A few years ago I made the decision to start making all the Christmas presents I give. I think it's a more meaningful gift, and in a lot of cases allows me to really customize the gift to the receiver. 

I love sweater coats, and I have a friend who shares that love. Back in August I decided that this year, I was going to make her a sweater coat. Not even a week later, she asks me where to go online to buy a sweater coat because she decided she wanted a new one! I immediately texted Betsy and said "Did you tell her that's what I was making her, or am I so good at gift giving I knew she wanted one before she did?" (Betsy had not told her, I am just that good, lol)

We successfully distracted her from buying herself a new one, and I pressed forward with making her one. I'd never attempted one before, and I was going into with nothing but the one sweater coat I own to act as a guide. 

It took 5 sweaters and about 4 hours, but it's done, and I'm so pleased with the results!

This past Sunday at the Providence Flea was a fabulous fall day, and I don't know about you, but fabulous fall days always make me want soup. We were chatting with Anne Marie of Belle Toi, and I told her all about my favorite fall soup recipe, so for the blog today, I thought I'd also tell all of you!

Now, I'm a little imprecise with recipes, so you'll have to forgive me, I don't have any exact amounts on any of the ingredients (cooking is an art, just go with what you feel).

So here you go, the perfect fall soup - Butternut squash, apple, and chicken soup!

Ingredients:
chicken breast
butternut squash, diced
sweet potato, diced
onion (I prefer sweet onions, but follow your heart)
1 tbsp flour (the only exact measurement I have for you)
fresh sage
fresh ginger
​apple cider
apple (I prefer something on the tart side, but again, follow your heart)

Dice and cook the chicken - if you want to do this only dirtying one pot, cook the chicken in the soup pot, and then take it out and set it aside. If you don't care about multiple dirty dishes, I like to cook the chicken simultaneously with the rest of the soup prep to save time.

Chop up the onion and saute it in the pot with the sage and ginger. I use about a tablespoon and a half of each, but I'd start with a tablespoon and add if you feel like it.

Once the onion is nicely cooked, toss in the squash and sweet potato, and a tbsp of flour, and stir up. Add two cups of water and two cups of apple cider, and stir up again - make to sure to get any little bits that have stuck to the bottom. Add the chicken, and simmer until soft. Then buy (or make!) a loaf of bread, and enjoy!

Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite makers of clothing and historical costumes. I'm constantly in awe of these women and their immense talent. So here are my top 5 maker crushes:

Dames a la Mode

​As a business, Dames a la Mode makes and sells historically inspired jewelry, but Taylor is also an incredibly talented historical costume maker. Over on Instagram, she hosts #georgianjanuary, a photo challenge to celebrate all things Georgian

Marcy Harriell embraces color and pattern like no one else! She's a hobby sewist, so all her creations are just for her to wear, but her Instagram is a magical land of happiness and color that you definitely want to visit!

Modern Mantua Maker

Carolyn makes most of her own clothes using a lot of vintage patterns. She's also a dress historian and has a wealth of knowledge on historical clothing. If you have even a passing interest in vintage or historical clothing, you need to give her a follow.

Grimilde Malatesta is a costume designer and wig maker based in Italy. In addition to her glorious historical clothing, she also makes a lot of costume replicas from your favorite sci-fi and fantasy movies and tv shows (check out her cosplay of Lamia from Stardust! Uh-mazing!). Her costumes, accessories, and wigs are available for purchase on her website.

Virtuous Courtesan

I saved the Virtuous Courtesan for last because Lauren is without question my favorite maker of historical clothing. She's a hobby sewist who only makes costumes for herself (except for one glorious, Fortuny-inspired dress she made for a friend, documented on her Instagram), but her work is some of the most incredible I've ever seen. She's not afraid to incorporate modern aesthetics into her historical designs, and the results are beyond stunning. Her Instagram is a dream world of antique fashion that I just want to live in all the time.

I have a stack of fabulous fabric sitting on my work table, so today I thought I'd give you guys a little sneak peek of what's coming!

In the package from the 1960's! This daisy pattern is pretty popular one, I come across it quite a lot. Not sure what this treasure is going to turn into yet, but it'll definitely be adorable

This was a dress or skirt that somebody in the long ago past has cut the top off of, so I'm excited to give it new life!

Two beautiful pairs of vintage pillowcases are going to be two pairs of super cute bloomers!

I love this huge, slightly faded vintage sheet because of how the floral pattern changes from the top to the bottom.

The bright, cheerful plaid of this vintage sheet is slightly faded, but I'm going to line it with a nice, soft flannel that will hopefully help the colors pop a little more, and turn into a super comfy cold weather romper!

