Sunday, September 26, 2010

c'est charmant

Years ago, I started collecting vintage British charms, from 14k to 24k gold. I tried to find ones that were interactive, movable, or had some personal significance. The objective was to make myself a vintage charm bracelet.

Eight years later (yeesh) it's finally done.

Naturally, I wasn't happy with a basic charm bracelet— it had to be vintage with a heart padlock and safety chain. And they're expensive. Which is partially why it took so long to complete. (Winning one on ebay for an affordable price took patience.)

Meanwhile, I collected charms. My favorite is in the front— it's an LP that says "♥♥Calypso" on one side and "♥♥Rock n' Roll" on the other side. (I love calypso music from the 30's—50's... and have also amassed quite a lot of old rock n' roll LP's over the years.)
♥♥♥
ANYWAY... also pictured is a vintage working tambourine, two "spinner" charms (spin them, and one reveals the message "Good Luck" and the other, "I Love You"), a tiny scotch bottle that reads "I'm Scotch!", a 4-leaf clover, a graduation cap (a thrift store find), some bells (also thrifted) and "mad money" (contents: a whole dollar!).
♥♥♥
Over the years, I've collected MORE than enough charms for a bracelet. Eventually, I'll list the extra's on my Etsy site. Even if you don't have a bracelet to put them on, a few grouped together on a chain makes an adorable pendant. Here are some fun charms currently available on ebaythey're especially perfect if you have no budget!
Happy charming!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Nóż w wodzie (Knife in the Water), 1962
Tarzan And His Mate, 1934 (pre-code, obviously)
(I guess I'm not really into words these days...)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Happy Weekend!

This has been an insane week—I'm so happy it's over.

Have a relaxing weekend!

(Photo: John Rawlings for Vogue, 1941)

Sunday, September 12, 2010

We recently rehabbed a Dania starter dining set by having the cherry table top sprayed with car paint at our local Auto Body shop. We donated the matching Danish-modern Ikea-style chairs (yuck) and replaced them with some Lucite Ghost Chairs. By using Ghost Chairs, I hoped to make the small space look bigger, and with the glossy paint job, I wanted to make the eating area look... shiny.

In the end, we're happy with how it turned out. It always feels good to reuse and re-purpose things.
So, how do you clean the car-table? With Turtlewax, naturally. And if you're wondering about the cost of doing this yourself, I called both Auto Body and Fiberglass Paint shops (boat painters) and the low-bid was $100. (The high was $400.)





On a separate note— does anyone know what variety of flower those long, green hanging ones are?

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

LV Trompe L'Oeil



Something to add to the ever-expanding trompe l'oeil collection... this would be so cute with brown high-waisted sailor pants.
Just what I need— more ridiculous, expensive, impractical clothing and accessories! I have no discipline.

Monday, September 6, 2010

rainy day music

Yves Montand in "Paris is always Paris," 1951

The lyrics were written by surrealist French poet/screenwriter Jacques Prevert.

Friday, September 3, 2010

ballet shoes

Dustin Hoffman and wife, Anne Byrne by Bob Gomel,1967
(Happy Friday!)