by Candice DeVille | Jul 16, 2015 | DIY, Home & Garden
Making your house a home with simple DIY projects is one of the great joys of vintage living.
Taking what is old and giving it new life, imagining possibilities and reviving the story of something that is otherwise forgotten. I have a few tea caddys no longer in service and they have sat prettily on the window sill gathering dust; now it’s time to put them into a different kind of service. With a little love and creativity they can take center stage as you plan your Spring decorating. After all, what could be a more appropriate way to celebrate the coming season than with taking something out of hibernation and giving it a brand new life!
Time Time clock via Etsy
Tea Caddy Magnets via Martha Stewart (full directions here)
Image via Kika Reichart
Image source unknown
Image via Babble
Tea Caddy DIY lamp via Shelterness
If you have any spare tea caddy’s and want to send them my way, I’ll give them a very good home!
by Candice DeVille | Jul 10, 2015 | Self
Image by Nina Friday – Available on Etsy
I’ve been in a bit of a hole lately. It happens like clockwork every winter when the clouds roll in, the rain starts and the social life drops right off. When you have grand plans of hibernating in knitted socks by a fireplace in Pinterest worthy glory, but all you can muster is a cup of tea and a book in bed, exhausted from the day. When your wardrobe seems dull, lifeless and overused; and nothing says “oh how fabulously jaunty” the way it did in Autumn.
I’ve also been without proper internet and t.v for weeks and weeks, something which should soon be remedied, but means that none of the usual visual feasts or binge watching has been there to light that fire. Even Game of Thrones finished! Yes, they are such first world problems but we all have our slumpy times. I am excited to report however, that my groove has been sighted in a few places.
Inside my suitcase of lingerie where I had packed away my favourite corset; it’s laces and firmness like a perpetual hug always makes me feel instantly better. It peeked out from a large delivery of Blinc cosmetics this morning, full of new eyeliners and potential.
I’m fairly certain I saw it wink at me as I cruised through some of my woman crush Pinterest boards too. It perked up when I took out a box of coloured pencils and a sketch book, something I haven’t done in years, then it even stretched a sleepy arm when I unpacked an envelope of vintage dress patterns I hadn’t opened yet.
When it realised I’ll be hopping on a flight to Sydney for a few days this time next week, it even started to shimmy a bit thinking of the party plans and catch up with friends. It began to think about all the fabulous things on the horizon for Spring and the joy of planning; planting new flowers in the garden, pruning roses so their blooms are full and heady. It started to think about this year’s Camperdown Cruise, all the fabulous cars, music and dancing. Then it turned a corner and began to think of all the cool things I haven’t yet tried with my hair and how much I love to experiment with new techniques.
Suddenly my groove was there, waiting to get dressed, meet up with friends and hit the town to watch a fellow vintage lover and burlesque beauty perform in Shake this evening.
If your groove has been hidden away in the cupboard with mine for a while, let’s send them an invite to a mid winter get together and see if we can get them dancing in the kitchen again.
by Candice DeVille | Jul 4, 2015 | Events, Uncategorized, Workshops and Events
Invest in yourself!
Over the last six months you’ve been sending me your considered feedback on what you’d like to learn, helping you make each day more stylish, more affordable and faster to achieve. You’ve told me about how little time you have for yourself each day, how when a special occasion comes around your excited, but not sure how to pull it off. You’ve told me that you want to shop smarter, use your wardrobe better and create impressive hairstyles with the flick of a wrist. I listened, and together you and I have put together the outline for our brand new workshop series!
July 25th in Doncaster, Melbourne will be your opportunity to join us for this experience. Our workshops are like nothing you’ve done before, we make hands on, lasting knowledge the foundation of our sessions. Sure it’s a fun day out, but this is serious stuff.
Think about how much do you usually spend at the salon every month? Around $150-300 if you’re like the average Australian woman. Styling your hair and wardrobe can be expensive, time consuming and intimidating. It doesn’t have to be that way!
I know from your feedback that most women would love to manage their own styling, both hair and fashion, but don’t know where to turn for trustworthy and affordable styling advice in a real and effective sense. And that’s exactly why we developed these brand-new styling workshops; with input from our top styling clients of all ages.
For a game-changing day of style and glamour training, we invite you to join us at our newest workshops …
[dt_button size=”big” animation=”none” icon=”” icon_align=”left” color=”” link=”http://events.vintagecurrent.com.au/workshops-july-2015″ target_blank=”true”]Heck yeah I want more details![/dt_button]
by Candice DeVille | Jun 24, 2015 | daily outfit
This is the Pin Up Girl Clothing, Mary Blair cat print skirt; and it is awesome!
