December 9th- Christmas Cards

Christmas Cards 

If we're at a jumble sale and there's a box of old greetings cards, you can guarantee i'll be there rummaging through it! The cheesier the better. I always plan on sending them, but they more often that not just end up on display!

So this Christmas I've been on the look out for some cute, vintage cards for ages! And today, I finally hit the jackpot! In my local Salvation Army, I managed to get 29 cards for just under £2.
Here is a sample of my favourites. 

If you've got the time and patience to do a bit of digging around, getting beautiful and second hand Christmas cards isn't really that difficult. Plus, you'll be supporting your local charity, which is always a good thing.
We don't have a mantle-piece at home, so we string up a long piece of ribbon from the bookcase and paperclip our cards so they can still be shown off.
I'm looking forward to sending out these cards already!
Seasonal Greetings!
Alice x

December 8th Babycham

"I'd love a Babycham!"

Christmas, wouldn't be Christmas without a cheeky Babycham! And as we are South West girls, it'd be rude not to! Plus, it's their 60th anniversary this year, so what more excuse do you need?!

We picked up this glass from a carboot a while ago, but they're getting rarer and harder to find. So snap em up when you see them! Ours is from the 1950's. We'd love to own a full set one day! This lovely blog, shows you how to date any finds you stumble upon.

Big supermarkets have got, lovely, special edition bottles on sale at the moment and these, ever so cute gift sets! Is it wrong that I bought one for myself? "To Alice, lots of love Alice"
So why not treat someone, or yourself to bit of a modern retro? It is the happiest drink in the world after all! 

Alice x

December 7th - Christmas Party- Part 1- Make Up

Vintage Inspired Make- Up

To those who may not know, I trained as a make-up artist when I left school. I didn't really keep up with it, because I never thought I was that good! It's still something I enjoy experimenting with, just using my own face! Plus a couple of girls I know, have gone on to do amazingly well, so there's always someone I can call on for help and inspiration! If you're heading to a Christmas party this season, why not try imitating a vintage make-up trend!

The 1960's was quite youth orientated, with various fashions and make up becoming readily available. 

I've chosen a classic 1960's look to do a tutorial on as it was my absolute favourite when we did it in college. This is a pic of me modelling it back then! This is quite an over the top variation, so today i'm going to show you a really quick, easy and cheap way of getting this look without needing any make-up experience.

I've used my regular day-to-day makeup, with the exception of some new false lashes. These cuties only cost me 50p from Wilkos!

You'll need;
Foundation (Rimmel Wake Me Up- Ivory)
Face Powder (Rimmel Pressed Powder- Transparent)
Brown Eye-shadow (Natural Collection- Crushed Walnut)
Pale Eye-shadow (Natural Collection- Sea Shell) 
Mascara (Rimmel Scandal Eyes- Retro Glam- Extreme Black)
False Eyelashes (Wiko Glamour Eyelashes)
Pale Pink Lipstick. (Barry M- 100)

First, a bit of common sense! Start with a nice, clean and freshly moisturised face.

I like to start with my eyebrows and work down, but everyone has a different routine. Due to a serious case of over- plucking in my teenage years, I have very sparse brows! I like to fill them back in to create quite a fake, look, but that's just the fashion right now! The girls in the 1960's used to fill in their brows too, so this bit is up to you! If you've got good eyebrows, rejoice and skip this step! I used a really dark eye-shadow and a slanted brush to colour mine in. I followed the natural, arched shape and add extra to the ends to elongate them. If you just want to fill them in a little bit, small brush strokes look the most natural.

Next, on to the eyes! To prep your lids, dap a bit of foundation on them to create a base. Use a large, flat, rounded brush and apply pale eye-shadow all over the lid, going right up to the eyebrow. Apply more if desired.

This next bit can be a bit tricky! Use the same, slanted brush and shadow that you used on your brows to draw an arch on your lid. I've smudged mine in, but you can leave it sharp and defined if you like. It's all about personal preference! Don't forget to add some onto the lash line too.

Next, apply your false lashes! Cut down to size if they're too long and always wait for the glue to go slightly tacky before applying. Once you've pressed your lash down, keep applying pressure and open your eyes slowly after. Sometimes, they might need a little extra glue just to keep in place. Apply lots of black mascara to both top and bottom lashes. 

