Candy Cane Wreath Fail

This CUTE candy cane wreath popped up on my pinterest page recently. 

So I went to Target and picked myself up a large pack of Candy Canes.  Then I went to the craft store for a couple of plastic snowflakes (on clearance), I got out my trusty glue gun and went to work.

 

 

I had some ribbon from a previous craft.

It looked pretty cute when completed, and I hung it on my front door early Sunday morning. 

 

 

Unfortunately, a couple hours later, my husband heard a crash and said, "Uh-oh, I think your wreath fell."  Sure enough, there it was between the doors,  a sad little heap of red and white brokenness on the floor.  The hot glue wasn't enough to hold the weight of the candy canes.
Oh well.  It wasn't my first pinterest fail and probably won't be my last haha.  But the candy canes have been a yummy treat this week (especially in hot cocoa!)

 

That's all for today, until another time have a happy crafty day!

Garage Sale Finds part 1

A few weeks ago, I stopped at a garage sale down the street.  There were lots of vintage goodies and I picked out a few things.

 

 

These beautiful (have never seen a dishwasher) Christmas glasses, set of 5, were a wonderful find!  I've always wanted a set of Christmas glasses.

 

 

I bought this plastic, Christmas tablecloth thinking it was JUST a Christmas tablecloth.  Imagine my surprise when I opened it up in my kitchen and discovered it was reversible!  It is a Christmas AND a Birthday tablecloth in one!

 

 

 

 

I had never heard of these before and didn't realize they existed!  How FUN!

 

 

These smallish, circular, Christmas...I think they might be tablecloths, were also in the linens pile.  I'm seriously thinking about making one into a tree skirt for my little vintage tree.  The edges are unfinished, which made my mother wonder if there had been an outer ring of embellishments of some sort (maybe puff-balls).  They are cute though, and diffidently vintage!

 

My heart about skipped a beat when I saw the box, below.

 

 

Some of the ornaments are plastic, some are from what look to be the very late 60's into 70's but there is one little beauty in there that I think could be from the early 50s!  Can you spot it?

 

 

Well hello there, you pretty little ornament!

 

 

He will be a nice addition to our little vintage tree.

 

Well, that's all for today.  Most of the finds were Christmas in nature, but next time I will share a couple of other neat little finds!  Stay tuned, and have a happy, vintage day!

Glass Wax for Christmas

What did my vintage-loving Uncle Stan give me for Christmas this year?  One of the gifts was GLASS WAX! 

 

 

Not just any glass wax, Gold Seal Company glass wax, which was a company born and raised in good ole' North Dakota!

See, it says right on the can, it's from Bismarck, ND!

 

 

I just love the graphics and the color of this can.

 

 

 

Here is a vintage television commercial for Glass Wax and the nifty stencils that you could buy to decorate your windows.  How fun! 

 

There is quite a bit of history about Harold Schafer his Gold Seal Company on the internet, but here are a few brief notes.

 

He started out by making his own floor wax.

The Gold Seal Company was the original manufactures of Mr. Bubble. (I always wondered why there was a "Mr. Bubble" mini golf course in Medora, ND)

Mr. Schafer used personal funds to restore parts of Medora ND helped it to become the ND tourist attraction it is today.

The Gold Seal Building, in Bismarck, has windows that have a golden tint to them in the sunlight.

 

Here is the Wikipedia entry about Herold Schafer 

 

And just for kicks here is one of my favorite vintage television commercials...Mr. Bubble!

 

 

I'm tickled pink over my new can of Glass Wax!
That's all for today, until another time have a happy, bubbly kind of day!

 

 

 

 



Vintage Christmas Tree

This year, I decided to put my little vintage tree on top of the large dresser in our bedroom.  Thanksgiving night I set up and carefully decorated my little tree.

 

 

 

 

My little Walton's house tree ornament sits under the tree.  It plays the Walton's TV show theme song.  I was a little disappointed because the ornament was advertised online as having a recording of the characters saying "goodnight" to each other (along with the song).  When I got it home, it only played the theme song.  I think there might've been some copyright issues with the "goodnights" or maybe the recorder couldn't hold so much information...I don't know.  But I still love it!

 

 

The dime store manger scene (below) is one that I found at the flea or a rummage sale.  It's very "late 50s" with all of it's glitter. 

