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My Winter Crochet Project

This is what I wanna make for Winter. Super cool right? Tutorial is here for anyone who wants to try it out with me.   Hopefully, I'll be able to get started on it within a week. I hate when I mark something cool to try and then never get to it!

Getting Crafty

So whilst on my vacay, I got my arts & crafts on and felt thoroughly accomplished after measuring and sewing and folding and gluing. These are the fun things I came up with when I wasn't sniffling like a sick puppy.

Bows galore! There are great tutorials out there for bow making. Wanna make the black dropped tail bow? click here!  Wanna make the double layer olive green bow? Watch this video and make one smaller to stack on the larger one.

Bows and compacts and my still unfinished bathroom door.

The red and black bow was a DIY project from left over ribbon.  I'm going to enjoy wearing these. Next project I'd like to get into will be 30s style crochet cloches..I've tried before and it didn't quite work out. With a bit of dedication, I'm sure I can make it - eventually.

I was inspired by a post from DC Metro Retro's blog (scroll down until you see her adorable bobby pin tin - I made one of those too!) and made a few Dorothy Dandridge revamped compact mirrors. All you need are photos printed on paper, glue and clear nail polish! It's pretty simple!

Have you been crafting lately? What have you made?

~The Retro Natural

The Vacay and Ponderings

So I'm back from a little vacation time, 5 days worth...though I'm hesitant to use the word vacation because it didn't truly feel like it..I got sick on Thursday evening (my first day off) and fought off the sniffles by Saturday. Way to go immune system! I did get to piddle paddle around with arts and crafts so that resulted in more bows for my hair and decorated compacts with my favorite vintage, Black American bombshells on them..hello Ms. Dandridge!  Sunday was pretty mellow and Monday was a day of getting a tired repaired, another one replaced, and various oil leaks fixed at the mechanics.

I was going to post this graphic to let you all know I'd be away but I didn't get quite get there.


(Didn't get to go hiking, nor make any hats or try new styles, hmph lol)


I officially started back at work Tuesday and now it's back to the same schedule. I'm noticing on other blogs that people take little hiatuses and some even shut down their blog due to losing the desire to write, being busy with work/school/life, and other things that take up more time. I've been thinking about this moreso in relation to my YouTube channel. (note: I haven't posted a video in months!) It was easier for me to shoot, edit and post videos when I only drove a total daily distance of 6 miles but now that my daily commute is 46 miles...I don't have time nor do I want to work on anything that has to do with a pc after being on one all day and then driving an hour to get home. I also don't have my home pc set up because I can't find a certain cord and the laptop isn't very reliable with its shutting down of software at any given moment.  I've tried to make time here and there but it's really not working and I'm okay with that. I'm sure the subscribers probably aren't but this here life is about me..so that trumps everything else but you knew that, right? ;) So I'm not going to stress about not focusing on my channel, I'll do videos sporadically and that will be that.

What am I really trying to say here? I'm tired but I enjoy posting blog entires/videos but I'm tired - make sense? I'm sure you've been there too.  I'm not sure exactly what the future holds as far as sustaining a channel, a blog, whatever other accounts I may have but I do know there are too many avenues that seem to grab at you on the internet. So many forums, social sites, blogs,  etc...I'd post more if I had more time but posting photos in a blog and a few lines is the easiest for me so I'm gonna stick to that until I get more time on my hands or I lose interest.  Re-reading this post...reminds me of burnout a bit..oh no, we can't have that. I think I initially try to do it all and I've decided I don't want to anymore and that's perfectly okay. A wise person once told me, "You don't have to be the best, you can simply be good enough." I think I'll put that on a coffee mug. Here's to squashing any burn our you may be suffering from. :)

~The Retro Natural

My Vampire Teeth

I didn't dress up, just hung out at a friends place but I thought these were fun :)


...can't eat with them but that's alright!

~The Retro Natural

40s Retro Updo!

