Cat Head Biscuit?

A few years back we were eating in a gas station/diner/place that sells kitschy fairies and knives, and the menu featured a "Cat's Head Biscuit" which was explained to us as "a biscuit the size of a cat's head" they were pretty good!

The other week we got our copy of Cook's Country and lo and behold a recipe for cat's head biscuits!

Sunday morning my husband and myself baked up a batch and they are super delicious. The size of our cat's head, and light and fluffy.

It seems the secret to getting your biscuits cat head size was to scoop the dough into the pan with a 1/2 cup measuring cup. You can probably try this super scoop with your regular biscuit recipe. but I can heartily recommend the Cook's Country one for a great biscuit. I'm thinking I might try some with raisins for a kind scone like concoction (proper English scones are more like what our American friends call biscuits than scones a lot of the time), or sprinkle some with sugar for strawberry shortcake. Either way I'm baking up cat head size from now on!

Fancy Quaintrelle Hair and Clothes

So I have very thin hair, but always wanted some nice big puffy vintage hairstyles a la Carole Landis. The secret I have found is all in the hair rats! Check over at the main Quaintrelle Life site for more info and a how to, on finding rats in the craft stores and getting hair to new heights!

It's been a while since the last feature was added to the site, but now we are in our new home (well, domain) I'll be back to adding a new feature every month!

The article also features one of the new Petitie Trianon dresses newly up at Candy Violet for those seeking a bit of a fashion fix.

The chemise inspired dresses have been a favorite of mine for a few years now, I was really excited to be able to add them to the shops at last!

Red and Sparkly!

They said it couldn't be done!!! (ok exaggeration, they said "it shouldn't be done") but we finally got our hot new sparkly red counter top installed and it's everything I had hoped it would be!

We're still waiting to get the tile and paint up that will set everything off in a red+turquoise retro perfection, but things are already really coming together.

I have to admit as soon as it was down I spent a good 10 minutes playing around in the kitchen admiring the sleek shiny red surface and got to thinking, what if I had listened to all the people who told me to consider something less, well, red? I know I wouldn't have been as thrilled as a kid on Christmas like I was when it went down, and I know if i was buying this house I wouldn't squee for an Uba Tuba counter top the way I would if I walked in on a property to find this lipstick colored wonder slab. How many other people feel the same way? I wonder how many people do decorate in a way that makes their place "easy to sell" but secretly want something much more fun, and how many buyers really want something much more fun too?

There was a story someone told on Retro Renovations about how they went to look at a house which had a lilac bathroom suite and were crazy excited about it, but when they went back again later the awesome lilac toilet was gone and a  regular white one now stood in it's place (much to their disappointment)

I'll admit when the time comes selling this place with all the colors we picked and wallpaper we are about to pick (sin number 2!) might be tricky and I might be eating my words. But there might be a young couple coming in and losing their mind over the sexy red counter top the way I just did and thrilled to have found it.

I do know one thing though, as the white walls a beige carpets slowly disappear from our house, I find myself wanting to be in it longer and longer, and my husband and myself are happier and happier decorating for ourselves and not so much for the next guys who are going to live here.

(Edit: For all the people who've been googling for red counter top photos, check out the newer posts in the decorating tag for some bigger better photos)

Show Time!

Last weekend my quaintrelle clothing label Candy Violet was featured in a fashion show with 3 of Japan's top lolita designers. I sadly wasn't able to be there in person, but here's a little bit about the outfits we were showing on the Saturday!

I decided to chose a color pallet that represented the brand going with purples for candied violets, and pink for candied rose petals, all with a little fluff or sparkle for sugar. Since I have a long time passion for historical and vintage fashions the show moved from 1770-1950's, every eras dream girls!

Grand Habit a Lolita

This outfit was inspired by an old 18th century fashion plate of a lady dandy, the book talked about how she was over dressed and I thought isn't that what a lolita strives for!?

