Some days I get happy because the world is stuffed with wonderful things just waiting to be discovered. On my joy list this week? Finley's Egyptian dance (laugh out loud funny!), Dorothy Whipple's "High Wages" (I have acquired a lovely vintage orange and white Penguin edition this weekend), the cream chiffon top I am wearing to my Barbie's wedding on Good Friday, this utterly divine idea for storing ribbon, and the Delicious Miss Dahl, because no matter whether Sophie does or doesn't live on the scrumptiously pretty set and despite all the snarking her cookery program has inspired in grown men who should know better than to dress their envy in vitriol, I am thoroughly enjoying this series and won't hear another word against it! Do you hear me Giles Coren? Girls like us ADORE watching girls just like us (but prettier!) whip up a rhubarb and rosewater version of  Eton mess in the prettiest kitchen in the world and no amount of schoolboy twittery sniping is going to changes our minds ok??



Anyway what was I getting to? Ooooh yes Nostalgia Organics. Because Elea Lutz's darling joyful website makes me smile and who couldn't love a bar of organic everything, citrussy-lemongrass exfoliating soap wrapped in vintage inspired fabric and christened Happy Days Soap? The whole matter just oozes joy and a positive spin on the damn caboodle that is living in the twenty first century doesn't it? I mean who needs to stress about who to vote for  in an up-coming election when one could take a shower that makes us smile, dab a bit of Dilly Dally on our pulse points and set about creating something that will have us swoon in sheer rhubarby delight...

Happy days. Because we have to pocket them. And line them with lavender. And bake from the heart and love with all we've got and read all that makes us want to explode with inspiration and seek joy for the hell of it. Because even if the country is going to the dog's, and no amount of that nice Mr Cameron can save it, we can make our own worlds, the worlds within our own four walls as joyful as possible and Nostalgia Organics is a company making that kind of joy it's raison d'etre...

Happy days my Sweets.

Oh now really, don't people go about just creating the cutest little things!
This morning I'm a teeny bit besotted by these scrumptious pencil cases from Marble Rose, which seem to me to be the pretty little epitome of a nostalgic childhood...

Though they are going for a song, Fleur at Marble Rose, paints and personalises the boxes to order, using vintage transfers, them ships them worldwide, so nurseries across the land can enjoy a little bit of all our yesterdays...

Oh to be a babba again.

 

  

If I could give each and everyone of you a tiny little gift, then these orgeous little books full of labels and stickers would be it because they are quite simply the putteriest, prettiest, cheapest little treat a housekeeper could have…

Coming from two of my favourite companies both the French General labels and the Cath Kidston stickers are equally as charming...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there is just no end to the things you can do with them, from labelling home-made stores of jams and chutneys to creating the prettiest freezer around, using them as book-plates, wrapping books in vintage paper and labelling them, popping them on gifts, using them to prettify the plainest of envelopes, creating little tissue paper wrapped blocks of the plainest soap to bring a little French style chic to the bathroom, labelling home-made cleaning products and using them to add a darling little touch of home to brown-paper bags of sandwiches…

 

Truly I am obsessed with them: all my friends have received them as little gifts from me, and every time I think I have worn out their uses I will discover something else just begging to be labelled with a little bit of love...

Tina over at The English Muse recently posted about the really rather wonderful column that is My Space in the Guardian newspaper. Featuring the "cherished room" of many a  British star in their own field whether it be writing, fashion designing, cooking or acting, etc, etc, the column throws up a myriad of rooms and more pertinently from my point of view a gorgeous explanation of the rooms history, its inspiration and the reasons why it is indeed so very cherished by it's owner...

While Tina featured the rooms of British fashion designers, I have just spent many a happy moment re-visiting my favorite spaces online and found myself drawn to an eclectic collection of rooms which if drawn together in one house could quite easily satisfy my every creative whim...