 

 

 

When I was a little girl, my Grandmother used glue, glitter and A+ grade in penmanship and made everyone their own, personalized Christmas ball.  Earlier this summer, I found mine at my folks' house and brought it home to live with my vintage ornaments.

 

 

Well, that's all for today.  Until another time, have a happy, holly-jolly day!



Long Time, No Blog and Christmas Projects

I feel sooooo bad that I haven't been blogging lately, it's just that I've been soooooo busy with life.  Christmas is coming and all through this Advent season I've been trying to set aside more time for reading devotions and prayer (which isn't always easy).  Also, I get to have Christmas Dinner at my house this year!!  I'm very excited about that, because I love to entertain (even though our house is the size of a Cracker Jack box).  Therefore, I haven't had time to load photos, and write blogs....I wonder if anyone else starts to feel a bit "overwhelmed" about the whole blogging thing, especially at this time of year?

 

But I do have a minute or 40 to spare so I thought I'd catch everyone up on just ONE or TWO of the projects I've been working on these last couple of weeks.  

I've been making cookies.

Lots of cookies....about 130 total.

They are whipped up from scratch using my Grandmother's recipe. 

 

 

I feel I've finally figured out how to use Wilton's Royal Icing recipe, which you can find HERE.  And I have found that the consistency of the icing is key to having no jagged edges and pointed dots.

 

First, I outline the cookies.

 

 

Then I flood the cookies.  The outline acts as a wall, helping to keep the flooding frosting where it is suppose to be.  You can see the flooded cookies on the left. 

 

  Finally I pipe white frosting details (after the base frosting cools).

 

 

It's really quite a process and if I had to guess, I'd say I probably handle each cookie for around 5 or 6 minutes.  But it's SO MUCH FUN!!!  I love making and decorating cookies!

And, not that anyone cares, but I listened to a lot of 60s music while making these.  I really have no idea why.  A little Simon and Garfunkle, some of The Youngbloods, The Byrds, and Jefferson Airplane.  A little of the Fifth Dimention, David Cassidy (don't laugh), and some Peter Paul and Mary.  Good stuff!

 

I did manage to buy a little vintage "looking" tree at Hobby Lobby for my vintage ornaments!

 

There's no baby Jesus yet, we have to wait until Christmas.

For now the tree sits in my little "library".

 

 

That's just the start of my projects.  I'm not going to share anything else until after Christmas because so many of my projects lately are Christmas Gifts and I don't want to spoil any surprises!  Haha!

 

So, I'll post again after Christmas so stay tuned! 

And have a super fun Christmas!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Christmas Ornaments

A few weeks ago, I spotted these at the local flea market.

 

 

I've seen so many vintage ornaments on other people's blogs, oodles of them!  And other people seem to find them so easily...boxes of them!  The old Shiny Brites seem to be a little harder to come by around here.  I rarely ever see them.  And, to be honest, these ornaments aren't even that old...they are reproductions, and definitely not Shiny Brites.  The box has a bar code!  If I had to guess I would say these are from the late 80's.  But, they LOOK old and so I will use them.  I'll take what I can get when it comes to vintage ornaments.

 

Below are all of the vintage ornaments I own now.  Maybe this year I can have my little vintage Christmas tree in the library room!

 

Here is a catalog page FULL of ornaments from 1957 (I think that's the right date).  Aren't they swell!?  I just love them!  (image found on Pinterest). 

 

 

And one last picture before I go.  Who wants a picture of a vintage Christmas tree!!?  I do I do!!

The tree below is full of 1950s-60s vintage goodness! (from Kitchy Living's blog and pinterest).

 

 

I've read that one couldn't put electric lights on an aluminum Christmas tree or it would burst into flames.  Apparently the consumer safety administration didn't exist back then?  So they had something that looked like a "light drum" that would spin, and the colored light would reflect off of the metal tree.  Pretty groovy huh?  This tree is actually a little too modern for me, (I still prefer green) but it is REALLY far out.

 

Well, that's all I have for today.  Until another time, have a shiny brite kind of day!

Vintage Goodies

Well, first I must show ya'll the cute little basket my Aunt Barb made up for me, with sweater mittens, homemade Apple Butter, and Chokecherry Syrup (which is awesome on ice cream).  Love the basket idea and all of the goodies in it, so thank you to Auntie Barb.

