adios

I hate to say it, but I'm going to need to take a blogging break.

I haven't been able to dedicate enough time to post the quality that I would like. I'd like to take a minute to focus on my new derby duties and my family.

I'm on Twitter as chiquitabandita if you want to keep up with me. I'm also on instagram as banditaxtcdg.

I hope I can return with some fabulous posting! Thanks for the love, you all are too sweet :)

Love,

Bandita

Wrapping Paper Shmapping Paper

I'm into retro stuff.

So why shouldn't my gift wrapping follow that trend?

My Christmas will involve shopping local, handmade, or thrift as often as possible. (I was aiming for 100%, that hasn't entirely happened I'll be honest.)

Locally, there is a lil shop called the I.D.E.A. Store. It is a bit of a trash/salvage store to be honest but if you are creative, you can do some wicked stuff with what they have to offer! I'm only mildly creative, so when the shop owner suggested using maps as gift wrap I was on board!

I paid about $.60 for 3 maps. 1 map ($.20) wrapped 3 small/medium sized gifts. Not a bad deal, eh?

Then I got sassy and used some sheet music to make my mom's gifts more feminine and fancy. It worked well and was equally cheap. Being a band geek, it made me a bit emotional to cut the music (yes, I had the urge to pick up and play the flute I sold years ago..) The sheet music (and maps for that matter) are nice and sturdy and easy to wrap. This will be good for transport. In the past, I have found that wrapping paper can tear a bit easily.

Fruit nets provided a new texture to a couple of my gifts. I'm still experimenting with this concept, I saw it online somewhere.

What are your creative gift wrap ideas?

*Bandita

mini house tour

these are some favorite parts of my home as of 9pm last night with minimal tidying.

 

what are your favorite corners of your home?

i'd love to see! if you post any pictures on your page leave a comment so i can check them out!

feelin crafty?

yeah, me neither.

but this clock could be amazing!

(click if you're feelin sassy)

Big(ish) News!

Sorry to post about my personal life, but I'm just so thrilled!

I have been voted in by my league-mates to be the PR Rep for the Twin City Derby Girls!

 Look at those hotties, what an honor!

Which means I'm on the board.. and fancy.

I'm so pumped for the next season to see what I can accomplish! I've got big plans and simply cannot wait to make them happen!

See that laser focus? I'm coming for you PR!

Photo Transfer How-To from a How-To

So this has nothing to do with "retro" besides the retro idea of DIY!

I have been playing around with wood photo transfer because of a video I saw online.

while i'm waiting on the bleach to activate...

I thought I would share my recent ebay efforts!

I hate the thought of cool items sitting on a dusty shelf at the thrift store, so sometimes I pick them up and release them to the wild.

I only have 3 auctions currently, and all of the items I'd love to hang on to if they don't sell! haha but alas, I think they should go out to real collectors.

I feel I keep my prices reasonable. For example, a couple of these awesome mosaic Fire King bowls sold for $15. I set my price at $4.99. Ends today, we'll see what happens!

 

Click to see listing!

Then there's Boontonware. I am extremely fascinated with Boontonware! Melamine is awesome, heavy duty, and effing pretty as eff! The handles on these tea cups are so art deco I can't even stand it!

 

Click to see listing!

Then there are the ever so collectible souvenir trays! I have 3, an official collection. I'm gifting them to some lucky ebay winner as an insta-collection! I've seen some really cool things done with these trays, so I hope someone that is madly in love with them picks them up! 3 Trays, $4.99? Yeah, I'm awesome.

What's shocking to me is this guy: a vintage awesome sugar canister. For only $5.99. I've listed it twice and it hasn't sold. Any advice on what I'm doing wrong?

I hope this ebay thing can feed my need for thrifting and make some people happy! Do you ebay?

--Bandita

I absolutely love Pyrex.

Oi! I know I know.... predictable! "Look at that girl: she wears red lipstick and wannabe vintage glasses.. and I bet she collects Pyrex too!"

