Let's play "Spot the Knockoff!"

So, in the course of packing up the apartment and jettisoning all the detritus of my impulsivity, I stumbled across another handful of imitation designer handbags at Goodwill today... and one super cute armchair that I got for half off due to an employee oversight (karma will get me for this one).

 I'm not a designer handbag expert, but I've done a little research (okay, I watched a bunch of YouTube videos...) on how to spot authentic and fake designer handbags. I don't claim to be right 100% of the time, but a good rule of thumb seems to be: when in doubt, it's probably fake! First up: this Burberry handbag. On first glance, it looks legit. On second glance, you notice it's made out of the nylon they make all weather gear out of, and the leather is actually vinyl. Look inside, and there's no Burberry label, just a blank one. And, again with the stiff water resistant fabric. Lastly, the hardware is cheap and the construction is... not good. Can I be SURE this is a fake? No... but I'm pretty sure Burberry has more pride than this.

Our next contestant: this Gucci bag. Logo stamped on the outside? Questionable, but not a complete disqualifier. The material felt like leather, but I've felt some very convincing vinyls before. Pleather has fooled me a time or two! Look inside aaaaand: no label, no hardware, cheap zipper:  FAKE!

Again: I'm no expert so what do I know... but I wouldn't buy these. Stay tuned for our next episode where I show you the vintage purses I found AND how you know they're real. What do you think about real vs. knockoff designer handbags? Would you carry one? 

-j

Ebay Dollar Sale, ya'll

So, I've got a ton of stuff clogging up my office that I want to get rid of. $1 and it's yours (before shipping but my shipping fees are fair to slightly less than what I'll pay to ship them to you).

Check out the eBay store here. Everything except the vintage stuff is $1 (but you can't use the coupon code for 15% off of these, sorry!). Help me clean this stuff out... I don't want to move it to the new house.

Handbag Gallery : The Non-All-Inclusive List

So, this is my collection. I've made a hobby out of making my own handbags & clutches. Some have been failures, others have come out pretty good! I made an Imgur gallery to get them all in one place, and you can check it out here. 

I've tried to sell them, but it's hard to break into a niche on the internet if you can't make things that absolutely look 100% perfect and professional. So, I make them for myself and give them away to friends. Mostly I'm just collecting them until they find their respective owners.

To see the lineup in its entirety, my Etsy page has them all: here.

-J

The Routine

Get up, zombie shuffle to coffee machine. Drink coffee, surf internet/email/etsy/ebay listings/etc, take pills. Make horrible face at bad taste. Get on with the day.

I bought a medi-set (pill organizer) to keep track of whether I'd taken my cocktail of pills in the morning. Some you have to take with food, some you can't take with B-vitamins... and so on, so they get spaced out throughout the day. There aren't that many of them, but a crapton more than I'm used to taking. I've never taken meds in my life except for PRNs (as needed). Also, they're mostly vitamins for preventative reasons which makes me feel a little bit better. The downside to having a medi set is:  mine's on my desk so I'm reminded of which days I cheated!

Every once in a while I ramble on about nothing. This would be one of those times!

-j

Super Easy, So Simple Your Husband Could Do It White Bread Recipe

So, I made my first loaf of bread from scratch the other day. Crispy outside, nice and soft inside. I was pleasantly suprised! It even managed not to rise too much at our high elevation (Flagstaff is at 7000 feet).

So here's a PDF I made of the recipe. In order to keep the file small I wrapped the text around the images. I tried to  put arrows to show which picture was being indicated. I hope it's not too hard to read! It takes about 3 hours from start to finish, but only because you have to let the bread rise, then beat the crap out of it, then let it rise again before baking. It's worth it!

You can play around with other ingredients if you're feeling crazy: garlic powder, honey, nuts (fiber!), etcetera.

-j

Addendum: Okay, so I can't figure out how to attach files to posts. If you want the PDF of this recipe, put a comment below and I'll email the PDF to you. Or email jessie at dark star vintage dot com.

Sewing Nerds, throw in yer links!

(Say this to the tune of, "BRING OUT YER DEAAAAAD" from Monty Python: Search for the Holy Grail. ;)

So, I love to sew. In my last sewing post, I talked about making my friend Ivy (see her link at the bottom of this post) a wall hanging in mustard-yellow linen with an "Om" symbol in it, and an oversized wristlet foldover  handbag out of vinyl and pink ticking stripe. I'm so in love with that thing... I'd make more if I thought they would sell.

Anyway, here's a link to another bloggeress who sews. Pass it on, put a link to your blog in the comments and let's have some link love circulating around. Happy Sunday!


