I woke up early to thunder and rain slamming into our tin awnings. My favorite thing to do during an early morning storm is make a cup of tea and knit before the kids wake up. We thought for sure that my roofer husband would be off work but the storm cleared and the sun came out! Since it was such a pretty day (and I love the fresh rain smell) the kids and I went for a walk to the nearby Eco Park, which has a little gazebo and pond close to the river.


 Isn't this hexagon bangle interesting? I found it recently at an antique mall for $5. I thought the plastic jewels were odd and maybe a later add on but @bakeltecrazy on Instagram said they're original and its from the 60s and was kind enough to forward some pics from her incredible collection. Pretty neat! If you're a new Bakelite hunter, check out my post on How to Identify Bakelite

On our walk, the kids collected a few cattails and special rocks while I snapped some pictures of one of my favorite 1950s dresses. I had planned on wearing a gorgeous 40s dress today but since I have to catch up on a little laundry, I thought I'd wear something more comfortable and practical for housework and climbing stairs all day.


Olivia is on spring break this week, which has been a challenge. There's something about spring break that makes perfectly wonderful siblings fight like cats and dogs. So, today while I do laundry, they're making glue and borax slime. Daily fun activities and projects seem to keep the fighting and tattling to a minimum. I'll definitely have to stock up on craft supplies before summer break!

 

Our historic neighborhood of tiny homes squished close together leaves little hidden spaces that only we see. Behind the houses and little fenced yards are old wooden garages in all colors with mossy patches in the gravelly road and small wild flowers that spring up in the warmer months. Neighborhood dogs trot along during the day and foxes and raccoons skitter around at night, making Bernie, the neighbor's dog absolutely lose his mind.



Our alley is a treasure hunting ground too. Some neighbors pop open the garage on weekends and sell antiques and vintage, some open their gates to come pick from their fruit trees with buckets for the kids to fill and return later. The guy next door opens his garage to my husband to do car repairs and borrow tools when its too cold to do otherwise. Boys play basketball in the summer and guys around the block have an open invitation for cold beers and watching baseball when the garage is open and a light is on.


Someday when we move, I hope I have an alley again like this one. Although its a spot where we park our trash cans, its our little unspoken community. And no one seems to mind the girl with the tripod hanging around their garages in the mornings.

I'm doing a little living room redecorating and bought a pretty gray slip cover for my mustard colored sofa last week. It definitely needed some throw pillows, though. The trouble is,  I could never find just the right thing on my tight budget so I printed my own with custom made stamps.




Instead of buying cotton fabric, I checked my stash for a plain white bed sheet. In the spirit of spring cleaning, I'm trying to narrow my linen closet down to just a few sheet sets per bed. Instead of tossing the old or mismatched sheets, I save them for craft projects or building blanket forts.



For the Stamps:
craft foam (the kind for kids craft projects)
cardboard
hot glue
scissors
acrylic paint
a few paint brushes

Cut out some shapes in the craft foam. I cut some semi-circles, triangles and fish shapes (bodies and tails separate). Cut two of each shape.


glue the foam shapes together with hot glue and glue the stacked pieces to a piece of cardboard. Having two layers of foam makes a thicker stamp.



Use a paint brush to apply paint liberally to your stamp



Stamp on the fabric, pressing firmly, especially in the middle. Carefully remove the stamp


If your stamp had some blank spots in the middle, you can leave it for a hand-stamped look or fill it in with your paint brush. Sometimes, the lines will look uneven. You can even them out with the paint brush or leave them as-is. In this project, I found that any accidental smudges or drops of paint gave it some character, like I meant to do that, so I didn't stress too much over it.

When your stamped shapes dry, you can paint details on with a fine paint brush.




When the paint is dry, lay a sheet of paper over the top and iron on low to set it and iron out the little wrinkles in the fabric. The acrylic paint is now permanent and your pillows can be machine washed and dried.




