Thrifty Acres: Spring Fling 1968

Hello! Well, in spite of it being cooler than average most days, spring really has arrived. My daffodils are blooming and some of my tulips won't be far behind. The snow peas, lettuces and greens that I'd sown outside have emerged from the soil as well. 

So, what better time than the present to review the Spring-Summer 1968 edition of McCall's Needlework & Crafts? (an estate sale find). Just be forewarned, there's going to be the bizarre along with the okay stuff! 

Let's start things off with a hand-knit "groovy dress":

How do I know that it's groovy? Well, because of the accompanying copy, that's how:

But for a more formal look, there's this duo:

Matching knit dresses, "Pretty enough for a day in town, causal enough for a trip to the zoo" we are told. Really? I was about the age of the girl in the photo when this magazine came out, but I don't remember hand-knit dresses and white tights being a typical outfit for a trip to the zoo! 

Another knitwit duo:

The plaid garments have been knit and then paired with a skirt or sleeveless shift dress. Not a bad look, which is more than what I can say about the following:

Yikes! I don't know what's worse, the light pink number , the model's stiff hairdo or the weird look on her face. Somehow, she ends up looking like a Barbie doll wearing some knit thingie meant for a larger doll. But if you want to be like the magazine, just say Barbie's wearing a "peppermint-stick cape collar". Sounds a lot better than saying she's wearing oversized doll clothes! 

Not a knitter? Well, there's plenty of non-knitting projects - some good and some not-so-good. I'll show off the good first, like:

The abstract designs on these drinking straw and napkin holders still look pretty cool, I think. 

A pretty clever design, with one half of the butterfly on each of two pillows. We are told that only two embroidery stitches (chain and outline, in case you were wondering) are used, so this would be easy to work up.

Yes, there's some good projects, now for the bad and the ugly!

Do you want to see an "amusing accent for a family room or den"? Then how about this "lady lion"?

That's a mirror where the lady lion's body should be. But I don't think her face would have encouraged me to look at my face in the mirror! 

Am I being too harsh in my assessment of that lioness? You tell me:

Looks pretty creepy to me! 

Ready for more creepy animal faces? Sure you are!

Not sure which one is uglier, the bunny or the cat. Let's just call it a tie! Both are "lively decor to cut from corrugated paper, paint...with vibrant color". 

It gets weirder, at least to my modern mind: the above description of that "lively decor" is preceded by the heading "FUN ART FOR TEENS". It's hard to imagine today's teens being happy with images of ugly animals! 

I know that upcycled crafts are currently very popular, so making something decorative from corrugated paper (ie corrugated cardboard) would fit right in with that trend. But let's hope that those animal faces don't EVER come back! 

The spring and summer of 1968 won't ever come back either, of course, but I enjoyed the flashback and I hope you did too.