Embroidered Cottage

A few weeks ago, I was checking out the Vintage Embroidery Pattern pool on Flickr and saw the pattern for this cute little cottage.
I copied it out onto paper, traced it onto an old piece of fabric and just started stitching away!  It's nothing serious, I'm mostly just using it to learn new stitches or practice stitches I already know.

When it's finished, I will frame it in a hoop and hang it above my desk or dresser in the bedroom.  I'm not sure who posted this beautiful patter to Flickr, but I'm sure glad they did!  It sure is nice of those ladies to share all of their old vintage transfers with all of us!

Progress as of Oct 10, 2013

And below is progress as of Oct 31, 2013
I haven't picked this up in a couple of weeks, and am hoping to be able to work on it a bit through November.

Like I said before, I'm not taking this project too seriously.  Many of the stitches are ones I'm not used to using, therefore, this is a "practice" project.

That's all for today, but stay tuned because there will be more ahead!
Until then, have a happy stitching day!

Halloween Candy!

In the spirit of tomorrow being Halloween, I thought I'd share a couple of vintage advertisements about Halloween candy.  I found these on the Internet, one so long ago I can't remember where.  So thank you to the person that originally posted them!

Milky Way from 1954

I'm not sure of a year on this one, but it's cute. 

Part of me wishes I had a whole folder of Halloween clip art and ads to share, but I just don't!  Maybe I'll have to work on that for next year.  There are so many fun "treats" to look at on google images though, so click on the word Halloween and start exploring!
Until another day, have a Happy Halloween and a Happy Vintage Day!!

Bon Ami Does it Again!

Here is a Bon Ami advertisement from my November 1943 McCalls magazine.

 

 

Last week I found this magnetic board amongst my daycare items.  I had drawn a calendar on it with permanent marker and thought for sure nothing would be able to remove it.  I tried Bon Ami and wouldn't you know...

 



Bon Ami took the permanent marker right off...with a bit of rubbing, of course.

 

 

I love the stuff!

 

That's all for today, I've been so busy lately there hasn't been much time for me to blog.  But keep checking back and have a happy, vintage day!!

New Embroidery Floss and Garage Sale Finds

Last Saturday morning I woke up not thinking I was going to go to any garage sales, but I decided to go to just one since it was in my neighborhood.  Am I ever glad I went!  There were lots of craft supplies, needlepoint, cross stitch and embroidery supplies.  There were frames, stretcher bars, and a stretcher bar attached to a cherry wood stand that I passed up as I don't do any large counted cross stitching.  
The lady in charge was very nice and when she found out I liked to embroider, we started talking about the different forms of needlework.  As I was checking out she ran across the garage and said, "did you see this one?" and held up the book below.  I hadn't, and she actually GAVE it to me!

She said, "I'm just so happy that it's going to someone who will enjoy it". 
That NEVER happens to me (it's happened to my daughter a few times).   I was so tickled!  And I love the book.  I've drooled over a copy that lives in the antique store, downtown, but now I have one of my very own!

It's a wonderful book with instructions about all sorts of needlework, crochet, knitting, tatting, lace making, quilting, YOU NAME IT!

The garage sale lady also had pillow forms (I picked up two small ones), and she had a dozen or so of these "The Creative Circle"  kits.  I chose only one...this "Shining Nativity" because of it's bright colors and that fact that it is copyright 1983 (There were a lot of great years throughout my childhood, but for some reason '83 stands out as one of the greatest.). 

The kit contains a pile of 6-ply embroidery thread, and it's looks like it's all satin stitch, which I like, so it would be a "doable" project for me, skill wise. 

Then there was a quick trip to Hobby Lobby where I put my anniversary gift certificate from my DH to good use.  I initially went in for 5 different floss colors but came out with 25.  Does that ever happen to anyone else?  It happens to me quite often in the grocery store, I stop for milk and end up with 50$ worth of items.  But, lately it's been happening with embroidery thread too haha!

That's all for today!
I'm still stitching away on a new project I will share with you real soon.
Until then, have a Happy Stitching Day!

Vintage Fall Advertisements

Dollie DeVille over at Rockabilly Socialite posted this wonderful Campbell's Soup ad, from 1949, on her Facebook page a few weeks ago.  I thought I'd share it, along with some other fun fall advertisements.

This advertisement is so bright, colorful and happy!

Here's a 1957 advertisement for Instant Lac-Mix which, to be honest, sounds kinda yucky.  So, I did some research on the product.  Apparently, it was instant powdered milk!

Here's one from Reminisce Magazine about back to school lunches that include dairy foods.

And this one from Pictsweet Frozen Foods.  I think the corn cobs basically makin' out in the hay wagon is a bit creepy but....I suppose, how else could a person illustrate "sweet corn".

Those are just a few nifty ads to brighten your day!  Until another time, Have a Happy Vintage Day!



Happy Fall Dish Towel

I just love the new Aunt Martha pattern books available now!  Here is one of my favorites!

 

So I got out some of my favorite "fallish" colors and started to work on a new dishtowel.  

