Primarily Yours

If you've read my blog at all, you pretty much know that I LOVE bright colors and one of the things I particularly like about vintage fashion is it's use of bright primary colors mixed together. And a great way to emulate a vintage look is to mix and match reds, blues, and yellows. 

This outfit is a mix of vintage and modern pieces and is an easy way to incorporate some vintage into your wardrobe. (If you haven't joined the 12 Days of Vintage Challenge, check out our Flickr page and join us throughout the month of December.) You can still get a passably authentic vintage look by mixing modern and vintage or you can achieve a completely new and modern look. That's part of what I love about vintage, the ability to be and wear it in your own way.

Outfit Details:
Sweater-vintage 1950s beaded yellow sweater, I think from an Etsy seller a while ago.
shirt-red and white striped tank from Old Navy years ago.
skirt-navy lined circle skirt made by me
bangles-vintage lucite and bakelite form various sources
earrings-vintage bakelite berry cluster clip on earrings from eBay
hair comb-vintage plastic red leaf-shaped from eBay

It's been a crazy race to finishing the fall term of our homeschool and preparing for Christmas at our house the last couple weeks and I'm so grateful school is now officially out until January. Now, my sewing machine is running every second I can spare to make Christmas gifts and I'm trying to catch up on neglected housework that I had been unable to do properly since my surgery a few weeks back.

Are you participating in the 12 Days of Vintage Challenge? How do you add a little vintage to your wardrobe? Do you like pairings of primary colors?

Last Chance to Enter Birthday Giveaway

If you haven't entered yet, you have until the end of today to enter the Birthday Giveaway and the winner will be announced Saturday!!!

Hope you win!

The 12 Days of Vintage: Starting Out Small

Okay, so you admire vintage style clothing/accessories and you've seen celebrities, fashion bloggers, and vintage enthusiasts rock vintage outfits and pieces for a while with admiration, but how do you bring that into your wardrobe in a practical and easy way?

The truth is you may have already been wearing some vintage in your everyday clothing. Maybe it's a vintage/antique piece of jewelry that you inherited and wear on occasion or maybe you have a piece of clothing that was your mom's back in the day (I used to wear my mom's awesome 60s and 70s styles in high school). Chances are you've at some point worn some vintage in an everyday and practical way if you love vintage styles.

Add a vintage sweater or cardigan and be unique.

Most people agree that vintage is anything about 25 years or older. Yes, that means that by most definitions 1980s and some early 1990s clothing applies. I realize this makes some vintage enthusiasts upset, but just because I don't prefer wearing clothing from those decades doesn't mean I am superior to someone who does or that my sense of style is better. It's simply different. Part of what I've always enjoyed when wearing vintage is the fact that I can wear what I like, what flatters my figure, and even what my husband likes to see me in, regardless of what's in style or for sale in my local mall. Fashion and clothing is a form of self expression and just like we each look different and have different personalities, so should our clothing reflect our uniqueness. We were created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27) the most fantastic and amazingly creative being that has ever existed. So, He being so creative and making us in His image, it would only make sense that we should be creative in every sense, even in how we attire ourselves.

Don't forget that your frames can also be a vintage accessory. 

You also don't have to wear an outfit comprising entirely of vintage or even vintage appropriate clothing to wear and enjoy vintage pieces. There are people who do that and seek perfectly accurate portrayals of certain time periods and that's great if that's your thing, but don't feel like you have to, especially when your starting out or for a daily look. Take what you like and incorporate it into your everyday, practical, wardrobe.

A cute vintage purse is an easy way to add vintage.

Some great examples of incorporating small vintage pieces would be a vintage brooch, earrings, bracelet, ring, necklace, a scarf, a handkerchief, a purse, vintage frames, shoes, or even a hat (it's especially easy in winter to incorporate a warm vintage hat).

A stack of vintage bangles or a hat can add a little vintage
flair to any outfit.

Great places to look for small vintage accessories or pieces, after looking at what you already have, is  thrift stores (cheapest way usually), yard sales (this one's hit or miss), estate sales/estate auctions, flea markets, or antique stores. Many of these also have online equivalencies if there's not much selection in your locality (eBay or Esty anyone?).

