Happy Halloweeeeeeeennnnnn!!!

After a weekend of costume parties, eating desserts, and general shenanigans with friends, I think tonight is a great night to just enjoy a (not so) scary movie and enjoy some comfort food. I love seeing all the costumes coming in online, especially DIY ones and here are some of our own from this weekend..

 Leah as a Pinata and Lindsey as the Riddler

Sam as a Christmas Tree and Annie as a Christmas Present

A super easy Halloween dessert made with chocolate pudding, oreo crumbles sprinkled on top and RIP written on Milanos Cookies

BATMAN VILLAINS: Lindsey , Ricky as the Scarecrow, Matt as the Joker

"How can this be healthy?!": Banana Ice Cream!

I recently stumbled upon this SUPER easy, SUPER quick recipe for ice cream made out of bananas (!!!) online when I was trying to figure out what I could make out of my almost overly ripe bananas. 

First, cut up your ripened bananas into 1/4 to 1/2 in slices. Put them on a plate or as I did put it into a 8X8 platter and covered with plastic wrap. Freeze overnight.

Add bananas into blender or food processor and set it to high and puree it.

This might take a few minutes and you might need to keep pushing the bananas down with a long spoon. 

Finally, the bananas will become fully puree'd and ready to eat. 

Pour Banana Ice cream into bowl and it's ready to eat! It will be more like soft serve at this point. If you wish to have it more like regular ice cream place it back into the freezer covered for a few more hours!

Great healthy treat!

You can also add:

Peanut Butter

Honey

Pie Crust Crumbles

Nilla Wafers

or other unique additions to make this delicious treat even better!

Let's go to the Fair Fair FAIR!

One of my favorite annual fall traditions is to go to the Arizona State Fair! I get so excited to see the farm animals, shop around the expo, check out the art/cakes/collections of fellow south westerners, ride the kiddie rides, watch the demolition DERBY!, play some games, and eat the ridiculous food you can only find at fairs. Here are some pictures from this years Fair-ventures

Some Fair-goers: Our friend Kevin, Me (Lindsey), and Sam

Some of the animals in the Agri-Section: LlamaFace

Fluffy chicken-I want one!

Demolition Derby with the most epic comeback I've ever seen! Underdog FTW! 

Deep Fried Dessert Vendor...mmmmmheartattack!

I went with the Fried Oreo..SO DELICIOUS! Next year I want to try the deep fried Peanut Butter Cup

The Haunted Mansion Kiddie Ride-It's so cheesy and amazing. I will even admit I screamed on this one...

Our friend Ricky and myself after winning some of the fair games! Ricky won the GIGANTIC minion from "Despicable Me" after actually getting a ring on the bottle at the ring toss- that never happens! 

All in all, one of the best days at the fair yet!

We Have a WINNER!

The Winner: Congrats to Claudia at The Shallow End for winning this month's giveaway! You will receive the Limited Edition Halloween Products featured as well as a code for 15% off your entire purchase at our Etsy Shop.

How we picked the winner: We entered everyone's name/email addresses into an excel spreadsheet( Twice if you also became/were a fan of Purple Party Shoes on Facebook) in random order. Next we did the Random Function for Excel to give us a random number and whoever's name correlated was the winner!

Our Thanks: Thankyouthankyouthankyou to EVERYONE that participated in the October Giveaway! We were not expecting such a great response for being a very new blog but we are excited by all the feedback! We will be having giveaways often (especially with Lush products because we love them so!) so check back!

Love,

The Ladies at PurplePartyShoes

Thank you all for entering into the Lush October Giveaway! I will be selecting a winner later today :) Good luck all!

Jumpsuits,Bell Bottoms, Hippie Head Scarves: Vintage Comebacks for the Fall

My favorite styles and inspirations come from the 1960s and 70s and I'm happy to know several of these are making their comeback this fall! Here's a Style Watch of a few of my favorite items that are being given a new, fresh life:

70s Bellbottoms

Late 60s Hippie/Boho Head Scarves

 Late 60s/early 70s Jumpsuits

(photo credit: only the last three photos belong to us and are available in our Etsy Shop, I would like to give credit to the above photographers/sources if you have any information I will happily credit them!)

Any other vintage styles you would like to see make a comeback?

October Giveaway!!

Want to win some great Fall Limited Edition products from Lush Cosmetics plus 15% off at our Etsy Vintage Shop?

