It's not an Easter egg.......

 

Went to look for Easter eggs today....well, not just for eggs. We went to some of our favorite vintage spots.






I found some Easter Bonnets.............................

A cute Easter Basket that was really.....

this 1940's guest towel.

 And this.........

Yes...a box. It was filled with all of the most wonderful treasure.

This letter dated 1906 from the Branerd & Armstrong Company. Thanking someone for ordering thier sampling of sewing products.

These are samples of thier Satin threads.

the threader.......and.....

These are stamped patterns she recieved. the first one is an embroidery panel for a table scarf..they call them doilies. The next two are, Hand-painted holly and then cattails with  daisies that are for seat covers. The Grape and flowers with hand-tatted edging is a pillow cover. Under all of this, wrapped  in more tissue was...............

and inside were pages and pages of embroidery stitches, patterns, color renditions of embroidered flowers, items to order, vintage ads for sewing notions and fabrics....just all kind of things.

I was amazed.....I checked  the box....no price. Okay take it to the desk..maybe they know....not a clue.

Well, around here that's not good.......it's pricey....they'll call the lady. It was her Great-Grandma's....hmm do ya here the ca-ching.......nobody paid any attention to the little box for years tucked away up in the attic of the old family home......the house finally passed down to her and she was doing some much needed house cleaning...if ' the lady buying can use it and it's not all ruined'....'how's $12.50'? Knock me over with a feather! The sales lady chuckled and said it was fine. I quickly asked if she'd like some free help cleaning house?! Too late.....She cleaned it all out before Christmas and sent a lot to Goodwill. 

I left holding my treasure tightly in my arms. I think I'm gonna keep this just the way it is. Someday, if I find one of those showcase side tables, I'll display it in there. For now it'll sit on my shelf with my other sewing treasures. The book...it's already given me some inspiration.

Did you find a treasure this weekend?

Vintage Alphabet C is for.....D is for.....

Boy, this month is just flying by, but that seems to be a good thing 'cause it's time again for the Vintage Alphabet Party I host over at the Etsy Cottage Style blog. We had a wonderful turn out last month with everyone showing off their 'B'eautiful 'B' collections.
This month's Vintage Alphabet letter is C/D

C is for......'C'ookbooks.
Not those newfangled cookbooks using microwaves or high intensity light. Not those cookbook's using man-made sugar and oil blends or substitutes. Now I'm not saying that the new recipes and books are bad. The majority of my cookbook collection are new editions and I, of all people, know how we must cook healthy and there are those who must adhere to special diets due to medical condidtions,  but I'm talking about the cookbooks of our Mother's and Grandmother's that are filled with wonderful graphic art and comfort foods.

                           

When you see them they may be dog-eared, food spattered, or contain hand-written notes, but they give insight to the eras they were used and if a family hand-me-down, they bring us closer to the cook. 

This was my Grandma's Cookbook of the 1940's. She has wonderful little notes by some recipes and tucked in between the pages are recipes and old coupons cut from magazines and boxtops. Those snipets date  til the 70's!

Vintage cookbooks of the  depression era and the war years were filled with recipes that were cost effective and usually printed by food makers such as Kellogg's, Calumet, Carnation, Sunkist, Spry(Crisco), just to name a few. The graphic art used was upbeat in color, usually using family oriented themes.

Cookbooks of the late 40's- to the early 60's seemed to be fancier recipes and geared more to entertaining and gatherings. Graphics were color photos, exemplifying serving suggestions

This cookbook printed by Gerneral Foods is filled with 12 months of recipes and dessert tips for everyday and holidays.

This is my collection of Better Homes Creative Cooking Library. I'm not sure how many volumes there were, but they ranged in date from 1960's-70's. The ones with the colorful top border are 1963,the one that is Pies and Cakes at this end is 1968. I have nine volumes of the 1963 set so far. If anyone knows how many volumes came to a set I'd appreciate if you could tell me. I'd love to find the other volumes to complete the set.

They not only contained delish recipes, they gave great serving ideas

The pic on the left is a wonderful lazy-susan serving peice, but my fav is the coffee table on the right that serves as party central....complete with a mini grill and skewer holder! Groovey for those small get-togethers.

I love to include vintage cookbooks with my vintage apron's over at my new Etsy shop Apronation(c) 

(this will soon have more aprons available..Creativity  Still Under Contruction)

These are some cookbooks I've  found ready to be paired with a matching theme apron like the one shown below......

On the left is the 1940-50 State Apron that I hand-emboidered. On the right is the matching 1940 Sunkist cookbook printed by the California Citrus Growers.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the stroll through my yummy cookbooks.

D is for...................Vintage 'D'olls 

                                                                                           

As you can see I have a lot of vintage dolls ready to be dressed, redone, and repaired.

Some need head or an arm reattatched. Others need a new 'do'. Original dresses need to be restitched or romoved and replaced.

Some dolls find their way onto my websites........

The large 'Colonial Doll' with original hand-crocheted dress, wooden wings (new) and hand-tatted accents(edging from 1940's pillow) is from the 60's.and was originally part of a bed pillow.

The 'Hershey Doll' began life as a 1940's Storybook Doll and I embellished with wings and new skirt(originally a tea cozy and potholder set from the 40's) and vintage buttons (1930/40 celluliod)

and 'Rose' at the end comes all the way from the 1930's,,I believe she was in advertising displays..

 she sports a hand-tatted (doily) dress with a (1940-50 hankie) slip and wings (1940 hand-crocheted doily).

These are three of my newest finds.......

