DIY Christmas Tree in Action

Remember that cute little DIY Christmas Tree project I learned from Martha Stewart's show? I've been passing them out to friends as part of my holiday gift and they've been such a hit! Check this one out, it looks so good incorporated into Morgan's holiday decor.

Christmas Countdown a.k.a Wish List

Dear Santa,

A bathroom should never be boring, and because mine is so small and because I've been such a good girl this year I think I deserve a new modern-feminine shower curtain, even if it is a hefty $98.

It's available at Anthropologie. Look I even made it easy for you!

Christmas Count Down a.k.a. Wish List

I recently picked up a copy of Elle Decoration UK. The magazine wasn't inexpensive but I fell in love with these amazing retro "TrimPhones" while browsing at the magazine stand. It comes in four colors - this pretty turquoise, a powder pink, red, and white.

Not only am I dying over these phones but I'm insane over this magazine. I think my entire Christmas list could be filled from decor pulled straight from these very pages!

Weekend SALE - Home Decor

WEEKEND SALE on all Home Decor - 25% off for all of my Twitter, Facebook and Blog followers starts now. If you see something you want convo me through Etsy or email me at SellingVintage@gmail.com and I'll adjust the price for you.

Sale goes live on Etsy tonight, late night!

Happy Weekend Shopping.

This Weekend in LA

If you're in Los Angeles this weekend there is some good holiday presents to be had. In fact, even if you're not in Los Angeles there are some great sales to be had! Just check out this jewelry by Sage Jewelry.



Bracelets and earrings from $25 and some beautiful necklaces from around $45. I haven't bought mine yet but that's because I'm waking up early tomorrow and heading to the "Blow Out Estate Sale" The Estate Sale Company is hosting for the designer. Everything from vintage clothing and jewelry to candles and soaps.

The Estate Sale Company is busy this weekend, they're also hosting a sale in Hancock Park that looks to be full of some fine antiques. Just check out the link above for these sales and next weekends as well.

Also this weekend are a whole slew of sales, most with sweets, drinks and even the Grilled Cheese Truck is going to make an appearance at the Bust Holiday Craftacular in Echo Park at The Echoplex on Saturday from 10am - 6pm, the truck will be there between 4-6pm in case you'd like to schedule your visit accordingly.


You can find a list of the many great sales around town this weekend on Apartment Therapy's Event Calendar.

And if one were so inclined they could trek to Chatsworth for all the regular sightings in addition to a doll and birdcage collection and old sci-fi magazines from the 50's!

Saturday & Sunday
8am-5pm
21335 DOVE PLACE
CHATSWORTH, CA. 91311

Happy thrifting this weekend ya'll!

Winter Blues

At a chilly 55 degrees with showers on the horizon winter has finally hit Los Angeles and as it always does, just in time for the holiday party season, the cold season has caught up with me. One would think after all these years fighting the dreadful little bug I'd have my routine down pat but I don't. I never remember from one year to the next what works for me, most likely because nothing ever does.

Enter the 1801 Home Remedies book that's been housed deep under my bedside table for the past several months since acquiring it from me mum.



A good reference book not because it's helped cure my ailing cold, I'm going on day four, but because I learned a thing or two I didn't already know. Let's just say good-bye hottie-tottie, hello hot lemonade! Alcohol and caffeine will dehydrate your system and make symptoms worse whereas gargling with a squeeze of lemon juice and some warm water will create a "hostile environment" for the bacteria and viruses. And mixing the juice of half a lemon with warm water and a teaspoon of honey can relieve the pain and has become my new favorite nighttime elixir.

The remedies in this book mingle between slightly strange, suck on garlic it has a natural antiseptic, to the obvious "Jewish Penicillin" aka chicken noodle soup baby!

It's down to curing this cold so I get back out there and start thrifting again, oh and let's not forget styling myself for those fancy schmancy holiday parties!

Clothing SALE This Weekend ONLY

SellingVintage is having a weekend clothing and ACCESSORIES sale. The sale will start tomorrow but for all my lovely readers it starts now! If there's anything in the store that you're eying send me an email: sellingvintage@gmail.com - 30% off for my blog readers, Facebook Fans and Twitter followers. That's more than I'll be offering once the items are marked down!