GREAT NEWS! For my (Lindsey's) favorite month we are giving away some Fall themed items from our favorite all-natural and cruelty free store: LUSH! (and a lil Halloween friend from TY as well : D) as well as 15% off one item in our shop! A little about the products below:

IMPORTANT: products below were removed from packaging for photographic evidence only; covered hands while handling product and placed on sanitized surface. Product returned to packaging post picture taking

                                   

This Hand and Body Soap is made of clove, cardamom, spearmint and fresh pumpkin! Smells good enough to eat!

Cobweb Black sugar bath bomb made with Lush's Black Pearl Scent is a major stress reliever and fun as well!

Here are the TWO FREE AND EASY ways to ENTER TO WIN! The more you participate the higher your chances are :)

1.  Leave us a comment about the best/most creative/funniest Halloween Costume you've seen! :)
   *Leave an email/blog name so that I can contact you if you're the winner!*

2. "Like" us on Facebook at Purple Party Shoes and leave a comment with the same criteria as above

**Your answer doesn't have to be the best, just by participating you are entered into the drawing!**
Contest Ends October 23rd, 2011 at 12midnight!

Good Luck :)

**EDIT(October 17,2011 at 4:00pm): Just visited the Lush Website and BOTH the Limited Edition Pumpkin Soap and Cobweb Bath Bombs are Out of Stock in the U.S! Even more of a reason to enter!***

Phoenix Fashion Week

Last Saturday night, I was looking forward to a date with my couch, ANOTHER wonderfully bad Tyler Perry movie (don't judge me) and a ridiculous amount of cheese and or wine. Yes, wine and cheese are interchangeable in my life and I prefer them both in the amount of "ridiculous." Around 2 o clock on Saturday, Lindsey got word that our good friend Tiffany (over at Kitten Paws Vintage!) and her friend Anya had two extra tickets to the final night of runway shows at Phoenix Fashion Week in Scottsdale. Tyler Perry would have to wait. 

I wasn't sure what to expect from it all, but there was a lot to take in. What was it like, you ask? There were lots of good looking people, even better looking outfits, LOTS of people in silver sequined hats (okay just one guy...apparently he was kind of a big deal..), and a lot of things that would inspire anyone that had ever so much as thought about picking up a sewing needle. Also, tall girls everywhere-something that made me feel incredibly happy, even if their waists were more like the size of my left pinky toe than my waist. You tall girls out there know what I'm saying.

Some of the designers were incredible-inspired by things delicate, whimsical, simple, elegant, extravagant, fluffy, bright, victorian-all things we love at Purple Party Shoes.

Others were not as impressive- Lindsey and I had exchanged some "don't they sell that at Target (Hey! There's nothing wrong with Target, but you know what I mean)?"looks. Overall, there were many more "don't they sell that at some store that I can't afford?"looks. I think the ultimate goal is to make or own something that looks like it was made at a store you can't afford but that you got at Target. Or K-Mart. or the Swap Meet. Just sayin'. 

We were like little girls in a candy store. Mesmerized by the experience, the people, and how much we felt like were on the set of Sex and the City. And we ALL know how we feel about that show. We left  Phoenix Fashion Week with big grins on our faces and hearts full of inspiration. 

Thank you Phoenix, Fashion and Tyler Perry.

Vintage Designer History: Beeline Fashions

Opening and running our Etsy Shop has been a lot of fun for us because we get to scour through clothes for great vintage finds (shop for a reason!) and are able to do fun photo shoots, but my favorite part is actually learning more about the history behind the pieces of clothing and their designers. 

We recently received a cute white and blue mini dress in our vintage lot (pictures coming soon!) that had the tag "Beeline Fashions" and like I do with our other items, I started to do some research about this designer online to be able to date and price our item. However, this particular company really stuck out to me. Below is a little bit about the company's founders that I found while researching online.

"Beatrice F. Birginal (known as “Bee”) had a knack for mixing-and-matching clothes and she and her husband H. Edison Birginal were savvy enough to turn her skills into a fashion empire. After he was discharged from the military following World War II, the couple settled in Chicago. They used his G.I. loan to start up a business.

 He sold hosiery items door-to-door. They expanded the merchandise to include moderately priced sportswear, which he termed “Bee's line of clothing.” The name stuck. In 1948, Beeline Fashions hooked up with independent contractors and gave them the fashions to sell at home parties. 

(photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shookphotos/4261638195/)

Bee served not only as the clothing buyer, but was the catalog typist and designer (simple mimeographed hand drawings) for the family business. According to son Gary Birginal, "In the late 1950s and 1960s, women didn't have opportunities to work outside the home. Beeline Fashions provided them with a chance to work part time one or two nights a week, and the business exploded." 

 (photo credit: http://hideelee1966.blogspot.com , May 1967)

The popular home parties were termed style shows. Beeline Fashions expanded rapidly during the 1960s and peaked in 1979 with 20,000 independent contractors (known as stylists)."

 (credit: http://www.loti.com/fifties_fashion/Beeline_Fashion_and_Fun.htm; Roberta Beach Jacobson)

On that note, I hope that we find another Beeline Fashions tag in our quest to find vintage treasures soon!


EDIT(October 17th, 2011 3:00pm):  Here is our Beeline Fashions Dress for Sale on Etsy!!

Fall is upon us!

Fall is hands down my favorite season of the year and October my favorite month. October has it all- the beginning of pumpkin desserts, the weather, the state fair, pumpkin patches, Oktoberfest, (my birthday :D) pumpkin lattes, and last but not least Halloween parties. A lot of these things are centered around food and desserts.  As you can tell I'm all about pumpkins and pumpkin flavoring and recently found this Vegan Pumpkin Pudding recipe on pinterest that I wanted to try. 

You may have seen the word VEGAN in Vegan Pumpkin Pudding and cringed but trust me you'd be missing out on a delicious and easy five minute recipe. This treat is great to whip up last minute for a holiday party or just as a low fat treat at home. Your vegan friends will love you!

(photo credit http://www.kblog.lunchboxbunch.com)

The Ingredients

1 lb silken tofu (easier than I thought to find. We found it in the natural foods, cold section of Frys)

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup maple syrup

1 cup canned pumpkin, unsweetened

3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

First, gather all your ingredients and add them to a blender

Next, blend from Low to High. Once it is a soupy consistency pour into a bowl for it to firm up in the fridge for about an hour. 

In an hour or when you're ready to serve put it in serving bowls and add some vanilla ice cream for a nice yummy touch!

Helpful Hint from the original blog: pour pudding into tiny serving cups and place in the freezer for 15 minutes - then move to fridge until ready to serve.

Great Memories with some friends: Pumpkin Patch, October 2010

Review: Lush's Caca Marron Henna Hair Dye

In my past life (read: the college years) I used to dye my hair whenever the mood struck or my level of boredom increased which created some interesting youthful memories of my hair being colors such as blue, pink, purple, black, bleach blonde and even an unfortunate dye job gone bad that turned my hair not in the least bit flattering grey. After the 10 hour day I spent in a salon chair stripping my hair of the black I so impulsively put in, I decided to leave it alone for at least a year and give my hair a chance to get healthy. However, lately my hair has started to look rather bland and in need of a fresh look for Fall. After talking to a Lush representative and them putting all my past "will it dry out/damage/ruin/kill my hair" fears to rest, they talked me into trying their Caca Marron Henna Hair Dye. This hair dye is 100% natural and the best news is it won't damage my hair!!

Below is the color of my hair at the beginning of the day, pre-dye job. It is a light brown with natural highlights from the Arizona sun

The Henna Hair Dye comes in six squares. I used five of them and kept one left over for touch-ups on a later date.

Next, I melted up the squares with water and some black tea (as suggested by the Lush employee) til it was the consistency of brownie batter as I was told to do.

Next, I put on my rubber gloves and started covering my hair. It was definitely a different experience than applying normal hair dye. I felt like I was putting mud all over my hair but the upside is that it felt like a spa treatment since the "batter" was still very warm. (please excuse the blurry picture, I was alone during the color treatment process :D )

Once my whole head was covered, I twisted it up into a shower cap and wrapped a head scarf over to make sure it stayed in place. After five hours I washed it out (this is the only real downside to this product; It takes a long time to set. Usually between 2-6 hours). I would definitely recommend having a comb handy in the shower as it helps get all the little dried henna pieces out.

I dried my hair and below is the final product. I absolutely LOVE the way that it came out. My hair feels healthy and the color looks really natural. I was also told the color would only become richer in the next couple of days.

My new Fall look for October!

Check out Lush's website for their other Henna Hair Dyes and other great all natural products!