Vintage Halloween Finds - From Current

I found some neat vintage things from Current recently that I wanted to show you.
These three large paper masks from 1979 in their original packaging were discovered at the Habitat For Humanity ReStore...
The Witch::

The Owl:

And the "Funny Man":

And these are two pages out of a Current cookbook from 1980, "Special Dishes For Special Days",
with recipes for most of the holidays, including Halloween..
You can make Witches Brew:

or perhaps Pumpkin Bread and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds:

And one more thing, these pretty labels are from 1979 just like the masks, and we have a pumpkin in the mix, so they fit right in with my fall scheme here today:

I've always liked Current, and it tickles me when I find some of the older stuff at thrift stores.

Baker's Coconut Cakes #8 Another Witch

I posted one of these Coconut Cakes from a Baker's Coconut cookbook two years ago on this same date, but I found an older version of the "Cut-Up Cakes" cookbook from 1956 at a thrift store, and I wanted to share this one with you, as well.
It's a little bit different from the one back in my other post.

 It's a "Hallo Witch"!

Well, "Hallo" there!
She's a Witchy Woman.
And yet, she actually looks kind of nice.
For, you see:
"Whether she's a glad witch or a mad witch is up to you."
(Are you a good witch  ...or a bad witch?")

Scorpio!

It's the day to turn the page once more on my wonderful vintage Zodiac calendar!
I am digging this great and colorful Scorpion:

Saturday, October 24th - perfect:

And, as always, I had to somehow "decorate " the area above it, since the only way I was able to hang it without damage was on this multi-clip coat hanger:

Here's a closer look:

Just a bunch of things I like!
Gee - most of them just happen to be vintage - I wonder how that happened?

(Vintage 1970 calendar from Determined Productions, with artwork by the unbelievably talented Bruce and Ann Butte).

What's Penny Wearing? #127 Thrifted Sweaters For Fall, Along with Vera Bradley Scarves

I found some great cardigan sweaters for fall at a thrift store, and I've had fun pairing them with my gorgeous Vera Bradley scarves in different combinations.
The orange sweater I found looks great with my orange long-sleeved tee underneath and this scarf in the "Canyon" pattern:

And also with the "English Rose" scarf, this time with a brown tee:

It looks equally nice with the gorgeous "Provencal" scarf, which Tina gave me for my birthday exactly three years ago, by the way!
 I still love it just as much as I did the day I received it:

This sweater is really quite nice with it's speckled yarn, shawl collar and pretty buttons:

The green cardigan I found looks great with "English Rose", too:

And here, I paired it with a plum-colored long-sleeved tee underneath and the "Portobello Road" scarf:

But it looks great with "Provencal", too!

 There are other possible combinations, too, but perhaps I have gotten a little carried away.
 These particular scarves were only made in those four patterns, and they have other styles of scarves now, but I liked this size, style and fabric choice the best. Had they been available in more patterns, I'd have probably wanted them all (so maybe that's a good thing.)
 Since I am rather a Vera Bradley nut, I actually have bags to match three out of four of these scarves, and you can see that putting them together with my different colored tees, it makes them extremely versatile.
I really like this olive green cardigan, too - I think it's so nice that it has covered buttons, even on the sleeves:

Now, all I ask is that our weather here in the foothills actually be cool enough for me to WANT to wear a sweater and a scarf!
We'll see about that.......

Patterns From The Past: An Assortment From Butterick

We'll start off today with this pretty dress, below, made from Butterick pattern number 6442 - from the pages of Seventeen Magazine, circa 1972:

As you can see, the very same dress is shown below in this advertisement for "Unique" zippers:

And here is a picture of the variety of  styles shown on the front of pattern 6442:

The top that you see hanging in front of the dress and the skirt just to the left of that in the zipper advertisement are from this Betsey Johnson Butterick pattern, number 6534, View A:

(This one can also be seen back in this post  where I wrote about a number of Betsey's vintage patterns.)
The plaid top hanging up with the solid-colored skirt is from Butterick number 6731, below (sorry this poor quality photo was the only one I could find!):

And then I believe the plaid sleeveless dress or jumper is from Butterick 6668, seen here - View B in a sleeveless version, I think?
Maybe without the buttons on the bodice:

That's it for today, and this slightly different take on my "Patterns From The Past" series.