Also be sure to check the already on sale items for clothing and accessories to be marked down even further.

Because I love you!

DIY Christmas Tree

I can honestly say I've never watched the Martha Stewart Show, I mean, that is until today when I was channel surfing and writing my previous blog post. Like I said... gushing over Martha today!

I don't think you know but one of my favorite DIY projects is using pages of magazines to make CD covers for the CD's I burn and give away around the holidays. They're also great as hip wrapping paper, and now I have a new way to use my old magazines - as Christmas Tree decor.

Here's the low down I learned from Martha and her guest.

Step 1: fold each, yes each, page from the upper outer point in like below.


Step 2: now fold each page in again, the page you're folding should look like a tie. Do this to EVERY page, no one said it wasn't a time consuming project!

You're hard work is starting to payoff, once this is done you'll see the tree starting to form.


Step 3: fold each bottom up so that it's flat and then tuck it in.



Now for the easy part.

Step 4: get out your paint, I used white because it's what I have on hand but they used gold on Martha's show and it was sooo pretty. Glitter is nice too. NOW spray away!


And voila, you have a pretty little Christmas Tree for your holiday decor.


Do this while you watch TV, play online, whatever. It took me about an hour, done and done. An hour and a half if you include this blog post.

Holiday Decor & fun DIY

Admittingly it takes me a while to get into the holiday spirit, admittingly I am still NOT and so it's pretty surprising, to me anyway, that I have hosted a holiday party every year for the past three years. I love doing it but this year it just ain't happening. I'm sad about that but planning a post New Year's party instead!

So, I was putzin around my blog roll yesterday trying to get my groove back in this here blog-o-sphere when I came across this post, titled "Return of the Martha Balls" by i suwanee. This spiraled me out of control into the world wide web where I found a couple of fun DIY projects for the holiday season.


I have a vision of my living room covered in "Martha Balls" sometime after the new year. DIY instructions for these Tissue Paper Flower Pom Poms, I like the sound of Martha Balls better, can be found here on Martha Stewart's crafty little website.

Along the way I came across instructions for how to make these Japanese inspired surprise balls. What a fun gift idea for the person who has everything! As you unwind the ball little fun gifts fall out through the layers. Imagine it, you're left with a pile of confetti at your feet - FUN!

I snagged the below photo from fellow blogger Sandra Juto who received one of these as a gift, check out her site for pictures of this lovely ball as it unwinds.


In the instance that you are just too busy to sit down and make one of these or not feeling crafty you can purchase them at Kisok for $45 or at TOPS Malibu, prices vary but are significantly cheaper.

But wait, I'm not done - I told you I got lost in the World Wide Web!


I hate to say it, I really do, but I'm totally crushing on Martha Stewart today. Check out these classic "fabric balls" aka Christmas Ornaments that you can make sans sewing machine. I see in my future Mulled Wine and glue!

Anyone care to join me?!

Palm Springs Vintage

Palm Springs is a meager two hour drive from LA but it feels like another world entirely. The desert air, the sunsets on surrounding mountains, the sea of stark windmills all wax off the denseness of Los Angeles. This little desert town where the yards all have pools and the architecture transports you back in time to era of casual glitz is one of my favorite places.

Full of Mid Mod Vintage stores and gay men with fabulous taste leaves the thrift stores here either scoured or sorely expensive for a reseller but I always try my luck because you never know what may have just come in the door, and the furnishings like the architecture pang me with jealous delight.


Ever since my stay in Paris a little more than a year ago that had us holed up in the quaintest studio apartment I've been a fan of vacation home rentals vs. hotels. So when my friend Amy decided to host her birthday bash at a desert pad I was in. We stayed in 50's Palm Spring style, the way it should always be.


I was able to get away for a couple of hours on Saturday and hit up two of my go-to thrift stores, Revival and Angel View Thrift. Both are a bit over priced but I did manage to come home with some cool new decor items and some fabric for a DIY project I have lined up.




