rave on, cats

Here is a nearly all-1950s shop preview, perfect for the guy whose style icon is Carl Perkins or a young Elvis Presley.  Rave on!

1950s mustard Donegal Fitzhugh shirt.

1950s chainstitched work shirt, by Personality.

1950s reversible atomic speckle windbreaker.

1950s turquoise corduroy shirt by Pilgrim.

1950s yellow and brown chainstitched bowling shirt.

Howling wolf cowichan sweater.

1950s green wool coat, Weather Wise by Minnesota Woolen Co. 

xo

K

Happy Halloween!

Of course I had planned to take Halloween photos of all the cats dressed up like I do every year (here's last years) but I completely forgot until the last minute (didn't it really sneak up?!) and not everyone was so compliant. Only Doctor Octopus was kind enough to sit still for me and pose in his costume for more than five seconds.

Leaf also joined in on the fun! He was only in costume for a very short amount of time before Professor Stingray attacked and made Leaf crabby.

(he was looking a bag of treats that was being shook to get his attention)

Anyway, I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

xoxo

It's the little things...

like carving pumpkins with your best friend...

even if with both of your skills combine still can't carve a pumpkin better than an eight year old.

 skeleton leggings from here. 

We're not very good at it, and I sure complained a lot. (the inside of these pumpkins smelled so much worse than they normally do and geeez, they were cold) but we had fun and that's all that counts!

xoxo

FF #128

This print by UnitedThread is so beautiful. I love her style so much!

 (via:unitedthread)

Look at this fabulous vintage sweater!! Too bad it's too small for me!

(via: Gravel Ghost Vintage)

Such a pretty little leather bag.

(via:siamleather)

Love this kitty pencil holder. I would be all over this if I didn't already have a thousand different containers for pens and pencils on my desk already. 

(via: modcloth)

Words cannot express how much I love animals in costumes. I had so much fun looking through all these pictures from the annual Halloween Dog Parade in Tompkins Square Park.

(via: gothamist) 
Such a pretty sweater. It looks so cozy!

 (via: TinyOwlsMagicAttic)

I'm really glad these boots aren't my size or else I'd probably have to buy them.

 (via: TimeBombVintage)
Crazy about this gorgeous calender. 

 (via: modcloth)

Lovin' this map purse (and wishing I used a purse other than my camera bag sometimes)

 (via:SkyTurtle)

I am crazy about this vintage dress. The colors are perfect!

(via: AfterNoonCoffeespoon)

• These nail transfers by Kate Broughton are pretty awesome!
• A reader sent me a link to this cat hat and I have to agree it's amazing. I'd love to see Doctor Octopus in it!
• I love these boots! Actually, I'd pretty much take any cool boots with fringe on them.

Well, I'm gonna run now. Kevin has the day off and we're going to the movies! I never go see things in theaters but I'm most definitely make an exception for The Rum Diary! Any Hunter S. Thompson fans out there excited too?!
xoxo

vintage Halloween

I love vintage Halloween photos.  I found some good ones from when my dad was little in the family photos and have been waiting until now to share them.

This was marked "Glenn's party Oct. '50" on the back.  My dad is the kid in the "Kill the Umpire" outfit--lower left corner.  What an insane mask.  If some kid carried around that sign and wore that mask today he'd probably be sent immediately to therapy.  (For the record, my dad is relatively sane, and probably the nicest guy you'll ever meet.)  The skeleton costume is awesome...and how freaking creepy is the mask?  I think the poor kid next to Skeletor dressed as a pierrot is little pissed, frankly.

Here are the adults.  Not surprising for the time, I'm seeing a little bit of ethnic insensitivity sprinkled amongst the costumes.  I'm liking the bottles of beer, though, and the banjo as accessory.  This photo and the following three are from October 1949, and I'm guessing this is a party in my grandparents' basement.

My grandma as a cowgirl.  Her outfit is awfully cute--I just wish she wasn't wearing that creepy mask.  Looks like the other gals didn't quite get into the Halloween spirit, but they sure are wearing great dresses!

See the cutest kid the photo?  The hobo in the bow tie?  That's my dad!  And holy smokes--there's a kid with the devil on his costume in the back, on the left.  I'm pretty sure they don't let kids dress like Satan for Halloween anymore.

Is that kid on the left dressed as a Civil War soldier?  Whoa.  I'm loving the decorations--the witch's hat and the pipe cleaner skeletons!  And I'm pretty sure there are actual cornstalks in the background.  Well done, Grandma Edna!