A vintage headband style hat is easy to wear even for an easy everyday look, and they stay on better, too. 

Online shopping is actually where I've acquired most of my vintage in the last few years. That's not to say that I don't still go to the local shops/markets, but simply because it's at least a 20 minute drive each way to any of them, and with four kids (ranging from 7 to 3 months, two in diapers) it's way easier and sometimes cheaper to just have it shipped to my house. Online shopping is also great if you're looking for something particular or have an event or date you need it to arrive for.

How about a vintage brooch? Or even a vintage dress?

Another option is to ask for vintage items from people you know. This may sound weird, but once the people you know find out that you like vintage clothing/accessories, they are more likely to give you their grandmothers brooches rather than donate or sell them or even (Gasp!) throw them away. Often when an older person's loved ones go through their things they find many vintage treasures, and if no one in the family or friends have an interest in them, they may think of you. So, using your discretion of course, there's no harm in letting your friends and family know you have an interest in acquiring these types of vintage clothing/accessories.

Try adding vintage earrings.

Small vintage accessories are a great way to start incorporating vintage into your wardrobe. They also tend to be cheaper (depending on the item of course and shoes that are more than thirty years old are rarely found cheap) and more plentiful than say an original cotton sack thirties house dress. The older an item is, the more rare it is to find it, the more fragile the materials it's made of, and even the more iconic it was for the time period, can all increase the cost. But don't lose heart, because just when you think you'll never find a certain vintage item, I've found with patience they all turn up.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction to The 12 Days of Vintage Challenge and that you will feel more confident in incorporating more vintage into your wardrobe. And don't forget to enter the Birthday Giveaway ending December 11, 2014!

Have a Very, Merry, Vintage, Christmas!

The 12 Days of Vintage Challenge

I'm very excited to present the 12 Days of Vintage Challenge to you today.

The idea comes from the fact that getting into vintage clothes can be a little scary at first, especially if you're familiar with most vintage bloggers. Bloggers can make it look so easy to wear it everyday, even if we don't wear it everyday ourselves. Unless you have a friend in real life who dresses in vintage clothing, it's very easy to get discouraged.

Interested? Well, here's the rules.

1. You have to wear at least one vintage item of either clothing or accessory for twelve days during the month of December. Style it and wear it any way you like.

2. Sign up for the Flickr page 12 Days of Vintage and post pictures of your vintage item or outfit there.

3. Link to this post, or at least credit Betsy's Baby, and post on your blog or social media, but you don't have to have a blog or social media to participate.

The 12 Days of Vintage Challenge starts now I will be posting helps here as well as providing links and tips along the way. No pressure, but just the encouragement to wear a little more vintage this month.

Now, have fun and a Very, Merry, Vintage Christmas to you!

Oh, and if you haven't enter the Birthday Giveaway yet, please do! The giveaway ends on December 11, 2014!

Double the Skirt, Double the Fun

This skirt was something I whipped up kind of on a whim with no pattern or even a picture for inspiration. To be honest, it was born out of necessity and my love for both fabrics used.

Outfit Details:

Skirt: made by me

Shirt: Knit peasanty blouse from Old Navy ages ago

Hat: vintage ribbon hat from eBay

Bangles: vintage bakelite from various eBay sources and times

Earrings: vintage wire sunflower screwbacks from eBay this summer

Brooch: vintage bakelite 1930s/40s cowgirl from eBay maybe?

Purse: vintage 1950s tooled leather from local antique store no longer open

I also wore brown tights and some honey-colored lace-up oxford flats, but didn't get a picture. 

I've always like a nice simple gathered skirt, but also enjoy the occasional wrap skirt. A drindl or simple gathered skirt is really easy to make and wear, but can be a little blah. A wrap skirt is pretty and interesting to look at, but somehow I always end up on the wrong end of too big of a breeze in them. 

The answer: combine what I like about both of them. So, I made a feaux wrap drindle skirt! By lengthening the waistband at both ends I was able to make it close with a bow. 

