Friday, June 29, 2018

Thrifty Acres: It's For The Birds!

Hello! I would describe myself as a casual birder: I have a current birding field guide and keep a running list of the feathered friends I've seen. I feed them in the winter and try to identify the various sounds they make. But I don't have binoculars and I've yet to go out on a organized excursion like the annual Audubon bird count. 

Speaking of birding field guides, I like the artwork and information of vintage ones. These are easily found at secondhand sources like thrift stores - and more recently, a church rummage sale. 

This Golden Nature Guide - Birds A Guide To The Most Familiar American Birds was published in 1956. The loose pages seen sticking out from behind the cover are due to the images I've already cut out of the book, such as this one:


The blue sections on the map represent the winter range of the bird in question, while the pink areas show the summer range. 

Of note here: for my home state of Michigan, in 1956 this particular bird only lived in the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula during the summer. This is noteworthy because this map is for the ranges of the now-so-common Canadian goose! 

Hard to believe this bird was once so rare in Michigan, but on the other hand, I can still recall my excitement the first time I saw a Canadian goose on a lake; this was in the mid-1960's. I'm sure that my daughter wouldn't even remember the first time she saw one, since they now seem to be pretty much everywhere there's grass with water nearby.

I was being rushed through a church rummage sale recently (my husband was with me, as we'd been in the process of traveling from one town to another on a weekend excursion), so I grabbed this after only a quick glance:

Bird Guide - Land Birds East of the Rockies, authored by Chester A. Reed. A look through the pages showed that it was an old birding guide, but I didn't realize how old until I viewed the title page later:

 

This guide came out in 1909!

This is a far more personal birding guide than the type I'm used to; Mr. Reed had opinions and wasn't afraid to write them. For instance, this passage about cats: "If a dog kills sheep or deer, he is shot and the owner has to pay damages; if a man is caught killing a bird, he pays a fine; but cats are allowed to roam about, without restriction, leaving death and destruction in their wake. All homeless cats should be summarily dealt with (did he mean killing?), and all pets should be housed, at least from May until August, when the young birds are able to fly."

Lots of luck telling your pet dog or cat that they have to stay indoors during the summer months!  

Mr. Reed had opinions about birds too. For example, the blue jay: "...unfortunately they have a very bad reputation." But the indigo bunting is "A jolly summer songster".  However, Mr. Reed apparently didn't care for the song of the red-eyed vireo: "All through the spring and summer months their warble is heard from woodland and roadside, often becoming so monotonous as to be irritating." Well, really - it's not as if this bird warbles as it does just to be irritating!

Some bird lover - Mr. Reed seemed like a bit of a crank about them 
at times! 

Remember my surprise at seeing the 1956 range map for the Canadian goose? The 1909 field guide also had a big surprise for me, courtesy of this bird:
Reed had this to say about cardinals: "They are southern birds, rarely seen in the northern U.S. unless in cages, for large numbers of them are trapped for this purpose, a practice that is being stopped as rapidly as possible by enforcing the laws which protect them." 

Wow, I had no idea cardinals never used to live in Michigan! And it seems bizarre that they were once trapped to live in cages for northerners' pleasure. I can understand wanting to have them around, though, since they're such a pretty bird (well, the males, anyway)and have pretty songs too. 

Another bird whose habitat was far more limited in 1909 than today:


The starling. Mr. Reed informed us "These European birds were introduced into New York a number of years ago, and are now common there and spreading to other localities in Connecticut and about New York City."  According to my modern guide, The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds Eastern Edition, this introduction occurred in 1890. 


Mr. Reed worried: "How they will affect other bird life, in case they eventually become common throughout the country, is a matter of conjecture, but from what I have seen of them, they are quarrelsome and are masters of the English Sparrow, and may continue their domineering tactics to the extent of driving more of our song birds from the cities."

As I'd said at the beginning of this post, I'm only a casual birder, but it seems to me that the English sparrow - also known as the house sparrow - has done just fine since 1909. This sparrow, and the starling, are now both very common in the US. My Audubon Field Guide shows the same range map for these birds: every state in the lower 48. 

Not surprisingly for such an old volume, Reed's book is beginning to fall apart. No matter - after I'm done reading more of his birding opinions, it'll join the Golden Nature Guide as a "cutter" book to be used in projects. And such usage certainly isn't for the birds!


Saturday, June 23, 2018

Get Carded: My Kind Of Greeting Cards

Hello! Two occasions this past week called for greeting cards, so I spent some time in my studio making them.

