April Shower(s) Caps & Blog Winner

Many thanks to all of you who entered my March blog giveaway.  Reading your comments ALWAYS puts a smile on my face!

Now on to the winner...

Congratulations to KARLA & KARRIE from The Summer Kitchen Girls!  Please email me (CindyMolitor@yahoo.com) your address so I can ship you your "sewing machine" bird feeder.

Seeing as tomorrow begins a new month, and that it's been a while since I've done a handmade giveaway, I've decided one of my Retro Revival shower caps is perfect for April.  April showers, bring, well, you know.  Showers, shower caps ~ get it?  Alright, a bit of a stretch but I'm still gonna do it:)

("Pink Delicates")

It's funny because I know there is a general feeling that shower caps are seen as an embarrassing item to wear.  Probably because so many women wear the hotel variety, you know, the ugly plastic ones that are small, tight and leave a dent in your forehead from the elastic.  The kind that people also use to cover food.  Food!!!:

(photo courtesy Kammys Korner)

These ugly things never seem to keep your hair dry and they stay soggy.  How does plastic get soggy?!  And they stick together, like Saran Wrap!  Aha, that's where the food idea started!

 My shower caps are waterproof and guaranteed to keep your lovely locks dry while you shower!  They're washable and comfortable ~ no forehead dent!  And they're very roomy and accommodate long, thick locks like my niece's, shown here:

I've been on a mission to change the perception of the much ridiculed shower cap by designing and sewing pretty and whimsical caps that, hopefully, evoke a sense of pampering and luxury.

Unlike my apron buyers, my shower cap customers rarely share their shower cap pictures.  So Mr. Wonderful and I have had some fun snapping some pics...

 ("Jewels" shower cap)

 ("Pretty Flowers")

("Retro Ladies")

Do I look pampered and luxurious?  Hahahaha!  My whimsical designs add a bit of charm (or amusement) to what is usually a less than glamorous look.  Since my competitors all just use mannequin heads to display their caps, I'm hoping these pictures will draw some attention.

To date, I've sold just over 500 caps, mostly to individual buyers but also to six salons and spas in the US and Canada.  Last week when I was talking with my sister, getting her feedback on a Retro Revival bio I was drafting (at the request of a fabric company ~ more on that later if things pan out), she said not to menion the "500," saying it didn't seem like that many.  Pfft!  That's 500 I personally cut, sewed, and shipped.  In my little world, I think that ROCKS!

I'm pretty sure that my customers think the shower caps rock ~ I've received many unsolicited notes of thanks including:

"I'm from Toronto, Canada, and I just received my 4 shower caps, and I am extremely happy and amazed.  They are abosolutely gorgeous!!  I can't wait to use them.  Thank you so much!!  Xoxo ~ Melanie T.

"I received my shower cap and I LOVE-LOVE-LOVE it!  It's not only so super-cute, but it's comfortable too.  I never thought I'd say that about a shower cap."  ~ Jillian W. (NY)

"I bought this as a gift for my sister and she opened it last week. This shower cap is cuter in person than it is online!  It came sooo quickly in the mail too.  I will be buying one of these for myself in the near future!  ~ Britney B. (Seattle)

I get such a thrill when my customers take the time to write me!  How sweet are they?!

So tell me, do you use a shower cap?  Do you still use your hairbrush as a microphone?

("Over the Shoulder Boulder Holder" design)

Give me some feedback and you'll automatically be entered to win a shower cap of your choice from my website (over 20 designs available).  Keep it yourself or give it to a friend who secretly wears one of those ugly ones!  I'll randomly draw a winner on April 30th.  Good luck!

A Lump & an Itch

*Last blog post before I draw this month's blog winner.  Scroll down for details.*

I woke up this morning with two little lumps and an itch:

(my twice-bitten leg)

The source:

How is it that something so absolutely adorable:

...can host parasites?!

Ugh!  These suckers (biters?) have survived Twyla's monthly heart and flea treatment and the stuff Mr. Wonderful sprayed on our property.  WTH?!


I'm off to bleach the linens.  And call Terminix.  Oh, and I need to find the bottle of Calamine!

Good thing she's so cute, otherwise...

Honestly, there is no otherwise.  I LOVE my little flea bag:)

Our vet says she's been hearing from losts of patients this spring, complaining about how bad the fleas are this year.  Are they bad where you live?  Any advice on how to get rid of them?