-J

Footnotes:

1. Ivy Hutchison is a photographer from Arizona-formerly-Oregon and her website is here. 

I Am Jack's Hardcore Fangirl

Sooo, I love Jack Nicholson. I've been an even bigger fan than before ever since the Oscars a few months ago. I couldn't find a video of him presenting the Oscar with the First Lady, but I did find this video of his acceptance speech for Terms of Enderment, and this video of him crashing Jennifer Lawrence's interview. I would have had the same reaction!

OMG IS THAT JACK NICHOLSON OMG I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT JUST HAPPENED.

Ahem. Etcetera.  One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a little boring but hilarious in select parts. And I LOVED The Shining.

So the Mister and I watched "Chinatown" last night. Jack wasn't hard on the eyes in earlier years! I have to say though, the film was long winded, the plot was sort of nebulous and it never really comes to a solid conclusion at the end. I liked Nicholson's (as Jake) part in it. There's a line toward the end of the movie when another detective is grilling him at a crime scene and said detective comments on the cut on Jake's nose which he got earlier in the film. Without missing a beat, Jake says:

"Oh yeah I guess your wife got a little excited and crossed her legs too quick if ya know what I mean!"

Then he flashes that signature grin as the other guy swings at him. I loved it! If anyone happens to know where I can find a clip of Mr. J  presenting the 2013 Oscars, let me know! The quick-and-dirty version is a comment he made to the effect of:

"I guess they didn't want me around those girls in their gowns... taffeta... heh!" ... and then again with that lecherous Nicholson grin, and I lost my shit laughing. Somewhere in the recesses of my id is a snarky, flippant little person that takes after the guy.

Love it! Anybody else seen any good Nicholson movies? (Also: he was the best Joker!)

-J

Cersei Lannister

Cersei Lannister by starshine-suckerpunch featuring silk pants

Strapless ball gown
1stdibs.com

Coast coat
$165 - coast-stores.com

Sequin blazer
$46 - iclothing.ie

Valentino silk pants
marissacollections.com

Stretch pants
ksubi.com

Yves Saint Laurent leather shoes
ysl.com

Casadei stiletto heels
shoescribe.com

High heels
beverlyheels.com

Alexander McQueen box clutch
marissacollections.com

Dolce Gabbana shopping tote
farfetch.com

Michael michael kors handbag
piperlime.gap.com

Sewing Projects: Om Wall Hanging & Candy Striper Clutch

So, I mentioned in my last entry that my sewing machine is finally back from the shop. So I sat down last night to take it for its inaugural run since being home. It works fine, no skipped stitches except for when the fabric is too thick. And oddly enough, the needle threader works better now even with standard needles which I previously was having trouble threading. I'm not sure if the shop messed with that or not, but I'm not complaining! So to the employee who muttered, "Think it'll run?" to his boss: I hate to say "I told you so!" but... maybe trust that your customers know their machines. :|

Anyway, I banged out two projects today; a wall hanging with the "Om" symbol for a pal of mine who donated some funds to my little Ebay/Etsy ventures and a pink and white ticking stripe clutch with vinyl bottom. Now my eyes are crossing!

  

 

Call me vain... I like to take pictures of stuff I make. Call it Etsy-itis or photogapher's vanity, I suppose! Anyway, my friend wanted yellow linen with the "Om" in red linen that she picked out from my stash of fabrics.  The color isn't right in that photo, it's more of a desaturated, mustardy-yellow and the red is like Paprika-orange. I might over-use food-color analogies!

The clutch is about a foot fall by about 11 inches wide, has a zipper and the same yellow linen for the lining as the "Om" wall hanging. Maybe a bit of an unconventional choice for the lining, but I'm going to keep it instead of posting it on the Etsy page and I LIKE unconventionality for its own sake sometimes. It's not quite aligned right on the sides as you can see - the vinyl isn't quite lined up right. That sometimes happens when I don't attach the zipper in quite the right spot.

I'm in love with that pink ticking stripe fabric. It has a woven canvas-like feel and when interfaced it has a nice sturdy structure. I'm trying to think of other things to do with it, I love it so much. So far I've come up with: an apron, placemats, napkins, a throw pillow for the couch, a headband with a bit of elastic.

As usual, I'm always up for custom orders and requests, skill level allowing. :) 

-J

Fun with Ye Olde eBay store...

So, I've been running my own eBay store for a while now. I love to go to thrift stores, find awesomely cheap and quirky stuff, clean it up and post it on eBay. Here in Flagstaff, our Goodwill doesn't use the coupons you get in the mail and they don't do "1/2 off Everything" Saturdays, but what they DO do is once a week on Sundays, they pick a color tag and everything in that color is $1.00 all day. The second coupon color they pick is good for 25% off all items in that color.

(left: one of the items in the shop. I tried to like this, but... stripes just don't do me justice. Stupid wide shoulders...)

