The Happenings: Mighty Swell Holiday Sale!

We are happy to be joining Mighty Swell again for this winter sale. A 4 weekend extravaganza of lovely men's, woman's and children's vintage. Two more weekends to go!

The Happenings: Mighty Swell Summer Fall In Love

 The fall sale is here! While Teacup Vintage has taken a break this time, we are still so excited about this sale. I am back in school, and don't have time to keep up with the shop. I am sad about giving this up, but for now it seems like the only option. We are still super excited about the sale, and I plan on doing my fall shopping there. The sneak peaks are up on FB, looking like there will be some great finds. I hope you all can make it! I'll see you there!

Alea

The Happenings: Mighty Swell Summer In The City Sale!

Day one of the Mighty Swell Summer in the City Sale is done! Thanks to everyone that came out today, and of course a big thanks to Meghan and Rae for their amazing work. There will be more merchandise put out tomorrow, and still plenty of beautiful clothing and accessories to find their way to that perfect someone. The shop is open from 10-7. Yay!

Alea

The Happenings: Mighty Swell Summer in the City

Mighty Swell Pop Up Shop, is looking forward to another sale, July 23rd and 24th! Can't wait to see lots of lovely people out at the shop!

The Happenings: Mighty Swell Weekend!

Thank you to everyone who came out to support us, and all the wonderful vendors at the Mighty Swell Sale today! We had a busy morning and an amazing turn out. Clothes were flying off the racks, the dressing room was hopping and the tunes were blasting from Girl Germs. A special thank you to Meghan and Rae for all their hard work. More goodies to be put out tomorrow!

-Alea and Heather

The Happenings: Mighty Swell Spring Has Sprung

The Mighty Swell Sale is upon us, with a permanent location, and some new vendors; We are so excited to be back.We have lots of new cotton dresses, skirts, short sleeve blouses and accessories! Keep checking out the Mighty Swell and Teacup Vintage facebook pages for more Sneak Peaks!

A Very Vintage Day: On a Hunt

 Twill and I woke up at dawn, with a layer of snow to greet us, and headed out on a day of hunting. Our first stop was an estate sale, the house itself was amazing, filled with amazing wallpaper. Then we stopped off for a breakfast of champions . . . to-go oatmeal and large cups of coffee. We hit one more sale and headed over to the closest thrift where Twill caught up on her Mexican cooking.  We took the afternoon easy and lunched with the ladies. Gilda, the dog excitedly greeted us and we enjoyed some great curry and goat cheese caramelized onion naan. Yum!  Twill and I spent the rest of the day working on cataloguing and steaming. Whew! What a day, we hope you enjoy some of our finds, which will be at the Mighty Swell Sale in two weeks!

-Alea

Vintage Photograph: Grandma Marlene

I spent a lot of this weekend thinking of one of my favorite ladies, my Grandma Marlene, who would have been 71 yesterday. I just had to share this fabulous photograph of her and my mom in the sixties. I drove all the way to Cottage Grove to buy a wonderfully inexpensive dress form off of Craigslist. Perfect for taking sneak peeks of Teacup Vintage's spring collection for Mighty Swell, and I couldn't resist stopping at another random thrift on the way home. I felt like she was there with me, as she was a great garage and rummage sale partner. I love you, Grandma Marlene, Happy Birthday!

Want an ivory shift dress like hers? How about this one or this one?

-Twill

A Very Vintage Day: M is for Moustache

Ladybird and I have been getting together often since I have moved back to the cities, and I tell you, we get the goofy goosies when we are together. We have been planning and preparing our collection of vintage clothing and accessories for the upcoming spring Mighty Swell sale,  (save the date) and took a break to take some hairy moustache portraits. Silly business!

-Twill (and Ladybird)

What We Wore To The Happenings: Photo Mixing

 I had a unique opportunity this past weekend, to add the visual elements to my father's music at his concert. This was a new endeavor for all of us, the band was ambient world music, and I mixed (with a DJ set up mixing board!) photos to create backgrounds and visuals to the music. I was so nervous, having never really shown my photos to an audience before, but in the end, it turned out to be really fun. I wore, gray booties from a consignment shop, gray pencil skirt from Zara, blue tights from a shop in Spain, and a Red coat from the Mighty Swell pop up, courtesy of Two Birds!

-Alea

What We Wore: Not Appropriate Snow Gear

What a blustery day! I arrived in Minneapolis on Friday to help set up the Mighty Swell sale and to celebrate my Mom's birthday, but apparently Mother Nature had other plans. I arrived just in time for the biggest blizzard in over twenty years. Ladybird and I tried so hard to get to Tarnish and Gold yesterday, but repeatedly got stuck in the snow and never made it. We were very sad, but are hoping for the best today with new Sunday pop-up hours from 10-7. There was a great community feel in the neighborhood, which was really nice to see, everyone bundled up from head to toe, pushing and shoveling and bucketing each other's cars out of the snowbanks. We took some photos of our snowy adventure, up to our knees in white fluff.
-Twill (and Ladybird)

DIY: Reusable Gift Bags

I cringe at the thought of all the waste that goes into the gift giving holidays, from the plastic bags you get to carry your purchases home in, to the plastic or paper encasing your gift, and then the wrapping paper and bows and ribbons. I am still one for style, but lets try to do it in a more eco-friendly way! First, just say no to plastic bags, you can find so many cute options for a reusable grocery bag or shopping bag, there is really no excuse. Second, buy re-used or local gifts, not only does it cut down on the gas needed for transportation, but also will help your local mom and pop shop. Next, find fun solutions to wrapping gifts.

This year, I decided to make drawstring gift bags. They are so cute that they become part of the gift.

What you need:
Vintage bed sheets or fabric of your liking
A sewing machine
Scissors
Thrifted string or ribbon
A safety pin


First, cut out a rectangle of fabric, using the top edge of the bed sheets (this part is usually already folded over, making it perfect for threading the drawstring!)

Next, with the reverse side facing out, fold the fabric so the two cut edges touch. Sew these together.


















Then, turn the seem that you just made so it is in the middle of the now tube of fabric, lay flat and sew up the bottom, it creates a T.

Reverse the fabric and cut two small slits, one on each side of the middle seem, making sure not to go through both pieces of fabric, as you just want to cut the top layer. Then attach the safety pin to the ribbon and thread the ribbon through one hole and out the other. Cut off the extra ribbon.














You are finished!

Make them yourself or come to Mighty Swell where we will have them on sale! Have fun greening your holidays!

- Ladybird

The Shop: Frolic in these Fancy Frocks

More Mighty Swell sneak peeks! I can't believe the sale is less than a week away. Mark your calendars to get these looks and more this weekend, December 11-12 at Tarnish & Gold in NE Minneapolis. We are putting the finishing touches on our collection and are excited to be setting up shop with a group of great vintage vendors. Also check out High Plains Thrifter today for a Teacup Vintage featured post!

The Shop: Those Are Some Mighty Swell Shoes You Have There

We are gearing up for the our shop's debut at the Mighty Swell vintage pop-up holiday sale next weekend (December 11-12) at Tarnish and Gold in NE Minneapolis. We will be posting a few sneak peeks in the next two weeks, be sure to stop by the sale and snatch up your favorites! To kick it off (pun intended) I am starting with some lovely shoe previews.

-Twill

Recipe + Vintage Apron: Red Wine Pasta

This recipe is delicious and beautiful-the trick is boiling the pasta in half red wine, half water, so that the noodles soak up the flavor and color of the wine as they cook. You can make a whole package of pasta in the wine/water mixture and freeze the leftovers so you don't waste the wine, and because it is whole wheat pasta, it is a bit heartier, and freezes/thaws well.

Ingredients:
8 oz whole wheat noodles
Half bottle of cheap red wine
Water
Olive oil
2 cloves of minced garlic
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 cup fresh mushrooms
A few sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
1/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
Splash of cream or half and half (optional)
Grated parmesan cheese
Freshly ground pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place walnuts on cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for 8-10 minutes until toasty.

2. In a large pot, bring half bottle of wine and an equal part of water to a boil with a pinch of salt. Add noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain when al dente.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan, add garlic and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms start releasing their liquid.
4. Add spinach, cooking just until bright green and slightly wilted, add rosemary, walnuts, and splash of cream (if using).
5. Toss pasta with sauce until well coated. Top with parmesan and pepper to taste.

I also love that this apron looks like bloomers! How cute. Look for it at the Mighty Swell sale.

-Twill

The Happenings: Mighty Swell Holiday Sale!

Teacup Vintage is officially selling our goods at the Mighty Swell Holiday Sale! We are so excited to be a part of this group of amazing vendors. Even better news, my lovely Twill is flying home for the event. Vintabulous! We hope to see everyone there.

-Ladybird

The Happenings: Mighty Swell

Mighty Swell Vintage is happening this weekend in Minneapolis! I went today, it was an amazing sale. There were so many great finds and even a tailor on site! The place was packed with people, and racks upon racks of beautiful vintage finds filled the space. The dressing room was madness, but created the perfect "I must have it" appeal. I found a great ring, an adorable retro waitress dress and a pair of loafers that I can tell are going to be my go-to shoes. I talked to one of the girls and might become a vendor. It would be great for me to see the ins and outs of running a vintage shop, and the girls seem super rad.

-Ladybird