Syrup Bonanza!

A big order of syrups arrived today for our soda making adventures here at Quaintrelle HQ! 6 full size and 24 tiny samples to play with. Rose and Violet are already 2 of my all time favorite flavors (I can never decide which one of the 2 is my all time favorite), the rest I'm just excited to try. Almond sounds like it should be a good mix for some interesting flavors maybe?

We're still moving on with our home re-model project, as soon as it's all done it'll be time for a fancy mocktail and soda party in our shiny new home!

Vintage Nails

When it comes to vintage style, every once in a while you come across a little flourish that is as practical as it is retro chic! Today I thought I'd make a post about the wonder that is the vintage manicure or reverse French manicure. Back in the day ladies would leave the tips of the nail and/or the lunula un painted. I personally love the style for the way it looks, but for girls like me who work with their hands the extra couple of minutes it takes to do, saves plenty of time because your manicure lasts so much longer!

I know for me that the tips of my nail polish are always chipped by the end of the day when I paint them, and the base of the nail is quick to show wear shorty after. With the reverse French manicure these places are bare save a little clear topcoat, so upkeep is as simple as an extra lick of clear topcoat every couple of days, and your nails look spiffy for so much longer! The downside (there always is one) is that you do need to keep your nails a decent length, which is just as tricky for us handy types as getting nail polish to stay put. A basic nail care regimen can help with this though!

My Nail Care Routine:

• Use a clear nail treatment as a base coat such as Sally Hansen's Miracle Cure To help fight flaking
• Moisturize your hands every night with a good hand cream (Always a good idea for crafty types to help fight painful callouses caused by lot's of handy work)
• Rub your nails and cuticles with cuticle oil every night to help promote nail growth, and healthy nails.

My nails still get broken when I'm working on heavier tasks such as metal work, but if I'm able to stay mindful when I work, it is possible to save nail disaster!

How to Paint the Reverse French Manicure:

Not as hard as it might seem. Instead of painting 2-3 stokes vertically top to bottom, paint about 2 strokes side to side with a nice curve to get those half moon shapes. Clean off any excess at the side with a Q-tip dipped in nail polish remover and "jobs a good un" as they say in Yorkshire!

This might qualify as a slow news day in the world of blogging, but for any crafty quaintrelle out there it might be as useful to you as it has been to me!

Retro Sale

 A few people told me they were planning Mad Men based costumes for Halloween this year, so for anyone else having a similar idea, we're having a Candy Violet sale this week!! Daisy Cutter, Lady Luck and Day Trip items are all on sale till next Monday!I hope you'll stop by for some retro bargains (also great for people like me who are just always looking for new vintage styles to wear every day) Check over at  www.candyviolet.com to find out more!

Oh Beehive!

A big part of quaintrelle life is style! So perhaps I should start adding a little more of that to the blog these days too?

Last night I was going out for dinner with my fella and felt inspired to give styling my hair into a beehive a try. I've always been a bit scared of them in the past because A) I had blue hair and would have looked like marge Simpson. B) I don't have much hair and didn't think I could to it. C) It looked tricky!

With the power of a little wool padding I was able to get some decent looking volume, and the style went together surprisingly fast! I used a tutorial from "Vintage Hairstyling" as a start and added a little hair rat know how to make it work. I'll try put together a tutorial on beehives for super thin haired girls on the website soon.

I think the beehive drive and a Mad Men marathon were the main inspirations for last nights look.
Jewelry & Dress: from Candy Violet
Purse: Vintage Enid Collins From Dusty's Grandma!
Shoes: Jessica Simpson(I was surprised, but they are really lovely, and comfy for 5" heels!)

Soda Jerk

On a trip to Philly last month, I was lucky enough to be staying in a hotel super close to the amazing Franklin Fountain! An old time soda shop selling had made sodas, phosphates and ice creams all in a super quaint building with a an retro radio kicking out jazz age hits. Now as some people know I'm an old school straight edge girl as well as a fancy quaintrelle, so this place was perfect for me, and sent me back home with dreams of sugar plum sodas dancing in my head.

This week Dusty surprised me with a box of flower flavored sodas to flavor drinks and pastries with (to me there is no group of flavors more quaintrelle than flowers, pretty, old school, rare and fancy).
Last night we finally splashed out on a Soda Stream, so with that and our growing syrup collection we're well on our way to a home soda fountain of our own!

My first drink is a mix of my floral flavor favorites, and a love of New York egg creams I developed since moving to the States. I'm calling it the floral egg cream and it's a cinch to whip up for parties, friends or just for yourself!

 Floral Egg Cream
1oz Flower syrup (I'm using the Monin syrups)
2oz milk
Fill the rest of the glass with soda water
Stir and serve!
(if you have an extra frothy rose or violet egg cream, why not sprinkle with candied petals to garnish?)

So far I've tried this with lavender and with jasmine syrups and they were both amazing, still waiting on my violet and rose syrups to arrive for my next flower mixes. I'll let you all know when we come up with some new soda successes for any one else interested in some home soda magic!

Hand in Glove

Summers round DC are hot, like "this is your brain on drugs" hot, and this Summer has been especially hot. I have to admit when it comes to quaintrelle elegance 100°F temperatures don't lend themselves well to the snappiest of styles. The good news is the recent cooler days have put me in a mind for Autumn, which brings me to a recent style obsession of mine, gloves! For centuries no well dressed lady was stepping out without a pair of crisp clean coordinating gloves!


I've started building up a wardrobe of gloves recently. The goal is to have the perfect pair for every occasion and every dress! My trip to Nashville a couple of weeks back started me off with a few treasures! A superb ceder wood glove box with a kind of art deco feel (hand made by a Mennonite community close my in laws house), an early 1960's corsage (ok not gloves, but put it on the right wrist band and it's working with the gloves!) and 2 pairs of 50's gloves. The short beige ones are a super soft faux leather, and the longer pair go right up to the elbow with little claw set rhinestones. I've added to these my sweet little Dents crochet gloves. The goal is to start wearing them as a wardrobe staple in daily life. they look great, and so far are fun to collect!

New Day Trip Collection

I love a good shop update! Some new items in at Candy Violet this week. There's a selection of skirts and dresses in a super cute "day at the zoo" print, and a new purse based on old 1950's designs and covered in strawberries!