Vintage Bangs at Va-Voom Vintage

Brittany at Va-Voom Vintage is having a week of vintage bang tutorials. Day one- Audrey Hepburn. Great start! Be sure to visit everyday for some adorable vintage hair styles.

I'm Back!

Long time, no post :) I have had just about everything under the sun happen since my last post and I have been trying to get my blogging mojo back. Probably the biggest news is that I relocated to North Carolina and I am the new Music Librarian at Elizabeth City State University. I am actually creating a music library from scratch and it has all been very excited! If anyone is interested in following the process, I have created a blog. Yes. One more blog to upkeep because I have been so great at keeping up this one! Of course, that one is for work, so there is a bit more motivation in a time crunch. 

However, I happened to come across an interview I gave a few years ago on the Simply Stacie Blog that may motivate me to get this blog back up to snuff. There are so many blogs out there that cover vintage lifestyles and items. For those of you that are still with me, is there anything you would like to see in a blog that no one else is doing? Or is there something I used to do that you wish I did again?

Heads up readers- if you give me some input, you will get extra entries in a vintage giveaway that I will be having soon!

Fleur Dress Giveaway (closed)

In the Heyday is giving away a beautiful Fleur dress with daisy trim. Get on over there and enter! Ends Monday, Nov. 7th.

Retro Butterick 4790 WalkAway Dress Sew-a-Long

I am SO excited! Remember my post a few days ago on the nifty tutorial for the Walk-Away dress on Edelweisspatterns.com? Well she is doing a sew-a-long! Be sure to see her sew-a-long post on it to join in.

Giddyap Bartender!

Unique 1950s Cowboy bar for sale in Utah- only $350. Comes with matching saloon doors!

Saw this post on the bar on Retrorenovation.com and had to repost just in case one of my awesome readers lives close by. The story behind the house this is in is worth a visit to the blog. I just love the detail on the bar top and it looks to be in perfect condition.

If you are interested, you can view the direct  classified ad here.

YEEHAW!

Free Vintage Sewing Pattern

Thanks to the blog A Few Threads Loose, I can repost the link to this beautiful vintage pattern that is available free on the German site Neu4bar. I would suggest this for an intermediate to advanced sewer because some of the writing is in German, but can be figured out if you are familiar with garment construction. I converted the pattern measurements from cm to inches and they are: b-40" w-32"  h-42.5". Don't forget my posts on resizing patterns to grade up or down!

Rockabilly DIY from Design Sponge

I just discovered a new website with tons of fun and easy tutorials on how to spruce up your home called Design Sponge. There are a bunch, but I went through and picked the ones that were the most rockabilly:

Vintage brooch knobs (shown above)
Kitchen glass canister makeover
Kitchen metal canister makeover

Vintage Hankie boudoir pillow (shown left)

Light switch cover
Fabric covered hangers
Decorative shelf edging

Bookstrap side table (shown right)

Stylish Blogger

I just got a Stylish Blogger award from the super-stylish-herself Miss Cherry Bubbles of the blog Past Life. Thanks kitten!Part of the award is to share seven facts about myself which is the best part about getting the award, I think.

I wasn't too hip on the buttons everyone is using for the award so I made one of my own. It is an homage to everything I loved about the 80's. Does that count as one of my 7 things?

Anyhoo- on to my life-shattering facts:

1. I started performing professionally at age 12 and sang for 2 Presidents before the age of 16.

2. I have an accordion named Delores Lorraine after my maternal grandmother who first taught me big band songs to sing. I don't know how to play it, yet, because I need a new shoulder strap ;)

3. I am afraid of basements. My husband has to do our laundry right now because the basement of our 1884 building is WAY creepy.

4. When I was 36 I started smoking out of the blue for a year and a half and quit cold turkey with no problems. I can't stop drinking Mt. Dew though...

5. I am totally obsessed with ruffles, especially can-can skirts.

6. To me nothing sounds better than listening to music on vinyl.

7. Like Miss Cherry Bubbles I am on the verge of having my Masters degree in Library Science, as well as a 2nd Masters in Music History, to be a Music Librarian. However, my real dream is to own a shop with my husband that carries items for reenactors and people who are interested in vintage or historical lifestyles.