But in my defense, the stuff is effing gorgeous!

It all started when my grandmother died. We were performing the horrible task of sorting through her belongings. I always had a taste for vintage style, but didn't really know much about the wonderful world of vintage kitchen items. Well I came across a blue dish with a Cinderella type pattern on it. I mean, this thing was amazing! I asked around to see if anyone cared and they didn't so I took it home with me.

(this is not my image)

Being okay with being an ecclectic collector.

So I do a lot of blog stalking. With all the time I put into blog stalking you'd think I could post more than once a millennium, eh?

WELL ANYWAY

I see a lot of really cool things, primarily houses and vintage collections. Cause that's what I'm into. People with salt n pepper shaker collections, tiki collections, record collections, and milk glass collections (sigh.. i love milk glass) Pyrex, dolls, shells, whatever... I love checkin it out.

But then I'll see a house tour like this:

 images via Apartment Therapy, another site i'm mildly obsessed with.

Weekend

Testing out this blogger app...

Weekend pics:

random day off means thrifting, duh!

today, was a good day.

yes, yes it was.

thank goodness for the stressed-out August version of myself that decided I would want a random Friday off. She was sooooo right.

 

glitter is always a good thing.

sip a lil cider out of a Willie mug

amazing Pyrex mixing bowl! only $2

stadium seats! $2 each.

and these are just the instagram pictures! (banditaxtcdg) normal pics to come :)

Make a Difference

One of my daily blog checks, Aesthetic Outburst needs your help. Actually, to be more specific the town of Owego needs your help. Intense flooding has put many out of their homes and jobs. Check this out:

 They are looking for donations big and small. Make an impact today and visit the site.

Thank you!

-Bandita

iphone picturama

these are pictures of my labor day weekend thus far. got some garage sailin' in and got some really good deals! also hosted a lil cookout at our place. it was a lot of fun! got some before pics but not a lot of during/after. there's a little video at the end that's kinda cute to check out if you feel so inclined. hope you're having a nice end to summer wherever you are!!

whew! i'm tired, too much awesome for one weekend...

I have had quite the adventurous weekend!

Friday: Discovered Mad Men on Netflix (hey! i haven't seen season 4 yet!) Made for quite an exciting evening with The Mister.

Saturday: No derby practice, which meant I had time to clean a bit then go thrifting! Here's what I found:

9 fiestaware plates for $2? Sure, I guess I'll take them off your hands ReStore! Same goes with the cute vintage Disney World ash tray. $.25? Alright, I can deal with that. The paint scrapper was a household need, but I do have to say I love the wooden handle. The book? For my nephew, I'm so excited to have found it!!

Goodwill has been kind as well:

 We went to Graceland, and bought a souvenir or two. Not coffee mugs though because at $10 each it is just silly. Goodwill, however, offered this up for $.50, so we bought two!

This bowl is for my mother, although I do love it! We saw them at an antique store a while back and she has been trying to find them to collect them ever since. It seems her and her sisters all had some growing up :) When I saw it for $.56 at Goodwill I was ecstatic! Can't wait to deliver it to her!

ANYWAY, back to my adventurous weekend!

After an awesome thrifting trip, I went to get my hair did. A friend (well, actually, we have a mutual ex! ha!) is an amazing stylist and is working at a new shop. I decided to show her some love and make an appointment. I got the hair off my neck and am feelin' pretty good!

So after that, it was derby time!! A friend of mine (one of those rare ones that you've been close to since you were 3) came up to visit and see our derby league. I was not competing this time around, but was announcing! We had an absolute blast, as it was a very exciting game! Check out the Twin City Derby Girls, we're definitely up and coming!

Then, we slid on over to Memphis on Main to see a localish rockabilly act: The Hillbilly Jones! They do originals, but for this set did lots and lot of covers too! It was 3 hours of rockin songs that I never get to hear live!

*Sigh* This weekend rocked, and I still have my lazy Sunday ahead of me :)