As usual readers of this blog get first dibs on items seen here. These will be posted on Etsy tomorrow so if you see something you like send me an email at: SellingVintage@Gmail.com

DIY: Paint Side Table

Supplies: Thin Grit Sand Paper, Rust-o-leum White Primer, Rust-o-leum White Gloss Spray Paint, and the ever-so-useful Rust-o-leum "Comfort Grip", Painter's Tape

BEFORE:


These pictures were taken after I sanded the table down, this took about an hour and my wrist was killing. I'm totally investing in a power sander.

You can kind of see the awful color someone had painted this pretty little table in the past, it was the most hideous beige. They failed to even take off the hardware which worked out okay against the white paint I used.


It was so easy! The whole process took about two days but that's only because I got a late start on day one. You could easily have this done within 24 hours.

AFTER:


First sand the entire unit. Prime and paint. Oh, and don't forget to use painters tape to cover the areas you don't want to change, like the mirrors on this piece. And please remove the hardware, it takes about five seconds.


One thing I'll do different on the second unit - tape up the mirror BEFORE sanding the table. I can't wait until they're both done, but I am going to wait long enough to get that electric sander!

Topanga Beach Photoshoot

For whatever reason I tend to stray from acting as my own model. I think that's why I lean toward acquiring home and kitchenware vs. clothing and accessories. One of my favorite things to do with all these items is to photograph them, to put them into some kind of look book, aka blog, that I can ogle over even after the goods have long disappeared. But my love for clothing and accessories topped by great deals has the goods piling up, and me getting in front of the camera vs. behind it.

Yesterday Scott, Lucas and I took a trip to Topanga Beach and found an opportunity to put Scott behind the camera. I dragged along a few warm weather accessories and with the beach as a backdrop we snapped some shots.


Scott was more interested in playing with Lucas than photographing me (ugh!) but he managed to get a few good shots. I went home with less than I had hopped but pleased none the less.


Do you just love these vintage Charles David's? There were my Grandma's. I wish they'd fit me but they don't. Boo Hoo.

If you're interested in any of the goodies you see here they'll be on Etsy soon but you can send me an inquiry before that at SellingVintage@Gmail.com.

*All photos taken by Scott Dudelson

Social Network Happy

Hey Everyone.

I just signed SellingVintage up for not only a FaceBook page but it's on Twitter now too! We're all Social Networked out over here. And I'm planning something that I'm really excited about too and I hope you can get behind as well.

Become a fan of SellingVintage on Facebook and/or Twitter and you'll be notified when I'm about to pass up something great. The cool thing about this is that if you "tweet" or message me back in time I'll buy it on your behalf!

What are waiting for? Become a fan of SellingVintage now by clicking on the above links.

x's and o's

Melissa

Rain Rain Come Today

I have something beautiful to keep you away!

I live in LA. As most anyone knows rain is hard to come by in this tiny little corner of the world. But an Angeleno has got to prepared for that one dreaded storm of the year and what Angeleno in her right mind would fail to be stylish when the clouds cave in on our sunny little bubble?

I'm already prepared with the dominatrix of all umbrellas but... I could also use another sale on my Etsy store so in contemplating the sell of my beloved umbrella I decided to hunt around Etsy and see what these things are selling for. To my delight they're mostly on par with what I thought I could let this stunning piece go for.

And since I was at it, and since I found the cutest little "umbrella bags" that I just had to share with you, I decided to do another What's Available on Etsy post! But before I get into that let me just show you my sexy little find.

First of all it has a CASE!


And look at that handle.


Va Va Voom! What do you say, keep it or sell it, it never rains in LA!



Drum roll... On Sale at Etsy now.

51VC is selling the umbrella bags, two for $60! Aren't they so mid century? I just love them!


TheVintageThread (don't you just love that name?) is selling this lovely set of three vintage umbrellas for only $45. Only one of them, the orange one, which is also tote size, is in excellent condition. But the other two are still good and you have to see the white one fully open - so pretty.