First on my list, is the room above, Sam Roddick's "film room", a quirky room stuffed with nostalgia and the kind of reclaimed "objet trouve" girls like me dream of happening upon. I rather think the arrangement of old portraits above the fireplace is nothing short of wonderful...


Next up on my list is milliner Stephen Jones garden room, a space he describes as the perfect place to throw a milliners tea-party. I mean really, who wouldn't love to don a scrumptiously silly fascinator (love that word!) and eat cupcakes in an ivy sprinkled dining room?


For a room in which to read, or indeed, play Monopoly by the fire, I choose Jan Pienowski's living room.  Look at those books! Look at that divine red leather reading chair! Jan is the author of Meg and Mog and has lived in this house for more than 43 years. To me this is the epitome of living with what you love, and honouring the four walls of a house you are thoroughly committed to...


Next on my list is Alice Temperleys studio. Renowned for her oh so pretty dresses, this is such a feminine space and if you look closely you will see some truly quirky rather wonderful objects like that lamp hanging from the rafters. Surrounding yourself with all manner of collectibles seems like such an incredibly wise way to spark creativity. I can't think straight in a spartan space...


In my experience conservatories are often the rooms that fall foul to bad decoration as if those who build them issue rules on their design and will only allow the provision of a wicker sofa or two, a few bundles of twigs and the odd rubber plant or else the entire contraption will be knocked to the ground. Which is why m'dears I find Celia Birtwells Flower Room  so utterly charming. Even with fairy lights, gingham and welly boots abounding, this still manages to be a peaceful space and seems just right for quiet contemplation or indeed sketching the garden outside...


Next up is Lauren Child's (of Charlie and Lola fame) kitchen. Isn't it just downright fabulous? I love the idea of  kids banging on the piano while I stir spaghetti and I do believe there is absolutely nothing precious about this room at all. I want to be sitting right at that table, blogging and drinking coffee while Finn sits next to me splashing paint and telling me all about his day...


And finally if you don't mind, I want to retire to Lulu Guinness's bedroom. Though I can't quite take to the end-table at the foot of the bed, the rest of the room is so fabulously girly and I rather think it must be heaven to wake up under a satin quilt and the sprawling branches of a magnolia tree. Divine, divine, divine...

And so that concludes my little tour of other peoples houses. Which is your favorite? Which gives you the heebie jeebies and would have you hiring a skip in which to banish all that ugliness? Which room in your house is the one you most adore?
So many questions, so little time. I keep forgetting it's Christmas.

After much dithering about the state of the magazine nation I have come to the conclusion that Easy Living is almost definitely the magazine most in tune with the lifestyle a heap of Vintage Housekeeping bloggers are waxing lyrical about daily...

This month it has outdone itself with a supplement featuring fifty of the finest independant shops in the UK, many of which, rather deliciously have online stores too.
So in an effort to make last minute Christmas shopping a little easier for my fellow UK readers I hereby present quick links to the most scrumptious of the scrumptious. Don't blame me if you spend a silly amount of money now will you?

Made In Hastings.
Winner of the Country Living Business award 2007, Made In Hastings is a co-operative featuring an eclecticly delicious collection  of handmade often local loveliness. Look out for the Sophie Azimont paper bunting...

Berry Red
Featured on Brocante before, Berry Red is a Hereford based store with a rather stunning website featuring all the latest Greengate products, a collection of vintage wares and much else besides. Love, love, lurve the Squint style Kimono Fabric Bench...

Colloco
With a simple, easy to navigate website, Colloco is a one-stop shop for loveliness with a huge range of wares perfect for Christmas shopping. I particularly love the Keep Calm It's Only Christmas cards...

Law and Company
Based in my sisters neck of the woods, I do believe I may have received a gift or two from this lovely little boutique. An ode to decorative living, there is a very hard to find in the UK, rustic crown, available in the Christmas section...

