Sequins Galore!

I've written before about my love for vintage Christmas crafting done with felt, sequins, and beads, and so today I just wanted to share with you some of my favorites. (Some of them you may recall having seen before, but I couldn't help myself.)
They're just so darned sparkly and festive! Most of my items were purchased on eBay. So much work went into all of these. I love my trees that are decorated on both sides:

Close-up on the deer, the tree, and the apple:

I purchased this gorgeous Noel banner from Elizabeth Holcombe's etsy shop:
Santa has a pouch to hold "Christmas Mail" - I got him a number of years ago:
Detail of the tree that is on my huge stocking I found downtown at an antiques shop:
And these poinsettias are from the same stocking:

This tree is one of my favorites:
I mean - just LOOK at all of those sequins!

Last, but never least by any means, my own very dear vintage Christmas stocking, lovingly made by mother so many years ago. As always, it has been "hung by the chimney with care":

Happy Night Before Christmas, everybody!

Tina, Would You Bring the Pies This Year?

Good morning, Tina here, a day late. We had some terrific storms last weekend and they left my computer feeling rather raggedy, me too, since I was battling the flu the whole time. But it was a good weekend to spend in bed in my bathrobe planning my addition to our Christmas dinner, which will be at my niece's home. I am bringing pies. I love to bake pies. All the Gold Country Girls do, and if you have been reading our blog, you may notice we have included pies several times. Our mom was a champion pie baker, who was well known for her lemon meringue, which were avidly bid on during the Southside Farm Bureau pie socials when we were young.

In 1978 my mother gave me a wonderful cookbook, The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. It is large, heavy, red, and now the back cover is about to fall off, and my favorite pages are mottled and wrinkled from standing open as I cooked. I may have to replace it soon, but if I do, I am looking for another vintage copy just like mine.

This post I am going to share some of my favorite pie recipes from that cookbook. I have slightly changed some of them, but only to make them a bit better. When I am cooking pies, I try to use only the best ingredients. Butter, whole milk, fresh squeezed lemon juice, etc.

The next two photos are of our pies from last Christmas.
Flaky Pastry
(for one 2 crust pie or two 8 or 9 inch pie crusts)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening (My note: Crisco is best, be sure your shortening is well chilled. This is important!)
iced water

In medium bowl, with fork, stir flour and salt. With pastry blender cut shortening into flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with pea-sized pieces.

Sprinkle 5 to 6 tablespoons very cold (iced is best) water, a tablespoon at a time, into flour mixture, mixing lightly with a fork after each addition until pastry is just moist enough to hold together. With hands, shape pastry into two balls (if for one pie, make one ball slightly larger than the other - smaller ball is for top crust). Flatten dough into 1/2 inch thick round disks, wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

I am not going to tell you how to roll or put in the pie plate - but one thing is important, don't overwork the dough, roll it out as quickly as you can, you want to keep it cool.

Sour-Cream Pumpkin Pie

One 9 inch unbaked pie crust

3 eggs, separated

One 16 oz can pumpkin (2 cups)

1 cup sugar

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

Early in day or day before serving:

Prepare pie crust with fluted edge, refrigerate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In small bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites just until soft peaks form. In large bowl, with same beaters and with mixer at low speed, beat pumpkin with egg yolks and remaining ingredients until well blended. With wire whisk or rubber spatula, gently fold whites into mixture.

Place pie plate on oven rack; pour pumpkin mixture into pie crust. Bake 10 minute; turn oven control to 350 degrees and bake pie 1 hour and 5 minutes more or until filling is set. Refrigerate.

California Lemon Pie

One 9 inch unbaked pie crust

3 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup milk

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon grated lemon peel

Early in day:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prick pie crust with fork; bake only 8 minutes; set aside. Turn oven control to 350 degrees. In small bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; beating at high speed, gradually sprinkle in 1/2 cup sugar; beat until sugar is completely dissolved. In large bowl, with same beaters and with mixer at medium speed, beat 1/2 cup sugar with butter and egg yolks until well mixed; at low speed, beat in milk, lemon juice, flour and lemon peel. With wire whisk, gently fold whites into yolk mixture; pour into pie crust. Bake pie 35 to 40 minutes until knife inserted about 1 inch in from side comes out clean. Refrigerate.

