2010 Inspiration

     2010 arrives in just a couple of days! This year has been filled with mostly blessings for my family and me and for this I am very grateful.  Mostly, I am thankful for my wonderful husband Paul, our son Davey, our daughter Natalie, our beagle Twyla, all of my family and my delightful friends.  I wish all of you a wonderful new year filled with laughter, good health, an abundance of love and prosperity.
     I continue to fill Retro Revival orders from my website (www.RetroRevival.Biz), Etsy (www.Etsy.com/shop/RetroRevivalBiz), Ebay, three retailers (http://www.yolo.com/, http://www.ladybugbeauty.com/ and Salisbury Pharmacy in Cannan, CT), and referrals.  Since launching Retro Revival about five months ago, I’ve sold 199 retro inspired aprons, vintage fabric tote bags and stylishly chic shower caps.  I am thrilled that word continues to spread about my business!

     As the New Year approaches, I’m feeling inspired to create new items from recently found vintage pieces like these gorgeous frames.  At my wonderful friend Melanie’s suggestion, I’ll try repurposing them into blackboards and bulletin boards.
And while out at the flea markets recently, I had to pick up these antique jello molds. Hmmm, what will I do with them?

I also found a few beautiful vintage pillow cases.  I’m designing little girl’s dresses from these and think they’ll be adorable.

My mother-in-law, Lois, picked up an arm load of pretty, vintage tablecloths for me while flea’ing in Alabama so I’ll design something from them as well. So thoughful of Lois to do this for me!

I am still obsessed with vintage hankies and cannot walk by them without picking up a few!  Last year I designed and hand quilted this quilt for my friend Renee using vintage hankies on the front side and a 1950's tablecloth on the back side; here it is resting on our porch swing.

I’m itching to design something else from my stash of 100-plus hankies.

All of these pretty things are inspiring me to continue reviving the art and soul of vintage – it’s going to be a creative 2010!

Making Pizzelles in my Vintage Apron

My sweet sister Pamela sent me this Pizzelle (a traditional Italian waffle cookie with decorative patterns) Iron as an early Christmas present.  I was a bit intimidated by this iron, thinking it must be very complicated to use but I happened to meet an Italian woman at a craft fair a couple of weeks ago and she assured me that not only are they delicious but really easy to make.  She also corrected my pronunciation of the treat...it's pronounced pitz-el-ee (yes, with a t).

So, having finished my shopping, wrapping and decorating, tonight was Betty Crocker time!  Here's the recipe:
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted & and cooled
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder

Beat eggs and sugar until well mixed.  Add melted butter and vanilla and beat until blended.  Sift together the flour and baking powder and add half of this to the wet mixture and blend well.  Fold in remaining dry mixture until just incorporated.  Let the batter sit for five minutes before using.

In the meantime, heat the pizzelle iron.  When the iron is hot (following iron operating directions for this), spray both sides of the griddle with cooking spray.  Place about 1 teaspoon of batter onto each pattern grid and bake until golden brown, about 30-40 seconds.  Remove cookies onto a paper towel until cool.

I found that dolloping the batter onto the iron was difficult because it is so sticky so I scooped it into a big baggie, cut a small hole and squeezed it onto the iron grids -- a poor woman's pastry bag and it worked great.

My sister warned me that the batter tends to stick and/or bits left over from previous batches can burn so I brushed the iron with a toothbrush between each batch.  Worked like a charm -- no sticking or burning!

After the pizzelles cooled I had to "trim" the edges by gently snapping off the excess cookie so that the finished product was neat and round.  Yum, I had to eat all of the excess!

And here I am, displaying the finished pizzelles, wearing one of my aprons, of course!  I made this apron from a 1950's Christmas tablecloth.

How I Love Mercury Glass!

The Christmas decorations are all in place throughout our home.  The tree is the main attraction, adorned with hundreds of colorful, shiny, mercury glass ornaments.  Dangling from the limbs are all manner of characters like this cheery snowman bundled in a scarf.  The aqua blue ornament is vintage and a little shabby looking with chips and nicks, adding to its character.

Mercury glass, sometimes called varnished glass or silvered glass, was first invented in Germany in the early 1800s as a less expensive alternative to sterling silver. The shiny, mirrored surface is achieved with double walled glass coated and sealed with silver nitrate between the layers; it does not actually contain mercury. By the mid 1800s, mercury glass began appearing in the United States and many manufacturers began to add enamel, etching, paint and engraving to their products. By the early 20th century, Christmas ornaments were created from the glass as were candlesticks, bud vases and other household decorations.

Most of our mercury glass decorations are reproductions but I continue to search for vintage pieces as I rummage through flea markets and antique marts.  I love the unique, rich patina of the glass (a result of oxidation) especially when the twinkling Christmas lights shine on them.

Mercury glass balls fill jars on our fireplace mantel and are kept company by this cheerful paper mache snowman:

Over in the guest cottage, our Elf sits on a bathroom shelf – he greets our guests with a big smile each Christmas.

