Vera Neumann Reissue Scarves at Target

I was excited to hear about the Vera Neumann reissue line at Target. After the line came out, I was a little disappointed  After I had time to think it over, I didn't think it was necessary to reissue the classics - have you ever searched for a Vera scarf on Google? I bet you could find the specific one you were looking for almost right away - eBay and Etsy have SO many vintage Vera scarves, you are bound to find the one you were looking for.

Today, when I searched for "vera scarf" on eBay, I had 1,338 hits.
When I searched for "vera scarf" on Etsy, I had 2,602 hits.


While I appreciate the bow to a classic designer, I just was a little disappointed in the quality. Here's a comparison of a Target reissue (left) and a vintage Vera from my shop (right).

The original Vera from my shop is a square shape made from silk and polyester and retails for $16
The reissue from Target is an oblong shape made from cotton and polyester and retails for $19.99

The original silk blend was substituted  for a cotton blend. And the square shape was transformed into an oblong. Personally, I would rather by the original, vintage classic. A scarf with a much longer history than myself. What do you think about these reissues?

New Home Decoration Ideas

So, we bought our first home! We move in at the end of May! Although that seems like a short time away, the time is SLOWLY ticking by... every day seems longer than the last. I have been looking at new home decorations/crafts/home improvements ever since and I can't stop!

I have been pinning, googling, and searching on eBay and Etsy for the best items for our home. My mom bought me this rug for my birthday (which I was eyeing up for a few days and I got the last one!). Our hardwood floors in the living room and kitchen are blonde, so the rug will be tied in with that yellow feather color. For the past year or so, I have discovered the loveliness of brass (and I realized most people do not like brass.. I have seen more projects trying to cover up brass than actually display it's beauty). This is perfectly fine with me, because I have found several lovely brass items at the thrift stores, untouched and deeply discounted.





Theme colors for the new house:
Kitchen: aqua/caribbean blue, white, black/dark grey, dark hardwood (other than our floors).

A beautiful Indian Brass Peacock Bowl by LillyQueenVintage on Etsy

Living Room: Brass, dark hardwood (other than our floors), earth tones, and grey.

I would love this mirror for above the fireplace - art deco, brass style. From Anthropologie

Steve will be taking on some manly building projects:

• building a coffee table
• building a book shelf
• eventually a kitchen table

and I will be doing a fair amount of crafting and decorating:

• finish crocheting a huge chevron throw blanket
• rewiring vintage lamps
• crochet a huge rope doily rug, crochet a cotton bathmat

I don't expect to fully complete our house decorations within a month of moving in... although I get antsy, I know to make it the perfect home we are looking for, it's going to take time and patience. Plus, finding special, antique or vintage items will be much more important and loved than buying new.

Items to acquire in the next year or so:

• a workbench or console table
• a kitchen island with a dark hardwood top
• a mirror for above the fireplace
• lots of brass details - lamps, middle eastern figurines, bowls, and picture frames

Early Spring Yarn Inspiration

Last weekend, Steve and I spent the weekend in Manhattan and Brooklyn with my brother.  Being a nice brother as he is, we walked to a beautiful store (and a place my mom loves as equally), Purl Soho. While I always know how to pick out the best, softest, most beautiful yarn, I always have the knack to pick out the most expensive item in the store.  Although I would treat myself to an expensive skein every once in a while, I could only afford one at $22.50 and you can't do much with one skein of yarn!

Have you seen these new Liberty prints?! My imagination is running wild!

A picture I took of the Easter / Spring display in the Purl Soho window.

Such a beautiful window display!

While wandering Manhattan, by coincidence (I didn't even know this place existed!) we stumbled upon the Lion Brand Yarn Store one minute before it opened for the day. As I have a lot of Lion Brand yarn, it was nice to see it all together in one place. They had a lovely window display, too. All the flowers were made out of yarn (even that wine bottle!). Steve bought me a skein of pink yarn I wouldn't normally buy on my own. The pink yarn is to fix missing parts of his mom's wedding quilt, made by Mom mom.

  

And finally, a skein of Lion Brand yarn from Steve's brother this past Christmas. I've decided I'm going to try to knit (even though it looks incredibly difficult. Steve keeps reminding me "remember when you thought crocheting was horribly hard to do and you were going to give up?" Yeah yeah yeah. But look at those lovely vintage wooden knitting needles from my mom. I just can't resist their beauty with the navy blue yarn :)

I'm about to make myself an iced soy latte and knit. Hope you are feeling inspired today and the rest of this week!

Family Treasures, Past and Present

I have always had an obsession with organization, containers, and nick-nacks. Put them all together, and I have a problem decorating table tops, shelves, and end tables.

