Vintage Farm Scene Curtains

If I am ever able to buy my little "small town cottage", I would have to hang these curtains either in the living or dining room.  These are found on Etsy. 

 

 

They are so fun to look at!  I'd name all of the cows walking down the road.  All of the people would have names as well.

 

You are probably wondering why on earth I would choose such a pattern for vintage curtains.

The answer is simple.  My Great Grandparents had these curtains in their home.  I saw them in a photo and wondered if any still existed.  Apparently they do.  I probably wouldn't decorate MY house with them (I don't think Darling Husband would go for that), but I would decorate my little 1940s cottage-house that I've been dreaming about in my head!

 This is my Great-Grandpa Bill.  He and my Great-Grandma Grace passed away long before I was born.  I'm sure they would've been fun people to know.

 

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy, vintage day!

 

 



Blackwork Acorn Project Finished!

Yea!  I finished a project!

Yes, the Blackwork Acorn Project is finished.  I spent quite a bit of time on this one and it was fun!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with it.  I've thought about framing it or making it a bookmark, but I'm just not sure.

 

 

 

 

Here is the finished project.

 

 

I do wish I had used bigger acorns in the corners (I don't know what I was thinking!)

 

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy stitching day!

Blackwork Acorn Project

The latest Blackwork project I've been working on is a larger sized medallion that has oak leaves and acorns in it. I found the pattern on Pinterest and thought I'd mess around with it a little bit.

 

 

Here, the center medallion is completed.

 

 

Below, I am practicing the Holbein stitch.  It's getting easier.

 

 

And this is what I've accomplished so far!

 

 

I'm really having fun with this design and it's quite an easy design to stitch.

 

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy stitching day!

Kenmare Pioneer Day 2015--Interesting Linoleum Patten

Taking a little trip back in time to earlier this summer, we attended the Kenmare Pioneer Day for the 2nd year in a row on a beautiful July day.  We had a great time!

We had visited the museum twice in 2014 and I wrote about our adventure HERE.

First, we had a picnic in the Windmill Park.  So far, it has been the only picnic we have had this year!  We need to remedy that soon.

 

 After our picnic in the park, we drove over to the village and spent about 3 hours there. 

A fun time was had by all.

 

 

The Lake County Historical Society has done a wonderful job of taking care of their museum grounds and buildings.  We noticed new boardwalks in front of some of the buildings, fresh coats of paint, and new foundations under a couple of the buildings.  All of this done by volunteers (I believe).  The people of Kenmare really take pride in their museum!

 

As we entered the CCC building, where the diner is set up, I noticed something new!  This decorative linoleum rug!

 

 

I've never seen one like this before and it is in VERY good condition.

 

 

 

 

And we came across this contraption in one of the large buildings.  It was near the gas station owner's desk, opposite the antique radios.  At first glance I thought it might be some kind of battery (with the jars and all) but then I saw that it plugs into the wall.  I am completely stumped as to what it is and will have to ask next time I'm there....because it BUGS me not to know! 

 

In the dress shop, I thought this display was beautifully done.  But as I looked at the little fur stole with it's beady eyes, all I could think about was Ghostbusters 2 and the fur coat scene. (chuckle).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Inside the second little school house (above) we found that someone had started to copy some "seat work" out of an educational magazine.
 

 

 

 

I thought this little seat work worksheet was cute for Thanksgiving.  November 1935.

 

 

 November 1935 is almost 80 years ago!  Think about how long ago that was, and how much has changed since then.  Just think....many of the children who copied these cute little characters, onto a piece of notebook paper, would be in their late 80s, 90s, or maybe not even with us anymore.
The teachers who taught in these one room school houses had none of the ditto machines or modern copy machines we have today.  Teachers traced seat work onto paper for their students, or the students drew little pictures themselves. 

 

 Times have certainly changed.  That's why these museums are SO important.  They teach us about our past, and allow our children to see and feel, in a tangible way, what everyday living was like long ago.  Maybe they'll see that we've got it pretty darn easy now a-days compared to those who lived here 80 years ago.

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy vintage day!

 

Blackwork Flowers

The past couple of weeks I've been stitiching away at a little flower medallion pattern that I found on Pinterest.  I was going to make a little bookmark out of it.

I started with the boarder first, which should've been left for last. Eventually, I made a mistake in the second medallion of flowers.  I was going a bit off pattern, and messed it up in a big way.  I will have to rip out the second medallion and repeat the first one, which is what I should've done in the first place.

 

 

The boarder (incomplete below) is from my Blackwork Made Easy book by Lesley Wilkins.

 

Ugh, so full of mistakes...I'm going to start another blackwork project soon.  Hopefully the new project will have fewer mistakes in it.

That's all for today!  Until another time, have a happy stitching day!

Forgotten General Store

This is so very interesting!  This forgotten General Store (I believe it's located somewhere in Britain), is amazing!  Check out the link below.

 

http://www.messynessychic.com/2014/05/12/diy-dad-buys-a-derelict-fixer-upper-restores-the-forgotten-1920s-general-store-he-finds-inside-it/

 

 Seeing this made me think of all of the "general stores" I've seen in local museums.

First, there is the General Store at the Buffalo Trails Museum in my hometown of Epping.  This "general store" is just a cubical.  The Buffalo Trails Museum is amazing and takes up most of Epping's main street.  I'm just so glad that it is still being cared for and is still open after all these years.

