Orphelin is closing. Sniff sniff...

It is with great sadness I report to you that as of May 25th, 2009 Orphelin Vintage Boutique will be closing its doors. (Insert sobs here.)
Orphelin took over the old Funhouse space at 720 S 5th St
in Philadelphia just under a year ago, and has been a great place to find an eclectic mix of vintage clothing and housewares from numerous vendors and local artists. Tara has decided not to renew her lease in June. (Wipe away tears.)

But there is a bright side - at least temporarily... Most of the store is on sale for 20% off, and selected furniture pieces are as much as 50% off!



We have a LOT of stuff there including tons of dresses, tops, skirts, shoes, bags, pants, housewares, knickknacks and loads of art! May I suggest this giant black velvet unicorn painting measuring a whopping 27" x 40"?
(I need to give a shout out to my friend Sue of Giant Dwarf
for spying the unicorns for me - that's right, I currently have not one, but TWO of these babies.) But seriously, please come down and support Tara this last month, and score some great vintage goodies on sale. The shop will be open Thursday - Sunday from noon to 7 pm.

Spring Skirts - Sneak Peek

The other day I went on a buying trip in search of some Spring goodies and I found about 40 awesome skirts perfect for the sunshine days ahead. If you shop the site you may have noticed I have a thing for fun prints, and I'm happy to say I found some great ones. I took a photo of the whole rack (since the colors looks so pretty together) and I pulled out a few of my favorites.




One of my favorite labels is Vested Gentress. Their prints have a vaguely Lilly Pulitzer feel, only they're more quirky. The fabrics are hand screenprinted, and the colors are country club preppy. These are a few I found recently.


You may have noticed too that I have a thing for quirky appliques and animal prints. Not like leopard and zebra print (although I do love a nice leopard coat), but actual pictures of animals. I seem to find a lot of frogs. I've also recently come across an abundance of kissing animal skirts including camels, snails, turtles and whales.




This turtle skirt is amazing! It's made by Katasha's Unusuals which is another label I love to find. The prints are always really fun!

I'll be bringing all of these skirts (and more) to my sale at Art Star the first weekend in May.

Vintage T-shirt Update

We've just finished an admittedly long overdue t-shirt update on the site.
We added close to 70 new ones including funny tees, iron-ons, rock tees, tourist tees and more! Here are a few of our favorites. You can go here to see them all.

Trunk Show at Art Star

So, it's only a few weeks away and I'm knee deep in new vintage clothing for our "once in a while" Trunk Show at Art Star.
I went on a major buying trip yesterday and got loads of great Spring clothes to add to my already overflowing inventory of goodies. I'll post some photos once I get everything checked in and sorted. For now I wanted to let you know to mark your calendars for the event which will be Saturday May 2nd from 11-7, and Sunday May 3rd from 12-6.

I'll be taking over the back room and turing it into a 2 day vintage boutique. I'll have racks and racks of dresses, skirts, tops, aprons, jackets, blazers, western shirts, and more. There'll be stuff for the guys too, so don't think you need to stay home fellas! I'm also bringing shoes, jewelry, belt buckles, sunglasses, housewares, knickknacks, kitsch and whatever else I can fit in a few truckloads. Light refreshments will be provided.

Art Star is located at 623 N 2nd St in Philadelphia PA.
See you there!

What is going on...

... in this picture?! My hubby found this photo in the bottom of a box at the Flea Market the other day. It's a Polaroid in a specially made for Polaroids frame, and has "Nov '78" written on the back. It looks like the woman is standing there in her long johns with her pants around her ankles??? I'm going to have to be more thorough in my box digging from now on.

Flea Market Finds

Yesterday I had the privilege of spending the day my most favorite way which is treasure hunting at flea markets. Not being much of an early morning person, shopping days are the only days that require me to set an alarm clock for an ungodly to me, but probably normal to most 9-5 types, time in the morning. I have no idea who decided that 4 am is the ideal time to set up for a flea market and that shopping with flashlights is a great way to make sure you get the worm. I don't do this. I go at a normal time when the sun is out and I can actually see what I'm looking at. Maybe I'll miss the Holt Howard mustard and relish dishes, but it allows me to actually have a really fun day. I took a few pictures of my finds from yesterday.


I love the pictures on this block puzzle. There are 6 designs total and they have the original papers that show the finished designs.


For some reason I have become enamored of these crazy beauty school heads. These now bring my holdings to 5 which I guess makes it an official collection. I have no idea what I'll do with them. Right now they're sporting some of my finer hats. The Handy Hannah hair dryer is a great piece and I love that it has the box and a stand.


I haven't decided if this yellow bag will be for me, or if it'll end up in the Etsy shop. For now I'm totally enamored of the color, and it's a great size with lots of pockets. Hmmm... The Rapco Satellite Jump Shoes are one of those amazing toys that the company would probably get sued for today after someone's kid broke their ankle on them. Oh, the good old days when toys were dangerous.


If I ever get another tattoo I want this design. OK, not for real real, but I seriously think it's amazing!

Cheese Please!

So I thought I do a post on one of my favorite things which you may have guessed is cheese. And where better to start than with a cookbook entirely devoted to Cooking With Cheese. Let's begin by getting to know our cheeses.

One of my favorite foods in the world (OK I really haven't been THAT many places in the world, but let's pretend), is macaroni and cheese.  There are tons of ways to make it and I'm down with just about all of them.  The sharper the cheese the better. I'm not sure there can be a more unflattering picture of this fabulous dish, but I'm sure it tates amazing!



If you're feeling a little more ambitious, and/or having people over you'd like to impress for dinner why not take a stab at this amazing looking strawberry cheesecake?

Metro

So, it's a little old news (as in last week's news), but we didn't have a blog last week, so I'm posting it today.  We got a very lovely write-up in the Philly Metro paper, complete with pictures, and I wanted to share it here.  This ran in the March 24th 2009 edition.  Thanks Monica!

Welcome

It's here!  After many months of creating a blog living in the "something I really want to do" section of my brain, it's now moving into the "actually being done" section next door.  I hope to share with you my passion for vintage, as well as my adventures in treasure hunting, news and goings-on in my world, and whatever else I find amusing, tantalizing, or relevant enough to include.  Thanks for joining me!

xoxo, Lara