i'm a winner!

A few weeks back you may recall that Etsy bought me a pair of shoes after I posted about them on Twitter. Etsy was trying to reach 1,000,000 Twitter followers and asked people to Tweet their Etsy favorites. I had no idea Etsy was actually purchasing the items we Tweeted about--but boy am I glad I picked these shoes by zerkahloostrah!



They arrived yesterday and are simply gorgeous (as you can see from the photos)! They are beautifully made, and the cherry red leather is perfection. They are also incredibly comfortable. I am in love!

You can check out the zerkahloostrah shop here. There are both custom and ready to wear shoes and BOOTS!, super cozy-looking "toebiter" slippers, and leather bags and wallets. It's just a perfect example of what makes Etsy so incredible.

Thank you for the beautiful shoes, zerkahloostrah and Etsy!

xoxo
K

everything in plaid

When looking over the photos for this Sunday's preview of things coming to the shop next week, the only trend I noticed was: lots of plaid. There's a plaid cape, a plaid wool skirt suit, a plaid Pendleton skirt--even a plaid sweater. And you know what? There's more where that came from! I sincerely hope no one's getting tired of plaid yet. And if you are, there are a couple solid-colored items and some non-plaid prints (the woodgrain print dress, for one!).

But really--who ever gets tired of plaid?


Blue plaid wool capelet.

Sepia brown stripey Cos Cob shirtwaist dress.

Pringle coral red cashmere cardigan.

Cocoa plaid wool suit.

Black shirt dress with a crazy woodgrain print in the fabric (click the photo to enlarge--you should be able to see it!).

Brown and gray wool plaid skirt with belt.

Sweet little flower print sweater.

Mod blue and white dress.

Wool knife pleat olive and gray skirt.

Rococo print blouse.

Sheer print dress with sweet split puffed sleeves.

Pendleton wool red and blue plaid skirt.

Loopy knit pink and orange plaid sweater by Jack Winter.

Green and blue print dress by R&K Originals.

Olive green Koret wool tunic.

Blue rose knit dress with a draped bodice that has some fading to the color, but is still very beautiful.

xo
K

vanity plates, fried dill pickles, and Blatz

I hate most photos taken of me, so it is with great trepidation that I post this photo taken by Andy before our thrift trip yesterday. I do enjoy seeing the photos that other bloggers (most, I suspect, much younger than me) post of themselves rocking the vintage. Although on most days I'm at home alone working all day, and thus, not dressed in anything particularly interesting, I do like getting "dressed up" whenever I go out. Which means wearing vintage dresses while thrifting. Here is dorky ole me in a purple print nylon 1950s or 1960s day dress that came from an estate sale. Tights, sweater and belt are all Target. Vintage oxfords were a thrift store find.


(Speaking of dressing up, apparently the American public no longer likes to get dressed, at all, to go out. I saw so many people out and about yesterday in their pajamas.)


Andy pedicabbed on Friday night, and he was all sugar/carb-deficient, so our first (and most important) stop yesterday was at Hilltop Bakery for him to grab an eclair.

We then proceeded to thrift our little hearts out. This made me laugh.

Andy pointed out that they were likely just hindered by the letter count limitation, but that didn't stop me from annoying him by singing, "WARE-ee-ores! Come out and play-ay!" for half an hour.

World's Cutest Terrier.



We found lots of boots and shoes, including these 1950s men's blue suede oxfords. Also, one of my two favorite finds of the day, this old Sylvania sign.

A good part of the reason for our trip yesterday was to check out a new-to-us restaurant, Barski in Baldwin. I read about it here on grgrub.com (all you Grand Rapids-area folk should bookmark it: it's a great, honest restaurant review site). The review said the chef/owner had worked at San Chez, that they had fried pickles and great burgers, and local beer. We needed no further inducement.

(Fried dill spear and my beer of choice.)


