November 20, 2009

Five for Friday {November 20, 2009}


...A week buzzing with excitement both on the blog front (highlights included the announcement of a terrific giveaway for a beautiful set of Jessie Willcox Smith vintage art prints, and the creation of Chronically Vintage’s first ever homemade blog award) and in my everyday life filled these past few days. As Saturday and Sunday approach I’m eager to run a few errands (chiefly grocery shopping) and also slip into “tranquility mode”, play catch-up with my inbox, watch a few favourite television shows, finalize my Christmas card list, and wonder if the pea soup thick blanket of fog outside at the moment is going to lead to snow before the weekend is out...

♥ ♥ ♥


{To help keep you on time, right down the precise minute, in charming vintage style, all through the holiday season}


{Sleek, beautiful retro styling pulsates through this sea form, almost winter mint, green hued wall clock (which runs on one single AA battery). Whether for your own pad, or to give as a gift, this time piece is sure to garner scores of compliments. “Atomic Age” clock, $37.99 (US), from ModCloth.}


{To add a elegant, yet playfully whimsical, splash of colour and beauty to your vintage hat collection}




{Wrap your head up as prettily as a Christmas present in this pale green pill box hat adorned with a luscious, delightfully red organza rose. This ladylike chapeau would work as wonderfully through the winter holiday season as it would at any spring garden party, summer picnic, or autumn fĂȘte. “Original Chartreuse 1950s pillbox topper”, measuring 21 inches around, $28.00 (US) from etsy seller Rage of the Age.}


{To bestow the most gorgeous dose of antique French elegance to the powder room – or any spot in your home}



{One look at this sublimely pretty set of enamel bowls, pale pink roses and a dove gracing their exteriors, and it’s all you can do not suddenly wish that you were back in nineteenth century France. Set of two bowls (a ten inch “Fine Lotions” and a six inch “Fines Soaps”), $18.00 (US) for the pair from Painted White.}


{To make for inner child smile from one of life’s simple, and entirely fun, pleasures – doodling with chalk}



{Whether you hurry outside before the sidewalk becomes plastered in snow or opt to work on an indoor chalkboard, for a mere £0.95 (UK cents) this adorably illustrated box of twelve sticks of chalk, available from DotComGiftShop, is sure brighten any day.}


{To savour the heady, sensual, soothing flavours of Christmas all year long}



{Warm spirits and bodies alike with this enchantingly beautiful, decidedly art deco inspired, tin of Damman Christmas tea. Available in two blends: White (an elegant and lively grouping of white tea with blueberry petals, almonds, cherries, and a dash of spices and ginger), and Green (green tea paired with orange peel, apple, vanilla-orange, spices, and almond). Each tin of Damman tea (which has been produced in France since 1925) is $16.99 (US) from Touch of Europe.}


As a special sixth entry of sorts for this edition of Five for Friday, I wanted to bring another stellar giveaway to your attention that’s going right this very moment over at marvelous blog Lagelle, the Art of accessorizing.

A fellow vintage fashion enthusiast as well as a skilled artisan, Lagelle creates adorable hats and scarves for ladies and girls, in a wide variety of delicious hues and endearingly sweet, often very old fashioned feeling, designs. If you’d like to have a go at your chance to win one of Lagelle’s beautiful hats, be sure to swing by this post, and follow the instructions there to be entered in this lovely giveaway.

Wishing you each a resplendent weekend (and for my American friends, a great countdown to Thanksgiving) that’s ripe with happiness, serenity, and oodles of fun!

November 19, 2009

Giving away Chronically Vintage’s very own blog award! (And a bounty of thanks for others that I’ve received lately!)

Since beginning Chronically Vintage last spring I’ve been honoured with a score of blog awards. The kindness and generous spirit that has filled the pages of this site never ceases to bring joy to my heart, and I appreciate each and every one of the awards that I receive.

Several times I’ve posted about the accolades Chronically Vintage has gotten, but others have yet to be publicly acknowledged. Before the absolute rush of the winter holiday season besieges us, I want to take a few moments and extend my utmost of deepest thanks to handful of incredibly lovely people who have passed along blogging awards to this site. I cherish each and every one of these awards, the fact that you thought of me when pondering whom to extend them to, and also to those bloggers who have passed along other awards to me before in the past.

Sometimes I’m extended the same award by two (or three, etc) different bloggers, after I’ve already posted about receiving it (the first time). When this is the case, please know that I do not appreciate your own gift of an award any less. Whether I receive an award once or a million times, I enjoy and treasure it exactly the same. This post however is going to focus on blog awards that I’ve not yet written about receiving. To everyone who has ever bestowed an accolade my way, and equally to everybody who visits the humble pages of this blog, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

I truly hope that those who presented me with awards won’t mind if I veer away from their “rules” of acceptance a tad. Having thought it over, what I’m going to do is share the awards I’ve gotten below, and then pass along a brand new award that I’ve just designed myself to each of those who have so generously tagged me with an award in the first places, as well as to a handful of my readers whose blogs never fail to fill me with an abundance of inspiration.