Which is awesome when you happen to find good stuff and it hasn't already been picked over. Or, in the case of what happened a few weeks ago (so I hear from someone else), all the employees were told to take all the white color tags off the racks on Saturday night and move them to their new store. The next day on Sunday when all white tag items were $1, there was nothing there. That's pretty dirty pool if you ask me. Sounds like a bait and switch... I've been a little miffed about that lately so I've been going to other thrift stores. Goodwill seems to do a lot of good for their community but pulling a bait and switch? ... A little bit underhanded if you ask me.

So anyway, I've got a motley collection of things in the eBay store: some dresses, a few tops, a couple of pairs of heels, and then a few unique items like the leather vest, some cute handbags and a Lynyrd Skynyrd tee for girls (that I'm sort of half-hoping doesn't sell!). I had a small bidding match with a Juicy Couture purse last night that sold for twice what I started the bid at, which is always neat.

As far as being profitable goes... it has NOT been. I think the important part is that I've been having fun and now that my sewing machine is out of the shop (by the way, see my Yelp review of that mishap!), I can start getting the creative juices out of my system again so I can sleep at night. Nor has the Etsy shop brought in any money, but thankfully we're surviving on my beau's income so both shops have been more of a curation of interesting and occasionally oddball knick knacks.

To check out my eBay shop and watch or bid on items, here's my profile on eBay. The link to see all my items is on the bottom left, or you can get there by clicking here. Let me know what you think. Does anybody else have an eBay store? If you're a buyer, what kinds of things do you look for? Have you had any of those, "I can't believe I won this!" moments?

To see the Etsy shop and other neat vintage bits and bobs, here is my Etsy page.  For a coupon, you can put in code "EBAYLOVE" at checkout, or if you're a fan of the Dark Star Vintage facebook page, you can use code "WELCOMEFB", both coupons are for 15% off. There are several items in the shop with free shipping. Have fun! :)

Mischief takes Polyvore!

Well, you can just call me Johnny-come-lately as usual, but I finally discovered what all the craziness is about over at Polyvore. It's been around for YEARS, no? Well, I just made myself an account and omigod! What fun! It's like paper dolls for adults! I've already made three or four sets. I wish I could design my OWN wardrobe like this. Now, where did I put that 3 million dollars...

So, my Polyvore page can be found here. If you want to be buds, just follow me and I'll do the same. So far my theme has been summer brights, but I veer off into office-wear too sometimes. :) Adult ADD and all that...

So here's what I've been up to! Just as I was looking for a new way to kill the summer afternoons. If you're on Polyvore, let's be pals.

-J

Beeswax & Olive Oil Wood Finish DIY

Sooo for a first post, how about a tutorial. Yes? Thought so!

So, the beau let me drag him around to yard sales this weekend (and one "estate sale") and we came home with a handful of gems, some needing a little more TLC than others. I found a few vintage books (posts on those later), an old coverless copy of a cocktail making guide, an old lady-style white vinyl purse from the 60s, an old ConAir phone AND some teak bowls from Thailand - kinda ugly and unfinished, but awesome.

I did a quick google search for food-grade wood varnishes for wooden dinnerware and found this article on how to make a wood finish out of beeswax, olive oil and an essential oil if you've got one handy. I happened to have all three of these things on hand by some miracle, so I made a batch of it and went to work. I mixed 4 ounces of beeswax (weight, not liquid volume), 8 ounces of EVO (extra virgin olive oil) and 1 teaspoon of lemon oil (purchased from Hi-Health years ago when I made some sugar face scrub).

I used a sponge brush and coated all surfaces of the bowls - 3 of them - with the varnish, then let them dry partially. When they were still warmish but not completely hardened, I went to work scraping, scouring and picking away all the surface wax. It was messy and it took a LOT longer than I thought it was going to. About an hour later I had all three bowls mostly clean. A quick wipe with a dry paper towel, a 15-minute stay in the freezer, and they were done. A few hours out on the counter and they're completely dry and not waxy at all. I think the important part is wiping away the excess while the wax is still warm and pliable. Don't wait until the wax hardens to start scraping! You will not like it.

I don't have any mid-process pictures OR before pictures because my brain functions at half-mast sometimes. But, here's the finished product! Trust me, this is 200% better than when I started. The bowls are shiny, smooth and smell faintly of lemon and honey. Considering most of my Pinterest-inspired DIYs  go awry or amusingly at best, I'm pleased.

 Anyone else have any experience with working with wood? Would you try this on your cutting boards?

-J

Now, isn't this nice?

I can't keep cluttering up the Dark Star blog with all my personal stuff, lifestyle stuff, etcetera. Soooo henceforth you shall be subjected to everything that doesn't fit into the "Dark Star Vintage" category! Fun, huh?

You don't look excited. It's gonna be great! Soon. Try to control your enthusiasm.

-J