Barski has an unpretentious, sports-watching, hunters and fishermen hanging out, kinda vibe. The bar and restaurant are all one open room so there was a little bit of smokiness (yep, no smoking ban in western Michigan yet), but it didn't bother me or even uber-smoke-hater Andy. (We sat kind of near the bar, too.) The burgers were delicious (any menu header that says "burgers contain bacon" is a good sign in my book). The fries were served with garlicky aioli. The pickles were delicious, but I prefer them in slices, rather than spears. (Is it frightening that I have a preference at all when it comes to deep friend dill pickles?) They had Bell's Oberon, PBR, and Sam Adams Lager on tap plus many other local beers in bottles. The menu includes a couple Polish specialties, which are bizarrely difficult to find in Polish-heavy western Michigan (unless, of course, it's Pulaski Days). We'll definitely be stopping by again.


And here is my second favorite find of the day. Andy was totally unimpressed with it (I think he was just jealous that I found it), but put it on and wore it the rest of the day. I don't know if this means he's keeping it or what, but I think it's awesome. Don't you?

xo
K

pre-holidays SALE!

I told you I'd be posting more details about the pre-holidays sale TeamT is having--here they are! All the below shops are participating; you can click their photos to go directly to their Etsy shops. You'll find everything from jewelry to candles, delicious candy to ceramic and glass products, fine art and knitwear, bags and paper goods, soap and magic lanterns--all kinds of wonderful gift ideas!

The below ad was made by my incredibly talented TeamT teammate, Jenny of jennyndesigns on Etsy. Not only does she make the most beautiful leather bags (I REALLY want one of her bags! And I am completely and totally in love with this sage green distressed leather briefcase in her shop. Holy. Moly. Beautiful!), but she's a freaking web designer! Amazing.

pineapplemint!

Sounds refreshing, right? Well, it is. Pineapple Mint is a great blog written by Kim about vintage and her life. She has an intelligent, dry sense of humor that makes pineapplemint a delicious cocktail!

And I was SUPER flattered when Kim asked if she could profile Small Earth Vintage. She posted this profile--with very nice comments about the shop--in her blog today. Please go take a look if you are interested in who my style icons might be and how I started selling vintage. And even if you aren't, do yourself a favor and go check out Kim's blog anyway, because you'll really like it.

Oh also, Kim has a SWEET Etsy shop, also called pineapplemint, which has fabulous vintage finds like...

...this great moss green coat.

And these funky-cool rubber boots!

I love the rose on this sweater vest.

And the great scribble-print on this 1960s orange sweater!

Ms. pineapplemint has a great eye for the vintage! And she's having a sale in her shop right now, so if any of these caught your eye, well, I'm just sayin'...

Thanks for the profile, Kim. You rock. :)

xo
K

there will be SALE

Small Earth Vintage will be having a 20% off sale this coming weekend in the Etsy shop! The sale is for 20% off everything, pre-shipping. Discounts will be sent to the buyer's PayPal account after purchasing.

Many of the fine members of TeamT are also participating in the sale. You can see a sample of their awesomeness in the below Etsy Treasury I made. You can also click here
to see the Treasury on Etsy and visit some of the TeamT shops.

Not every shop will be participating, but if you shop Etsy this weekend and use search term TeamT, you'll find the TeamT shops. Each seller will have sale details posted in his or her shop banner. I have shopped with many TeamT-ers, and I'm telling you, you won't find more beautiful handmade items, sweeter vintage clothing, or nicer customer service anywhere!

I'll be posting again with more details on the shops participating.

xo
K

shiny

Just a little sneak peek at a few more shiny and sparkly things coming to the shop in plenty of time for holiday parties!

And, by the way, doing a search of the shop at any time using the term "holiday" or "party" or "cocktail" will bring up the most festive attire currently available.

1960s moss green silk shantung Saks Fifth Avenue suit with bishop sleeves.

1950s cherry red velvet dress.

Silver Jetsons suit!

1980s metallic emerald ruffled party dress.

Schiaparelli gold snakeskin-texture t-straps.

Wine velvet pouf shoulder jacket.

xo
K