My Own Vintage Clothing Fashion Magazine,the Off-spring -centric issue ,just in time for Spring!

I know,I already hear you asking,"what could dear Babs possibly have to do with my special "Off-spring-centric,for Spring" issue of MOVCFM"? Well,its her Scassi see-thru pantsuit(causing a bit of a scandal)that she picked up her 1969 Oscar for "Funny Girl" in.Everytime I wore my favorite yellow maternity dress,from the 60's,I simply could not resist looking in the mirror ,patting my tummy,and mimicking her famous acceptance line,(read with accent)"Hello Goygeous"!
Question #2:Why am I featuring maternity vintage? Ah ,heck I don't know,it could be the last 2 months that I spent with a prop tummy and getting in touch with that special muscle memory that immediately makes you waddle!Or,then again,maybe its just me being a good magazine editor and letting you know that vintage is a viable maternity option!
I have a special hanging canvas clothing bag filled with cedar chips that I keep my special "archival garments": such as my wedding dress,what I was wearing the day I met my hub,and ofcourse maternity clothes from both pregnancies.This little yellow frock was probably not intended as such,but I wore it with both girls anyway!


This black wool dress with fringed sleeves,is a real maternity dress,the brand,"Coming Attractions". I shortened it,wore black tights,sensible(for me) heels,pearls,and chose a funky vintage poodle purse from the 50's(as always,you may click on any image to enlarge).

This black silk dress was handmade by someone. I am crazy for the red rose stem applique. It worked quite well because it was long and WAY to big for me.It is teamed with the same sensible heels,and my Grandmas black purse,with a floral jewel relief. I wore it only once,2 weeks before the little petal was born ,as director of Crooked Halos school talent show.


Though it is getting harder and harder,you can still find childrens vintage,both at the thrift and sometimes at antique malls.This collection of baby boys shirts were all thrifted in anticipation of my 1st(even while I instictually knew she was a she),for under a dollar each.
These PRECIOUS dresses were wore by both of my girls and they probably got more wear out of them than the original owners,all thrifted!


This Little LuLu dress,just fits my littlest now and she loves it(the big one did too)!If you unzip Little LuLu's coat ,this is the message.

Another thrifted fave worn by both girls! The fabric is "Mary had a little lamb".
This veggie salad shirt (with a bowl as the pocket) captures the witty wink /irony my oldest baby loves!
When I was in my 20's I wore and styled this yellow lace dress,exactly the same way,with yellow converse!
Honestly ,I could fill another issue with vintage kid fashion. My little one wore a darling red "patio dress",with the tiniest ric-rac you've ever seen, to school today,and has another fave in to wash right now.What can I say? Vintage clothing is the panacea for that adolescent need for individuality,and its easy on the budget for a wee ones lightning fast growth!


The complete collection of MOVCFM:
September
October
November
December
January
February

What I did on Spring Break !!!

Dig it Pagoda peeps I'm posting 2 posts really close together . Could it be I am getting back on a more reasonable schedule? Okay,so my re-cap is a week late,but we still had quite a Spring Break !
----------------------Easy Bake Oven Time-----------------------------Starting with our Easybake oven adventure,my little blossom even donned a vintage apron and dress (yes, all the girls in the house ADORE vintage!).
Big sissy could not resist joining in on the fun!
It's all done!!!
Time to ice and eat(such little hands)!


-------The Little Blossom trys her hand at blogtography-----------
Honestly I am not sure how she got a her hands on the camera long enough for this shoot,but here are some of the results before mommy so cruelly put her career in photography on hold!
A rather nicely framed shot of big sissies painting by Auntie Durelle.
A snap of Ming-Ming.
The ubiquitous ghostly ECU self-portrait.
...and this is the one that baffles me.How DID she get this "Radiant Baby" shot?


-----Grey Gardens,double feature, inspires the Pagoda inhabitants----
I am not sure if you have heard of Little Edie Beale,but she and her mother,Big Edie(cousin and aunt to Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis) are the subject of an extraordinary documentary ,"Grey Gardens".Little Edie was once engaged to a Kennedy herself ,and how oh how did she get from that engagement to the bizarre and wonderful person you meet in the documentary? Almost immediately my husband began to tease my oldest baby and I ,of how if something ever happened to him ,THAT was our future we were viewing (you see there is much,singing,dancing,and UNUSUAL takes on fashion to be had).We finished up with a bootleg DVD viewing of the off broadway musical(it is now on Broadway),supplied by someone wonderful in our life,ssshhhh,don't tell! Little Edie is a role that is surely in my future(onstage that is!).
Ofcourse my angel with the crooked halo,immmediately ran into her room and came out looking like this.The next thing out of her mouth was,"Mom,I want to be Little Edie for Halloween". If you remember this post you'll know Im not joking about this!



------------------------------- Hair closes ----------------------------------------
When a show closes in the theatre it is a special event. A live performance is so fleeting,no matter the times you will perform a show it is NEVER the same show twice!The set is struck,the costumes are perhaps catalogued for a future event,the lights are re-arranged for the next show.The actors go on to different projects.The show is gone. It remains ONLY in the audience and actors memory.The themes in Hair are undeniably current.I leave "the age of aquarius" on the 4 year anniversary of the war,after participating in an onstage anti-war protest. Interesting.
I cannot deny that its de ja vu themes have affected me deeply.From the song "Air", "I look rather attractive,now that I'm radio active....the air the air is everywhere".