Just wanted to share some of the groovy things my Uncle Stan gave to me this year.  He's been saving these for me all summer...found them at a rummage sale, says walking through this woman's house was like taking a step back in time.  Bring it on!

Hi-lex Dry Bleach!  I can't seem to find another box like it online.  The bottom say 1955.  God bless the little old lady that kept this in her basement for over 50 years.

And I just love the neat-o clothesline graphics on the back!

Another cool box, Niagara Instant Laundry Starch!  I get a kick out of the fact that is says "No Cooking" at the bottom. 
I know nothing about starch but found this informative little video from 1936 on you tube.

 

 

And again with the cool graphics on the back.  My guess as to a date would be 1956-1959.  The woman's dress style with it's rolled sleeves and high collar just scream June Cleaver.

Stan also found some GREAT magazines!  This April 1948 Better Homes and Gardens is super thick at a whopping 290 pages!

And the McCall's below is from March 1956

And a Country Gentleman from November 1949....I love these old farm magazines with their Case IH and tractor advertisements.  Can't you just hear the grain report playing on the old transistor radio in the farmhouse kitchen as the farmer's wife gets lunch on the table?  Reminds me of my grandparents when I was little...we always listened to "Ask Your Neighbor" on the AM station during lunch.  I can remember creamed green beans from the garden, chicken patty on a bun and always homemade bread.  I imagine it's possible that at some point a farm wife out there once made a lunch like that for her family.  But I digress...

Here's another Country Gentleman from December of 1949. 

I can't wait to get these scanned.  Or at least photographed.  Maybe I'll photo some sneak-peeks until I can gain access to a large scanner again.

Until then, here's a fun little Studebaker trucks ad from one of the Country Gentlemen Magazines.  That's a pretty cool little truck...I'd drive it.

Well, thanks Uncle Stan for another batch of vintage goodies. 
And until another time, have a happy vintage day everyone!

Needlepoint Christmas Trees

Now that Christmas is over, I can post some of the gifts I worked on in November and December.  One of the gifts I gave to a few special friends was this needlepoint tree. 

 

The pattern for this tree can be found in the November/December Stitch-it Today magazine on pages 44 and 45.
I hadn't tried needlepoint before I found this project, but my daughter had done a little bit.  She showed me how to start and stitched a few pieces herself.  It was so easy to do, and now I love needlepoint!

 

The easiest way to transfer the pattern onto the plastic canvas, was to use a permanent marker, then cut out the pieces.

 



These are the little yarns I chose to create the ornament French knots.

After the pieces are finished I traced the pieces onto felt and trimmed the felt to fit the back of each piece (mostly to hid all of the stitching mess).  I hot glued the felt onto the back of each piece.  For a moment, I thought of gluing sheet magnet onto the backs of each piece, so that they could be put on a refrigerator, but didn't do it.  Maybe next year.

It was a fun project!
Until another day, have a happy stitching day!

A Life Savers Candy Christmas Memory

This advertisement from a  December 1941 magazine reminded me of a Christmas memory from my childhood.

One of my Sunday School teachers used to give each of us kids one of these nifty little gift books of Lifesavers Candy, and I think one or two showed up in our stocking as kids, throughout the years.

I recently came across these at the local discount store and they sell for between $1.50 and $3.00 depending upon where you find them.  But they aren't quite the same as they used to be.  Instead of 12 rolls of savers, as in years past, they now have only 6.  I suppose because of price increases, the company had to scale back on the amount of candy in each box to keep them affordable.  It's a form of raising the price of their product without having to RAISE the actual price on the price tag.  So, they are still affordable, and a great idea for stocking-stuffers, you just get less product.

And check these out!  How cool were these little Life Savers, apparently from the 1950's, and back when a roll cost only a nickel.  (Well, I shouldn't say ONLY a nickel.  A nickel back then was nothing to sneeze at, I suppose.)

I'll bet they were like Christmas crack for kids!  I'd have trouble not eating the whole roll in one sitting.  Then I'd check the toe of my stocking for more...then the kitchen drawers, then inside the big jar in the cupboard where mommy hides all of her treats, then under my pillow, then the......
You get the picture.

That's all for today, until tomorrow, have a happy vintage day!