Do tell.  And when you do, you're entered to win this month's giveaway ~ this adorable "sewing machine" bird feeder:

I'll randomly draw the winner at 6:00 a.m. EST March 31st.  Good luck!

I've Officially Joined the "Country" Club!

My transformation began almost four years ago when we we traded Atlanta traffic:

(Photo www.wired.com)

...For country roads:

Traded our big house:

...For a much smaller farmhouse:

We traded playing in the city (Piedmont Park):

...For "playing" with chickens (meaning gathering eggs and cleaning up chicken poo!):

I traded my daily routine of "corporate" hair, high heels, makeup and suits:

...For chapstick, sunscreen, pony tails and cotton frocks:

Over the weekend we sold my beloved Thunderbird:

...And now I'm driving a pickup truck!  I've officially joined the "country" club!

This latest step in my conversion was painful.  I LOVED my Tbird!  I've never had a car that made me smile like this one did.  It was soooooo pretty!  And fast!  Nothing like a V8 in a little sports car.  For the record, I was never ticketed for speeding - ha!

(Dramatically hugging my tbird goodbye at the car dealership)

Sadly, I accepted the fact that a Thunderbird is not the ideal vehicle for navigating country roads, and it certainly didn't accommodate all of my Retro Revival show supplies, with only two seats and a tiny trunk. 

So now that my transformation from "city gal" to "country gal" is complete, I'm gonna try and learn to love this truck!

Think I've got the makings for a country song here...A gal, her dog and truck.  Ha!  All that's playing in my head though is Marc Cohn's "Silver Thunderbird:"

Don't gimme no Buick
Son you must take my word
If there's a God in heaven
He's got a Silver Thunderbird
You can keep your Eldorados
And the foreign car's absurd
Me I wanna go down
In a Silver Thunderbird

Have YOU joined the "country" club?

Share your experiences or comment on mine here for a chance to win this month's giveaway, this adorable "sewing machine" birdfeeder! 

Drawing is March 31st ~ good luck!

The Meatball - Perfected!

Years and years ago, a friend's mother, Lucille, a first generation, American-born Italian, taught me how to make red sauce from scratch.  All these years later, I still make it and still think it's the best (I've tweaked it a bit, but it's still basically her recipe).  She's passed now, I miss her and I often wish I had learned from her how to make meatballs too.

Every since then, I've been on an unending quest to make the perfect meatball.  Over the years, I've learned some secrets, like using pork and beef, and freezing the meatballs for 30 minutes before frying them so that they don't fall apart or lose their roundness.  The flavor of my meatballs has been delicious but something about the texture has been wrong.

Roma tomatoes were on sale this week so I bought a bunch and decided to make homemade sauce and give the meatballs a try, for the 1,000th time.  Again, I trolled the Internet and stumbed upon this recipe (I've crossed out the original ingredients/directions and put the changes I made in parenthesis):

RAO'S MEATBALLS (Makes 14-16)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb ground beef (1 lb)
1/2 lb ground veal  (no veal)
1 1/2 lb ground pork (1 lb)
3 large gloves garlic, minced
Salt (about 1 tsp)
Pepper (about 1 tsp)
Parsley (1 tb dried)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups water (1 cup)
1 1/2 grated Percorino cheese (1 cup parm)
1 cup plain breadcrumbs (Italian)


Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the meats together and rub the garlic into it.  Press the meat down in the bowl then add, in this order, the salt, pepper, parsley, eggs and water.  Then sprinkle the chees over the top as if you're going to cover the water.  Finally, sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the cheese.
2.  When you start to mix it all together, mix with your hands, from the outside of the bowl to the middle and fold it in.  After the ingredients are mixed, roll the meat into balls.
3.  After your meatballs are rolled, take a frying pan (big teflon pot) and add oil and heat.  Place a clove of whole garlic in the frying pan (pot); when the garlic starts to brown, the oil is ready.
4.  Fry the meatballs, cooking and flipping each side until golden brown, about 4 1/2 to 5 minutes on each side.  Remove the meatballs after cooking and place on a plate with paper towels to absorb the oil.  (You can bake the meatballs in an oven on a lightly greased sheet at 350 degrees - the taste is totally different from frying.)

(Wearing my Retro Revival 1940's Style "What's Cookin'?" apron)

5.  Add meatballs into sauce and finish cooking them (about 30 minutes).

OMG, I am not kidding.  Not exaggerating.  These are the best meatballs I've ever had!