 

Buffalo Trails Museum--Epping, ND

My favorite part...the Cheerioats box.

 

Second, there is the general store museum building in Stanley.

"Hello Mr. Grocer Man.  How are you today?"

"Oh, not so good.  I've been feeling a bit stiff lately."

(*sound of crickets chirping*)

Ahhh...T'ain't funny, McGee.

Flickertail Museum-Stanley, ND

This would've been back in the day when you TOLD the grocer what you wanted, or gave him a list, and he would gather your supplies for you.



Flickertail Museum-Stanley, ND



My daughter loves the checker game there in the Stanley store. 





2009







2014



Third, there is the general store in the Rugby museum.

Pioneer Village Museum-Rugby, ND

Pioneer Village Museum-Rugby, ND

The store in Rugby even has the cracker bins!  Next time I am there I will ask if I can peek around the counter to see the actual bins (I'm guessing they are made of metal--to keep the mice from chewing through, but maybe not). 

Pioneer Village Museum-Rugby, ND

The fourth general store we toured was in the museum in Kenmare. Their general store is inside a bigger building.

Pioneer Village Museum-Kenmare, ND

Pioneer Village Museum-Kenmare, ND

And last we have the general store at the Dale and Martha Hawk Museum in Rural Wolford, ND.

This store was located in the small town of Nanson, ND.  It even contained the meat cooler/display case that it used into the 1980s.

 

Dale and Martha Hawk Museum-Rural Wolford, ND

 

Dale and Martha Hawk Museum-Rural Wolford, ND

 



Dale and Martha Hawk Museum-Rural Wolford, ND



 It's so much fun to look at these photos again, to zoom in and to look at all of the interesting cans, bottles, and boxes of products from long ago.

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy vintage day!

Vintage Butter Churn Jar

When someone offers me a vintage item (especially for nothing) I always try to find room for it.  It reminds me of that saying, "There's always room for JELL-O"...well, there's always room for one more little jar, tin or bowl on my shelves.

 

A couple of weeks ago my father-in-law dropped by with this amazing find. Thank you Poppa Terry!!  His neighbor was cleaning out the garage and didn't want it, and she wanted it to go to a good home.

 

Isn't it a beauty?!!
It's a bit rusty in places and a paddle is missing from the churn, but I still love it!

 

I cleaned out the 4 quart jar with soap and water and dusted the metal parts with a damp cloth.
And here it is all cleaned up and displayed on my counter top.

 

 That's all for now!  Have a happy day!

Vintage Bathroom Items

People say you don't have a collection until you have three of something.  After this summer, I can honestly say I have a collection of vintage bathroom items.

 

 

My dad gave me the Band-Aid box.  He had a whole box of the old, metal, Band-Aid tins that he'd picked up somewhere.  They were all vintage and most had been written on in permanent marker.  This was the only one with the cool 1960s lady graphic on it.

 

Then just the other day my dad brought me the little, tin, Ex-Lax box!  Thank you Dad!

 

I quickly gathered all of the vintage "medicine cabinet" items I could find and arranged them all on the groovy vintage towel I rescued from my father-in-law's rag bin (he was going to use it for
clean-up when replacing our toilet!!)  I squealed/screeched so loudly in protest that I'm sure the dogs down the street heard me.  The towel was just too pretty, too vintage and in too good a condition to become a plumber's rag, so I swapped it out with one of my old Walmart towels.  He gladly made the trade with a chuckle of disbelief.  "Why would someone want an old towel??"  Maybe because someone is teetering on the edge of being a crazy vintage collector.

 

The jar of Vicks VapoRub is from a little antique store we visited in Williston and the Q-Tips (with wooded sticks) I purchased at the flea a few years ago. 

 

 I am very happy with my little collection of bathroom goodies.  Now, if I just had an old tube of Pepsodent I'd be even happier!  That's the thing about being a collector, there's always another amazing find just around the corner!

 

Until another time, have a happy vintage day!

Antique Mall Finds

On every trip through Moorhead Minnesota we always stop at the antique mall along the interstate I-94.  Hubby takes a little nap in the car while Autumn and I go in and browse for a while.  We always find a little something that catches our eye.  This time around THREE things caught my eye!

 

 

The GE clock was a last minute decision.  It doesn't work, but I just couldn't leave it there.  It's just so red and square and screams 1960s, which I usually don't go for, but this one I really like!  It lives on my vintage goodies shelf and adds that little pop of red.

 

The gloves that that unique, striped V shape and bow at the bottom so I couldn't pass them up either. And the navy blue beads....well, it's good to have a few navy accessories and they were a good price, so they came home with me as well.

 

So, no BIG purchase, just little ones, but I love them all!

 

That's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy vintage day!

 

New Embroidery Towels

A few weeks ago I stopped into Hobby Lobby.  They had recently rearranged their needlework department and I wanted to see the end results.

 I was pleasantly surprised to find a whole new section of hand-towels suitable for embroidery!

 

There were so many towels to choose from, some in packs of two or three!  I really liked the pink checkered set, and the cherries set.

In the end only one came home with me, a simple primary color striped cloth.

 



 

I'm in the process of embroidering a chicken on this towel and it should be done by the end of next week, so stay tuned!

 

Until another time, have a happy stitching day!