Vintage MIca Glitter Houses AKA Putz Houses

Ahhh Christmas, time to collect decorative caca that lives in boxes for a good 11 months of the year. This year I am gaga for Glitter houses which came out in the 1920's-1950's. They are little follies made from mica glitter, cardboard and cellophane which is covering for the windows, and a hole in the back for a Christmas light to make the windows glow. I now own one, and was telling my sister about it and we were looking at them on ebay while talking on the phone. That's when she saw the one with the cracked out looking Santa in front of a grouping of 2 glitter houses and it looked like he had just kicked the windows and doors in after a home invasion. For some reason we started laughing until we were coughing and my son came over and said,"It looks like he has a pipe cleaner crowbar". Then we almost wet our pants. So now we are looking for the low rent mica houses to make a ghetto adjacent to the pretty glitter village, and we found public housing, a cathouse(whorehouse) and are looking for a bar, pawn shop and free clinic. All that can be labeled in glitter and with red lights in the back separated by little train tracks from the fancy part of town.The pictures I have uploaded for your viewing pleasure are Crack Santa (his pupils are wayyyy too big and his tongue is hanging out, note the crowbar) and his just robbed houses (see the destruction of the broken windows!),the Cathouse (look for the chenille halloween cat out front, Ha Ha!)the public housing complex (where you don't want to be found at night),and a nice foofy blue one that is just there to show you what lives on the right side of the glittery tracks.

The Glitter Sale

Ah,it's the time of the year when the Goodwill rolls out the designer duds and the lovely and yes, some very unlovely, vintage clothing they have been stashing all year. This is a fun event,they call the Glitter Sale, even if they overprice. You get to line up in downtown Seattle at 7am and wait until 9am to get in. They give you a number to go to the jewelry counter and a blue bin for the free-for-all snatch and grab at the racks. Most of the hardcore vintage junkies are there and those who go for the cheap designer stuff (yawn). There are no fitting rooms so you have to try on right there around the racks while fighting off the crazy #@%$#^* who try to steal from your bin. The saddest thing I have ever seen there are the japanese exporters who rip the fragile clothes off the racks to stuff in large hefty bags (which are no longer allowed)and who destroyed a bunch of dresses and threw them on the floor. SAD MANNERS! Anyway, I am very excited for Saturday and the grand broohaha of the sale. Last time I bought two totally gorgeous and as of yet unworn, 20's dresses and this time I am going to look for a cloche hat and a fab 30's dress to wear to an event I am going to later that night. Wish me luck!-C

My refab wedding.

On the theme of the last poster, I add my own 2 cents. I am married too, but had the spectacular expensive wedding and would definitely do things differently. I believe my choices were mostly parent motivated and because I was (ahem)expecting, I don't believe I did what I truly wanted. So here is the disaster I would now create, all of which would be accented with Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Cole Porter playing in the background. And champagne. Lots of champagne. And maybe chinese food. No boring wedding food, but a grand Chinese Buffet!The dress is a gorgeous vintage 1930 beauty, not the pouffy bowed and bedazzled monstrosity I somehow ended up with the first time. I think chinese lanterns are so "sigh" romantic.I would make it about love this time rather than form and necessity.The cake has sugar flowers on it, but they look so real and I love the little classic church instead of the gross warehouse style mega-church I did get married in. I think I would get married in the late summer this time, because I could actually pick the date instead of having to do it as quickly as possible. Ah, if I could only go redo some of those choices.

Something old, something new...

Little girls dress up and dream of their wedding day. Twirling in their mother's ribbons, they wish up mile high cakes and yards of fluff, homespun or covered in pixie dust. As for me, I just wanted that one moment in the sun where I could admire my reflection, like a debutante gone by and have an elaborate party. Something I could hide away in a leather bound book like cutouts from my childhood fantasy come true. Did it happen? Well, no. I've never worn the dress. I've never tossed the bouquet. Am I married? Why, yes. Will I have my gown, the flowers, and the celebratory cake? I hope so. Until then, here's my grown up version of dress up and what I would choose, if I could do it all over again.