From Yard Sales And Thrift Shops

Between yard sales I went to with my sister the last weekend in June, and my most recent visits to thrift shops, I managed to come up with all of these goodies - Christmas stuff, including a box of blue Shiny Brites, and four boxes of the lights you see at left. (Christmas in July! Almost.)
A large basket that I thought would be nice to display linens on in the shop, a great Kerr Home Canning Book from 1948, rose-bordered sheet, a metal pagoda bookend, pretty floral tin, etc:
A wicker basket/tote, two of Armistead Maupin's books, a 1971 Simpicity pattern:
The colors didn't show up well in the photo above - here again are the pattern, a bright vintage handkerchief, and a packet of Just-A-Note cards:
I found a bunch of vintage hangers including one with my favorite crocheted covering, and some other different ones, but I just can't pass them up when they are cheap! They were bundled together in groups, and I like the quilted coverings, too. I also found some unused enamel white and black house numbers, and a small frame:
Everybody else had walked right by this dirty, crappy-looking pedestal dish at the best yard sale we hit - but not me. I snapped it right up for 75c!
Why, you may ask? Well, that would be because I already had the top for it at home!! I bought it over a year ago at a thrift shop. I just picked it up and thought "I'll bet I can find something this will fit on".

And, as it turns out, I was right. Not only did it fit - it is absolutely THE correct lid for the dish! I managed to find a place for it, and my husband has already filled it with candy.

Peter Max

You know me - I'm always finding something else that I had stashed away for years. Another recent example of that is this Peter Max Wrangler label. Obviously, I saved it simply because it was Peter Max! Too neat to throw away. Story of my life. The only thing I could think of was that I did have some jeans in high school that were bright red with white pockets and waistband. I remember wearing them to the El Dorado County Fair.
So, I did a little research on eBay, and look what I found - these sold recently for $73! Whoa.
I didn't save the jeans, but I DO still have my Peter Max Poster Book!
With all of the posters still intact inside - like this great one "don't smoke cigarettes".....
And this one he created for NBC:
Oh, yes, I am awfully glad that I saved so many of the things I did. I just wish I had MORE Peter Max stuff!
I love Peter Max.

Then And Now # 42 - Knudsen

Knudsen produces great dairy products, and some really great recipes can be found in some of their vintage cookbooks, like this one from 1953:
Here's another one from 1957:
On the back, a look at the products from that year:
Their ice cream offerings in 1959. Yum:
Another booklet from 1961:
And yet another look at their available products in that year:

The coffee cake that we have every Christmas morning is from one of those great old recipe booklets. It's fabulous. And I do use their sour cream, shown in the ad below from 2008:

And the "Now"? How about this current magazine advertisement:
Another "Now" would be this cottage cheese, which is in our refrigerator right now. I LOVE it - I always have some on hand. It's one of my favorite things to have for lunch, with some canned tuna or some turkey:

As a matter of fact, I will probably have some for lunch today!

My Stationery Stash

When I was much younger, and I wrote a lot of letters, I LOVED stationery. I decided way back then to save one example from each and every box of stationery or note cards that I bought, received, and used. The Betsey Clark stationery box that I showed you the other day held them all, and I got them out of storage recently and took a look through the box. So, that's what I'm sharing with you today. The card with the adorable kitten on it was, if I remember correctly, my very first one. And how cool is this round paisley paper?
Another round one with bright and pretty flowers, and I love the owl! I tried to include the envelopes in my scans, if they matched or coordinated with the card or paper.
If you don't see a special envelope, that means they were just plain white. Here's a cute Raggedy Ann, and others with bright, pretty colors:
As you can see, I loved roses even back then:
Lots of roses:
And some with cute little critters:
A little bit of gingham, and even some strawberries:
And there were a few more that I didn't include today.
I really got a kick out of seeing all of these again. And I remembered most of them. My sister told me that a couple of them were hers. I must have begged her for an example to include in my stash!

Needlepoint Roses

I found all of these at different times, in different places. This first one was just the needlework, glued to cardboard, which I got at a weird little "sale" that was set up on a table next to a gas station here in town years ago. I managed to find a frame that fit it perfectly. I love the gold thread woven into the backing:
And then when I found this framed piece, it just seemed to me that they belonged together:
And I don't even remember where I got this one - I just loved the pretty roses:
And I picked this one up at a thrift shop. It needs an oval frame with a vintage look- haven't found the right one yet:

I think I will pick up just about anything if it has pretty roses on it! I can't resist them.

Betsey Clark

Okay - so you knew this was coming - I showed you a calendar from 1970 - so how about one from 1980? Remember Betsey Clark?
Her little waif-like children were so adorable. I love how there is a calico border around each page:
When I found the calendar, I also found this little coloring book:

I had colored just a few of the pictures inside:
I didn't even remember that I had this little book:
So sweet:
And this is the top of a box that held Betsey Clark stationery; you see a sample of the paper with the box top:

There is more to come about my old stationery in a future post.
(All of these items are from Hallmark. I've mentioned before how much I love Hallmark!)

A Very Happy Fourth To You!!

And may you have a wonderful 4th of July holiday...
.....that is full of sunshine and sparklers and love for our great country!
I'll be watching the Boston Pops play Stars and Stripes Forever tonight (CBS, 9pm PDT), just like I always do! It simply doesn't feel like the 4th to me without it!
I do wish I could see some fireworks, though. I hope YOU get to!

What's Penny Wearing? #2

Penny is ready for a flag-waving Fourth tomorrow, wearing her vintage red star-spangled shirt that belonged to my mother-in-law, and a denim skirt that belonged to me! (She's a bit upset that she couldn't find her blue bandanna - but she does still have the whole day to look for it!)

Three cheers for the red, white, and blue!

I Love Strawberries!

LOVE them! Almost every day, I have been having strawberries from our local farmer's market with my yogurt for breakfast. It's my favorite breakfast (although I also love blueberries, but they are more expensive here.) Here they are in one of my latte bowls from Anthropologie. Underneath everything you can see the lovely tea towel I received recently from Twyla:
A lovely illustration from an old book:
Strawberry sherbet from Farm Journal's Freezing and Canning Cookbook:
From The Kerr Home Canning Guide (1948), canning or preserving strawberries:
And, last - but not least - Strawberry Shortcake from Better Homes and Gardens Dessert Cookbook (1960):
YUM.
P.S. Today marks my 600th post on this blog! I have actually posted every single day for over a year now.
Surely, I will run out of things to say at some point....

Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens

Just us chickens today! In the form of: pages from a vintage book that belongs to my sister, an orange chicken from Sweden that is painted in the Dala Horse style, and a ceramic chicken made for holding cheese cubes or olives on picks:
Another page from an old children's book - Mrs. Hen has decided she doesn't need a new hat after all, a good lesson in frugality for her chicks in these tough economic times:

Cookie cutters for when you want chicken-shaped cookies:

Bouillon that I bought only because I liked the chicken on the box, a page from a 1967 book "Hors D'oeuvre" (published by Determined Productions, Inc., same as the Zodiac Calendar ) , and a sandwich pick:
And three more chickens - these were here in the house:

And if you would like to hear the tune that inspired the title of this post, go have a listen here - it's a catchy little ditty!