Sew a back on, stuff the pillow and sew up the hole! Oh, for pillow stuffing, you can buy pillow stuffing or forms at the craft store but you can also use thrift store throw pillows or old pillows from around the house.

 

           

Happy Easter! We colored our eggs, the Easter bunny brought a bunch of candy for the kids and we're spending the sunny afternoon relaxing.

While looking through my old magazines this week, I found this adorable 1950s college girl stripe cardigan knitting pattern. I've never knitted anything with more than one color before but I think stripes is a good place to start! I love the high collar and elbow-length sleeves. You could pair it with a skirt or jeans and wear it year round!



 



Be sure to check my free patterns page for 60+ free vintage knitting, crochet and sewing patterns and more free vintage pattern downloads here on Va-Voom Vintage Enjoy!

Lately, I've been redecorating my living room in a retro/ Scandinavian style. I love the bright, light look and sleek (often vintagey) lines of Scandinavian design and my husband loves the incorporation of rustic elements, nature and functionality. It really is a perfect compromise for us!  While pinning the crap out of Scandinavian design inspiration last week (see my pin board!), I realized I should definitely make a beautiful woven wall hanging.



I've only ever woven those fabric loop pot holders as a kid but its basically the same thing, right? I dug around in my basement and scavenged some supplies:



a big picture frame for a loom
some cotton string for the warp threads
a wire hanger for a hook to pull the yarn through
a fork to comb the weaving down
random yarn from my stash
wool roving
scissors
plastic needle with a large eye for weaving in the ends
90s movies to entertain me while I was a weaving couch potato all day





About 12 hours later, I had most of a wall hanging. I finished up the next morning after breakfast. We took a walk to the river and I found a couple of perfect drift wood sticks to hang the weaving on. It has a lot of mistakes, some tightness at the top and my triangle is pretty craggy looking but not bad for a first attempt! After realizing that I could probably improve next time, I found a few fantastic weaving tutorials online for any of you who would like to give it a try! Its a great way to use up scrap yarn and its very easy to do while relaxing on the sofa in the evenings.



Weaving Class- The Basics from A Beautiful Mess
Weaving for Beginners with Annabel Wrigley from Creative Bug   (multi-part You Tube series)

I'm having so much fun with weaving and Pj is already working on building some different sized looms and making proper tools for me. I'm thinking about weaving an area rug eventually but I don't know if I could stand having all of those hours of hard work being walked all over! I may stick to wall hangings. Have you ever tried weaving?

                

I needed a cute new brooch for spring. I love lemons so I thought "Hey, let's do a lemon brooch tutorial!"



I've made a million brooches in felt and shrink plastic so this time I wanted to do something different. I love the look of laser cut plastic jewelry but since we don't all have a laser cutter, I sat, thinking about what materials we could use for something like laser cut jewelry without the expensive machines.

My blog planner was laying at my feet and the shiny laminated plastic cover caught my eye. Laminate....plastic.... How about cheap plastic folders? Eureka!



You will need:
a few cheap plastic folders :yellow, white or clear/frosted, green. I used the back of this coupon organizer for my white plastic
E6000 craft glue or something similar
a pin back
scissors
this printable template { Download HERE from Dropbox }

trace your template pieces onto the folder with a white crayon or dry erase marker so it'll wipe away easily

cut out two yellow wedges and one white sectioned piece. You'll need a craft knife to carefully cut out some of the inside bits. Wipe the traced pattern away


Glue the two yellow wedges together


Glue the white section on top and wipe away excess glue.



Glue a pin on the back




And how cute is that?! You could do oranges, limes, strawberries, watermelon and all different shapes with these plastic folders. I love it!



If you enjoyed this tutorial, check out my ebook, Pins for Pin-Ups: DIY Brooches for Retro Girls, where I teach you how to make 12 vintage inspired brooches using supplies from the recycling bin.

