Weekend Junk Finds: Feedsack Quilt Blocks

A few weeks ago I stopped in at a local Goodwill. This particular store is on the small side and it's hit-or-miss, with the emphasis on MISS. I've made a few good finds there but they're infrequent so I don't stop in often. This particular day I needed a thrift fix and happened to be in the neighborhood. While inside I found a bag of what looked like fabric scraps. The fabric was tightly folded together and the bag was stapled shut so I couldn't even manipulate it around to get a better look, but I thought that maybe I glimpsed some vintage fabric. It was price $5.99 which is pretty high for a bunch of random fabric scraps, but I had a feeling about it so I bought it anyway.

When I got it home and finally unfolded everything, this is what I found:

Quilt squares! Quilt squares made of feedsacks, to be specific!

There are more than 20 squares, each in a simple 9-block pattern.

I'm guessing it was a scrap quilt and the maker was a pretty inexperienced sewer. The stitching isn't great and many of the squares have rather...creative patterns. You can see that they don't all match and the colors are kind of wacky.

I don't think the craftsmanship is good enough to warrant trying to put it together as an actual quilt, so I'm going to have to figure out something else to do with the squares. There are some brownish (rust?) stains on some of the blocks so before I do anything, I need to see if I can get those out. I imagine if I felt really ambitious, I could take apart some of the weirder squares and see if I can't put together the pieces in a more visually appealing way. I'm not sure I'm that ambitious. We'll see.

Tune in tomorrow for the continuation of my post about the 1940s Ball!

I'm linking this post with Thrift Share Monday over at Apron Thrift Girl.

The 1940s WWII Ball--Part One: What we wore

Saturday night was simply magical! Last summer a friend told me about a local event called the 1940s WWII Ball. It's held at a tiny airport about an hour north of here and we weren't able to go last year but the photos made it look like so much fun that I vowed we'd attend this year. I'm so glad we did--it was fantastic!

I knew from last year's photos that everyone goes in 1940s attire, so I started searching Etsy for something to wear. Soon there just wasn't time to order anything and I wasn't able to go out searching the local vintage clothing stores with two kids in tow, so I decided to wear the only 1940s dress I own, a dress that I purchased last summer. Because the ball has a WWII theme, I added a pretty vintage patriotic rhinestone pin to the collar.

With this dress I have previously worn a pair of cherry red patent heels--pretty, but not so great for walking around in. I decided instead to go with a pair of red and cream wedges that I've always thought had a bit of 1940s flair. They're comfortable and I love them and I think they looked great with the dress!

As it turned out, much of the event was held in a field complete with weeds and poky thistles, so I was even happier that I decided to ditch the heels for the sensible wedges.

For earrings, I chose a pair of vintage blue moonglow Lucite screw-back buttons that I bought at a garage sale with a matching necklace a few summers ago. They were the perfect shade of blue and I think they were very authentic in style!

The next hurdle was hair and makeup. For a 1940s event, Victory rolls are a must! I've never tried them on my hair because I have naturally curly hair, but for this party I was determined to be authentic. The first step was to spend an hour with my flat iron, straightening my hair. Next, I watched this YouTube video several times.

I practiced once on Maren but I didn't get my rolls tight enough and she ended up looking like the child bride of some freaky polygamist from Southern Utah.

I know that traditionally victory rolls start with a pin curl or hot roller set, but since my hair will curl if it's wet and and I haven't had to use hot rollers in 20 years and therefore don't own any, I had to to the best I could with my little curling iron. I managed to get it all wrestled and pinned and am happy with how it all turned out.

For makeup, I used an auburn-colored eyebrow pencil to match my new red hair, watched yet more YouTube videos on how to do 1940s eyeliner (still haven't mastered that skill) and even went for the gusto with false eyelashes! And of course, red lipstick with my lips drawn to match the 1940s full style.

The Mister did some research on men's fashions in the 1940s and ended up wearing a pair of navy pinstriped trousers and matching vest, with a white shirt and beautiful red tie. He looked handsome!

And now that we were all fancied up, we were ready to party....more on that tomorrow!

Weekend Junk Finds: Father's Day edition

A few weeks ago, my dad was in town for a few days so we decided to do a little bit of one of our favorite shared pastimes--junking! There was an ad on EstateSales.net for a promising looking sale not too far away, so I ran over to put us on the sign-up sheet and hired a baby sitter for Porter.

