Thrift Finds And Good Times

Earlier this month, I went over to visit my sisters, and had such a wonderful and memorable time!
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing and spending time with some VERY dear old friends (you know who you are!). I gave one of them this framed antique postcard - because we truly do share many Happy Memories!
I got to go out to dinner two nights in a row (one for a retirement party), and the third night was for a fabulous home-cooked meal to celebrate family birthdays. My sister and her husband fixed us all such wonderful meal! Yum. And, as if all of that wasn't enough (and it really should be!) I got to go thrift shopping, too! Found some great books - I have always wanted a copy of The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady:
Found some lovely rose chintz with a dark green background. The buckles are new- and plastic - but I like them!
And some pretty light blue fabric with flocked "butterfly bouquets" on it, pink floral postcards, and Little Bo Peep! Adorable:
Flower Power - and I am LOVING these metal mug trees lately!

Like I said, it was a great weekend!

Birthday Wishes For the Wonderful Joanne Woodward

In honor of the fabulous Mrs. Paul Newman's birthday today, I am sharing with you these pictures from a vintage McCall's magazine.
Ms. Woodward was modeling fashions designed by Pierre Cardin for McCall's Patterns:


With apologies to Monsieur Cardin, I'm not sure I care much for those last two - but I'm sure that in 1958 they were all the rage!
Dear, beautiful, Joanne - I hope you are coping well. We were all so sorry when your husband passed. I hope that you will be able to enjoy your first birthday without him in the company of your loved ones. Wishing you all the best.

My Red Hutch

I don't like the way my pictures inside the house turn out.
I think I need a photography class.
But, until my skills improve, I hope you all will bear with me.
So...my red hutch in the sunroom (some might call it a breakfast room). This is how it looked before I decorated it for Christmas:
And then, I did show you what it looked like in December. Here it is again:
After Christmas, I just wanted to change things up. I wanted to display as many pieces of my like-colored pottery together as I possibly could. Well- it's too much - I do know that! But this is how it ended up - this is very top of the hutch:

And then, you can see the two shelves below:
And a little closer on the mostly yellow shelf:

If I had all of the shelves and all of the space in the world, stuff wouldn't be all crammed together like this. But I just try to make the most of the space I have! And, as you may have surmised from the top photo, I had to find a new "home" for quite a few things.
Yes, I managed. Some day, I'd love to have a shelf that runs all around the top of the room. THEN I could spread things out a little!
Well, at least it's still colorful.
And I didn't get EVERYTHING together that is in the same color family - but I gave it a good try!

TV Stamps!

I can't seem to find out when these will be released- but CHECK THIS OUT!
OK - These will be right up there with my favorite stamps EVER! You know I'm a TV fanatic, and a vintage fanatic. There's also the Bob Hope stamp coming up. It doesn't get much better than that! Can't wait.

The Lady Has Wings

I found this lovely lady recently at a thrift shop for 50 cents!
She isn't perfect, but I love her just the same.

Cats On Cards

Vintage greeting cards- you already know I love them! All different kinds from different times with different subjects. Today's subject: Cats! This large card, below, is part of a boxed set. I had some of these in the early 70's, and I found more on eBay recently. I think they would be so cute framed and hanging in a nursery:
I love this one with the "rhinestone" eyes so much that I don't think I'll ever send it to anyone!
This one is simply adorable:
I am always tickled to find one with a little plastic adornment like this one with the dustpan!
Again - just cute:
I had to include this one. sorry the envelope is so yucky, but I thought it was rather unusual with the envelope the same shape as the card. It was given to my mother-in-law, probably in the 60's, I'm guessing. I've never seen one like this before:
The inside is imprinted with "Everything was wonderful, Thanks!", and then signed The gals of Phi Gamma, Modesto.

February 22nd

(with apologies to George Washington)
No, I can't tell a lie - today, for me, instead of being about the birthday of.....
the Father Of Our Country,
is all about....... The Oscars!
I've loved watching them ever since I was a little girl - and I can prove it. Here is what I wrote in my diary in 1967: "Watched the 39th Annual Academy Awards. They were real good! We didn't get to watch any other shows but it was worth it!".
This book, below, is a nice reference, with a lot of pictures - but it only goes up through 1985. Oh, well. It's better than nothing. I think I have a couple of other books somewhere....
Two more diary excerpts: "April 10th, 1968 - Saw the Academy Awards. Best movie: In The Heat Of The Night, song: Talk To The Animals, Actor: Rod Steiger, Actress Katharine Hepburn".
March 27th, 1973 "Had lots of homework. Didn't do ANY. Watched Academy Awards. Marlon Brando won best actor but didn't accept.... GODFATHER - BEST PICTURE!!!!"
Later, when I worked nights as a waitress and the Awards were on TV on Mondays, I would do whatever I could to trade shifts with someone so that I could be home to watch. After I got my first VCR in 1984, that meant that I never had to miss them again. And I never have.
I'm really looking forward to tonight!

My "Marbleized" Collection

Today, I thought I'd show you my collection of vintage "marbleized" accessories - mostly vanity table items. Hairbrushes and a comb:

Tray, hair comb, and four shoe horns:
The tops of two large hand mirrors:
My smallest mirror:
Powder boxes, and I think the one with the hole in the top is a hair receiver?
Now, this is a little different - the top of this is covered in old linoleum or something. I love my step stool! We keep it under a small work table in the middle of the kitchen. I'm short, so I use it a LOT:
And this CHAIR. I was so excited when I found this! I've never seen another one like it. The white part is a heavy plastic, and you can see it's messed up. I think I need to remove all of it, and just paint the wood white. The green parts are all solid and perfect.
I don't actually even remember where I got the chair (although I know I wrote it down somewhere). I think I've had it for about 10 years. Another vintage treasure I will never want to part with.
We also have five vintage clothes hampers with the marbleized lids. I didn't get pictures of those!

Roses, Roses

Today is just about roses. I love pink ones, but also red. (Oh, who am I kidding - all roses are gorgeous, aren't they? I just don't necessarily collect things with the other colors on them, that's all)
I found this record album at a thrift shop, and I bought it simply because the cover was too pretty to resist!
I'd like to put it in an LP frame from Michael's and hang it up somewhere:
And I recently bought a big lot of antique postcards - many of which feature roses:
The cards with red roses on a silver background are especially stunning. I framed three of them in these small silver wooden frames:


As is the case with so many of my favorite things, I will never tire of vintage roses.

Calico And Cozy Comfort

Even though Christmas is long gone, I just couldn't pass up these brightly colored stuffed calico Christmas ornaments when I found them at a thrift store last week.
The next day, this was our view from the front porch!


It was really coming down for quite awhile - and we don't get snow here that often!
We were lucky, and never lost power. It really makes you appreciate your nice, cozy home, and heaters that work well!
Very comfortable, indeed.

Then And Now #31 - Aunt Jemima

Aunt Jemima Pancake Mix started it all back in 1889!
Here's an advertisement from 1938:
And from 1954:
You had three varieties to choose from in 1956:
And then check this out! Make your pancakes with bacon down the middle - I've never seen that before! (1963)

And I'll never forget the jingle from this old Aunt Jemima commercial, will you?
These days, there are MANY more choices at the supermarket, including Pancake and Waffle Mix in Original Complete, Buttermilk Complete, and Original, Lite Syrup, Butter Lite Syrup, Coffee Cake Mix and, of course - Frozen breakfast items - like this French Toast:
and a host of other frozen products!
There used to be restaurants, too, including one at my favorite place - Disneyland!
The choices we have today truly are mind-boggling.

Mom's Yosemite "Souvenirs"

I'm posting about these items today in honor of my friend's birthday. Happy Birthday, Faith! These are all things that my mother-in-law had saved from her trips to Yosemite. From 1935, this wooden postcard of Half Dome and it's original envelope:
A Cocktail Menu from the Ahwahnee Hotel (50's, I think)
A menu with a watercolor print on the cover from 1955:
A hotel brochure:
and one from Camp Curry:
And two postcards with their original bag from the gift shop -these from 1955, also, I believe:
I hope you enjoyed seeing them!