Christmas Sweaters!!!

I've never understood the whole "ugly Christmas sweaters" thing.  Personally, I think seasonal dressing is great fun.  I love  seeing vintage images of people dressed in their festive Holiday styles.  

Thats why I was super excited this summer when I came across a Jatzen Christmas sweater that I had actually seen in a 1950s advertisement.

When I realized it fit me I really couldn't believe my luck.  

It's Kitschmas perfection!

 It's also very comfortable and warm when worn with a thermal, which stops any vintage itches, and my Freddies of Pinewood jeans.  


Of course I'm not going to leave my babies out of the Holliday cheer and while we where at Petsmart shopping for Holliday toys we bought some sweaters for the younger members of the family (Ping and Bob already have several).

We had fun posing for our Holiday photos:

I'm curious to know what others think but in my opinion Holiday dressing is lots of fun.   I think what I hate about modern clothes is its all so utilitarian and boring, some of it might be elegant, but its rarely fun.   I might be getting some odd looks and raised eye brows but I'll be wearing this sweater, and my other Holiday outfits, all season long!

The Most Bizarre, Kitschiest Holiday Movie Ever-Santa Clause and The Ice Cream Bunny

With Thanksgiving behind us we are firmly in the midst of Christmas mania, and if your like mike you like your Christmas with a hefty dose of sparkly kitsch.

If you are like me you also have a viewing list of films you watch each Holliday.  I don't tend to watch the traditional classics though, unless you consider the 1999 Xmas Story Futurama episode a classic.  Instead I tend to watch oddball things that make me laugh, and if your into kitschy, funny, and just plain weird, there is noting to beat the 1972 film Santa and The Ice Cream Bunny.

Strictly speaking I'm not even sure you can call this thing a film, most kindergarteners with cell phone cameras could make something much better, and more coherent.  Santa and The Ice Cream Bunny is more of a monument to the utterly bizarre, and full warning I am a connoisseur of bad movies and this is perhaps the worst I've seen.  Its also the so bad its good type, in that its side splittingly funny.

Filmed in 1972 it primarily functions as an advertisement for the long gone amusement park Pirates World.  

Pirates World closed in 1975 with the advent of Disney World, and perhaps it was already struggling in 1972, because the glimpses of it seen in the film are hardly impressive.  

The thread bare plot of the film, is that a badly costumed Santa's sled gets stuck in the Florida mud

and an  ever more bizarre parade children, costumed adults and animals try to pull the sleigh free.

For some inexplicable reason, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are also there.

Stuck in the mud Santa starts to tell the children a bizarre third hand story about Thumbelina.   



Its third hand because Santa is telling the story, as it is viewed and imagined by a girl who is spending the day at Pirates World.  This version of Thumbelina features lots of moles, bad paper mache birds, flower children, and production values that have to seen to be believed.

After the story is over the titular Ice Cream bunny finally makes his appearance riding a fire truck, and extracts Santa's sleigh.

The film was so terrible it achieved a sort of underground cult status among connoisseurs of terrible films.  

 Its also been the subject of a RiffTrax commentary.  Rifftrax is a movie parody company that releases comedy audio commentaries of films .  It  you have ever seen the 1990s TV show Mystery Science Theatre Three Thousand

you'll recognize the format and the commentators.   The Rifftrax version is available on Amazon instant video and my husband and I both agree its one of the funnies things we have ever seen.

Even better though, a new Riff Trax live version,  is being released in select theaters this Thursday.   

Im very excited to be going.  The perfect kick of to the Kitschmas season.

Product Review-Puppy Bumper

Since my parents gave my husband and I Tubby as a wedding present 14 years ago, we have been small dog owners.   However, until Tuvok joined our home after Tubby's passing, we had never been tiny dog owners, and there is a difference. Pugs are small, but they have formidable necks.  

Exhibit A: Bulbous Pug neck

In fact it often seems that pugs are mostly made up of neck.   This is not the case with toy poodles, who have tiny delicate necks to match their tiny frames.

Exhibit B: Toy Poodle with Correspondingly Teensy neck

Now my husband and I have a  small, but well fenced, outdoor space in the back of our house.  It can't properly be called a yard because like many home in our urban area its where we park our car and to accommodate this there is no grass.  It is however, a large space for the city and plenty big enough for our dogs to run and play in.  We paid a pretty penny to have it securely fenced and gated years before Tuvok joined our home.  We showed the men who installed our fence the dogs we had at that time and they built the fence to accommodate them.  Well it doesn't do as well at accommodating Mr. Tuvok.  