Finally, I found the recipe for ah-mazing meatballs!  Seriously, I cannot stop thinking/talking about these and have already shared the recipe with a bunch of friends and family, insisting they try it!  The flavor is perfect and the texture!  Oh, the texture is, well, almost creamy!

In case you want to try my sauce, here's the recipe:

LUCILLE'S RED SAUCE
Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes
3/4 cup chopped garlic (about 2 heads)
4 cups diced onions (3-4 medium)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup tomato paste (1/2 small can)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup red wine (or red cooking wine)
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1/2 cups chopped fresh basil (or 1 tbs dried)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste (about 10 shakes)

Directions:
1.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Place a large bowl of ice water next to the stove.  Using a sharp knife, core the tomatoes and score a small X into the flesh on the bottom.

2.  Place the tomatoes in the boiling water, in batches, until the skins are slightly loosened, 30 seconds to 2 minutes.
3.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer the tomatoes to the ice water and let sit in the water for 1 minute before removing.

4.  Place a sieve over a bowl; working over it, peel the tomatoes using a paring knife, and let the skins fall into the sieve.
5.  Halve the tomatoes and scoop out the seeds with your finger or a teaspoon, letting the sieve catch the seeds.  Press the seeds and skins to extract any extra juice.  Coarsely chop the tomatoes and set aside.
6.  Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant and just beginning to color, 2 to 3 minutes.   Add onions and salt, stir to coat, cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as necessary to prevent burning, until soft and turning golden, 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir in tomato paste and oregano and cook, stirring often, until the tomato paste is beginning to brown on the bottom of the pan, 2 to 4 minutes.

7.  Pour in wine and vinegar; bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits with a spoon.  Cook until reduced slightly, about 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and any juice; return to a simmer, stirring often.  Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are mostly broken down, about 25 minutes.  Remove from the heat; stir in basil and pepper.  Transfer the sauce, in batches, to a blender or food processor.  Process until desired consistency.  For a smooth sauce, puree it all; for a chunky sauce, puree just half and mix it back into the rest of the sauce.

8.  After the sauce has simmered for about an hour, you may need to add some salt and sugar, I added 4 heavy shakes of Lawry’s and 1/4 cup of sugar.

9. Enjoy!

Do you have a delish spaghetti and meatballs recipe?  I'd love to hear from you ~ leave a comment here and you're automatically entered for a chance to win this month's blog giveaway:

Drawing is March 31st.  Good luck!

Wash, Dry, Fold, Repeat

Recently my mother gave me a huge stash of her old linens - yay!  Most of them originally belonged to her mother, my grandmother Lela Rosie, and I am thrilled to have them.  One of my favorites is this vintage clothespin keeper:

It now hangs in my otherwise "average" laundry room.  Average I say because it's so small and lacks an adequate amount of storage.  Despite its shortcomings, I've done my best to make it a cheerful place:

(Painted it a celadon green and added a colorful rug)

We hung a bunch of kitshcy laundry signs ~ they make me smile:

(Sporting Retro Revival's 1950's Style "Tuity Fruity" apron)

(Had to have the one on the bottom - looks like Twyla!)

And switched out the knobs on the cabinets:

One fine day, my dream laundry room will look something like this:

(Jackie Terrell designed this space for House Beautiful)

It will be huge!  With a big table for folding laundry and big enough to set up my ironing board, which by the way, I use so often that it's usually set up in my kitchen ~ ugh!

It will also be brightly colored.  Not a fan of wallpaper, I can stencil the walls to mimick this beautifully decorated laundry room:

(Photo from Cottage Living)

Oh, and my dream laundry room will also feature a fabulous chandelier, maybe like this one I found on http://www.betterhomesandgarden.com/:

Why not, right?!

Until then, I've got a few loads waiting...

(Modeling my 1950's Style "Beat It" apron.)

I've had several of you ask where I buy my fabric.  Of course, my vintage fabric aprons are made with found 1950's tablecloths but I find a lot of my new fabrics at J&O Fabric Store.  J&O has an amazing selection of fabu fabrics ~ like the one I used for my "Beat It" apron ~ much greater than most retail stores.  Check them out and I'm sure you'll find many irrestible!

Do you have a fabu laundry room?  Do tell!  Here, of course, and you'll automatically be entered to win this month's giveaway!

Each of your comments counts as one entry and if you mention my giveaway on YOUR blog, you'll get an extra five entries!  Good luck:)