Christmas In July - One Last Time.....

It's the last day of July, so just a few more Christmas finds from this month - if you'll indulge me?
I found this little cutie at a thrift store here in town that was having a "Christmas In July" sale, where everything was 75% off.
I'm pretty sure I was the first person that morning to even look at their Christmas section on the first day of the sale.

This was the only box of ornaments.
They went right into my basket:

It it's felt with sequins, I'm pretty much all over it.......

.... I'm sure there's a Barbara somewhere who would be delighted with this stocking and it's sweetness:

Two cute little vintage bottle brush trees!

And this gorgeous vintage Christmas poinsettia tablecloth:

This little Santa Claus, below makes his way (and very quickly, I might add!) "down" to the chimney.
He's marked "Japan" on the bottom:

These Christmas tags and the ornament in the next photo aren't all that old, but I liked them - and I also liked that the little ceramic house, (which is also a light cover), kind of goes with the red house on the tags.
 The little wooden drummer is from Midwest of Cannon Falls, and very well made with a cute face :

Donald Duck will fit right in with some other Disney figurines I have, I couldn't resist the little satin unbreakable ornaments,
 and while this ribbon dispenser box may not seem very exciting to you, I was happy to find it.

Hallmark doesn't make them any more, and I have a bunch of them. I think I've kept all of them I've gotten over the years.
I keep all different colors of curling ribbon in them, and they are the easiest dispensers I have ever found to use.
I'm a big curling ribbon enthusiast from WAY back; I love to combine colors to match the (preferably vintage) paper I use to wrap gifts.
Some nice finds, and the prices simply couldn't be beat!

A New Lady In The House

This morning we are heralding the recent arrival of a new lady in the house.
May I present to you Lady May Bedford Of Darlington:

We feel most honored that she has come to stay with us, and we have welcomed her into our home with open arms.

 It is our sincerest hope that she will be very comfortable - and happy - here.

 (I dare say - she's  really quite lovely, do you not agree?)

Poor Pitiful Pansies

Tina here. Late but it's still Wednesday. 

It's the end of July and it's very hot here in Kelsey.

I think it's about 106 degrees outside, at almost 5:00 p.m.

I planted pansies on my front porch and I showed you in a post on March 11th. It wasn't even officially spring yet.

Ishi showed you them again on May 13th. They had filled in and were lush and flower filled.

Now, in the midst of a drought, with a summer that has been now hot, now thundery, now humid, now windy, now cooler...

My pansies are plodding along pitifully praying for fall.

I knew it would be hard to get them through the summer when I planted them. Now I guess I should pull them out and plant something sturdy that would last into fall.

But then along come a few days that are only in the high 80s and the clouds scuttle by and it seems like the pansies don't look QUITE as bedraggled.  Maybe there are less of them wilting every day?

A couple of lone beautiful buds catch my eye.

A happy pansy face watches the rafters in the river go by.

Those bright flower faces deserve a chance to try to push into our upcoming fall.

I find myself pinching back the increasing flowers that are trying to form seedpods, admiring the floral display that is left, and stepping back through the screen into the cool air.

The flowers are left out there in the heat... poor pitiful pansies.

Beautiful Bartlett Collins Cookie Jars

Today I am simply sharing photos of gorgeous glass cookie jars made by Bartlett Collins.

 I have not (yet) been lucky enough to find one of these at a price I was willing to pay.

 I see them fairly often at antiques shops, but I'm hoping to find one at a thrift store.......

 ....at a "thrifty" price!

 A girl can dream, right?

 After all, stranger things have happened.

And I might get lucky.
You just never know.

Betsy McCall Does A Good Turn

I love these old Betsy McCall paper doll pages from McCall's magazine. I loved them when I was a little girl, and I still do.
In the 1960's, I used to cut them out and save them. (I still wish they had not been thrown away. I don't think it was me who did it!)
The one I'm showing you today is from 1958.
In this one, Betsy went across the street to see her friend Sue:

Baking gingerbread (or gingerbread cookies) for the Brownie troop!
Sounds like fun to me.......

Saving some for Grandma - that's a Brownie good deed.

Adorable. And we get to see details on what Betsy wore:

Such sweet little dresses.

I think the red jumper is my favorite:

They would list in the magazine where you could find Betsy's clothes at department stores in your area.
I wonder if any lucky little girls got to dress like Betsy on a regular basis?

What's Penny Wearing? #121: A Beautiful Sequined Skirt

Today Penny is showing off - er, I mean modeling - a gorgeous skirt I found at a thrift store:

Black cotton with silver embroidery and sequins in a gorgeous paisley design all over:

I just threw the black velvet top on her with it because it was the only thing I found.

Brand new with tags, from "WD.NY"......

I think it's a stunner:

And Penny likes it, too.

More From Bernice Stapleton

A reader wrote to me recently to tell me that she had found one of Bernice Stapleton's lovely works of art at a thrift store.
You may or may not recall that I wrote about her back in this post.
Well, I found more images of her art online, and I wanted to share them.
Because I just think they are beautiful:

Anyone who finds an example of her artwork, whether a painting or a multimedia piece, is lucky indeed, in my opinion:

The two pictured below are quite similar to the first one I found:

Aren't they fantastic?!

I'm still sorry that I didn't keep that first one.
But that's the way it goes - you can't keep everything!
(Some people might say that I try.....)
And sometimes, when you decide to let something go, you're sorry later.
That's just the way it goes.

Patterns From The Past: Cute Tops From Butterick 3024 and 3025

I found this picture in a vintage Seventeen Magazine, featuring three different models (that's Deborah Raffin in the middle) wearing three different tops, each made from one of two Butterick patterns.

The pink halter top's style is shown in View "E" on the front of this pattern below, number 3025.
 I remember wearing similar tops back in the 1970's.
I think we have pictures of Tina and Lori both, maybe, wearing halter tops.
And View "C" is the tank top worn by the model on the left in the photo:

The yellow top you see below (View D) is the style Deborah Raffin is modeling:

And that one is from Butterick pattern number 3024

Here's the rundown on the fabrics, patterns and tops from the magazine:

I don't know why I didn't get a picture of the facing page, but they mention pattern number 3159 and also 3131 for some pants.
 I found photos of those two patterns for you, also:

Now I think I might have to try and dig that magazine out again so I can add pictures of the other clothing they describe!
And the article also mentions that the Jon Peters Salons in Beverly Hills and Encino did the hair for the models on these photo shoots. Jon Peters is a successful hairdresser-turned-producer who dated Barbra Streisand, produced "A Star Is Born" (among other films), and was married to Lesley Ann Warren years ago.
Just thought I'd throw that in.
Hope you enjoyed this blast from the patterns past for today!