Vintage hats part 2

Hi guys! This is what I have been doing today..taking pix of vintage hats and listing them in my Etsy shop. These are the last of the large lot I bought last week at an antique auction. This one is cool (warning..I say the word cool a LOT) It is shaped like an upside down bowl and has heavy lace trim dotted with rhinestones. Again, my model is my handmade mannequin Madeline..she works for free and never complains!

A ladylike white linen wide brimmed one..I tend to avoid white as I am a spiller. I did see a woman in a long white eyelet skirt at the post office (part of my social whirl) the other day that has almost made me reconsider..she looked so nice!

A peacock blue velvet with cuffed brim, net and a grosgrain bow. Speaking of peacocks, our resident peacock has finally quit pecking his reflection in our vehicles..only took 2 weeks for him to figure out it was his reflection!

A snappy black straw beret with a vintage rhinestone floral brooch.

A blue felt newsboy cap girl-ified with netting and a perky bow in back.

               A cream pillbox with netting and bow..very ladylike..

A soft fabric ruffle brimmed hat..very mysterious! This has a wide brim in front and only a cuffed brim in back.

A velvet platter hat. My mom had one almost exactly like this that my dad hated! She said it  "disappeared" and she thinks he may have burned it! I think it is pretty!

                This one is very cute on..Madeline it totally rocking it..

This one is very feminine and pretty..popppppies...poppppies....

A coral Southern Belle wide brimmed hat with yellow roses. I took the "as is" hats up to my booth and priced them $3-$5. I sat on the floor and priced them and put them out and was standing there admiring my handiwork..and I got a back spasm! Luckily my husband had came along with me and was up at the front of the antique mall "jawing" so he helped carry my boxes and stuff back out! I am now on a heating pad..danged back..it has been problem free for so long. It just irritates me to have to slow down for a couple days!

This one also looks better "on" than I expected. I have a big head though and lots of thick curly hair..it makes hat wearing problematic..most are too small! She looks like a Russian princess..this would perch on the top of my head like Aunt Bea!

I liked this one..I can't decide if those ruffles are brown or brownish black..so romantic..you KNOW gloves were worn with this one!

I tend to like the wide brimmed ones..so feminine.

This one is a cocktail hat or fascinator. It is 2 straw rings and a net veil..a bit Devo..craaack that whip! I wish women still wore hats like these..I know they still wear hats but it is not the same.I feel I missed the hat wearing boat. I remember my mom wearing hats to church and us "little girls" wearing "doily" veils..usually by the end of Mass they were hanging off our heads by their bobby pin! I also remember my mom less than gently re-pinning them to our wiggly wild child heads!

Two of my fav hat wearers. I caught most of Lucy in reruns but I loved this episode. They were in Paris and Fred and Ricky convinced them that burlap potato sacks and  flower pot and horse oat bag hats were haute couture! Rock it girls!

This was the hat I decided to keep..I am wearing it as we "speak" perched at a jaunty angle. To me it has a Jane Austen, Regency flavor. I almost had it listed, telling myself"What would you wear it with?" I am a girly tee and faded jeans or flouncy skirt kind of gal. But I decided if I wanted to galavant about my living room with it on my head, so be it! (although the back spasm will cut down on my galavanting for a couple days) "You have bewitched me body and soul" (Mr. Darcy) So till next time..don't forget to galavant! Julia

Vintage Hats

Hi guys! We went to an antique auction this last Saturday and  ended up with a LOT of vintage hats..a vertible hat-a-palooza! I have spent the day sorting, cleaning, photographing and listing! I really liked this first pink one..

I also had to make a display head to take hat pictures WITH. I made her last night. She is a collaged wig stand that I also painted...I never know when to just stop! This violet strewn hat sold right away.

So did this gorgeous one..palest mauve pink with roses. I collaged "Madeline" with vintage French to English dictionary pages..then added marker, pencil, watercolor and acrylic paints..her hair was a last minute addition. My daughter said it made her look finished! She will be for sale in my handmade shop later.

This is a cool flower covered "cage" hat.

                                                 This braid one is soooo chic!

A velour cocktail hat with rhinestone trim...

And a black straw hat..at a jaunty angle..that always reminds me of the SpongeBob cartoon about Squidward and the seabears.."Never wear your hat at a jaunty angle..sea bears hate that!"

 A black lace covered hat with a bow..

A cool black and white straw hat with white flower trim.

A blue velour (this may be mohair) with a birdcage net and buckle trim..Shagadelic Baby! This one needs a mini skirt and white go-go boots!

This is an over the top red and white floral covered one..I think these are geraniums.

This has pretty blue velvet roses..it looks like ones my aunt's bridesmaids wore in 1969..except her's were pale green (I was the flower girl) I have another boxful I haven't even taken pics of yet..some need steaming and some are plain-ish and may get some flower trim...I can never leave well enough alone! Wishing you a dreamy week! Til next time! Julia

Fireflies!

Hi guys! It is firefly season here in East Tennessee. As dusk approaches, the fireflies come out from whence they have been napping to twinkle and blink and my son and grandson start yelling..THE FIREFLIES ARE OUT!

Fireflies prefer humid climates and Tennessee is perfect for them. Some people also call them "lightning bugs" and they are actually a nocturnal beetle. They are pretty friendly..I have never gotten a bite from one anyways! This is my daughter and grandson "on the hunt"(yes those are pajamas..if he is at home, he is in his "cozy pants"). There is actually something stress relieving about catching them. We are a "catch and release" family.

I had a hard time getting a pic of him standing still! The fireflies blinking is actually a mate-ing call *cue the Barry White....Leeeet's get it oooooonnn* I have read that after they hatch some species do not even eat..just find a mate..do the deed.."plant" their eggs in the ground and go to firefly heaven! That is some single minded bugginess there!

My son Jack still sporting his baseball uniform and his sister's flip flops. Jack and I started a family tradition when he was younger of catching and naming each firefly with cool and crazy names..Fernando, Elinor, Theodore...it was funny what he would come up with!

Pretty proud! I have read the story of "Gus the Firefly" from the Dr. Suess series (not by him but from his book club) to all my kids and now Hunter..Zow-Wow!

After about 2 dozen pics I finally caught ONE flashing..they are trixie to photograph! I decided most pics you see (as below) are taken with a timer and multiple exposures and layered.

These are also from East TN.You don't usually see this many flashing at once, but when they peak it is like you have Christmas twinkle lights in your trees.

I hope sometime you get to experience this for yourself! For me, it is a moment to slow down and quit whatever I am doing and spend some precious minutes with my little men..they won't be little for long and I suspect catching and naming fireflies will just not quite be the same by myself! 'Til next time! Julia