Accessories Of Old

Close up on vintage millinery flowers

A few days ago I blogged about the boxes of vintage millinery flowers we opened ..

Today I had the time to go through some of them. I felt as if I had stepped into a meadow of  fabric color. Some of them are so delicate and beautiful that it makes me want to put them in a glass container so they cannot be touched ! I am sure all of you out there that have the same appreciation for them understand where I am coming from!! Saying this I will share!! So as promised they will be up on our website Accessories of Old  for all to own by next week.

These are but a few of the lovelies... 

 

As you can see they are made in Czechoslavakia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holiday cards with a difference

  Yes it's that time of year again where we are all looking for that little something that is unique and special to give those we care about. I personaly am  sick of seeing all the same old holiday cards year in and year out... so with this said I am proud to announce the birth of some unusual holiday cards that our stationery line "Tjomies" is producing.

My sweet,wonderful and truly talented partner Warren loves to doodle on paper whenever he has a chance. He doodles when he is on the phone, in a meeting -  basically any time he has a pen and paper close by. So we have put his doodles together and produced a range of holiday greetings.

Take a look for yourself I am sure you will agree they are unique... I love them ..in fact think they are bloody marvelous!

 

  

    What we have done for all the inter faith families out there is make a pack of cards that have both Hannukah and Christmas cards inside - both with the same design but with different colors to represent both holidays. 

                               This just a taste of what we have to offer.

             

The full range of the cards will be  in our store  in Bethesda from next week or otherwise for those who cannot come in they will be online at Accessories of old

 

A visit from a truly talented crazy quilter

Today we were lucky enough to have a  visit from a wonderful customer who has been in the store before. Her name is Susan Elliott.

This is one seriously talented woman.

After chatting for a while I put two and two together and worked out she is the brain behind a fantastic blog called plays-with-needles- boy was I was excited.

You see not only have I been told about her by other crazy quilters but I have also spent hours on her blog looking at her wonderful works of pure creativity. Her work is fantastic - really one of a kind.

Take a look for yourselves visit her blog  plays - with - needles you will see exactly what I am talking about.

Here is a little taster of what she does from a work called Tea Therapy

  

The attention to detail that Susan has is unbelievable...and by the way not only is she extremely talented but such a incredibly friendly and  lovely lady too. 

Vintage millinery flowers

Today I arrived at the store and there sitting on the counter were two black boxes. I looked at them briefly and got distracted with customers coming in.When I eventually did get to them boy oh boy ..

Oh my goodness was I in for a suprise .... Inside each box was a world of color just waiting to be aired. Each box holds the most beautiful combination of fabric vintage millinery flowers. Stunningly beautiful.

 

 

These have been secretly tucked away waiting to breath. ... they are so beautiful I have to remind myself to breath !!!!

 

 

Just love these roses.. think of all the things one can do with them...

 

A little peek into the boxes... we will load these on our website www.accessoriesofold.com this week

Vintage gowns

What I love about having my store is that you never know what each day is going to bring and who is going to walk through that door with their own story to tell.

I met two lovely sisters today that came in with their own collection of the most beautiful vintage dresses that they have gathered over the years

 The sisters Donna and Barbara have been models for the last 26 years.  

Thus each has collected their own private stash of the most heavenly shoes, hats, jackets and dresses.

What I love about these two unique ladies is not only the fact that they have modeled, raised families but also are  both professionals each running their own company. 

I once again take my hat off to all the strong independant  woman out there  ... 

So, if you are interested in purchasing any of these lovely items from D&B Private Collection you can go to our ebay store:  http://stores.ebay.com/Accessoriesofold

In the meanwhile feast your eyes on these..

      

      

     

     

These are just a few to give you a taste ...

     

Here is Donna modeling the most fantastic feather hat from the 20's..

    

Here are the two sister Barbara and Donna not only beautiful but such lovely ladies too..

     

Gift tags

For all of you out there that do not have time to buy a gift tag or don't want to spend the money ... Here is a way you can make your own.

 It is easy and does not pull at the purse strings.

