Friday Favorites: Cucumber Seed Earrings & Cry-Baby!

I thought I would start a new tradition and share with my readers a few of my favorite things in life, from vintage to rockabilly to pinup, each Friday.

This week, I'm loving the handmade and absolutely unique red cucumber seed earrings that I purchased last year from the Southern Highland Craft Guild which is located in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The guild shop features all sorts of regionally handmade crafts ranging from jewelry to pottery to bowls to stained glass to home decor, most of which can either be purchased in person or through their online store. The guild features art exhibitions and crafting classes and workshops to the public as well. I just love these earrings and wear them frequently and also have them in blue. They are made from the actual seeds of a cucumber (the large- and small-sized seeds) and are then painted. They are available in blue, fuschia, lavender, lime, natural, red and yellow. Each pair is priced at $10 and does not include shipping if you purchase them online. Check them out, as I'm sure you will love them!

*Image used courtesy of the Southern Highland Craft Guild

Lastly, my favorite reminiscence for this Friday is the look, feel and overall vibe of the 1990 cult-classic and rockabilly film Cry-baby. I absolutely loved this movie when it came out and have seen it many, many times. With a young and up-and-coming Johnny Depp as Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, it quickly became one of my modern-day vintage-feel favorites! Set in the mid 50's, the movie centers around the life of two teenage gangs known as the Drapes and the Squares. Cry-Baby is a troubled delinquent who falls for a prim and proper girl by the name of Allison. Their escapades quickly drag them both into trouble, along with Cry-Baby's friends and family. Allison makes a change for the bad and quickly won me over with her bad-girl makeover, courtesy of Cry-Baby's sister, Pepper, and her friends Wanda and Hatchet Face. The costume design and musicals in this number were just completely wonderful and it is still a favorite of mine to watch for years to come!

*Image used courtesy of JohnnyDeppFan.com

So, have a fun-filled Friday and an awesome weekend. Do you have any Friday favorites that you can't live without? Be sure to share!

XOXO, Crystal

Little Angels Jewelry Review & Giveaway

I was recently given the gracious opportunity to do a review on some beautiful and unique, quality jewelry from the Little Angels Jewelry shop on Etsy.

Little Angels Jewelry is a shop that specializes in handmade jewelry ranging from punk, to rockabilly, to vintage reproduction, to steampunk, to quirky, and I was simply blown away by their huge assortment and quality! They carry a very large assortment of necklaces, cuffllinks, earrings, rings, brooches, and even totes, hair items, and wedding items. The folks at Little Angels Jewelry take pride in their quality work and offer their items at a very affordable price, and can even do custom orders or wholesale orders, simply by asking. The shop regularly features discounts to return customers on their Etsy shop and is wonderful to work with.

I was allowed the opportunity to review a brooch of theirs and to also host a giveaway for a pair of their gorgeous earrings.

The brooch that I reviewed is one of their signature scissors brooches that features scroll and filigree work at the base of the blades, in between the handles and a clasp pin on the back of the brooch for secure pinning. It is about 2.5" long and around 1" wide at the base of the handles. It is silver and has a distinctive black tarnish around the perimeter to give it a genuine and vintage appearance. I wore the brooch on a cardigan and it looked beautiful and held firmly the entire day! I truly love the brooch and will be wearing it quite often! You can view more information about this particular brooch here.



The earrings that were graciously donated by Little Angels Jewelry for a giveaway to one of my lucky readers are truly unique and one of a kind. Any vintage, pinup, rockabilly or nautical enthusiast would certainly love to get their hands on them! I was lucky enough to receive this pair of beautiful sailor earrings that features a slide-in hoop earring and an anchor with a rope wound round the middle base. They are silver with distince black tarnishing to give them that vintage feel. They measure around 1.25" tall from the base of the earring tip to the bottom of the anchor and are around 0.75" inches wide. These earrings are simply gorgeous and would make a great addition to any girl's wardrobe, and one lucky reader of mine will win this exact pair! You can view more information about this pair of earrings here.



If you would like to have a chance at winning this beautiful pair of anchor earrings, please be sure to enter! One lucky reader will be randomly chosen on Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Entries must be received by Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 11:59pm EST. The winning reader will be notified by email and will have 48 hours to respond with their name and mailing address.

Good luck!

Many, many thanks to the wonderful folks at Little Angels Jewelry for giving me the opportunity to do a review and giveaway on just a few of their many, gorgeous items that they carry in their shop. Please be sure to take a look at everything that they offer in their Etsy store and on their website!

