Back Home Again

For Thanksgiving week, I'm back in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. (And I can't believe I thought winter in Florida was cold.) Bloomington is a lovely and artistic college town with all sorts of shopping to offer, including these finds from Etsy:

Onion, a photographic print by Komoriblue that would be very appropriate for my kitchen.

Octopus/Squid Inspired Pendant from Miabeach. I love anything that looks like a cephalopod ...

... and I'm also fascinated by other strange sea life, which is why I like this Abstract Pottery Sea Anemone Sculpture from Canderson Creations.

Faceted Grape Vintage Pendant Necklace by Abeautifulnotion, who makes all sorts of jewelry out of old buttons.

And this! From Squaretones, it's Drawdio: a pencil that lets you draw with music. I really want to try this thing out.

In the Funny Papers

This week has been making me regret that I ever wished cold weather would come to Florida. I've been cheering myself up by wearing bright colors and dresses that make me feel like a cartoon. In a good way.

My Christmas List

Last year I had a very traumatic Christmas when I decided to make all my presents myself. This year I decided to buy early and often, and I have accumulated a substantial pile of presents. But you know when you're looking at your Christmas present pile, and it seems like a weird and random assortment of things? That's what my Christmas list looks like this year.

Someone I know (I'm sure none of these people read my blog) is getting a Lucky Mojo Charm from Mojohatchery. It's made of something called devil pods or, hilariously, bat nuts -- and in person it is terrifying. Those little black seedpods really do look like bats from one angle and scary faces from another. I think the recipient will appreciate this. Plus, it's supposed to ward off evil, and what more does anyone want for Christmas?

Someone else is getting a set of 1930s French chessmen in a wooden box, similar to the set available here. It's not quite as cool as a set of devil pods, but I think he might like it better.

Another person on my list will be getting an Art Deco brooch like this one, a hand holding a water lily.

And if you have someone on your Christmas list who likes antiques, used to be a locksmith, and was once almost kicked out of the navy during WWII for smuggling a pet monkey on board, this is the perfect gift: a Chinese lock in the shape of a monkey, over 100 years old and available here.

Let's hope that my friends and family are ready for some interesting and unusual vintage presents, because that is what everyone is getting this year from me. And if any of you are reading this, I wouldn't mind getting that sort of present for Christmas either.

Today I'm Thinking About

The perfection of earrings that are two different colors.

Top image: Black Forest Earrings by Circ; bottom image: Jewel Tones by U2erin.

My Brilliant Legs

I just got three new pairs of tights from the popular tights-provider We Love Colors. They are just what I look for in tights: soft, opaque, and not too shiny. These are more or less what they look like, although they aren't exactly what I thought they would look like.

The medium blue tights look sky blue. The tights that were supposed to be maroon look more magenta. The only tights that look just the way I expected are "rubine," which I ordered daringly even though I wasn't sure what color rubine was. It's the name of a reddish dye, but shouldn't it be ruby red? They look dark purple on my computer, and the same color in real life. Anyway, whatever color they are, I think they're lovely. I'll be wearing them to brighten up some black clothes this winter. I hope it gets cold enough to wear them soon.

A Vote for Brooches

My Florida town was an exciting place to be on Election Day. I loved seeing the way people were dressing up to vote. I saw a lot of American flag colors, but also lots of people who, like me, dressed mainly in blue. (We were so giddy at the idea that this might actually be a blue state this year! And it was!) I also saw women paying tribute to Michelle Obama in fabulous outfits like this one from Kimberly of Fab Finds Under $50.

I like the way Michelle Obama pins a single brooch at the v-neck of a dress or sweater, and I am totally going to copy this look with various brooches like these:


As always, Etsy has a zillion options for vintage brooches that would go perfectly with this outfit:



From top left: Vintage Mod White Glass Sunburst Brooch on sale from RelicsRenewed; Pretty Vintage Turquoise Rhinestone Brooch from Susantique; Vintage Amethyst Stone Brass Brooch from AuthenticAntiques; Late 1800s to Early 1900s Art Nouveau Brooch from LunabudsAttic; Vintage Gold Bow Brooch from HopelesslyDevoted; Vintage Marcasite Bow Brooch from PattycakesPatterns; Stunning Trifara Signed Gold Tone Leaf Brooch from Beatomicbeauty; awesome and bizarre Vintage Egyptian Cat Brooch from Vickisvintagelane.

Next Halloween

Let's face it, I own a lot of costumey clothing that I wear every day. I like ruffles. I like gaudy jewelry. I like anything that looks like it came from a previous time period. Usually I try to keep it to one costumey piece per outfit, with everything else fairly simple. But Halloween gives you total freedom to wear all of your over-the-top pieces at the same time. This year I wore the puffy shirt, the chain belt (as a necklace), a bright green belt (actually from Lane Bryant), and as many piratical accessories as I could scrounge up. This was a last-minute costume attempt. Fortunately, I already owned a pirate hat and an octopus necklace.

I think I looked more like one of the Three Musketeers than a pirate. But Oliver was wearing a black beard, hook, and eye patch, so that helped people identify us.

I like the idea of creating a costume out of real-life clothes just by adding an accessory or two. Next year I'm thinking about basing my costume on something like this gorgeous tiara from LuxeDeluxe ...
... or maybe a giant butterfly hat from Jenniferbelland ...

... or -- my favorite idea -- one of these amazingly cool felt beards from Imadeyouabeard.