Aqua Blue Heaven Friday: Happy Meal.

We're cookin' up an especially delicious Aqua Blue Heaven Friday today! (That'll make more sense and be a lot more amusing in a minute. OK, it'll at least make sense. Amusing? Ehh, probably not so much.)






Today's vintage aqua treat is this Vintage Mid Century Recipe Binder, available on Etsy from seller Cocktails at Six:




How can you not love the kicky font of "Recipe Book"? (Notice how the "O's" in "Book" look like hard boiled eggs?! No, really. Do you see it?...How about now?) I know alot of my lovely readers are big fans of vintage kitchen stuff AND I know alot of you dig old-fashioned "tried and true" recipes. Me too! But you know what else I really love? I love when stuff comes with other stuff!...Oh come on, you do too know what I mean. I'll explain: Not only is this a pretty cute binder for holding your recipes and whatnot, but it comes with a few recipes attached inside already! See? Free stuff that comes with your stuff! It makes total sense now, I'm sure.

Observe! It comes with a recipe for "Rolled Molasses Cookies" (excuse me a moment while I busy entertaining myself with how it sounds like "rolled my ass". Carry on):



As a super spectacular added bonus, it even comes with a recipe for "Ham Loaf." You heard me: Ham. Loaf. I bet it has something jellied in it. You're welcome, I'm sure.

Atomic Tuesday: You Light Up My Life...And Creep Me Out A Little.

Welcome to Atomic Tuesday!




Today's vintage pick simultaneously makes me full of joy and irks the bejesus outta me. You'll see what I mean...






Bam! (Wow. How Emeril of me. Sorry about that.)

You know what I love about it? Orange, of course! Plus the classic, mid-century modern shape. And the cute, tripod legs (and don't think I can't bang out half a dozen filthy "tripod" jokes, because I totally can.) I've got a thing for vintage lamps like this Vintage 60's MCM Plastic Bubble Lamp so this feeds my obsession nicely. But then there's *something* about it that make me a little skeeved...




There it is. The rational side of me knows it's *supposed* to look like bubbles, but the wackjob side of me thinks the texture of the plastic looks like creepy fish skin. (Have I mentioned I'm terrified of fish? Seriously. Can't swim in water that has fish in it. And yes, I'm aware of my mental fuckuppery, thankyouverymuch.) But mostly it reminds me of Falkor, the Luckdragon- the somehow scaly-yet-furry talking flying dog thing. You know, from the 1984 movie-of-nerdy-kidtastic-awesomeness, The Neverending Story? (Yes, I'm still aware of my mental fuckuppery, thankyouverymuch.)

Atomic Tuesday: Dueling Boomerangs.

Welcome to Atomic Tuesday!




Today's Atomic Tuesday pick is this incredible MID CENTURY LOUNGE CHAIR available on Etsy from seller Lunar Lounge Design:




The chair is done in a classic Eames-era style and made to order in different wood finishes. But the ginchiest (yep, I said it) part is of course the boomerang design on the backrest:

Aqua Blue Heaven Friday: Pull Up A Chair!

Welcome to Aqua Blue Heaven Friday, lovers!



Are you sitting down for this?! (That's gonna seem alot more witty in a minute.) Let's cut through my usual random rambling and get right to the good stuff. Trust me. You'll be glad I shut up in a timely manner today, when I bestow unto you,


this!:





Mid Century Modern Style Lounge Chair, currently available on Etsy from seller Lunar Lounge Design. It looks dead-on vintage 1950s, but no, it's just a really good repro. I love it. Love it. But if you're not vibing on that particular color, you can take your pick of any of these fine hues:

Atomic Tuesday: What A Card!

Welcome to Atomic Tuesday!



Today's pick is this set of Retro Mid-Century Modern Atomic Holiday Cards~ it even says "Wishing You a Very Hip Holiday Season" inside! These cards are made by Etsy seller Two Poodle Press. I really dig these cards, in all their unconventional Xmas-iness. (If you replaced the pink with orange, they'd be in my all-time favorite color scheme, FYI.)



And for extra matchy-matchy, she also offers these matching gift tags. Swell!

Atomic Tuesday: Ashtray Heart

Today is Atomic Tuesday and today's theme is something that I haven't really thought about in ages: the boomerang ashtray. I remember the days, years ago, when you could find them for peanuts in just about every thrift store on the planet. Seriously cheap, like under a buck. I rarely see them anymore these days~ so what happened to them? Is it a regional thing? Did college hipsters grab them all up, for the sake of being "quirky" and "retro"? Am I just blind as a bat and am talking crazy again? Those ashtrays always reminded me of old ladies in the 70's who smoked and still used the same ashtrays they've had for 20 years. But you don't have to be a smoker to use them around the house. I use mine to hold spare change, candles and jewelry. And Valium. I mean vitamins.

Where did you go, funny little fugly/awesome ashtrays? The boomerang ashtray is one of those things that used to be cool then became a cliche then became cool again. Their low period was probably the late 90's, when they were almost a mockery, to anyone who decorated their home in mid-century modern stylings of the 50's and 60's. And now since they're getting harder to find they're becoming cool again. Like everything else, really. When it's around, it's lame. When it's nowhere, it's great. The human psyche is stupid. So here are some pretty rockin' ones, available as of now online.



Vintage Royal Haeger Boko Ashtray. I can't help it but the 12 year old in me keeps seeing a butt shape in this one. And I like it.





Vintage Orange & Olive Speckled Ashtray. Makes me want Cheetos. Now.





Vintage Royal Haeger Green Ashtray.





Vintage Flecked Shawnee Set of 2 Ashtrays. What a pair! Now you can double your storage of Valium! I mean vitamins.






"Ashtray Heart" by captain Beefheart

My (Aqua) Blue Heaven: Shake It Up

Welcome to a very late Aqua Blue Heaven Friday! Got tied up today with a whole lot of yard-related drama- long story short: don't run over a yellow jacket's nest when mowing the lawn, even if it was a total accident and you didn't even know it was there in the first place and for future reference you cannot, in fact, flood them out with a hose stuck in their hole in the ground like in cartoons, nor should you then add dish soap to it, expecting them to come out coughing or preferably dying, because all it does it turn the area into a giant mound-o-bubbles and sprinting past the area and trying to throw rocks into their little hole also does absolutely nothing against the wrath of angry bees and I swear this is the nail in the coffin for our neighbors who already think we're odd enough to begin with.

So. Let's just move on already, because if I sit still too long the bees will see me and presumably come after me with a great, unmerciful vengeance for disturbing their love nest with water, soap, bubbles, ant spray, rocks, bleach, sparklers, and firecrackers in vain.

Today's theme is the vintage 50's aqua salt & pepper shakers!




Vintage Egg-Shaped 2Tone Salt & Pepper Shakers w/Stand. These remind me of Mork and Mindy for some reason and give me an incredible urge to say "nanu! nanu!"




Vintage 60's MCM Japanese Salt & Pepper Shakers.





Vintage Aqua Wheat MINI Ceramic Salt and Pepper Shakers. Look how tiny they are! They fit on a spoon! CUUUUTE. They're so...so...wee!





Vintage 50's Windmill Salt & Pepper Shakers. This is so ding dang cool, I'm almost seizure-like! (Of course, it could be from inhaling all that wasp spray when the wind shifted.) When you turn the windmill propeller (what the hell is that even called?), the little plastic salt and pepper holders pop up out of the roof! Popping pepper pot! Sigh. I'm tired.






"Shake It Up" by the Cars.

Atomic Tuesday: Time After Time

Welcome to another Atomic Tuesday! Today's theme is all about time~ the not having enough of it, the how fast it passes you by, the "holy crap, how is it the middle of July already, more than half of the year is over, dude you'll never believe that I bought my first Xmas present for someone already, and my birthday is creeping up closer and closer, hot damn I'm getting old, oh dear god make it stop, WHY WON'T YOU MAKE IT STOP?!" Yeah. Time. It's not on your side. And I'm not a fan.

So without wasting any more of this precious commodity, I give you this week's Atomic Tuesday time theme~ a must-have staple of any mid-century modern home decor, a little cliche but a whole lot of cool: the vintage 50's/60's starburst clock!




Vintage Ingraham Electric Starburst Clock. Comes with its original box, too!






If silver is more your speed, then how's about this Vintage Ingraham Starburst Clock? (It's just like the one above only this one is battery-run.)





Cutesy Vintage Lux Flowerburst Clock, for those who prefer their decor to be on the girlie side!






Vintage United Clock. I love the font of the numbers on this one! They remind me of graphics you'd see in old school bowling alleys from the 50's and 60's. (Ps: I have no idea if calling the style of numbers a "font" is correct. What DO you call it? Whatever. You know what I mean. Right? Right.)





Vintage German-Designed Clock. At first I thought this was heading into shabby chic hell- you know, all sorts of white with that old timey wrought iron garden gate-esque look, but then the more I looked at it, the more those super spikes grew on me and the more my mind wandered into Vlad the Impaler territory, somehow, and now I rather love it. Don't ask. It's just how this mind works.





Vintage United Battery-Run Clock. This one has me perplexed. I do love the circle-y loops at the end of each spike, but I'm not sure how I feel about the scrolly gold leaf design. Clock design shouldn't cause confusion, should it? I'm torn, sad little starburst clock. I want to love you, but you're borderline tacky. Then again, aren't we all? Ok, I'm not mad at you anymore, clock. We're cool.






"Time After Time" by Cyndi Lauper

Cosmic Thing

In case you haven't come across this seller yet (and if you dig mid-century modern design, of course) then I demand you check out Atomic Mobiles. She sells these amazing 1950's/1960's Calder-inspired, custom-designed free form mobiles in period-correct colorways, though you can choose any color combo that moves you. They're swell.

A few examples. Observe:












"Cosmic Thing" by B-52's.