My accidental collections: Royal souveneirs of the past!

Hello all!

I hope you have all been having a wonderful long weekend of Jubilations for Queenie.

Now, today I thought what would be better to share with you than my collection of royal memorabilia. I call it an accidental collection as it is one which has come together somewhat by...well...accident. I adore the images on vintage royal memorabilia, and the glorious colours, and so after picking up a a few little things and showing my admiration of certain other pieces, my family soon began to gift me items they found.

And thus, my collection came about!

 

My first piece of royal memorabilia, a jewelled carriage brooch from the 1953 coronation! Gifted to me by my Auntie.

This darling little coronation toothbrush mug was a present from my lovely chum Frankie as we perused a rather fruitful carboot. I bought him a royal mug at the same carboot, a sort of royal present swap!

 

 I also picked up this beautiful coronation flag for only £5....near perfect condition and rescued from under a pile of junk in a box. I told you it was a fruitful carboot that day!

 

Silver jubilee mugs: gift from my Dad and Step-Mum, coronation mug: gift from my Mum.

Silver jubilee glasses: gifts from my Dad and Step-Mum.

Silver jubilee shot glasses: gift from my Dad and Step-Mum.

1937 coronation book: a super bargain at only 50p from a carboot.

Look at the photos of a young Queen, with her Mum, Dad and sister!

My gorgeous tin coronation souvenir plates: a gift from my Dad and Step-Mum. 

These live on the wall either side of the bed, Queenie on my side and Philip on Mr Mike's, naturally.

My parents gave me this beautiful framed print of the Queen that had been hanging on the wall in their house making me jealous for years! She has glittery jewellery and crown!

 

Coronation hairclips! Purchased from ebay.

Wonderfully grotesque Diana and Charles teatowel: gift from my Dad and Step-Mum.

My lovely pal Hannah sent me this vintage postcard.

 

This impressive tankard has a copper lustre effect and is 13cm high! It was produced by Ridgways in 1953 to celebrate the coronation and is truly wonderful.

It was bought for me by my Dad and Step-Mum.

This little chap is a beefeater given to me by my Dad and Step-Mum.

 

This wonderful item was produced to celebrate the 1937 coronation of King George VI. It is a 3 piece brass-plated money box, and I was lucky enough to pick it up from a carboot for £3.

 

This odd looking chap is a beefeater that lives on a rug in my flat. I, in fact, have two....no idea of why they exist, but I am rather fond of them nonetheless.

Passed on to me from....well, can you guess?

Why, my Dad and Step-Mum of course!

 I  don't think I realised quite how much I had until I set about on my mission to photograph it for this post. Blimey!

I hope you've not dozed off just yet, for I have one more piece to show you...

 

 This is my very own homemade Diamond jubilee souvenir; a pretty royal rosette badge!

I spent Sunday working in the WI tent at Battersea Park, teaching soggy but excitable children to make these as souvenirs for the day. The rosette's went down a treat, and I had a jolly good time!

And the best bit? It is based on a rosette badge that was given out as a souvenir for the 1953 coronation, which my boss was lucky enough to find and decided to recreate.

Have you got a collection of royal memorabilia? Have you been making anything special for the jubilee?

Do show and tell if so, I'd love to see!

Pip pip xx

Early morning postal surprises.

This morning my postie arrived to my door with a parcel...a big, heavy parcel no less!

 I blooming LOVE the arrival of a surprise parcel, and this one from my parents was no exception.
 

 

A selection of New York illustrated postcards, a gift wrapping set. union jack bunting, loads of chocolates, and a book called "The New Look: A Social History of the Forties and Fifties"

  

Don't you just love the cover illustration? Wonderful!

Receiving a parcel of such a calibre is a lovely way to start the day, I'm sure you'll agree!

Pip pip xx

Sewing machine of my dreams....

Has anyone else seen the Singer 160 years anniversary machine?

 

This beauty is available from John Lewis for £399.

It has been designed to reference the iconic design of the early metal singer machines, but with the needs of the modern dressmaker in mind. And I think it's pretty darling.

I dislike the design of modern sewing machines; there seems to be a rule about making sewing machines white and boring nowadays, and it has always baffled me. Sewers are creative people....and creative people like things that look pretty, right? I know I am a sucker for a practical item that has been designed to look more interesting than the norm, hence my laptop purchase being swung by the fact that I found a pink one amidst what was then a sea of black and chrome (That might just be me, although I'm sure it's not!).

I feel like the world is unjust because I can't afford to own it! I'm pretty sure that my life would be much improved by this glorious machine.*

Are you an advocate of form over function (or at least form equal to function)....or a practical buyer who is not taken in by bright colours and retro style?

Pip pip xx

*NB if you are rich and frivolous/kind and would like to donate me said machine, I will be forever in your debt....FOREVER!

