Penncroft Attic Photoshoot

Back in June of last year, sister-in-law, Emily, and myself started a vintage Etsy shop. After a few sales and a lot of New Years motivation we are kickstarting the shop! Today we took a little trip across the street to the State Park by my house. We wanted to showcase this beautiful fox fur collar coat we picked up at a vintage warehouse in Philly. A simple dress form didn't do this stylishly mod coat justice, but Emily is rockin' it!

Want it for yourself? Hurry up before it's gone! Penncroft Attic

Our Etsy Shop: Penncroft Attic

I've had an Etsy shop "open" for quite some time. I've often thought that I'd like to sell vintage finds from all my thrifting hunts, but I've never gotten my act together (much like many of my ideas). However, my sister-law, Emily, has a shared interest in all things vintage, and together we've started the Penncroft Attic! We collect anything that catches our eye and is in good condition, or that we can bring to new life. I think our favorite finds are classic books and afternoon-tea-worthy teapots.

Shop screenshot

It's only a little hard to part with some of the things we buy. But our home is too tiny for all the things I'd want to keep! We've got a few more items to list, including a handful of fabulous vintage clothing pieces. We've found a giant warehouse of vintage clothing in Northern Philly. It's a thrifter's dream, rows of boxes of clothing arranged by decades and style. I can't wait to go back for more items!

Dante helps too!

Emily is responsible for all of the fantastic photos, and if you haven't been to her blog yet, you should check it out!

Our first sale, sort of...

Technically we sold a set of books already, and technically my mom bought them... But a sale is a sale! And it gave us good practice on the billing and shipping process. 

Thrifted Friday: Vintage Cowboy Boots

I have a new consignment shop favorite located in Manayunk, The Attic. I've always found fun, trendy items there, but only recently have I taken my own clothes there to consign. I like consigning with them mainly because they don't have a minimum amount of clothes that they will accept, which is great for someone like myself who cleans out their closet every season. They also offer 30% in cash of the consignment value of your items or 50% in store credit. I opted for store credit and went home with some great pieces, including these boots!

I don't think I can ever have enough boots, and I've been longing for a classic western pair. These fit the  bill perfectly, and my feet too! I fell in love with the warm tones and tooled details. 

Caring for leather is a bit tricky. Especially older worn items. The leather stiffens without wear and needs a little TLC to restore it's supple finish. I clean my leather items with some warm water and bit of Dr. Bronner's castile soap. It's super gentle and won't leave any residue. You can delicately wipe and spot clean the leather with that mixture and a soft cloth. Let the leather completely dry, then if it's stiff like these boots use a moisturizer, like Leather Honey. It's got a waxy consistency that you apply a thin coat of and let it sink in. It will completely transform tough leather, and will help maintain new leather. Now, these boots are ready for walkin'!

Thrifted Friday: Vintage Coffee Carafe

I am fully aware that the Picasso print in the background is the wrong way!

I've been partial to silver from a young age because I loved helping my mom polish all of hers. I would go and collect all the little artifacts (there were a lot) around the house and line them up to transform them with the magic pink paste. My mom loved it because cleaning silver is probably what turns most people off it. I still find it so satisfying to renew a piece of silver to it's shiny glory.

This has been my favorite recent thrift store find. I've never seen anything like it, and at first, didn't fully realize what's it's purpose was. As I put it into my cart, an older woman kept saying how beautiful it was, and that she didn't see it on the shelf... I only felt a little guilty that I nabbed it first. So, what is it? Initially I thought it was just a fancy carafe, but Emily pointed out it's probably for tea or coffee because of the little stand bit underneath for a tea light. After polishing (for a solid hour) I uncovered the maker, "Sheridan Silver-plated". I think it can be dated to around the 1950's. It would make a fun addition to a brunch buffet. Now, it just needs a nice little tea light underneath!

Sixth Annual Record Store Day

The Sixth Annual Record Store Day is this Saturday, April 20th. "Record Store Day was conceived in 2007 at a gathering of independent record store owners and employees as a way to celebrate and spread the word about the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the US and thousands of similar stores internationally." The website has a list of special releases for the day, that will only be available physically in participating record stores. So support your local record store! A few releases I'm interested in...

