Merry Merry Christmas!

2014 is headed out the door and as luck would have it I've been down and out with a strange virus that comes and goes as it pleases for almost a week now. I've had to put a few projects on the shelf :( 

and I've been trying to take it easy before the big day. I've been hanging out with Bing a lot but tonight I'm headed for the hills with Maria. 

I'm wishing you all a Merry Merry Christmas and I'll see you in the New Year! :)

Hangin' by the Wood Pile 40's Style.

My husband has a thing for wood, can you tell? We don't burn wood he just collects it in hopes of putting in a wood stove next year. (which would have been handy since while writing this we had a power outage and things got a bit cool for my liking) I have been checking out wood cookstoves. I think it would be interesting to learn to cook and bake with wood plus I think the wood makes kind of a neat background for pictures.

So these are my 1940's trousers made from this pattern and fabric picked up from a thrift store.

As you can see the pleats are missing. I took them out. To me they weren't flattering on me in the 80's and that hasn't changed now. If I had lived in the 40's I can't see me liking them much then either but I suppose the design was to mimic the men's trouser since women wearing pants was still a fairly new thing. 

You may be wondering why oh why I'd want to make a pair of 1940's pants but as I continue my journey of only wearing clothes I've made or thrifted a whole new world has opened back up for me.

 I've always adored the simplicity of 40's clothing and the 50's with it's petticoats and hat wearing styles. If you've known me for a really long time you'd know that wearing these eras is not really new for me. I've played with these styles since highschool.

 Yes thats me at prom with sweetheart and husband to be. My ensemble was not the same as every long gowned girl but more reminiscent of a 40's knee length style complete with hat and black lace gloves. 

I find today's clothes fairly generic and that's why I've found making my own clothes has begun to suit what I've been missing for so long... a reflection of me. It's not that I'm trying to stand out in the crowd by wearing vintage clothing but because I'm beginning to feel more at home in my clothes again.

These pants not only cover what today's jeans don't on my backside when bending over, ( think the old plumber's cliche and you get the picture) but they allow me to wear my beloved long johns underneath! 

I made the blouse from another 1940's pattern and the sweater came from a thrift store as did the shoes. 

I can tell you this is not my everyday wardrobe but its more of my going out to dinner or Sunday go to church look.

Right now if I took a picture of myself you'd see a yoga pant, sweatshirt clad girl and I intend to sew myself some new everyday clothes and share those with you too.

I also find that I can't call myself The Vintage Counterfeiter and not at least try and look the part. :)

Number 47

This past weekend I celebrated number 47 and right now I'm liking my age and everything that comes with it.  1 handsome husband, 3 girls married to wonderful boys, 1 boy who I get to on occasion hang at  home with, 4 grandbabies to play with and the feeling that I'm really only 25. I'm experimenting with new clothing styles and learning new sewing techniques right down to my undergarments. I've learned this past year that with patience that yes you can thrift, sew, knit and crochet your way into a new wardrobe and that I'm leaning towards a simpler style of decor and furniture.

Back to the celebration. Saturday was filled with cupcakes and cake because we sang not only for me but for the 7 birthdays that happen in the family all within the past and future couple of weeks to come. ( Leah had a cupcake and candle too. Her birthday is June but hey any time is a good time to celebrate your birthday right?)

Sunday Roger took me out for lunch and to one of my favourite places to poke around. They now have two stores to do just that. I found some vintage Christmas balls anndddd.........


this beautiful blue green picnic basket to add to my picnic basket collection aannnddd.....

this wonderful wicker purse to use with my summer wardrobe.

So what does one wear on such an outing?? ( I also wore this outfit at the sale last week)

A Christmas skirt that was thrifted.

And a sweater I bought at the thrift store years ago to make into mitts but didn't have the heart to because of its cute faux fur collar.

I like to make fun of these "hands on hips" poses but when standing alone your hands naturally gravitate towards your hips. Go figure.

The other great thing about Sunday was that yes it was just this warm and I didn't need a coat so I got to show off this great skirt. So whoever you are who happen to sew this cute skirt I had many, many complements.  :)

The Krackin'

A while back I had bought a bottle of stuff that was supposed to give me a aged crackle finish. I used it on a few things but never got the look I wanted. So I began to look at inexpensive products to achieve a wonderful crackle finish. (I'm always hopeful that there are cheap ways of doing anything) I found this glue being used by someone on Youtube who was doing crackle finishes and it seemed promising.

 I  bought it from Amazon because Canadian Tire or any other local store didn't seem to carry it. I then used it for its intended purpose and let me tell you, it's an awesome wood glue. But it is a hide glue which means it has a fun odour, a little like stinky feet.
I thought I'd finally give it a try while I was making my signs to see if I could get that wonderful aged vintage look to my signs and guess what...it works!!

This was my first sign to try it on.

And my chalkboard also got a dose. See how super shiny it is after it dries.

A little goes a long way when using this glue. You dont need too "paint" it too thick but if you're to thin you won't get the crackle effect either. The best part is it needs to dry completely. The other stuff I used said wait till tacky. If I waiting to long nothing happened. If I didn't wait long enough it turned into a mess. You kind of can't go wrong with this glue, it just magically makes itself old. Heres a tip: don't go back over it to much when your painting or it will smear your work and won't crackle properly.
When it was dry I sealed it with my homemade beeswax polish because I had used a chalk paint on the frame. Ordinary latex paint should be fine without sealing it.

You've got time my friends to make yourself or someone else a fun christmas sign, frame or even try it on furniture. :)