Re-Found
Now ubiqtuous on every Uk Vintage shoppers boutique list, Re-Found is described by Easy Living as "shopping nirvana, plain and simple" and I couldn't let this list pass without directing you to go see the French "Antique" Journals which are quite frankly close being the nearest thing I've ever seen to notebook heaven.

Decorative Country Living
Still one of the finest County lifestyle boutiques in the UK today, Decorative Living's online store is a credit to Amanda Knox's eye for truly beautiful things. The mirrors are to die for...

Period Features
Like happening across an old fashioned hardware shop made pretty, Period Features is jam-packed full of quirky loveliness you probably didn't know you know you need, but will henceforth find yourself unable to live without. Case in point: almost everything in the Sundries collection.

Wren
Owned by sisters Casey Gregory and Jemima Johnson, the newly opened online division of Wren is quirky enough to charm your pants off. Featuring everything from old fashioned wooden skipping ropes to Cosy Cottage Socks (yum!), the French Lavender Glass Bottle is (obviously!) a favorite of mine this year...

Sage Inspired By Life
Smacked with luxury, Sage online is a scrumptiously well-edited collection of tiny bits of cosy nothing selected by Becky Sage. My favorites? The rustic-ly lovely sticky notes.

Lavenders Blue
Described as "a real piece of France for you and your home", Lavenders Blue features a lovely collection of French furniture, vintage good's and accessories. I would sell my Mummy for the grey Library Bookcase with Ladder, but obviously I would rather you didn't tell her...

Diana Forrester
Based in Edinburgh, this online store features an affordable collection of lovelies for the home, some of which are rare around these parts, not least of all the gorgeous collection of embroidered shelf-trim so beloved of Vintage Housekeepers from near and far.

And finally...



McCully & Crane
Who cared enough to create a lovely little tour of their shop for our pleasure, and have such a fine little, rather bonkers collection of vintage lovelies, I feel inspired to find my way to Rye because online shopping isn't available. Where Rye  may be...

 (All images credited on the pinboard)

Because it is November and November isn't clean and fresh like September, or sparkly and twinkly like December. Because it is cold and grey and there are only so many soul reviving cups of tea a girl can have. Because November is just crying out for a splash of pretty colour and sometimes when it is very cold, inspiration wraps itself up in Welsh Tartan blankets and refuses to come out and play. Because I just thought a wander around my lovely Pinboard might give you a dose of happy and happy is hard to say no to isn't it?

"Mostly they are clean-shaved, but I saw one the other day with a beard." She lifted a warning finger.

"The truth was revealed! My nose!"

So there you have it, quite the most nonsensical captions ever to accompany really rather lovely turn of the century illustrations from the constant source of Brocante inspiration that is The Girls Own Annual. Just the thing to brighten up the kind of Tuesday when you are imprisoned in your own home with a six year old suffering from a set of swollen glands that have quite transformed his face. Bless his little heart.

Have a gorgeous day won't you Housekeepers?

We knew this day would come. We knew that if we kept everything we've got crossed that one day the good people of Anthropologie would flit across the Channel on a cloud of pretty bohemia and decorate our lives everafter. Because yes indeed, any minute now Anthroplogie will open it's door on London's Regent Street and we who have quietly loved their wares from afar will begin making pilgrimages to the Capital to ooh and ahh and spend the Christmas present budget on loveliness it is clear we will not live without.

Go visit Anthroplogie.Co.Uk ,and on the way give thanks to Holly at Decor8 because without her beady eye all manner of scrumptiousness would escape me.

I have no words. My head is full of bonbons and jelly babies and dazzle drops and other truly scrumptious sweeties you can buy by the quarter. Life is supposed to be this pretty. Kitchens are supposed to be filled with polka dotted appliances and abundant with cupcakes. A person cannot have too much pretty. Actually thats a lie, there is a certain type of pink pretty that makes my head hurt, but anyway what I am trying to say is that I heart this Aga. In fact I heart all Aga's: I would just have to move house and sell my body to get one.

