Everybody cut ,Everybody cut !

What a busy Halloween weekend,and its not even Halloween yet!
I had a flashback to the 80's experience this weekend watching Crooked Halo,play the the lead singer for the Country Kickers in Footloose (their big hit was "lets make believe we're in luvv"). This is a very talented little troupe and I do love watching the young ones come into their own!If you click on the image you can see MY little budding thespians face(she was the youngest in the cast and had her own song to sing!) in the 4th "o" in footloose.
It was also,interesting to watch the 80's come into their own as a very dated and iconic decade. Almost Paradise is just as syruppy as ever,even when sung by talented and earnest actors.As for costumes ,the flashdance torn tees and undershirt combo was in full force,and what the heck were we thinking about the giant plastic earings in all different colors? Thank goodness I was already into vintage and Vans when that stuff was having its moment.However, the pencil skirts sported by the ministers wife ,made me think I need to run to the thrift store and skarf a couple of those little numbers up!The finale at the Prom was quite sinply a parade of every bad Bridesmaid dress I've ever seen!Crooked Halo wore her little one-shouldered turquoise frock with her own personal matching turquoise Converse,and danced with beautiful abandon,proving once again that she will always stand out in a crowd!

I Have Been Very Spoiled This Week !

Ofcourse I can hear my husbands voice saying "...and that would be different from any other week...how?
I took place in Rebecca of Thrifty Goodness' craft swap . My partner was the very creative,Heidi of Vacuming in Highheels and Pearls.As you can see when I opened the box it was like Christmas!My eyes 1st fell upon these vintage patterns,I am incredibly in love with the illustrations on these patterns ,and feel a Decopauge Spice project coming on soon!As you can tell by the photo below there was so much more than just decopauge fodder (CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE).
I love these scissors ,very much like pinking shears ,and ready to give any paper craft a vintage feel.
In this little sideways blogtography shot,you might notice A collection of stamps,little wire letters,a beginners guide to making homade paper,and my favorite ,pre-inked textured scratch board.If I cannot be inspired by these goodies ,I need to hang up my computer mouse!
Would you look at this box of vintage greeting cards. Be still my beating heart!Thank you Heidi and thank you Rebecca!
The next warm and fuzzies I recieved in the mail,were these fabulous vintage linens from Mary Ann,for no reason at all she sent me these,thats how sweet she is. I create little embellished re-cycled clothes for my littlest,and thoughtfulMary Ann,of A very Mary Design ,sent me these lovelies. She was lamenting about how her own baby is too old to enjoy the vintage love. Believe me ,I got a 10 year old that is too cool for school ,and I feel your pain.I'm cooking up a new kind of collaberation with Crooked Halo ,in terms of thrifted wardrobe to be revealed soon.
My new blogpanionJennifer ,of The Felt Mouse,conducted a "tell me your funnest Halloween stume " contest,earlier this month and I won!So heres my winning stume of Halloween past. My of the moment beau(about a year before I met the Hub)and I went as a Cubscout getting caught in Poison Ivy(guess who was the scout and who the ivy).
This was my prize, a Halloween Happy Pack!Creative girl that she is, sent me an original Felt Mouse Apron,isn't it wonderful! I'm sure Jennifer also notices that there is a lot less candy in the photo than she sent.
There was also a cupcake recipe from the Magnolia Bakery ,along with themed papers and sprinkles(doesn't sprinkles make everything better?).
Finally,just this afternoon,my darling(and one and only) Amandasent me a Halloween CD in the mail. Now I always have prided myself on having eclectic taste in music, but it seems my ECLECTRICITY is only run of the mill eclectic taste in music!From Siouxie Sue to Vincent Price,to Marriane Faithful to Coot Grant (think Ma Rainey),to Tim Curry to Book of Love (that one sent me to my happy place!),to The Cramps and The Brian Setzer Orchestra,her ookie Muertos/Samhain celebration had me checking the artist roster again and again,and just look at that gorgeous CD sleeve.
What these creative and generous kindred spirits don't know is the timing of their sweet gifts came during a particularly stressful and busy week. Their beautiful generosity really helped to buoy my spirits,but don't feel sorry for me.because in the words of Sally Field"You like me ,you really like me"!