Now that we are acquainted, I can move on to the next part of the award. I am supposed to chose 7 other bloggers to give the award to but there is no way I can chose that few out of all of the amazing blogs I read every day. So I was hoping that my awesome readers would leave some comments telling me interesting facts about themselves OR give themselves the award and leave a link to their blog post with their 7 interesting facts.

Las Vegas Series #12- Pomades for Men

If your man hasn't been reading the Art of Manliness blog he needs to get his tushy on over there immediately! Not only do they have ruggedly amazing posts about manly man things (like how to wrestle an alligator or how to be a professional stuntman), they also have giveaways. Right now they have a blog post on vintage pomades, how to apply them and wash them out and their modern equivalents. Perfect for VLV 14!

Blog Spotlight- Sew Weekly

I just adore this blog! Sew Weekly is a project blog by the talented and very creative Mena Trott to create a wardrobe sewn by her. Her taste is very vintage inspired and she usually uses vintage patterns and recycles/upcycles vintage items from thrift stores. I also like how she gives you very specific information about each piece and what inspired her to make it.

I have been reading this blog for a while, but the holiday dress she posted about recently was fabulous and I knew I had to blog about it and spread the retro-sewing love! This dress was made with a vintage 60s pattern and a tablecloth. Love, love, love it!

I have a pink scalloped tablecloth I bought to make a dress and I am so inspired by Mena's post that I may have to move it to the top of my "to sew" list.

Make sure you stop by her blog to see her other creations. Here's another of my favorites- An American in Paris Combo.

Midsummer Night's Dream Treasury

I recently started to join in on the Team Discovery Treasury Challenge. When I need some inspiration, I join the challenge and make up a treasury that stirs my brain a little. It is especially good for interesting color combinations. Below is my most recent treasury entitled Midsummer Night's Dream. Hope you like it!

Midsummer Night's Dream Treasury by Tart Deco

This Is Vintage Now CD Review

Hello readers! My eyes are finally getting back to normal and I am still catching up on schoolwork, but I thought you might be interested on a post I wrote for my music blog Tart Deco's American Popular Music Blog. Oh wait- you didn't know I had another blog? Yep and it's all about music with in-depth posts about certain pieces and genres of American popular music, including reviews, music clips and.... wait for it.... give-aways.

I just did a review on a new CD compilation that will be coming out soon called This Is Vintage Now that I think you all would be interested in reading. So pop on over and explore!

Tart Deco Featured

I was recently interviewed for the blog Simply Stacie. Simply Stacie is a blog friendly website that started a list of PR friendly blogs that companies can contact about reviewing their products based on the subject of the blog, ie. vintage or music. I am not huge on giving away free reviews, however if I am contacted to look at a product appropriate for my readers and I truly like it- why not? I also like the page of blogger resources on the site.

Perfecting Your 40s Look

I really could spend all day reading the blogs I subscribe to (and have occasionally). If you haven't checked out my new Vintage Blog List page, grab a cup of apple cider and a scone, throw on your comfiest afghan and visit for a few hours. You will thank me, even if your loved ones end up cursing my name from all the extra time you will spend ;)

Getting back to the reason for this post- 1940s fashion! There are 2 posts right now that I am loving on how to nail a vintage look and I thought you should read them, if you haven't already. The lovely Solanah from Vixen Vintage did a guest post on Lingerie Addict on how to buy vintage lingerie for the perfect look.

pic from Glamour Daze via Life

Once you have the foundations in place, you can move on to creating the perfect 40s look by reading this post on 1940s fashion on the Glamour Daze blog. The pictures in this post are incredibly helpful. Make sure to visit the other links provided in the article to view more posts in a series on 1940s fashion.

American Popular Music

pic from kclibrary.lonestar.edu

I may have mentioned that in my "spare" time I am getting a dual Masters degree in Library Science and Music History. I have recently started a blog on American Popular Music where I wax poetically on various genres in that subject.

I started the blog to satisfy a course requirement for a class I am in right now so the posts are fairly spread out in time periods and subjects. However I am sure that once the class ends I will tend to concentrate mostly on music from the 1920s-50s which are my favs! I do have a post up on The Hillbilly Casino which should be of some interest to my rockabilly readers.