I stumbled on this super darling tutorial by Angelique (ThePinupNoire-YouTubers, be sure to subscribe!) and had to share it. I never saw a hair rat with a metal rod in the center before (which helps keep your faux bang in place!) but I decided to take the metal rod out of one of the flexi rod rollers I have and put it in my homemade hair rat. It works quite well!

Enjoy the video and a warm thank you to Angelique for posting this, the more tutorials for the curly, retro lovers, the better!


This is one of the easiest retro styles to do and you don't have to set your hair. You can start with a twist out :)

~The Retro Natural

Featured on Stylish Thought!

Shame on be for being late in posting this but Fajr of Stylish Thought featured me on her lovely blog and I'm completely smitten and honored to have appeared on such a fab site! I did a little diddy (er, pictorial, I just wanted to use the word "diddy" - no reference to Mr. Sean Combs) :)

Check out my Coretta Scott King inspired hair 'do by clicking on Coretta below ;)


Thank you to Fajr for featuring me!  :)

p.s. Happy (belated) Halloween! Though I didn't do anything for Halloween, I did take a quick snack shot of my fangs, I'll show ya next post real soon! Promise! :D

~The Retro Natural

Swallow Birds Inspiration

I watched Aimee and Jaguar (an old film about a Jewish woman who falls in love with a German woman in 1940s Berlin - it's really a good film!) maybe a month  or so ago and I had to capture a shot of an adorable vintage look that I'd like to recreate. The swallow bird designs that you see in tattoo shops and on sweaters have that classic look with a burst of color. If you want something more simple and demure, black and white is the way to go. I found the patches below from Ebay and now I just have to find the right cardigan or sweater to iron them on.



I'll let ya know how it turns out! I still have other patches I need to put on...something. Maybe the pockets of some high waist jeans or some more cardigans like I did with my pink flamingo! I've got peppermints, a milkshake, cherries, more cherries.. I've got some serious crafting to do!

~The Retro Natural

Running the Long Beach Marathon

Ok, so I didn't actually run it - who would run a marathon in pink jean capris and green chucks? A few weeks back, my sweetheart ran it, a full 26 mile marathon! I was so proud, I ran with her towards the finish line......until they announced that only runners could cross the line! Ooooops HA!  Me and my homemade sign scurried off to the left and lost her and then eventually found her. It was fun but oh my, runners looked like they were in utter pain!
Congrats to them all!


I'll do a 5k (only one I've done ever!) but no 26 miles for me..no ma'am! Ever run a marathon before? If so, I'm glad you lived through it!

~The Retro Natural

Red and Black

What is is about the ever so cool and bad ass red and black color combination? I think it's romantic and dark at the same time. Add some beading and lipstick and I'm a happy camper!

 Simple bun and side roll but this time with a red bow and pearl beaded snood. 
I've finally wore it out..it DID snag on my hair but it didn't do much
damage - thank goodness for a thick head of hair!
During busy workdays, I sometimes fail to get the whole outfit..
but I'll post up some detail shots in the next post :) 

~The Retro Natural

Sailor Girl

I found this vintage sailor style top recently (and failed to get the red one - but I'm going back!) and couldn't be more smitten wearing it out.  Paired it with a white hat with a little lace detailing just for that extra dash of girlie-ness. I failed to capture my denim pants but they're wide legged medium blue jeans. I wore blue/white stripped espadrilles but I didn't drive in them so they were in the car at the time. The hat is from a local Good Will, it may be a bit snug because my head ached a bit later in the day. I hate that!

 
I paired it with a skinny cincher style belt to make it look a bit more feminine. 
Side note: How bold is this red photo border? Got a lil heavy handed there ;)

It's polyester which means sweating in this kinda sucks! 
But it's great for cooler days and it's very sturdy for a top sewn by hand!



This is more of a Spring/Summer look...but then again, I'm in Southern California, I'm sure I'll get to break it out sooner than next Spring. It's totally a happy outfit..you know the ones you feel great walking around on the town in? Yep, that one ma'am! I love it when that happens!