I hope you all have a very happy and creepy Halloween!  My big Halloween plan is a long overdue viewing of the original The Wicker Man.

Don't forget to enter in our 3rd Etsy-versary Giveaway here.  And enjoy 15% off all purchases at the Etsy shop with code HAPPY3 now through Monday!

xo

K

Review // Fur Ivy

A few weeks ago I was sent a nice little surprise from Fair Ivy to review. It got here just a few days after Doctor Octopus' birthday so he got first dibs on anything inside! ;)

Before I tell you all what I think let me tell you a little bit about Fair Ivy. Fair Ivy sells surprise package subscriptions. You can choose from four different main options, Fun Ivy (for teens), Fair Ivy (for women), Fred Ivy (for men) and Fur Ivy (for pets). Fur Ivy has a cat or dog option and the dog option even has four different sizes of dogs to choose from. I chose cat (obviously...)

Inside our surprise package was a bag of real meat treats, some cat grass to plant and a cute little eggplant shaped toy. Everything was packaged up real nice and was a treat to open even if I already knew what's inside wouldn't be for me.

I just planted the cat grass, I can't wait for it to grow. I've bought cat grass in the past and it just made them throw up so it's not really something I'd purchase but I am hopeful that this time it will be a success.

The treats they loved - of course, they're treat crazy. But the biggest hit was the toy! It must have some super potent catnip in it because I have never seen them go so crazy over a toy. My kitties have tons of toys but this is one of only two I've ever seen them keep interest in for more than a day.

  It was handmade in California by Wags and Wiggles, if you're curious and would like to pick one up for your cat!

All in all, I totally love Fur Ivy! I would highly recommend getting a box for yourself, or your pet. It's a great way to try new products that you might not have known about before.

You can order just one month if you'd like to try it before committing to a 2 or 3 month subscription or you can even get a Fur Ivy jumbo box which has 3x the amount of goodies then a normal sized box.

Lucy, the owner of the whole Fair Ivy line, has generously offered 20% off any fur ivy subscription for all Dainty Squid readers which is valid until November 2nd. Just use code: DAINTY20
xoxo

we are 3! [giveaway closed]

11/1/11 update: And the winner--chosen via Random.org--is vegAnn!  Thanks so much to everyone for entering.




Editing this post to let you all know: save 15% on all purchases in the Etsy shop with code HAPPY3 now until midnight 12:00 AM EST on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

And don't forget the enter the giveaway (details below)!

This Saturday, October 29, will be the third anniversary of the day I opened my Etsy account.  Andy and I had sold vintage in shops and online for several years before then, but I truly didn't start having so much fun doing it until Etsy entered my life.

To celebrate, we'll be sharing a sale code with those of you fabulous friends and customers who follow me here, on my Twitter, and on the Small Earth Vintage Facebook page.  I'll be sharing the code tomorrow, and it will be valid through Monday, October 31.

I'll also be holding a giveaway for $30.00 toward any purchase in the Small Earth Vintage Etsy shop.  To enter, leave a comment on this blog post telling me what you'd like to see more of on the blog or in the Etsy shop.  Only one comment per person, please.  You can get a secondary entry by tweeting a link to the giveway (be sure include my Twitter handle, @SmallEarthVtg, so I know about your tweet), but again, just one secondary entry per person, please.  I'll stop counting comments at midnight 12:00 am EST on Tuesday, November 1, and will then randomly choose a comment, and announce the winner sometime on Tuesday.

And finally: the shop is closing in on its 2000th sale.  A special surprise will be given to the person who purchases that 2000th item.

Thanks so much to all of you--customers, readers, commenters, and friends--who have helped make the past three years so much fun!  We love you.  

xo

K

ten things making me smile...

1 // Heart shaped leaves, and cute boots!

2 // animals making silly faces. I know, I know I mentioned it in my last post, but c'mon, it's the best!

3 // Snuggling brothers in the sun. few things make me smile wider than when the kitties are super sweet to each other!

4 // gathering things and making mini collections where ever I go!

5 // finding photos of fun times. (that would be on the cabin we got with Ivan and Elycia, Kevin carved our initials and the year before we left)

6 // a big pile of pretty, newly thrifted clothes drying after being washed!

7 // big dogs who think they're lap dogs!

8 // putting mushrooms cute places after bringing them home

9 // the feeling of sand between my toes.

10 // cats invading my photos and thinking that they're getting photographed for band pictures. (notice three are looking at the camera and the lead singer is too cool to look.)

What's making you smile today?

xoxo