The kids were off school today and Pj came home from work early. We've been talking about taking the kids to a walk by the river all weekend but we had a lot of rain. It seemed pretty hot for October today but we went anyway and I'm glad we did because it was about 15 degrees cooler by the water. I found a beautiful secluded path through the woods right next to the river. I've never explored down there before. Pj and the kids hopped down a steep hill to the water and I went on alone with my camera. Since the area floods so much during the rainy season, the forest floor is coated in the most light, powdery sand. It feels wonderful to walk along barefoot.

After a while, I joined Pj and the kids at the waterfront. They hiked down the shore quite a ways on a very steep and narrow rocky path. I must have looked pretty silly in my skirt and pin curls, clamoring along the rocks with my tripod as a walking stick to keep me from falling down the slick, muddy hill.   I caught up and the showed me some neat rocks they found with shells and tiny fossils embedded in them. Rhys loves to smash big clumps of dry dirt and throw rocks in the water. He always makes this tough, surly face in pictures these days. Olivia found a great curly stick that she dubbed "the knowledge stick" I let her keep it as long as it stays in the garden.  We watched the train cross the river and skipped rocks for a while before heading home for paranormal documentaries and dinner.

Today I wore this great 50s skirt that I found at a thrift store recently for S4! I shouted when I found it in the rack and people gave me funny looks. Not gonna lie, it wasn't even close to my size but it had a lot of fabric in the hem. I let the hem out, removed the waistband and cut some fabric from the hem area to extend the waistband. I gathered it to fit my waist, reattached the waistband and hemmed it and now its perfect! I also wore one of my vintage lucite "B" brooches, which is one of my favorites. I make brooches like this in my etsy shop but lately I've been thinking that they're a tad too big so I think I will have to make slightly smaller ones soon.

 Pj finished work early and got to come home so we made some lunch and went on a walk near the Missouri river together. Last fall around this time, I had pneumonia and was in bed for several weeks and I missed a lot of my favorite season so this year, I'm going to savor every moment of fall.  The weather is finally starting to be sweater appropriate and I'm so glad because I thrifted several plus size sweaters the other day. I don't often find button-up tops that work for me without the button gap so this was a nice surprise. I love the beautiful green of this one but it did have a tiny hole in the arm. A few quick stitches fixed it up and I strengthened the stitching on the buttons too.

Today I'm spending a quiet day at home sewing! I have several boxes and racks of vintage in my basement that needed repairs, small alterations or things that were damaged beyond repair that I thought I could make into something else.  I love piles of beautiful fabrics with all of the prints, textures and colors like this.

I've gained weight over the past few months and so many of my cute skirts don't fit anymore, which is a major bummer. I started going on daily walks and eating better but those things take time and I'm impatient! I've been letting things out here and there and moving buttons a bit. I know I'll have to adjust them all again later but I love to sew so its okay.

                                                    




Since Halloween is around the corner, I started decorating already. My vintage Halloween garland is a free printable from Made in a Day. For my fireplace, I laminated it with clear contact paper.  I set up our miniature Halloween house that we made last year. When my mom was in high school, my grandma made a Halloween house exactly like this with help from my mom's friends. I loved it when I was a kid but after many years and many moves, it was ruined and parts lost. I wanted my kids to have a Halloween house of their own so I talked to my mom, grandma and sister to try to piece our memories together to recreate it. My sister and I sculpted the people and I made thier clothes with scraps of vintage fabrics, trims and beads. I made the little bags of candy with  printed tiny candy bar wrappers, wrapped around a little rectangle of aluminum foil. The twizzlers are of a piece of wire from an old computer, twisted together and wrapped in clear tape. The life savers and hard candies are tiny seed beads also wrapped in clear tape.

                              

The pumpkin guts are made with sesame seeds, sewing thread and glue, sitting on miniature newspaper I found online. The foods are my favorite. Our original Halloween house didn't have a lot of food but I got some great ideas from Pinterest and you tube videos and I made most of these things myself using polymer clay, glitter and shavings of cheap chalk pastels for sprinkles and coloring. We even printed tiny paper plates and cups and little vintage Halloween cut outs to decorate the paper table cloth.

The fortune teller's table has miniature vintage tarot cards and a miniature Ouija board with a crystal ball that glows from a Christmas light under her table. Her skirt is made of vintage gold brocade fabric. The old witch in the hall has a candle that lights up and scarf made from a scrap of 1950s fabric. Her hair is made of vintage wool yarn.  Through the window is a cemetery and an ominous sky. The moon glows and the lightning flashes. The fireplace is also lit behind a bundle of twigs and flames made of cellophane that I colored with red, yellow and orange Sharpies.  If you love miniatures too check out my Pinterest board, Halloween Dollhouse DIY for ideas, tutorials and printable resources!




Since I was home sewing all day, I kept my outfit comfy with black pants and a new thrifted sweater. I have several cardigans by Designers Originals that I've found at thirft stores and they're great vintage basics. I found this modern high collar sweater by Designer Originals at the thrift store last weekend and its super soft, perfect for fall and winter. I think I'll wear it with circle skirts and pencil skirts too. I'm definitely going to look for one in green. This style is a great 50s-60s wardrobe staple.

I wore a few bakelite bangles today, which I haven't worn in a long time. I recently did a live chat with Margaret from Texas Gal Treasures on her YouTube channel talking about how to identify bakelite in the wild and showing a few of my favorite bangles.

Its supposed to be autumn in St Louis now but every day I walk outside, hoping to be met with that crisp chill in the air but instead its muggy. My wool skirts and knits have been languishing in the closet for too long! This morning, it finally happened....fall weather!!  Today I wore a new thrifted skirt. It was about 6 inches longer when I bought it so I hemmed it yesterday. Its from the 70s but the new length is pretty versatile for all of my favorite vintage eras. I paired it with a previously disliked 70s knit top. I bought the top because I love the cute collar but the sleeves were just above elbow length, which just accentuated the bulk of my upper arms. So today I cuffed the sleeves and I think I like it!  I made myself an iced coffee and sat on the porch, working on a 60s knit headband for a while. I heard a rustling noise from the alley between my house and the neighbors and I peeked around the corner to see his chickens fighting over my cherry tomatoes through the fence. I tossed a few over to them and they were so happy.

Lets get real about my shoes for a minute . On weekdays, I typically stay home all day so please don't think for a minute that I'm watching Netflix and folding laundry in these great blue heels.I do like to wear my pretty shoes when I go out on weekends or for weeknight dates or something but other than that, they don't get much play.  When you see pretty shoes here on a weekday just know that I kicked those suckers off as soon as I was done taking pictures of them!  I do love these shoes. They're from BAIT footwear. I got them on crazy cheap sale on Zulily a few months ago. If you like BAIT and a good deal, definitely check out Zulily.


Oh and I got my hair cut a few weeks ago! I've been keeping it in a bun almost all summer so I wanted a change. I went to see a vintage loving friend who is a hair stylist and I sent her some photos of an adorable 1960s Sylvie Vartan. I was looking for a style that I could wear in a 60s style flip or tease in a bouffant or curl under in a pageboy. Something no-fuss that looks good unstyled too. I am so in love with this cut. I've had an authentic middy before but this is so much easier for a modern girl who may not style it every day. I did do some long hair tutorials before the chop so I'll be editing and posting those pics soon and following up with some short hair tutorials too!

Outfit:
70s knit keyhole top: The Baleout St Louis (closed)
vintage starburst brooch-heirloom from my great grandma
70s wool skirt- thirfted, Salvation army.
blue heels- BAIT Footwear through Zulily