fix anything for me that I had trouble with even after purchasing. This is one of the things I love about where I live—shops owned by local people who are genuine and nice and will chat with you, so by the time you check out you feel like you have made a new friend. I wish there were more of those still! But anyway, pictures!




















And just wanted to add—I took it out for a ride today and this song was on my mind the whole time! (You have to listen to the end). I probably should invest in a bell soon ;)

October 13, 2012

Outfit No.6

So here is another outfit that I put together. Mostly things I already had in my closet, just trying to find new ways of putting them together :)










































October 6, 2012

MMM-Museum

I live near a historic landmark. It's called the Waffle House Museum.  It still makes me chuckle a little when I tell people, but it's true. A few weekends ago, they were recognized by the historical society and a camera crew was out here for the sign's unveiling.

There are two halves to the building; one is a museum with memorabilia from the early days, and the other is the original Waffle House that opened around 1955. For this special occasion, the founders Joe and Tom were there signing autographs and speaking with the visitors. We were able to explore the restaurant side and see the way everything was set up in the 50's, including the menu. But alas, they will only serve you plastic food these days! It is only for show. :) 

They actually haven't changed too much over the years, but I loved seeing the little characteristics that came and went since the 50's, as well as meeting the founding men and women. 

A cutout from an enlarged pamphlet, originally printed several decades ago.

The original Waffle House setup

Mmm...plastic!



















































...Yes, made in Taiwan actually! (My, how do they manage to keep it so fresh?)




















































Originally, the servers placed these tickets at each table setting. There were no booths at the time, all the seating was around the counter.

Several generations of chair backs

A billboard within a billboard






My autographed photo! :)
























The original menu design

September 19, 2012

Truffles

My friend Laura was over last weekend and helped me both make some delicious truffles and take some awesome pictures in the process. These are really delicious, so I thought I'd share!

You will need:
  • (1) package of Oreos 
  • (1) 8 oz package of plain cream cheese
  • Melting chocolate
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Small microwaveable bowls
  • Gallon Sized Ziploc Bag
  • Wax paper
  • Hammer or mallet




Pour entire package of Oreos into gallon size Ziploc bag...and SEAL!


Crush Oreos with mallet or hammer.

Soften cream cheese in microwave.



Pour Oreos and cream cheese into large mixing bowl and mix with hands.








Chill Oreo mixture for about 10 minutes.

Melt chocolate in microwave. 

Roll truffles into 1 inch balls and coat in chocolate. 




Place on wax paper to harden. 

Enjoy! I think they taste even better once they've been chilled. And don't forget to put back in the fridge, since they have cream cheese in them. Special thanks Laura for her help! And if anyone else tries them, especially if you experiment with different chocolates or Oreo flavors, let me know how they turned out! 

August 19, 2012

Home Sweet Home

My house was built around the 1920s, and later turned into a duplex. The house has great character, especially the doors and little idiosyncrasies here and there. It's been really fun to decorate; and I know I am enjoying it much more than a modern apartment, which basically is a plain white box. I like to blend a little of the vintage and a little of the modern, which ends up being my style. Below are some pictures of what I've done with my house. I think it's nice to share ideas, since that's how I came up with a lot of mine to begin with.

This is my living room. It's a pretty open space, so I put the bookshelf there to create a hallway where my front door opens up. My brother says I win the defective television contest every time. Sometimes the screen rolls and you just have to wait for it to finish. And other times everything is yellow but all you have to do then is pull a Fonzie on it and everything turns back to normal. But I love it (despite its defects and that it reminds me of a station wagon), and won't trade it for anything until it absolutely dies. I hung up vintage LIFE magazine ads for decoration on the old accordion door. A lot of this stuff is thrift store finds, but the couch and bookshelf were from IKEA.





















































This is to the right of my bookshelf in the living room; it's basically my front hallway, looking in from the door. 

Here is the view from about where my television sits. I love how open this place is, even though its pretty small. You can see all the way back to the kitchen. The pennants on the archway were the first decorations I hung up when I moved in. I see those on blogs everywhere. The only problem is mine are made of paper and the humidity here in the south is finally getting to them and making them curl. Eventually I'd like to make them out of fabric. 


This is my bedroom furniture. I love the style. Found it at a thrift store for a great deal, but the only catch was the thrift store was in Illinois. So after I moved down south, I ended up having to drive 12 hours (and that's just one way!) back to Illinois to get these little stinkers to my house. It was worth it though! But I might add, I am never doing that again! haha!

This is looking in to my kitchen from the archway by the bedroom. My diner table was the first piece of furniture I bought, and the color basically inspired everything else! The kitchen has been my favorite room to shop for just because of how colorful it is. 


This is another view of my kitchen of my stove, and the back door that leads out to my driveway. 

This is the entrance to my bathroom, basically looking forward from my bed. I used twine and mini clothespins to hang up old photos.

























































And finally, this is my bathroom. I have the original sink and clawfoot tub, but thank goodness, a modern toilet :P It's very tiny but quaint.