Meet Me In The Rendezvous Room

I recently came into possession of three large boxes of my aunt's belongings. She was a flight attendant for 39 years (I know this because her retirement plaque was in one of the boxes) for Continental Airlines and she saves everything, so there was some great stuff in there, including this photo of her in Hawaii (that was her route for years) and this Continental brochure from 1963. Don't you wish flying was still like this?

I still look for crew competence when I fly.

Yes, please!

Sigh.

It will take me eons to get through everything in those boxes, but there are also Continental annual reports for 1967 and 1968, more Continental literature, vintage clothing, tons of jewelry and lots more. It's like Christmas all over again!

Non-Alcoholic Punches With Vintage Flair

Sometimes you need a punch sans booze, whether it's for a kids party, your abstaining or designated driver friends or those who just don't enjoy a drink. These folks often get stuck with juice boxes, soda and other uninspired choices. Well, we're here to change that! Mix Around With Cranberry Juice, a fabulous booklet put out by Ocean Spray circa 1971, has all sorts of recipes ranging from "unusual" to "intriguing." And if you click on the page entitled "Youth Quakes" you'll find options for both fall football games and Halloween! 

Football and Halloween cocktails - it's that time of year!

Perfect for guests who like to act like jerks. Soda jerks, that is!

They didn't neglect the cocktails in this booklet. I'll share those later this week. They are, of course, cranberry juice-centric! 

Storing Bar Paraphernalia

Have you ever noticed how one innocent little piece of vintage bar paraphernalia seems to sprout into a collection, seemingly out of nowhere? You pick up a set of swizzle sticks at a yard sale or uncover a handful of matchbooks in a relative's desk drawer and suddenly you've got collecting fever! And all of that stuff can really take up a lot of space. The good news is that other bar accoutrements and vintage found items often make the best storage! Here are a few ideas - dig around and you probably already have perfect items to store your cocktail-related gems!

How many shakers can you use at one time? Use some to store swizzle sticks!

The same goes for shot glasses - store cocktail picks in them!

Vases aren't just for flowers!  Store swizzle sticks, straws, bar spoons and more!

When they're not holding ice, ice buckets can hold matchbooks and more!

And an ice bucket with a lid lets you keep stuff you don't want seen hidden.

Tiki bowls make great storage, too!

This mail organizer holds swag from various events, but has plenty of room for booklets and more.

Vintage suitcases are well-known storage containers, but don't forget about the little ones! Perfect for playing cards...

Not to mention coasters, picks and so much more!

Are your records overflowing their shelves? File folder racks are a great solution! And, as offices increasingly go paperless, they're easy to find cheaply or free. This one is a street find!

Do you have any great storage tips to share? We'd love to hear them! I'm in an organizing frame of mind lately...

Don't Settle For Boring: Customize Your Belongings!

The renovation of our powder room, which almost killed us in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, was largely completed before the holidays, but we're still putting on some finishing touches. Yesterday we added vintage shelf paper to the front of this boring, utilitarian cabinet from IKEA. We bought it knowing that we'd never leave it white. I found the paper on Etsy and we finally got around to affixing it with spray adhesive. Now I love it! You don't ever have to settle for leaving furniture (or clothing or shoes or anything else) the way you find it. Customize it! Find the right adhesive for your project, whether it's for fabric or rhinestones or food safe or heavy duty, and make it uniquely yours!

Customized cabinet - just add shelf paper!

I Can't Handle All This Improvement

If you thought our powder room looked bad last week, with exposed wallboard and holes in the walls, wait until you see it today:

Lovely, isn't it? Paul and the electrician opened up walls and ceiling for our new fixtures and it rained insulation. It was so messy I was coughing two rooms away! The good news is that we DO have power in there now. The bad news is that none of the fixtures are actually in place yet, so we don't currently have lights. SOON, I hope!