phone call.

Retro phones are the best aren't they? Rotary, wall mounted. Any shape, any colour.

This is one thing I don't have yet. Maybe someday. 

I'd love a bright pastel telephone tucked away in a cozy corner. Just for fun.

One can dream...

In the meantime I'll just look at all the wonderful retro phone eye candy on Etsy!

one//two//three//four//five//six//seven//eight//nine

P.S. The other day we booked our honeymoon flight to London and Paris! It's a year away but I'm already floating in excitement. Any suggestions on places to go and things to see? I'm starting my list already! Maybe there's some European vintage waiting for me somewhere...

Thanks for following along and have an awesome rest of the day!

Marissa xo

dolled up.

I have come to the realization that I am drawn specifically to black and white clothing, usually with bib collars or a "tuxedo" style. I really prefer more masculine inspired looks paired with feminine accessories and makeup. As most ladies, collars alone get me almost every time. Almost. 

In the last year I have adopted a couple of my favourite closet staple pieces.

Three are dresses, two are tops. Three are vintage, two are not. Say hello to a couple top notch stunners I am proud to call mine!

These are two of my acquired finds and both are from Etsy. On the left is my 60s velvet tuxedo jumper that I've had since last April. I bought it for myself as an early birthday present from DutchessVintage, to wear on my birthday and take on our Chicago trip. It's probably my favourite vintage outfit I own. On the right is my newest vintage clothing purchase (other than for the shop of course!), a beautiful LucyInDesguise dress that has sort of a 60s folk style mixed in. I haven't even had a chance to wear it yet, other than a quick try-on, but it's in my closet waiting to make its debut.

And in case you're wondering, the dress in the photo above is an asos petite collar swing dress. The most effortless thing in my closet that instantly makes me look like I tried to put myself together. In reality, it feels like being draped in the softest, comfiest blanket.

Does anyone else get pulled in by these styles? Or do you have another wardrobe weakness?

Marissa

shop sales.

It's like project city over at my house lately. We're still chipping away at the finishing touches in our basement. I never dreamed putting things away and getting organized would take this long, but I'm thankful for the progress being made.

Even our bedroom is undergoing a few changes. A couple weeks ago we hosted a garage sale at my house and my grandma contributed a couple mystery boxes that I was unaware of until the garage sale was actually going on! It was a super close call, because my most treasured set of items of hers were in one of the boxes!! A Four Seasons wall hanging set from Coppercraft Guild. I know it seems pretty silly that they would be so important and memorable to me, but I always remember wanting them from a very, very young age. Needless to say they are now mine and awaiting their turn to be hung up in our bedroom like they were in hers all those years.

Today I received a FREE extra long 60s Walnut dresser with a mirror for our bedroom. My dad originally bought a full set for his cabin, but couldn't fit this particular one in any of the rooms. So I guess I lucked out! This thing is the absolute coolest and I'm glad because I agreed to take it based only on knowing the wood type and seeing the headboard from the set. I was pretty confident I knew what the shape would be and I was spot on. She needs a light scrub and some oil to restore the shiny finish in places, so onto the list that goes. Pictures to come obviously!

Because I've been so focussed on home things and haven't posted anything new lately (in the shop and on the blog) I decided to have some simultaneous sales going on in both shops. Maybe you've seen them already, but if you haven't...

This lady is $10 plus shipping now!!

For CharmingShopVintage:

Items that I've had in the shop for a while are marked down to $10 or $15.

Such a great deal for people looking for cheap gifts or things they want but would usually pay so much more for!! There is some pretty incredible stuff up for grabs! Check it out!

For CharmingShopLove:

I am trying to get my older art prints moving on to new homes, so I can start selling some new ones!

All prints are buy one get one free! (Or better known as BOGO.)

I am going to be starting a new collection of vintage inspired holiday confetti as well as smaller original artworks based on the prints I already sell. There will be some pyrex inspired ones so stay tuned for that.