It also is very practical post-abdominal surgery (no, not a tummy tuck, lol) due to it's adjustability and loose fit, and....it's completely reversible(saving closet space)! I'm sure you'll see an outfit post with it's other side later.

Having four small children can take a toll on you both physically and mentally, but that was increased for me after the birth of my third child and made worse after our fourth was born due to some physical and health issues I was experiencing. Anyone who has experienced any kind of ailment that is remotely debilitating will understand that it can be more than a little depressing to be unable to do what you want to do or even used to do simply because you're body won't cooperate.

I had surgery a few weeks back in order to get back some of the ability to do things I used to take pleasure in and to even be able to pick up my kids again and play with them in an active manner. 

The post-op recovery period for surgery can be just as, or more, debilitating than whatever the surgery was supposed to correct. Sewing up this skirt not only gave me something to do, but something I could comfortably wear while still sore and healing, and it made me feel just a little bit better about myself and pointed to the hope that somewhere down the road things would be better and easier. 

My daughter also wanted me to share with you something else we have been doing together while I was recovering. We've been able to spend some girly time just painting our nails and looking at amazing and crazy nail art on pinterest. Just being able to do something with her made me feel a little more normal, too.

Do you have any hobbies or interests that help you to cope with difficult situations? Would you wear a reversible skirt?

Happy Thanksgiving! And a Birthday Giveaway!

 Happy Thanksgiving to all the U.S. readers and I hope and pray that you have a very safe and blessed day full of thanks to God for all the many ways He cares for us through Jesus Christ His Son.
I was born on a Thanksgiving morning thirty-four years ago and I've always thought that was special, and it's made doubly special when my birthday happens to fall on Thanksgiving as it does this year. To celebrate, I am having a giveaway!

If you didn't already know, Betsy's Baby is NOT  a sponsored blog (I have thought of trying to get sponsors, but I don't know about that...) and I don't get any free stuff, so this giveaway will feature items from my own personal vintage collection. This giveaway will also include a choice of items to win. You can either choose two pairs of new-old-stock, still in the package, seamed stockings in size 9 & 1/2 or a vintage sewing pattern.

Simplicity 4905 in size 12 bust 32

Two unopened pairs of seamed stockings in a nice tan color.
 They are too long for me, so I hope they go to a good home and will gets lots of wear.

To enter:
1. Leave a comment below with your name and email and which you would prefer to win (stockings or pattern).

2. Earn extra entries by following Betsy's Baby on Bloglovin'.

3. Earn extra entries by posting about this giveaway somewhere else (i.e. social media or blogs).

4. Be sure to comment for each additional entry and leave a link for posts made elsewhere about this giveaway.

You have until Thursday, December 11, 2014 to enter (I hope this give it time to get there by Christmas!)  It's open to anyone in the world and a winner will be announced on Saturday, December 13, 2014.

Hope you win!

Morning view from my backporch.

"Enter His gates with thanksgiving, 
and His courts with praise!
Give thanks to Him; bless His name!

For the LORD is good; 
His steadfast love endures forever, 
and His faithfulness to all generations."
-Psalm 100:4-5

Workbasket Wednesday: Vintage Ads Earn it!

Today's Workbasket Wednesday is a collection of ads. As I look through my old Workbasket magazine collection, I've often noticed that advertising has changed a lot in the last sixty to seventy years. One of the things that seems to be a steady theme in vintage magazine are ads not to buy products, but for you to sell them. Sure, you may see an ad here or there in a modern magazine for you to earn money selling something, but it seems like the amount in vintage magazines is much higher. I'm not really sure what that says about our consumerism culture, but it does make me wonder if maybe we're less likely today to want to earn extra money by working an extra "job". Maybe we're just less productive in general, but what ever it is, I hope you enjoy looking at some of the opportunities you could've had to earn some extra money in 1951.

Do you do anything to earn extra money on the side? Is it harder now with the internet and easy at home shopping for individuals to sell products? Do you wish you could take advantage of any of the opportunities in these ads?