Happy new year !

I know, 2012 hasn't started yet, but I would like to wish everyone an amazing year ! My sister and I will be using firework for the first time in our lifes ! This will be my last '2011' post, and I thought of some goals for my blog next year :

- I would like make more DIY's for beauty products and fashion;

- I want to take more pictures and maybe save some money for a better camera ;

- Maybe I can start making youtube videos for Hairstyles and DIY's

If you have any more ideas to improve this blog, please let me know.

P.S. My Ebay auction for the Penny Loafers is -click here- ending today. I can send to Germany, Holland

and the USA (although the costs would be very high, as I live in Germany).

with love, Jip.

Sewing adventures # 1

This will be my first 'Sewing Adventures' - post. It is not that I need hats. I have a lot of hats. This is a hat I made for a friends friend. There is this girl in my school, called Julia and she is in 5th grade (I'm in 10th) and she also comes from Holland.  She once asked what hobbies I had and what I did in my free time and I answered this question with blogging, buying vintage clothing, playing the piano and sewing. Then, she asked me if we could sew so a hat for her friend back in Holland together and that afternoon we started right away. 

I used a hat pattern on this website. The lady who owns the website is a very experienced seamstress, I think. And although the site is half Japanese, it is really easy to understand, as she posts videos on how to use the patterns, too.

Photos were taken by my sister, she wanted me to use this one :).

Love, Jip.

Ebay shop update

I added this pair of Penny Loafers to my Ebay-shop :

      

My Ebay shop

Love,

Jip.

Ebay shop

I will be adding more items on my Ebay shop this week. Today I added a 1950s blue and white striped dress.

 

The dress 

My Ebay-shop

Love,

Jip.

Homemade nail and cuticle oil

This is my first 'beauty DIY'. It is a recipe for ordinary nail and cuticle oil. My friend got a bottle of  ''Sally's nail and cuticle oil '' (Holland) for her birthday. I put  it on my nails once and have been since then in love with nail oils. Because I could not find the product at my local drug store, I decided to make my own. And although there are millions of recipes on the internet, I decided to post my tutorial. So here we go !

This is what you'll need :

 -A small glass bottle (you can get these at any drugstore) ; -Do not try to clean an empty nail polish bottle. I    tried this and it didn't work out. There was still nailpolish in the bottle left ..-

 -Extra vergin olive oil or baby oil (you can use almost any kind of oil for this) ;

 -Some perfume of your choice, I chose my grandmothers 'Gloria Vanderbilt'.

Step 1.

Pour some olive oil into the glass bottle. Make sure you don't spill it on the floor or table, mommy won't be happy ;)

Step 2.

Spray a little perfume in the filled bottle and shake it well.

Step 3.

Your homemade nail and cuticle is now done and ready for use! Put some oil on your nails and cuticles and rub it in. You can pad-dry it a little and than let it 'dry' overnight. If you're in a hurry (like in the morning before school starts), you can rub it in and than wash your hands with water and soap so you won't be dripping oil onto your exercise books :). Enjoy !

Love, Jip.

Ebay shop and sewing adventures ..

It has been over a week since I posted. I am so busy with school and playing piano at the moment that I can hardly find time to write. I don't even have much time for sewing.

This idea has been in my head for a few days now. I want to start writing a new kind of posts, in which I will show and share with you my experiences on sewing. I will call them 'Sewing Adventures', as sewing is fairly new to me - I am just a beginner -.

I 'updated my Ebay shop'. I added a pair of penny loafers. Take a look, maybe your interested :)

Ebay-shop

Der Goldene Schnitt- the best vintage sewing book ever !

Imagine a book with over 250 vintage sewing patterns. Imagine beautiful drawings which show the most beautiful dresses that you can easily make yourself. No, it isn't a dream. There is a book with over 250 sewing patterns ! 'Der Goldene Schnitt ', 'The golden rule', 'De gouden snit', 'La coupe d'o' - these are all the names of the same sewing book. It was written by Maria Aloisa Lutterloh, a German seamstress. I bought in on Ebay for E. 35

And this is the magic sewing book :) if you want to know everything about it, just google 'Goldene Schnitt Lutterloh' and you'll find lots and lots of information.

The original ruler came with the book and that is very rare, it is so old but the ruler never got lost. With the ruler you can adjust every pattern to your own sizes.

The miniature-patterns look like this. On all of the marked points, numbers a re given. You must pin your own size (like waist or hips) on the ruler and then on the 'cross' in the middle of every pattern. That way you large the pattern in your own size. It's an amazing method !

 Aren't those dresses just darling ? Oh, I love them and want to make them all !

I made a makeup-cape with the pattern you can see in the middle on the left page. 

I love the underwear :).

 I was wearing my 1940's crepe fabric blouse and skirt I found at a thrift store once.

I think I did a pretty good job :). What do you think ?

I really look forward to make a lot of dresses and other pieces of clothing from this book. The next thing I want to make is a brown skirt. 

Love, Jip.

An old-fashioned, delicious apple pie !

