design for sale
True to my new, very much de-cluttered self, I´ve decided to put the only designer brand items in my home up for sale, at Tradera - two Dior bags and a Fendi bag, I hardly ever use them, and they only take up space in my closet. I anybody´s interested, just leave a comment, and you might beat the Tradera bidders! They are blue, with Dior logos all over, one saddle bag, and one which looks like a pair of trousers (with a belt and pockets), the Fendi one is a tote, brown with the logo all over. They are all genuine, with numbers inside and all, but with no dust bag. The reason there´s no pics, is because I need to get over to my sister´s and borow her camera, and when I do, they go on Tradera as well.
puttery treats - a new re-occuring category
I had fun writing my entry in the Puttery Treats Challenge, so much, that I decided to continue to write about how I put the puttery treats to use in my life. I didn´t win the last challenge, I didn´t even make it to the finals, but there will be a new challenge in January, and with some practice, the Brocante gift box may someday be mine. And while I´m trying, if my life end up so much more scrumptious, the better for me!
Have a row of scented geraniums in a window with no view. Scrumptiously retro country. Circa 1979.
Some years ago, I discovered the wonderfulness that is pelargoniums (or geraniums, which ever you prefer). Yes, they may be a bit granny-ish, yes they may have a strong scent, but oh, the beautiful flowers! And the leaves! And yes, even the scent, if you choose some of the scented varieties - apple, mint, roses, lemon... I fell so much in love with them, that first summer you might even call it a bit of an obsession. I bought every kind I could lay my hands on, I even took the train about 500 km for an exhibition (which ended up being closed that particular day...), bringing home two bags of pelargoniums. Then, when winter came, I looked for somewhere cool and bright to store them, put them in the attic - and they died. Every single one. And that might have been the end of my story.
But, a few years ago, I fell into the pelargonium spell again, even though a bit less obsessive. My collection grew, but slower, over months and years, not over days and weeks. I put them on my balcony, and was rewarded with the most beautiful flowers. They spent the winter in my windows, where I kept my radiators on low heat, only for their sake. And this year, when I brought them inside for autumn, I made a horrible discovery. The sniffles and sneezing that´s been going on for the last years, it was made worse when I brought the pelargoniums inside. A lot worse. So all of those pretty plants, some I´ve had for years, some were almost rare, they all had to go. Fortunately, I am blessed with sisters and friends who loves pelargoniums as well, and they offered my plants new homes, when summer comes again, I hope to be able to visit my old friends.
But my treat this time, it´s about removing those scrumptiously retro pelargoniums from my windows, and find something else to replace them with. Now, when it´s almost Christmas, I´ll get some white hyacinths, maybe I can live with them. If not, hey - the cats look awfully pretty perked up in the window sills...
Have a row of scented geraniums in a window with no view. Scrumptiously retro country. Circa 1979.
Some years ago, I discovered the wonderfulness that is pelargoniums (or geraniums, which ever you prefer). Yes, they may be a bit granny-ish, yes they may have a strong scent, but oh, the beautiful flowers! And the leaves! And yes, even the scent, if you choose some of the scented varieties - apple, mint, roses, lemon... I fell so much in love with them, that first summer you might even call it a bit of an obsession. I bought every kind I could lay my hands on, I even took the train about 500 km for an exhibition (which ended up being closed that particular day...), bringing home two bags of pelargoniums. Then, when winter came, I looked for somewhere cool and bright to store them, put them in the attic - and they died. Every single one. And that might have been the end of my story.
But, a few years ago, I fell into the pelargonium spell again, even though a bit less obsessive. My collection grew, but slower, over months and years, not over days and weeks. I put them on my balcony, and was rewarded with the most beautiful flowers. They spent the winter in my windows, where I kept my radiators on low heat, only for their sake. And this year, when I brought them inside for autumn, I made a horrible discovery. The sniffles and sneezing that´s been going on for the last years, it was made worse when I brought the pelargoniums inside. A lot worse. So all of those pretty plants, some I´ve had for years, some were almost rare, they all had to go. Fortunately, I am blessed with sisters and friends who loves pelargoniums as well, and they offered my plants new homes, when summer comes again, I hope to be able to visit my old friends.
But my treat this time, it´s about removing those scrumptiously retro pelargoniums from my windows, and find something else to replace them with. Now, when it´s almost Christmas, I´ll get some white hyacinths, maybe I can live with them. If not, hey - the cats look awfully pretty perked up in the window sills...
oh, the wonderfulness!