My decorations are finally, after lots of years, coming together cohesively. Brass and antique colors are some of my favorite, so here are photos of my home decorations.

Kitchen Table: Pastry stands as wedding presents, my grandmother's picture frame with a photo from our wedding, found and dried pinecone, a locally made cutting board, found brass candle holders and vase, dried flowers, and home made napkins by my mom. I am planning on refinishing our kitchen table soon - sanding and staining a dark antique brown.

Living Room Bookshelf: Collection of fabulous books including my mom's copy of The Hobbit and my dad's college copy of the Iliad, more found and dried pinecones, mercury glass candle holders from our wedding, a found brass picture fram with a wedding photo, a skull I bought Steve from Mexico, and the cutest brass elephant Steve bought me for Christmas.

Up close details from bookshelf: My mom's copy of The Hobbit, the beautiful details on the brass elephant Steve gave me, our wedding photo in an ornate brass frame, and my favorite detail- a gold pin with two hearts and my Grandma and Grandpa's names carved in :)

Bookshelf in my Craft Room: Brass picture frames with Steve's Mommom and Poppop on the left, and my Grandma and Grandpa on the right (in a frame from my Grandma), A gold and pearl brooch from Steve's Mommom, Steve's wedding boutonniere, more mercury glass candleholders from our wedding, and lots of art and sewing books!

Bedside table in the Craft Room: A beautiful photo of my Grandma in a brass frame, found wedding vases used in our wedding, antique lace from my mom, a vintage inspired blue glass perfume bottle, all on a handmade wood shelf by yours truly in 7th grade!

Kitchen Nook: Dried roses al from Steve (including the rose from the first bouquet Steve gave me in 2009), a vase from Poland which Jay bought me, an antique syrup canister, more candle holders, a vintage heart shaped sugar dish, a cutting board from my parents, a photo of my brother Chad, a wedding photo of Steve's parents in a brass frame, and found vintage postcards of Paris and London in a frame.

And Mr. Peabody enjoying his 4th birthday - cupcakes for Steve and I, and a can of tuna fish for the 4 year old!

Warm Vera Patterns

I can spot a Vera scarf almost anywhere - a crowd of people or an overflowing bin of scarves. I was thinking of framing a scarf (I would have to buy a custom frame) and hanging in my kitchen or craft room. They are more like a piece of art; an art piece to wear, tie around your purse, hang as a painting, or make as a pillow case.

Here are a few beautiful close ups of Vera scarves I sell on my Etsy shop, some I haven't put up for sale yet, and some I am contemplating keeping :) Use these patterns as inspirations for your next creative endeavor. I love all the warm spring colors and pops of flowers and fruits.

Vintage Valentines

My mom posted about vintage valentines on her blog, and I was inspired to do the same! My mom actually obtained these valentines and passed them along to me. It's fun to keep them stored and take them out once a year - I have such a big stack it's nice to sit for an hour and read all the love notes and admire the beautiful colors (which have maintained their radiance, even 70 - 100 years later!).

Standing Valentines. You don't see this much detail anymore, al the perfect cut outs and moving pieces!

Beautiful illustrations and colors

I love the fern/flower/heart details!

Such cute poems inside. And you can still see the pretty details of the cut out borders

Maybe my favorite poem :)

Valentine before opening...

And after it's open, a standing ice skater!

A Valentine postcard - looks like someone added a little extra decoration!

I found this perfect little hankie in an envelope with one of the valentines. Is it not beautiful?!

New to my Shop: Jewelry

I started collecting a fair amount of jewelry for my Etsy store. I am very impressed by the quality of "costume" jewelry from the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Most jewelry I have found has stood the test of time and the test of daily use! Costume jewelry from this time period seems to be made more like the more expensive jewelry of today - sturdy, well made, quality pieces.

For my wedding ceremony jewelry, I used my Grandma's wedding jewelry (She wasn't wearing the jewelry in the photos, but I'm sure she wore it for the celebration!). Some of the rhinestones were darker or discolored, so my mom took the earrings and necklace to a jeweler, who said it was the foil behind the rhinestones and it would cost xxx.xx dollars to fix... I don't mind the slight discoloration, and I think it adds to the charm. The jewelry is in the original box my Grandma bought the jewelry in - another reason why vintage costume jewelry is far beyond the costume jewelry of today (I guess it's not called costume jewelry anymore, but affordable jewelry? Non-precious jewelry? Honestly, I don't know!).



Here are two AMAZING finds of vintage costume jewelry I just posted to my Etsy store (I will definitely be posting more in the future!):

A pair of earrings that remind me of a peacock - long steel blue rhinestone "feathers" with turquoise and aurora borealis stones.

A pair of earrings that look like they just came off of a brides ears! They are so classy, clean and definitely stood up to the timelessness of the style.