The Great British Sunshine

Bonjour ladies!

What a lovely week it's been here in the uk! We have had glorious sunshine...something I had almost forgotten existed after the dull days we seemed to be having an awful lot of in recent months.

Yesterday, with the sun beating down and armed with a selection of picnic treats, me and my pal Amy made our way to Regents Park to bask in the wonderful weather!

 

My outfit today was a rather patriotic red, white and blue ensemble...

Red sun hat: antique and vintage shop.

1940's bolero: ebay.

Sun dress: secondhand emporium.

Basket bag: carboot.

 

I adore the print on this bolero.

 

Our picnic- crisps, dips, pitta bread, strawberries, gin and tonics, pimms and lemonades, bucks fizz...

 

Not to mention the red, white and blue fondant fancies which we were incredibly excited about!

What have you been doing to celebrate the wonderful weather this week dear readers? I do hope you've had a lovely time.

Pip pip xx

The day I went to tea with Larry Lamb...

From L-R: My gorgeous colleague Lauren, the charming Larry Lamb, my lovely boss Angel, and little old me!

Yes, a couple of weeks ago, Mr Larry Lamb came round to the Vintage Patisserie HQ, where we proceeded to drink tea and talk about the 1950's. We were filming a segment for a special Jubilee programme which will be screening at 9pm on BBC1 on Thursday 24th of May.

Oh me oh my, how I hope I don't come across too nervous!

Pip pip xx

Hats off! (and onto the wall): A DIY storage solution

I have had this big picture frame in my possession since I was about 15...my Step-Mum painted it pink for me and it had been housing various things within it's frame since then.

Now, as we are finally making some headway with the spare room of me & Mr Mike's new flat I thought that the frame was ripe for reinvention! And what better than a novel way of storing and displaying my hats?

I thought I'd share with you all how to do it.

What you will need:

 A paintbrush, your chosen paint, some strong wire or twine for hanging the frame, a hammer, nails, and a large frame.

*First, be sure to cover the floor with newspapers to avoid any disasterous spillages*

Now get painting!

Make sure you get into every nook and cranny of the frame. I painted the back board in the same paint as the frame, but you could cover the board with a beautiful fabric from your stash, or simply a contrasting colour paint.

 

Wait until the paint is thoroughly dry before hanging in it's designated wall space (you may be an impatient kinda gal like me, but you certainly don't want paint marks on your wall, so just hold tight!). 

My frame is a particularly large and heavy one, so I restrung the back with wire bought from a local hardware shop to give it plenty of strength.

 

Hammer nails carefully into the back board in whatever arrangement you like, thinking about spacing to fit your glorious hat collection in as best as possible.

Et voila!

A simple solution to the age-old problem of so many hats, only one head!

It keeps them from getting crushed in boxes, airs them to minimise the attack of damp that always seems to strike (at least in our home) in the cold winter months, and saves precious space for....well, more stuff!

This is also a great trick for fellow renters who are looking for storage and display solutions without putting too many nails in the wall!

I was feeling a little trigger-happy with the paintbrush so I also gave this chap a little lick of paint as his yellow pine-y appearance was just not cutting it...

 

Pip pip xx

 

Cold weather turbans: my new love!

Frequent readers of the blog may have observed my Nan's incredible millinery skills (all self-taught).

Well, just the other week she called me and told me she had created a knitted turban headband, to which I gave a little squeal and of course asked her to send me one immediately!

When it arrived to me it seemingly brought the cold weather with it...but no matter, because it is a gorgeous creation and warm to boot. I popped it on atop my curls, and there it has remained pretty much ever since!

So, naturally, I just had to share this vintage inspired beauty with you.

What do you girls reckon?

 

The beauty of this is that you can mould the top part to sit however you'd like it to.

 

On it's first outing, I teamed it with a dark green 1930's style dress (a charity shop find, cut from a 1930's pattern it would seem, but using modern dressmaking techniques) and a black beaded cardigan. 

 

My nan has just ventured into the world of technology by way of her first ever Trishe Darling website, and is taking orders currently by phone (an internet shop is next on the list to master, but for now I think the website is more than enough for her to be getting on with).

The turbans are available in a variety of colours, and what's more, come at a cost of only £25 each- positively a bargain for all the wear you'll get out of it. 

Perfect for adding a touch of vintage glamour to any outfit.

Find the turbans and her other millinery creations here!

Pip pip xx

Little Miss Marmalade

This morning my snoozing was disturbed by the postman at 7:30am. 

This seems to be his chosen time for delivering parcels. However, I don't often mind, as it is almost always something to brighten my day (it's not often you get a boring parcel is it?).

This is what the postie delivered to me this morning....

 

A belated Easter package from my Dad and Step-Mum!