     A bonnie lass from Ireland                       a wonderfully preserved Marie Antoinette   

           

and this 1960 beauty that is a nightlight...I had to add the vintage embellishments..she was such a plain little thing......this is her twin

                 in different attire.

Now this is my finally entry for the Vintage Alphabet It covers both the C and D

This cooking themed Angelic Inspiration..

Hazel...  I call her....is from the 40/50's. She must've been a Storybook 'D'oll in her past life. Her dress needed some altering and the apron cried for some hand-embroidery,  she stands atop a wooden 'c'utting- board with a wooden spoon and a 1960's recipe box, but the most wonderful thing in this whole set is this

A 1940's Time for a Party 'C'ookbook filled with photos of Around the World 'D'olls, delish recipes, and great party ideas. 

So, these are my Vintage Alphabet contributions for this month. Some of the Angelic Inspiration Doll designs can be found at my Etsy site Here. The Vintage Aprons with cookbooks can be found at my newesy Etsy  site Apronation (C) or you can visite my website

I'm happy you came by to introduce yourself and it's so nice to you again! I'm on my way over to your blogs and to visit with the other party-goers at Etsy Cottage Style. If you haven't stopped by there we can go through HERE 

It's Springtime In Ohio!

The sun is shining, the grass is green, tulips and daffodils are bloomin all over! The trees are actually budding. My butterflybush has new green leaves and my chives, mint, lemon balm. and lamb's ear are peeking out from beneath the soil!  Actually during the winter my herb bed stays warm with leaves piled high so sometimes I have mints and things right through January or until we get a hard freezing rain. Don't you clean out the garden you ask? Yes, I rake out the leaves and cut back all the dead growth from the previous year. What about weeds? What about pretreaters?    I don't have weeds....... I garden using natural ground covers, fillers, and mulch......okay now that you're thru laughing......I have lots of butterflies and honeybees. Snails, not slugs when they say beer gets rid of slugs, they aren't kidding, and real ladybugs. Spiders to keep the bad bugs away and yes, gardener snakes, to keep field mice and shrew at bay. Frogs and salamanders take care of other pests.   When it comes to mulch we do use the pretty good stuff from Ohio Mulch. No not from the local discount store or gas station...you see some of that mulch is a lesser grade and can be filled with organic matter that contains bad mold and mushroom spores, depending on what area the mulch was harvested from.... that'll kill your garden and.... allergies...better store up on the medicines. Here in town last year folks bought some mulch, at an amazing price, to use around  play areas...in gardens.....you guessed it mushrooms sprouted all over and the people and pets had rashes!  

Is there still snow in your area? I hope your not near the flooding.  Have you started getting your porch or deck ready for spring? Has spring sprung in your yard?  No flowers yet? Have they bloomed in your designs Yet? Here are some of mine..................................................................

Most of these posies are available  incorporated onto my creations. Others will be available soon.

 You can find them here  or here.

Start Your Engines!!!

(The song playing is The Intimidator by the Charlie Daniels' Band
an ode to Dale Earnhardt. It just goes with the theme of my post if you read farther.If it's not your cup a tea please feel free to turn it off at the bottom of the page)

It's time again for Tablescape Thursday at Susan's blogspot,

Between Naps On The Porch. She graciously hosts this get-together every Thursday and makes us all feel so welcome.  

And I've also linked to It's a Very Cherry World Rednesday

This week (table is from last month) my inspiration came from Jim, or rather his love of racing, engines, and his work...he's a Chrysler Master Technician.  Nascar started thier engines in February at Daytona and everyone was glued to the TV screen. So, here's the table ready for a race day buffet...........................................

 As you can see I have mixed vintage with new. If you've clicked the image to enlarge it.....that is a replica of a Hemi engine.....LOL...if Jim had his way there would be some real auto parts here.....I figured I could use it as a pedestal for a plate lettuce, cheese, and veggie sticks. You'll also notice this is in the dining room not the garage...to Jim's disappointment.

The 1940's tablecloth is found at Black-Eyed Susan's Yard Sale last Spring. I love the unusual scenic town print. The tray is a 1950's find...can you tell I love red and white check.... It'll be perfect to serve those burgers. This aluminum lazy-susan condiment server, sitting atop plastic Dale Earnhardt drink glasses to raise it off the table a little, fits into the theme perfectly with it's chain, metal, and glass, as do these Guardian Cookware pans all from the 1940's too. The heavy metal just reminds me of the chrome on the old cars. The Lodge Dutch Oven, also sitting atop those drink glasses and a trivet too, will hold Chili for the Chili Cheeseburgers.   The tall 1940-50 Scotch Plaid round cooler holds beverages. The plates, stacked on top of a round aluminum tray that looks like a hubcap, and tall glasses are plastic with a Dale Earnhardt racing motif. I found them a few years ago at Wal-Mart. I used a few of Jim's Nascar collectibles and auto related keepsakes for more accent.

Here are close-ups of items used to create the checker flagged delight.

Well, I hope you all had fun doin laps around my table. If you were wondering the Menu included

Hot Rod Chili, Revved-up Burgers, Speedy Baked Beans, and Checker Flag Brownies.

 Now I'm gonna peel out and race over to Susan's at Between Naps On The Porch to see all the other entries...Oh you wanna come too? Fasten your seatbelt we'll take the short cut through here to Susan's and then here to It's A Very Cherry World

Before we go I wanted to remind you about the Vintage Alphabet Party I co-host over at the Etsy Cottage Style blogspot. The March Letter(s) are C and D and will be up and running the week of March 22nd. Mr. Linky should be up on Sun. the 21st. For more info go Here 

Hope we see you there!