I'm dusting off some spring hats this afternoon to freshen them up for the season. I've had a lot of questions about what types of hairstyles you should wear under a hat so here are a couple of simple, quick ideas from Senior Prom magazine, March 1951

My Great Grandma Alma was a young woman during the Great Depression and a young mother during WWII. Her daughter, my grandma was a housewife, my mom was a housewife and now I am too. Although all of us housewives have to make sacrifices to afford to stay home, we also save a fortune if we do it right.

Great grandma taught me some of the essentials of being a great housewife when I was just a pre-teen and how she survived the Great Depression by being smart with what she had. Here are 9 things my grandma never threw away. Save money and live greener with these clever vintage housewife tips....

Worn clothes/towels/sheets
Never pitch fabric because you can always use it for something new. In grandma's time, ladies sewed dresses from beautifully printed feed and flour sacks or whipped up a little girl's dress from her mother's old dress.

A man's suit could be cut and sewn to make one for a lady and any remaining scraps would become an heirloom quilt. Today, most of us won't be hacking up hubby's old suit to make one for ourselves but we can still apply this make-do and mend mentality. Learn basic sewing repairs to extend your family's wardrobe.

 I've rescued so many pairs of my husband's jeans with a new zipper or hem, darned a favorite sweater for myself and my sister and made a big stack of great dish rags with threadbare towels. Even an old sheet can be sewn into new pillow cases or a little summer dress.

 I used old sheets and scrap fabric to make some much loved Christmas gifts for my kids last fall and they didn't cost a penny. I made giant Nessie stuffed animals, softie dolls, furnished a dollhouse and sewed the entire 1959 Barbie wardrobe with a bunch of fabric scraps.



Aluminum foil
Depending on the first-time use, some foil may be beyond a second life but if it can be rinsed off, use it again! Re-use foil to cover left overs more than once or wad it up, stick it in a potato or onion bag and you have a great pan scrubber that you didn't have to buy.

One winter, our car wouldn't start so my husband popped the hood to find that the battery terminals weren't looking so hot. He used a small wad of tin foil to scrub the corrosion off the terminals and the car fired right up and ran without any problems.



 

Buttons on shirts
Even in 2016, buttons are expensive! With a 50% off coupon, I'll easily spend $1 or more for a lousy pack of 4 buttons. Thanks to grandma, I never throw away worn clothes that still have their buttons.

Re-use buttons on clothes you've sewn yourself or to replace lost buttons.  I also take zippers from worn jeans, pants and dresses. With a good stock of buttons in a jar, you'll rarely need to buy any, which brings me to our next no-pitch item

Jars, boxes, jugs or any container
Great grandma must have been quite the jar hoarder because the jar obsession has passed down to my grandma, my mother and now me. We rarely pitch a jar, be it glass or plastic, big or small!

 Use jars for spices and grains in the kitchen, to hold your hair ties, q-tips and cotton balls in the bathroom. My husband has jars of screws and nails in his workshop and I use them in my sewing room, cleaning cabinet and of course, one with holes in the lid so the kids can catch critters in the summer. Decorate jars so you can keep them out in the open and no one will guess that they may have deemed them ready for the trash can.

Mason jars are now selling for a pretty penny, especially the colored vintage looking ones. Color your own for a trendy look on a dime store budget. My mom made her own Moroccan inspired lanterns from old spaghetti sauce jars.

Save boxes as well. Shoe boxes are worth their weight in gold in my house. We use them for our craft supplies, snack organizers in the pantry, holiday decor storage and kids school projects. Break boxes down to store flat, if you're low on space.



Bones from a chicken or cut of meat | Veggie Scraps
My family loves a rotisserie chicken or nice roast for dinner and the left-over bones make wonderful stock. A box of chicken stock costs around $2-3 at my local grocery stores but it's easy to make your own for free.

a freezer bag in the freezer and toss veggie scraps and chicken carcasses in the bag. When you're ready for a great soup this winter, toss the contents in a pot of water, season with herbs, salt and pepper. In the Great Depression house, not a scrap of food was wasted.


