Beachy Vintage

Once again, I have some of my favorite things to share for Coloradolady's Vintage Thingie Thursdays.  We have two bathrooms on our main floor and we call them the fish bathroom and the bird bathroom.  Neither of them get a lot of use, so I can decorate with all my little collections and they aren't in any one's way.  The fish bathroom is painted a pale turquoise, and stenciled with white squares topped by dark turquoise seashell stamps.  The sink area, back of the toilet, top of the medicine cabinet and the wall shelves have ocean related items.  I like to collect things that are a bit campy, just short of tacky (at least to my eyes). 

These two small shelves came from Target.  I liked them because of their size and I thought matching white shelves would allow you to see the treasures and not notice the shelves. 

You can see I have a variety of ages and values on my little shelves.  The top shelf contains a beaded starfish that I carefully unsewed from a purse my sister was throwing away, driftwood with barnacles that I picked up on a beach, a couple of McDonald's Happy Meal toys, a shell man with a paper guitar, a sand dollar wedding favor, and a shell.  The bottom shelf has a starfish, a little shell black girl with a slice of watermelon, a painted face shell, some vintage sunglasses, and another piece of driftwood.  The little black girl is one of my favorites, and I'm glad I was able to bring her home and keep her safe. 

Here's the little girl close up.  I bought her from a man who had purchased a box lot at an auction.  There were several expensive items in the boxes, and I think he wondered why I wanted her.  But he sold her to me for 75 cents, and I was happy.

The top shelf on this unit features a very large sand dollar, another star fish, a seahorse carved into a shell, a Van Briggle flower frog and Flounder, also from McDonald's.  On the lower shelf, there is a china young lady, who is visiting the beach (she is carrying a suitcase), two pelicans on their driftwood perch, a shell turtle, a set of shell violet earrings and pin, and a little souvenir bottle that my son bought me in Florida. 

Hope you have enjoyed a partial tour of my fish bathroom.  Don't forget to visit Vintage Thingie Thursday and see all the other fabulous finds that people share. 

Cindi

Spring Decorating

We have had temperatures above 80, the daffodils are blooming, and now it's SNOWING!  It must be spring!  I made a little progress on the spring decorating.  I love snowmen, and have LOTS of them.  Slowly I've been putting them away and getting out the spring and Easter decor.  You may notice these are closeup pictures.  That means I don't want you to see the surrounding areas!  By June, I promise, I'll have all the spring decorating done.  Here is one of the "before" pictures -

I love my snow family - Mother, father, two kids, and the snowlady in blue is their grandmother.  I had put out a Valentine's decoration before I took this picture, the Ukrainian egg decorated with hearts. 



Here's the same table, ready for Spring.  The table cover is Mary Engelbreit fabric.  There are 3 more of my Ukrainian eggs, the one on the left is the only traditional one I have done. The little bear with the sweater is a childhood friend of my husbands, so is over 60 years old.  There must be a hole in the bottom of the ceramic baskets, the jelly beans keep disappearing! 

Another before picture -

                                        

 Don't you just love this fabric?  These are mostly Hallmark ornaments.  The mailbox on the left belonged to my husbands mother, the snowbabies on the right were made by my mother.



Here's how the table looks now.  The bunny baby was made by my mother, the little charm on her wrist has my name on it.  There are assorted eggs around her.  The plastic eggs with the cartoon wrappers are more than 25 years old.  Proves again that some plastic is going to be around forever! 

I just looked out the window.  We've had about 3/4" of snow and it's sticking on the streets.  Baseball opening day is this week, so it must be SPRING!

Another of my Fancies

It's time for Vintage Thingie Thursday again.  Someone recently asked "What DON'T you collect?", after I listed a long list of things I do collect.  So far I've shown you some Swanky Swigs and some vintage aprons.  Today I thought I'd share some of my costume jewelry.  Although I do buy occasional  items at antique stores, I much more enjoy those pieces that I find at estate sales for a great price. 

Don't remember what I paid for this set, but very little.  It is missing a couple of rhinestones, and the necklace has a broken clasp, but both of these flaws I have chosen to overlook.  The clasp has been replaced by a safety pin, which fortunately is hidden by my hair.  I'm guessing it is from the 1950's.  Maybe '40's. 

I bought this sterling circle at an antique shop in Florida, it was missing whatever once hung in the middle, so again was a bargain.  I repurposed it a bit with the little bird fetishes and get many compliments on it.

Cufflinks are another item that can usually be had for next to nothing.  I went online and bought a couple of French cuff blouses to wear these with.  The cat pin was a gift and I think she is from either the late '50's or early '60's. 

Out of all the items I'm showing today, these are the most expensive.  I bought them at a shop last fall for 20ish dollars. It is 3 pins, and besides the fact that they are silver, and dogwoods, I love them because they can be worn many different ways. 