I somehow ended up over at Cath Kidston, and oh, so wonderful Christmas things! Look for yourself!
sewing gift box
washbag, soaps and washmitt gift box
hope & greenwood chocolate truffles
house print mug
trademarks, we all should have one!
To those of you who are faithful readers (you do exist, don´t you?!), you might have noticed that the only consistent thing about my blog, is its inconsistency. I get an obsession (I started this blog as a knitting blog, then I got hooked on Japanese kawaii, and then... well, you just take a look at the archives and categories and see for yourself) and wherever it takes me, I follow. For now, it´s very much vintage, 40s and 50s and especially vintage housekeeping (it´s not the first time, you might notice), and I hope to stay here for a while, since I do enjoy it very much. My wish is to dress in said period clothing, but I have a hard time fitting into them, I have some skirt sewing in the back of my mind, though. And my new job is actually perfect for working on those high heel skills - I don´t need to be on my feet much, and if I carry them in my bag to and from work, the winter outside shouldn´t be a problem. I just placed a bid on a pair of 50s cat´s eyes glasses, I hope I win them, and that they suit me - wouldn´t they look great, kinda like my personal trading mark?
Personal trading marks are supposedly something one should have, I´ve read. Maybe your perfume, your bright red lipstick, the way you´re always writing with an old Fountain pen... Something that is distinctivly you, and whenever someone sees it somewhere else, they think of you. Perfume is really a thing like that, especially in our mother´s and grandmother´s generation - they always wore the same perfume, maybe changed to one a bit heavier for evening, and everytime you smelled that perfum, you thought of your mother. Myself, I have used doussins of different perfumes, some I´ve loved more than other, but no one that has become my trademark. I think it´s time to get rid of my current collection, to search for that one, I´m thinking someone a bit older, not that much used - I don´t want to smell my scent on someone else! Oh, and I´d love to be one of those who always wear heels and pantyhose, I love how you look much classier walking in heels, than I do in my usual flats.
I´ve ordered a pile of books, all about vintage housekeeping, I can´t wait to get them. And my Puppini Sisters CD´s! They would go so well with the new persona I´m trying to create (a persona quite far away from my normal, alternative self, but perhaps more suited for a 33-year-old woman, and not the 33-year-old teenager I now look like)! And a quick book recommendation - if you haven´t read Hester Browne´s books about The Little Lady Agency (Sensible Melissa Romney-Jones proclaims to her enamored American client, Jonathan Riley, "I like to think I'm a vintage girl. A proper 1950s woman's woman," to which Riley responds: "A proper 1950s man's woman." Crackling with Brit chick wit, Browne's first novel stars a spunky whirlwind in search of love and money. Melissa, after losing her job as a London estate agent, starts the Little Lady Agency to attend to the social needs of single men. This requires Melissa to don a blonde wig and become Honey Blennerhesket, a posh "Mary Poppins in silk stockings." Running the new agency leads to the successful channeling of her inner glamour goddess and romance with Jonathan, but then she wonders, does he love Honey or Melissa?) do grab one! I am only halfway through the first, but I´m loving it so far, and I´m loving Melissa/Honey - that´s the kind of woman I´m aiming for!
new job!
I´m actually blogging from my new job today, at a little café/shop. The hours are long, the pay lousy, but it´s work. And I have time to use the computer while working, which is a good thing, because I haven´t got time to go to the library. I hope I get this months pay (the few days that´s left of it) this weekend, because my bills need paying. It feels really good, to be able to pay them all (I can even pay the taxes I thought I wasn´t going to!), and then have some left to spend. I do want to buy myself a pro-account over at flickr, I have lots of pics that´s not showing, because I don´t have that pro-account. And it´s only $25, it´s not that much, and now, when the dollar is so low, I should do it as soon as possible.
gone! it´s all gone!
I´ve been reading the BrocanteHome Chronicles from post nr 1 these last few days, I´ve only read the first five or six months, but it´s enough for me to feel left out, why didn´t I discover them four years ago? There are so many fun things, that isn´t nomore, like the Vintage Housekeepers Circle
( Where as a member of the circle, you would...
- Create domestic bliss with our Vintage Housework rituals.
- Find time for the gentle art of puttering.
- Escape from chaos and learn how the Brocante Home-Makers Planner can change your life.
- Understand the peace of ritual and the blessing of a home that is truly authentically yours.