That might have been my dad's first experience with an estate sale, aside from my Gram's estate auction last year, and it was definitely his first experience with the mad rush that is the opening of an estate sale!

We'd seen some vintage Pyrex in the preview photos and went straight to the kitchen. We were the first to reach it and my dad was able to scoop up some really great pieces at great prices! On the way into the kitchen, I spotted an item that may just be up there on my Top Ten finds, EVER:

This antique coffee jar is simply gorgeous! The glass is embossed with a diamond pattern that's so pretty. It would have been great on it's own, but it even has the original metal lid, which is in great condition as well!

It was right on the table as we walked in the door and the price was pretty amazing considering that it's in perfect condition with the lid, so I'm pretty shocked that none of the 33 people who got in the door before me didn't snap it up first!

The jar was my best find, but there were a few other goodies as well. The milk glass sugar bowl is the twin of one I bought a few months ago. I love it so much but I can't decide whether to keep one and sell one, or sell them as a pair. The silver metal trophy is in German and marked 1951.

Always love a good vintage tablecloth in summery colors! And with this addition, my vintage tablecloth drawer is now officially overflowing. Must address that soon. By finding a new drawer, not by getting rid of tablecloths, of course.

This little odd collection is two pairs of fab cat-eye sunglasses (coming soon to the Etsy shop), a pair of crystal earrings and a vintage LGB from our thrifting trip the day previous, and an odd lid. In the preview photos for the sale, I thought I recognized a blue Lu-Ray creamer. When I actually found it at the sale, it was the exact shape as my other Lu-Ray creamers, but it was unmarked and the glaze was different--it was blue with tiny speckles of brown. Elsewhere in the house, I found this orphaned lid. I recognized the knob shape as Lu-Ray immediately, but it was that same blue/brown glaze. However, I happen to have two Lu-Ray sugar bowls without lids, so I thought I could just buy this one for $1 and marry the two and be happy with it, even though they're not a perfect match. When I got home however, I found that this lid is larger than my Lu-Ray sugar bowl, so it won't fit! I'm sure it had to have been made by Taylor Smith Taylor, the manufacturer of Lu-Ray, using their molds, but I don't know about the finish. Maybe my fellow Lu-Ray lover Jillian can shed some light on this?

The last thing I bought was this big box o' Christmas junk for $10. It was hard to see what was inside but I figured even if I could find 10 good things worth $1, I'd be okay, and just peeking in I could see a pinecone elf and some mercury glass beads.

When I came home and dumped it all out, I found a startling amount of ugly plastic greenery and a few neat things.

I definitely found more than 10 good things, though not all of them I would have paid $1 for. Verdict on this box? Eh. Not a total bust, but not the bonanza I was hoping for.

Even though my junk finds were great (THAT JAR!! swoon), the best part of the sale was sharing the fun with my Dad! He's a treasure hunter at heart just like me, and knows the thrill of finding a hidden gem. It was fun to shop with him and then also to meet up later and share our finds. I wish we lived closer together so that we could shop together more often!

Did you find any good junk this weekend? Have you ever gone junking with your parents?

DIY Honeycomb balls

The other day I went to an estate sale in a $2.2 million, 5000 sq. ft. house. Wowza! High-rent district of town, to be sure. I hadn't planned to go to that sale (I prefer the dinky little 1950s houses packed with JUNK) but we drove past so I decided to stop. As you can imagine, most of the sale was pretty pricey, but I did buy one thing for $1:

It makes me smile every time I look at it! I've always been a sucker for tissue paper honeycomb shapes and the rainbow colors make me happy.

As a coincidence, in the past week I've found two Pins that show how to make your own honeycomb balls. This how-to video by Mark Montano uses magazine pages

and this beautiful orb by Donna from Under the Red Roof uses coffee filters! She shares a very in-depth and nicely photographed tutorial to make this:

Please visit the original source to rePin! http://undertheredroof.typepad.com/under_the_red_roof/2012/06/coffee-filter-honeycomb-balls-tutorial.html

What a cool idea--I know I've seen instructions for dyeing white coffee filters, so you could conceivably make a ball in any color. Donna also says that you could use cupcake papers. That would probably be seriously fiddly because of the small size, but I'm intrigued nonetheless.

