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!