Father's Day came first:

  • white card stock
  • scrap from vintage atlas page for a map of Illinois
  • vintage postcard of a scene along the Chicago River
  • "Blank kind of town Chicago is" stamped in black ink on white card stock scraps, then affixed to card. The "blank" piece has my husband's name stamped on it. He didn't want his name shown here, so I removed it for this blog post. Thus, instead of saying the song line "My kind of town Chicago is", the card actually reads "Blank's kind of town..."
Chicago really is my husband's kind of town, since it's his hometown! 

The Chicago card theme was chosen because of the Father's Day gift I gave him this year: an e-subscription to the Chicago Tribune. He had enjoyed reading the online version of that paper until it began using a paywall. From time to time he would talk about getting an e-subscription, but hadn't gotten around to doing so. Now he doesn't have to. 

(Note: he also got a homemade bread and a favorite dinner for the occasion.)

I have a friend whose birthday is always easy to remember: it's on the same day as the birthday of one of my nephew's. Here's the card I sent her:


  • white card stock
  • scrap of vintage ledger paper
  • reproduction of Victorian scrap 
  • "wish" stamped on the scrap piece
  • white card stock piece edged with red ink; "happy birthday" stamped with red ink
  • ribbon accent
A close-up of the design:

I like how the "wish" stamping looks like it was part of the design all along. 

And there you have it, two examples of my kind of greeting cards.



    Thursday, June 14, 2018

    Thrifty Acres: Christmas In June Part Two

    It's going to get pretty hot here over the next couple of days, so how about cooling off by thinking of Christmas - as seen in Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas for 1962. (My previous post, seen here, covered Part One). 

    Let's get right to it:

    "Designers show modern ways to do old things" the magazine declares. Guess that was the explanation for covering a pine with "rich purple spray paint". 

    I thought these figures were kind of whimsical: old flash bulbs made to look like people. Bits of cotton balls were used to form ears, noses and chins, then covered with crepe paper and painted over. Sections of cardboard egg cartons were used to form the bases. 

    Like I'd said, whimsical - but I've not seen old flash bulbs around lately, so I won't be trying out this idea. 

    Being a greeting card crafter, I took note of this project: "With only two folds, eleven clips with your scissors, and some embossed gold paper tassels, you can quickly make cards in quantity". 

    Indeed, the card would be easy to craft, but the cost of creating it would be another story. For each card, you start with a piece of green paper that measures 10 1/2" square. After the two folds are made, you end up with the card that's 10 1/2" long and 5" wide. You'd need to buy mailing envelopes big enough to hold these, which would add to the expense. But hey, they're easy to make, so why not, right?

    "Just wrap with foil you're set!" After gathering up long cylinders (wrapping paper core is one suggestion), metal foil paper and small Christmas tree balls, that is. The two objects on the table below the decked-out cylinders are treated in a similar manner, to become a place card holder and a napkin ring. I like the idea of metal foil paper, but using it to wrap cylinders seems a little weird to me. 

    A round of DIY gifts:

    "A felt record carrier that will attend every party". Gee, does the girl with the carrier get to come along too?

    The handcrafted placemats feature contrasting fabric inserts with embroidered appliques. Not only would it have taken some time to craft that set of four, but three of the four are shown in off-white fabric. (Why only one is shown in blue - the placemat in the back - is beyond me!) Yet it's suggested that these can be used at barbecues. No way I'd want to use these at a potentially messy meal!

    At first glance, I'd thought that this "Snowball centerpiece" used styrofoam, but no, a mixture of ten pounds of sugar and a half-cup of egg whites is packed into bowls, then hollowed out for easier handling. Once dry, they're adorned with various trims. Sounds like a variation of those sugar eggs one sometimes sees at Easter. 

    More kitchen ingredients, but this time with an edible purpose:

    For a holiday dinner, a frozen cranberry sauce-cream cheese/whipped cream concoction. I bet this would still go over well enough in a genteel setting. 

    And for the children's table:


    Marshmallow Men decorate a chocolate cake. On second thought, this had better not go to the children's table: as cute as these little figures are, they're not edible! The eyes and noses are made with colored glass-head pins and sequins were used to suggest buttons. The marshmallows themselves are stuck together with glue. The hats are made from paper. I'd rather see these made to be eaten. Martha Stewart, are you listening? 

    Now check this out:

    "It's a time for the boys to entertain. Holiday time is as good a time as any for a stag". Where are the women? Out holiday shopping? Spray painting Christmas trees purple? Buying more metal foil paper? The magazine doesn't say. 

    By the way, does this look like a "boy" to you?

    Didn't think so; looks like a man to me! And speaking of men, he's manhandling the main course of this "Bachelor's Feast", Deviled Bones. These are barbecued beef rib-roast bones. "Allow about 1 1/2 pounds beef bones for each hungry man. Snip between bones. Eat in Henry VIII style!" 