Apply your foundation and powder as you normally would. Remembering to blend into the hair and neckline! I like to use my fingers to apply foundation as it warms it up and goes on a bit smoother, but a brush works just as well.
If you have naturally quite pink lips (like me!) its best to just pop a tiny bit of foundation and powder on your lips to help your lipstick set.
You'll need a matte, light pink lipstick to finish off the look. I've used a Barry M one that I already had in my kit which is pretty perfect!

Lip liner isn't necessary, all you need to do is give it a quick, slick across your lips and you're all done! Now go flutter those eyelashes!

For more inspiration, have a look here!
Alice x

December 6th- Stockings

Stockings

I know it might be a little early for some of you to be thinking about, but making up stockings has got to be one of my favourite, pre Christmas pastimes! I love finding little things to suit the intended receiver and popping them in a GIANT sock!
This year, we stumbled upon these beauties;

They're made by the wonderful Natasha over at Vintage Revival Crafts.
She turns lovely, vintage fabric into new and unique accessories.
This one is going to my mama, how lucky is she?!

We like to fill them to the brim with;

• Toys- Lego Mini Figures are the current fashion in the Fox household
• Little chocolates and sweets 
• Clementines and bags of nuts
• Tiny bottles of alcohol, for the grown ups! 
• Mix CDs 

We found these at a table top fair! I am a bit of a sucker for 80s/90s tack! I think I know who they're going to!

What do you like to put in your stockings? 

Alice x

December 5th- Vintage Games

Let The Games Begin!

Once a month we all gather together, friends and siblings and have games night. Anything that involves tactics and a lot of shouting works the best for us!
If you're spending time with your family this festive period, why not try playing a game and get everyone giggling together!
We found this in a local charity shop for a quid, invited some friends around and got playing!

However, that was easily said then done. We handed the instructions to our Games Master, who could not make any sense of them and kept mentioning how old it was. So, we took to Wikipedia, there are pictures of children playing it, how hard could it be?!
I guess vintage games just aren't for us. We'll stick to Munchkin, King Of Tokyo and Gloom for now!
What games do you and your family like to play?
Alice x

December 4th- Vintage Cook Books

Vintage Cook Books

Having a Christmas party and want to impress your guests? Well why not take inspiration from the past and cook vintage! We have this wonderful collection of St Michael cook books from the 1970's.

They're worth having for the pictures alone! Check out this amazing, apple print, paper table-ware and the over use of cream on the cakes! Delicious! 

We've never cooked anything from them before, but we've gone with a recipe from the "Salads and Snacks" book called "Moulded Cucumber And Grape Salad" to try. Doesn't that sound tempting?

So we wrote our shopping list, grabbed our ingredients and got cooking! The first stage involves making a marinade for the cucumber and grape and leaving it to absorb the flavours of white wine vinegar. You then drain the mixture, and place in the mould with the lime jelly and leave to set.

We left it in the fridge overnight before turning it out. It looked like something you'd make for a childrens Halloween party! 

Ever the adventurous one, I cut myself a slice and tucked in. The smell hit me straight away! It was sweet, lime jelly and harsh, raw onion all mixed together. It tasted how it looks with the added bonus of chilli powder hitting the back of my throat. My sister, mother and best friend refused to even look at it let alone try it! The fridge still smells.
I guess some things should be left in the 70's!
Alice x

December 3rd- Orange And Clove Pomander

Orange And Clove Pomander

Try this quick and easy, Christmassy craft to while away a few hours on a cold and dark winters afternoon. The smell combination of the orange and clove is amazing and will bring back lovely, Christmas memories! 

You'll need;

Large Oranges

Cloves- Pop to your local market for these as they'll be cheaper than at the supermarket!

Vintage Ribbon

First put down some newspaper to ease the tidying up afterwards and then choose your orange. Tie around your ribbon, leaving extra so it can be hung up. This can be a bit tricky so you might need an extra pair of hands to help hold it all in place! Decide upon a design and push in the cloves. Ta Dah! You're all done! 

Perfect for hanging in your hallway, on your front door, or as sweet "Thank You Teacher" gifts.

Fox Girls x