Madison Avenue Monday: Revlon Aquamarine Lotion

Isn't the model's outfit cute? I particularly the ball trim around the v-neck blouse and full skirt.

And the advertising script, "Why treat your hands like a stepchild?" is just so funny.  I can't argue with the ad man; from a beauty perspective we should definitely treat our hands as well as we treat our faces!

Via Ladies Home Journal, March 1954

Meet the Artist Giveaway: Sage Beauties

Happy Valentine's Day!   I have a little treat just for you: a Meet the Artist giveaway courtesy of my very creative friend, Joy Sage of SageBeauties.

Allow me to introduce you to Joy:

...pictured here in her booth at the recent Mercantile Flea Market in Fullerton. 

  

Collette:  How was SageBeauties born?

Joy:  I started making jewelry when I saw a very simple glass pendant hanging from a ribbon on sale in a store for twenty dollars.  I thought to myself, "I could do that!" so I bought some supplies and started making necklaces.  I really enjoyed selecting the beads and supplies and putting them together, and pretty soon I had a huge box of bracelets and necklaces.  My husband asked me what they were for and I shrugged because I was just having fun making them.  It had not occurred to me what to do with the finished product!  So I started giving them away to friends and family.  A few of them suggested that I sell the jewelry so I opened SageBeauties on Etsy.

Collette:  Tell us about your style!

Joy:  I don't like to make what is trendy, I like to follow my own style.  I enjoy making pieces of jewelry that make me smile, and it's great if other people like them too!  My current favorite medium is memory wire.  It has taken me a while to figure out the best way to use it -- I was fighting it, which does NO good because it has a mind of its own!  I am learning to use the natural curves to make some pretty necklaces and I want to tackle bracelets next.

Collette:  I know you to be a woman of many talents, so please tell my readers about the other creative pursuits that you enjoy.

Joy:  I've made special occasion cards by hand for friends and family for many years.  I also love to knit!  You can see some of my scarves on Etsy.  I've also recently begun to make fun magnets and pushpins; they seem to be very popular!

{giveaway}

Please join me in saying  thank you  to Joy for giving TWO Serendipity Handmade readers a chance to win one of her very special creations:

 Two lucky readers will win one of the beautiful handmade necklaces pictured above.

First prize is the lovely Heart Drop necklace, and second prize is the hand-beaded Purple Whimsy pendant necklace. 

This giveaway is open to readers worldwide until February 21st. Enter through Rafflecopter below and as always there are many ways to win.  Please consider showing Joy some love by visiting her shop and leaving a comment on this post!

And again, I wish you a very happy Valentine's Day!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Madison Avenue Monday: Skippies by Formfit

Skippies, for young moderns. Burn your corsets, ladies!  From Ladies' Home Journal, March, 1954.

February Days: Dessert and Table Decor for Valentine's Day and More

The Better Homes & Gardens Holiday Cookbook  is such a enchanting mid-century cookbook (published 1959) that it is one of my favorite vintage books to share with you.  I often look through it for holiday inspiration.

The section for February included some charming home decor and food ideas for Valentine's Day and President's Day.  I now wish that I had a heart-shaped cake mold because this pink Valentine Cake is so delightfully easy to make (original recipe below) and would make a charming end for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner.

Note the silver or silver-plated "cake breaker," a cake cutter designed specifically for angel food cakes, pictured in the background, like this one on Etsy:

Valentine Cake

1 package white cake mix
1 package fluffy instant frosting mix
Red food coloring
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Mix cake batter according to package directions.  Pour into 2 paper-lined heart-shaped pans and bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Prepare frosting; tint pink with red food coloring.  Tint coconut pink (add food coloring to 1 tablespoon water until you get the color you want.  Put coconut in a jar; add colored water, cap jar, and shake until uniformly tinted.  Dry on a paper towel.)

Frost cooled cake.  Leaving a 2 1/2 to 3 inch border around the top of the cake, trace a heart in frosting and fill in with tinted coconut.

♥♥♥♥

The "February Days" section has additional food and decor ideas for Valentine's Day and President's Day that you might enjoy (click on the photo to enlarge):

The photo above shows another lovely centerpiece made with a paper doily, carnations, and one pink rose. And aren't those white heart-shaped dessert plates with the heart trim just perfect?

How are you celebrating Valentine's Day?  Do you cook a meal for yourself and your sweetie, go out to a restaurant, or do you ignore this day entirely (smile)? 

Sewing Practice: Introducing Prudence and McCall's 8186

Prudence is a chic 16" fashion doll.

McCall's 8186 is a chic little "Adjust for You" dress pattern from 1968.

 
So how do these two things relate?

I was checking vintage patterns the other day and found out that the very cute McCall's 8186 has a full set of tissue pattern fit instructions with sample drawings.  I immediately thought that I could make one of the dresses on a smaller scale to get in some sewing practice with another vintage pattern, while simultaneously saving time and money.

And then it hit me:  the pattern pieces were nearly the size of the 16" Prudence doll that I received as a gift several years ago.  (For those who are curious she is an "Essential Prudence - Wigged Out - Spring 2008" edition from Wilde Imagination's Ellowyne Wilde line.  She came with three different mix-and-match wigs. More photos at Flickr).

Although the collector in me balks a bit at removing a mint doll from her original packaging, I think that Prudence could use a vintage wardrobe and I could use the sewing experience. I actually adore the pink sheath with lace trim pictured on the envelope cover.  So I went through my scrap box and pulled out three different cotton wovens that I think would make a cute frock:

Your thoughts?  Should I make a seafoam green, bright pink, or denim dress from this pattern?  Don't you just love the bow and band on the bodice?  I think that it's pretty cute!



P.S.  Tomorrow is the last day to take the reader survey and make your opinions known!

Madison Avenue Monday: The Glitter Hours

Today's MAM is a trio of knitting patterns from Vogue Knitting, Fall-Winter 1962.

I can't imagine the skill needed to make the first sleeveless sweater with its tiers of crystal beads!  The third gorgeous sweater is made of silk and gold lamé yarns.

How do you like the hair and makeup styling in this fashion layout?

Don't forget:   Take my reader survey and tell me what YOU would like to read on this blog!

The First Ever Serendipity Handmade Reader Survey

Serendipity Handmade has been going strong for over three years now, and as the first month of 2013 draws to a close I have been thinking long and hard about making this blog better and more fun for you, my readers (without whom there would be no point in writing a blog!).

I very much enjoy sharing my passion for vintage and other crafty pursuits with you, but I have been wondering what topics and features related to vintage and crafting that you would like to read about on this blog.  With that in mind I've created an anonymous short survey that I would love for you to take. Just click on the button below to start.

Please feel free to add any additional thoughts you may have in a comment on this post or send me an email at serendipity dot vintage at ymail dot com.  The survey will be available for a couple of weeks, until February 8th.  Of course I'll summarize the results in a future post.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me!

Madison Avenue Monday: The Frocks of Downton Abbey

This week's MAM is inspired by the wonderful Downton Abbey.  Enjoy these frocks from Needlecraft Magazine,  June 1926. (My scanner was not quite wide enough for this large format magazine, so a couple of the frocks were cut off on the edge; sorry!).

Madison Avenue Monday: Safe in Snow

I found this charming Ivory Snow ad in the January 1949 issue of Ladies Home Journal and felt a little solidarity with those who have snow at this time of year as it has been so uncharacteristically cold here over the past couple of weeks.  The ad is a little battered given that it was on the back cover so please forgive my amateurish retouching skills.  It was too cute of an ad not to share with you even thought there are obvious creases and marks.

I adore the model's slouchy knitting bag, but that gold belt is just to die for....
 

Yes--even your softest hand-knit sweaters are so wonderfully safe with gentle Ivory Snow care.  And you can PROVE it!  Just was your dishes with Ivory Snow--as millions prefer to do.  When you see how it pampers your hands, you'll KNOW it's extra kind to find woolens.

Happy New Year

Wishing you a happy and beautiful 2013!

From the 1933 Tournament of Roses parade: Queen Dorothy Edwards and her Court.  Via The LA Times.

Taking a little holiday break...back on Monday, January 7th with Madison Avenue Monday!