I just love fall colors, don't you?

 And here is the towel all finished!  I wiggled my nose and made the cardinal disappear (he was in the upper right hand corner).  I'm kind of wishing that last line on the biggest pumpkin wasn't there.  It's small and ends funny.  I may go in, cut it and take the treads out.  We'll see.

That's all for today!  Until another time, have a Happy Stitching Day!!

 

 



Embroidered Fruit Napkin

Oh, I think I'm back into the swing of things embroidery wise!  It has been awhile since the embroidery supplies have seen daylight!  I went out to the storage shed and brought all of my supplies back into the house!  Whoo Hoo!

Last weekend I stitched up a little apple/pear napkin out of some extra flour sack material I found laying around.  We use cloth napkins in this household and when I wash them I put a little shot of bleach into the water...this of course wears them out quickly, and some of them are looking pretty sad. 
So, I've decided to stitch a few up for everyday use.
Here is the first one.

 It's a bit crooked at the bottom, but that's okay.

That's all I've done so far.  This was a quick little project to get my brain back into creativity mode.  I've got a few ideas for the weeks ahead and will share my progress with you soon.
Until then have a Happy Stitchy Day!

Scottie Dog Glasses

As promised, here are some pictures of the Scottie dog glasses I picked up a couple months ago at Vintage City.  Now I've been having fun finding napkins and things that will coordinate with them.

 

The little red gingham napkins also came from Vintage City along with the black, white and red potholder.  Every time I go there I find something new!

 





That's all for today, until next time, have a Happy Vintage Day!!

Saturday Evening Post July 1952 Cover by Steven Dehanos

I'm so excited to show you full scans of the Saturday Evening Post I purchased.  It's from July 19, 1952.  My husband has a large scanner at his office so we drove over on a couple of Sundays ago and I scanned a few pages from two of my larger vintage magazines!  What a dear of him to help me with my sickness *ahem* I mean hobby of collecting vintage magazines!
Today we'll look at the Post.

The cover, done by artist Steven Dehanos, is actually one of his famous ones.  On the table of contents page there is a written description of the painting that reads...

 

"Now Hark!" quoth daddy just before they all left home.  "This being everybody's vacation, you children and I will wash the dishes after every meal, understand?"  Mother beamed upon her loving kin.  So here they are getting a nice change, and daddy can't do the dishes because there isn't room for everybody at the sink, wherefore he has elected the kids to do them this time and he will next.  For half an hour the kids have been yelling that they will be there in a minute.  Profound question:  Is mother a heroine or a pushover?  We think she should leave the mess and go jump in the sea.  And at dinnertime say, "Get yourselves some bread and water.  No dishes, no cook."  Once would fix 'em.  But she won't do it, the wrongheaded darling. 

Isn't that funny!?  Poor mother.  I'd surely be tempted to leave the dishes just to teach those kids a lesson.  They would learn quickly that dried, stuck-on food is harder to clean off of a plate!

And here is a bright colorful refrigerator ad from G.E.

And here's a beautiful one from 7-Up!  I would just love to have one of those strawberry ice cream floats they are making!

And this two page ad (I'm only showing the one page) for Chevrolet is probably my favorite.  I just love the picnicking scene.

And then there is this one from Mobilgas that encourages drivers to look for the 3 Diamond Signs.  These signs meant a CLEAN restroom!  Oh how I wish gas stations were like they were back in the 40's and 50's (even in the 80's in our small town.)  A man would come running out of the station to fill the tank, wash the windows, and sometimes even check the oil and tires!  Now I go to the gas station, pump my own gas (that is if I can figure out the buttons on the computerized pump), and wash my own windows.  By the time that's all done I'm freezing near to death, so I don't even glance at my tires ha!

And finally I'll leave you with this.  I'm sorry, but is anyone else thinking Blueberries For Sal gone wrong?  I know...that wasn't very nice of me, but I thought it was kinda funny.

That's all for today!  Until another time, have a Happy Vintage Day!

The Summer of Mailbox Magazines!

This past June I was lucky enough to stumble upon a former teacher's garage sale.  For those who don't know it, I'm a sucker for all of the stuff that comes with being a teacher.  Especially Preschool and Kindergarten teaching. I love the stickers, the plan books and room decor.  I love the organizational products with pockets and binders with page protecting sleeves.  Again, it is a sickness.  But in my defense, I use much of it with my Daycare kids and they love it too.
At the garage sale, this retired teacher had tons of stickers for the little miss of the household and a whole year's subscription to the Mailbox Magazine for Kindergarten.  So I counted out my quarters and scooped them up. 

I had so much fun looking through them and finding little projects for my daycare kids to do!  Because they are kindergarten and not preschool mailboxes, some of the activities are a bit too difficult for my kids, so I'll glean from this set what I can than donate them.... 

Because in August....

...I found these at our library book sale.  They weren't library copies either, they were donated by someone who used them and loved them well.  Some of the activities have been removed but for the most part they are in great condition.

