A vase in the shape of a woman's head is off to the right, make-up brushes sit inside. Text on the left reads "5 Vintage Things You Can Repurpose"

Six Vintage Things You Can Repurpose

May 27, 2020, 6 Comments

When it comes to vintage home goods, a lot of “shabby chic” magazines are into the idea of repurposing old items. I’m all for that, but sometimes that means destroying perfectly good vintage items in order to make new items, which I’m not about. So today I bring you six vintage items you can repurpose…

Myself, holding a bottle of Coke, while wearing a t-shirt of a girl in a cowgirl hat with a bottle of Coke being handed to her, red script reading "Coca-Cola" across the top. Script across the photo reads "History of the Coca-Cola Bottle"

Curvaceous Design: The History of the Coca-Cola Bottle

May 20, 2020, 6 Comments

Few things are as iconic as a bottle of Coca-Cola. In fact, as early as 1949, a study showed that fewer than one percent of Americans could not identify a bottle of Coke by its shape alone. That is a pretty big flex if you ask me. Today it’s impossible to think of not being…

Boysenberry muffins on a plate, which is on a vintage Knott's Berry Farm table cloth, which features a train and a map of Knott's.

Knott’s Berry Farm at Home

May 13, 2020, 10 Comments

When Knott’s Berry Farm first opened, it was just that, a berry farm, with a little roadside stand selling its berries. Later the Knott family built a permanent Berry Market, followed by a Tea Room which expanded into Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner we know today. Recently, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Knott’s Berry Farm has returned…

A Visit to Disneyland

May 8, 2020, 4 Comments

Let’s take a trip to Disneyland, but Disneyland in 1965… Disneyland may be closed currently, but thanks to a little book called A Visit to Disneyland we can all pretend that we have stepped into a time machine to visit Walt Disney’s original Magic Kingdom. I hope you all enjoyed this little peek into Disneyland…

Cover of Spectacular Illumination, which features a black and white photograph of a streamline modern drive-in restaurant. Overlay text on the photo reads "Just Finished..."

Book Review: Spectacular Illumination

May 6, 2020, 3 Comments

In addition to sewing, I’ve been spending a good deal of time outside reading, and recently I finished Spectacular Illumination: Neon Los Angeles 1925-1965. I’ve always been a fan of neon, and if you’ve been reading the blog for any length of time, then you know that! When I saw this book for sale the…

Myself, wearing a dress made of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi sheets, which feature images of Darth Vader, Red Guards, R2D2, C-3PO, Han, Luke, and Leia, Ewoks, and Scout Troopers.

Lightspeed to Endor!

May 4, 2020, 11 Comments

As mentioned earlier, I’ve been doing a lot of sewing lately since the COVID-19 outbreak. One of the projects I’ve had on the books is a Star Wars sheet dress for Star Wars Celebration later this year. However since it is uncertain if Celebration will happen or not, I decided to share my creation today for…

A girl dressed in a German style dirndl holds a camera on the left. A girl in hula attire holding a camera stands on the right. In the middle text reads "YOUR SOUVENIR PHOTO FROM Clifton's Los Angeles, California." Below a ribbon reads "The Brookdale The Pacific Seas" Images of a deer, church, water wheel, thatch hut, ukulele, and pineapple.

The Lost Art of Nite Club Souvenir Photos

April 29, 2020, 6 Comments

It’s no secret I’m a fan of collecting vintage California souvenirs, and awhile back Patrick and I stumbled upon a souvenir photo from the Hollywood Palladium, which was tucked inside a delightful folder. It combined my love of California souvenirs and his love of photography, so we decided to start collecting vintage nite club souvenir…

Myself wearing a crown made of fake succulents and a small cream jackalope, wearing a dress with a red, green, and cream print of cacti, jackalopes, and skulls, sitting on a blanket with a cactus shaped cake next to me, and a taxidermy jackalope nearby.

Backyard Birthday

April 22, 2020, 24 Comments

Yesterday was my birthday…it’s weird to have a birthday during such a wild time in our world…and because of social distancing, I couldn’t have a party or anything. Not that I’ve had one that was my own really in recent years. My birthday weekend has fallen on Dapper Day weekend the last couple of years,…

Two orange and black sofas sit in an L shape. A painting above one sofa features a modern desert landscape. A pillow on one sofa reads "California" and features oranges on it. Pillows on the other sofa are abstract modern designs of maroon and teal. A square, step table sits between the two sofas. Text overlay reads "Our 1954 Home Living & Dining Rooms"

Our 1954 Home: Living Room & Dining Room

April 16, 2020, 7 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a look at our home, and it’s for a variety of reasons. We only have so much money that we can put towards home improvements each year, and I was waiting on two very specific things before sharing our living room, and while everything isn’t exactly how I would…

The book Hitchcock's California, which features an image of a bay on the cover with a seagull in the foreground. Text overlay at the top of the photo reads "Just Finished..."

Book Review: Hitchcock’s California

April 14, 2020, 2 Comments

Visiting filming locations is a passion of mine, so much so that it has its own category here on the blog. Sometimes these are places that I visit for a reason other than the fact it was used in a movie, such as the more recent post of the LA County Poor Farm, sometimes I…