Calexico, Spirituoso - Includes tracks spanning their career, re-recorded with an entire symphony.

Dawes, Stories Don't End - Their latest 2013 release comes with a limited edition lithograph.

Fun Fact: Chris and I got our first dance wedding song from Medium Rare by The Foo Fighters; a special release for Record Store Day 2010. We really liked the song, This Will Be Our Year, originally by The Zombies but the tempo was just too fast for us to dance to. Dave Grohl must have known and not only covered the song, but serendipitously slowed down the tempo, perfect for our first dance! Our friend even recorded a trumpet solo featured in the original on top of it.

Tokens of Ireland

Saint Patrick's Day is this Sunday! March is flying by, and holidays are fleeting too, so here are some items that can remind you of the Emerald Isle all year long...

All the items shown can be found on Etsy.

1. European Travel Destination Poster featuring Dublin from Loose Petals

2. Tiny Celtic Knot Earrings Handcrafted streling silver by Cook on Strike

3. Miniature Irish Cottage from hand painted paper clay by Homespun Ireland

4. Beer Soap Collection including: Murphy's Stout &Vanilla, Irish Stout and Charcoal, and Man Soap, from Dr K Soap Company

5. Antique Ireland Map from The Old Map Shop

6. Ireland Photography from Green Goose Gallery

7. Irish Linen Thread, 100 yards from In a Bind Supplies

8. Large Coptic Journal handsewn, featuring a 1954 Gulliver's Travels book cover from Amy L Burns

Spring Ahead!

In honor of Daylight Savings Time here in the Eastern Standard part of the world, I thought I'd post some springy watches. Yay for more daylight!

Anne Klein, $65

Betsey Johnson, $95

Marc Jacobs, $200

Adidas, $93

Embroidery is Back

One of the many arts and crafts techniques that has recently made a comeback is embroidery. When I was a little girl I would rifle through my grandmother's enormous collection of embroidery floss to make friendship bracelets, completely unaware of the fact that bracelet-making was not their first and only purpose. Until recently, I would associate embroidered items with super kitschy tea towels or the lords prayer on a tiny pillow. But now, although the technique has remained the same the designs have not. Perfect for personalized gifting or adding some threaded decor to you wall. Behold! Modern embroidery...

Etsy Shop: JerseyMaid

Etsy Shop: NisseWorks

Etsy Shop: SamPGibson

Etsy Shop: oktak

Etsy, of course, has an array of handcrafted items, but if you'd like to try it out for yourself, it's extraordinarily easy to do. I find it a relaxing activity that you can just pick up and work on for minutes if that's all you've got. But more on that later...

Warby Parker, where have you been all my life?!

For anyone who wears glasses, you understand that they generally cost a good chunk of change. Once you get over the expensive designer price tag for a pair of frames, you get a little sticker shock when they add your actual prescription to them, so you can, you know, see out of them. I was turned onto this website, Warby Parker, so named after some Jack Kerouac references. And I, for one, will never bother looking at another store for glasses for as long as these guys are in business. Here's why...

1. They have a huge selection of frames AND sunglasses, each with various colors and finishes.
2. You can select up to 5 pairs to try on at home, for free.
3. Glasses and lenses start at $95, total. 
4. They're philanthropic; they do a buy a pair give a pair scheme, like TOMs. 

No, I'm not lying, it's for real. Here's the 5 I tried on at home.

Marshall, Striped Sassafras

Bensen, Whiskey Tortoise 

Beckett, Revolver Black Matte

Pierce, Greystone

Preston, Sandalwood Matte

All of these are $95 total. You can easily add your prescription online during checkout. The at home try-on could not be more simple. You pick out your frames online and ship them to your address. Days later you get a nice box of frames with clear plastic lens inside. You get 5 days to wear them around the house and test them out on your friends and family. Then on the 5th day place the shipping label provided on the box and drop them off at a UPS location. Easy. I think I'll be opting for the Preston style. And now my only problem is I'll want more than one pair, and I've got to try on some sunglasses ASAP!