- Learn how to infuse your day with tiny joys and make your home sing with soul, history and happiness.
- Take delivery of beautiful hand tied letters and vintage care packages sent with love from BrocanteHome. )
which doesn´t exist anymore, the Gazette, the link directory (featuring
All About BrocanteHome.
A quick explanation of what BrocanteHome is all about and a link to a downloadable copy of The Vintage HouseKeepers Manifesto...
Alice About The House.
A place where dear little Alice, housewife extroadinaire, will root through her vintage housekeeping bibles and come up with the kind of old fashioned housekeeping tip's your Mother forgot to tell you...
The Childrens Encyclopedia.
This area will feature articles taken from vintage childrens encyclopedias and will I hope eventually become a place where you can find good old fashioned inspiration for entertaining the kids...
The Comfort Drawer.
Here you will find all kind's of silly old fashioned stuff and nonsense designed to make you smile: this week, there is a hilarious knitting pattern, that I think you'll find, that even those of us who can't cast on, will find amusing...
The HouseKeepers Bookshelf.
The bookshelf will feature all those books, I, The Vintage HouseKeeper, couldn't live without, as well as links to the vintage housekeeping bibles of your dreams...
HouseKeeping Horoscopes.
Just for fun. But if you haven't met Madame Feather before, I promise you that before too long, you will wonder how you ever got through life without her...
Retro Recipes.
Scrumptiously, here you will find a whole collection of recipes, taken from any number of vintage sources, from Mrs Beeton to Woman's Own...
And finally, Vintage Site Of The Month...)... Just to name a few. And because I only discovered BrocanteHome a few months ago, I missed out of all of that fun. However (fingers crossed), Alison of BrocanteHome says she will start up the Gazette after New Year´s, so I´m hoping for that one. For now, I have to settle for the Chronicles and the Salon (aka the forum), and that´s not too bad either.
vintage find!
I went to the fabric store, for some snap buttons (I don´t even know if that´s a word...), and found old ones, from the 40s-50s sometimes, very lovely!
I´m trying to make some changes in my life
If you´ve kept your eyes open, you´ve noticed I have changed the name on my blog (same address, though!). Maskros is the Swedish word for dandelion, and since "dandelion malin" doesn´t have that ring to it, I went with "dandelion daisy". I aslo like how it sounds almost vintage, American post war-ish, you might say.
What else? Hmm, I´ve begun to get a grip on my bad back, I´ve gone to the doctor, today I was at the fyso-therapist, I´m doing a cat-scan next week - it´s time that I get a body of a 33-year-old, not a 83-year-old. The fyso-therapist did however say, that I looked smaller than my actual weight, so thank you very much!
This new obsession with vintage housekeeping has made the thought of housekeeping sound appealing - before, I just bought såpa (very traditional Swedish cleaning product, the dictionary translated it with "soft soap", I don´t know if it´s actually the same thing), and used it everywhere. Now I enjoy browsing the cleaning product isles at the store, and have bought several different products (I can´t wait to try them!). And I went totally crazy with soapes yesterday - I needed one, but went home with four, simply because I liked the packages. It´s good to have a well-stocked cleaning cupboard, though - the next time I run out of soap, I don´t need to fill the bottle with water, to make it last longer - I have soap for a few months now. And pretty soap it is!
I don´t like things lavender scented, but I like how delicious lavender scent sounds, so I´m giving it a fair try - I have bought some lavender scent for my linen closet, I have ordered some very luxurious cleaning products, all very lavender smelling - in the life I imagine myself living, there´s defiantely a spot open, that smells like lavender. It wouldn´t be much of an issue, if I liked the scent of roses, but I like that perhaps even less than lavender... And the spicy scents that I love, they don´t feel as vintage...
It was my sister´s birthday the other day, and I just bought the last things for her present, since I know she won´t be reading this, I can tell you - she´ll be getting some cocoa in a jar, some very yummy cookies, and a calendar with pelargoniums, very vintage-looking and pretty, I hope she will enjoy everything!
The five entrys in the Puttery Treats Challenge has been chosen, unfortunately I wasn´t one of those. But over at BrocanteHome, she says that more challenges will come, so there will be more oppertunities to win a fabulous gift box.
What else? Hmm, I´ve begun to get a grip on my bad back, I´ve gone to the doctor, today I was at the fyso-therapist, I´m doing a cat-scan next week - it´s time that I get a body of a 33-year-old, not a 83-year-old. The fyso-therapist did however say, that I looked smaller than my actual weight, so thank you very much!
