We have to point you in the right direction on our namesake! Check out what these lovely ladies have done with pincurls:
Aya Smith has a video with her instructions:
http://strawberrykoi.blogspot.com/2009/03/vintage-hair-pin-curls-for-beginner.html
More pin curl tutorials:
http://pompsnpincurls.googlepages.com/pincurls
April/May : Fruit- Infused Vodka
Spring is the perfect time to satisfy both your DIY ethic and your desire to get loaded
off something fruity and light! Try these great tips for creating your own Fruit infused
vodka to use in all of your summer drinks, from vodka martinis & fruity vodka tonics,
to Citrus Tangos! Enjoy the flavors of spring & remember- fermented fruit tastes better!
You will need:
Handful of washed & bruised fruit such as lemons, oranges, or berries
750ml Good Quality Vodka
Large Glass Jar
1. Fill your jar halfway with fruit, then add enough vodka to fill to rim and cover with
tight-fitting lid.
2. Place jar in cool dark place (like pantry) for three days to a week. How will you
know when it’s ready? Taste it!
3. Once you have the flavor you want, strain it. Keep the fruit- it’s yummy but
powerful!
4. Store your infused vodka in the freezer to use for one of the fruity drinks below!
Citrus Tango:
2 shots lemon infused vodka
6 oz pineapple juice
6 oz orange soda
Shake juice & vodka and pour over ice. Add Orange soda & serve with orange wedge.
Miss Zoe’s Hello Kitty:
6 oz strawberry vodka
6 oz peach snapps
1 crushed strawberry popsicle
Blend vodka and snapps with 6 ice cubes in a blender until slush is reached.
Pour into pina colada glass and add crushed popsicle, which should settle at the
bottom. Add the infamous little umbrella and serve!
Dayna Delux recently traveled back home to Dallas for a baby shower with friends a family and we were lucky enough to have her carve out an afternoon for us. Here’s what she had to say about pregnancy, motherhood, and baby furnishings.
Interview & Photographs: Shoshana Portnoy, Through the Looking Glass Studio
Dayna Delux -- photographed by Shoshana of Through The Looking Glass Studio
What was your first reaction to the news that you were pregnant? How has it changed now? (Are you more nervous than excited, etc)
I already had a feeling I was pregnant but I was still surprised. I took like 8 pregnancy tests that day just to make sure. The first day or so we were in shock but excited now it has turned to nervousness! Time is getting close and I get more scared.
Do you have any names picked out?
We have a list of names but I am not naming him until I see him. I’m sure it’ll just come to me!
What has been the high point of the pregnancy? The low point (did you have icky morning sickness, etc)?
Well I was pregnant with twins and I lost one around 3 months so that’s the lowest point, but the highest point is knowing I still have one healthy baby boy coming. The 2 and a half months of puking my guts up was awful too.
Funniest pregnant moment:
There have been so many… I suppose to me the funniest is the fact that my belly gets in the way of everything. I haven’t gotten use to it yet and it knocks things over and I bump into everything.
Did anything about pregnancy catch you off guard? Something no one warned you about:
People can warn you all day about things but until it happens to you won’t understand or believe it. I didn’t believe my friends when they told me my hair dye wouldn’t stay and they were right. The color just washes right out!
Wanna give your fans a sneak inside the nursery?
We have been working on the baby room for weeks now. It’s a slow process with everything being so expensive. We are doing a nautical theme with sail boats, anchors, nautical stars, lighthouses, etc. I hate little kid looking stuff like teddy bears, Winnie the Pooh, and sesame street stuff. I think his room might look a little grown up for baby but it’s really for us anyway right? Ha Ha
What are the top three things you hope to instill in your son?
Morals, consideration, confidence!
What is your idea of motherhood/ family life?
Honestly I have no idea. I’m shooting in the dark and I pray I get it right.
How will you introduce your life as Dayna Delux, pin-up model to your son?
I think he will just grow up with it because hopefully I’ll still be working. I hope I won’t have to tell him about when I use to model. Fingers crossed! 
How will you juggle being a working mom?
I’ll juggle it will my loving husband and good friends I hope.
Speaking of your husband, how’s he handling the news?
My husband is so cute and excited about the baby. He has been searching for the perfect Angles baseball outfit for months now and can’t wait to take him to his first game. He has also picked out the first car they are going to work on when he turns 14. It’s so great to have a supportive partner. I can’t wait to teach him how to swing dance and get him his first skate board. So many fun things to come!!
How will your work or working style change, or will it?
Well I don’t think style will change at all but work will I’m sure. People will have to work around my schedule more than before and I’m sure I won’t have time for the little fun shoots. Only serious work now that I have less time.
What’s next professionally for Dayna & personally?
Everything, Why stop at one thing, I’m up for anything and focused. I’m going to be getting settled into being a mom and learning what that’s all about. My whole life is changing so everything is going to be new!
By Shoshana Portnoy
Instead of repeating what I’ve already said, check out my short, vital history on American pin-up on my site!
Flashback
History of High Heels
By Hella Goode
High heels, considered a fashion essential for some, and a cute yet painful torture device by others. It is rumored that genius Leonardo DaVinci played a part in the development of the high heel, these controversial fashion pieces have adorned feet for purpose and for pleasure for centuries.
Ancient Egyptian butchers wore heeled shoes to keep from getting the dead animal gunk on the floor from their feet. Roman actors wore them to give more stage presence. The elite even began wearing heeled shoes that resembled today’s platform shoes called chopines that were easily up to 30 inches tall. These fashionistas of prior generations had to have help walking in these overshoes. Strangely this was almost the opposite of what the Chinese at the time considered beautiful. I am referring to foot binding, the practice of breaking the arch of a young girl’s feet and binding them so that they could not grow, fitting into shoes of today’s infant sizes.