We often hit the estate sales early on Saturday mornings, but then go back on Sunday afternoon for the half price sale.  That is when I got these 3 items.  The bar pin is painted china, and is probably one of the oldest pieces I own.  I'm guessing from the 1920's.  The porcelain flowers were still in their original box.  The heart shape pin puzzled me, I could not figure out what it was made from.  After I brought it home, I did some research and discovered the background is made from a butterfly wing and the scene is reverse painted on the glass.  I spent $5 and saw some on ebay that were selling for over $50!  So was pleased with that purchase.

I hope you have enjoyed a little glimpse into my jewelry box.  Thanks for visiting my blog.

Cindi
 

Spring Has Sprung

We have had some beautiful weather the past few days and the daffodils have started blooming.  I'd like to share some pictures to help us all out of the winter doldrums.  I have one picture of our Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) and several of the daffodils (Narcissus).  The daffodils are in 3 different places in the back yard.  We should have the daffodils for several more weeks, as some varieties are just starting to come up.  I planted some pink ones a couple of years ago, but only an optimist would call them pink. They are peach, coral, salmon, but not pink.  Oh well, I will keep trying. 

As you can see by the background, we still have a lot of brown, but seem to get a bit greener every day.  I'm ready!

Cindi

Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild

This weekend is the biennial quilt show presented by the Thimble and Thread Quilt Guild. I enjoyed strolling around and viewing all the quilts, and spent a short time shopping at some of the vendors.  I took some pictures to share and for my own enjoyment.  My screensaver scrolls through the pictures in My Pictures, so I enjoy having pretty things on there.

One of the first quilts I saw was the Best in Show.  It was called Woven Wind Flowers.  It was beautiful, so many tiny pieces, and fantastic color placement.  It was called Woven Wind because the ancient Chinese referred to silk fabric as woven wind, and this quilt was all silk.  What made it especially interesting to me was that the silk was all recycled from silk blouses the maker, Delores Keaton, bought from the thrift store! 

This small quilt was extremely detailed.  It's a copy of a photo the creator took while traveling.  It's called Memories of Burano by Jerri Stroud.  The picture doesn't really do it justice, the quilting really added a lot to the beauty of the image. 

This quilt was one of my favorites, and I took a closeup in case I decide to make one some day.  The tag stated the maker had come up with the pattern herself.  I loved the fussy cut flowers on each house.  Unfortunately I didn't get the name and maker on this one. 

This one was especially intriquing to me.  The blue backgrounds were made on the white fabric by a process called cyanotype.  Objects are placed on treated fabric or paper, exposed to direct sunlight, rinsed in water, and Voila', you have a white image on a blue background.  I just found a source for the fabric here .  I did cyanotype with paper as a child, and did it again with my son when he was young.  Unfortunately, didn't get the name or maker on this one either.

These 3 were displayed together, they are all the same pattern, although they are made by 3 different makers.  I thought it was very interesting to see how differing fabrics effects the appearance of a pattern.  The top one is called Kaffe-inated, by Mary Ellen Adams, the middle is Stars for a New Day by Nancy Hamilton, and the bottom one is My Orion by Jeannette Larson.  They are from a pattern from The Quilt Show.  I liked the border change on the red and green one, though I didn't get the greatest picture of it.

Finally I saw this little wall hanging at one of the dealer booths.  It really made me smile.  Made me think of my 3 sisters.

I had a great time looking, dreaming, planning.  Hope you enjoyed the pictures. 

Cindi

News Flash!

I have 3 daffodils.  Yippee!

A Yummy Cake and Pretty Flowers



Just a couple of quick pictures.  I needed a dessert for church tonight and thought green would be a good idea, since tomorrow is St. Patricks day.  So I made a Watergate Cake.  I've been making this cake since the '70's.  Supposedly got it's name because Richard Nixon liked pistachios.  No idea if that is true, but it makes a yummy cake.  I added the colored coconut on top to boost the green factor and so no one could say they didn't know it had coconut in it.  Also a picture of my new rose bush.  Love the color.  

Note the shamrock tablecloth.  I'm ready for St. Patty's.



Roses from my sweetie

This Week's Vintage Thingies



 Decided to show some of my vintage aprons this week, since I mentioned them in an earlier post.  Also going to try to figure out how to space the pictures throughout the blog.  I'm baking a Watergate cake for a dinner at church tonight, which inspired the wearing of an apron, which then inspired ironing and picture taking.  Not sure I have ever ironed an apron before this week, but they do look nicer in the pictures.  