As always I combine shipping for multiple items or for purchase from both shops. Don't hesitate to ask, because I'm always close by to help!;)



We'll be having our little wedding next summer and we've decided on an incredible (but expensive) honeymoon spot. So come on and contribute to our wedding fund! haha Oh dear...


Alright, I'm off to the basement to get started on the new shop area!
Hope you're having a great week!


Marissa xo

Some September Loot.

I have been busy preparing for a full winter of vintage selling. These are some of my finds from September. To keep and to sell. There's always a fine line...I'm not always so good at deciding...

Let's get my keep pile out of the way first. Right at the tail end of September I found these shoes. Like so many Value Village frequenters, I get overly excited around Halloween. Months before, they start holding back their coolest, most retro outfits to put out as Halloween costumes. I try to snatch up as many cute ones as I can! 

These intensely sparkly shoes were in the Halloween section this year and I'm pretty certain they're keepers. They fit my tiny fit, but they're a little snug. I'd say they're a narrow 5 and a half.  I might try stretching them out with bags of water. Has anyone actually tried this before? I haven't. I don't want to wreck these beauties! In person it looks like it has glitter or sequins all over, but it's actually just metallic thread. I love them and really hope our relationship works out!

I try not to get too attached to things, but I don't think I can let these go. The pattern is called Flair. Such a sweet name for the best plate set ever! There are eight dinner plates, eight bread plates and one small bowl. Normally I would like a larger set, but seeing as how I don't think I'll be finding anything quite like these again, they'll be mine for now. 

About six weeks ago, my house got broken into and I was pretty upset about it. Luckily the thief didn't get very much. The only thing they took was my purse, and I didn't have too many things in there at the time. I always carry small vintage purses that don't hold a lot, but the one that was stolen was my moms when she was my age. If anything, there was a little sentimental value and the inconvenience of having to cancel all my credit cards and renew my information. Luckily my purse was recovered in the end, along with some personal things the thief obviously didn't think much of. (Everything was found in a garbage can down the street. Gross.) 

Anyway the point of this story is that I was feeling down about having someone violate my home and break into my personal space. So I treated myself to an Etsy purchase that I had been eyeing for a while. A set of these amazing Hazel Atlas glasses from the Etsy shop Midge and Manny's. The seller is very sweet and I received them in perfect condition, wrapped with great care. Sometimes you just need to splurge on something, and this was it for me. (Please ignore my horrible front door partition wall that clearly needs to be painted soon!)

 This set was a nice find last month. I'm a big fan of gravel or textured wall art. I have two melted plastic still life sets already - one in orange and another in blue. These kitschy guys can go off to a new home where they can be fully appreciated for how cool they really are. I'm pretty excited about the incredible bold colour and visual movement of the images. 

Hellooo cute wall clock!! I'm a huge sucker for retro fonts, and the numbers on this Timex clock are pretty retro indeed! I'm willing to part with this beauty and for the right price. It does have a significantly large crack on the front. So sad. Expect a discount! 

*** 

To my Winnipeg people, we're hosting a three household garage sale at my home this weekend. Please email me at charming_shop@hotmail.com if you'd like details. (I'm sorry, I don't want to display my address here!) Direct any and all questions to me and I'll get back to you right away! 

We've been planning this garage sale for a whole year, storing these things in boxes and bins. I have no idea what's what. We wanted to do it earlier in the summer, but we ran out of time. Now we just want to get it done before it gets too cold out. Now there's construction on our street too, so unfortunately space is going to be very limited. A back lane party it is! We would wait until next year, except the amount of stuff is too out of control to store over winter. 

I was also originally planning on doing a pop-up of my vintage shop, CharmingShopVintage, at the sale, but because of the amount of stuff, I decided not to for this time. There's always next year. So come on out. We've been organizing and pricing for two days and I just want to get rid of everything! 

Make offers and take some things off my hands!

We hope to see you there!

Marissa xo