Wooden wedding inspiration

Wow. What is it about this time of year that makes everyone want to get married? The warmth, the holiday get-togethers, not to mention we are finishing up spring here in the U.S. and the birds and the bees have been doing just what God intended them to do!

I was a bridesmaid in my older sis' wedding a couple weeks ago, and my roommate AND bf's sis are planning their weddings as well! Talk about wedding feva!

So it's pretty hard for a girl not to have wedding on the brain. Instead of wondering why is hasn't happened for me and my bf of 6.5 years, I decided to become inspired by all the amazing loveliness that Etsy has to offer. Many of my pieces are wood or french related, which I'm majorly swooning over at the moment!

Enjoy! And let me know your thoughts/comment on all this wedding stuff too! I love to hear what you guys think!

Retroheart

Mrstiddlemouse

PurplePeonyCouture

Braggingbags

Rootsjewelry

Amazing right?

Oh, I forgot to mention, I also included these items in my newest Treasury HERE

xo, Brooke

Etsy Front Page Feature!

Hey guys!

How are you doing on these lovely spring days? So I know I've been a little MIA, but....I figured I could make up for it by sharing something I'm super excited about. My team (the Global Arts Team) and I made it to the front page of Etsy, thanks to an inspirational treasury I made the other day! This is not only exciting for me, because I feel like I was FINALLY noticed for one of my treasuries (which I take very seriously by the way) but it feels good to do something for the team I just became a part of.

Thanks to everyone for the inspiration on the team. Hopefully it brought you guys some well deserved success in your shops!

Happy Friday!

xo, Brooke

Creative Packaging Ideas for jewelry at Vintage Fix!

Hey guys!

I hope all is well in your lives these days! I know that I've truly been enjoying the small bits of warmth that's been scattered amongst Southern California lately. What a blessing it is! Let's here it for spring!

Among all this lovely weather, I've been working on new ways to add a handmade touch to Vintage Fix, but still keep the look of my shop consistent. It's so important for me to still have my things look retro or vintage-y even it they aren't.

As you may know, my retro button studs have been up since Valentines day, as they were a promotional item I came up with to celebrate the month of love, but now since I've decided to keep them up as a customizable item for anyone to make any time of year, I felt I could get really creative with shipping them.

I chose to incorporate some items I had on hand, like vintage buttons and vintage fabric to wrap them Furoshiki style, a style I've been obsessed with recently and the reason for doing this is to not only re-purpose my own fabric, but to offer the fabric in a cute way so that it may be re-used by my customers in any type of project they may need it for. Everybody wins!

Here's what I came up with:

Step 1: Materials

a piece of scrap fabric, fabric scissors (not pictured), measuring tape, twine, a button or charm, a small craft box, burlap material, a rubber stamp to decorate a note, a stamp ink pad.

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Step 2:

Cut the fabric to approx. a 9" x 9' square. Feel free to make the square bigger or smaller to suit your needs. Just make sure its a square.

Step 3

Cut the burlap material to fit the inside of your small craft box (both can be purchased from a craft store).

Step 4:

Fit the cut piece of burlap into your box and attach your earrings or jewelry. I used my customizable studs, which can be purchased here.

Step 5: Make a note. 

Handmade notes are a wonderful way to show the person your giving the gift to how much time you took to make it special. I always type my notes with my vintage typewriter and I stamped a butterfly for this one (feel free to be creative here).

Step 6: 

Cut the note smaller to fit under your box (Or you can attach the note on the outside of your wrapped box with the charm by hole-punching it and tying it on with the twine). Place note and box diagonally on the piece of fabric with fabric face down.

Step 7: 

Fold top right corner over the box and tuck under.

Step 8: 

Fold bottom left corner over the box and fold under also. It should resemble a crepe :)

Step 9:

Flip it over.

Step 10:

Bring both leftover ends together in the middle and tie them together.

Step 11:

Tie on charm with the twine.

Voila! A cute way to re-purpose fabric and wrap a gift! 

Enjoy your Thursday!

xo, 

Brooke

Love comes in many different colors.

I think many people can agree that one of the best things in life is love. Love can be an enabler, a leader, a teacher of lessons, a gift, a past, a memory, or a thoughtful intention.

Lately, I've come across some amazing sellers on Etsy who know just how to get their messages across about love in discreet ways. To me, it's more clever to express love in a way that only you and the person you love would understand. Its makes the bond more special, don't you think? I do.

