A Sparkly Snood Inspired by Judy

Ever since I was a very little girl, I mean pre-school little, I've been a huge Judy Garland fan.  I love her voice, her acting, her style, and her whole persona.   My favorite Garland film is definitely the Wizard of Oz but I also adore 1944's Meet Me in St. Louis.  It has a beautiful 1940s take on turn of the century fashions, its vintage-vintage!  There are tons of gorgeous looks in the film:

My favorite though are the Christmas ones.  Judy's lovely wine red velvet dress:

and her sparkly golden snood.

I loved the latter so much that I decided to ask Etsy seller Chloe Hearts Owls to make me a version and she did.

I wore it with my Hey Day Holly dress and a holly hair clip I got last year from Chatter Blossom and felt very Christmasey.  Too bad I can't sing:

I'll be going on blogger break for Christmas.  Wishing all of you very happy Holidays.  

Weekend Re-Cap: Santa has Been Replaced By a Digital Fraud and Visitors

We made a disturbing discovery this weekend.  In an example of the digital age gone out of control Santa:

has been apparently replaced by a digital copy.  We where all set to go to Pet Smart for our annual photos with Santa when I called the store to check the time and was informed that this year they had a "virtual" Santa.  Meaning they take your pet's picture and then photoshop Santa in!  No thank you!  I want a real Santa in my pictures.  We decided not to make the 45 minute drive and just dressed the dogs up in their Christmas finery at home:

 I wrapped up the cat and dog presents and put them in the stockings:

and we relaxed:

We where waiting for a visitor.  My former co-workers dog is staying with us for two weeks over the Holidays.  His  name is Ollie and he has been here a few times, but not for several years.  He seemed to fit in pretty easily:

In  fact everyone is getting on so well that on Sunday we left them for a few hours.  I dressed up in a vintage outfit that was a big departure from my usual a 1960s look with sparkly capri pants.

I still love my 1920s, 30s , ad 40s clothes, but as I get older I get more into the  Kitschy fun looks of the 1950s and 60s.  I think they suit my personality.  Im turning 38 in March and so  on the cusp of forty, but I think I'm getting less mature as I age.  I can definitely see wearing more of these fun, kitschy looks as I enter my middle years. 

We went out to one of my very favorite restaurants.  BCDC Tofu house.  It serves Korean soft tofu, which is a boiling pot of tofu and meat or seafood and vegetables.  Its so delicious and comes with a plethora of pickles.  I always order the seafood pancake too and am then totally stuffed:

Luckily the pants are very stretchy.

I'm still pretty annoyed about virtual Santa but overall it was a pretty perfect weekend.

silent Film Sunday A Christmas Carol 1910

Christmas Corsages and Jatzen Sweaters

Back in the glory days of festive Holiday wear, the mid century period of the 1950s and 60s, nearly everyone would make a trip to the five and dime to snag a Christmas corsage for the festive season:

No party outfit would have been complete without a bit or sparkle often in the form of a corsage.  

Sadly, like so many other fun aspects of seasonal dressing the Christmas corsage has long faded from view.  I however am a major fan and look forward to wearing my corsages every season.   I first had a gold angel, which I sadly lost when it fell of my coat.  Christmas corsages are not very sturdy:

This year I decided on a fun atomic looking number with a reindeer and turquoise, red, and silver accents.

I really like it!  I particularly love it paired with my 1940s Jatzen taxi sweater.   I even broke festive dressing rules and wore it before Thanksgiving, these pictures where takenon Tuvok's first birthday, Novemeber 11.

    

Merry Kitschmas!

  

Brotherly Love and Hugs

My husband and I are big fans of the long running, 11 years and counting,  cult hit fantasy show Supernatural.  Its far too complex to explain to a newbie, but basically its about two VERY CLOSE brothers who spend their time hunting demons, helping humans, and walking in and out of hell like it has a revolving door.  The closeness of the brothers is a major part of the show and there are lots of hugs.

The hugs are in fact so paramount to the show that there are fan websites devoted to ranking hugs and counting hugs .  There are even innumerable you tube hug montages like the one below, which is missing three seasons worth of hugging.