This new obsession with vintage housekeeping has made the thought of housekeeping sound appealing - before, I just bought såpa (very traditional Swedish cleaning product, the dictionary translated it with "soft soap", I don´t know if it´s actually the same thing), and used it everywhere. Now I enjoy browsing the cleaning product isles at the store, and have bought several different products (I can´t wait to try them!). And I went totally crazy with soapes yesterday - I needed one, but went home with four, simply because I liked the packages. It´s good to have a well-stocked cleaning cupboard, though - the next time I run out of soap, I don´t need to fill the bottle with water, to make it last longer - I have soap for a few months now. And pretty soap it is!
I don´t like things lavender scented, but I like how delicious lavender scent sounds, so I´m giving it a fair try - I have bought some lavender scent for my linen closet, I have ordered some very luxurious cleaning products, all very lavender smelling - in the life I imagine myself living, there´s defiantely a spot open, that smells like lavender. It wouldn´t be much of an issue, if I liked the scent of roses, but I like that perhaps even less than lavender... And the spicy scents that I love, they don´t feel as vintage...
It was my sister´s birthday the other day, and I just bought the last things for her present, since I know she won´t be reading this, I can tell you - she´ll be getting some cocoa in a jar, some very yummy cookies, and a calendar with pelargoniums, very vintage-looking and pretty, I hope she will enjoy everything!
The five entrys in the Puttery Treats Challenge has been chosen, unfortunately I wasn´t one of those. But over at BrocanteHome, she says that more challenges will come, so there will be more oppertunities to win a fabulous gift box.
The BrocanteHome Puttery Treats Challenge
Something I know I have mentioned more than once, is my total and absolute crush on The BrocanteHome, the place for the ones of us who can´t get enough of the vintage housekeeping spirit, where the best ideas can be found, and where you always get to challenge yourself, and in this case, eachother. Since the beginning of BrocanteHome, there has been the Puttery treats - how to make you and your home look and feel the best you can possibly be - Brocante style of course, and now there´s the challenge to tell the world how you´ve used the ideas in your own life, and there´s a great price at stake. So, here´s my contribution:
Since books are one of the favourite things in my home (and in the world!), it had to be this treat:
Re-arrange your bookcase. The busyness of it has become commonplace in your minds eye. Find a way to hush it. Chuck some paperbacks in the recycling bin (You are never going to read them again) .Colour co-ordinate your hardbacks. Stack big books on their side and use them to prop scrumptious little treasures on, like a favorite postcard on a teeny easel. An apparently abandoned pretty little cup and saucer. A tealight on a rose patterned plate...
Actually, my bookcase has been a work in progress for a while, I´ve done some redecorating at home lately, from dark and retro, to white and vintage, and my almost-black bookcase didn´t work (it was a bit too small as well) - it had to go, and ended up being sold to the thrift store. Did I have a new bookcase to put my book in? No, not exactly, so all the books ended up lined up on the livingroom floor, waiting for the new bookcase. The story could´ve ended there, but no. Enter the Puttery Treats, and enter "Clear Your Clutter With Feng Shui" by Karen Kingston, and boy, did my book collection suddenly live a dangerous life. I had a huge collection of mostly books on interior decoration, loads of paperbacks, and all the other books that tend to gather. Well, no more. All of those books, which I had thought to be impossible to live without, they didn´t seem so important anymore. They didn´t fit my sence of style and way of life anymore, the paperbacks, I figured I could borrow them at the library if I ever wanted to read them again. Let´s put it this way - next time I move, there will be a lot less book boxes to carry!
The bookcase? No, I don´t have it yet, but when I get it, I know all of the books in it will fit me just right, they will suit my taste, the way I look upon life, what I want to achieve and accomplish. And I know there will be room for some puttering - an apparently abandoned pretty little cup and saucer, big books stacked on the side to prop scrumptious little trasures on, a tealight on a rose pattered plate... Or maybe, if I dear to dream, some nice Brocante treats, because as they say - good things comes to those who feng shui!
...and today it´s spring!
It´s a funny thing, weather - a few days ago, it was snowing like crazy, and now, it´s like spring - all the snow is melting away (yay - I don´t want any snow until December), and it´s really warm outside. You could swear it´s March!
snow! and plenty of it!