My Own Vintage Clothing Fashion Magazine ,the Halloween issue

Ask most kooky fashion obsessed,Performing Arts Providers,living in the DFW area in the early nineties what their favorite thing about Halloween was ,and you might be surprised at their answer. Nope it was NOT dressing up like Marlo Thomas and flying a kite ala "That Girl"and then prancing about on Cedar Springs(althought that might have been this P.A.P's 2nd choice).It was Not practicing your best Edie Sedgewick make-up for disco dancing at the Stark club.The absolute YUMMIEST thing about the OOKIEST season for me, was being among the 1st to peruse the Halloween inventory at Thrift Towne in Arlington.I waited all year long for the amazing goodies they would put out at Halloween. If you were focused and lucky you could purchase your entire wardrobe for the whole year,plus gifties for your freinds.
I guess its kinda funny,what the pricing folks at T-Towne viewed as costumes ,I called everyday wear.
So many fabulous frocks for SO little money.I remember a white lace 50's prom dress,that I tacked up on the wall as art only to later take it down, put it on a borrowed mannequin, string it with lights, and decorate it as a Christmas tree( the net took ornament hooks very well).There was the floor length black velvet opera coat from the 30's for 3 bucks that only lasted 1 season because I wore the poor delecate thing as my winter coat.Patchwork leather jackets,platform shoes,lots of lacey stuff ,square dance dresses,cowboy boots,vintage hand bags and hats.
I find it amazing being the hoarder that I am that I have so few of those pieces left.The above ensem. will probably be my Halloween weekend outfit.I'll be at the theatre to see Crooked Halo in "Footloose"(everybody cut, everybody cut).The deco-ish clutch bag WAS a T-Towne Halloween purchase it still has the orange tag in it for 69 cents (sentiment prevents me from removing it).The dress is from my fave vintage clothing store Ahab Bowen.
Heres a close-up of the print of the dress, the purse and the interesting shaped collar on the dress(click on the image for a detailed view).
For accesories I might add this coiled snake ring (inherited from my grandma)and perhaps this stone tiki bracelet,thoughtfully modeled by the Wolfman whom I thought I had misplaced.
Here is another T-towne treasure. A silk full moon print Vera shirt.I almost always wear this at some point during the Halloween season,but I think I have hoisted 1 too many babys in it, its begining to tear at the arm holes,and alas not the seams but the fabric itself.
Lastly, I think Halloween is the best time of the year to sport otherwise,even questionable for me, jewelry.Frida is modeling an utterly unique pewter cameo pendant,also from T-towne.Allright I confess.I wear that neclace all the time,but can you imagine how I pounced on it,right through the glass jewel display case? Ah,that was a good day at the thrift store.
Here is a close-up of the art deco jeweled locust pin. The blue body is glass and its wings also have little glass jewels adorning them.Where did that thing come from you may ask? From my Grandma,she had some delicious goodies and now so many of them are mine.The pin doesn't stay fastened so well anymore and the last 2 times I wore it I lost it.
Each time I drove back to the location I assumed it fell off,and sure enough there it was.

Frida and the Disembodied Hands

Earlier this month on a thriftventure ,I added my latest hand to my disembodied hand collection ,and Karencommented that she shared my strange attraction to ornamental hands,and asked if I had any pix of my collection.I replied to her that I would try to cook something up. So come and get it,wierdness is being served up!
This collection was acquired with the help of my mother who also likes hands.Guess who else had a thing for hands? Miss Magical Kooky-Ookie herself ...Frida Kahlo. Remember her in those surreal hand earings?I thought it only fair that she be featured in my bizarro ,and just right for Halloween, hand collection shoot.This lovely Frida doll is a gift and creation from my sister Durelle.
Like Frida,most of my hands are jewelry,or atleast end up holding some(you may click on any image for up-close ookie).
The pink almost praying hands in the top photo remind me of a prop I once used in a VERY interesting play.I played a character named Wendla in Frank Wedekinds' Spring Awakening,from 1891.Wendlas story arc is essentially ,ridding herself of the nuisance of innocence.In our rather deconstructed and newwave production(you bet those costumes were garbage bags!),I stepped out of the scene ,grabbed a pair of ceramic praying hands ,and addressed the audience Brechtian style!I delivered a passage from a 1950's pamphlet from the Catholic Church,about how one should and should NOT act with the opposite sex. I delivered it with those hands acting as my megaphone and loudly shouting the text ,drill-sargeant style.
This story is absolutely true and is somehow right at home with todays post.I think Frida would approve.

Random Halloween Ookiness from the Dollar Store

Meanie monster magnets,be-deviled barettes,a plague of plastic flies ....oh my!

Polly Want Some Over-alls

My baby doing her best Wardrobe Re-mix imitation.Fall clothes are such fun for my little Magnolia blossom.
Materials used:thrifted overalls,thrifted tatted lace,thrifted embroidered tea towel.
Do you see the butterfly? I'm sure this was hand tatted and only 69 cents!
The colors and the details are amazing on this, AND I have a whole parrot left for more recycleable fun!

Vintage Halloween Inspiration for Friday the 13th

Here are a few goodies accquired over the years,that I take out every year and just don't know what to do with them.I especially love the vintage paper candy bowl from Germany,and then theres the cupcake decorations,every year I take them out play with them and puttem' back.One of these years I'll do something beyond hoarding them. Awww, who am I kidding? They sure are fun to play with though.

