Inspiration from Vintage Advertisements

I was born in the wrong era, I just know it.
I can’t get enough of vintage advertisements.
I wanted to share some of those with you.

Photo: Source Unknown
Everything about this photo intrigues me.
It is quite simple, and yet it looks psychedelic, off kilter and kind’ve crazy. A little bit like me.

Photo: Source Unknown
I have no idea what is being sold here, but I want it.

Photo: Source Unknown
I know a few ‘very secure in their manhood’ type men that would disagree with this slogan.
But, I love the pink overload. It reminds me of my first master bedroom.

Photo: Source Unknown
This entire shot is surreal, otherworldly, alien-esque.
I would love to own this bathing suit. If I did, would I have to stand like this to make it look good?

I want to live in an era where women still wore hats and gloves, where men opened the doors for ladies and where we all had martini parties.
But if I did, I would’t have Biceps. I would probably have a ‘Jim’ or a ‘Harold’. I don’t think I could be with a ‘Harold’.
I think I’ll stick with Biceps and throw my own martini parties while wearing gloves.

The Best Sight to See

Biceps went away on tour. For too long and without me.
The night before he was due back, I stayed up way too late, prepping for his return.

I put these little notes, ‘I missed you here’, all over the house. He was finding them days later stuck to his yoga mat, his coffee mug, his t-shirts….

I got a wild hair and made this dress from a pillowcase that same night. Nice tan lines, eh? He liked it. Boy, did he like it. Dress=success.
I’ll teach you how to make it down the road, don’t you worry.

The morning of his return, I donned my new cute dress, made Biceps a ‘Welcome Home’ sign and arrived at the airport 20 minutes before his flight landed. I was a little gung ho. That’s him coming down the pike, or is it pipe? Whatever…that’s him. He’s calling me to tell me he’s here.
What a silly boy.

I am telling him at this point that ‘I’ll be the one in green, just in case you forgot what I looked like.’

We are saying ‘goodbye’ on the phone and ‘hello’ in person. We are such nerds, and we just don’t care.

He’s back in Tulsa, with me. I laughed, I cried, I asked him what my present was….He brought me fancy lotions from all of the posh hotels he’s been staying at.
What a good man. I am so glad he’s home.

Gold Clay Deer Antlers

I have no desire to stand out in the freezing cold, toting a rifle and not talking for hours in order to ‘hunt’ deer.
But, I really wanted a pair of deer antlers for my office.
I don’t know why. I don’t wear plaid or own a gun rack. (But, to be fair, I did make a coat rack from deer hooves…)
If you aren’t into the whole ‘antler’ thing, you can use this same tutorial and make what you do fancy such as a cute bird, a turtle, or you child’s hand impression.
Get crazy. Get creative.

Circumventing the whole ‘fun’ hunting experience, I decided to make my own deer antlers from clay that you can bake in the oven.
I believe Bambi is happy with my decision, which makes me happy.

What you’ll need to make your own set of antlers, or anything else you fancy:
Oven Bake Clay
Picture Frame
Gold (or your preference) spray paint
Scissors & ruler
Fabric (I used faux black fur with a short nap)
Scrap Plywood
Hot Glue Gun
Staple gun & staples
(2)Screws
Drill with a drill bit the same size as your screws
Jig Saw

Trace the inside of your frame onto your scrap plywood.
My fancy ‘frame’ is actually a light cover that I picked up at Habitat for Humanity for $1. Boo yeah.

Using your jig saw with a wood blade, cut out your traced image.
Before covering your piece of plywood with your fabric, make sure that it fits into your frame first. Cut or sand off any necessary edges.

Find the center of your piece of plywood and measure an equal distance from the center to the right and left if you are doing antlers.
If not, you are on your own to decide where you would like your creation to screw into the plywood.

Pre-drill holes into your plywood that will receive your screws.

Cut out enough fabric that will wrap around the edges of your plywood. Use your staple gun to attach the fabric to your plywood.
Hammer those staples down if they get ornery and try to stick up.

Cut away the excess material from your piece of plywood. Cut out a second piece of fabric that will cover the back of the plywood, attaching it with a hot glue gun.
I recommend before you cover your plywood completely with fabric, flip over your plywood to the front and stick a couple of nails through the fabric, into the pre-drilled holes.

Time to make your fun creation from the oven bake clay!
I used a knife, a chopstick and my little mittens to shape out some cute antlers.
Again, get crazy and get creative. It’s my mantra today.

Stick your screws into the bottom or the backside of you creation. Make sure the clay is completely surrounding the screw and there is no play.
Bake your creation according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Spray your creation with your choice of spray paint with several light coats to avoid drips.

Gently hand tighten your creation into the plywood. I got a little crazy and broke the screws free from my antlers as I was tightening them in.
But, I fixed it with super glue. It held the screws in much better and it didn’t bat an eye at my apparently enormous muscles….

I love the antlers, but I could also see a cute, gold bird in the center of this frame too. Or an apple. Or a butterfly.
And I do have some leftover clay and a glass of red wine…hm….

A Sneaky Surprise for Cynthia

Yesterday, my best friend turned another year older.
I had a sneaky thought and decided to act upon it:
Decorate her house while she is gone.
I am very, very sneaky.

Plus, I love cutting things out of construction paper.
It’s kind’ve a win-win.
This is my trial run of the proposed decor on my kitchen floor.

I fell in love with this crazy ‘w’. It will be hard to let him go.

Her front door is about to get decorated and it won’t even know what hit it.
I was thrilled at this point that I hadn’t misspelled anything.

Giant confetti bits will be dotting the windows of her house.
Watch out world, here we come.

And no birthday decorating extravaganza is complete without flowers.

I have become pretty obsessed with tying notes to things using ric-rac. It just adds a little sassy pizzaz.

Biceps was on ‘tape duty’, I was on ‘placement duty’.
I regret making the ‘I’ in ‘Cynthia’ so dang large. I don’t know what happened there.

I think we added just the right amount of crazy to the birthday girl’s house. And gave her puppy a little excitement during the day. Sorry about that Mabel….
Oh, well. Happy Birthday, Cynthia!