Decembers To Do List

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! So we thought we’d share a few of our favourite festive things to do at this magical time of year. Obviously running around getting last minute gifts, posting cards and seeing friends and family all take up our time, but taking time out to enjoy the festivities should be high on the list too!

Get Cooking!
This time of year is the perfect excuse to get the cookery books out and have a bash and making something yummy. We love that smell of a batch of cookies baking, a hearty stew to warm your cockles, or a pan of mulled wine warming on the stove. Simple Shortbread biscuits make great little gifts, or a sweet treat for unexpected visitors. Try dusting with sugar and cinnamon when they’re just out of the oven for a Christmassy twist. 

Christmas Shortbread

Christmas Markets
Christmas markets pop up all over the country and are a great day out with friends and family. Wrap up warm and head on out to your nearest one. We’re closest to the Manchester Markets which are clustered in pockets throughout the city centre. 

Manchester Markets

With a host of local artists and small businesses selling their wares, authentic European food and of course, the Gluhwein! Warming and sneakily potent, don’t have too many of these!

Christmas Craft Fairs
Check out your local pubs, community centres and churches for Craft fairs near you. Small independent crafters gather to sell their handmade goodies, great for one-of-a-kind gifts such as handmade soaps, knitted toys and accessories, glassware & pottery and vintage finds. Why not head down to the Truly Scrumptious Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday 10th December at  We’ll be holding a stall with some of our gorgeous vintage sparkly party wear, great vintage gift items and our handmade accessories. They’ll also be a range of other fabulous crafters and vintage sellers to tempt you.

Get Wrapping!
Being crafty types, one of our favourite parts of Christmas is wrapping the presents! it’s a great opportunity to get creative and make those gifts extra special. This year I’m going plain a simple using brown parcel paper, red ribbon and white lacy tags, inspired by these yummy parcels. (Just hope mine turn out as stunning!)

Of course they’ll be parties to go to, supersized family dinners and plenty of booze flowing too! So whatever your doing this festive season, enjoy! And if you need any one-off vintage pressies, take a look at our gorgeous stuff on our facebook page!

What’s your favourite thing about Christmas?

Much Love
Sarah & Laurie
xXx

Exciting plans!

Well, we’ve had a little break from our Vintage venture, to enjoy the sun,  take a few holidays and cram in a couple of festivals, but we’re back, and this time we’re here to stay! Although we’ve been off the radar,  our heads are never out of our vintage cloud, and there’s been lots of sewing and crafting, new ideas and stock shopping galore happening behind the scenes and tons of bookings for the coming months!

So, if you’re itching to get a peek at our new stuff, you can take a look on our Facebook page, or why not pop out for the day and visit us at one of our up and coming events!

Saturday 10th September

Truly Scrumptious Vintage & Craft Fair - Blackpool

1.30pm - 5.30pm
Claremont Community Centre
Claremont road
Blackpool
FY1 2QJ
Free Entry - On-site parking

Saturday 25th September

Vintage Village at Salford Museum & Art Gallery

10.30am - 4pm
Salford Museum & Art Gallery, Peel Park, The Crescent, Salford M5 4WU.

 

Saturday 1st October

https://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=160701297345667

Mabfield Road, Manchester

We're hosting this one! Right in the middle of all the student halls, The Brow House is on Mabfield Road just near Owens Park.
And all in perfect time for a new wardrobe for thee new term!
£2 entry, £1 with a valid NUS card.

So, come along and see our smiley faces at one of these events and keep up to date on our facebook page.

Oooh, and shhh, we're working on an etsy page, so you can have instant access to our lovely stuff! A few more tweaks and we'll share it with you all!

Have a beautiful weekend!

Much Love
Sarah & Laurie
xXx

C is for: Camping, Caravans, Cool Cars, Charity Shops & Car Boots (and probably loads more stuff we love...)

Whilst trying to decide on things for each letter for our A-Z, we struggled a bit with C, it seems everything we LOVE starts we a C! So we thought we would touch a little on all of them! 

As were off the Glastonbury on Wednesday its only fitting to start with camping! The best kind of camping as you're with your friends, listening to great music everyday, and its an excuse to drink cider (ooh there's another C!) from 9am! So we've packed our Hunters, chosen our tents, and planned our outfits!

Now, the biggest problem we have is festival hair! No shower for 5 days, there's only so much dry shampoo can fix! So we've made these fabulous straw boater hats, accessorized with gorgeous vintage fabric, perfect for covering our less than fabulous hair and shielding us from the rays (Please let there be sunshine!).

Hats £6, Available via our Facebook page.

Now, if we were more organised, or had more money, we'd be glamping it up in a beautiful old VW Camper, We'd both love to get our hands on one of these, decorate it pretty, fill it with vintage glass crockery and a great roadtrip sound track, and take it out to the sunny countryside. As we're nowhere near owning our own, I decided to hire one as my wedding car, which was so much fun and really started the day off in the right mood!

We got ours from Morecombe & Wize, but there are loads of places out there who hire them out for weddings or weekend hire. Snail Trail also have some fabulous ones, check them out here. And speaking of wedding cars, Laurie went down the Cool Cars route with a gorgeous VW Beetle. Just Fabulous!

And finally, our last two Cs, Charity Shops and Car Boots! Basically we just love a bargain and really old stuff! Our weekends are spent scouring the charity shops for old ladies unwanted bits or getting up early to head to a field and hope for that amazing piece of furniture! Our recent finds include: a 50s table, a yellow glass dressing table set, a 60s Soda Stream and a teak mirror.

That's it for our C's, we'll see you all the other side of Glasto, or maybe see you there!

Much Love

Sarah & Laurie xXx

Time for Tea?!

Our little friend Jenny Dean is coming up to completing her degree in Fashion Promotion and asked if we could help her out. Of course we cried! How can we help? Clothes, Clothes, Clothes!

 

 80's Sequin Top

Size 12

£32

 So her tea themed final campaign (I won't tell you all about it, you'll have to go to the viewing!) was shot in Chester and here are the results! All the clothes featured available from yours truly, Two For Joy!

 Vintage Faux Fur Coat

Size M

£40

(Cakes not included!)

80's Polka Blouse (super shoulder pads!)

Size 10

£18

Sending lots of luck to Jen for her final project. The Uclan open days for student works across all subjects go on throughout June.

And one last thought from us, hows your plans for sunday shaping up? Why not pop and visit us Retrospective Contemporary gift fair at Cleveleys LimeLounge (formerly sugasuga)?

We'll be there from 12n selling all our lovely vintage clothes & accessories, plus our handmade goodies too!

Hope to see you soon

Much love

Laurie & Sarah xXx

Hello Sunshine

A little break from our A-Z to share some of our fabulous new summer stock with you all!

The sun has been shining pretty much all over the British Isles, which means only one thing for all the vintage magpies out there, summer dresses! We've been shopping our little hearts out sourcing the best vintage pieces for your(and our)summer wardrobes!

Summer brings many fabulous events that scream out for a new frock, and its so difficult to find that one piece that works for them all, And something that no-one else has too!

Of course, first up, its the Royal Wedding! Street party? Garden BBQ? or an afternoon in the pub? So what to wear... its got to be pretty, demure and of course unique! And the traditional Red, White and Blue wouldn't go a miss, so how about this little number:

Kate

Size 18 Vintage M&S

£26

Team her up with cute navy peep toes and a bow in your hair, and not forgetting the obligatory glass of Pimms!

Right, Royal Wedding sorted, but what about that last minute beach party or your baby cousins Christening? This beauty will do both, breezy cotton dress in pale pink with a gorgeous and unusual shell print.

Shelly

Size 14

£24

Slip on cute flip flops or tan sandals and a floppy hat and head to the beach, or grab that clutch bag and high wedges and run off to the family 'do! I'd even dress her up with golden heels and take her to that glam wedding that's on the calender.

B is for Bicycle Rides

Summer is just around the corner, and what girl doesn't
want to squeeze in a bit more exercise before
bearing those legs in shorts?! Shudder!!

Well the fun (and stylish) way to go is by bike,
and how we love ours!

Ruby and Pearl are our girls and we like nothing more than to take them out on a sunny day, bag and sandwiches in our basket and away we go, headscarf and sunnies a must!

We're lucky enough to be close enough to the
coast to ride along the promenade

And lovely parks for a ride through the trees

What a view!

Much love

Laurie & Sarah xxx

Buckle Up!

Oh Buckle loafers, how we adore thee, but why do you insist on being either too big or too small for us?! Ah well, will just have to share these vintage beauties with you! These devine Roland Cartier leather beauties are both size 6,

and are in excellent condition. £22 per pair.

The tan or the navy?! You decide!

