Over the rainbow with 70s dress

I can't believe I didn't buy this 1970s striped polyester cowl neck dress at first. It was $6.99 at my local thrift store, Stretch Thrift, and then it was 50 percent off that! I loved the colours but wasn't sure if I had the guts to pull off, well, a 1970s striped polyester cowl neck dress!

But reader, I went back the same day and tried it on. It was a bit loose but I figured I could cinch it in with a belt (as I have here, with a vintage velvet elasticized belt I found for about $10 in a vintage shop). So I bagged it for $3.49!

I'm wearing it here with a pair of Stuart Weitzman platforms I thrifted in mint condition for under $10 at Goodwill.

Cost of total outfit: under $20! Chic can, indeed, be cheap!

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Crochet & vintage 70s necklace to match

Remember these crochet sweaters? Crochet was big in the 70s, of course, but I remember having a bunch of crochet cardis in the 90s. Well they're back. This glittery turquoise bolero style cardi was sort of granny-anny crossed with a boho vibe, so I picked it up on sale.

It goes perfectly with my new bling, a 1970s pendant and necklace.

I love the shape, the heavy chain, the colour - its semi rough hewn look. It reminds me a bit of the 70s jewellery designer Raphael. Perfect for Spring-a-ding-ding!

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Corner nook

I'm showing you the rest of my apartment redo. Like I said a few posts ago, I split the room into chunks and rejigged each area (like this corner) as a little room unto itself - if you're intimidated by the process of redecorating or even refreshing a bit, this strategy can make that process less daunting. 

I relocated these huge thrifted glass lamp (with ruby red shade bought for a song at Consumers Lighting in Toronto) to the large teak hutch (thrifted over a decade ago for $80) as it was so large and the scale looked off in its former home, on the dining room table. I added some vintage bags to the end of the hutch and piled other books in a haphazard way.

A red pilllow case hides a stain on the teak and defines the lamp.

I like having a sense of humour when I decorate. This painting, by my very talented sister, features the profile of a man on a beach as he stares off into the distance. I positioned the black statuette beside it (thrifted for a few dollars) so that she was looking the same way too. The Star Trek-type decanter was given to me by my best friend and was in her family when she was growing up.

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Thrift style a la spring

More pretty spring-inspired tableaus from my apartment ....

Think purple as a unifying colour, and a bit of whimsy in a teddy bear piggy bank.

Toss in a lovely hand-painted velvet picture made in England (thrifted for 99 cents), a thrifted flower pot and fresh new purple tulips, and a heavy gold mirror (thrifted for $3.99), propped up on a heavy wooden dresser found in the trash.

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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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More 'Easter' bling

Picked up for a song at Canadian Thrift. I thought this brass pendant was just so boho!

It didn't come with a chain but I just fixed it up on one I had. My philosophy with bling is the same with all my other accessories, including lamps and pillows: just change things up! Alternate chains and pendants as you would lampshades with different lamp bases!

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Don't give me eggs, just rings

Well, the centre of this 1970s style ring does sort of look like an egg, no?

This ring is so my style. Actually the round green piece in the middle is shaped like a marble. I love the textured gold-tone detail around the ring. Bought it at the hair cutting place that sells the vintage bling!

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