Happy birthday to my little sis!

Good morning, Tina here.

I am wishing my sister Heidi a happy birthday a bit early.  I am going to share some October postcards in lieu of a birthday card.

Heidi was born on the cusp, which is the date that the horoscope changes. Some of the horoscope dates say that October 23 is at the end of Libra, and some claim it is the beginning of Scorpio. It was confusing, so I did some digging.

I looked up the year she was born, and if she was born after 6:34 am, her sign is Scorpio. Several of the postcards I found include the 23rd as a Libra (right at the end) and a few show Scorpio starting that day. In Heidi's case, it is Scorpio unless she was born before 6:34 am. Only Little Sis can tell us for sure!

Golden Rod and Opals, two very beautiful fall-colored items.

I love the border art work on the postcard above.

Oh dear, born of woe? Let's get those opals out right away!

Here's a Libra card, just in case Heidi was born before 6:34 am.

And yet another Libra card.

A bit of a strange poem on the card above.

Translation please?

Hops and opals and scorpions on a beautifully drawn postcard.

Aquamarine and emerald are beryls. Apparently this card agrees with the born into woe card above, but we can shower her with these jewels, add some opals, and take care of that!  This card also shows hops again for October. The Octoberfest celebrants know all about that!

Wishing Heidi the very happiest of birthdays!

The Fat Cat Books

First of all, let me begin by saying that I have been working on collecting these fabulous vintage coloring books for a good long while  - WAY before the current adult coloring book craze or phase!
(I don't imagine you remember the posts I wrote back in 2008 and 2010 about the vintage Betty Schaffner book I've had since the late 1960's? If not, you may enjoy going back to read the first one and the second one.)

"The Fat Cat" series of books written by Karen Whyte and illustrated by Donna Sloan - which I find absolutely delightful, by the way - are from the 1970's.
I have only been able to find copies that have some pages inside which were colored back in the day by the  original owners.
We'll start off with "Fat Cat's Cookbook":

And we have three of the pages from inside, starting with a charming barnyard scene:

Bees and butterflies:

Exotic birds:

Here is "The Fat Cat Coloring and Limerick Book":

And a partially colored page from inside of that one:

And, last of all today, is this one - "Fat Cat's Craft And Coloring Book":

This one has some of the pages colored either completely or partially, as well:

Most of the colored ones inside the books that I own were done very neatly, which I appreciate very much!

I plan to finish the ones that weren't completed:

I think it will be fun!

I think the designs and artwork in these books is simply sensational.
I love them.
(These books were published by Troubador Press.)

"New" Vintage Vera Neumann Scarves For My Collection - Only Two

I have managed to find just two vintage Vera Neumann scarves
since my last post about them.
This one was found in Fort Bragg at one of the thrift stores:

It was hard to get a good picture of that one - it's one of those very sheer sort-of "chiffon" type scarves.
And isn't the pink and red one, below, pretty?

Can't remember where I found that one!
That's it for today, but you know I will always be on the lookout for more.
And I love to share them with you.

A Cute Vintage Washboard-Style Magnetic "Bulletin Board"

I realized the other day that I have never shown you this cute item that Tina gave me a few years ago.

It's the cutest vintage "bulletin board" type of thing, but in the style of a washboard,
 with a place to hang things up with magnets on the metal part, and also hooks along the bottom.
Isn't it cool?

 And, with the train on the top, it is just perfect for this house because my husband is a MAJOR railroad buff
(along with actually being a retired engineer/brakeman/conductor).
Here's a shot of the back of it:

 The only time I have ever seen anything like it is in the photo you see below.
 It's a picture from a feature on bathrooms in Seventeen Magazine from 1972.
 I think you can see that hanging on the wall there is one that is very similar, with something different in the top portion (perhaps a small chalkboard area - I really can't tell).

So I know it's from 1972 or thereabouts, and, as you may have gathered from a lot of my collections, I DO love my stuff from the 70's!
Thank you again, Tina!