I did very little actual shopping whilst in the USA, spending most of my time working away on plans for this blog and learning a whole lot of new things. A visit to Pinup Girl Clothing in L.A though, was on my ‘must visit’ list and did not disappoint. My timing was impeccable, matching up with their launch of the new range of Mary Blair prints, and oh what stunning choices!
With very limited space in my suitcase, (and my wallet) I chose a piece that would work perfectly with the colour palette I’d planned for my trip. Loads of blues and greens filled my case, so it seemed that this bright skirt would compliment my choices. Having brought only two pair of shoes on my trip, both black, the temptation to add one more pair was too great to resist. These blue heels from Bait Footwear were purchased for the princely sum of $60 and are simply the most comfortable heels I’ve ever worn! After wearing them for days on end, walking for hours and hours, there was not a hint of foot fatigue in sight.
Outfit Details
Skirt – Pinup Girl Clothing Mary Blair Cat Skirt in ‘Jenny’ style
Shoes – BAIT Footwear Hometown Stride heels
Kelly Green Cardigan – Trashy Diva
Kelly Green t-shirt – JAG
Wide Belt – Portmans
Earrings and chiffon scarf – Vintage
Red Handbag – “Sexy but Cute” (Bangkok label)
This quickly became my favourite outfit, no only because I simply adore the fullness of the ‘Jenny’ skirt, but the happy kittens are impossible to be too serious around. It’s funny how people still comment on “blue and green should never be seen“, because it seems to me that they make the perfect pairing!
by Candice DeVille | Jun 17, 2015 | Food & Drinks, sponsors
Brought to you by Nuffnang and Jura
Let’s not kid ourselves; coffee is a vital ingredient to life as a functioning human being.
Finding the perfect at home coffee maker is therefore high on my list of priorities.
As a born and bred Melbournian, this sweeping statement becomes a little more understandable. For those of you who are not aware, we here in Melbourne take our coffee very, very seriously. It is a rare shopping strip if you can walk down without wafts of freshly ground beans massaging your senses. We eat them, we drink them, we scrub our bodies with them; coffee is the lifeblood of this city.
The innovations in coffee technology and the ensuing competition for our hearts, has been fierce. It seems that every appliance brand has developed a machine that, despite the claims, are not created equal. Yes, I have indeed tested these claims for the taste, convenience and overall coffee magic. Only now do I find myself in a position of waxing lyrical over the king of coffee machines. You can keep your golden eagles; I have found the superior Swiss engineering and design of Jura.
The Good Food and Wine Show on Friday gave me the opportunity to get up close and personal with this range of machines in a coffee master class. I was expecting this class to cover things like heating cups, correct tamping procedure and frothing the perfect foam, not learning how to make the easiest and most delicious Tiramisu ever.
Checking out the Jura A9 and F9 I was simply blown away by the features and functionality. First up, I have an aversion to pod or capsule based machines due to the incredible amount of waste and environmental damage the introduction of these is causing. Jura’s superior Swiss engineering has the beans inside the machine, grinding each cup on demand and to perfection.
As an espresso drinker (hold the sugar), I have a very demanding palette, which all too often is abused by burnt, bitter coffee. The internal temperature control ensures that the water is heated to the optimum level, just below boiling point, releasing the warm natural flavours of the beans. The simple fact that I have no need to intervene in the grinding and tamping process ensures that each cup come with the perfect crème as the water is pushed through the beans with the right level of pressure.
Frothing milk is an activity fraught with problems. From over aerating to steam burns, this is my least favourite activity when making my own coffees. The fully enclosed milk system of the Jura machine means that no special skills are required, and each cup comes as perfectly prepared as the next. So no, my master class did not need to cover any of these elements in creating the perfect cup.
Ever the practical one, there were other elements of the Jura machines that had me highly impressed. A smooth, flat touch screen surface with no crevices to collect dust and no top plate cup warmer. Instead the cups are kept in an internal heated drawer on the side of the machine, keeping them at the ideal temperature, dust free and quiet!
Having owned several DIY coffee machines in the past I am no stranger to the service process. I spent quite some time probing the Jura representative about the quality of the internal seals, replacement parts and just how long one could be expected to cope without their lifeline. I was surprised to hear that not only does their service centre have a “while you wait” option, but ensures that your turn around service time is no more than two days or they will supply you with a fill in machine! Jura clearly understands the seriousness of the situation.
My master class efforts were far more fun than I was expecting. Being able to turn out the perfect and impressive Tiramisu with the addition of a Jura made espresso, gave me hope that dinner parties may not be beyond my abilities. Creating this impressive coffee art right out of the gate has me completely sold on the idea. It looks like a bought one right?
As a true coffee aficionado I can honestly say that the coffee produced by the Jura A9 and F9 (the two models I trialled), is far superior to many of those $4.50 cups I’ve bought in cafes around Australia. With the engineering, quality, service and overall results of these machines, this is an easy investment to justify in a coffee obsessed city.