Now, we never leave our dogs outside alone, but one day as I was going back in to get our senior lady Ping and carry her down the deck stairs I heard a shout from my neighbor.  While my back was turn Tuvok had squeezed out of an infinitesimal space near the front gate.   When my neighbor shouted Tuvok immediately went back in, but the cat, or rather the toy poodle, was out of the bag.  I knew we had to do something to make the yard safer for Tuvok. 

  We really couldn't afford to have the whole yard re-fenced just a few years after getting it done the first time.  Plus the space by the gate was so small I doubted it could even be made smaller and still allow the gate to function.  I distantly remembered seeing an add for something called puppy bumpers in Bark magazine.  I went online and did some research and found the solution to our problem.   Puppy Bumpers are light weight donut shaped pillow type collars.  They were developed by Ann Price to solve the problem of her 6 lb maltese squeezing through a baby gate.    Basically, the way puppy bumpers work is you put them on your small necked dog and instantly they have a neck width to rival a chunky pug.

Puppy Bumpers come in sizes to fit dogs from 4-20 lbs and a wide range of colors and fabrics, including tough fabric and glow in  the dark fabric.   Since the Holliday's are approaching we got Tuvok a Christmas one.  

I guess after the Holidays are over we may be shopping for a different bumper.

Tuvok is very good about wearing his Puppy Bumper, in fact he doesn't seem to mind it at all.  Puppy Bumpers, are very easy to put on, they can have a collar slipped through them for extra security, or you can just use the snap like I do.  Tuvok has never tried to get his off and I've checked that its quite secure.   Tuvok is a very velcro-ey type dog and generally never leaves my side, in fact since the original incident I've never even seen him by the gate.   I'm cautious by nature though and so now he wears his puppy bumper if I can't give him mytotal undivided attention in the yard.    I still would never leave him outside alone, but I feel much safer knowing he can't try to squeeze out the fence while my back is turned.   Puppy Bumpers sell for about twenty dollars and are available on the Puppy Bumpers website and on  Amazon, even better if you have Amazon prime they  ship for free.   

Wordless Wednesday Resting Up For the Hollidays

Vintage Thanksgiving Images and Classic Recipe

I'm guilty of being one of those people who sees Thanksgiving as a Christmas Preview.  I've  never loved turkey and tend to put my silver tree up before Thanksgiving day has dawned.   

I still think its fun to see images of Thanksgiving's past 

And while I'm not crazy about Turkey, I do enjoy a seasonal snack. Classic Chex Mix

Classic Chex Mix

8 cups mixed whole wheat, corn Chex, and rice Chex 

2 cups roasted unsalted mixed nuts

2 cups bite size pretzels

2 cups everything bagel Chips

2 sticks unsalted butter 

4 tbsp Worschestire Sauce

2 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder 

Stit the Chex, nuts, pretzels, and bagel chips.  Melt the butter and add seasonings. Pour over dry ingredients ands stir  toast in a large baking pan for 45 min to 1 hour at 225. Stir frequently

Happy Belated Birthday Lulu and A 1920s Day Dress Vintage Outfit Post

November 14 marked the 109th anniversary of the birth of flapper icon Louise Brooks,

while she isn't my all time favorite flapper, I prefer the mad cap fun of Clara Bow to Louise's cool elegance, I do love her style. Lately, she's been a big inspiration. My latest bob is the most Louise like one yet 

And I recently got a ver Louise-ey 1920s day dress from Etsy seller Sew Vintage Seamstress. This dress is a repro made from a vintage pattern and it looks totally authentic.  

The inspiration was partly this simple dress worn by Louise in The Show Off.

       

I ordered the dress in July, being talented Sew Vintage gets lots of orders, so I've been planning the outfit for months and putting the various elements together for awhile.  The shoes are from American Duchess and very comfy and just like the 1920s originals. 

The gloves and bag I got from Adeline's Attic and they are authentic 1920s. 

I also git a really pretty velvet cloche from her that really only works with a Louise type Bob. You can't have a lot of hair under this hat.

And since every outfit needs a canine or feline element a vintage poodle pin from fellow vintage blogger Chronically Vintage's Etsy shop. 

If you've never seen Louise's films then due yourself a favor and check them out. Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl are available on Hulus criterion collection and many clips, and even whole films, can be seen on you tube. Here's a clip from The Show Off: