32 fun blog post writing prompt ideas for this summer (or anytime!)

Over the course of more than seven years of vintage blogging, one naturally sees certain patterns emerge, both within their own process and throughout the online community at large.

For me personally, as well as numerous others I've spoken to about the topic, one of those things is that come summertime, as the beautiful - but also often draining - summer heat is out in full force, our blogging mojo or simply the energy needed to write posts can go flying out the window faster than a paper drink umbrella caught in a warm tropical breeze.

I've actually said before, only half jokingly, that if I could pen all my posts for June, July and August in the dead of winter, I happily would.

Of course such is neither practical nor very feasible, so naturally I've never done so (though I have often started brainstorming post ideas that far in advance). Instead what I try to do is just pace myself, focus all the more on outfit posts (tis the season after all!), and try to extend the fun, laid back vibe of summer to my blog writing, too.

My birthday is coming up this Sunday (on the 10th) and I've been racking my brain for a while trying to decide what to pen about for the last post of my 31st year of life. A few ideas bounced around for a while, but none lit up my eyes quite like the idea of sharing 32 different blogging post writing prompts with all of you (one each for every year of my life).

No matter if you find summer a little trickier to blog during or not, this list is handy and helpful the whole year through - especially because, objectively, just about everyone who blogs will eventually run into times when you need a little extra creative boost to help you come up with fun, fresh new ideas for blog posts (though I have covered some of these topics here over the years, I have not, to date, written posts with these same titles myself).

So with that said, on this fabulously sunny Friday morning, let us all jump head first in the following list of...

32 fun blog post 

writing prompt ideas

1. Twelve (or whatever number you desire) of my favourite summer recipes (vintage or otherwise)

2. A Day in the Life type of look at how you spend an average (or not so average, as the case may be) summer day

3. What's inside my summer beach bag (or weekend bag. A fun spin on the classic "what's in my purse" post

4. Summer just wouldn't be the same for me without these seven songs/movies/TV shows

5. The "ingredients" of my perfect vintage/1940s/1950s/rockabilly/pinup (or whatever style/era you favour) summer outfit include

6. Ten things you love and ten that you dislike about this season

7. A look at my summer beauty rituals

8. Five places I wish I was spending this summer (dream holiday locations, with old friends, etc)

9. By this time next year I hope to have accomplished X (where "x" is the name of the goal you're discussing)

10. What's on my summer reading list this year

11. Recollections of my first summer job

12. Twelve desserts that make summer so much sweater for me

13. The historical (and/or fictional) figures that I'd invite to my ultimate summer tiki (or cocktail or garden or tea) party

14. This summer I'm making [insert name of craft/project/baked item/etc]

15. Revive an old schooldays tradition and, as the season winds down, pen a post called "How I spent my summer vacation"

16. One thing I really want to try for the first time this summer is

17. Eight of my all-time favorite summer scents (e.g., suntan lotion, pina colads, fresh cut grass, air dried linens, food on the grill, etc)

18. Interview an elderly family member about the childhood/early adult summer memories from decades past

19. How to have a fabulous summer staycation in [insert the name of your town/city]

20. My top five summer photography tips (they can be for outfit shoots and/or any other type of photography)

21. Vintage essentials for a great summer camping trip (or picnic, barbeque, or garden party)

22. Four WIP (works in progress) that I want to get finished before Labour Day rolls around

23. Why I like (or, conversely, dislike) summertime fashion so much more than winter

24. Seven moments/memories from summers past that will forever define (or speak to) the season for me

25. How to style a glam summertime evening look

26. My ultimate summer music playlist

27. The best thing that happened to me this summer was

28. DIY vintage summer decor ideas

29. My favourite Instagram snaps from this summer

30. 15 ways that I love to relax (or, if you prefer, stay active) during the summer months

31. Six things I can't stop pinning photos of (to Pinterest) this summer

32. What a difference a year makes (looking back on any major changes in your life from this time point last year)

{Though these thirty-two assorted post prompt ideas ideas are geared towards summer, you can easily switch them to any other time of the year or ditch the seasonal element entirely and put them to work on your blog whenever you please. Super charming vintage photo source.}

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Which of these post ideas jump out at you? Do you keep a list of post writing prompts to hand throughout the year? Do you find that your blogging mojo sometimes wanes during the roasty-toasty days of summer?

I hope that you guys enjoyed this selection of thirty-two different possible post ideas. Please feel free to let me know in the comments, if you did, and if there's a lot of enthusiasm for them, I may very well share more in future posts of this nature.

To help celebrate my birthday to the fullest, I'm giving myself a three-day weekend and will be back here bright and early on Tuesday morning with a delightful new vintage summer outfit shoot to share with all of you.

Right now though, there's a tasty  b-day dessert to be made and perhaps, spurred on my these ideas, a fresh new summertime post or two to begin working on myself!

Vintage Link Love for July 2015

Perhaps it comes as no surprise to most folks, but July whizzed by at the speed of light! I know that I begin many Vintage Link Love posts with similar sentiments about the pace at which the month that we just enjoyed whipped past at, but at perhaps no other time of the year does time seem to vanish more quickly than during the summer.

Though I'm in no rush to see the glorious warm weather disappear, the passing of time does mean that it won't be too long (the first week of September, to be exact) until Tony gets home from working in the States this summer, and that's certainly something that we're both massively looking forward to.

{This early twentieth century beach photo sums up July so well for me this year. Full speed ahead, with a smile on my face, a song in my heart, and sand underfoot - at least once or twice!}

This month I was a seriously busy little bee! Between my birthday celebration, listing over 190 brand new antique and vintage items in the shop (including oodles of adorable vintage novelty brooches), returning to YouTube after a nearly eleven month (unplanned!) break there, thrifting up a storm (I've got a video in the works with some of my exciting recent thrift finds, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for that), penning plenty of blog posts, and - no word of a lie - already beginning to think heavily about Halloween (giant shocker to those who know me, I'm sure! :D), plus all the other usual bits and bobs of life, I've been on my toes nearly none stop this month.

Ooohhh, plus, in the last few days of July, Chronically Vintage's Facebook page hit a new milestone: over 4,000 likes - thank you so much to everyone for your support there!

In amidst of burning the candle at both ends, I still found time to read many of my favourite blogs and websites. Amongst them I gleaned the following selection of twelve posts that captured my attention for one reason or another. I hope that you'll enjoy and/or be inspired by all of them as well!

♥ 42 glamorous wedding dresses from the 1920s and 30s: Though I don't know anyone tying the knot here locally this summer, wedding season has been out in full force for a while now and this selection of more than 40 photos of vintage gowns more than helps to make up for the lack of nuptials I've been attending lately. Prepare to swoon!!!


♥ What to know when getting your hair bobbed: Recently the always marvelously stylish Jenny Frances chopped over several inches of hair and is now sporting a very becoming bob. To help those who might want the skinny on what to know if you're considering this classic haircut, too, she put together a stellar, image filled post all about the ins and outs of getting a bob (that's definitely worth bookmarking even if you have no plans to chop your hair anytime soon - you just never know when a great post like this might come in handy).


♥ Crinolinemania: the sexy fashion trend that killed 3,000 women: The heart of this story from Mashable/Retronaut may not come as shocking news to those who study historical fashions, but the concept that so many people perished as the result of an elaborate undergarment is still more than enough to give anyone reason to pause and think.

♥ 21 post ideas for bloggers: I've thought about penning a similar post to this one myself many times before, but haven't yet had the chance, so in the meantime, I thought that I would share this lovely, helpful list of twenty-one blog post ideas from, fittingly, the fun contemporary fashion, travel, and lifestyle blog N°.20 - because, really, who amongst us bloggers can't use a little post prompt help every now and then?


♥ DIY Miriam Haskell Necklace: My good friend and fellow vintage blogger Bianca from The Closet Historian is not only a lovely writer, but an incredible talented milliner, seamstress, and jewelry maker. It is the latter skill that comes to foreground in this recent how-to post of hers in which she takes us through the easy to follow steps involved with make a show stoppingly gorgeous vintage looking, Miriam Haskell inspired statement necklace. Believe me, you'll want to reach for your round nose pliers, pronto!


♥ The Great British Heatwave In 32 Photos: 1911-1976 (WARNING: MAY NOT BE SAFE FOR WORK OR SENSITIVE ENVIRONMENTS/VIEWERS DUE TO NUDITY): Heat waves are anything but new, however the act of capturing them on camera has obviously only been possible since the invention of this world changing device. This recent post from the site Flashback rounds up over 30 photos taken in the UK during the early to mid-twentieth century during various heatwaves. Anyone who has ever experienced this common summer occurrence will be able to instantly relate to these memorable photos.




♥ How to pack a trunk in 1870: I find the topic of vintage travel and how people packed for it in the days of ocean liners, long railway journeys, and even the early days of aviation to be wildly interesting, so when Aimee shared this post about how to pack one's trunks for a voyage Victorian style, I couldn’t lap up each word quickly enough!


♥ Nine myths about dressing vintage: From fellow Canadian vintage fan, wearer, and blogger Kirstie, comes this spot on post that delves deeper, IMO, than many similar entries I've seen over the years and dispels some of the persistent myths that exist regarding the wearing of vintage.


♥ Decked Out-Nautical Fashion through the Ages: Whether you live a stone's through from the ocean or hundreds of miles away from the nearest seashore, summertime calls for nautical inspired fashions in spades and it's always fun to see examples of them from decades past, such as the lovely roundup in this recent post from Blue Velvet Vintage's delightful blog.




♥ What do you want to be when you grow up?: This post from Gemma's always engaging blog Retro Chick spoke to me a great deal.  I constantly find areas of my life, very much including the running of my blog, where my own assorted childhood career aspirations come to the surface and are realized, at least some of the time, through the work that I actually do for a living these days, much as Gemma finds that to be true for her as well.


♥ 29 of the most delicious things you can do with zucchini: With zuc season upon us again, the fine folks at BuzzFeed have rounded some thoroughly scrumptious looking recipes that make good use of the vegetable, which frequently grows in copious quantities for those who plant it and which always seems to be easy to come by in spades during mid-summer (no matter if you have a garden or not). The Pizza Boats, Chocolate Muffins, and Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream in particular really jumped out me. Which zucchini recipes there call your name the most?


♥ Remembering the Apollo 11 Moon Landing With the Woman Who Made It Happen: July 20th marked the 46th anniversary since Neil Armstrong famously took his first steps on the moon, but as this intriguing Time Life piece details, such may not have been possible were it not for the pioneering software development work of Margaret Hamilton (pictured below).

{To learn more a specific image used in this post, please click on it to be taken to its respective source.}

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August, the eight month of the year and final full month of the summer, is a unique one. The dog days of summer are often behind us (or very nearly so), but autumn's chill hasn't yet returned. The beaches are full still, but at the same time, the first Halloween decorations are starting to grace the shelves of various shops (Walmart, Michaels, Hallmark, and Marshalls are usually amongst the first to bring in seasonal decor here in our neck of the woods).

Those who enjoy the summer are usually still flushed and happy about the heat and spirits are high in general. However, I think that many of our minds are already starting to look ahead to fall and the changes that it brings back into our lives, be it a fresh school year, unpacking our cold weather threads, or coaxing our ovens out of hibernation when comfort food season strikes once more.



{August is a fascinating month. We often bound into it in a bathing suit and leave sporting trousers and cardigans again - or at least starting to think about introducing them into our closets and daily ensembles once more. It's fun, sunny, and usually over far too quickly - much like this July was!}


I think that August, just as with early September, is a wonderful transition filled time between the two chapters of the year and I love that it lets us enjoy summer proper for a little while longer.

In the coming weeks, I plan to continue thrifting and yard saling up a storm, cooking and baking (peach pies made with local fruit, you guys, oh my gosh, I can't even - they're always sensational!) with local produce, enjoying the fact that the sun still sets fairly late in the day, and yet at the same time, thinking more and more about autumn and all my ideas and blog posts for that season.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you each a sunny, fun filled, awesome August and hope that it will be a terrific month for all of us!

Sourcing blog post ideas and inspiration from those around you

At the risk of jinxing myself, I generally don't have a hard time coming up with ideas for new blog posts. This isn't to say that I haven't had times when the muse was off taking a generously long coffee break, but rather that, as a whole, post ideas tend to spring into the ol' brain with regular frequency (a subject which I also touched on in this post last March).
 
I keep a Word document on my desktop devoted specifically to the various ideas for blog posts that I come up with, which I add new entries to on very regular basis. Sometimes I'll go through and take stock of these ideas, deleting ones that, for whatever reason, I'm not actually too keen on (for example, they may overly similar to existing posts I've written). I'll also add any new thoughts I might have had to existing entries and frequently pull ideas from the list to use in upcoming blog posts (this is a key part ensuring the blogging schedule I use runs as smoothly as possible).
 
However, just because I'm often able to generate fresh ideas to write about and have a list of future topics to cover waiting in the wings doesn't mean that I'm not open to even more ideas. Goodness, no! In fact, I love and actively welcome them from just about any source you could think of.
 
I'm always on the prowl for things that might trigger my mind to whip up an idea for a blog article, and keep a running list in a notepad app on my phone (which I transfer to my the idea file on laptop when I get home) so that I can be sure to jot down any ideas - or even just the seeds of a well formed idea - once I get home.
 
Over the years, I've had post inspiration ideas come in from sources as diverse as modern magazine articles to vintage product packaging, famous quotes to the plethora of items I enjoy pinning on Pinterest (another of the main places where I house inspiration for future blog posts).
 
I love to get ideas from actual present day people, too, be they members of the vintage community or not. Recently I asked Tony if he happened to have any thoughts pertaining to subjects I might want to blog about in the future.

As one of the smartest (no, I'm not being biased, he's knock-your-socks-off intelligent), most analytical, creative, and well-read people I've ever know - not to mention much more of a left brain oriented person than I tend to be - I always welcome Tony's impute about this site and was eager to hear what he'd come up with off the top of his head.




{My husband, Tony, is a fantastic source of fresh, exciting posts ideas and I love to pick his brain every now and then for just this very reason. He's always game and has come up with several great vintage related thoughts before, some of which have - and will continue to be - converted into actual blog posts here. Image source.}


True to form, the man did not disappoint. In the span of about ninety seconds, he pulled four blog post ideas out of thin air, each of which I thoroughly liked. One I'd already essentially covered before (here), another has been discussed at length in the vintage community (which isn't to say I wouldn't write about my own thoughts on it at some point), and the other two are going to very likely going to become posts in the not-too-distant future.
 
One of his idea was a complete 180 from the way my mind tends to think, and that's precisely why I love - and cannot wait to do – put it into action. Tony doesn't wear vintage and isn't overly consumed by the study of history in the way that I am. He's a computer programmer and technical writer, but also enjoys writing poetry, fishing and watching romantic movies. We share a great deal in common (which certainly helps our marriage of nearly nine years run smoothly), but are also immensely different people in many respects, and it's fantastic to get his impute - which can be so awesomely different from my own - on topics related to blogging and even my vintage outfits from time-to-time.
 
I extend this same principle however to many people in my life and am always open to post idea from my mom, grandparents, siblings, friends, second cousins once removed, dentist, shop clerks I interact with, you name it!
 
Just about anyone can come up with one or more ideas when you give them a broad topic like vintage history and fashion, and it can be so exciting to hear about some of the ideas (and/or questions, which you may be able to answer in-depth in a future post) that those whose impute you readily welcome may come up with.
 
This doesn't mean that you have to run out, pen and notepad in hand, and badger every last neighbor, relative, and acquaintance you encounter, of course not (and few, if any of us, really would, I’m sure), but rather that it doesn't hurt to ask for ideas every now and then, as well as to draw future post ideas from the conversations you have with the people you interact with during the course of your dy.
 
Whether you're burning the midnight oil trying to come up with new topics to write about, having a bevy or ideas in the wings, or just want some fresh thoughts and perspectives relating to vintage, it never hurts to stop and ask those around you what they might like to read about on your blog.

Who knows, you might even do as I did and end up getting a blog post out of this very topic itself! :)

Chronically Vintage is feeling very loved

Recently I was contacted by two individuals who wanted to interview me about Chronically Vintage. One person’s questions were centered around my passion for all things vintage (with an emphasis on vintage fashion), the other’s had a bit more to do with what led me to blogging and what blogging has come to mean to my life.

I was thrilled and deeply touched that these two lovely ladies (who each run separate sites and contacted me independently from one another) wanted to share a bit about Chronically Vintage with their readers. I dove head first into answering their interview questions (both parties interviewed me via email) and had a thoroughly wonderful time exploring some of the deeper reasons behind subjects such as what got me interested in vintage, why I love vintage, and what brings me joy as a vintage blogger.

 

{Feeling especially warm and fuzzy on the vintage home front lately thanks to two fantastic interviews! Charming 1940s photo via Striderv on Flickr.}

Both of the interviews have gone live now, and I wanted to take a moment to share the links for them with you.

Over at website VintageFashinClub.com, you can read a good sized interview all about my lifelong love of vintage, some of things that inspire my passion for the past, my thoughts on vintage fashion, and even peer into my closet via a photograph of some of my vintage dresses. 

The second interview was with the absolutely wonderful Kathie for her blog “Just a Happy Housewife”. Kathie quizzed me about topics pertaining to what got me into blogging (about vintage), what I enjoy about blogging, and what I see in the future for Chronically Vintage, for one of the editions of her “Now Featuring” series of posts. 

I was tickled pink to receive not one, but two, interviews centered around Chronically vintage in November, and want sincerely thank both my lovely friend Kathie and immensely sweet Alena from Vintage Fashion Club for the thoughtful, insightful, highly enjoyable questions they poised to me. I think it’s awesome for all bloggers to periodically reflect on what got them into blogging in the first place, what they love about this fun activity, their passions, and where they see their blog in the future. These two interviews really helped me to do that this autumn.

Thank you to both of these great gals for your interviews, and thank you to all Chronically Vintage’s stellar readers as well for making me – and this blog – feel so tremendously loved all year round, thanks to your loyal readership, friendship, understanding, support, and shared love of all things old school, there’s no way Chronically Vintage would be what it is today without all of you!