Oh and while we are talking Sweeties, have you seen Hope and Greenwood's new book? 

"My portraits capture the souls of heroines, everyday women who have found strength and personal victory in their diverse experiences. The portraits carry a range of emotion reflective of the life events that have shaped their character. Their historical reference invites us to look at reflections of the past to learn about ourselves."

Given my penchant for art featuring ladies with over-sized heads, it won't surprise you to know that Cassandra Barney's portraits of everyday heroines are right up my rose sprinkled street...

I have recently taken delivery of a large collection of Christmas Edition 1950's women's magazines and while perusing them for Vintage Housekeeping inspiration, it struck me that it is the letter page that is the most telling of it's time...the page that reveals most about the women, etiquette, and relative innocence of the era, while I suspect, showing us that the world really hasn't changed at all...

"I saw her at a sherry party: the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. She was perfect, from her smooth gold curls to her dainty shoes. Her black dress fitted like a sheath and over one arm she carried a heavenly silver fox cape. This I thought, is how one should look, should dress. I moved closer and heard her saying to the man, "No, no, we won't be going away at all this year- too difficult to leave the hens."
E.W. Dublin.

"I'm a different woman now. Hubby's socks neatly darned (without a last minute plea from him), the Winters knitting taken from the drawer and completed, a library book read within the allotted time, hair carefully set at night, child in bed without fuss- and the reason? The televisions gone bust!!!"
R.C., Ilkley, Yorks. 

"At lunchtime I was sharing a table in a cafe with two ladies, who seemed to be well known to each other. One was very old and looked as if she had little comfort i life and few of this world's goods. Presently the other left, saying "Good Morning" to us. The little old lady then called for her bill. "But it is paid" said the waitress, "your friend paid it." "How could that be? I do not know her." She turned to me and I thought I saw tears of thankfulness in her eyes. "Well she has proved your friend hasn't she?" I said "And I know it has given her pleasure." I gave thanks that there are good Samaritans amongst us still."
D.P., Bristol.

"My Mother knitted my baby daughter a horror of a woollie- in old rose, bottle green and mustard. Two months later, I thought I'd better dress her in it as we were visiting Mother. Removing the child's coat, Mother said: "Goodness! Who on earth knitted that monstrosity?"
Mrs R.B., Kirkaldy, Fife.

"Noise from the neighbours may be tiresome, but I wish you'd try to think of it this way: The slammed car door noises may be the fault of the car manufacturers; the smoky bonfires were meant to flare out, burn the rubbish and then die quickly. One sometimes has to rev the car engine. The noisy door slamming inside was caused by a draught of wind. Have an inward when you hear your neighbours laugh loudly, and wonder what the joke is.
Perhaps the person who hammers in the evening has a very long day at work and is trying to build something that he can't afford to buy for his hardworking wife? Do find excuses for others, you'll be much happier... I know, I've tried."
Mrs. D., West Wickham, Kent.

"When my daughter first started school, I went along to meet her, and found a long line of children waiting expectantly. My child, a sweet look on her face, took me by the hand, and led me up to them, saying "This is my Mummy, isn't she lovely?". The children looked disappointed, because between you and me, I am a plain Jane. Though I have always seen the funny side of this incident, it brought tears to my eyes at the time."
A.M.W., Hastings.

Through bad luck, we have been almost stony broke; consequently, I have only been buying just enough food for husband, myself and two children. The other day- calamity!- we had unexpected guests to tea. In the cupboard was just enough bread for ourselves and a small tin of meat. We talked for a while, then I went to get tea ready. I opened the cupboard and behold! half a dozen tomatoes, a loaf and some biscuits! Staggered but overjoyed, I made quite a good meal. Afterward, the mystery was solved. My sister who lives down the street, had seen my visitors arrive, and, guessing my plight, sneaked in the back way while we chatted and did a fairy godmother act!"
J.W., Yorks.