Vintage Find of the Day: Small and medium-size green suitcases from Suzanne’s Antiques in Raleigh, NC.

I actually purchased these lovely cases last Thursday. My mom and I were out enjoying the sunshiny afternoon and suddenly found ourselves “junking” (vintage shopping) at one of our favorite spots in the city. Suzanne’s Antiques is part of the Vintage Flea Market on Durant Road and has always had a great selection of vintage stuff, in great condition, at reasonable prices. I have been in the market for a nice set of vintage suitcases for awhile, so I was ecstatic to find these. I paid $10 and $15 for the small and medium cases and will now officially be traveling in style. Oh and I have already discovered that the medium-size suitcase makes a great record carrying case. Yeeeessssssss.

When my sister came back east for Christmas, she brought lots of colorful rolls of duct tape with her. She was making purses and wallets as gifts for some friends and family. She encouraged me to sit down with her and try out my hand at duct tape accessories. Well, I was immediately hooked. Here is my first attempt at duct tape art - an aqua, red and black clutch. Not bad for a first try, right? I have made a few more pieces now and although its important to learn the correct order to tape something, its a blast. It just comes with practice. Interested in making some duct tape stuff too? Michael’s craft store sells a variety of fun colors of duct tape for only $4 per roll. You will also need some heavy-duty scissors (better if you find some with a serrated edge on one of the blades). I found a nice pair at Lowes for $10. Then for closures, you will need some snap buttons, thread, or covered buttons and a button fastener which you can get at Joann Fabrics or your favorite fabric store. Happy duct taping!

If you are gonna play dress up, dress in vintage clothing.

When I was little, most of my girl friends loved playing dress up. This activity typically consisted of trying on hideous princess dresses made of endless layers of sparkly, itchy toul. It was pretty much like the child version of wearing a bridesmaid dress. Even at five years old I felt like a real asshole playing dress up because I was usually like “Um yeah, I’m pretty sure I saw this ugly getup on your life-size Barbie over there a couple minutes ago. And I am not really cool with wearing fashions by Mattel® who makes miniature hooker gear for plastic dolls with convex armpits and blonde wig shine.” This kind of reaction did not go over well with the other young girls in the neighborhood and typically resulted in a phone call home by my friend’s mother complaining (as I imaged sounded something like) “Hillary refuses to dress up as a mini-hooker princess. You need to come pick her up.”

Well, my mom picked up on my lack of enthusiasm for dress up and took matters into her own hands. She went to the best antique store in the city and bought vintage lucite kitten-heal shoes, elbow length gloves, hats, scarves and costume jewelry for me to play dress up in. And thus began my life-long love affair with all that is vintage. And the only time I ever dressed up like a mini-hooker princess was during college on Halloween…