Yeah, that's a lot of Mailbox Magazines and they are ALL Preschool.  I felt a little bit greedy buying them all, but I did leave a few...okay, only four.  But here's my plan.  Not only will I donate the Kindergarten ones I don't need any longer, but will also go through each one of these, photocopy the pages I like, copy great ideas onto note cards and donate most of them to my two friends that teach Kindergarten here in town (they would love to have a few I'm sure).  So I won't be keeping the majority of them.
Problem is, there are so many of them to go through!  I've been setting aside time each week (3 hours/week, while the little miss is in choir practice at the college), to copy ideas and mark pages I want to photocopy.  So, instead of driving back and forth across town, I just park my behind at a table on campus and get to work.  I suppose it could be considered "career enrichment" ha!
It's actually quite fun!

The small stack on the left side (6 magazines) have been browsed through, ideas written onto note cards, and pages already copied and put into theme folders.  It takes awhile, but it's like Christmas everyday, opening up a new Mailbox!  (This doesn't include the six Kindergarten ones I'd already read).

THIS is one of the reasons I haven't been embroidering? 

Until another day, have a happy one!

Flea Market Finds

The first flea of the fall/winter season was this past Saturday and Sunday.  We got there early to be there at opening time.  There were a couple of new vendors, but most was the same that we've seen before. 
Here is a photo the loot we came away with from both the flea and Vintage City, our favorite little vintage store!

 

To pick a favorite find would be tough, I love it all, but I especially like the vintage magazines. The Saturday Evening Post is from July 19, 1952 and I love the cover by Steven Dehanos, but more about that later.  And the other is a "Tune In" magazine which was a radio listener's guide, much like the TV guides of today.  It has articles about radio personalities, shows, and there's even an article and picture about Fanny Brice who was "Baby Snooks".  It was a very interesting find!

 

The checkered glasses and black, white, and red potholder I found at vintage city.  I think the black and white potholder will go great with some scotty dog themed items.  The vintage cookie cutter was a flea market find for only a quarter.  I'd never seen a flower shaped one before.

 

The large red and white tablecloth was a great deal!  It's a 55x55 and has a couple of tiny, faint stains, but it's in good condition!  It will be great for picnicking. 

The smaller red striped tea towel was a fun find at Vintage City.  My plan is to sew a blanket stitch around the edges in red, or crochet red around the edges OR to sew red rickrack around the edges with an embroidered scottie in the corner.  We'll see.  This towel has so much potential!  

 

 

And the tea towel above is one of my favorites!  I have a pink one very similar to it and just couldn't pass it up for only a couple of bucks.

 

Now, the jar is a Hazel Atlas and I'm 99% positive that this in NOT the right lid....but it fits, so we'll keep it for now.

I believe this was a "coffee" jar...whatever that means.  But I love the decorative ribbing around the squared sides and the diamond space in the middle.  Usually, when I see jars with such decorative detail, they are short and fat.  But this one is tall and not as wide!

And finally, these lovely little potholders in excellent condition! 

It's funny because a few days before the flea, I had been looking at crochet patterns for potholders and this is one of the patterns I looked at!  The four yellow roses on each one are so pretty...they remind me of my Great-Grandma Grace (even though I was never able to meet her) I know she had a huge yellow rosebush next to her house.  So, whenever I see them I think of her.

That's all for today...I had to have a simple surgery done this morning, but I should be back online by the weekend though so stay tuned and as always,

Have a Happy Vintage Day!

 

 

 



Vintage Ads Wednesday 3

For todays vintage ads, we are flipping through my October 1950 Woman's Day.  Hard to believe this particular magazine is 63 years old!  And we'll start off with an ad for Tide.  I love vintage laundry ads because they always make washday look like great fun!

 

 

And just take a look at the beautiful oven.  It's pretty cute if you ask me.  The stove I have now is one that I really love, but to have one from the late 40s or early 50s would be the icing on the cake!

Actually, when the Mr. and I were looking at houses, there was one that had a kitchen I absolutely adored and a stove much like this one. 

Unfortunately, with the housing market so high in our area, this house was way out of our reach. But I know the gal who lives next door and I told her to call me as soon as she sees that cute little stove get tossed to the curb! 

And here's something to bake in the cute little oven.  I've also seen this recipe cut out and kept in a vintage cook book that my mom bought at a sale.  It was probably a quite popular cake to make back in the early 50s.  It looks simple enough.  And the recipe is from scratch!  No box mixes used here, no sir, it calls for sifted cake flour, baking powder, the works.  I just might have to try it sometime when I have a free Saturday and the weather cools off a bit for baking.

This is a colorful ad, even though I don't particularly care for fruit cocktail.

And finally an ad for Nucoa Oleomargarine.  I just love the illustrations of the busy bodies out having fun on a fall day.  They are headed to a picnic!

Here is a close up of the group eating their picnic.  Oh I wish I were there too!

There are other Nucoa ads out there depicting this family, done by the same illustrator, and I hope to find one in good condition.  The ones I've seen online are just too blurry.

 

Hope you enjoyed today's ads.  Until another time, have a Happy Vintage Day!