Vintage Jewelry!

Gorgeous Bouquet created from vintage jewels!



Like all vintage and antique items, vintage jewelry just has so much character!  As you can see from the above picture (from http://theheirloombouquet.etsy.com/ creative souls can take vintage jewels and turn them into gorgeous bouquets!

Vintage Clip Earrings

 Vintage earrings are so versatile!  They can be used as earrings, shoe clips, hooked to your spaghetti straps, and great for upcycle projects!

http://www.theritzyrose.etsy.com/

Recently I was at a beautiful  wedding gown shop in Columbus, Ohio, with both of my daughters, Lindsey & Katherine!  Lindsey is getting married in June of next year (very excited about this)!  In the shop they actually had a few bouquets created with vintage jewels.   They're so unique!

These are listed in my shop, I think they'd be great in a bouquet!



Necklaces, bracelets, brooches, and earrings!  Vintage jewelry will add a bit of something extra to any outfit!

I want a cute blog!

Well, first of all, I deleted the blog picture that my daughter, Lindsey, had put up for me, because I wanted a change!  But now I can't figure out how to get it to go the entire length of the blog, it's just one stupid picture to the left.

I need help.

And I want it to be cuter.  I have such blog envy over the cute blogs I see.  They use blogspot too, but I can't figure out how to do any of the cute things!

Help!! oh, and I made homemade chicken noodle soup tonight that turned out great, so I'll be sure to post the recipe soon!

Happy Friday!

Jen

Entertainment Time Retro Style!

Mad Men style party time!

Vintage Libbey Cocktail Glasses

Yes, it's almost here, the holiday time!  A time to celebrate!  Why not celebrate retro style!?

Mod Chip-n-Dip Set

These are just a few things you can find for your entertainment needs, in my Etsy shop! http://www.jenscloset.etsy.com/

Cheers to Christmas!



I'll be showing you more ideas in the next several weeks, so please visit often!

Stackable Bowls!



Your party will be fun and unique and have people talking~!

Mid Century Cool!

There's just nothing like a retro-themed party!

Perfect for Eggnog!

Have fun this holiday season!  I know it's a busy time, but take a little time to celebrate!

Cheers!

Jen

Not Just About The Thrift Shop

My sister Susan (yes she's 5 years younger than me), took me on a little road trip yesterday!

Susan

Susan found this thrift store near where her son (my cute nephew Bobby) goes to school!  She's bought a few things for me there, and I finally got a chance to go with her to check it out!  It was a crazy, wild, disorganized place, so I loved it!  Kind of reminds me of my house!  I found some beautiful milk glass, so I was happy!

Bobby's school/St Ignatius

Then I finally had a chance to check out Bobby's school!  He's a freshman at St. Ignatius, and he loves it!  It reminds me of a mini-college town, so cute!

Susan had told Bobby that she would be bringing a surprise guest when she picked him up from school.  Well, that's just wrong, because he was trying to guess, and he was guessing way cooler people than me, so I hope he wasn't disappointed!

My adorable nephew Bobby



Okay, Bobby usually has his eyes open, but both pictures came out with his eyes closed.  He's a sweetie, and he looks just like his Dad, Steve!

Beautiful old buildings!



So, the day was only partially about the new thrift shop!  The highlight was seeing Bobby and his new school, I'm so proud of him!

Thanks Susan!

Jen

And Here's the Easy Frosting Recipe

Start with Meringue Powder



This frosting recipe is as easy as can be! Just buy some meringue powder, add confectioners sugar, a little bit of water, and flavoring (vanilla, lemon, almond, whatever you like)!  The meringue powder comes with the exact measurements of everything, but I just "wing it".  When my daughter, Katherine (mini martha stewart) makes it, she makes it thicker, and of course, it always looks so much prettier when she does it!

You can then divide parts into little bowls and add your food coloring, and decorate away!

Enjoy!

Jen

Cookies!

My daughter, Katherine, is away at college.  She's a freshman at OSU.  A few weeks ago I sent her brownies (from a box mix), but this weekend I decided to make our favorite sugar cookie recipe.



Cookies Katherine decorated



Above your see some beautifully decorated cookies, not by me, but by Katherine!  Since junior high school she would make and decorate cookies for her friends for all of the holidays!  She was very meticulous when it came to the decorating, and that is why, I rarely helped her, unless she was desperate!  I'm not so meticulous! 

I was going to show you a few pictures of the cookies I sent to Katherine, but I'm having trouble uploading them.  Anyways, I just wanted to show the difference between Katherine's beautiful art, and my not-so-beautiful art!  But the cookies still tasted good!

We've been using this recipe for years and it's really fail-proof, even for me (most times)!



Katherine made these for a Key Club meeting!



This recipe comes from the Mrs Fields Cookie Book.  I once lost this one and bought one that I thought was the same, but it did not have this recipe in it, thankfully, I found my original book!  Here it is:

Christmas Sugar Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
colored sugars/decorations

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  (that's the secret-lower heat-longer baking time)

In a medium bowl combine the flouer & salt with a wire whisk.

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter & sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed.  Add the egg & vanilla, and beat untill well mixed.  Scrape down sides of bowl, then add the flour mixture. Blend on low speed until combined.  Do not overmix.