Later Catherine de Medici wore them to out-stature her husband’s mistress, Diane de Poitiers. Even Louis XIV wore five inch heels as a status symbol. Napoleon, however was not a fan and banished them, reducing these above-it-all royals to the level of the commoners.
Today some argue that high heels are a clear example of how men and their foot fetishes dominate women’s fashion and make us suffer. Yet many women wear high heels by choice. Some of us who are vertically challenged need the extra inches. Some of us just want to feel sexy. We have a love/hate relationship with our heels, but have grown and evolved with them throughout civilization and are likely to keep them around at least a few centuries more.
(read more at randomhistory.com)
Ask A Burlesque Entertainer: featuring Black Mariah
Q: I want to be a burlesque dancer. Where do I start?
A:
There are many avenues available for pursuing a career as a burlesque dancer. The path you choose for your personal road to fringe and pasties will depend on your location, your budget, and the opportunities available for your debut performance.
Explore the variety and never ending world of Burlesque. I strongly recommend taking in as many burlesque performances as you possibly can, with as wide a variety of performers as you can find. Thanks to the internet, you can also easily peruse videos of burlesque performance. The internet will give you the widest range of performances that you will not, more than likely, have the pleasure of attending locally. Researching videos and attending live shows should give you a better idea of what style of burlesque you would like to perform, however, keep an open mind to performing all styles of dance and burlesque.
Seek out local burlesque troupes or soloists. If you do not have a burlesque troupe or performer within driving distance, find either in the nearest proximity and check their calendar for performances and tour dates and classes. Many burlesque dancers offer beginners classes or workshops at a very reasonable fee. These are extremely informative in all aspects of burlesque, not just dance. Many classes or workshops will cover costuming, makeup and hair, making pasties , and even prop techniques (fans, boas, chair, etc.). If you know of a good number of girls interested in taking such a class as well, some teachers will arrange to travel if a full class can be scheduled. Traveling to a class is a great option too as you will have the opportunity to network with other performers!
Be Realistic Be realistic about your entire endeavor from the first moment you decide to become a burlesque dancer. Be realistic most importantly about your budget. You will find many dancers have incredibly lavish costumes, covered in Swarovski rhinestones, and expensive props. Not one dancer began their career with all of these things already in hand, and you don’t either. Dancers are creative and resourceful, often building their own props and sewing their own costumes to achieve the lavish look. Semi-professional and professional dancers will gauge the expense of new costumes or props based on the amount they make per show.
Begin with your inspiration Begin to build on whatever has inspired the vision of your first performance, whether it is music, a favorite costume piece from your closet, or the perfect pair of heels. Create the costume based on your concept. Remember that each layer of costuming you take off, what’s left must look good together on its own. Everything must work together. Try to work with things you already own. If you must invest in clothing, then stick with a budget and make what you own and what you can afford, work! Embellish your items so that your costume pieces are unique and tailored to your concept. As for your dance, don’t be afraid to hire a choreographer. Many dance instructors live to break out of their curriculum and try something new like this. If you are well versed in dance and choreography, choreographing your own piece is alright too. Whichever your choice, your piece should be well thought out and rehearsed. Nothing is more uncomfortable than watching a burlesque dancer struggling to remember her dance steps or how to take a costume piece off because she didn’t practice. And when you don’t practice, it shows.
Got a question you’d like answered by a pin-up model or burlesque star? Send your questions to editor@pincurlmag.com
This month’s DIY project comes courtesy of Dakota Darling, artist and Crafty Goddess in Dallas, TX. You can meet her and view her work at Dallas’ Hotrods and Heels Festival on May 16th. www.hotrodsandheels.com
Quilted Calavera
The word calavera is Spanish for “skull” and can refer to things associated with the Mexican celebration of the Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
The calavera fabric used for this project was found at JoAnn’s and is only one of many available.
Materials:
¼ yd. Dia De Los Muertos fabric with at least 2 inch skulls as part of the design
¼ yd. black cotton fabric for backing
¼ yd. quilt batting
Scissors
2 colors of embroidery thread to match the fabric
Sewing needle
Straight pins
Black jewelry beads
To make:
· Cut around the calavera leaving at least ¾ of an inch around the design.
· Use that as a template to cut out 2 pieces of the black cotton fabric and 1 piece of the quilt batting the same size and shape.
· Stack 1 piece of black cotton fabric, then the quilt batting, then the calavera (with the right side showing). Pin these three layers together around the edge with the straight pins.
|
Calavera fabric |
|
Black cotton fabric |
|
Quilt batting |
· Using the sewing needle, quilt around the eyes of the calavera adding a bead as often as you’d like. You could completely cover the eyes with beads, if you really wanted to!
· **Don’t worry about the back of your work. It will be covered up by the second piece of black cotton fabric!
· Remove the pins from the stack and add the second piece of black cotton fabric OVER the calavera. Pin this in place. You will have black cotton on the front and the back of the piece at this point.
· Using either a sewing machine or your needle and thread, sew around the outside edge of the piece. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE AN OPENING TO TURN THE PIECE RIGHT SIDE OUT!
· Turn the piece right side out.
· Using your sewing needle and a contrasting color of embroidery thread (I used red), whip stitch around the outer edge folding in the opening you left to turn the piece.
· VOILA!! You now have a quilted calavera!
I added a magnet to the back of this with hot glue, but you could add a grommet and make it a key chain, or you could make it a “patch” by sewing it onto a bag or purse.