Hello,

I kind of have a new hobby : baking (apple)pies/cakes !
They always taste So good and don't even cost the half of the price you would pay in the supermarket to buy an already-made cake.

 Here's the translated recipe (in grams !)

-Preheat the oven on 180 degrees Celcius
-Oil the spring-form pan before you put the dough in it
- Put 75 grams of raisins in a bowl with warm water for 15 minutes and dry them wit a -kitchen towel -I don't know how to call it :)-



For the dough you'll need :

 -400 grams of flour ;

- 40 grams of sugar ;

 -1 package or 3 teaspoons of baking soda;

-  175 grams of butter (room temperature)

- 2/3 of an egg

Knead a dough and coat the spring-form pan with 2/3 of it.

For the 'filling' you'll need :

 - 6 apples ;
-  2-3 teaspoons cinnamon ;
-  the raisins that have been in the water for 15 minutes ;
- 50 grams of sugar


Cut the apples in little cubes and mix it with the cinnamon, raisins and sugar.If you want, you can add walnuts and other nuts.

 If the spring-form is coated with dough and filled with the apples, cinnamon, sugar and raisins, there is still 1/3 of the dough left. Mold these into strip's and place them on the pie. Cover the top of the pie with the left over egg and place it in the oven :


Electric Oven : 160 Degrees Celsius for 60-75 minutes

Bon appetit !

P.S.  As you might have notices, my cake is a little burned. That is because I set the oven on 180 Degrees, instead of 160 ..

love, Jip.

Straight hair !

I am sleeping over at a friends house and she has straightened my hair. I acually never straighten my hair, but this is what it looks like:

The photos were made with her mobile phone in her room. I like her wallpaper, although it is really pink :)

What do you think my hair looks like when it is straight ?  It looks a tiny bit longer, doesn't it ?

Love, Jip.

20 days untill my birthday ...

I will become 16 in just 20 days and Ialready know two of my presents. That is not because I peeked into the bag with presents or asked my sister. :)

I have been wanting these books for several months. I emailed the link from a website where I could buy them (in Germany ) to my mother and I said I liked those books. She hadn't bought any presents yet, so she bought them. Yay ^^.  Do you have those books ?

What do you do when you become/what did you do when you became 16 ? Did you threw a party (I never gave a party before, actually) ? Or did you go swimming with a few friends ? I have no idea what to do, so ideas are very welcome !

Today was the last day of ''autumn-holidays'' and I go to school tomorrow. I hope that I will have enough time to post. I'm in 10th grade now, and my final exams are coming closer and closer ..

Love, Jip.

Drawing time !

I really enjoy it to draw clothing and vintage dresses, but I also like to draw people. Today I tried to draw this woman :

I guess this photograph was made in the 1940's. She's a very elegant looking lady, isn't she ? Here's my attempt on drawing her :)

I know, her head should bend a little to the left, but I could not draw it that way :-S.

And don't mind the paper, it's from the company where my father is working and they have changed the name. They got rid of all the paper and my father was allowed to take some home. It's perfect for drawing.

Do you like to draw ? Maybe you could send me some pictures of your drawings and I could post them on my blog :).

Love, Jip.

I discoverd a new thrift shop !

Today my sister had to go to the hospital for a MRI- scan of her foot. We had to wait for so long and it was SO hot in there, so my mother decided to go for a walk in the village. We came across a cute little thrift shop and went inside. I bought the following things :

A pair of penny loafers

A cute hat that can be worn in 2 different ways

An amazing twin set in beautiful colours :)

and two baby-blue nightgowns.

I really love it to discover new thrift shops, and this one was really cheap. Do you have a favourite thrift shop ?

Love, Jip.

Wawollie thrift store

Today I went to Wawollie, a thrift store in Goor, the Netherlands. I have already been here a few times (if you take a look at the picures you'll notice why :)). It is a HUGE thrift store wit all different kinds of stuff. Clothing (yes, also vintage, they just don't know they have it), books, baby blankets, videos, fabrics, curtains etc. I found lots of things, including a 1950s and 1930s dress. Yay !

 That's my mom on the left in the picture :).

 They have this cute 1950's corner.

 I love this photograph ...

 They sell shoes ...

 And clothing. Lots and lots of clothing :).

 I even found the perfect winter boots !

 My mom bought me this sewing machine. It is from the 1920s. She said that, when I was little, she made lots of clothing for me on a sewing machine like this :).

 

 

I also found some awesome magazines from the 1950's and a few from the 1960's. They had even more, but they were 1,- each, so I wasn't able to take them all :).

What is your favourite thrift shop ?

Love, Jip.

Shoes, Shoes, Shoes !

A few days ago I bought these shoes on Ebay ( I am not allowed to post the picture, so I will post the link) :

Shoes I bought

I love penny loafers and I think these shoes look like penny loafers a lot. But I steel need a pair of good winter shoes, though.

I have discovered selling items on Ebay is so much fun ! I'm allowed to use my fathers account and I already sold 2 items :).

Here is the link to my 'Ebay-Shop' --->  Ebay shop

What do you think about Penny loafers ?

Love, Jip.

I love collars !

A few days ago I went to a thrift shop in Enschede and I bought a few things, including a cute knitted sweater. I thought it was a little boring, so I added a self-made crochet collar. I just crocheted a piece of lace out of a '70s book about 19th century crocheting, knitting, etc. Then I ironed it and sewed the collar in place by hand.

(Pictures were made by my sister)

I just love collars of any kind. Whether they are antique, handmade or brand new : Ijust love them.

(the following picture is from pinterest.com ---  http://pinterest.com/pin/175748854/)

I think a collar adds a touch of class to certain dresses. Do you like collars ? Let me know :).

- Love, Jip.-

Our beloved cat ...

 

Teddy, our cat, has been with us for almost 4 years now (he is 6 years old).  A few weeks ago, he started to act very strange and we were worried, so we bought some medicines for him. Today, after a blood test, it came out that he ad problems with his kidneys and he is in terrible pain. We decided that we will go to the vet (is that the English term of a 'animal doctor ' ?) to let him put to sleep with medications, because it is no longer Teddy anymore.
I am still having a hard time to accept it, because you always have a little hope that the cat will survive, instead of die. But the sadness will fade as the time goes by. I am happy for him that he will be no longer in pain.

With love, Jip.

Long hair ..

I have always aspired long hair. Unfortunately, my hair does not even reach my shoulders properly, so I have to be patient for a few more years. A friend of mine has hip-length hair and sometimes I am a little envious :). It is just so nice to think about all the things you can do with long hair. You can braid it, wear it down, (pin/rag)curl it, and here comes the best one : doing historical updo's that are suited perfectly for long hair. I am especially in love with regency and victorian hairstyles.

Women back then had long hair (well, almost all of them). Womens hair was a sign of health and femininity. The hair was only cut if it was really necessary. On victorian photos, the hair looks always waved. Probably because they slept with braided hair instead of loose hair. 

 

As you can see, the hair looks amazing when it is just loose, although it my be a little impractible in school or on your bike ;). I bet that the hair of the woman in the right is just as long as the others womans hair. It looks very good to wear your long hair upswept or in a bun.

Here is a website that shows several victorian hairstyles : Victorian Hairstyles

Are you a long-haired (:)) person and liked my post, maybe it would be fun if you would wear a victorian  updo and made a picture of it. I can put in on my blog if you want to.

with love,

Jip.

1930/40s Gowns

If you have read my last post, you will see that I have bought a 1940s dress on E-bay. The people who sold it to me were very nice. When I asked them about the 'history' of the dress, they said that an aunt of them had worn the dress. They also said that, if I would be interested, they had 2 more dresses that belonged to the same woman. I asked them if they had pictures of the dresses and they sent me some photos. The dresses looked beautiful and I decided to buy them. I got them today and I was totally in love with them. I actually didn't knew which dress I had to try on first :) ! One of the dresses (I think the blue one) is a 'engagement/wedding' dress It has a long piece of fabric on one side and a beautiful bodice . The black dress is also darling and it has a cute pattern all over the whole bodice, it came with a belt. I am so happy with the dresses, and I want to thank the sellers, so : Thank you :). Here is a look at the gowns :

Aren't they pretty ? Both dresses look very 30s/40s to me, as they are both made of crepe fabric and they both have 'side-closure' with buttons.

And here's something more : I am obsessed with bows and ties and that sort of things. The last two days I ave been wearing pieces of ribbon in my hair (about 1 meter) which I bought at the fabric store last week.  It is a great 'hairstyle' when you want your hair to be down, but not to boring. When you buy pieces of ribbon, buy some in the same colour as your dress/cardigan or shoes. The better it matches, the cuter it looks :).

Love,

Jip.

1940s dress and corkscrew curls ...

I have'nt been blogging for about a week. Schools keeps me busy very much and I play the piano everyday, I can almost play Für Elise by no :). I bought a dress, a skirt and a blouse and a pair of shoes last week on Ebay, and I wanted to show you my darling new 1940s dress. I asked the seller if it had a kind of 'History', and it had. It belonged to the aunt of the seller. She made the dress and wore it around the late 1940s (DDR time in Germany). It has two metal zippers : one in the back and one on the side. The front has white flower embroidery. This will be definitely be one of my favourite -and older, I am in love with the old kind of dresses- dresses.

Two days ago, I came up with the idea of posting pictures with - to me - a new no-heat curling method. I was watching videos on youtube and came across this video :

http://youtu.be/aYxS1ohz4Ao

Here's my attempt :

The hairnet that I am wearing was crocheted by my mother ( I tried it, but I did not understand the pattern at a certain point. I just have too less crochet experience, I guess.) from a Dutch 1940's pattern of a Libelle Magazine. I found it on a German vintage forum.
The dress I am wearing in the 'curls'- picture is an original 1920s confirmation dress I found on Ebay.


Love,

Jip.