This is the first vintage apron I ever bought.  Probably 20 years ago.  I have worn it many times, but don't any longer, as the fabric has gotten very fragile.  I love that it really covers you up.  If you get anything on your clothes wearing this, you really worked at it! The back criss crosses, so even behind you are covered up.   Wonder if I could draft a pattern from this?  Note this one has binding, not rick rack.



I love all the nasturtiums on this apron.  They are a favorite flower of mine.

  

This is the Apron I wore today

 

A close up of the pocket.  This one has rick rack.


My sweetie just came in with a miniature rose bush for me.  What a guy!  I've been wanting some potted flowers and these will do nicely.  I'll show you a picture later.                                                                 


I'm posting this on Coloradolady's Vintage Thingie Thursdays later today.   Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my aprons.                     Cindi                                                           



A better photo

I am trying to keep this blog Today I, instead of Yesterday I, or Last Week I.  So got in a bit of a hurry last night and took a picture a bit early.  Today I  pressed the apron with some Magic Sizing and took another shot.  Enjoy!

The REAL new apron



I finished the real version of my new apron today.  I'm happy with my tailoring efforts.  The apron doesn't hang down past my knees and it ties around my waist instead of my rear end.  If I make this again it will be with the binding instead of the rickrack.  I'm not that crazy about the look of the rick rack  and it added a lot of sewing.  If you make this, the pattern is wrong on the amount of rick rack needed.  I had to go back to the fabric store for another package.  I do have quite a bit of extra fabric, so may do a table runner with it.  I enjoyed sewing today, I sat out on the porch and did the pinning and a bit of hand stitching.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  Another two weeks and I should be able to replace my snowy tree picture with some daffodils. 



Vintage Thingy Thursday

Some of my Swanky Swigs

This is where I display them.

One of the reasons I wanted to start my blog was to participate in fun things like The Coloradolady's Vintage Thingy Thursday .  My vintage thingy is my Swanky Swig tumblers.  Swanky Swigs are the little glasses that Kraft sells their cheese spread in.  They still make them, but they are not nearly as cute today as the vintage ones.  Today they are just clear glass.  But back in the 1920's - 60's, they sold lots of different designs.  I have been collecting them for about 15 years.  Here's a picture of a group of them.  I have more....

Cindi

Cornish Pasties

I tried a new recipe today.  We had Cornish Pasties for dinner.  If you are interested, you can find the recipe here.  It was a bit of a challenge.  First, I had to translate the weights and measures from metric.  And figure out that a swede is a rutabaga.  Went to the grocery store, which doesn't regularly carry skirt steak.  With two weeks notice they can get it for me.  So, being the true American cook that I am, I substituted hamburger.  I did buy ground chuck though.  Then got home and didn't have enough flour.  So, really being an American cook, I used part Bisquick (baking mix) and threw in a little whole wheat flour too.  The dough in the food processor didn't work too well, so just finished kneading it on the counter.  For those of you who don't know me, I'm much more of an Erma Bombeck than a Martha Stewart, and I think this story proves that.  Despite all the tribulations, they turned out pretty well.  I might make them again, but will tweak them some.  Needed some garlic, or curry, or something.  The coal miners in Cornwall might not recognize them, but none of them were here for dinner tonight.  Oh, and I did listen to Beatles music while I was cooking, I'm sure that made them more authentic.

I did get the apron cut out today, but still needs to be sewn. 

Cindi

New Apron

Today I finished the test apron.  I'm very happy with how it turned out.  It's been years since I did any garment sewing, so was glad to find I still remember how.  I cut this from a piece of fabric of unknown origin.  I probably bought it at an estate sale.  I had barely enough, one of the ties I had to piece from 3 smaller pieces.  After trying it on, I've decided I need to shorten it by a couple of inches, and am going to do that by shortening the bodice section.  That way the ties will tie around my waist and not my rear end!  Will probably shorten the neck a little, but have to be sure it will still fit over my head.  I'm adding a picture of the apron and a close up of the pocket so you can see the fabric better.  I need to think of someone who would enjoy this as a gift.  Some one who is taller than I am. =) I'm excited about making the real apron.  Should be able to at least start tomorrow.  Oh, and I bought some rick rack after all.

Retro Apron

I recently bought Retro Aprons by Cindy Taylor Oates, You can see it here . Today I traced her pattern onto tissue and cut it out, using some fabric from my stash.  Need to buy some binding before I can continue.  I'm making the apron shown in the middle, but without the rick rack.  After I complete this one, I'm going to make it with the fabric shown in the picture.  Want to see how it fits before I cut up the expensive stuff. 

A Brand New Blog

I've been thinking of doing this for a while, but don't do enough of any one thing to have a quilting blog, or a tablescape blog, or a cooking blog, or a collecting blog.  I do all of those things and more, but not enough to talk about for days on end. Finally came up with the idea of just talking about what I do, when I do it.  Hope you will enjoy.