We´ve had over a foot of snow the last day and a half! Not that common here, which is one of the reasons I moved here from up north. Actually, I love the first snow, and I do want a white Christmas, but I don´t want it to last beyond New Year´s. But this amount at once, this early, was very unexpected!
vintage crafting
I´m feeling all vintage-y again, a lot thanks to Brocante Home and her vintage housekeeping, and the discovery of the wonderful Puppini Sisters (read my last post!). Thus, I turn to Google, and searched for some vintage patterns. The first one I found, was this great page, with among other things vintage embroidery patterns with nursery rhymes. They also had a "Task-a-day" Kitty-Cat towel set that was sooo cute - very 50s! If you want a lot of vintage transfers to look through, here´s your site! Vintage patterns of all kind on this cute DIY page. And since you´re already there - go try the Pussycat magazine, very fun, very nice! And what´s more vintage than aprons?!
bad back and great music!
I just came from the doctor´s. He said somehting I already knew - my back is a mess! Mostly it´s my own fault, though, because of my weight. But this is a really good doctor - he´s sending me to a whole bunch of people, so hopefully I´ll get help with my weight. Obviously, I can´t manage on my own - I´ve been working on it since I was ten, and now I´m bigger than ever. Somehow, I can´t make it feel important, even though I know it is, both for my health, and for how I look.
Something more fun - yesterday I heard The Puppini Sisters for the first time, and I am in love. Unfortunately it´s difficult to buy their CDs here in Sweden, but the record store said they would try to find it (fingers crossed!). I hope they do, because I really, really want it! Go listen for yourself, and try not to fall head over heels!
(and if you wonder what Coca-Cola has to do with anything, I just found it very 50s, just like The Puppini SIsters!)
Something more fun - yesterday I heard The Puppini Sisters for the first time, and I am in love. Unfortunately it´s difficult to buy their CDs here in Sweden, but the record store said they would try to find it (fingers crossed!). I hope they do, because I really, really want it! Go listen for yourself, and try not to fall head over heels!
(and if you wonder what Coca-Cola has to do with anything, I just found it very 50s, just like The Puppini SIsters!)
package from the land of monsters
I have totally forgot, to write about my package from Shelley in Scotland, it´s been a week since I got it. It was filled with cute and useful things (stationary and candy with Nessie, very cute!), but I won´t show you just yet - believe it or not, but there´s another package on it´s way!
snow, disappointment and admiration, all in one!
When I woke up this morning it was the thinnest layer of snow on the ground, the first one of the year! Very nice, I love snow, until about New Years, then I want it to be spring. But today, it makes me so happy!
Me and a couple of friends had movie night last night, and for once, I rented two movies (I don´t do that very often), but I don´t know if I´m too happy about them. I rented Pan´s labyrinth, expecting a fantasy movie, but found it to be mostly about the Franco years in Spain (in Spanish!), and found it very disappointing. I also rented Memoirs of a Geisha, and was a little disappointed on how they portrayed the world of geishas. I´ve read quite a few books on the subject, and didn´t recognize the Gion I´ve read about, I think the movie made the life of a geisha (or geiko as they are really called) much cheaper, much closer to the western thought of the geisha as being prostitutes. But it was beautiful, though - beautiful clothes, scenery, music, and with no expectations, I might have enjoyed it more.
My family was here last weekend, my sister stayed with me, and my parents stayed with my other sister. It´s such a treat to have my sister here - I think she might be the best person I know - great personality, fun, responsible, hardworking, pretty - she´s the kind of person I´d like to be. Maybe I should be grateful, to have such a good rolemodel so close to me.
Me and a couple of friends had movie night last night, and for once, I rented two movies (I don´t do that very often), but I don´t know if I´m too happy about them. I rented Pan´s labyrinth, expecting a fantasy movie, but found it to be mostly about the Franco years in Spain (in Spanish!), and found it very disappointing. I also rented Memoirs of a Geisha, and was a little disappointed on how they portrayed the world of geishas. I´ve read quite a few books on the subject, and didn´t recognize the Gion I´ve read about, I think the movie made the life of a geisha (or geiko as they are really called) much cheaper, much closer to the western thought of the geisha as being prostitutes. But it was beautiful, though - beautiful clothes, scenery, music, and with no expectations, I might have enjoyed it more.
My family was here last weekend, my sister stayed with me, and my parents stayed with my other sister. It´s such a treat to have my sister here - I think she might be the best person I know - great personality, fun, responsible, hardworking, pretty - she´s the kind of person I´d like to be. Maybe I should be grateful, to have such a good rolemodel so close to me.