Including chocolate, Jelly Belly, Haribo, and this lovely lady.....

 

Meet Miss Marmalade!

 

How could her delightful little face possibly not brighten my day?

I adore getting parcels in the post.

Pip pip xx

A little trip homewards...

For those of you who read my ramblings on this blog, I'm sure you have noticed that there's nothing more I like than to take a trip back to Norfolk to visit my family. That is except from taking a trip home to rummage for pretty things with my family.

So when I got the opportunity to pop home for the weekend last month I simply leapt at the chance!

 Lucky for me, it coincided with the wonderful summery weather which was perfect for a bit of vintage hunting and a garden party to celebrate my Mumma's birthday.

When I arrived home I was greeted by some rather brilliant presents from both sets of parents...

 

I spent the Saturday on a hunt for exciting things with my Dad and Step-Mum, visiting the Loose's fleamarket, charity shops, and an antiques shop. I came home with a few delightful treats:

 

Communist China (apparently) era waste paper basket - £3.50, Yellow 1960's handbag - £12,

1940's sunglasses - £5, jewelled clip on earrings - £1.50.

In the evening I travelled over to my Mum's to celebrate her birthday with a garden party. They have a pretty enchanting garden (vegetable patch, shepherds hut, fire pit, trampoline, climbing frame, wendy house, potting shed) which made the perfect setting for the festivities.

Cue a few drunken people tripping over guy ropes to the tipi; children running wild; an incident with some children, a purple drink, my 1940's dress and resulting in a very soggy me; and some very sore heads in the morning...not mine, you understand! I was keeping myself in a good state so I could fully enjoy the carboot on Sunday morning!

Speaking of which, due to the glorious weather we were enjoying, was out in force. I bought some things for the flat (pewter swan, 1950's magazine wall racks, eggcup, knitting bag....) and a couple of items of clothing (1960's cardigan and a 1940's dress in need of some quite serious tlc) of which I did not get around to taking photos of but I can assure you were all items I truly *NEEDED*...well, as much as anyone can ever need a pewter swan or another knitting bag. These things are surely crucial to my existence, right?!

We were later met by my chap, who drove down to Norwich with a big van to be filled with the backlog of carboot treasures which I never EVER have enough room in my suitcase to get back to London, and some furniture acquired from my parents. What I was expecting to be a few bits and pieces soon turned into a rather crammed van full of belongings! I can tell you that it is very stressful trying to justify to yourself (and your rather minimalist boyfriend) why you need quite so much stuff. I think the prospect of unloading said stuff and carrying it up 3 flights of stairs upon arrival back in London didn't exactly help!

But the main thing is, we did it. Our flat is looking rather cosy and all that stuff o'mine are finding their homes within our little flat!

Did anyone else utilise the lovely weather to get themselves a carboot fix?

Pip pip xx

Photos from Christmas number 2....just four months too late!

Hello blogland!

It's been an absolute age and I'm really not quite sure why I've been away so long...a January full of nightshifts, then a change of job, some of my best friends moving up to London, and the continual settling into/decorating/unpacking and sorting of our flat seems to have left me exhausted and constantly busy!

But for those of you wondering, I am still here, and filled with good intentions when it comes to getting back into the blogosphere! I have certainly missed you all dearly.

*  *  *  *

Now this is a post which I have had unfinished in draft form for several months now and it seems a shame to waste it. So please excuse my absolutely incredible (ridiculous, some might even say) lateness with what is to follow...

Christmas part two: Norfolk

Having had a pre-Christmas with Mr Mike, I set off for a nightshift at work, followed straight after by a very bleary-eyed 6:30am tube/coach/train journey homeward.

Needless to say I was KNACKERED. But this would certainly not be allowed to spoil my Christmas this year. Last year was ruined by my catching of Bird Flu on Christmas eve which meant I spent the Christmas period in bed/sleeping/not eating/feeling generally awful. And I was not going to have a repeat of that!

I got myself a few hours sleep when I finally arrived home to my Dad's house, and then proceeded to start the festivities with my family and best friends. We drank mulled wine, ate mince pies, went to the pub, and then went to midnight mass (where we met a man who genuinely claimed to have once been 'The best choirboy in England', before singing incredibly badly/loudly to all the hymns).

On Christmas morning we travelled to my Nan and Grandad's where we opened presents, ate huge amounts of food (as is obligatory over the festive period) and laughed at my Nan who got so drunk she fell off her chair and crawled to the kitchen!

 

 

 Stuffed to bursting, we headed home and just SAT all evening. We watched tv and ate cheese and crackers and lots of cholocate. Just as it should be.

The next morning me and my brother headed off to my Mum's to exchange a few more presents and eat yet more food!

 

 

All in all, it was a jolly wonderful couple of days.  

A VAST improvement on last year.

Pip pip xx