A Diaper
This one won't be for everyone but the truth is, Great grandma never threw away a diaper because she used cloth. When my daughter was born, I was a stay at home mom with plenty of extra time for laundry so we decided to give it a shot and try cloth diapers to save money like grandma used to do.

Just shake solids into the toilet and flush away and have enough on hand to wash about every two days. Stains are quickly bleached away by hanging in the sun. We saved a fortune and we never added a diaper to the landfills. And a fluffy cloth diapered butt is so cute!

Now that my kids have outgrown their diapers, we've sold the ones in good shape on Craigslist and saved the rest for great cleaning rags. 

Bacon fat
To this day, many of my family members hang on to bacon fat. Oil and lard costs money so why pitch that flavorful, wonderful bacon grease?  Keep one of those recycled glass jars in the kitchen to store bacon fat. Add it to gravy, soup, cornbread, potato salad and potato cakes. Bacon fat keeps in the fridge for a month.

Newspaper
My home was built in 1930 and we've found old newspaper in the walls as insulation! Grandma may have used newspaper for : gift wrap (use the funnies!) glass cleaner, storing breakables, compost, starting seeds, make a pinata, packaging material in the mail, pet cage liner or to start a fire


 

Soap scraps
Those pointless little slivers from a soap bar can still be put to use. Put the scraps of bar soap in an old pantyhose leg or worn out stocking and tie it off. Stick it by the sink for kids (who, in my house use way too much liquid soap) or next to the garden sink.

My husband's grandma makes these amazing olives for every family gathering. They're so perfectly retro- an olive, cream cheese, lunch meat on a toothpick.As people filter in, drop their coats and get the kids settled, they all grab several at a time from the platter and if you're late to the party, you're out of luck because they'll be long gone!

A few years ago, I arrived early enough to help out in the kitchen and got to learn how she makes these little jewels. They're messy, fiddly, pretty time-consuming, considering how quickly the plate is emptied but if you're looking for a great retro recipe that is sure to impress, this is the one! I brought these to a 1950s cocktail Christmas party two years ago and everyone loved them.


You will need:

a jar of green olives, drained
a pack of cream cheese
thin sliced corned beef lunch meat
toothpicks

First, let the olives sit on a paper towel so the brine dries a bit. Wet olives are a pain to roll. Wash your hands well because you'll be digging in the cream cheese.




Grab a little ball of cream cheese, flatten a bit and wrap it around the olive. Seal the olive in the cream cheese with your fingertips or roll it in your hand so its completely covered. You have to work quick because the heat of your hands will soften the cream cheese too much and it'll be a sticky mess if you aren't careful. Your first few will be a mess but keep it up!






Slice the corned beef and wrap one long thin slice around the cream cheese covered olive. Secure with a toothpick and set on the plate.



This is a great recipe to do with someone else because one person can be the cream cheese roller and the other can handle the corned beef. Pj's grandma and mom usually sit and make these a few hours before the party while they're waiting on the main dishes to cook. You can also make them the day before and keep them covered in the fridge.

 

With the spring time, I always get the urge to redecorate, paint old furniture, dig up long-forgotten craft ideas on Pinterest and freshen up my home. This week, Pj and I have been hard at work in the kitchen, re-arranging, hanging new shelves and finally putting some art on the walls. Its funny how something as simple as art on the walls makes the room look so much better! I've been scouring the internet for new things to frame, since the living room is next on the list.

Sabrina from Vibrant Vintage opened her new etsy shop, Inky Notions this week featuring her pen and ink and watercolor illustrations. Sabrina will soon be adding stationery to the shop. I hope she designs some cute to-do lists. She created a few limited Va-Voom Vintage pieces too! I can't wait to get my prints in the mail so I can hang them in my office space!

Va-Voom Vintage readers save 20% off at Inky Notions with code VAVOOM.