Another thing about the show is that the peripheral characters always refer to , the brothers Sam and Dean, as "the boys."  My husband and I have taking to calling Weasley and Fry "the boys." Due to their closeness and their tendency to hug.  A few days ago my husband texted me these picture of the "the boys" hugging and having a Supernatural moment.  Im pretty sure its the cutest thing Ive ever seen.

Vintage Outfit Post-In Which I Dress Up Like a White and Gold Kitschmas Tree

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season has always been the sparkles.  From aluminum trees, to spangly dresses I love it all.

When I saw this amazing white and gold patio dress set on sale at Fab Gabs this summer I immediately loved it.  It reminded me of sparkling Christmas lights, golden tinsel and of something else I love, Star Trek dress uniforms:

I think its the gold trim.  I snagged it up thinking it might have to be a summer dress, as its cotton and patio or squaw dresses where traditionally meant for serving drinks on the patio.    I was still dreaming of it how nice and glitzy it was for the Holidays.   Its been unseasonably warm so I decided to take the plunge and wear it:

   It might be the most out there thing I've ever worn and even with my experience of outrageous outfits I felt a little self conscious, like a white and gold Christmas tree,  but it was such a fun outfit.   I got a few odd stares but ignored them.  Im  very shy and when I was younger I would have been much too afraid to dress like this, but as I get older I realized who cares!

I accessorized my dress with gold remix vintage shoes, a thrifted lucite purse, atomic earrings from the alamo basement, cats eye sunglasses and a white and gold hair flower from Chatter Blossom.

I didn't stay very long at the event because the friend I was with wanted to leave but the music was nice and it was prettily decorated.  It kind of reminded me of Dancing on The Edge, a miniseries I really enjoyed.

Im hoping to go back next year, but in the meantime I plan to wear this again. Life is too short not to have fun!

Merry Kitschmas (here is my new life motto):

Silent Film Sunday-The Little Matchgirl

From Christmas 1902...

Vintage Outfits Post: The Grinch's (Dog) and The Holly Berry

As I just mentioned in my last post Im a sucker for any sort of seasonal dressing, both for my self and my pups.  So when my husband saw this 

on sale at Petco and showed me, we snatched it up right away.  I knew it would look perfect on Fry.  Plus as the Grinch came out in 1966 its officially vintage.  Fry is a very happy and cute pup, but something about him does remind me of the Grinch's rather sad sack dog Max.

I was right Fry looks beyond cute in the antler, though he doesn't love wearing it.  He shakes his head and its off in 10 seconds flat, so I had to hold him for the pictures, after which he was amply rewarded with treats.

The holly in the title of this post is on my hair clip from Chatter Blossom and on my dress the very comfy and super festive Holly Berry dress from Hey Day.  I bought it on sale this July and am so excited to finally be able to wear it!  Happy Holidays!

Christmas Treats-Two Tasty Chocolate Barks

I love holiday baking 

or rather I love EASY holiday baking.  So as lovely as the lady decorating the fancy Santa cookie above looks, I am not abut to attempt her culinary extravagance.  I'd rather make super easy, and super delicious chocolate bark. 

Theres a very simple formula to chocolate bark and once you have it down you can adapt it inline ways.

Basic Formula for Chocolate Bark

16 ounces semisweet, milk or white chocolate chips
1/2 tsp of flavoring extract such as vanilla, peppermint, or orange (optional)
1 cup to 1 1/2 cups stuff (dried cherries, dried apricots, pistachios, crystalized ginger, walnuts, pecans, crushed candy canes, pretzels, almonds, etc)

Line a baking sheet with waxed or parchment paper and get your chopped stuff ready.

Put a pot of water on the stove to simmer and dump the chocolate chips in a metal bowl. Place the bowl over the pot of simmering water and stir with a heat proof rubber spatula.  Stir constantly and remove it the instant its all melted (alternatively you can use a glass bowl and do this very slowly and carefully in the microwave).   Stir in the optional flavoring extract if using and immediately pour onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet and spread evenly.  Sprinkle over the stuff, pressing slightly to adhere.  Refrigerate 1/2 to 1 hour and then break apart into chunks.

I used crushed candy canes and peppermint extract with dark chocolate for one bark and white chocolate with vanilla extract salted pistachios, dried cherries, and dried apricots for the other.   This is absolutely the easiest candy to make and give and it keeps forever in the freezer.