Ruby's Vintage Shopping Adventure or Lack There Of

I purchased this vintage dress from a women at a vintage clothing show that said it was hers when she was a little girl. I love the color combo, the pin stripes and the little embroidered doggies.  I put Ruby in it the other day and followed her around taking pictures.  It's pretty much impossible to get her to pose, so I wrote a little story to go along with the random photos I took, pretty silly, but kind of fun.  Hope you have a great Wednesday!

 Once upon a time there was a little girl named Ruby who loved to wear vintage.  She found some money that had fallen out of her mom's purse, so she thought she would go out on a vintage shopping trip.

 She was very excited for her adventure!

 

Ruby threw on her favorite knit gray shrug, borrowed her mom's sunglasses, grabbed her baby doll and set out to her favorite vintage shop.

 When she was about half way down the driveway, Ruby remembered that she couldn't drive and she missed her mommy, so she headed for home.

 Luckily, Ruby had her thumb to comfort her when mommy saw that she had tried to go shopping with her money.

dress ~ vintage

shrug ~ thrifted

shoes ~ the gap via ebay

socks ~ target

barrette ~ vintage

Ruby's Vintage Patchwork Dress

We've had some warm weather lately, so I jumped at the chance to put this sweet little vintage patchwork dress on Ruby.  Recently, she has been pretty adamant that she wear her pajamas all day, so getting her into this dress was no small feat.   I came up with the brilliant idea to "trade" (sounds much better than "bribe") her for something she would really appreciate.  So, after a bit of negotiation, she traded putting on the dress for one organic tortilla chip and letting me take pictures of her in the dress for two additional chips.  I think we both got a pretty good deal.

 

A Kind Lady and A Philosophical Debate

When I started my business online four years ago, I had no idea how many wonderful people I would meet.  There is the occasional difficult customer, but for the most part I have met kind, generous and unique individuals that have added to my joy and motivation for running my business online.  Cindy, is one of those people...she recently contacted me because she had some vintage books that she was getting rid of and thought that I may be able to use them.  A few days later, this amazing assortment of children's books appeared in my P.O. Box and my mind is spinning with ideas of what to do with them.   Here is where you come in...

This is something I have been thinking about for a long time...if you have an item that is intact and in good condition, should you take it apart for a different use?  For example, a vintage dress is in great condition but you don't like the bodice style, so you make it into a skirt.  Or, in this case, a vintage book...maybe I want to take it apart and frame some of the pages.  I was thinking that if you could do it without any waste, then it should be fine.  In the case of the dress, if you make a skirt and then just throw the bodice away, that would be unfortunate.  Or in the case of the book, what do you do with the pages that you don't like and the cover?  My other thought was that vintage items have a certain value and when you alter them, they lose that value and may not be sellable when you are done with them in their new use.  These are the things that go on in my head as I work to be a good steward of my resources, if you have any thoughts, I would love to hear!

Vintage Mama Feature ~ Beth & Ruby's Photo Shoot

Ruby and I were invited to do a "vintage mama" post on the blogs of two very lovely ladies, Rubyellen of My Cakies and Rachel from Smile and Wave.  We did an interview about where we find the best vintage and a little photo shoot to go along with it.  I sent my favorite photos to the girls for their post, but I thought I'd share some of the others and the out takes here.

It's actually perfect timing because my "baby" Ruby turns two today.  I absolutely can't believe how big she is getting.  She has the most beautiful personality and she brings me more joy in one smile than I ever experienced before I had her.  Thank you for making my life full Ruby, I look forward to all that you will become!

 

~ on Beth ~

40's dress: rob's vintique

tights: free people

40's shoes: elsewhere vintage

necklace: salvage life

~ on Ruby ~

40's silk dress: american vintage

tights: Beth's from when she was a toddler

patent mary janes: gap via ebay

barrette: vintage via ebay

hat (seen in first photo): thrifted