I love to decorate. I'm forever redoing rooms, moving furniture around, making new curtains, pillows, whatever strikes me. My husband long ago made his peace with the fact that our home would be in a constant state of flux (early in our marriage, he was working nights, thus sleeping during the day, and woke up one day to find that I had completely rearranged the living room while he was asleep). 

Because I'm constantly redoing, adding, and rearranging, my look has always been what can only be described as "eclectic". Always a mix of styles, colors, materials. But in the time of Covid, I've obviously been home a lot more, and had time to really look around and create a style for my living room. 

My initial design aesthetic was "Victorian witch who lives in a cottage in the woods". I enlisted my mother's aid in obtaining the perfect items for my look, and when I described to her what I was going for, she asked me if I'd ever seen the movie Practical Magic (have I ever seen Practical Magic? I mean, who did she think she was talking to? Of course I've seen Practical Magic. My life goal is to become one of the aunts from that movie). She said "Like the aunts house in Practical Magic, right?" Yes!! That's a much better reference with far more source material than "Victorian witch who lives in a cottage in the woods"!

This kind of aesthetic is really best pulled off with thrifted or antique pieces, so I've been living on Facebook marketplace. I did purchase a new sofa (it'll be here Friday!), but otherwise I plan on buying everything else secondhand. It's slow going, but what I'm so pleased with what I've done so far, it'll definitely be worth the wait in the end!

We love a good adventure. As we go into fall in the time of Covid, I thought it would be fun to do a review of all the cool, outdoor things southern New England has to offer!

​Hiking

We have some really lovely places to go hiking in Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. I've talked about Rome Point before, and just a few miles down the road is Casey Point, both are easy walks ending in some lovely ocean views.

Purgatory Chasm in Massachusetts is a great place to spend a day

Letterboxing
If you've never been letterboxing, this fall is a great time to start. As defined by Wikipedia:
      "Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art, and puzzle solving. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly accessible places (like parks) and distribute clues to finding the box in printed catalogs, on one of several web sites, or by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes contain a notebook and a rubber stamp, preferably hand carved or custom made.[1] Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp in their personal notebook, and leave an impression of their personal signature stamp on the letterbox's "visitors' book" or "logbook" — as proof of having found the box and letting other letterboxers know who has visited. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count".
There are tons of opportunities in southern New England, you can find clues at websites such as letterboxing.org and atlasquest.com

Kite Flying
Always a classic, there are plenty of fantastic places to go fly a kite. Some of my favorites are our local beaches, Roger Williams Park, and Goddard Park

Drive In Movies
Let's finish on my personal favorite - the drive in! Rhode Island has one of the last remaining drive in movie theaters in the country, the Rustic Tri View Drive In

For our parents, Saturday mornings are always reserved for yard sales, and this past Saturday was no different. I decided to join them last minute and, after a few "busts", we ended up at a small garage sale. While my mom didn't end up with much, I walked away with a $5 box full of Life Magazines - and we know how much I love my old magazines!

26 in total, mostly from the 40s (and some from the '50s) - what immediately struck me was that there were several from 1941, then nothing until 1945. Did the original owners immediately cut costs when war was declared? Or maybe someone wised up and realized war-time Life magazines have a bit more worth? Who knows. Regardless, we all know I'm here for the ads and, even with the missing years, these magazines came through!

In my last post about vintage ads (see July 27th) I focused on the ones marketing products that we still have around today. Perusing this latest batch of magazines, however, I noticed my favorite ads were a different kind of category. So, for this post, we're going to take a look at advertisements that would never see the light of day today - the sexist, the unhealthy... the outdated, basically. Enjoy!

​This may be the most common type of outdated advertisement I come across - one where the product is something a wife should buy for her husband. This one (above) mildly makes sense - we can imagine, once-upon-a-time, that beer was almost exclusively advertised as a "man's" drink - but take a look at the next one!
​

Who knew Rice Krispies was something a woman could use to make her fella happy!? Seeing Snap, Crackle, and Pop used to sell their product to a newlywed rather than a mother (which is, I think, how most cereals are traditionally advertised) made me laugh a bit.

Think only wives, newlyweds, and mothers are the ones being targeted? Don't worry, there's also a plethora of spreads meant to remind parents to educate their daughters in how to snatch a man and become a good wife, too.
​

Answer: anything that'll make them more appealing... to men. This one I found quite humorous, actually. Not only does it illustrate the point I'm trying to make (it's all about the men), but it shows a change in our culture's view of beauty, as well. While flattening was the name of the game back then, the big thing now is smoothing while retaining those curves!

