And now unwittingly you’ve made me dream
Of violets, and my souls forgotten gleam.
~ Alice Dunbar Moore Nelson ~
The Romantic Lifestyle
Monday, April 25th, 2011
Friday, April 22nd, 2011
Spring is hopefully going to come! So I’m getting ready! I”ve been sorting out my purses making the change from winter to spring/summer appropriate bags.
I’ve emptied out my entire closet and the bags are all spread out. I’ve quite a witty assortment! And I’ve never really looked at them all at once before. A friend told me there is a blog site called The Purse Forum and I should register. It’s a place where handbag enthusiasts can show off their bags and share their collections with other purse fanatics. So I went over there to take a look. It is interesting but there is no section for my type of vintage purses! They focus on designer name brands rather than artsy interesting and unusual pieces such as the ones I collect and sometimes make myself. I do have some of those, but I do not decide to collect a bag just because it is produced by a certain design house. I choose to acquire and use bags that I like. Period! Often they are from unknown artists or obscure origins and I like that.
I did register on The Purse Forum and will return to check it out further, but it focuses on a different area of bag collecting than I do. So, I have decided to photograph and post some of my personal favorites from my own collection on my own blog so that people who like these sorts of bags can see them. The great thing about some of these is that they are gorgeous and they are affordable. Sometimes you can even make one yourself. The purses I show will give you lots of good ideas for collecting or embellishing or making unique artistic bags. You will see that it is not necessary to spend a fortune to acquire a great collection of fun bags.
This one is a little straw and wood picnic basket purse probably made in the 1960’s. It was natural colored straw and plywood when I acquired it for $2.98 at a thrift store. I carefully removed the gold faux leather buckle tab and the plastic tube handles which are screwed on. Then I spray painted the bag gold! The inside was rough and not very attractive, so I made a simple drawstring bag out of some left over yellow satin lining fabric and a yellow ribbon and put it inside the basket as an interior lining. I reattached the handles and buckle tab and, as a finishing touch, glued four pink silk roses with buds and green leaves on the lid! I already had the artificial roses. That’s all there is to it! And the total cost was less than $15. Basket purses such as I used are easy to find at Japanese dime stores and often show up at thrift shops. I think it is one of the cutest bags ever! I love the fact that it is easy to make yourself! It’s absolutely perfect for spring and summer! And I get lots of compliments whenever I carry it!
Friday, April 22nd, 2011
We can now make the long lost, beautiful, and enjoyable, vintage Blue Moon cocktail again. It is made from liqueur compounded of violet petals and other secret flavorings and it is divine!
Lady Violette and friend, Lavande Lamour say,”Treat yourself. It’s absolutely fluerific.” We had read about it for years but the necessary flower liqueurs needed to create it were nowhere to be had during our lifetimes! Now they have been revived which, to us, is akin to reviving a lady who has fainted! What a relief! She is still alive! We thought, for a moment, that she might be dead!
The violet liqueurs Creme Yvette or Creme de Violette required to make The Blue Moon had been discontinued for decades, but are fortunately available again. The recipe and the story behind it, and other vintage spirits and forgotten cocktails are now available in a a new book by Ted Haigh reviewed in the Cookbook Profile of the Global Gourmet. The earliest version was created in 1917. Here ’tis:
Ingredients
Shake in an iced cocktail shaker, and strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy and,
Read more: Cocktail Recipe: The Blue Moon (Gin and Creme Yvette) //www.globalgourmet.com/food/cookbook/2009/vintage-spirits-cocktails/blue-moon.html#ixzz1KFHaQK4n