Easter Decor (Pagoda Style! )

Its finally up!!!!! I love my easter goodies and must admit its one of my favorite"decorating holidays",but this year I just could NOT get motivated. Lucky for me bloggy-lands favorite Martha-esque girl,came to my rescue!If you are a regular reader of The Felt Mouse you know that Jennifer NEVER stiffs a holiday! I recently posted of thrifting some Non-traditional Easter decor and she must have been picking up what I was laying down,because yesterday I recieved some goodies in the mail,with a note saying "did someone mention non-traditional Easter decor?"!
She often speaks of going to the Japanese dollar store(dang!!! I wish we had one of those in Big D!),and I'm guessing thats where she found my new treasures!I had thought that I would use an Asian theme in Crooked Halos room based on my thrifted items,but was unsure of where to start.
The bountious booty I recieved in the mail gave me a roadmap and immediate inspiration.I began with a very thin and spindly couple of branches in the backyard,wound together with a vintage silk scarf.I wanted an eastern and minimalist feel for her room(Ha, Eastern for Easter,yay on my feeble jokes!).
Look at everything a kimono clad bunny with a ming vase,cloth and sculptural carrots,bookend bunnies holding little parade sparklers(or some such thing)..and...
these little zen bunnies in a box cooking with bamboo appliances!!
The back of the box makes it even more Pagoda-fied!
All the way back in February ,she sent me this felt fortune cookie that she herself crafted,(there were other sweets included in this package,but I let my girls open and eat them during errands in the car).If you click on the 1st pic the image will enlarge(or any other image)and look close ,you will note I used it as an orny. Thank you sweet Jennifer, without this thoughtful package,I might have left my girls hi and dry with no Easter tree!


Naturally,one tree lead to another.This is the complete display for the Little Petal.
Ofcourse I am wild for little ceramic planters of animals pulling wagons,but my Donkey collection just isn't Easter-y,so over the years I found a lamb and 2 bunnies ,to pull a cargo of thrifted vintage German paper eggs.I found a bag of these a few years ago for SUPER cheap,and they make me ,just, ever-so happy!
More paper eggs,and a vintage paper mache' bunny (from my mother)carrying mark-down x-mas candy canes in springy colors.
These are my plastic Knicker bocker bunny rattles. The yellow one I thrifted years ago for nothing,the pink one was 5.00 last year at an antique mall(could you just die over her glasses?).The only other decorating I did this year was put out the pewter egg-frames with B&W photos of the girls on egg hunts,on the mantel.I feel soooo happy to have decorated,Thankyou again Jennifer for the sweet and generous reminder!

Meet the Amazing Joi !!!

Allow me to introduce the incredibly creative Joi!!One of the most amazing things about being an actress is the truly artistic souls you will meet on your journey.
It is closing weekend for Hair,and before I leave the lovely Age Of Aquarius,I wanted to share is this beautiful artist. Not only is she an amazing singer/dancer/actress (a true triple threat!),but just look at the goodies she creates!I need your help today ,please leave a comment and help me convince Joi to join in on our blogging fun. Believe me her site would be truly amazing,so lurkers,nows the time to de-lurk!
This vintage vanity case was inherited from her Grandmother and hand-painted by Joi. Do you see the self-portrait on it? Joi grew up with a tight circle of crafting women around her. Her mother ,aunts ,grandmother ,and great aunts ,were always creating. She would visit a relatives home and in each room there would be a female creating,whether embroidery,crochet,or sewing,this was her early environment.

Her mother introduced her early on to the work of painter and collage artist Romare Bearden
and the painter Jacob Lawrence.
Can you tell how this early immersion came home to roost?

Joi is also the casts ,resident body artist. She fills the role of face-painter for for her church festivals too,and is just as versed in the Jurassic period and Cinderellas castle...
as she is in the herbal art.

The day she showed up at the theatre in these hand-painted boots was when I knew I had to share her with you!
Just look at these embellished Candys! A favorite "creative Joi story" features a special watch she wore to rehearsals. She had a vintage face that lost its band,so she simply added an old vintage tie wound about her wrist,quite artfully.Oh,and she sews too!
Wouldn't you read an arty crafy blog authored by Joi? ...and guess what , shes just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside!!Please let her know!!!!!

March Thriftventure!!!

It is Spring Break here ,and we have been having some good old fashioned fun here at the Pagoda.Which included a delicious thriftventure.Found: a Pendleton wool jacket,possibly from the 40's and at 40% off of 3.98. I was only recently lamenting to someone that I got rid of a couple of Pendleton jackets a few years back,and the thriftgods must have heard me cause I LOVE this one(it must have been waiting for me) with its sweet 3/4 length sleeves. I also seem to buy things in multiples and here are a second pair of leopard shoes I have bought within a month ,but these were just 4.98!


1 lovely black lace something for 2.98(can't wait to layer this somehow). An ecru and brown lace short slip,also 2.98,and 2 lace doilies for 98 cents.


Assorted goodies here,including a black fiesta skirt for the little blossom,1.98.A pearl belt,abag of mini ric rac and lace finish,a reproduction german paper egg,asian goodies that appear egg-shaped (therefore destined for non-traditional easter decor),and an embroidered strawberry napkin,EACH 98 cents.I also purchased this simple Oililly long sleeved tee(also for my littlest),for 2.98 I am crazy for the print,and you may click to enlarge it or any other print.

Last ,and my fave find of the day,was this unopened brand new in the box Easybake Oven,for 4.98!!!! You can bet it has already been part of our BIG springbreak fun!I am off to the theatre tonite this is my last weekend(always bittersweet),but I will be back before the week ends to share more of our big fun!!!!!!!!!!