1940s Lips

Pic from Vintage Face

The delightful Fleur de Guerre has posted a video tutorial on applying 1940s lipstick on her website Diary of a Vintage Girl. Just in case you missed my post on the 1940s Pinup Face, you can also find a diagram on how to apply the lipstick on that post.

Re-imagining Your Wardrobe Part II

I found my dreamscape images for the Super Kawaii Mama wardrobe challenge! I also picked out my clothes and, wouldn't you know it, just got an email about a last minute rockabilly show tonight. That's Karma!

Here are my final images-

pic from colourlovers.com

pic from theriverread.blogspot.com

pic from paulashouseoftoast.blogspot.com

Here is my inspired outfit. I paired a lilac and lace dress with a red crinoline and yellow sweater, plus red orchid hair flowers and a purple feather. I topped it off with vintage red rhinestone earrings & necklace, purple striped socks and my favorite pair of purple converse.

I wore it to see the Hillbilly Casino at a local rockabilly bar called Frank's Power Plant. The music rocked and I had a great time!

Re-imagining Your Wardrobe

pic from paulashouseoftoast.blogspot

Super Kawaii Mama has issued a very unique wardrobe challenge. In her own words, she challenges us to "take four images that come from the dreamscapes of your mind and use these as an inspiration point to create a new Daily Outfit." The best part of the challenge is to use items you already own, which I think is a brilliant way to breathe life into your wardrobe. Want to join the challenge? Visit her blog post, read the rules and see her image picks. The 5 best submissions will win a gift pack!

So which pictures will inspire you? I have chosen the one above already and I am picking out 3 more. Decisions, decisions...

Learn to Sew with Va-Voom Vintage

Brittany at Va-Voom Vintage is hosting an online sewing tutorial for beginners. It begins on Friday Aug. 13th and you will be learning how to sew this wonderful butterick retro apron in 3 seperate posts. If you are interested in joining along, please view her initial post here to see what supplies you will need to get before the "classes" start.

Getting Ready to Wed

It has been a while since I posted anything on my wedding and since June 25th is the Wedding Blog Party (hosted by the wonderful Angelic Accents Blog) I thought I would join in. It is hard to believe it has almost been a year since I married my husband, but it will be on July 18th. I've posted about a few different aspects of the wedding process, but I never touched on the time right before the wedding and some of the things I learned.

First off, let me explain that I planned and organized my whole wedding. It was very Do-It-Yourself. In fact, my very own band played at the wedding for 45 minutes (great price, awesome music!). In some ways it was great because if a decision needed to be made, I made it. I didn't have to run it by a planner or cross-check with vendors. I just had to ask the fiancee and get the quick nod, and sometimes not even then. I also had a very clear idea of what I wanted- married in a bowling alley, 50s/rockabilly theme, not a lot of major fuss, but a lot of fun.

And it was a lot of fun; for everyone else. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time at my wedding (as you can see from the first picture) and everything pretty much turned out the way I envisioned it. However, I found that I was incredibly unrealistic about how much could get done by a wedding party that was also preparing to be in a wedding. I got so stressed that I didn't get a chance to relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor.  By the time I got caught up the night was almost over.

This is why I highly recommend having a "day of" helper that is not in the wedding ceremony at all and meeting with that person before-hand (probably with the Maid of Honor too) to do a verbal run-through of the day of schedule. I was lucky enough to have another friend step in at the last minute to help with some things when we were all getting ready and generally keep things moving. I also recommend having your own dresser to help you get ready. My dresser was my Aunt Doreen, who also made my dress (or re-made from 2 dresses). She was able to remember which layers went first because I sure didn't!

One last logistical thing if you choose not to have a caterer (we did a dessert table only), have a clean-up plan. Even if it is just a few bins and a designated car or home to take stuff to, make sure your helpers know what to do at the end of the night. Don't assume that people just clean-up and get it done. It's not because they don't care, it's because they don't want to upset you and do it wrong. The last thing you want at the end of the night is having to supervise a clean-up crew. Trust me on this one.

Having a DIY wedding is a challenge, but it does pay off in the end. The entire wedding, including wedding dress, tux and bridal party gifts was just under $3,000. Everyone had a great time and my husband and I sealed the deal in style.

By the way, I am selling my one-of-a-kind wedding dress. Click here for more details.