Here's one that's compact and reasonably priced. StudioStebbylee's is selling this pretty aqua thang for only $19! I'm drooling over the chain wristlet.


This 1940's Damask Print Umbrellas is so feminine and sweet it's just to die for. JessJamesJake is selling it for $48.


Suddenly I have an itch to see a little pitter-patter on my window pane.

Lucky ME!

Everyone drives in LA. We don't have much of a choice. Walking in LA is like walking in the suburbs, the blocks seems to go on forever, there's not a whole lot to look at, and barely a person walking beside you, it's cars just racing by. Cars with grouchy people in a hurry to get somewhere that barely have the patience to let a pedestrian pass without hollering *profanities, at least that was my experience today.

The surprising thing is people actually DO walk in LA. We walk through quaint neighborhoods with well landscaped yards to look at and we see other people walking too, walking home from school, to the Farmer's Market or their local coffee house, walking the dog. It's really quite pleasant when we get out of our cars and hit the pavement. But it's tough to accomplish much this way and so we're chained to our cars.


There is a great thing about driving in LA though. Driving in LA means when you pass by someone's "trash" and you see something you like, like say a really cool pair of retro metal lawn chairs you don't have to ooh and ahh over something you can't take home. Sorta like The Elegant Thrifter had to do just the other day on the streets of NYC! Instead you come inches away from causing a car accident, speed around the block and jump out of the car asking ever so kindly if you can take this person's trash home.


At least that's what happened to me today and it was glorious!

I had thought about refinishing the street finds but was convinced otherwise by my friends at the Antique Station where I was conveniently on my way to when luck came my way. Don't you just wish it had been you?! I know I would.

*slight exaggeration though profanities are easy to come by in LA

I Spy...

Something graphic. Something smart. Somethings I want today.

I recently stumbled across a new-to-me blog that I am absolutely loving! I'm loving this blog so much that I spent close to an hour scrolling through old posts. What I love most about Little Green Notebook is her DIY tips, inspirational DIY projects, and her post on these most amazing re-covered classics.


Some of the titles available include: Picture of Dorian Gray, Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Little Women, Crime and Punishment, Emma, Treasure Island and more.

She's even so kind as to have done the research and shared where we can buy them online, and at a discount no less! Indigo books out of Canada is selling them for a mere $14.99 and apparently the dollar is strong somewhere in the world - eh... Canada!

I haven't pulled the trigger just yet but I'm going to, soon. I'm dying to hide these beauties away some place until I have the means to display them just right.

You should check out Little Green Notebooks post on these here if you like what you see, and how couldn't you?

Sizzling Servers

It's been a couple of months since I mentioned my mad crush on Sizzling Servers. I picked up these visions of a kitchen beautiful when visiting an antique mall in Redding, CA. Naturally they weren't my idea of a deal but I just HAD TO HAVE THEM!

You can check out my previous posts on these oven friendly servers here and here.

Since these posts I've noticed a fair amount of traffic to the Selling Vintage Blog from the keywords Sizzling Servers and Caravelle, and in my own research I've found these items to be few and far between. But I've also found some knock-offs and other manufacturers of a similar product. Though I know nothing of the history I favor the Caravelle brand of Sizzling Servers for it's rounder bottom and higher, easier to grasp handles, and in my opinion superior craftsmanship.


The other brand you see in this photo above is a close second but I could be saying that from the pure bliss I felt when I found it in an old box of my Nana's stuff. I've always felt a oneness with her though she passed in the early 90's and was delighted to see we share a love for this vibrant kitchenware. Nana's Sizzling Servers were Imported from Italy vs. my Caravelle Sizzling Servers which were Imported from France.


Periodically I do a search for "enamel" on Etsy as I did today when I found a couple listings for this type of serve ware. I'm going to share those listings here in case anyone wants to see their purchasing options!

Retroology is selling this set for only $18! You can see that these ones have a silver rim vs. the black rim on the Caravelle brand, but for $18 it's easy not to be too picky.


CrankHeartPony has a set from Yugoslavia, also with silver rims, for $35.


ModishVintage is selling this single red one for $25.