XOXO, Crystal


Mandatory entry:

• Follow me on Google Friends Connect and leave a comment letting me know that you follow, along with your name and email address.

Extra entries:

• Follow the Vintage Loving Mom on Facebook and leave a comment letting me know you follow, along with your Facebook username (worth 1 entry).
  

• Follow me on Twitter and leave a comment letting me know that you follow, along with your Twitter username (worth 1 entry).

• Follow me on Networked Blogs and leave a comment letting me know that you follow (worth 1 entry).

My weekend fun: Antiquing!

This past weekend, I was in the mood to go hunting for treasures in our local antique shops, so we headed over to Bristol, TN and shopped the many antique stores downtown in the State Street area. I had never shopped theses stores before, as I have typically shopped the antique stores in the Pigeon Forge, TN area and the Asheville, NC area, but I was excited to see what they had and I was not disappointed!

First up, we shopped in Grand Antiques and I found three beautiful pairs of vintage earrings to add to my collection. Next up, we shopped Willow Creek Antiques where I found three wonderful vintage music sheet sets with lyrics that I plan to frame and hang in the house. Lastly, we shopped the Heritage Antique mall where I found another pair of vintage earrings that I just loved.

I snapped a few shots of some other items that I really loved, though I didn't purchase them, and will post them in the future. I can keep them, however, and look forward to adding them to my collection in the future.

I hope you had a weekend as wonderful as mine!



Vintage earrings that I rescued from some local Antique stores


I loved this sheet music cover, though it's a bit tattered


Another sheet music cover that I purchased


My favorite sheet music cover so far!

XOXO, Crystal

Refurbishing vintage earrings

I absolutely love vintage earrings; the quirkier and unique, the better. I often find myself searching antique malls, estate sales, yard sales, flea markets, and various websites for the next perfect pair of vintage earrings. Too often, I would find a pair that were just gorgeous, completely authentic, and in wonderful condition, only to find that they were clip-on or screwbacks. I have tried and tried to wear these types of earrings, but they are just torture on my lobes. Alas, I can only wear hypoallergenic posts in my ears. After some creativity, however, I came up with a way to convert vintage finds to a modern-day pierced earring.

When looking for earrings, I always look for a set that are unique and appealing to my tastes, building upon a current wardrobe, as I don't think I would ever wear earrings that I didn't have anything to match them up with in some fashion. The most important feature to consider when you are going to convert vintage earrings to post earrings is if the back of the earring has a flat enough surface to hold a post. Sadly, there have been one or two sets that I have had to pass up, as the backs were in just too bad of a shape to convert and last.

Items you'll need to convert vintage earrings
Two-part epoxy (make sure to check label that solution is safe on metal and/or plastic)
Q-tips
Wire snips
Metal file
Flat back earring posts (typically found in any crafts store)
Rubber or metal earring backs (typically found in any crafts store)
Cardboard piece (thick enough to work on with the epoxy)

The first step in converting to post earrings is the removal of the old hardware on the back of the earrings. I use wire snips or a pair of needle-nose pliers to twist off the clips or screwbacks at the very base of the surface, as close as you can get. I then use a metal file to wear down any left over stump from the clip or screwback. This may take a little time, but not as much if you got as close as possible to the flat surface on the back of the earring. You want to have the surface flat so that the post will lie flat and adhere better to the backing. I then snip off the head of a q-tip, which works great in mixing the epoxy and applying it to the backing. Next, I mix the two parts of the epoxy on the cardboard piece and get right to setting the posts on the back of the earrings. You will have to work in a timely manner, since the epoxy will start to set if you leave it for too long. I dab the cut end of the q-tip in the epoxy and swirl a small amount on the flat surface of the earring post, then apply directly to the earring back. I set the posts in the very center of the earring back, though you can go higher if you desire. You will still have a minute or two for moving the back around to get the placement just where you want it. Lastly, I set the earrings back-side facing up on a flat surface to dry untouched for about 24 hours, when the epoxy will be fully set and dry. The earrings are then ready to wear!

I have purchased many sets over the years that have found a wonderful new home where they will be cared for and used each and every day. Some can be purchased for only a few dollars if you find a good deal; others I have paid more for but they were well worth it. In my opinion, you just can't find the selection, quality and craftsmanship in today's reproduction earrings like you can with the real deal!

Happy crafting, all!

Sincerely, Crystal


A vintage find from a flea market, unconverted.
I'm a sucker for green and polka dots!


The earring posts and backings that I use.


Just a few of the vintage finds I have located and
converted to pierced earrings.