~The Retro Natural


I'm back! + Cherries Galore!

Okay, long time no see, lovies! I've been soo busy/tired/exhausted/lazy/etc...but I think I've gotten it outta my system. I did another drag king show, photos coming soooooon and I've been working hard and resting when I'm off. Why don't we have 3 day weekends every weekend? That'd be amazing!

We'll kick off my hiatus with a post about cherries because who here hates cherries?? Not I!   This is pretty surprising because I've never had many articles of clothing or accessories with cherry prints on them but I'm slowly changing that one item at a time. Check out the cool items I've snagged somewhat recently:


Cherry print hair tie from Dolly Cool Clare...absolutely love this! It's great for a simple hair day that doesn't involve hair setting and it instantly gives ya that adorable rockabilly chick look. It's made of cotton and sewn so it lays flat and never gets all bunched up. Awesome accessory Dolly!!  :) I'm getting the leopard print one next! ..C'mon payday lol Get yours here!



Cherry print handbag...found this at a Good Will for about $4.99. I would have preferred black trim but tan will do just fine. This is smaller than the typical handbags I carry so I'll have to condense a bit!



Cherry patch black summer top...I ironed this patch on this black sleeveless top and now it's got a fun, retro feel to it. Hmmm, I think I'll do the same to a white top too! Get some patches of your own :)



Ah cherries, they seem to brighten the day a bit!


~The Retro Natural

Just a Quick Hello!

Hey folks! I hope all is well, I've been a lil busy and wanting to post  (I actually have fun stuff to post) but as you can see, it's taking a bit of time. I hope to post some fun stuffs (yes, I meant to make that plural :P) very sooooon!

Here's a decent hair day photo for the time being...it's frizzed out a bit because I'm out of my Giovanni and my coconut oil..no good for a good hair set at all! And my lipstick doesn't seem to photograph very well either..does anyone else's look odd in photos versus real life??


~The Retro Natural

Snoods - Fashionable Life Savers

I've gotten a few snoods as gifts from the beloved and they're great when I don't know what to do with my hair or when what I wanted to do can be best described as an epic fail. They always rescue me and the bonus is that they add that retro touch at the same time!

This one is black with white pearls, I haven't really worn it yet because I think it's too classy for every day/work day wear.  I mean I could but I happen to like saving things for nice occasions, maybe when we go for a nice Italian dinner somewhere!



This is a simple black snood, my everyday one I pull out when I failed to set my hair or when it came out pretty badly.. I like it a lot but I do notice that if my hair rubs against my neck while in the snood, it gets tangled a bit so I have to be a little more careful when removing it.



This is a unique one, it's yellow netting with brown fluffy bits attached.  It didn't come with an elastic band though so I think I might put one in..I like them to be effortless, that's the point 'n all, right?

So there you have it, a few snoods for a nice hair day or a completely awful, failure hair day.   I think every gal should have a couple in her arsenal.

I hope to get red, green, and royal blue next! Do you wear snoods? If so, what colors do you have?

~The Retro Natural

Natural Bloom Edition #2 & The Summer Hat Hair Pictorial


I hope I didn't come off as too much of a tease but great news, you don't have to wait any longer for the next issue of Natural Bloom e-magazine to come out, here t'is!


Enjoy the tutorial and all the other goodies!

~The Retro Natural



A Fine Hair Day

Just wanted to show ya the mop. A fine hair day was had a few days back. I'm in need of a good restocking as it pertains to hair product though. I'll share some thoughts soon on newer products I tried that were average. I'll be going back to my usual Giovanni Leave in and coconut oil. It's kinda cool to try new products but kinda not when they're so-so.


 
 Making its debut is my oh so loved tan polka dot sweater. There have been a few stitches that came loose in the shoulder/neck area. Keeping it on a hook rather than a hanger isn't such a good idea either but it's still a favorite. 
I'll get around to fixing it some day!