The calendar says NEW YEARS...

....well some people's do. Other people's time keeping uses another time-keeping device. I remember 3 New years eves in particular.
The NYE when Light My Fire by The Doors was announced to be the No. 1 song of 1967  by KFRC! radio, AM, oh yes. San Francisco, in the winter of love, hippie central.
I had made a black mini dress with a white collar and cuffs....and I was sitting in the lobby of my parents hotel, the Rex Hotel, because I wanted to hear the No. 1 song on the radio before I walked over to Yountville Community Hall where my mom and Barbara and other fine folk had arranged a grownups party.

I used to make almost all my clothes! I still do actually. so, the dress I made for NYE '67 looked a lot like this....and this is still one of my favorite styles.
 This lovely dress is from GravelGhostVintage on etsy.





And you know what's funny to me? That Ray Manzarek lives in Napa now.  Small world. M&T will be moving to my hometown any day now. Of course one of the reasons natives like me will live in an RV instead of a house...is because of people like Ray Manzarak! I find that funny. I helped make him rich....he helped make me homeless! The Wheel. It goes round.

Work space aka Where the magic happens!

I set up an area to store and photo the goodies. It's a work space. I always have to store, pull and rearrange all the darn time because sales happen! and new vintage stock comes in...And...I'm redoing a corner to install a looooong table to cut canvas on...for the winter and spring projects.

I use a lot of crates, and boxes and all sorts of stuff I've found along the side of the road, the dump....and most of what I have .....for props, I've had for decades. I never stopped using my crates...from back in the 60s...
I am in love with patina and honest wear....and simple natural materials and colors.....

I decided a long time ago, to make my pictures unique with my accessories and sets.
I don't want a plain white or gray background.....Maybe that prevents my items from being blogged about...but it's my signature.....my old wood and textural backgrounds.

Stacking displays I change around often.....

Storage and a very bright light... After a lace background for 2 years, I moved a handmade cabinet for a back ground....it has storage on the other side.....I love that someone reused a lot of old wood to make a simple useful thing.

I brought the old milk can up with me from California, and the boxes and the old military file cabinets are so helpful...storage and they set the mood.

I keep a stack of old books to create the depth, style and ooomph! I need from time to time.

I love the big classic old florals contrasting with old wood, and old things.

This is a test shot to check the lighting.... and my camera settings.

This is an older shot....with a few of my purple plastic bins.......You are not a professional vintage dealer without proper plastic bins.

A test shot....there's another light....
and I really love that burlap bag that I use as a rug....
It makes my pictures instantly recognizable.

"

Harmon Mfg. Co. Tacoma, Wash.

finding something by the side of the road....I liked the lines. covered in dirty dirt and a lot of cigarette burn marks.....which were a work of art all by itself.

Blonde 50s nightstand...sounds like a dimestore novel......
Heavy real wood, boy it was heavy. Stop the car ! back up, put this in the trunk.
When I say "Living the Recycled Life".......this is what I mean. Almost everything I own is vintage (er, second-hand).

See...not fooling about the burn marks.
A nice coat or 2 of Kilz...a day to dry.

Oh Loooook. F. S. Harmon Mfg. Co. Well, Mark and I have certainly sold quite a few vintage Harmon Made in Tacoma pieces in our day.....

well, here it is....I added a vintage 20s oak wood knob, from my reclaimed stash.....I didn't like the Home Depot-brassMadeInChina knob it had on it.......not original and oh, so ugly........Now....It stands all night long with a vintage leaded glass lamp, my blue tulip blue glass hanging lamp...a basket of paperbacks for nightime reading, a weird piece of driftwood.....and a sleeping dog. The White Mostly bedroom is coming along...

Everything in this picture was bought at an estate sale, the thrift, the side of the road...Even the dog is a hand-me-down.....

Cozy Plaid and that Xmas thing...

Not all plaids are tartans.......but all tartans are plaid....at least they are now....2 McQueen tartans from Alexander McQueen, used in charming ways.

Late fall, all of winter, because of the dark days and the Holidays makes me desire plaid even more. 

Tartan  is a check pattern made of crossed horizontal and vertical lines or threads in multiple colours. We think of Scotland when we hear "tartan". Did you know the word plaid, is from Scottish Gaelic plaide, meaning "blanket"?
 Early forms of tartan  have a history dating to  pre-Roman times.  Hallstatt culture, dating to 400 BC - 100 BC, produced tartan-like textiles in Central Europe and when the Celts entered the British Isles, they brought their talents and culture along.
Here's a list with pretty pictures of almost 400 tartans !! 
 Until the middle of the nineteenth century, the highland tartans were associated with either regions or districts, rather than by any specific clan....Highland.......Lowland......This was because tartan designs were produced by local weavers for local tastes and would tend to make use of the plant-based dyes available in that area. Want to know more? Turn to your trusty friend, Wikipedia. and donate some $$ to Wiki...You can be Scotch.....just $10. bucks will do.

 The Scottish Register of Tartans was established by an act of the Scottish Parliament in 2008, to protect, promote and preserve tartan. The Register is a database of tartan designs, maintained by the National Records of Scotland.

Dress Stewart is very popular, right? here it is.  Jaunty 60s wool cap, and a vintage CPO shirt in a soft brushed wool.

 OK. Now on to Christmas. Why are the traditional colors of Xmas.....Green and Red?
When Christianity started taking over ancient cultures, Christians took rituals from their pagan days and incorporated them into their "new" Christian beliefs and traditions.
Pagans celebrated Yule during the dark winter months and the colors of Yule are red, green and gold.
So we have the Yule log...a huge chunk of wood, or a tasty cake made to look like wood....faux bois.
December 25th was celebrated by Roman people who would hang wreaths of holly, with its red berries. This festival was  to welcome back the sun at the time of the winter solstice. Its name is " natalis solis invicti",  Birth of the Invincible Sun.
Pagans used evergreens in their homes as symbols of life during cold dry dead winters. Nothing smells so good, or looks so hopeful...as a lovely spray of evergreen foliage......or hey, how about a tree brought inside for some cheery cheer. And grog. And mead.

Xmas = Christmas, and ignorant modern people have been told that Christ is being driven away from Christmas which is....drivel. Back in the old old old old days, most peasants and many wealthy people could not write or read or spell. So...Christ was written as X. Now it makes sense, don't it?  Don't be ashamed to write Xmas. I do it all the time..and I'm a Preacher's Kid!
the other explanation is this--- The X actually comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of Χριστός. which translates to ..... Christ.

 Hey look!! Vintage Converse Christmas Holiday Sneakers !!! in Red and green....and in Plaid!! woo hoo......we came full circle.

 Here's my favorite plaids this week........


from seller ShopRabbitHole





Betsey Johnson 1970s Stewart plaid set... from seller Deltasvintage




Vintage Gunne Sax plaid dress from seller dirtybirdiesvintage









 Sweet goofy vintage cloth doll with a tartan dress, from seller VintagePolkadotcom





so....the winter coats and shirts and vintage military....coming to funkoma vintage....they are selling almost as fast as I can list them!!  

....and traditional fun cozy sweaters......coming up....
Polar Bears, snowflakes, falling snow, soft fluffy mohair, Irish fishermans, heathered wools in red and gray and berry.