Here are some adorable little ideas to give you inspiration this Valentines Day:

Angeldogdesigns

MintyFreshStudio

Thelittlerice

Yummypocket

Plus, Here's a sneak peek of what's going to be coming to Vintage Fix for this upcoming Valentines day!

I've always loooooved fabric covered button studs. I've checked them out on Etsy. and on various sellers websites, but noticed a similar theme- they all are exactly the same with some type of pretty fabric or picture on them! So, one day recently, I decided that I wanted to change the way we modern women wore button studs - with sweet little messages on them. How cool is that? Messages about love, life, and everything in between is what you can expect from this girl shortly. But for now, in celebration of Valentines Day in a couple weeks, I will be focusing on love notes, customizable messages, names of those you love, initials, etc.

Stay tuned. They will be up for sale shortly!

xo, Brooke

The Blues Vintage Collection

I don't know what it is about collections that draws me in so much, but I love creating them. As with many other posts I've done in the past, I'm a sucker for pairing things with a similar theme, color, fabric, etc.

I didn't realize that I have been going through a blue phase until I realized that the past few vintage bags I've been picking up have had one thing in common: yes, the color blue.

Without further ado, The Blues Collection. Each item is now available on Vintage Fix!

New Years Eve VINTAGE GLAM tips!

One of the best things about being a female is not having any particular reason to look your best. We don't need to have an excuse to get creative with our makeup. We don't need permission to wear a particular dress. And we certainly to need anyone's approval to look glamorous! 

However, New Years Eve is a perfect reason to have fun with your look and be creative by adding a vintage flair.

Long live the days where wearing your staple LBD (little black dress) will suffice. NO! You must be daring and more adventurous then ever! 

With that in mind, I came up with a creative twist on the whole New Years Eve look. I'm tired of relying on classics or staples. After all, the new year means a whole new you, so why not dress that way?

Here are some tips on being creative this New Years Eve:

• Forget about wearing a little black dress. This year is all about color. Consider wearing jewel tones, like this pretty teal dress by MadCapClothing

• Don't forget about accessories! Relying on glitzy, over-the-top necklaces and diamond encrusted bracelets, although pretty, is a lazy way of accessorizing. Instead minimalistic, edgy pieces will add a vintage-y touch to any ensemble. Try these ideas from ImYourPresent and jacarandadesigns for inspiration on your own look.

ImYourPresent

jacarandadesigns

• Perfect your face with pretty makeup. Both of these shops know just what it takes to complete any nighttime look.

Experiment with different colors on your eyes to create a new, one-of-a-kind smokey eye 

PureFusionMakeup

Pair with the perfect shade of deep burgandy to up your vixen factor!

HeavenlyNaturals

• If you are already set on your look for ringing in the New Year, adding interesting elements is sure to make you stand out from the rest

BeatrixBlackHeart

PoppyChicDesigns

MaroDesigns

BelleBlakeDesigns

Most importantly have fun! And be safe! Happy New Years everyone!

xo, Brooke

Swedish Walnuts...as promised

So, I like to ramble on, usually about random things on my Twitter account: #vintagefixstore. Nothing wrong with that right? The way I see it is, I really enjoy reading other people's ramdom tweets about their everyday musings, and so, I should be doing my part to.

Today, I did my best to share how delicious these Swedish Walnuts were, that a coworker of mine had made, and I really couldn't do them any justice, except to say that I think I want to move to Sweden. There's only so much one can say in 140 characters, after all.

In order to share all good things in my life (okay, carefully edited things), I wanted to share this recipe with you guys. I think just reading the recipe should make some of your mouths start to water. Oh and please share this with others, as we are just around the corner from Christmas, and they would make a great treat to bring or serve at any party or get-together you may partake in. Enjoy!

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Swedish Walnuts:

Melt one stick of butter or margarine and melt in a 9x13 in. pan.
Beat 2 egg whites. Add 1(one) cup of sugar and a pinch of salt. Beat for 2 or 3 minutes. With a spoon, stir in 5 cups of walnuts until well-coated.
Spread nut mixture on top of melted margarine.
Sprinkle cinnamon over nuts.
Bake at 325 for 45-55 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.
Feel free to add more cinnamon the first couple of times your stir.

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Easy right? Even for all of you who thought it would be some complicated thing. Silly you! I would never hand out something difficult like that.

xo, Brooke