I won't have time to try either of these crafts for a little while, but if I do I'll be sure to report back and let you know if they work!

**PS--If you'd rather buy your tissue balls pre-made, today through June 18 you can get free shipping with no minimum order from Oriental Trading Company using code WCE3284 at checkout!**

Bountiful Baskets

I recently became aware of an organization called Bountiful Baskets and think it is so cool, I wanted to tell everyone about it!

Bountiful Baskets is a non-profit food co-op. It is entirely run by volunteers. It is not available in every state yet; the states where it is currently available are AZ, CO, GA, IA, ID, KS, KY, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SC, SD, TX, UT, WA. You can see where specifically in each state here. Some states have baskets available each week, and some states are on an every-other-week schedule (A & B weeks). Colorado is on an A schedule, which means we can get baskets every 1st and 3rd week.

Basically the way it works is this: you order a basket on Monday/Tuesday and pay a $15 'contribution' for a basic basket + a $1.50 fee. On Saturday morning you go to your appointed pick-up location and pick up your baskets. A basic basket is fruits and veggies, but there are also options for an organic basket, as well as add-ons like bread, granola, other fruits/veggies. There is is no commitment from week to week. There is a very good FAQ on their website so I won't type it all out here.

Here are some notes about my experience:

• Ordering for the week opens on Monday and goes until Tuesday--each time zone has a different window that you can see on the website. In many locations, the baskets sell out fast!

I've participated two times now. The first time, I ordered a basic basket to try it out. Here's what I got:

a 3-lb bag of apples, a bunch of 8 large bananas, 2 large mangoes, 1-lb box of strawberries, a pineapple, a watermelon, about 1.5 lb of green beans, a large green cauliflower, 4 bunches of broccoli, a large English cucumber, and 3 3-lb bags of russet potatoes.

• Basically, you are getting the produce from the suppliers and cutting out the grocery store markup. The food you get is the same thing you would find at the grocery store--it is not necessarily locally-grown.
• You can purchase an all-organic basket for $25. The organic baskets are packed separately and they were in boxes with lids so I couldn't see what they contained.
• The add-ons all come in large quantities, i.e. five loaves of bread, eight boxes of strawberries, so you will need a big freezer or to split them with somebody.

I participated again this last weekend and here is what came in my basket: 1 bunch kale, 1 bunch celery, 1 bunch romaine lettuce, bunch of 6 bananas, a pineapple, 2 acorn squash, 1 honeydew melon, 3 mangoes, 2 cucumbers, 10 granny smith apples, 4 tomatoes, 5 large apricots, 8 plums. 

If you're trying to get more fruits/veggies into your family's diet and want a more economical way to do it, I recommend looking into Bountiful Baskets. I know that some places have great farmer's markets with incredible local produce and my first choice would definitely be to buy local--but where I live, farmer's markets are really only available from July-September because of our short growing season and even then, I'm not convinced that the only nearby market is all that great or truly local. A friend of mine did a CSA last year but it was around $50 per week and she had to buy in for 6 months, and I just don't want to spend that kind of money nor make that kind of commitment. Until I can find a better solution, I'll continue to do Bountiful Baskets!

Maren's last day of 1st grade

Oh, my beautiful, smart, happy, friendly little girl! This was a big year for her: she learned to ride a bike, lost four teeth, became a proficient reader, learned how hard work led to success in her math timed tests, made many new friends, grew so tall so quickly that all of her pants became high-waters, and continued to bring joy and light to all of us who are lucky enough to know her. She is exceptional.

And now--blissful summer awaits! We're looking forward to popsicles, swimming pools, playing with friends all day long, and cramming in all of the fun we possibly can fit into the next 2 1/2 months!

Collecting: Japanese Lusterware

Perhaps this post would be more accurately titled: Things I am determined to NOT start collecting: Japanese Lusterware" because by golly, I'm trying my hardest to resist with mixed results.

Japanese lusterware is distinctive because of its iridescent glaze and frequent use of the colors orange and a pretty greenish-blue. Once you see a few pieces you can pretty much spot it at 20 paces because it all has a very particular look, despite the fact that there were dozens of manufacturers.

According to this website, most Japanese lusterware dates from the mid-1920s to the end of the 1930s. I assume it was primarily made for export. The items I see most commonly are tea sets, especially children's tea sets.