Speaking of curves: this next ad is a much more rare find. In fact, aside from spreads advertising diet miracles, I don't think I've ever come across a 1940s advertisement that overtly fat-shames... until now.
​

The killer here is that the cartoon and caption have NOTHING to do with the product. Worried about an overweight person breaking your chair? Don't worry about your car lubrication, at least! Noted, Texaco. Noted.

While ads like this one plays off your fears, others attempt to assuage them. None do this better than the next couple of ads: ads so outdated, they're actually extinct. That's right: cigarette ads.
​

What on earth are "eminent medical authorities"!? Who knows. Either way, both give pseudo-medical jargon in hopes their brands come across as "healthier". Eighty years later, it's ads for products like these that are the most surprising to me.

I explained in my previous vintage ad blog post how old magazines are glimpses into the past and, let me tell you, these were no different. Maybe next time you're driving by a yard sale or flea, take a stop and see if you can find one for yourself! I guarantee you'll find something in there you weren't expecting.

 Yesterday was the first day back at the Providence Flea, and it was a great day!

Everyone wore their masks, social distanced, and used hand sanitizer before touching anything. Good job, flea goers!

The return of the flea was big news with local papers and news stations, and Whimsy and Fluff got a lot of photo love! 

Check out the ProJo photo gallery here and the WJAR story here (check out that cover photo of Whimsy and Fluff bloomers!). I was interviewed by WPRI, so we're keeping our eyes open for that too!

We'll be back at the flea on August 16th, hopefully we'll see you there!

With a mother who frequents estate sales, we end up with a lot of vintage ephemera - postcards, pamphlets, maps - things meant for an immediate audience and not expected to last the test of time. Little is more entertaining, however, than old magazines.

I'm not talking "old" like the '80s and '90s (though those are likely great fun to look at, as well), but those classic, over-sized, grandiose magazines of the mid-century. These publications from the '40s, '50s, and '60s give us a taste of a time long-gone through its ads and articles: ads and articles that are sometimes wholeheartedly poignant, quaintly naive, or laugh-out-loud outdated. They show us the things society cared about (or, at least, what the magazines wanted society to care about) with vibrant colors and over-the-top language.

With my growing collection of these magazines, I wanted to showcase some highlights every now and then, beginning with vintage advertisements of products still popular today. Coming across ads for products I may use some 70 years later is such an interesting phenomenon to me: it links us to the past in an oddly tangible way, and I wanted our readers to experience that same feeling. Enjoy!

-Betsy

I've always been a huge advocate for eating locally, but the current global situation has really solidified it for me! Living in RI, there are so many options available to us, so I thought I'd tell you about some of my favorites.

First, and my most absolute favorite way to eat local, is my garden. I tend to mix it up a little every year, since most herbs are annuals (though I have a few perennials in there), so my herb garden this year has lemon balm, lemon verbena, basil, cilantro, thyme, oregano, rosemary, lavender, sage, chives, peppermint, and pineapple mint. 

I stepped up my vegetable garden this year, doubling the amount of vegetables I'm growing. My zucchini plant is producing more than we could possibly hope to eat on our own, and the rest are either just starting to bear fruit, or are later season vegetables. I'm excited to feast on our home grown green beans, tomatoes, broccoli, onions, cucumber, butternut squash, and spaghetti squash! I planted peppers, too, but that seemed to be the plant the wildlife was most attracted to; it kept getting dug up, and eventually I just stopped re-planting it. 

My second favorite way to get local food is through a farm CSA program. CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and it's such a great way to support your local farm! Our CSA at  Casey Farm in Saunderstown is really fantastic. Every farm runs their CSA a little differently, but at Casey, we go to the farm once a week to pick up our share. They post a board with what is included in the share that week, some of which they've harvested and have you weigh out, and some of which you go out into the field and harvest yourself. 

There are, of course, other great ways to support local farms. I've been strawberry picking three times this summer!

And then there's the farmer's market! Rhode Island is full of them, but I go to the Saturday morning Coastal Growers Market, also at Casey Farm (not only is Casey Farm the closest farm to me, but my day job is with Historic New England, the non-profit that owns Casey Farm, so I'm biased). Farmer's markets are an amazing resource for all sorts of things! On any given week, you can get local meat, seafood, eggs, cheese, veggies, and some things you wouldn't think about. I've started buying cold brew concentrate coffee from a local coffee company, CBD oil from a local cannabis farm, and even locally made pickles!

And if you can't get to the farmer's market yourself, there's an app you can use instead! It's called What's Good. You choose your area, with options for either pick up or delivery, and then just start shopping your market! When our world first shut down in March, the What's Good app was an unbelievable resource for us! We were so glad to be able to still get our food locally.

Local farms are essential. There are so many ways to support them, and we all reap the benefits.