Gather dough into a ball.  Flatten the ball into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate 1 hour untill firm.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to a 1/4" thickness.  With cookie cutters, cut dough into desired shiapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Decorate with colored sugars or sprinkles.  (I make some this way, since my son, Mark, likes them without frosting, and some I leave plain to decorate with frosting).

Bake for 13-15 minutes (I find mine our done before this time), being careful not to brown.  Immediately transfer cookies with a spatula to a cool, flat surface.  I find that after I put the cookies on the plate, the bottoms "sweat", so after a minute or so, I transfer them to a dry plate, so they don't get soggy.

Try this one-I think you'll like it!

My simple frosting recipe will follow soon!

Happy Baking!

Jen

My Book was on the Front Page of Etsy!

While I was asleep, I missed all the exitement!  My book was on the front page of Etsy!

Vintage Jars

Vintage jars have so much character and charm (like most vintage items!)!

One of my favorites is the old aqua Atlas canning jars, like this one!



So shabby chic!



Vintage jars are great on your kitchen counter filled with flour, pasta, etc.!  I think these would be perfect for just that!

Perfect for flour and sugar!



Pyrex/Corelle have some great vintage jars!  I love this "Wildflower" pattern!



Pyrex Wildflower

Vintage jars are great for organizing too (I've been on the organizing-kick lately!)~!  Or just filled with shells, flowers, for that unique touch to a table!

Parents Weekend and Ohio State!

Katherine and her kooky glasses!

We had a fun time visiting my daughter, Katherine, at Ohio State this weekend! 

We arrived Friday afternoon, then met Katherine, went to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen (not too far from OSU), then went back to OSU to see Robert Irvine from the Food Network.  That went on way too long (that guy is in love with himself).  My husband and I are both "foodies".  We love to cook and watch people cooking!  Bob happens to like the two shows that Robert Irvine are in, so he thought this might be good.  He thought wrong!  Not that it was absolutely horrible, just kind of strange!

The funniest part was, towards the end, Katherine and I decided to sneak out the closet door.  As soon as we went out the door, these two college girls came up to us and said they had snuck out too, but couldn't figure out how to get out of the area we were in, so we were all panicking!  We knew we couldn't go back in the place Irvine was in, because he'd probably make a spectacle of us and put us on stage!  We finally found an elevator though, and were able to find our way back! 

So the next day we had planned to go to a few of the "classes", but while eating lunch in one of the OSU cafeteria's (what fun it would be to be living at OSU with one of those swipe cards-free food all the time!), we all decided to ditch the classes!

Katherine was having trouble with her phone, so we walked to the phone place, and then drove to Whole Foods.  Bob & I had never been there and we loved it!

How cute is this!?

We definitely should have one in the Cleveland area!  There were all kinds of places not only to shop, but to sit down and eat a variety of foods!  Katherine is a vegetarian, so she needed to stock up on some of her stuff, and I'm so glad we went there!

Ignore my hair-bad hair day-very windy!

So back to OSU we went to drop Katherine off and say goodbye!  She's very happy there, which makes me happy!  We miss her already!

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Jen

Where am I!?

It's been almost a week since my last post! 

I'm going to blame it all on my daughter Katherine!  She left for college a bit ago, and I got to work cleaning her room almost right away!  I had her permission!  She had requested that I not put any of my shop stuff in her room (since these days no room is safe, except for the bathrooms).  I am so proud of how her room now looks, I know she will love it!

But that started me wanted to clean and organize more.  I know I've said it before, my house is become a "hoarder house" (blame that on my 3 Etsy shops)!  So then I went to work on my son, Mark's room.

I've been non-stop every since!  My poor husband, Bob, has been bagging and boxing up unwanted clothes (I sure wasted a lot of money on clothes I either never wore, or rarely wore).  Tomorrow is garbage day, which is good, because after that, I will be started on the basement (oh what a challenge that will be!).

I'll be sure to post some pictures soon!  Hope I've motivated a few of you!

Jen

Vintage Shopping

I try so hard to stay away, but I can't help it! I went vintage shopping again this morning!

Royal Austrian plates



I can't decide what I love most about having my vintage Etsy shops!  I'm guessing the shopping part is the most fun, but I also love researching the pieces!  I probably learn something new about vintage/antiques everyday!  I have a good eye for nice pieces, but don't always know what I have.  I just know I love it, and am pretty sure others will too!

Johnson Bros



I have some great reference books, and the internet is full of information too!  I saw this Johnson Brothers set and knew I had to have it!  (There's more pieces!)



Coro, Trifari, and more!



I love vintage jewelry too!  The pieces are always so unique!  A lot of my customers use them for upcycle projects, which I would do too, if I thought I could!  While shopping for a wedding dress with my daughter Lindsey, they had a bouquet made out of vintage brooches, oh so pretty!

A story behind this



Vintage and antique pieces usually have a story behind them.  Sometimes you're lucky enough to have the story!  This retro ceramic canister (there are 4 in this set), I just purchased from a local thrift shop.  They know me there, and one of the volunteers was my neighbor growing up!  She wasn't there today, but the other ladies told me this was her set (her name is Mrs. Gumble)!  Isn't that great!?

Yes, definitely, the shopping is fun!  Meeting new people all the time, buying lovely things, researching them, it's my passion!

I'm lucky!

What's your passion!?

Jen