Cranberry-Nut Pie (this is such a different way to enjoy cranberries - try it, you'll like it!)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

3/4 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

3 cups cranberries

1/2 cup dark seedless raisins

1/2 cup chopped California walnuts

2 tablespoons butter

pastry for one 2 crust 9 inch pie

About 2 hours ahead or early in day:

In medium saucepan, stir sugar with cornstarch; stir in 1/4 cup water, corn syrup and lemon peel; over medium heat, heat to boiling. Stir in cranberries, raisins, and walnuts; cover and cook until cranberry skins pop, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Cool 30 minutes but do not stir while cooling. Meanwhile, prepare pastry.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roll out half of pastry and line 9 inch pie plate.

Pour cooled cranberry mixture into pie crust. Prepare top crust. (A lattice top looks really nice on this pie if you have the time). Bake 40 minutes or until crust is golden. Serve warm or cold.

Mince Pie (I happen to love mince pie, especially with hard sauce. Most of my family does not. This is the best recipe for non-mince believers, because it has a lot of apples in it, it calms the flavor down somewhat).

One 18 oz jar prepared mincemeat (2 cups)

1 1/2 cups coarsely broken walnuts

2 large apples, cored and diced

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup brandy or rum (optional -but adds a lot of flavor!)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pastry for one 2 crust 9 inch pie

Hard Sauce for garnish

Day before:

In medium bowl, stir first 6 ingredients until well mixed; cover and refrigerate overnight to allow flavors to blend.

About 3 hours before serving:

Roll out half of pastry and line 9 inch pie plate. Preheat oven to 425 degrees . Fill with undrained mincemeat mixture.

Add top crust. (You can make a lattice top crust for this - it looks wonderful that way). Bake 30 to 40 minutes until golden. Serve warm, topped with Hard Sauce. (recipe follows)

Hard Sauce:

1/3 cup butter softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Early in day:

In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter with sugar until creamy; beat in vanilla. Spoon mixture into serving dish; refrigerate until serving time. Makes 2/3 cup.

Now for the hardest part, which pies to make? Right now I am thinking California Lemon Pie and Sour Cream Pumpkin. But I may add another pie or change my mind. Dare I make mincemeat? (Actually that could be the extra, because afterwards I will bring the leftovers home and eat it all myself - my husband is one of the non-mince folks).

Merry Christmas to all of you out there in blogland. Enjoy your holiday and share it with all of your family and many of your friends.

Then And Now #76 Scotch Brand Tape

Well, wrapping is always one of the very last things I do - and I've really been going through the Scotch Tape this week! Seemed a perfect time for a trip down memory lane with another of my favorite products (Yes, brand loyalty is big around here. I've mentioned before that I'm sick of trying - and being unhappy with - inferior products. I use coupons, and I stock up when things are on sale, so I don't feel one bit of guilt about getting what I believe to be the best.) First up is a Scotch Tape advertisement from 1948:

1951 - I adore those old decorated tapes!:

How about some "Hollywood Tape Tricks" with Bing, Bob, and Dorothy? (1952)

Scotch Brand Freezer Tape from 1955:

1956 asks the question "Which Scotch Brand Tape do you need today?":

Design your own Cut-Ups with with Scotch Plastic Tape! 1968:

Magic Transparent Tape, 1970:

1973 - Transparent Tape "Never Yellows Stays Clear":
Holiday Taping Tips, also from 1973:

3M has SO many different Scotch Brand tape products available today!
These are just some that I have on hand "Now":


Happy taping to you.
And may all your packages stay intact.

My Favorite Candelabra

I must admit, I have shown you my favorite candelabra before, in the photo below:
But, maybe you weren't reading my blog then, or maybe you don't remember it, right? I figured it was worthy of another post.
The large birds were Martha Stewart from K-Mart - I miss that stuff. I added a couple more, smaller, bird ornaments, and the little clock ornament just seemed to fit, also. I even found the perfect little runner to place beneath it:

I found this picture in one of my vintage magazines. I think mine might be a little bigger, but this one appears to hold regular-sized tapers, and mine holds little bitty candles:
(But, I certainly wouldn't mind adding that one to make a pair - I'm just sayin'!)

