Wooden '60s Canisters - Super Lovely!

I am totally in love with these wooden canisters - I am not even sure the age of them - 1960's I think.  They are in perfect condition and are so well made.

I bought them in a charity shop in Edinburgh's city centre - I paid £6 for them.  A bargain I think as I love them so much.

What do you think?

I love it when you feel like you were in the shop at just the right time to buy something that is totally you!

MSMxx

G-Plan for F-ree

I love mid-century furniture and when I saw on our local free-cycle that someone was giving away a 7 foot G-Plan sideboard, I jumped at it.  I managed to get this beauty into the boot of my car (with lots of it still sticking out the back!!) and brought it home.

It has sat in my garage for a few months until I decided what I wanted to do with it, and this weekend I dusted it down and brought it into my lounge.

I want my home to be a real eclectic mix of modern and vintage and am delighted with how this unit sits in with my existing furniture in my lounge.

Here is an image of it using my favourite app for my i-Phone just now, Hipsomatic.  It gives it a real retro feel.

MSMxx

1960s shift dress....and it fits like a glove!

The dress that I have been wearing today is a 1960s shift dress which was purchased on eBay.  The dress cost next to nothing and I was unsure of the size, but to my surprise when it arrived it fitted perfectly. Totally perfectly - there was nothing I could do to improve this one (except wash it three times, it smelt of genuine "vintage"!!).

I just added a long sleeved black top (it is far too cold in Scotland just now to go without, some black opaque tights, my favourite black patent leather shoe/boots and some wooden jewellery (both bracelets are handmade and bought at a craft fair, and I up-cycled the necklace).

Here is me in my finest 1960s glory..........  I don't normally wear baby blue, but will do more often now........ I love it!

MSMxx

Pinafore - no longer a bore!!

This pinafore was totally boring when I bought it.  It came with a job lot of vintage clothes that I won on eBay last year.  It looks like something a Granny would wear so of course I had to do something about that.

Here is it before.....

To start with I chopped off the bottom as I wanted it to be much shorter........

Next it was time to bring it in under my arms as it was quite big for me - so I pinned it and then set to work on my trusty old Singer.......

I then added a purple balloon sleeved blouse from my wardrobe (from GAP), some opaque tights and my grey boots.  Voila - good enough to wear anywhere.....

MSMxx

Re-vamped Dress for New Year's

This dress started it's life like this.....

It is a super plain full length dress from Monsoon which I bought for a few pounds on eBay last year.

I chopped the bottom of it off to look like this........

Then made a couple of darts in the front to give it a bit more shape....... (please ignore the deodorant marks - I had to try the dress on a few times to get the darts in the correct positions!!)

Then I used some lovely lace that my sister-in-law gave me and added a lace collar.......

And, this was the final result.  I teamed it up with a pair of my favourite brown boots, all ready to celebrate bringing in 2011!

Happy New Year to you all.  I hope that 2011 brings you all your wishes.

MSMx

Day One - Starting of with something simple...

.... and practical in this chilly weather.  This snood has been made using vintage deadstock grey wool fabric from the 1950s which I was very kindly given a bolt of.  It is a stunning fabric and I love the outcome.......

I basically doubled over the fabric, stitched it together then joined each end together to make one long loop of fabric.  Finally, I twisted it round my neck twice.

Cost to me = free.

MSMxx

Only a few days to go......

till I am not allowed to spend any money on the high street or in any other commercial clothing or accessory shop!  Boy, I am starting to wonder why I have committed myself to this.  I am a proper shop-a-holic!!

I just wanted to give you all a bit of background about myself before I go head-strong into this challenge.  I am clinging onto my 30's and have spent many a year keeping up with the current trends.  I can't even begin to talk about the '80s - way to fashion-tastically painful!!  I love clothes, style and interiors.

My background is in advertising and PR and I have been writing blogs for years now.  This is the first time that I am putting myself in the forefront of the blog, and not hiding behind it.  I draw, craft and up-cycle as much as time allows, so this will be a challenge that I am going to look forward to as I will have to make the time to do these things that I love doing!  I also love to read.

I love vintage style, especially from the '50s and am embracing the '70s just now as my myself, my husband and family have fairly recently bought our 1970's home .  I am going to enjoy furnishing it, and decorating it without breaking the bank!

I hope that you will follow my progress here on this blog, and join me on Facebook and Twitter.

Roll on the 30th.....

MSMxx