And that's it for Etsy. I also have a set that I'm willing to let go of. It's a set of the Caravelle brand of Sizzling Servers.


They're in booth right now but the next time I'm down I'm happy to grab them and sell them to any of the readers of this blog at a 20% discount. I'm asking $45 for them so that would be $36 with the blog discount! And of course the cost of shipping which I estimate to be another $12. If anyone is interested email me at: SellingVintage@gmail.com First come, first serve!

Busy on Etsy!

New items in the shop - check 'em out!

In Review: The Find

It's no secret that I enjoy a good thrift store and decorating with these finds, and so naturally "the find" a book about decorating with thrift store finds is right up my alley. But I had no idea that not only would I love this book and read it page for page the entire way through, but that I'd actually learn a thing or two as well!

You see, with these kind of books - big beautiful pictures, do-it-yourself text, it's completely my style to flip around, find what interests me and leave the rest for another day. Stan Williams, aka The Elegant Thrifter, held my attention as I'm sure he could do yours by sharing tips for everything from ensuring quality to painting a piece, alongside inspirational home interiors and fun vintage parties he's personally attended.

It's no doubt that it can cost a pretty penny to reupholster furniture and the minute you decide to hire someone to get the task done that inexpensive find can turn expensive. With loads of inspiration in this book you don't have to break the bank to decorate your home, as long as you take it at just that, inspiration. If you have the money, go for it, replicate the methods that others have used to create a unique home interior, with the cost of modern furniture these days you'll still be saving your wallet and you'll have a blast doing it.

Either way if you're interested in thrift store shopping and/or decor buy this book, it's fantastic... five stars.

CA Highway 99

As a last minute decision while driving from Los Angeles to Sacramento I forwent the uneventful I-5 route for the uneventful Highway 99. I-5 is a long stretch of highway right through the middle of nothing while Highway 99 runs through the valley cities of Bakersfield, Fresno, Modesto and many other little towns you didn't know exist. Highway 99 takes only a little while longer and is the ideal route if you're concerned about your car breaking down, or in my case interested in thrift store detours.

My little thrift stops tacted on a good hour and a half to the already long six hour drive, which if I had actually had any luck whatsoever may have been more like a nine hour drive. But as it turns out thrift stores in uninteresting towns are pretty, well... uninteresting. Quite the bummer since the last time I ventured up to northern California along Highway 101 I went home with a few of my favorite finds.

Let this be a lesson to anyone interested in a thrift store road trip that will take you through CA, forget about Highway 99 and head straight for the 101. It's a much prettier drive and definitely more prosperous.

With that said, I continued from Sacramento to Red Bluff the following day along Highway 99, it's a horendous two lane road with many-a-stop lights. This stretch of 99 is scattered so frequently with thrift stores that it may very well be worth the headache. If you ever find yourself this far north in California that is.

Exploding Pyrex

Have you received this email that's been going around about Pyrex? The one that's been going around for about three years and states that Pyrex "explodes" - EXPLODES! As I understand it this is the result of moving your Pyrex from the freezer to the oven, the extreme change of temperature has been known to result in some pretty scary stuff (I'll let you Swag the results rather than show pictures here, because frankly, they're disgusting and I like to think of Selling Vintage as pretty).


As we're currently witnessing we lose a lot more than quality when we export labor to only import goods that were already being made in the USA, but the concern here is with the loss of quality. According to my measly amount of research, literally an hour tops so if I got anything wrong correct me PLEASE, it isn't clear if the 1998 buyout of Pyrex by World Kitchen resulted in the export of labor to China, according to Wiki it is and according to Snopes.com it isn't. But what really matters is that vintage Pyrex is made of Borosilicate Glass and modern day Pyrex is made of Soda-Lime Glass, Soda-Lime Glass is apparently cheaper to produce and the result is quite the explosion.


Let's break it down, not only does buying vintage save our precious resources but it saves our asses as well. Vintage Pyrex is prettier than it's modern day counterpart, just check out all of the fantastic vintage Pyrex Patterns over at Pyrex Love. And it's cheaper! Tell me, why do we buy new when we can buy old?