I always buy decorative paper blocks whenever I see ones that catch my eye...thats my thing beautiful paper and fabric...(hey it could be worse!) 

 So what I do is the following.

1. Cut out some decorative paper into the shape of a tag.

2.Punch a hole at the top and thread ribbon through.

3. Take any embellishments you have and color coordinate it with the paper.

4. WIth craft glue paste it and wait for it to dry.... voila a gift tag that is hand made, straight from the heart and you can always leave the back plain to write a message.

       

     

     

     

Goodbye's are hard to do

                                                    

I am heartbroken today.

A very close friend of mine has left the USA and is heading back to Johannesburg to live.

 You know being a immigrant is hard enough. It is hard starting all over again. It is hard finding friends you can relate to and its hard feeling like the place you have chosen is actually home.

We get to choose our families in these circumstances. Our friends become family and our biggest support system we have.

So, when one of our friends leave it really is like loosing a member of your family.

Unfortunately being a immigrant leads you to the path of endless goodbyes.

I have lost count of all the goodbyes.. Grandparents,siblings,aunts and cousins ...  we count the days until their arrival .. but really in the back of our minds the coundown to the goodbye part starts the minute they step off the plane.

 Each goodbye chips away at your soul more and more making you harder and feeling more alone.

For all these times like I had today having to say goodbye I am grateful for my creativity. At least it gives me a world I can escape into. A world filled with shape,color and  yes most certainly no goodbyes.

Our first retail birthday

     Hooray !!!!!!!!!!! We made it! We have just turned 1 in retail years....

A year ago we decided to launch our first retail store. Its been a long slog especially in this economy....

 but hey we have made it to our first birthday.

I want to thank each and every wonderful customer that has come through our door.

Hope to see many more in the years to come..

Happy birthday to us..ta ta ta ...happy birthday to us...ta ta ta....happy birthday dear accessories of old...happy  birthday to us.....

PS ( In celebration of our first retail birthday we are offering online at www.accessoriesofold.com free shipping for the month.)

Handmade gifts

Now that Thanksgiving is over and we are all in the process of getting through the over indulgence of turkey we  have time to get our minds ready to look towards the next festivities of our next eating frenzy!

Today is December the 1st.

This date is significant due to two things..

1 . World Aids Day

2. The beginning of the countdown towards the end of the month.

With the economy the way it is at the moment I am sure we are all thinking of ways to cut back on gift spending.

 I personally think handmade gifts are the best gifts to receive.

 It shows someone actually took the time to make ME something... and in this day and age its truly unique with all the running around we all do.

There really is nothing better than making something for someone special. You can personalise it and it comes straight from the heart.

I went past the shops today and picked up some little composition books to embellish and make into little gifts. 

All you need for this is some paper to cover the book with.

Craft glue that will work on paper as well as fabric.

 Some trim be it lace or ribbon. 

Embellishments which include buttons,beads,buckles,sequin etc..

A bit of creativity and time.....

The finished product ...

                               

The great thing about these gifts is that they cost less than $10 to make and you can give them as a gift on their own or together with a little something as a thought.

 

      

 

 

Hannukah gift

With Hannukah coming closer I put together some really cute little knick knacks that I thought would make a more unique hannukah gift.

Firstly I made a little book and embellished it with these cool vintage mother of pearl buttons I have with the star of david engraved into them....

 

Together with some vintage velvet,ribbon and a mother of pearl buckle and leaf sequin I decorated the front of the book....

 

I love the leaf sequin they make me think of angel wings next on either side of the buttons.

Together with the book I put a bar of soap that has such a lovely Jewish graphic and an vintage Czech necklace that is made out of seed beads the most beautiful shade of blue. ... and for the final touch  embellished the necklace with a cassein dress clip.

Together with ribbon,metallic trim and a fabric millinery  flower I wrapped it  ...

I added my own little handmade note at the end.... HAPPY HANNUKAH....

PS. For any of the materials used in this project you can order than online at Accessoriesofold and do not forget to mention this blog on our comments to get "free" shipping.