You Always Wanted To Blast Her Skirt Off

Via Tad Too Tan For Taupe I found Zombie Kitten and these fantastic, out of these rocket skirts!

Have Yourself A Retro Little Christmas

Images of All-Electric House interior decorated for the exhibit "A Very 50s Christmas", photographs taken in December of 1999 for use in promotional items -- via JoCoHistory.

Long Hair Saucer Chair

Discovered at WalMart last night (and apparently sold out this morning; I called to get more info to find a link for you -- how dedicated am I?!), the Long Hair Saucerchair. I bet it's more fun to say than to sit in. In truth, I just keep saying long-hair-saucer-chair over and over again -- but have no desire to sit in it.



This was the closest I could find to the chair. They make them for pets too, of course -- it would be cool to train a dog to take to his chair at the command of "Long Hair Saucer Chair."

Vinyl Kraftwerks

Hopefully you won't be melting any actual Kraftwerk vinyl (it's worth quite a bit more than this), but find yourself a Sing Along With Mitch and make yourself something pretty. I'm sure my daughter, who walks along the edge of Gothness in her fashion, wants to make some of these:



Making strips out of vinyl, bending them into a bracelet, and adding baubles is so very 1980s, ultra-retro. When we were messing around with melting records this summer, cutting them briefly crossed my mind, but apparently it's easier and more useful than I thought. But a paper-cutter? Ingenious! Metafilter has a bunch of other projects, quite a few more things than just bowls.

Pac Man This

Looking for appliques for an article at Things Your Grandmother Knew (a new blog where I focus more on the vintage living & practical home ec tips & less on the kitsch and snark), I found this pattern for making Pac Man appliques.

A Reason To Get Pregnant

No, Brooke Shields, it's not the VW Routon which has me in the mood for a baby; it's BambinaMia who makes the most kitsch-tastic baby duds for dolls and dudes! (Also available at Etsy!)

Modern Woman Monday: What's In Your Fridge?

Just one of the many quirky, unique items available at the Kindness Of Strangers shop, a group in which I am just one of the quirky, unique artists -- but I didn't make this one; Slip of a Girl did. (People always think she's so sweet. She is, but she's also got her twisty side.)

If you don't see the works with art nudes, create an account at Zazzle, go to 'account settings', and set 'the maturity level' to R.

Pixies On Toadstools & Whiskers On Kittens

Hannah not only made them, but offers pdf instructions.


Nothing goes better with pixies on toadstools than whiskers on kittens (I know you're singing along!). We'd prefer you had your own cats who would brush their whiskers against the toadstool doorstops, but if not... Here's a vintage kitty -- with whiskers -- pattern; some assembly required.

Sweet Tweet

Working on part two of the paint by number article, I discovered this amazing paint by number bird fabric.




Designed by Erin Michael for Moda Fabrics & released in 2007, this fabric is now sold out - in all of the colors. We can see why; but we're still pouting.

This Is How You Get Yer Bike On

Via La Meow.

More Tees, Please

Free Shipping on all orders at Karmaloop! Use code LINKSHIP. Offer valid through 3.31.08

Crumb On Your Shirt? Boy Howdy!

Robert Crumb designed this symbol of Creem magazine. Now you can put it on your bod.

In Lieu Of Cards, Send Art

Why send a card, when you could send art? Why send it as a paper gift, when they are suitable for framing?



By Jellygnite at Etsy.

Gregory's 60s Bachelor Pad

Gregory has a swingin' bachelor's pad -- not just one room, but the entire rambler is decked out in vintage housewares:

Bronk's Cowboy Liquor Store

From the Infomercantile: Bronk's Package Store. It was located in downtown Fargo, at the intersection of Old US 10 and Old US 81, guaranteeing any off-the-interstate traveller would drive by it. Still not enough attention? Slap a bajillion rustic cowboy things stolen off the set of a 60s TV western, and you'll be in business. Sadly, it was gone by the time I was of age.

I'm as Busy as a Beaver!

Dan at 'a sampler of things' has a cute bunch of vintage greeting cards. The biggest difference I see in these from today's cards is today, cards are wither gushy with sentiment, or else they harbor innuendo or a mildly naughty joke. Back in the day, you could make jokes about beavers on a greeting card, and nobody snickered.

Mary, Mary Christmas

Nothing says, Mary Christmas more than a hot-pink & girly ornament covered Christmas tree.

Eat Your Melamine Meal

Sausage and mash tray... Hooray?

Crazy Cat Cutouts

I found this classy ad in the February 1959 issue of Home Craftsman -- get yourself 110 different jigsaw patterns:

Have Fun - Make Money selling these amazing NEW UNUSUAL Novelties, Gifts, Lawn Figures...Animals, Bar Implements, Door Markers, Plaques, Wall Shelves, etc. Easy...Trace, saw out, and paint. $1 brings you these EXCITING and DIFFERENT 110 fill size BIG patterns. Order now!

When they say UNUSUAL, EXCITING, and DIFFERENT -- they mean it, if the rest are anything like their best examples from the ad. Stepping away from the cute and homey patterns that usually came in jigsaw pattern books , these are right out of Mad Magazine: A wacky buck-toothed cat, tongue lolling out, saliva splattering off it? Was this supposed to be for Grandma to put up in her garden, or Mom to hang over the kitchen sink? It has a very grubby, loose style associated with underground comics (or "comix" if you're not a square like me). There's something very familiar about these two examples, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Is there anything remotely cute or endearing about this duck? He's got some headband with leaves or feathers in it, leaning forward menacingly...and I like him. These two examples have some life to them, something that separates them from the generic style in most ads. They're not sweet, they're not traditional -- they're art. It's too bad the illustrator isn't named in the ad: the address for this "Trans Plans" company isn't some fancy office building -- according to Google Maps it's a residential area in Yonkers, sandwiched between Lincoln High, Yonkers Raceway, and Hillview Reservoir. It'd be easy to make a joke about drawing crazy comics while living in mom's basement, but, well, that's where some of the best comics came from.

How the 1950s Saw Themselves

In 1958, RCA Camden released "Hits of the '50s", just 1/5 short of the actual decade's end. Not that they were missing much -- the hits for the rest of the decade echoed what's on this record: light popular music, with just a touch of rock-and-roll. This is a 'cover' album in the traditional sense, new versions of popular music performed by B-list musicians rather than the one who popularized the song. The Honeydreamers, Connie Haines, Dave Martin and the Strollers, they had names outside of this album, and are a step above a studio band. The songs are actually pretty good: Peter Ricardo's version of the Banana Boat Song takes from the Tarrier's version, and is a bouncy alternative to the rather somber Bellafonte version.

However, the cover is excellent:

click for a larger view

That space helmet kicks