    Whatever that means. Don't think that Henry VIII also had Hot Mulled Cider with Orange Buoys, 1-2-3 Cheese Spread, Assorted Crackers, Can-can Baked Beans, Red Slaw, Green Slaw, Garlic Bread, Neiman-Marcus Apple Pie and Coffee to go along with those beef bones. 

    A lot of food for "the boys", yes? But no worries: "To complete the meal, call on wives for finishing touches". So much for it being a Bachelor's Feast!

    I've come to end of this post, so here's one last bit from Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas 1962:

    "Give ideas for happier living" - and what are Mom, Dad and young Janey holding up? Why, books produced by Better Homes & Gardens, of course! An all-purpose cookbook, a handyman's book and a gardening book are shown. Not shown are the other books available, which include cookbooks for holidays, desserts, barbecues, casseroles and more food subjects. Topics such as money management, decorating, first aid, babies and more are also covered. 

    (The girl doesn't actually have a name in the ad; I just made it up for her.)

    Better Homes & Gardens must still be proud of these volumes, for recently they've come out with facsimile editions of some of these publications. But why pay today's prices for copies of yesterday's books? The originals, just like the ones Mom, Dad and Janey got for Christmas, show up often in thrift stores, for far less money!

    My two-part post on this magazine showed off several Christmas ideas, but I was tempted to include even more. It was a very entertaining magazine and I was sorry when I finally came to the end of its 163 pages. So much fun! 

     

    Saturday, June 9, 2018

    Thrifty Acres: Christmas In June Part One

    Yeah, I know that "Christmas In July" is a thing, not "Christmas In June", but if you read my previous post, you know I bought a bunch of vintage Christmas magazines recently. 

    I've been looking them over this past week - sometimes with approval, other times with horror. And the best examples of both emotions were found in this issue:

    Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas for 1962. There's enough of the good, the bad and ugly to get more than one post from this magazine!

    In reference to the two ornaments shown above, the magazine asks "Do these look like anyone you know?" Thankfully, I can answer no. These  were made by decorating plain ornaments with various trims. Not a bad idea, but why these were supposed to look like actual people, I have no idea!

    "This paper sculptured star can be made by anyone who can cut paper with scissors!" So I guess that means that I can make these, and that I may some time. 9"x12" construction is folded twice and cut. Several of these are stapled together to make a "star". 


    Above, a large chicken wire cone is covered with tissue paper sections that have been poked through the holes. Not sure why pink, blue and white tissue papers were used. I guess I'm a traditionalist; I'd prefer to see something like this in shades of green. 

    Now here's something I haven't seen before: a "tree" made by hanging tortillas on it. Tortillas are "corn-meal pancakes", we are informed, and they've been decorated with "red Mexican beans".


    Okay, here's something I thought was bad. The poster board tree shapes aren't bad, although the blue one looks more like a rocket ship to me. Well, it was the "Space Age" after all. But the stick-like objects you see on each tree are Q-tips. Ugh. No. 


    Another modern interpretation of a Christmas tree, but I like this better: triangle shapes of wood displayed on wooden dowels and spool bases. Blue and pink show up again though! 

    This angel would take a lot of time to make: "angular swatches of self-adhesive cloth arranged in symbolic design of an angel". The background shown is black felt, but "Your background can be anything from felt or burlap to an old window shade". I'm not sure what "self-adhesive cloth" is, having never used it, but this is a project that looks like it could be worth the time. 

    Skipping gears a bit, the next two photos show off handmade toys.

    Small boxes are covered and decorated with adhesive-backed, plastic coated papers (another material I'm not familiar with) to resemble a family. A shoebox is decorated in a similar manner to look like a house. 

    I think this is a cute idea, but small boxes and a shoebox - just how durable would this set be? I'd be inclined to use different sizes of wooden blocks for the family myself. 

    Another less-than-sturdy toy:


    A lion made from paper-covered cardboard. More Q-tips again: here, the tips have been dipped in paint. But really, another toy made of cardboard? How long before someone would have flattened that thing by accidentally stepping on it? 

    So, I could see making this for fun, like on a rainy Saturday afternoon, but as a Christmas present? If I'm going to craft a toy, I'd want to make one that's going to last!

    Two more photos for this post, both related to gift wrap ideas:



    A gold metallic paper paint palette, colored ball "paints" and a gilded paint brush. Suggested for an artist friend. 

    And for a music lover:


    The gift is wrapped in old sheet music, with the use of balls again to form part of the notes. (The instructions don't say what the rest of the notes are made from; I assume some sort of black paper). 

    All for now, but I'll be back in my next post to show off Part Two!