{From the sublimely pretty (and always massively informative) pages of Kori's beautiful blog, Blonde Episodes, come her handmade award featuring none other than Marilyn Monroe herself.}



{The Bella Sinclair Award came via the immensely creative Stephanie of Dream Kingdom.}



{Adorned with a very pretty mermaid, the Splash Award from a gift from Kathie and her wonderful blog, My Net Finds.}


{From the elegant, cheerful pages of Simply Colette came the (very chic looking) I Think You’re An Awesome Girl award.}



{A talented fellow photographer and blogger, Yelena (from June Daisies), honoured me with the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.}



{A second gift from the wonderful Kathie of My Net Finds came in the form of the Dragon Loyalty Award.}



{From one the hepest cats in the retro blogging sphere, Keith of the Dino Lounge, comes the Your Blog is Better Than Ice Cream award.}



{Two very lovely ladies, Emma of Emma’s Music and Kori of Blonde Episodes, both presented Chronically Vintage with the Beautiful Blogger Award.}



{And last, but certainly not least, a different duet of fantastic gals (Personalized Sketches and Sentiments, and My Net Finds) brought a dose of happiness my way with the You’re the Sweetest award.}



If your name, or that of your blog, is listed above (as someone who gave me an award) or below, please accept Chronically Vintage’s first ever homemade award. It’s brimming with love and appreciation straight from my heart, for your kindness, friendship, and devoted readership of this site.




A Chockfull of Rants and Raves from
a Thirty-Something Mama


Andi B. Goode

A Red Lipstick

A Vintage Chic

A Vintage Spirit

BonBon Rose

Casey's Elegant Musings

Charming Vintage Recipes

Dad's Dish Retro Blog

Dustjacket Attic

*French Charming*

GirlWhimsy


Golden Girl of the West


Greetz from Tiz

~*Just Add Glitter and Stir*~

Kaleidoscopic Refrains

Kitchen Retro

Le Blog de Stéphanie

Lemondrop Vintage

Leproust Vintage

Madeleine's Wunderkammer

Millie Deel

Miss Matilda

Retro Ways

Some Like it Vintage

Strawberry Koi

The Adventures of GingeyGinge

The Bargain Hunter Extraordinaire

The Call of the Jitterbug Doll

The Frivolous Flapper

This Homemade Life

The life of a twenty-something

Time Machine to the Twenties

Vintage Me

Vixen Vintage


The rules of this award are wonderfully simple. All you have to do, if you so chose, is to accept the award, stick its graphic someplace on your or site (sidebars are great for this) or post about it on your blog, linking the award graphic back to Chronically Vintage. From there on out you’re welcome to pass this award on to as many other blogs that you deem to be Chronically Fantastic!


{Please feel free to use either the larger version of the Chronically Fantastic award graphic, or this handy smaller size, to place on your own blog or website – whichever version you prefer.}


It is never easy to select people to pass along any award to, especially when there are so many top-notch blogs out there, so if you don't see your name in the list above, please don't feel left out. If you've ever visited this site, you are instantly worthy of this award and are welcome to pass it along to yourself!

Scores of thanks again to those who have presented me with awards, as well as to every one of my readers, you all mean the absolute world to me, and truly are, Chronically Fantastic!

November 18, 2009

Vintage Deal of the Day: November 18, 2009




{Keep the warm weather picnic vibe going strong on even the most blustery and freezing of winter days, with this darling hand painted, woven wooden purse from the 1950s. Featuring buildings from the Cincinnati, Ohio area this whimsical, fun handbag would look adorable paired with everything from high waisted vintage trousers to full skirted day dresses; you can bag this adorable 9 inch high by 6 inch wide little carry-all for just $25.00 (US) from etsy seller Maybel 57t.}

Hi my sweet dears, how are you each on this fine Wednesday? I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who has entered (and written blog entries) about Chronically Vintage’s Jessie Willcox Smith vintage artwork giveaway. You guys are absolutely amazing, your enthusiasm regarding this contest has brought such happiness my way.

The past couple of days have been immensely busy for me (in a good way though, with the high point definitely going to Tuesday night when my husband and I went to see a live theater performance of The Sound of Music. It was strikingly wonderful and I plan to blog about the experience in the not too distant future), and I’m just now getting a chance to read through your wonderful comments. This giveaway is going to run until November 31st, so if you haven’t entered yet, don’t worry you’ve still got plenty of time to do so.

Tonight and over the next few days I’m going to try my best to catch up on all of the comments that have been left on my last few entries, while also putting together some lovely posts for the second half of this week.

Thank you again so much for your entries and comments, everybody! I hope that you’re each doing wonderfully and having a beautiful week!