Vintage Aprons: Fruit, Fine and Fancy

Good morning. This is Tina and I am going to show you some of my favorite vintage aprons with fruit designs today.
This is our Great Grandmother, and while she is not wearing an apron with a fruit design, she is showing off her fruit tree while wearing an apron, so she fits in today in a roundabout way. She lived in Wisconsin, very far up north and so she was always happy when her orchard produced, it meant it was summer!

My first lovely is bright and shows apples and peaches and blossoms. It is made of a nice sturdy cotton, and is homemade. I love to wear this apron when I am feeling especially springy. I was feeling that way until I got up this morning, the last day of March, and it was snowing. But that's okay, I can still wear it and look forward to it becoming springy out (again)!

This is a closeup showing the top bib of the apron, which shows off the flowered portion of the fabric. It is really bright and cheery.

Here my lovely model displays her ability to make an apron look perfect. Notice the lovely lace surrounding the bib on this apron. It is a sturdy workhorse rather fancied up, in case some company drops by.

This apron is definitely my favorite of my fruit aprons. Berries abound and the colors are bright. It makes me want to bake a pie.

A closeup shows strawberries, blackberries, and I guess those little round ones could be cranberries. Whatever they are they are yummy looking!

This apron definitely covers you up and protects your clothes while managing to make the cook look fabulous.

This pretty little red white and blue cherry apron, although not vintage, is made of a fabric which definitely has the vintage look. It was a gift, and I use it quite a lot. The cotton it is made of is a lot thinner than the first two aprons, so it is a lot cooler to wear during a warm baking session, or perhaps out to the patio when barbecuing.

Anyone for cherry pie? Or hamsteak and cherry sauce (which I am making for dinner tonight?

The granddaughter is ready to get out the rolling pin and use some elbow grease to start the pie crust.

This pretty vintage apron is made of cotton and organdy. It has many pieces of fruit sprinkled along its skirt. The organdy panel is see-through. I think this was a good apron for when company was coming, such as for Sunday dinner. The ties are organdy, and the pockets also.

Here is a closeup of a pocket. I like how the fruit peeps out through the fabric. Strawberries, peaches, pears, cherries, plums, you name it, this apron has it.

Bring on the guests, Grandma, I'm ready for them. I've just put the chicken in the oven.

This lovely company-ready apron is the first vintage apron I ever purchased. I have had it for over 25 years, and it was pretty darn old when I bought it. It is hand appliqued with cherries along the bottom and the waist. It looks lovely over a nice dress as you prepare for your guests. I am not sure what this fabric is called, it is cotton but has little flecks of black all through it. With the black trim it really looks nice. Someone spent a lot of time on this apron, and it shows.

Every cherry and leaf and piece of trim is handsewn, and it has a nice flare to it to show off a trim waist.

Open the door and let those folks in Grandma, I am definitely well prepared.

I am ending with an apron which is perfect for summer. Watermelon and grapes, pretty bib and a nice full skirt. Very 4th of July.

I will leave you with a little poem I wrote to celebrate our aprons and Grandmas:

Grandma wraps her apron round her ample little waist,

She gathers up the flatware and slaps flapjacks on our plates.

The apron strings are flapping as she shoos us out the door,

and after we are off to school her apron mops the floor!

Easter Bonnets, Circa 1958

Here is the lovely and talented Joanne Woodward on the cover of Family Circle Magazine in April of 1958:
And the article inside featuring designer Easter bonnets:


I could write a sonnet, about your Easter bonnet.....

Ham For Easter?

I like ham. I do. But for some reason I cannot explain, we don't seem to ever have it except occasionally for Easter dinner. Do you have ham for Easter?
It sounds good to me:
Looks good, too - pineapple? Interesting - I think I'd like that, too:
I also like it with mustard - either on a sandwich, or just cold with a little slather of mustard on top:

What do you serve with it? I'm fond of potato casseroles - either scalloped potatoes or one of those casserole recipes that uses frozen hashed browns.
This magazine article has menu suggestions:
Angel food cake would be a nice, lighter dessert. And a fruit plate? Great idea:
Or, perhaps you agree that a gelatin salad would be a nice accompaniment to your brunch or dinner? This butterfly idea is pretty - but I wouldn't put vegetables in it like this recipe called for. Nope - fruit only in my gelatin salad,, please:

Need another dessert suggestion? Lemon meringue pie sounds just right for a springtime ending to a nice holiday meal:

So - what's on your menu? Please share! We would love to hear.....

Easter Decor

Just a few photos I snapped of our Easter decorations - on the dining room table:

In the sunroom window (I had to put something behind it to hide the window reflection for the photo):

The little "hat" on her head is actually a vintage sachet - but it seemed perfectly suited to serve as an Easter bonnet on this great wooden lady. I believe in her former life she may have been a hat stand:
My Easter tree:
These characters reside on top of the buffet in the dining room. I found the great pink ceramic Easter bunny at a thrift store last year, half price after the holiday. And it looks to me like that little rabbit at the bottom right has found his very own "Laughing Place"!
And, in this last picture, I just stuck various things in and around what was already inside this cabinet- to try and make it look Easter-ish!

Hippity, hoppity, "happity" Easter week to you!

Decorating Easter Eggs

There are so many different ways to decorate Easter eggs, aren't there? Dye them with packaged dye and vinegar, with natural plant dyes, or use old silk ties like Martha showed us a while back, blow the egg out and paint them or make something with them, make sugar eggs with little panoramic scenes inside, buy candy eggs ( but which type to choose? To heck with choosing, just get them all!), and use them in your decorating scheme -
the possibilities are endless, really. The wonderful and colorful ideas in the April issue of Martha Stewart Living are to "dye" for!

There are some rather unusual ideas in this 1950's Family Circle magazine article:

And there are more great ideas in the current issue of Family Circle Magazine, too:
And don't forget beaded and beribboned eggs like these that were available as kits from Walco in 1972:

Or maybe you would rather choose gorgeous brightly dyed eggs like the ones in this old advertisement for McCormick/Schilling food coloring:

Here is a cute little Paas ad from the back of an old magazine. Did you know they've been around for more than 125 years?
I checked online with Harry and David, and they don't offer anything like these anymore - I wonder why not? I like the idea. Maybe I could even make some of my own.....
You know, I like a nice hard-boiled egg as well as the next person - good old egg salad and all that. But I think if I were going to choose my FAVORITE kind of decorated egg, it would be THESE:
Fabulous, decadent chocolate See's eggs are what I want, what I really really want.....

More Paisley - Because I Can't Help Myself

Just a few more paisley clothes from the past. Why? Well, just because I like paisley. And, like I said, because I can't help myself. I shared some of them with you in an earlier post, but I have found some more since then.
First of all, this pretty blouse. I would love to have a blouse just like this. Such pretty colors!

This dress was made from McCall's pattern #6633:
And this one was McCall's #6723:
An advertisement for Pat Perkins dresses, from 1963:
Paisley pants,from Seventeen magazine:

And this dress is from Seventeen magazine, as well. (Circa 1970). I wish I had it, too. Isn't it gorgeous?:

Hope you liked them!
Just because.

Recent Pictures Of Our Booth

I just wanted to share with you the most recent photos I have taken of our booth:




That's it for today, and I hope you enjoyed seeing them.