These are pieces from my dear Gram's tea set that she had as a child. I feel very honored that she entrusted it to me! My Gram passed away last year and was born in 1923, so it is right on that her tea set would have been made during the period listed above.

My first Japanese lusterware purchases were this tiny plate with the pinecones and the tiny orange and blue egg cup. In fact, I purchased the egg cup several years ago at a senior center rummage sale in the town where my Gram lived. I didn't know anything about Japanese lusterware at that point--all I knew was that it resembled her little tea set, so I bought it and gave it to her.

Even before I acquired Gram's tea set, Japanese lusterware always caught my eye when I was out thrifting. Odd pieces turn up not infrequently at the thrift stores and I always looked at them, but never purchased any because I just didn't want to start collecting them. Recently I finally caved in and purchased a bag that contained both this set

and this ashtray.

The set on top is a salt and pepper and what I believe to be a toothpick holder on a clever little tray. The shakers are only a few inches tall.

And then more recently, I purchased this sweet little cup at an estate sale:

I have no idea what it is--the notched lid makes me think of a sugar bowl but generally sugar bowls have two handles. It's just darling and really makes me think of my Gram--she had pet birds for many, many years and I just know this is the kind of pretty little thing that she would have loved.

But now I'm positively determined NOT to buy any more Japanese lusterware! Honestly, the colors don't match anything in my house and I have no where to display them. I found a bag with a few pieces of a tea set recently at the thrift store and I passed it up, so I think I might be cured, but if I find any more sweet little cups with tiny green birds on the tops, I don't think I'll be able to restrain myself!

Is there anything that you're determined NOT to collect?

Weekend Junk Finds: Mother's Day edition

 For Mother's Day back in May, one of my gifts was that The Mister watched the kids so I could go junking ALL BY MYSELF for as long as I wanted! That man knows what I truly want! I hit a few antique stores and a few thrift stores and came up with some goodies.

This stack of wooden berry baskets and the vintage floral tablecloth beneath it were from a neighborhood yard sale. The cloth was dirty but came nice and clean with a good OxiClean soak, and I was tickled to find the berry baskets because I had just watched this: Studio 5 Berry Baskets video

While I was out shopping I decided to make a quick stop by the Goodwill Outlet. I hadn't actually been back there since my initial jaw-dropping foray last summer. I poked gingerly through the bins and managed to unearth a small handful of vintage ornaments and an Ovenex Starburst muffin pan. I try to only buy them when they're still pretty and shiny, but since the grand total for all of these items plus the vintage pattern in the next photo was $1.07, I thought it was worth getting.

 At the antique store, I found this collection of old flash cards. I already had the ice cream and cake cards and thought the others would be fun additions, especially for a bake sale or for use on a dessert table at a party. I can never get enough of old flash cards!

At the thrift store I found a huge white platter, an antique embossed card in an old frame, and a monogrammed silverplate baby cup.

Also at the thrift store, I found these sleeves of paper serving dishes. The white bowls will be perfect for homemade ice cream this summer and I had intended to use the cute little red boats as holders for the brownies at Maren's Bake Sale. I know I can find uses for them.

And the final thrift store find that day was this gorgeous vintage signed Kandell & Marcus NY rhinestone brooch! I've included the quarter so you can see how big this piece is.

It measures 4.25" long so it is quite the statement piece! I had never heard of Kandell & Marcus NY so I tried to research but couldn't find much information other than the fact that they made costume jewelry starting in the 1940s. This brooch must have been one of their more popular sellers, because I found several listed on eBay and other antique-selling sites. Since giant blingy vintage brooches are kind of my thing, I believe I'll be keeping this beauty. One just never knows when one might need something suitable to wear to a Diamond Jubilee, right?

Did you find any good junk this weekend? I'm linking up with Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!

Happy National Donut Day!

 My celebrations will probably resemble those of these lovely ladies:

Bring on the Donut Scepter! Where's my crown?

Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Margarita Cupcakes with Key Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes:

1 package white cake mix
1 can (10 oz.) frozen Margarita mix, thawed
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable or canola oil
1 Tbsp grated lime zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line standard muffin pan with baking cups.
2. In large bowl, combine cake mix, Margarita mix, egg whites and oil using electric mixer.
3. Stir in lime zest; mix completely.
4. Fill prepared pans 2/3 full.
5. Bake 22-24 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.
6. Cool in pan on cooling rack 5-8 minutes.
7. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.
8. Frost cooled cupcakes with icing and garnish, if desired, with a strawberry and/or lime twist. Can also roll the frosted edges in colored sugar to simulate the salted rim of a Margarita glass.
Yield: 24 cupcakes.

Frosting:

8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp key lime juice (or 1 Tbsp lemon, 1 Tbsp lime)
1 tsp key lime zest or lemon zest
4-5 cups confectioners' sugar

1. In large bowl, cream butter, cream cheese, juice and zest with electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Add 4 cups confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time; continue beating until light and fluffy.
3. If icing is too thin add additional sugar 1 Tbsp at a time.

A red and blue farewell party

A very dear friend of mine is moving next week. I think the general consensus among our friends is that we are heartbroken that she is leaving, but we wanted to give her family a good-bye party to let them know how much we love and will miss them. We decided to have the party on Memorial Day in the evening at our neighborhood park. We chose a nautical "Bon Voyage" theme which ended up being more just red and blue, which was perfect for the holiday! And because we just weren't up to feeding 100 people ourselves, we decided on a dessert potluck. My contribution was a platter of summery Strawberry Rhubarb Bars.

I hauled two 6-ft. tables and a stack of vintage tablecloths, vintage blue glass canning jars, and a bundle of handmade pinwheels all to the park with the help of my kids' wagon!

 This adorable banner, a gift from my mom, was the perfect addition to the tables.

And of course there had to be stripey straws! The blue straws were from Amazon, and I was a bit disappointed when the arrived because the blue is really more turquoise than the royal blue I'd been hoping for. They still looked cute in my vintage Hull pottery and I'm sure nobody but me noticed the color mismatch.

The cute checkered tin is a recent purchase from Cost Plus World Market. I can't find it listed on their website anymore, but they are made to look like a vintage-style printed metal picnic tin with a lid. Since I've had zero luck finding any real specimens out in the wild, I was happy to plunk down $15 for this one.

I think I might put some Styrofoam down in the bottom and poke those pinwheels into the foam for a cute patriotic decoration that will work all summer long!

It was fun to create a pretty, vintage-style party setting even in the middle of a park, even if it meant half a dozen trips with a wagon back to my car to haul everything!

Weekend Junk Finds

 Hello, friends! How was your weekend? We were busy around here, but it's been the good kind of busy. Last Wednesday, The Mister and I went to a fantastic concert. Friday evening we attended a graduation party with lots of friends in the neighborhood park, Saturday morning I went and got my hair done (stayed a redhead!), and then yesterday evening I helped throw a farewell party for a dear friend of ours who is moving--pictures of that one to come.

I did sneak in a trip to the Goodwill on Friday morning and found an unexpected treasure--pictures of that one to come as well! For now, I have some past junk finds to share.

I am always attracted to these multi-strand beaded grandma necklaces that must have been sold by the hundreds in every five-and-dime in this country 50 years ago. This one is particularly pretty, with beautiful aqua and green beads. I can't wait to wear it! I bought the matching earrings, though since they're clip-ons and I prefer dangly stuff anyway, they'll end up in my crafting box.

Also headed for the crafting box are the black beaded earrings and the two sparkly pins at the bottom of the photo--one is red and clear, the other is purple and clear. The bracelet on the top is to wear--I loved the colors even though they're not my usual palette with the orange and olive green. I'm trying to branch out more this summer and with my new red hair, orange and green have taken on a new appeal.

This find is one that made me squeal and clutch it to my chest in the thrift store, lest anyone see my treasure and try to wrest it from my hands. This is a Royal Haeger ashtray in the shape of the state of Colorado! It's in the most perfect shade of greeny blue and it is perfect--no nicks or chips or anything. It's hard to gauge size from this photo, but it's about the size of a sheet of paper.
I consulted the Haeger expert, and although it's not worth much, it's awesome and I adore it! I have a guest room that is decorated in old travel souvenirs with a special emphasis on the places I've lived so this would fit right in, but I love it so much that right now it has pride of place on an easel in my curio cabinet.

Did you fit any junking into your Memorial Day weekend? I'm joining Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday!