My New Toys...

I know it's not Christmas yet, but I already bought myself some early Christmas presents!  Introducing my three new babies:  Yashica-635, Duaflex III, and LifeTime 120.  Aren't they adorable?!  I have been interested in vintage cameras for a while now and I've finally starting collecting some of them!  I am so excited!

I got this lovely Duaflex set on Ebay for $12!  It was a bargain.  I'll admit that the only reason I got a bargain on it was because the person who listed it misspelled the name of the camera and I don't think very many people even knew that it was there.  The only reason I found this misspelled listing is because I misspelled it in the search bar.  Ha!  I don't plan on actually running film through it, but I do plan on practicing TTV or "through the viewfinder" photography with it.  Google it sometime.  It's amazing!   

Here's my first TTV!  It's a very bad one because I haven't built the holder for it to block out the light that puts the glare on the glass.  But it's still pretty cool!  In case you didn't know, it's supposed to have all those flecks and spots.  That it what makes TTV photography so cool!  

Here is my prized Yashica-365!  I LOVE it!  It was made sometime around 1958.  I got it from a guy off of Craigslist for $39!  Score!  I haven't taken any pictures with it yet, but I will very, very soon.  It takes 120, or wide format, film that is about four times the size of 35mm.  You can make HUGE prints of these pictures.  But aside from that, this camera is supposed to take very crisp and clear photos.  I can't wait to see what it can do!  There is also a way to run 35mm through this, but you have to have the adapter.  I'll probably try to find one sometime to cut the cost.  120 film is expensive to buy and develop.  It is built like a tank and weighs a ton!  No wonder they still work over 50 years later!

Here's what it looks like when you look into the viewfinder. 

This little cutie is just a box camera from the 40s, I think.  I won't be running film through it.  She's just a collectible.  It's not in too great of shape and everything seems a little wobbly, but I got her for free!

Can't wait to show you the pictures they take!  

Hot Chocolate and Homemade Marshmallows... YUM!

In case you have never seen what homemade marshmallows look like in hot chocolate here is a picture for you to make your mouth water!  The marshmallows slowly melt into a creamy, frothy, yummy topping.  If you have never made homemade marshmallows, stop what you are doing and go make some RIGHT NOW!  That's an order!  You won't regret it, I promise.  Here's the recipe.  These are pictures from what I did yesterday.  It is pretty gloomy and cold here so I thought a fire on a Monday afternoon with some homemade hot cocoa and homemade marshmallows sounded like the perfect pick-me-up.  These just so happen to be peppermint marshmallows too!    It's almost like breaking a rule or something.  We hardly never make fires in the afternoon (unless it's Christmas) and especially not on a Monday.  It was a liberating!  Haha!  You can tell me I'm weird.  I know I am.  It was the perfect pick-me-up, so I thought why not do it on Tuesday afternoon too?  So that's what I'm doing right now... making another fire.

I'm rambling, so I'll get on with my day and finish these glitterhouses!  Hope you can find your perfect pick-me-up for this Tuesday afternoon...  :)

Glitterhouse progress...

So here are my first two finished glitterhouses!  Two down, three to go.  I am so proud of them.  They are taking a lot more work than I had originally thought but I am really enjoying making them!  My husband says they don't look like they are made of cardboard at all.  It took me forever to decide on the colors I wanted and even after I chose them I wasn't sure I liked it.  Now I am convinced it will look pretty good.  I settled on a vintage Christmas color scheme of pale pink, magenta pink, light teal, medium grey, white, and buttercream.  The other three should be done soon and all will be ready to adorn my mantle with vintage Christmas awesomeness!  (As soon as Thanksgiving is over, of course.)  ;)