A is for....Accessories

Welcome to our first little feature, the A-Z of treasures,

things we love and can't live without!

(We probably could, but why would we want to?)

So, our first, and possibly favourite treasures - Accessories!

We all love clothes, right? But sometimes even your favourite outfit can feel a little blah, and how many times have you screamed that you have 'nothing' to wear? When probably your wardrobe is bursting at the seams. Just us then?! Oops!

Well thats where these little beauties come in,

they can transform an outfit from boring to brilliant!  

Plain t-shirt and jeans? Add a headscarf for retro chic!

Simple dress? slip on your favourite heels and handbag

 and you're good to go!

all images we heart it

They can change an outfit from dreary to cheery,
and thats why we love them!

Lots of Love

Laurie & Sarah

Ooh la la!

Hello lovelies! Well, last week we mentioned that we'd took part in our first vintage fair at The New Continental in Preston, which was on 6th March. That long ago? Doesn't time fly when you're having fun?!

A great day was had by all, the sun was shining and the stylish shoppers were out in force. It really is a treat to have something like this organised outside of London, we sometimes feel a bit left out in the North West, reading of all the retro fun our southern friends are having - but not any more!

There were some lovely stalls, with vintage goodies, handmade soaps, cupcakes (they were yummy - trust us!) and leather crafts. We were in shoppers heaven.

All this was organised by Amanda of Not Just Vintage 

and a great job she did too.

We'll leave you with a snippet of what the day had to offer, can't wait for the next one!

and last, but by no means least. Shoes. Ahhh!

Congratulations Lauren!

A few weeks ago we attended the Vintage & Craft Fair at the New Continental in Preston. It was a great day and we met lots of fellow vintage lovers from the Preston area. We ran a little prize draw while we were there, and our winner is:

Lauren Purdy!

Laurens Prize!

An 80's Vintage dress, vintage lace hair clip, cute hair bow, checked bandana, red button earrings and a caramel egg!

 So, Lauren will be receiving her prize this week!

There are lots more pictures from the event coming soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Lots of Love

Sarah & Laurie xXx

Little Miss LadyBug

Dress Of The Day!

 LadyBug 80s Pleated Dress

Over the next few weeks were hoping to showcase some of our beautiful stock to you our blog followers, and we thought we'd start off with the uber gorgeous 80s number, LadyBug.

Long-sleeved and covered in black polka dots, this red dress is perfect for a day in the office or a fancy meal out on the town. With pleat detailing to the front and complimented with a cute black button at the front - you don't even need a necklace!
The pleated skirt falls just below the knee for sophisticated lady-like glamour. 

For day I'd team it with some black opaques and cute flat black patent pumps (or Vampy high heels), with a swishy ribbon tied ponytail.

For night, cinch in at the waist, add seamed tights or silky smooth bare legs, the highest of heels and matching red lippy.

This beauty is size 10-12, and is available to purchase via our facebook page www.facebook.com/Two-For-Joy-Vintage 

For £26 lovely British Pounds.

Just message us if your interested xXx

That's all for today, enjoy your Sunday!

One for Sorrow, Two for Joy....

 

They say that two heads are better than one, so one evening, after one or two glasses of wine (when all the best ideas happen), Two friends discovered we both shared the same dream of being our own boss, selling vintage and handmade goodies to others, rather than just keeping them to ourselves.

This of course was an ever so slightly drunken conversation, a long while ago. Years infact. So after months and months of dreaming, and further hoarding of vintage beauties, we decided it was time to stop being magpies and share these items with others, and Two for Joy Vintage was born.

We both work so we plan to do this as a 'pop up shop' bringing the party to people's homes, vintage fairs and holding our own party nights, as well as our facebook page and now, this blog.

Of course we had to have a party to celebrate, any excuse eh?

The party was at a local ceramics studio owned by a friend (go there!!) and we asked a photographer to stop by to mark the occasion, check him out here! John is also a friend, and was wedding photographer for both of us. It's not what you know, it's who you know!

Us.

 Sarah (left) & Laurie (right)

Bunting and Yummy Shoes!

Handmade earrings and hair bows,

vintage brooches and jewellery

Our lovely friends perusing the goodies!

Hi Kat & Debs!

More Bunting, you can never have too much!

Two for Joy!

What better than being your own boss? Starting a business doing something you love, with someone to share it all with!
It's hardly like work at all!

So now we're formally introduced come say hi, 
 and please pop back to see what we've been up to x

Laurie & Sarah xxx