Etsy Shop You Need to See: The Sparkling Sparrow

Oh man, guys. I know as much as anybody that there is a lot of awesome stuff for sale on Etsy, but sometimes I get pretty excited about it. This is one of those times. The Sparkling Sparrow, in Appleton, Wisconsin, offers these amazing hair clips, hair combs, and more fashioned out of vintage and reclaimed jewellery. I feel like I stumbled into a diamond mine.

I always pictured I would have a hairpiece like this for my eventual wedding, made out of all the sentimental (but maybe broken or mismatched) jewellery I've been saving. Looking at these lets me know that it is very much possible, and will look stunning. Yay!

Here are some favourites, but check out the shop yourself - I'm drawn to a particular look but there are more varied, interesting pieces too.



The first one I found - stunning!



Pale blues and gold, fave combo

White & gold botanical, beautiful

A little bit mid-century, a little bit Grecian, a little Edwardian. Love it!

White, ivory, cream, blush, rose, gold. So pretty and feminine.

Something blue :)

I might just need to stop drooling and buy one of these!

Just added: Retro Floral Bedding

Added lots of fun new things to my Etsy shop today, including all of these awesome floral bedding pieces. Some psychedelic, some retro, all great.

I love these patterns so much I almost want to keep them and make them into a quilt... Except I have absolutely no experience or skills with quiltmaking and could probably use the cash. There are always more florals out there anyway!

Busy, busy on Etsy!

Oh, it's been good to add so many new things to Etsy over the last few days. Here's a sampling!

Lady Utex houndstooth peacoat

Ceramic mushroom napkin holder

Yves Saint Laurent skinny leather belt

Needlepoint cat cushion cover

Jacobean/oriental floral pillowcases

80s Oversized plastic glasses frames

MORE 80s oversized plastic glasses frames

Retro candy-apple red sunglasses

Van Gogh cork coasters

Robin's egg blue Tupperware sugar dish and milk pitcher

Givenchy reclaimed wool bomber jacket

Check 'em all out - and more! - at Milk & Amber on Etsy.

Cheers!

Morning Free

I'm not sure which I like better: working an early shift and having the evening free, or working a late shift and having the morning free. Honestly, the mornings are hard to beat, even if they do feel too short. This is pretty much my mornings on late-shift-days: sitting in bed under the duvet, wearing something ultra-comfy (like this recently thrifted Alternative Apparel waffle-knit shirt I found in the men's section), having a cup of coffee/tea/water/grapefruit juice (one  of those, not a combo, haha), with laptop in hand.

Oh look, I figured out I have a webcam on this thing. Cue the unnatural photos!

+ Thrifted Alternative Apparel shirt (!), made in USA

+ Thrifted vintage psychedelic floral mug, made in Japan

+ Thrifted vintage bright orange corduroy pillowcase

Retro psychedelic florals

My boyfriend can be partially credited with sparking this fascination. All of a sudden I find myself browsing crazy 60's and 70's retro flower patterned bedding, linens and housewares... such as the following:

From BeatriceInBlue

From RaggleTaggleHawker

From RaggleTaggleHawker

From SmokeandOakum

From Patternlike

Maybe soon I'll post some items we've found with funky floral patterns, now that I'm always on the lookout!

My new laptop bag!

Recently, my friend Krista brought her laptop over to do some work for the Jewellery for Japan sale we put together, and I was struck by her choice of laptop bag: a vintage suitcase! Coincidently, I had virtually the same suitcase in different colours, but had never thought of using it to transport my computer. I am incredibly finicky when it comes to bags (all through high school and university, I have slugged my textbooks around in stylish-but-not-very-sensible messenger bags and totes - not a sensible, durable schoolbag in sight), so seeing this was very inspiring. This is what my clunky PC will be dragged around in from here on:

Found during the 70 Mile Coastal Yard Sale a few years ago, with another larger one, for $4 total. Steal!