How to: Clean Vintage Makeup Bags

Have you ever seen a really cool purse or makeup bag at the thrift shop but didn't buy it because it had makeup stains inside?



I recently had the idea to use the makeup remover wipes from Trader Joe's.



I got the idea when I was cleaning the bag in the first photo.

I hadn't really been using them on my face because I don't like the smell; but I realized they would be perfect for wiping out my cool vintage find. Here is the after photo.



I couldnt clean the spots at the very bottom because they are under the plastic. Otherwise I think it came out pretty clean.

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Passion for Paper

I love paper.  I have been collecting stationary, pretty paper, and erasers since I was a child.  Recently I was introduced to the wondrous world of handmade cards.  I became obsessed with the tools and embellishments and the endless possibilities.  It is magical.  I could spend hours on Pinterest looking at various designs, color schemes, layouts, inspirations, etc.

Here are some cards that I made not too long ago.

I became inspired by a layout that I saw that was being offered in a class by The Henhouse Paperie.  I loved the antique dressform, flowers, ribbon, lace, and tape measure that they used in the layout so I decided to make a couple for myself.

 I used a Crafty paper pack that I got at JoAnn's.  I made the roses using a Big Shot die that I got from the Henhouse. 

On the 2nd card I used the same paper but instead of a bow I used some vintage distressed lace that I had stashed in my scrap drawer.  I made the roses using some old ric rac. 

I feel like it could use more staining around the image...oh well.  I'll try to remember to do that next time.

Random Historical Tidbits and Antique Ephemera

These are rather interesting.  Thought you might enjoy them.

Miss America 1924

Helen Keller Meeting Charlie Chaplin

Leather gloves worn by Lincoln to Ford's Theater on the night of his assassination. Blood stains are visible at the cuffs.

Phoebe Mozee (aka: Annie Oakley). Famed for her marksmanship by 12 years old, she once shot the ashes off of Kaiser Wihelm II's cigarette at his invitation. When she outshot famed exhibition marksman Frank Butler, he fell in love with her and they married. They remained married the rest of their lives.

Very Young Lucy Lucille Ball circa 1930

Two Victorian sideshow performers boxing - the fat man and the thin man.

Prison Garb 1924. Belva Annan murderess whose trial records became the musical " Chicago ."

Maud Allen: Seductive US dancing girl who was sued for being too lewd, outed as a lesbian, and fled London after being branded a German spy who was sleeping with the prime minister's wife.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Caroline Otero, courtesan, the most sought after woman in all of Europe . She associated herself with the likes of Prince Albert I of Monaco, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Kings of Serbia, and Kings of Spain as well as Russian Grand Dukes Peter and Nicholas, the Duke of Westminster and writer Gabriele DAnnunzio. Six men reportedly committed suicide after their love affairs with Otero ended. Two men fought a duel over her. She was famed for her voluptuous breasts.

Filming the MGM Logo

Mae Questel ca. 1930s, the voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, Minnie Mouse, Felix the Cat (for three shorts by the Van Beuren Studios), Little Lulu, Little Audrey and Casper, the Friendly Ghost

Bea Arthur (ne Bernice Frankel) (1922-2009) SSgt. USMC 1943-45 WW II. Enlisted and assigned as typist at Marine HQ in Wash DC, then air stations in VA and NC. Best remembered for her title role in the TV series Maude and as Dorothy in "Golden Girls".

In 1911, Bobby Leach survived a plunge over Niagara Falls in a steel barrel. Fourteen years later, in New Zealand , he slipped on an orange peel and died.

Three days before his 19th birthday, George H.W. Bush became the youngest aviator in the US Navy.

Market Street, San Francisco after the earthquake, 1906.

Zelda Boden, circus performer, ca. 1910.

Geraldine Doyle, who was the inspiration behind the famous Rosie the Riveter poster.

Vintage Baked Potato Cart. A legitimate fast food lunch option back in the day.

Cyclists ride in the first running of the Tour de France, in 1903.

Sergeant Stubby (1916 or 1917 April 4, 1926), was the most decorated war dog of World War I and the only dog to be promoted to sergeant through combat. America 's first war dog, Stubby, served 18 months 'over there' and participated in seventeen battles on the Western Front. He saved his regiment from surprise mustard gas attacks, found and comforted the wounded, and even once caught a German spy by the seat of his pants (holding him there til American Soldiers found him).

Nightwitches - Female Russian bombers who bombed Germany during WW2. They had old, noisy planes & the engines used to conk out halfway through their missions, so they had to climb out on the wings mid-flight to restart the props. To stop Germans from hearing them & starting up the anti aircraft guns, theyd climb to a certain height, coast down to German positions, drop their bombs, restart their engines in midair & get the hell out of dodge. Their leader flew 200+ missions & was never captured.

Marilyn Monroe meets Queen Elizabeth II, London , 1956 Both women are 30 years old.

Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson plays Going Home as FDRs body is borne past in Warm Springs , GA , where the President was scheduled to attend a barbecue on the day he died. April, 1945.