Cocktail party at my fave vintage shop

Ah, who has cocktail parties any more - real, live cocktail parties where you actually dress? My gal pal Daina, who owns Continuum Modern Vintage - that's who. 

Daina was celebrating her shop's year-and-a-half anniversary. She dressed the part, and more, in this gorg emerald green silk taffeta cocktail dress from the 1950s.

Not having a proper cocktail dress (other than one that looks good on me only when I have a tan), I decided to wear this royal blue Lauren, by Ralph Lauren microfibre drop-waist frock I thrifted for $24.99 at Value Village - pricey in my books but the dress was brand new and would have retailed at several hundred bucks. And I do look rather smashing in this shade of blue.

I wore the dress with gold-tone strappy wedgies (thrifted of course!) and my Trifari necklace found in London's Portobello Market. Just look at the way the dress swishes when I twirl - je love!

Any one out there gone to a cocktail party lately? What did you wear?

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Funny? Psycho? Bunny cake home made by Mom

Ok, he didn't look like much to start. But my Mom had high hopes for the bunny cake. She started off with two circular cake pans. Dad - the engineer - was able to cut the head from one of the circles (Mom and I could never have managed that). The ears, legs and arms were made from the scraps.

Here's the boiled icing my mother boiled over the stove for, like, 20 hours. Ok. Maybe not that long. Who has ever heard of boiled icing? Apparently it was the only kind for Mr. Bunny as we (Mom) wanted it to spread smoothly over the parts of the cake that had been cut to make the head etc. Gotcha.

Then there was the arduous task of icing the bunny - not easy with boiled icing, let me tell you. The thing with boiled icing is it doesn't stay very liquid-y for long. Plus it's sticky as hell. So you need to spread fast before it solidifies into one big mass of sugary goop.

Kitty was pretty freaked out too. Or awe-inspired? Hard to tell!

Yes, the bunny looked pretty damn strange - let's admit it: scary - with all the white shiny icing on it. Like it had been dropped in a huge vat of Vaseline - or worse, boiled icing.

Thank God! Bunny is looking, well, more bunny-ish, thanks to some pink ears, jelly eyes and nose, and liquorice whiskers and claws!

Whew. The bunny's not funny or psycho. Just a cute big white bunny made with boiled icing, liqcorice and jelly tots! Love the home made thing; sorry I doubted you Mom! (not that I really did).

BTW, Mom tells me her mother used to make cakes "on the farm" with boiled icing as boiled icing could be made with all the ingredients you'd have on hand (ie: did not require icing sugar). Too bad the old-fashioned way took so long, but I guess they always do, no?

Happy Easter every one! In case you're wondering, the bunny was yummy, boiled icing and all.

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Table bling with vintage brooch

I did promise to show you a few creative ideas for using vintage brooches you find in the thrift and vintage stores but never know what to do with - and finally, I am delivering!

There's no rule that says you have to wear a pin on yourself. My philosophy is this: treat pins as an accessory you can use to dress up a tablecloth, a lamp shade, or even a chair (providing you don't sit on it!).

Having a splashy dinner party? Want to jazz up an expensive looking black quilted tablecloth (that was actually picked up at the Dollar Store)?

Simply gather the tablecloth at the corner of the table and stick in a blingy shiny pin! Then accessorize the table around the colour scheme of the brooches.

What do you think?

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Happy New Year a la retro Michael Lax fondue pot

It may be almost 10 degrees C out but who cares? It's New Year's Eve and tonight my fam and I are having a retro-esque dinner by celebrating with a winter-like cheese and a meat fondue. I'm supplying one fondue pot, a truly retro enamel fondue set given to me by an old school chum. It was in turn given to her my her folks, who received the set for a wedding pressie!

The bottom says Michael Lax Design, Holland and the make is Copco cookware. Michal Lax was an industrial designer who was big in the 1960s, who died over a decade ago in 1999. Born in New York but trained in Finland, he was known for bringing a Scandinavian sensibility to American-made products and was apparently also responsible for introducing enamel to cast iron. Looks like I may have a collectible piece here - btw, it looks like it's never been used!

Happy New Year!! kxo

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Grungy chic Christmas table

Hope every one has had a fab holiday so far. Yesterday's Christmas table was fit for a Queen - make that a Grunge Queen! Our lovely hostess for the day dressed her table in a way the Grunge Queen entirely approves of - by using pieces from around the home. Think practical, yet creative and pretty - and inexpensive!!

A host of darling teacups from our hostess' personal collection adorned the table and held wee Christmas-y floral arrangements.The look was chic yet practical - no cumbersome centrepieces to impede viewing pleasure - and added a personal touch to an already pretty table. Remember that you can always use the pieces you love from around your home, perhaps from a collection, to inject your own personality into your decorating!

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Chic a la cheap (casual) holiday entertaining

Jeepers, I'm exhausted. I haven't entertained in months, and here I go doing it two days in a row.

How does a Grunge Queen entertain, you ask? You know the answer to that: la chic a la cheap.

First, grab a few bottles of wine, some plain fizzy water, and some orange fizzy water. Toss some vintage wine glasses (found a la thrift store) on a thrifted silver platter to get in the festive spirit.

Next: seasonal tangerines pop against as thrifted blue bowl made in Italy, while easy peasies like pretzels look almost elegant in a cobalt blue bowl I've had for years.

The dip at the front with the cheese on top, btw, is inexpensive and easy and people go bonkers over it: simply mix in a package of (low fat) cream cheese and sour cream and spread it on a platter. Pour some salsa over that, and some chopped tomatoes and red peppers over that, and finish it off with shredded cheddar and tortilla chips for dipping. Done in 10 minutes!

These no-bake cookies can be whipped up in the same amount of time - and they're real crowd pleasers too. They may not look as elegant on a chilled cut glass vintage platter (thrifted for $3.99) as fancy canapes, perhaps, but try one and you'll go back for more.

Just bring a cup of milk, half a pound butter, 2 cups sugar (I use one cup) and 6 tablespoons cocoa to a slow boil, reduce heat and add a dash vanilla extract, a cup shredded coconut and three cups uncooked oats. Roll em in balls and chill. Voila! Easy peasy entertaining for casual get-togethers (the only ones in my books).

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English windows

One thing I noticed about England: everyone puts fresh flowers in the windows. Here's a lovely example.

Not that I was snooping around inside people's houses or anything.

But driving along the streets as my generous sweetie pie host chauffeured me around lovely northern England, I couldn't help but peep at the picturesque houses. A huge wack of them had flowers right on the window sill, so you could see them from outside.

A rather civilized idea, if you think about it: peeps both inside and out can enjoy the blooms!

Whereas the north American custom, or certainly the Canadian ideal, is to put flowers on a hutch or in the middle of a dining room table - wonder why that is? Do we entertain more as a nation?

Anyway I love the idea - and I love those big English windows. Wish my ledges could handle flowers on 'em but the kitty cats would knock 'em down for sure. And come to think of it my windows are pretty dirty/ugly.

Guess I'll have to move to England, tee hee.

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