Tina's Collection Of Beads

In my sister Tina's newly remodeled master bathroom, she has created an absolutely fabulous display of her beads, along with their wonderful vintage pottery holders.
I suppose the pictures can pretty much speak for themselves, and I think you will see what I mean:

 Some of the holders are flowers:

 But there are some birds, too:

Her beaded necklace collection is pretty spectacular, right?

 And then, these wooden beads (most of the others are glass) are all hanging on the back of the door:

 A shot of all three:

 There are even birds for holding scissors:

 Here's another....

 And a scissor-holding flower, as well!

I found this photo of one of the "Jewel-Flower" holders on eBay, along with it's original box.
These lovely items were created by The Artist's Barn in Fillmore, California.

See - it says "hang by sink, basin, or dressing table", and that is precisely what she has done - in a very grand fashion!
I'm pretty sure no one back then ever imagined that sixty-five years later, there would be such an array of them adorning an appreciative super-collector's home!
Tina, I LOVE the way they look, they are absolutely splendid!

What's Penny Wearing? #143 Some VERY Inexpensive Outfits!

Penny is back today to show off her new wardrobe pieces that can be mixed and matched in any number of ways.
 It's the most inexpensive array of items we have ever amassed from a "thrifting" day.

First up, this sweater, skirt and scarf:

Same corduroy mini-skirt, but with a brown velvet jacket this time, and a pretty vintage fringed scarf:

Here's a closer look at the scarf and jacket:

Next, a little black dress:

A simple and versatile dress, to which you could add a scarf, a jacket, a sweater, switch out the belt with another, wear a blouse or turtleneck underneath for fall, etc.

We also have a sweater and skirt combo:

You could wear something simple under the sweater - or add the striped scarf from above, or layer on the brown jacket.

A chartreuse green corduroy jacket with a vintage necktie worn as a sort of cravat  .....

   .....  is paired with a simple denim skirt:

And here, I went crazy and threw in yet another vintage necktie. This one happens to have a stain, so you could cut it up if you wanted, and make it into a "pocket square" of sorts:

You could also pair the blue striped sweater with the denim skirt, wear the fringed scarf with the black dress, the striped scarf with the orange outfit - you get the idea, right?
There are quite a few possibilities.
The grand total for every single mixable, matchable piece you see here in this fall wardrobe?
 It was $3.76, which breaks down this way:
Striped scarf from Dollar Tree, $1.08
Vintage long fringed scarf, thrift store, $1.61
Blue denim skirt, off of a 99 cent sale rack at the thrift store, $1.07
Every single other item shown was free at another thrift store that was giving away all of their clothing for free, so they could restock with new merchandise.
I think Penny did pretty well this time out!
Not bad at all.
(Oh, and there were also some shoes and purses (for free) that could be worn with some of these wardrobe items, but I didn't get pictures of those.)

Retro Jell-O Salad - A 1960's Betty Crocker Recipe

My gal pal Heidi and her husband invited a few friends over to their house Saturday night to watch "The Beatles: Eight Days A Week- The Touring Years".
 It was requested that each of us bring a dish, preferably Beatles-related.
Well, if you're me and you decide to make a Jell-O salad, the first thing you have to do is hunt down your favorite Tupperware mold that you haven't used for about twenty years:

Done.
I had decided on a "vintage" gelatin salad recipe from my 1969 Betty Crocker Cookbook.
60's - so, I'm in the right era for the film.
"Jell-O, Goodbye" Salad - get it?
"You say goodbye, and I say ..... Jell-O. Jell-O, Jell-O?
 I don't know why you say goodbye, I say Jell-O"
The next thing you do (if you're me - and I am), you take these ingredients along with a couple of others:

 And then you add some orange sherbet to the Jell-O, and then you put it into your vintage Tupperware Jell-O mold until it sets up:

 And then you mix up your ambrosia, and you serve it like this:

I used to make it years ago for holiday dinners, but I hadn't done so in quite some time.
I am so glad to tell you that the salad was a hit!
And, if you're me, that makes you very happy.
We all had a great time, and Ron Howard's film about the Fab Four was fabulous. (Thank you, Heidi and Wes!!)
The recipe is below, just in case anyone is interested.
"Triple-Orange Ambrosial Salad":

It's seriously yummy, believe me.

Saturday Farmer's Market

I finally made it to the Farmer's Market this morning for the first time this season!
 (Which is ridiculous, since it started in May, but, there you have it.)

 Our cupboard wasn't exactly bare - but we did go to the supermarket as well, after the Farmer's Market.
Here's the flower vendor, with their booth set up under our lovely mural:

 And a close-up of their gorgeous sunflowers:

 My favorite thing to get at the market?
These babies, right here:

 (LOVE tomatoes!)

 We got our tomatoes from one of my favorite vendors, who also happens to be one of the owners of a thrift shop I frequent.
These beautiful flowers were hers, as well:

 We also bought some squash:

 It would be far too easy to spend a small fortune at this market, if I could allow myself to get carried away.
The grapes were reasonably priced, though:

 This booth certainly was colorful and pretty:

And here's a close-up of their pumpkins:

I am going to make sure I go at least one more time before it ends next month!
And I'm going to leave you with one more photo of Kristy's flowers:

Hope you're all having a wonderful Saturday!!

Vintage Vera Scarves From Tina, Part Two

As promised, today we have part two of my Vera Neumann scarves post.
First of all, here was the coolest surprise that was included with all of the scarves Tina gave me - "The Art Of Scarf Tying" from Vera:

Hey, I could use some help with scarf tying! This is a wonderful little booklet:

I had never seen it before:

The first scarf today is perfect for fall - it's nearly here!

Lovely leaves - a real beauty:

The colors in this next one make it look rather autumnal, as well:

Abstract flowers, and I love that it has some orange in it:

Last of the scarves; this one in a patriotic red, white and blue - looks like a good one to wear on Election Day, if you are a member of a certain party:

Red elephants on parade......

 Thank you SO much, Tina! All of the scarves are fabulous!

And since this post is all about Vera Neumann and her gorgeous designs, I am throwing in a couple of photos of some vintage Vera linens I found at a yard sale last month:

Two standard pillow cases and a twin-sized sheet:

They are vintage Vera for Burlington - and aren't they pretty, too?

Vintage Vera Scarves From Tina - A Post In Two Parts

Tina gifted me with some gorgeous vintage Vera Neumann scarves for my collection last month, and I wanted to show them to you.
First we have this beauty in orange, gold and green:

And pretty flowers on a background of green and blue:

I LOVE this one - the colors, the design:

It's a stunner, for sure:

Blue and green and grassy:

You can almost hear the wind whistling through the grasses:

Another lovely one, here:

I really like the shade of green along the border:

I'm a bit rushed this morning, as I have places I need to go, so I will stop here and share the rest in another post tomorrow.
Hope you're having a nice start to your week!