Chemise a la Reve

The outfit I made for a visit to Versailles and based on the clothes worn by Marie Antoinette and her clique at the Petite Trainnon. (This dress will be available soon for purchase at last in a few different colors!)
Romantic Stroll

I found a lot of beauty in the rather difficult and overlooked romantic era styles. I wanted to include this one as something a little bit different.

Ribbon Bouquet

This outfit is based on one of my favorite designers during the early 20th century. I'd wanted to make an outfit like this for sometime, although I opted for a more mid century silhouette.

Hollywood Rococo

This outfit was to represent our new direction! The inspiration came from the Hollywood epic Marie Antoinette from 1938, and the kitschy Du Barry was a Lady from 1943. The mix of period costume and Hollywood seemed the perfect place to end the show, just like we started but with a bold new outlook!


The exciting news too is that all the items from the last 2 outfits are now available for custom orders in our shop! The chemise dress will be finally joining the catalog too, just waiting on a few details to get the photos taken and up on the site, should be up in the next couple of weeks.

I hope I'll be able to show the video soon, though I'm still waiting to see it myself!

Macaron-i

It was my birthday this week, and over all it was a tasty one! Last year I was in Paris for my birthday eating macarons from Laduree, this year I was at home and the macrons came to me!

I got a big box from Michel Patisserie with 2 or 3 of each flavor they make!

I have to admit I fell in love with these pastries a few years back and am kinda happy that they are getting so much attention over here these days too. I know some people feel kinda iffy about the "mainstreaming of the macaron" with the fear that thousands of poor quality sad macarons will some how spoil the magic. To me however although a frozen Trader Joes macaron won't quite live up to the decadent treat of a hand crafted box of pretty little sweets in exotic flavors, it can chase away the blues on a night at home when you just want a macaron fix.

For any one who hasn't had a rocking good french style macaron Michel Patisserie ship all over the country, you can order through their website.

I love them because they taste great, look beautiful and make my day feel a little more special.

Right now I'm still working towards getting the kitchen finished, but I have a macaron class to go to early August, so I hope I'll be able to make some crazy flavored almond treats from my friends and family (and me!) once everything is finished for the "house warming" party!

Drapes Match the Kitchen

A few weeks back I missed an auction for some crazy awesome 50's wallpaper. At first i was kinda bummed out I had forgotten to bid, but then I remembered that what I really wanted was fabric not wall paper.

The paper has these great googie illustrations of chefs and bakers in those wonderful mid century pastels and brights. I was luck enough to save some of the photos from the auction and have been busy trying to trace the illustrations into Photoshop so that I can have them printed on fabric later for our seat covers and drapes!

The web has a few services out there right now that will turn your digital images into usable fabrics, places like Spoon Flower are a great resource for any one looking to do a retro renovation, and just not able to find the fabrics they want/need. I know I hunted around for a fabric I loved, this one came close from Michael Miller, if it had been turquoise instead of green I'd have snatched that up!

There are some great retro fabrics out there for your home projects, and when the design is no longer put there, you can always DIY! I'll have more on our fabric once it's done!

Light Fantastic

Some people go pretty adventurous with kitchen cabinets, but we're working on a budget which makes Ikea pretty much the natural choice. The fronts we went with are the Nexus Birch. The flat fronts are perfect for a 50's style kitchen, and the color is light enough to take a bold color scheme (turquoise walls and a sparkly red counter top!) One great way that we're hoping to bring some extra vintage flare to the cabinets is with these great fixtures from rejuvenation.com.

I instantly fell in love with the boomerang drawer pulls and the star back plates for the cabinet knobs, so 50's!

The schoolhouse light with the red rings will go over the dining table and should have a nice cheery feel to it?

The site also has some smashing Victorian pieces for cabinets and lighting, my favorite is this crazy over the top bat light! 

Right now we have our floor and the exciting kitchen building part is starting to happen. I can't wait to see and post the finished kitchen.