Christmas with Helen Gallagher

I would very much like to travel back in time and spend Christmas with Helen Gallagher and Foster House, so that I could purchase any number of these fabulous items that I found in this little attached catalog still intact inside one of my vintage Better Homes and Gardens magazines:

I do have a few of the items. In the page shown above, I have the tall Santa match holder, and the Holt Howard Santa items shown in the center picture at the bottom. I found the match holder and the salt and pepper shakers at thrift shops. I sure would like to find those little candle holders, below:
I was lucky that the Santa "ash tray" shown in both of the pages above (I prefer to use him as a candy dish or spoon rest) , and the napkin holder, below, were here in the house. And they'll be staying here!
There are a number of other items in these pictures that I would love to find.

Maybe some day...who knows?

Barbie Dress Up Day #14 Skipper's Skating Fun

No Barbie this time - it's Skipper's turn today - in her "Skating Fun" outfit.
Here she is again, below, wearing it on the cover of this vintage Barbie magazine.
I saw the magazine in a shop window on Thanksgiving when Lori and I walked downtown after dinner to do some window shopping. I went back just two days ago, and I thought for sure it was gone, but I looked all over the store and found it! See - it waited there just for me. How often does THAT happen?

I do not remember how old I was when I received my blonde Skipper doll for Christmas. I was so happy! I loved her. I think I got the doll in her box wearing her little red and white bathing suit , and then I was also given one outfit - "Skating Fun". The doll and outfit you see here are NOT my originals from back then.
You see, this story has a sad twist. We three girls went out to play that nice Christmas day, and I took my Skipper with me.
But then I LEFT HER OUTSIDE.
And our dog bit her arm off at the elbow.
I know.
I don't even want to think about how much trouble I got into. I believe I may have deleted it from my memory.
Yet, somehow - I think my beloved doll losing her arm before she even had a chance at life was somehow punishment enough for me.
Many years later, I found another Skipper, and I found the skating outfit, too. Naturally, I had to make them mine. I just realized that you can't really tell it in my photos, but this doll does have both of her arms intact.
(P.S. I'm sorry I was so careless with you all those years ago, Skipper. I truly am.)

Twinklers!

A little more nostalgia today. Did you have Twinklers on your tree when you were little? We had a few. And we loved them. I don't know what ever happened to them, but I have managed to find some of my own, and I'm delighted every time I do.

I found this picture in one of my books:

And this ad in one of my vintage magazines - from 1957:
And this is the box that held Twinklers , which I was lucky enough to find (I think there were six inside) in an antique shop in Yreka years ago:
We don't use C7 lights on our tree anymore, and Twinklers need the heat from light bulbs (or another source) in order for their little fans to spin - and Twinkle! So, this year, I put all of them on my little Martha Stewart "feather tree", and placed it in one of the warmest spots in the house, where the heat from our kerosene heater passes right by on it's way down the hall.
They're spinning like crazy this year!

Found In The Rafters

I've known for years that there were boxes up in the rafters of the garage that I "needed" to look into! It took a very long time, but hubby finally broke down and got them down so I could have a "look-see". (This is not something I could have done by myself - and I tried - I could NOT get up on our rickety old ladder by myself and stand on the very top to try to reach things, with cold hard cement beneath me. Not a good idea.) So he handed down box after box to me. And a good part of it was crap. But, not all of it.
The whole "bouquet" which you see planted in my vintage deer was there. The beaded spike sprays and the ornaments are all attached to each other. I love it. And I also found the red deer on the right:

And these two wonderful ornament "trees", which I had seen in an old photograph - I had dreamed I would find them one day! And my dream came true:
That picture is too dark - here's a brighter one. They are a wee bit wonky, but I don't mind one bit:

I found a funky old wreath form, and so I wrapped it with some pretty blue and green tinsel I found and made myself a wreath:
I found another light-up angel for my collection:

But my favorite thing? Oh, it has to be this FABULOUS little Glolite tree!! My husband remembers having it in his room when he was little. It lights up, and it rotates, and it's musical, too:

I love the decals on the red plastic base:

Yes, indeed, we found some pretty nice things among all of the yucky stuff, don't you think?