Make up this Daffodil Easter Basket for your little bunnies… or even yourself (we all need something stylish and cute for the many, many chocolate eggs that will be coming our way!)
First gather your materials:
Yellow felt
Co-ordinating basket lining (I’ve used vintage flowery material)
Interfacing
Scissors
1. For ease make a template for the petals and cut out 6 – try drawing it free hand you’ll surprise yourself how easy this is!
2. Use a small bowl to trace around and cut out a circle to attach the petals.
3. Cut a rectangle out of the felt for the main body of the Daffodil. In order to get the nice trumpet cone shape, cut each end with a diagonal, this will create the desired shape. Repeat with the lining material and stitch together.
4. Next cut a strip of felt, (mine measured 10 x1 inch) interfacing and lining for the handle and fuse together. Hand sew into place.
5. To create the trumpet frill cut a long strip of the felt, stitch wide tracks down the entire length. Pull on the threads to get an even ripple and stitch to the rim.
6. Go off skipping on your Easter egg hunt!
Searching for all things Easter I had my fake bunny ears stand on end when I found Boopsie daisy’s Flickr page. Images flooded with colour and love.
How could I (how could anyone) resist falling in love with the colours, the flowers, the fun and the bows… this is the world in which I’d like to live… candy coloured forever spring like world…
Boopsie prints feature wide-eyed dolls, dressed up all purdy-like and photographed in the prettiest settings. As with all her prints they evoke that feeling of childlike wonder. Delight your eyes with them at her etsy shop.
Images to make your eyes pop and your heart bounce!
Surly the love affair with Blythe dolls universal, shes a different doll to the Barbie, shes’ unique, probably a vintage gal (she was first made in the 1970s) has that wide-eyed innocent look that is both thoughtful and creative. Poetry dances in her eyes, adorable, sweet. You just get a feeling she would make the best of friends too. See her below in bunny-ears with all her bunny friends, no doubt off to plan some merry Easter games.
Forget beads, feathers, sequins and pearls… when it comes to jewellery design opt for vintage mechanics, such as cogs, brass fittings and the workings of the inside of a clock. Steampunk jewellery is the next thing and has exploded onto the scene with its combination of fantasy, Victoriana and modernity and the resulting creation is something out of this world.
The jewellery must be futuristic but also look Victorian, using pieces from the steam age including cogs, wheels, antique brass and filigree and is beautiful and quirky in equal measure. Here at Ollie&Agnes we love it.
Jewellery designer Miss Emily Ladybird-Adventuress, says: ‘ The main artistic references are taken from the arts and crafts movement of the Victorian-era, lots of sinuous curves and organic-feeling metal work which complements the practical nature of the Victorian steam age. Cogs, gears and moving parts are a key feature to this type of jewellery, so parts from old watches are a favourite signature. Each designer has their own take on Steampunk.
The genre is HUGE in the states and swiftly gaining in popularity in the UK, and Miss LBA tells us here at Ollie&Agnes that the Oxford science museum held a Steampunk exhibition earlier in the year and it attracted more people, through the doors, than had visited the museum in the previous two years!
According to Miss Lady-Bird Adventuress Steampunk is definitely a “lifestyle” and literary movement, as well as a design-style, with conventions in the UK and USA. She says: ‘It is kind of like Goth or Punk in that it is a lifestyle as well as a design; dressing up in Victorian costume is a big part for many Steampunks, as is writing, reading and taking tea in the park. There are even bands who claim to play steampunk music!’
Steampunk is an alternative Victorian history inspired by the ‘Father of science fiction’ Jules Verne, author of Ten Thousand Leagues under the Sea and Journey to the Centre of the Earth and more recently Phillip Reeve who wrote the Larklight trilogy. Miss LBA explains: ‘It’s basically Victorian science fiction, and has actually been around forever, but the phrase ‘Steampunk’ has only been used since 1980-something; when William Gibson and Bruce Sterling wrote “The Difference Engine”. Since then, and with increasing frequency, fantasy films and graphic novels have used a lot of Steampunk design; including Hellboy and Vanhelsing.’
PS: Ollie&Agnes favourites The Tea Appreciation Society has also written about Steampunk in the form of a teapot they discovered, which was influenced, by the trend. This work of art was created by Cincinnati-based designer Michael Morarity and is an example of elegance from the Victorian era. (Log onto: www.teaappreciationsociety.org to join this lovely group!)
Taken from The Lady’s Every Day Book which has been handed down from my Great-Great Grand Mother. ” A Practical Guide in the Elegant Arts and Daily Difficulties of Domestic Life”
Printed in 1875 it includes information on subjects “restricted to those of feminine interest” like “Rules for the Young Wife”, “The Art of Eating Oranges” and “How to Choose Perfumes for Handkerchief”
Glove Flirtation
When you wish to be acquainted, carry you gloves with the finger tips downward;
if you wish to say, Introduce me to your companion, use them as a fan;
for saying;
Be contented, hold them loose in the right hand;
I wish to get rid of you very soon, bit the finger tips;
Yes, drop one of them;
No, clench them rolled up in the right hand;
I am indifferent, draw one glove half way on the left
Follow me, strike them over the left shoulder;
I am engaged, toss them up gently
Be careful someone is watching us, twirl them round your fingers
I hate you, turn them inside out
I love another, tap your chin with them
Do you love me? put one on the left hand, with thumb exposed (!)
I love you, drop them both
Gloves can transport any type of day or evening wear to instant glamourpuss-heights… It’s amazing to me that actually if I noticed some fair maiden doing any or all of the above I probably could get a feel for what she was saying… the art of conversation as they say is 90% non-verbal and I think that goes double for glove flirtation – try it out and let me know how you get on!
I feel a slient mini movie glove flirtation featurette coming on!
I’ve had so much fun with the Apartment Therapy Spring Cure already, it really feels like things are slotting in nicely with that renewed feeling that springtime brings. Spaces have been cleared (mentally and physically) and I can already envision the changes that will incur and stick.
So the tasks this week have been:
Deep Treatment - Fix one thing in your apartment yourself.Fixed the kitchen chair. - Clean your kitchen from top to bottom and throw away old food.Done! Do things go off more quickly these days? My veg doesn’t keep well even in the crisper drawer… - Buy a water filter and use it.We did have a water filter but never got around to habitually using it. - Run your hands over every wall in your apartment.This feels lovely and reacquaints you with your home, like giving your house a real big hug! Lovely! - Clear space for an Outbox.I love this idea, I have so many things I often find when doing the cleaning something always gets cleared out! - Buy fresh flowers.Bought some daffs! - Determine your style.I think I have settled on an updated bright flowery country look (best suited with my 200 year old cottage kitchen!) - Find a new recipe and cook one meal at home.The Delicious Miss Dahl came to my recipe rescue (see below) - Choose the date for your housewarming.8th May!
One-Room Remedy - Decide what activities you want in your room and where they will go.Erm… kitchen for cooking, hallway for general getting from one room to the next - Buy, borrow, or make a floor plan tool.This won’t be necessary for either room but great if you’re looking at re-doing a bedroom or lounge. - Map out the room that bothers you the most and work out your solution.This is centred around the lighting and the open fire. I will need to book a sweep and electrician in the weeks ahead-’tis the only solution! - Name your vision.Heathers hallway into heavenly kitchen.. - Build a Shopping List.Easy and delightful to do.
I was so inspired this week by watching the all new food programme by Sophie Dahl ~ The Delicious Miss Dahl ~ watching it in the wee early hours of the morning, this first delicious and delectable episode talked about those wonderful days where you can be purely selfish- taking that important time to make something tasty just for YOU! It is so rewarding to truly go with that feeling and self indulge in all those wonderful meals prepared at your own pace for you only. Wonderful! I made the omelette this week but definitely have the Peanut-butter fudge marked as a must do!
I plan to concentrate on my hallway (image tray pic above) & kitchen.
Might keep adding mydifferent style trays / mood boards. I love making them up. You can probubly guess I’m pretty keen on pattern. I love to sit different patterns next to each other to see what works. I am undecided as yet to whether I want to continue with a cute country look in apple white and flowery patterns or edge more towards a funky finish with a mix of high design accents. Oh the choice!
Those vegetable mugs are a must however and will have to work with whatever I decide.
So this is a brief overview of whats in order for this week:
I’m going to follow the still Deep Treatment tasks (although applies to your entire pad) but concentrate on the One Room Remedy, it will get me organised even if I don’t tackle everything.
You can check out everyone’s photos and how their doing in the Apartment Therapy Flickr Group, post your own or add comments. Its a fabulous community of interior design enthusiasts making their homes that every bit better one manageable task at a time.
Deep Treatment
- Make a complete list of repairs and solutions.
- Vacuum and mop the floors.
- Remove one item from your apartment and put it outside.
- Buy fresh flowers.
- Sit for ten minutes in a part of your home that you never sit in.
- Look into earth-friendly cleaning products.
One-Room Remedy
- Choose one room.
- Gather pictures of rooms you love.
- Start a style tray.
- Visit your favourite home store.
- Set your budget.
Decisions must be made but for now I s’pose I’m just a lil bit country… a little bit rock n roll… and a whole lotta kitsch! Hit it Donny n Marie!
OK, yeah, I know – I admit it! At times, there have been moments where… I can be a complete VINTAGE SNOB!!
HAS to be original HAS to have a certain look… Same goes for films set in the sixties, music that thinks its sixties… d’ya “catch my drift?” (Ahem. Me trying to use sayings from way back when) What makes vintage, “vintage” to me is that it was there living through that time, those moments, taking in the air, the whole vibe of the time… I do love the current upcycle and re-direction of clothing using materials from vintage periods as it still retains the same sort of flavour…
Back in my university days (I’m reminiscing a lot lately) I did my final year dissertation on The Pin-Up; Imagery and Photography. I loved the hairstyles, the fabrics, the shapes and the mood of the pictures ~ such genuine beauty with a big dollup of saucy fun!
So I guess it’s rare that I see something that gives me the same feeling as vintage photography or the magic of that thrift shop find, if it’s not the genuine article. Something with the same sense of style from those glamourpuss days…that age and warmth.
But Adam Gaverluk has changed all that! Shooting images of the female form exclusively and as he puts it “as there is nothing more interesting or more beautiful” Dang right! Check out his site Adam Gaverluk Photography, for Fashion, Portrait, Fine Art, Glamour & Pin Up.
I suppose that’s just what photographers, artists, painters are meant to do… make you stop, look and think a while…
…and if that’s not all his sister owns the fabulous Weezi.com – a place for new and recycled t-shirt tops, bags, vintage items and handmade dresses!!
I recall my 2nd year of University French exchange trip took me to a Parisian apartment up many swirling flights of stairs where during my stay I read Alice in Wonderland in french… I laugh now as I too was lost in a strange land… I came across a rabbit… I saw it left abandoned on a little low brick wall outsidethe Cergy-Pontoise University, picked it up – much to the horror of exchange partner who tried to dissuade me from taking “Nou-nours” right there and then, I decided after the tour of the university I if he was still there I could rightfully claim him. What Joy when I saw he still there! I survived that time mainly on peppered olives from the local and fabulous Marcadet Poissonniers market and cheap European version of orange fanta… visiting the endless galleries, museums and shows… what sights for my eyes… Paris J’adore – its my own special wonderland…
The Mary Quant ethos was that fashion should exist for everyone, not just for the privileged few… Opening first store, Bazaar in London in 1955 it was an instant hit! After experimental designs and a second store, Quant was exporting to the U.S. Working with young model Twiggy creating the fashion storm that was the “mod” look. Her mix and match looks of stockings, accessories, coats and boots really earnt her title as The designer of the mid sixties. Known of course mainly for the mini-skirt (the namesake of her favourite car) Mary Quant reflected the time, the women and shaped the decade with her creations… Quant, queen of inspiration…
Knitting on benches, trees, fences and road signs seems to be the new guerrilla gardening. Now, rather turning up with rakes and spades on a disused plot of land to create a veggie patch, people are meeting at the secret rendezvous (possibly in knitted balaclavas) often in the dead of night, armed with needles and wool to ‘liven the place up’. It’s been described, by some, as the world’s most ‘inoffensive graffiti’, happy street-art and hugs for all.
The craze is being reported all over the place from New Jersey to New Zealand, Finland, and Canada to the UK. In the Auckland district of Parnell, in New ZealandKnitty Graffity got 14 knitters together to create a heart fence (described by some as like a ‘group hug’!?) with 105 knitted hearts for valentines day, while entire trees have been knitted in the USA; and random squares of blanket knit have been spotted on benches in coastal towns in the UK.
Magda Sayeg, founder of the original knit graffiti crew Knitta Please, says she works to redefine a craft that has been relegated to the stuffy attic of people’s brains and dismissed by a limited vision for knitting’s purpose, its function, its practitioners. Some would say this is harmless, charming and updating an old art however, according to the ‘needles and spray cans at dawn’ debate on Deputy Dog’s site, all is not as it seems and the guerrilla knitters may not be as inoffensive and charming to everyone as initially believed. These Gangsta Knitters (YES, they really call themselves this too) have enraged the ‘true graffiti’ artists by calling themselves ‘graffiti artists’ and those, armed with spray cans – rather needles, are not at all happy about it. The spray canners are further enraged, since the knitters have started referring to their undercover knitting as ‘tagging’ (Realgraf: ‘This isn’t graffiti it’s a joke’)! Not to mention local authorities in a borough of New Jersey, America who are trying to make it illegal. According to reports an unknown person, dubbed the ‘MIDNIGHT KNITTER’, has been making sweaters for lampposts and trees in West Cape May and the police are after them for interfering with public property
Who knew something as inoffensive as a bit of hand-knitted stuff (which we love here at Ollie&Agnes, as you know) could cause such consternation and debate … and who knew there was so little crime in West Cape May in New Jersey!
Oh poooh. I missed out on Barbie’s Birthday… I’m only a couple of days late…
so I’m going to post this anyway…
I really wanted to share the “Barbie Learns To Cook” doll. And I say “Good for Her!”
Perfectly poised our domestic goddess with her lemon blonde swirl ponytail, has been re-created from the earlier 1965 doll, also in picture. With her shiny cooking accoutrement’s also perfectly polished. Marvellous!
The resurgence of 50s and 60s fashion, the growth of interest in all things handmade and what would appear by the many blogs, sites and magazines – mass take up of the “elegant arts” of crochet, knitting and patchwork is truly lovely. I feel a shift has taken place from the “Barbie Learns To Cook” of the 1960s to our modern re-invented version. She’s a gal that wants to try broiling for the sheer pleasure, not because of some perhaps expected social conditioning. And god damn it so do I!
Having spent most of my teenage years departing great chunks of my mind to guys who dared utter anything even slightly derogatory about women in kitchens etc , I now feel I want to play the hostess with the mostess role, bake my own bread and hand stitch a table runner or three (well you can never have too many.)
Of course that quiet serene look in her eyes could also mean a women on the knife edge, lets just hope Ken doesn’t make many smart quips about that matching napkin and tea-dress…
If you feel the need to check out Vintage Barbie’s (we all get that urge sometimes) you can’t go wrong with what would appear to be the definitive guide to Vintage Barbie Dolls at:
I like playing around with accessories and see what pops against different colours and textures… here you have the whole remit of leather, suede, beads, wool, metal and material…
Banish moths, bugs be gone, let the gentle fragrance waft over you from the new Anti-Moth and wardrobe care items in store!
Every year I have increasingly become more enthused about the Spring Clean – and this year I have even more reason to be excited!!
Cue the beautifully packaged range of sweet smelling anti-moth and wardrobe care products now in store!
The moth season starts end March/April so you should be preventing now and getting your wardrobes ready to avoid any nasty surprises later on!
Click for more information on the blend of essential oils used in the products and my Guide to Vintage Clothes Care. Why not treat yourself to the lovely items as your special reward for your Spring clean!
Betty Grable – The original pin-up girl advertising Lux Flakes.
Wilkaniko have a great range of eco-friendly products for your laundry as well as your house to get you ready set for the big clean!
I especially like the Soap Flakes. I have a vague recollection of seeing these ads in old, old magazines. Do you remember Lux soap flakes? These soap flakes are made by the company that used to make Lux! Soap Flakes are predominantly pure soap – with no added perfumes, enzymes, bleach, phosphates or additives, so you can be confident that they will degrade harmlessly without damaging watercourses and aquatic life. They have not been tested on animals and far less likely to cause skin irritations than regular detergent washing powders. The packaging is made from 80% recycled board.
These flakes are perfect for your vintage garments, gently handwash or pre-wash out any stains with the flakes before putting really delicate items on a cool delicate wash.
Top Tip! Try a homemade laundry recipe – easy on the pocket and your conscience.
Simply add 16 tablespoons of Soap Flakes, 8 tablespoons of Borax substitute and 8 tablespoons of Soda Crystals – all available at Wilkaniko to an airtight container and shake up the ingredients. Use two to three tablespoons of the mixture in your washing load. The washing powder will last for approximately ten washes, with the average cost of about 20p per load.
Need a little help? If you can’t get your clean on to these 80s babes nothing will get you grooving!
Lets hear it for the Pointer Sisters!! I said TURN IT UP!
Not only would anyone be delighted to receive this but can be used again, framed in a room forever….
Measures 5 X 7inches.
Blank inside made of 300gm textured art board supplied with 100 gm white laid envelope
These products are designed and manufactured in the UK. Using environmentally friendly products wherever possible, either paper which is 100% recycled or from well managed sources. Use of biodegradable bags and using a printing company that is FSC accredited.
If you enjoyed creating your own fabric buttons from scratch, why not buy a ready-to-make kit so that you’ve always got the right equipment to hand? Sew essential stock a range of self covered buttons priced from £1.10 per set of six. Visit www.sewessential.co.uk to buy.
Lovely!