And this is our mercury glass “forrest,” “growing” in the guest cottage bedroom.  Silver, lavendar, persimmon (looks more orange in this picture) and pink!  I'm looking forward to finding more colors of these trees to add to the collection.

The presents are all wrapped and placed under the tree and some have been shipped to faraway places. Time to bake cookies and count the days until Christmas Eve when the family returns home.

Retro Revival's First Craft Fair

          I showed my Retro Revival wares at my first-ever craft fair this past weekend. The fair was part of the Dr. Phillips High School theater department’s winter festival where about 50 vendors were invited to set up shop for festival goers. I decided this would be a good first fair for me to participate in because I anticipated a relatively small crowd – something I could manage with no experience and a somewhat depleted inventory of product because of the run on Christmas/holiday sales on www.retrorevival.biz, www.etsy.com and www.ebay.com. In the two weeks leading up to the fair I sewed like a mad woman and showed up with about 100 shower caps, 60 aprons and 30 tote bags.

          When I arrived at the fair I was nervous…would people like my creations? Would I have enough product? Would I actually sell anything? Would people be friendly? To stave off severe disappointment, I conditioned myself to low expectations; if I sold a mere $50.00 (enough to cover my vendor entrance fee), I’d be happy and anything above that would be frosting. The entire experience was really fantastic! People seemed to love my things and they bought like crazy! I sold almost all of my aprons, many of my shower caps and a few tote bags – way beyond my expectations!


          I also met some incredibly friendly and helpful people – other vendors! When I mentioned I was new to the craft fair scene, almost everyone was eager to share advice and tips and offered words of encouragement.


          Having had a couple of days now to reflect on my experience, this is my top 10 list of lessons learned; other new crafters may find this helpful:


10. Limit nonessential stuff. I brought a few Christmas decorations to add to my table and decided that although I thought they looked really pretty, they distracted from what I was trying to sell.
9. If you’re selling clothing, wear it! Many people approached to compliment me on the apron I was wearing and this was the perfect opportunity to show them all of my aprons for sale.
8. If you can, take a lamp and turn it on. Having a pretty, vintage lamp not only added a little ambiance but added to the retro feel of my entire set up and as the sun began to set, it really helped illuminate my product.
7. Have a pair of comfortable shoes handy. I must admit that I couldn’t bear to ruin my look with tennis shoes – had to wear my fabulous heels – but while lugging my product to and from the car and while taking breaks I did slip on my comfy shoes. Oooh, did that feel good!
6. Prep your bags ahead of time. On the first day I brought with me shopping bags (paper with twine-like handles), Retro Revival stickers and tissue paper so that I could wrap each purchase for my customers. I soon realized that pulling out the bags, placing a sticker and fighting with tissue paper, all while the customer was standing there waiting patiently, was just too nerve racking and a time waster. That same night, I placed tissue in the bags, stuck on the stickers and refolded them. The next day I was able to quickly whip them out – no fumbling and much quicker.
5. Stay busy. Fortunately, this was not a challenge for me because during much of the show customers were browsing or buying at my booth, but I did notice that some other vendors who did not have customers sat behind their tables appearing to do nothing or reading a book. I am convinced that activity draws customers. Even when no one was at my booth I took those opportunities to straighten my items, restock low inventory, anything to draw attention to my product.
4. Share a cookie! On the last day of the show I was set up next to a delightful woman who extended a plate of homemade cookies at everyone who walked by her table. She greeted them with, “Would you like a Christmas cookie?” Most people accepted her treats and almost all of them stopped to admire and/or buy her jewelry. Fantastic idea and I’m definitely going to do this at my next show.
3. When a potential buyer approaches your table and says something like, “Your aprons are pretty,” don’t respond with just a thank you. Instead, respond with “Thank you. I make all of my aprons from vintage 1950’s tablecloths; let me give you a closer look.” Or insert some phrase that explains why your product is unique, or a good deal, or whatever will entice them further; a simple thank you will likely end the conversation and your opportunity to sell your product.
2. Test out all of your systems. Before the show I was very excited to find a reasonably priced credit/debit card service designed for micro businesses like mine. Although a vast majority of my customers paid with cash, a couple used credit. On my first day, I picked up my cell phone to process a customer’s card and realized (by the recording on the other end) that I hadn’t set up a pin code online. Darn! Lesson learned – always test out your systems, whether phone, lamp, credit processing BEFORE your show.

1. Get to know your neighbors. I noticed almost immediately that about half of the vendors sat quietly behind their tables throughout the show and never mingled with other vendors. I decided to meet the other vendors to see what they were selling, look at pricing, get ideas for setting an attractive display, make contacts, ask questions and learn new tips. I am so glad I did this! I met some very nice, intelligent and helpful women who were enthusiastic about answering my questions and giving me advice.


          Since the fair I am back at the sewing machine in preparation for my next show – I’ll keep you posted.