Peaches and Cream for Thanksgiving

It is time to breifly switch gears from the ookiest night of the year ,I'm thinkin' this sweet little number might be for Thanksgiving. Heres the latest re-cycled/embellished dress for my little flower blossom(you may click on the image to see the details).
Thrifted dress,crocheted doily (used as a collar),vintage hand sewn peach pot holder(used as a pocket),mis-matched vintage buttons,vintage little girls apron. All the materials are thrifted EXCEPT the little girls apron .It was in my Grammas things I inherited, she was a dress-maker.

October Thriftventures (yay ! I'm startin' early this month)

Sometimes a girl just needs to take her 2 girls and thrift!Oooh and what yummy results! In my previous post ,you see little Simba,this is exactly what my baby told me she wanted to be and to find that costume "tags on new" at the thrift store for 13.00 was quite a boon (a little more than I like to spend at a thrift ,but I bet its twice that at retail).Troll doll jewelry and barettes(Crooked Halo loves her some vintage trolls),only a dollar per card.A new piece of Tikiware 1.49,we have a whole assorted collection of this ware that we drink ice-coffee from.A wee little statue of a hand for 1.49,(I have this bizarro attraction to hands).A beautiful butterfly cannister also a dollar.My favorite find was this amazing embriodered tablecloth for 4.95.Each corner has these gorgeous huge colorful mum-like flowers rendered in beautiful detail.It is completed with a crocheted edge. It is most fiesta-filled! Last but not least Crooked Halo found this vintage Danskin leotard(way to spottem' baby,develop that eye), at 2.50. Its probably from the 70's and what is truly groovy about it is someone hand embroidered the little fiesta-like,Dia De Los Muertos flourishes.It somehow reminds me of Amandas sugar skull rag baby
As always you may click on any image to see more fiesta-ness.

Simba and the Gloomy Gladiolas

I really do not decorate much for Halloween,or perhaps a more accurate description would be COMPARED TO X-MAS,I do not decorate much for Halloween.Arranging flowers would also be something I do not do much (as you can see from the twist and turn Glads),but I had this idea back in June. My husband sent me a lovely birthday floral arrangement. Gerbera Daisys in a vase filled with lemons. I generally throw out the vases as soon as they come, but for this particular vase I knew exactly how I would use it in the future.
First I filled it with baby pumpkins and then I chose Gladiolas as my ooky Halloween flower. I made sure to trim the stems and angle that cut to ensure optimum freshness.
I topped the pumpkys of with a big spider and then surrounded the vase with movie monsters(you may click on the image to see Bela). I generally try to be politically correct and represent all the creatures ,but I seem to have misplaced The Wolfman this year....and through the magic of blogtography ,the flowers grow.

BOO !

Thus begins that slippery downhill luge/collision course with the holidays,that at my house we call X-mas! Before I deck the halls, (of which I CANNOT WAIT)I must first deck the children!
With my littlest flower blossom starting pre-school I'm feeling a bit nostalgic (of which I can hear my husbands voice saying," ..and that would be different from any other time how...?"). So let's take a stroll down memory lane.Littlest flower blossoms 1st halloween.Goth girl, Ruby-Saphire (yes folks she had a backstory or as we in the biz like to say ,her character had a bio)."Humbug Witch",based on my favorite childhood halloween book. "The Seven Deadly Sins ",all at once.A little flower fairy(perfect for my littlest flower blossom.)
My personal fave,Crooked Halo as Holly Golightly.
Notice how the big one has all homeade stumes. She seems to have always laid these rather absurd themes at my feet,and ask me to execute them.In 2000 ,there just wasn't a Sailor Moon costume to be had at Target.This year the baby wants to be Cimba(I've already found a stume at the thrift store)and Crooked Halo,...a Vampire Prom Queen.I'm sure there will be another bio.

October 5432, ETSY

Alright I'm a cheater pants ,so I got a thing for pagodas,so sue me.Please tell me how I could possibly limit myself to profiling just one etsy artist. Anyway,MaryAnn
started the cheating. Honestly could you resist this darling embroidered button/badge from Icklebird?For 5 dollars? What the heck do Icklebird mean anyway?I highly reccomend visiting Icklebirds, "Prettyville".Her items are cute and whimsical,and will always make you smile.She even has a blog, The Prettyville Press. I do wish she would post more often because I so much enjoy her creativity.Opening her package was a mini party in itself ,my goodie was wrapped AND she sent me an extra little toy!
My second etsy shop stop wasBread Pudding Designs. This lovely designer is a girl after my own heart. She embellishes little girls clothes from a recycled source. Look at the little Tim Burton-esque rag doll patch(you may click on the image to enlarge), and only 5 dollars!She has just restocked her shop with Fall goodies,so I highly recommend taking a look.Unfortunately she has no blog. I selfishly wish it was an ETSY rule requiring a blog of all its shopkeepers so we could all take a peek into the psyche of these talented designers and artists!
5432 ETSYis a worthy challenge to support and you can still join in AND do some holiday shopping!