Inspiration Wall & Crafting

A few weeks ago I blogged about creating a dedicated work space... I'm pleased to update that progress has been good so far and I also rediscovered how gratifying DIY-ing and crafting can be!

There's still some finishing touches to be done but already I'm pretty happy with my feature / inspiration wall:

Ok so the cork board and photo frames are still empty; but I am definitely looking forward to filling them up in the weeks to come!

Glued on these cute wooden mannequin cut outs and alphabets for a personalized board.

Was inspired to create this from A Beautiful Mess' tutorial.. I picked up a whole stack of these paint sample cards from the Home-Fix store, while avoiding the suspicious stares from all the store assistants. The alphabets were just chip board stickers meant for scapbooking.

I used to enjoy doing crafts and think its time I pick it up again. 

Have you done any DIY or craft projects lately?

White or Black

Which do you prefer?

Buying Vintage Online : Size Matters

Online shopping has its perks (late night shopping? no problem! Store's open 24 hours!) but the biggest bane has got to be the inability to try on your clothes before buying them. As both an online seller and buyer, I've been thinking a lot more lately about how to make buying clothes online a "risk-free" experience. This is even more challenging for vintage as vintage sizes are very different from modern day sizes.

It would be awesome to have a virtual fitting room where people key in their measurements and "see" how the clothing item fits on their body. Zegna has done this but obviously the scale of my business is nowhere near Zegna's and there's no way I can get a programmer to do this on the cheap.

With no million dollar marketing budget to tap on or super programming skills, its back to the basics for me.

BODY SHAPE RECOMMENDATIONS

Sounds simplistic and almost cliche, but I'll be adding body shape recommendations to help customers determine if a particular item is suitable for their body types.

There are many different body shapes, but I'll be using the four most common basic types as reference:

Source: google.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Here's a loose description of each "shape":

Apple: A top heavy shape, with wider shoulders, a larger bust and slim legs
Pear: Small shoulders and bust comparative to a heavier bottom
Hourglass: Bust and hips are almost equal measurements with a slim waist
Rectangle: Shoulders, bust and hips almost equal in measurements, often referred to as a boyish shape

BETTER DESCRIPTIONS
For all upcoming new pieces to be listed on www.erlinasvintage.com, I will be putting in more descriptive details on how the piece of clothing fits e.g. (i) Loose fitting bodice, suitable for people who prefer to wear loose flowy tops or (ii) Flared skirt, flattering to curvier bottoms.

Most importantly, do take note of the measurements provided! I've tried to make it easier by providing an indicative range like "Fits like a S or UK 8 - 10". However an S may mean differently to different people so its best to fall back on the measurements again :-) Elsie from A Beautiful Mess has written a very comprehensive post on How to Shop for Vintage Clothing so do check it out too.

So which shape are you? Do you have any other suggestions how to make it easier for you to figure our sizes?

Vintage Inspired Work Spaces

I'm planning to dedicate more time on the vintage shop so I've been trying to find ideas on how to create a vintage inspired home office where I can edit photos, blog, sew and basically be INSPIRED.

An inspiring workspace puts you in the mood to create inspiring work, no?

Here are some spaces I'm particularly drawn to:

Source: vintagehome.tumblr.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Source: myrevelment.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Source: ariannainteriors.blogspot.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I'm also having a current obsession with anything that's robin's egg blue.. this color palette is so vintage-y and girly right?

Source: design-seeds.com via Lynn on Pinterest

Time to start furniture shopping!

Anyone has any awesome work space pics to share?

Erlina's Vintage on Bloglovin!

By far, my favorite way to follow blogs. In fact, I've stopped reading books and buying  magazines. I just read blogs now. Ok so maybe that's not really a good idea.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Vintage Chairs - To DIY or Not?

I recently dropped by ReStore at Tanjong Pagar Road - which is a small little cafe that also sells restored vintage furniture. I was alittle disappointed that they close so early on a Saturday (5:30pm); especially since I was so in need of a coffee and some cake at that time!

In any case, their reupholstered chairs are so adorable! Check out the lovely prints:

I am particularly partial to the blue one with apple prints but find the SG$350 price tag a little steep for my shoestring budget.

I'm now thinking if I can reupholster an old chair with my fabric of choice, but am not sure if this is a project I can manage... This DIY video makes it look so easy though!

 

What do you think? Anyone attempted to reupholster their own chairs before?