Trashionista

Another fabulous year at the Junk Bonanza is behind us, and fabulous it certainlly was. I will never tire of wandering the booths finding piles of inspiration for the things that I do here at Mish Mash. There are truly suprises around every corner.

Suprises came as a seller this year as well. The biggest seller all three days was vintage clothing. Luckily we'd brought some to start the weekend, and significantly restocked each morning of the show. This was a suprise because, truth be told, vintage clothes don't fly out of the shop. Why is that? I personally love old clothes. They are cheap. You can often follow trends without breaking the bank. Most importantly, they are original. No Target Missoni clones in the vintage clothing department.

Let's talk about integrating some fab vintage pieces into your own wardrobe. Now that it's fall, it's so easy. Think layers.

Coats.... Sweaters.... Shoes....

All these lovelies and more are available at Mish Mash. We've also partnered with the young and fabulous at Pink Bow Vintage to bring you a wider and hipper variety of vintage clothing. Don't spend more than you need to for the sake of fashion!

Let's Do the Mash

Are you ready for it? Well, then: Game On! Each week we are looking for fan photos on our facebook page of how you all Mish Mash. We want to see what you do with the treasures you just couldn't live without. Each photo posted goes into a weekly drawing for a prize... Good luck, and happy Mish Mashing!

Just so you don't feel like I'm asking to give me a peek inside your world without a peek inside mine... come with me for a momentary tour of my abode (at least my front room... more rooms exposed in later blogs.)

I spent the better part of Sunday cleaning, so I felt able to snap a photo for you to see just how I Mish Mash.

Here's the breakdown:

A) Probably the most amazing and lucky find I've ever had while out junking. I stopped at a house here in Edina to pick up a table from an amazing man I now have the pleasure to call a friend. He and I got to chatting about his World War II days which lead to a tour of his collection. I eyeballed these lockers and asked him about them. They came from a WWII Victory ship, and he sold them to me for $50. They are an absolute treasure and now store DVDs and my kiddos art supplies. Did I mention they came with a handful of keys to various parts of the ship? Awesome!!

B) Mod retention pole lamp that I just can't part with. It's so bad, it's good. I truly can not wait until my Mother-In-Law curls her nose at the sight of it. She'll hate it, and that makes me love it more. This came from one swanky estate in Edina.

C) In the photo you can only see three, but there are actually four of these paint-by-numbersesque masterpieces. The colors are very 1970's (one of the paintings does have a 1973 date and signature on it.) Somewhere someone is looking down from the heavens with a smile on their face. I'm sure these works of art were lovingly painted then promptly pictched upon Grandma's passing. I found them at Arc Valu Village for a staggering $5.99 each.

D) Crocheted Grandma Square pillows. I love these. They give the right amount of kitch and color to take focus off my awful Slumberland couch. The couch, by the way, will be replaced by something fabulous and Vintage as soon as my husband pulls his head out.

E) The table is an enormous circle. We found it on an ultra-clearance at The Find in Eden Prairie. The reason it was so marked down was that it was too high to be a coffee table, and too low to be a dining table. We bought it, took it home, and cut the legs short enough to be a coffee table.

F) Tapestry barrel chairs found at a garage sale a block from my house. The price was right: $20 including matching footstools. I like to think the tapestry classes up the joint. Whether I'm right or not, they are damn comfortable.

G) The rug holds the whole room together as well as holding a fair amount of sentimental value. My great-grandparents once owned a regal hotel in Maryland, and this rug was in the hotel. The deep teal blue creates such an intimate feel in the front room, and I absolutely love it despite the fact that every single white dog hair shows. Thank God for my modern Dyson vacuum.

Gem of an Idea

"Jewelry takes people minds off your wrinkles." -Sonja Henie

I admit it. Jewelry is often on my mind. I also admit that now that I'm 40, wrinkles are too. Forget the wrinkles- let's talk about jewelry!

Lately I've been up to my elbows in jewelry.

I've been busy at work creating the jewelry for an entire bridal line. The bride gave me precious few directions: vintage, pearls, gold, silver, rhinestones. So- to work I went dismantling many many vintage pins, necklaces and earrings and reworking them into goodies for 7 bridesmaids, 1 bridesman and the bride herself.

Drum roll, please...

Alright- let's break it down. All the necklaces are made up of pieces of vintage necklaces, vintage pins and vintage earrings. I found a batch of vintage clasps on ebay to use on these as well. Some of them are asymmetrical, some have pendants, all have mixed metals and all have multiple strands. Despite the multiple strands, they all close with one clasp.

The bride requested a free-form bracelet for herself. For this I used another of the vintage, rhinestone encrusted clasp. I wove pearls, chains and strands of crystal to create one heck of a statement.


The bridesmaids get a bracelet too. Theirs are made from vintage pins and vintage watch bands.




The cherry on top of this whole affair is the bouquet. Once again, vintage pins and earrings were used and bunched together to create a fabulous focal point.

Of course, all this bling is not just for brides. We sell reworked vintage necklaces that are great with gowns and jeans. The pin bracelets are a sassy upgrade to any old outfit. Speaking of pin bracelets, anyone who comments on the blog will be put in a drawing for their very own!

And now for the give-away from the last post... the winner is: ALL THREE who gave some wonderful uses of old buttons. Congratulations! Come into Mish Mash and claim your prize.

Cute As a Button

It is a common occurance to see me trolling at a local Estate Sale. There are so many treasures, and most come in the smallest of packages. At a recent exploration, I came across several jars of vintage buttons. I snapped up the largest one, went back to the studio, and made short work of the entire lot.

There are few things that are as inexpensive and easy to dress up just about anything than old buttons. They add charm to everything you add them to, particularly when they are used to dress up the unexpected.


With my latest batch, I shingled some bird house garden stakes....

Doctored up our Open sign and made a killer bib necklace....






We always have a tray full of buttons out for our smallest visiting crafters to glue on various projects (flower pots, headbands, frames and on and on!)


We are going to be posting uses for all kinds of vintage goodies you can find at Mish Mash. I'd love to hear from all you faithful followers with project ideas. This week, I've refilled that jar with more fabulous vintage buttons to make some magic of your own.... anyone who leaves a comment here will be entered into a drawing to win your very own jar of buttons. Knock me out. Wow Me. I can't wait to hear your ideas !

Good Luck & Happy Crafting!

Wintervention

"Winter must be cold for those with no memories"


-from the movie An Affair to Remember

All of us have our way of dealing with the doldrums of winter. For some, it's hot tea. For some, it's a Mexican vacation. For me this year, it's vintage coats. Just this morning the Star Tribune featured a shot of a local fashionista donning a gorgeous vintage coat and is quoted saying it's OK for a Minnesotan to have lots of coats- we've earned it.



http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/style/115121699.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUoaK7D_V_eDc87DUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr



For some reason I have stumbled on more than my fair share of amazing finds, and, the generous person that I am, I'm going to share them with you





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Lisa

circa 1968. She's a fashion-forward mover and shaker. There won't be any stay-at-homing in her future. She's riding the feminist wave until she hits that glass ceiling with Mary Tyler Moore as her guide.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67391385/lisa-coat?ref=v1_other_1


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Mary

circa 1959. She's the kind of woman all men want and all women want to be. She's not afraid of rocking full skirts and a dainty cardigan by day, and a sleeveless silk shift by night. Pearls are appropriate to 90% of her occasions.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67392091/mary-coat?ref=v1_other_1

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Jennifer

circa 1977. Jen's every guys best friend and every girls nightmare. She's tall, thin and an expert of Farah Fawcett curls. She knows when to serve sugar and when to shoot vinegar. It's a secret, but she's never missed an episode of Charlie's Angels.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67392502/jennifer-coat?ref=v1_other_1


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Linda

circa 1948. In her day, she was the beautiful girl next door, and was snapped up by young and fresh by her high school sweet heart. In her prime, Linda was known for great pie, and was never afraid to join her husband in a hot toddie toast.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67392995/linda-coat

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All of these lovely coats plus a few will be available for trying on at my Junk Junction open house this Saturday 10-3. For those of you far far away, I've listed them with measurements on my ETSY site.

For naming these coats, I used the social security on line site listing most popular baby names by year...

http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi

Be sure to keep warm out there!