A Nightmare For Christmas

Hello! I'm fond of vintage Christmas craft magazines, so when I spot them at secondhand sources, I scoop them up if the price is right. Thus, this magazine came home with me from an estate sale over the summer:

The 1962 issue of Woman's Day Best Ideas for Christmas. 

If these were, indeed, the "best ideas for Christmas" that year, then I'm grateful I was a mere toddler at the time and thus too young to do this kind of crafting. Many of the results look like a house of horrors in December! A nightmare for Christmas? No thanks, but I feel compelled anyway to show off these creepy craft projects. 

Above, a "Santa Gift Pail". Now, it may seem like a nice idea to stash some goodies in a dressed-up container, but those construction paper eyes look just plain weird to me. Not crazy about the use of crumpled-up foil for the beard and hat either. By the way, the pail is  a paper paint bucket. Not sure what that item even is. 

A "Paper Strip Santa" is seen here. I suppose this isn't horrible, but again, the face looks weird. The eyes and nose are small Christmas ornaments, with foil cutouts around the eyes. 

But as weird as those eyes look, the collection of figures here seems even worse:

These are "Choir Boys for Buffet Table". Styrofoam balls form the heads of these, the better to attach faces out of paper cutouts and map pins. Mostly-bare styrofoam is a no-no in my book; it just looks plain cheap to me.

A close-up:

Ugh, I think that one in the middle will give me nightmares unless I move along real quick now.

And so I will, only to show off this next:

This Nativity set is made from...various breadstuffs. Now, I remember bread crafts in which a dough was made and tastefully formed into a wreath or other holiday shape. After baking and cooling, the bread was shellacked for reuse in years to come. 

Not so with this Nativity: we are told "Be sure to use very fresh bread". So yeah, you may start out with that, but how long will cut-up breads stay that way? And unless you're sure that your house is absolutely mice- and/or bug-proof, I sure wouldn't want to leave anything edible like this out. Perhaps the folks at this magazine only meant for this Nativity set to be left out a short while, but they don't say that anywhere in the directions. 

Besides, it rather seems like a waste of the "...variety of loaves, rolls, crackers, (English) muffins and bread sticks" one selects for the project, along with map pins, glass headed pins, beads, corsage pins, cafe curtain rings, brass washers, pipe cleaners and felt. The pipe cleaners are used to form shepherds' crooks. "Attach the crooks...with a stapler", we are informed. Well, what do you know, I learned something new! I never would have thought I could use a stapler on a chunk of bread! 

This "Pony-Tail Angel" is a fantasy in styrofoam, or at least the crafters at Woman's Day seemed to think. Both body and head are made of this material. At least the body is covered with pink gift wrap paper, but the head is not. Paper facial features and gold upholstery fringe are pinned to that styrofoam ball, leaving the majority of the styrofoam exposed. Besides the recurring nightmare of mostly-bare styrofoam, the eyes of this angel look bizarre (and the figure isn't well-photographed to boot.

I'm old enough to remember when circus clowns were merely considered funny and happy, but my daughter informs me they're definitely looked upon as sinister now. But even if that weren't the case,  this "Bottle Clown" would give me the creeps rather than the warm fuzzies. 

Here we have yet another bare styrofoam ball for a head. Although we aren't told what the facial features are made out of, they, like the yarn hair and bottle top hat, are affixed to the ball with jeweled pins. A bottle, presumably the one belonging the the cap, makes up the body. 

There are a number of other unfortunate-looking crafts in this magazine, but I'd better not show off anymore! After all, who really wants a nightmare for Christmas?



 



 

My Kind Of Black Friday Shopping

Hello! I've never been one to participate in the big Black Friday sales, but now that some of the local thrift stores have their own Black Friday sales, I'm all in those! 

I visited two such sales last Friday, where clothes and/or housewares had reduced prices for the day. I did check out both categories, but I couldn't resist the already-low prices of various Christmas items, such as:

A vintage Hallmark Beverage Ensemble- 16 coasters and matching napkins. Not sure how old this is, but I'm guessing from the 1960's. Similar NOS (new old stock) sets on eBay go for several dollars more than the one dollar I paid for mine. 

A nice assortment of vintage Christmas craft magazines. The one on the right is the oldest, dating from 1969. The one on the left is the newest; it came out in 1979. The two publications in between are both from 1976. The pieces of paper sticking out of these magazines were used by me to write down the page numbers of projects I may want to try in the future. 

Don't laugh - it's not unusual for me to see projects in these magazines, and realize I'd seen very similar crafts in their present-day counterparts. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that vintage craft magazines are perused by the folks at Martha Stewart Living and all those holiday "special publications" from Better Homes & Gardens to come up with ideas for their own issues. Of course, these modern crafters take advantage of present-day craft supplies when they write up their instructions. Naturally, I do as well.

At any rate, it was fun to look through these magazines; made a Thanksgiving weekend car trip fly by! Not bad for a total of one dollar for all. 

Another possibility for Christmas crafting, this time an older hardcover book:

Leslie Linsley's Christmas Ornaments and Stockings, published in 1982. I've picked up other craft books by this author at secondhand sources over the years. Most of her patterns are full-size, have good directions and are easy to make. This book is no exception; I saw many projects that would still look good today. 

Thus, it was no mystery that I'd fork over 50 cents for this book. What was a mystery to me is how this book ended up in West Michigan. It was once in the collection of the Bayard, Nebraska public library! 

Lest you think I just bought things that are decades old, here's the last purchase from my Black Friday thrift store shopping:

The current issue of Midwest Living magazine. I don't recall what its newsstand price is (maybe $3.99?), but it's certainly more than the quarter I spent! 

Such good deals I found on Black Friday! And just think, the same two thrift stores I visited then will start marking down their Christmas items in a couple of weeks or so. More shopping ahead for me!

Happy Thanksgiving And Scenes From Plymouth, Massachusetts

Hello! I've never actually never been to Plymouth, MA, but I bought this recently at a thrift store to add to my Thanksgiving decor:

It's a fold-up postcard. When its front and back covers are separated, several scenes around Plymouth around Plymouth are revealed.

The rock that started it all, Plymouth Rock, of course. 

The Fountain to Pilgrim Mothers, and the Pilgrim Maiden statue.

National Monument to the Forefathers, and a drawing of Priscilla and John Alden.

Myles Standish Monument and Statue of Massasoit, Protector of the Pilgrims. 

The Mayflower, Pilgrims Going to Church, Sarcophagus, Coles Hill and Model of the Mayflower, Pilgrim Hall. 

Above, Grave of Myles Standish (in Duxbury, MA) and below, Grave of Governor William Bradford. 

These are just some of the scenes in this set. The (presumably) original price of 10c is written on the front right-hand corner; I paid a quarter for it. Not bad, when a current eBay listing for this item is $14.99. Not sure how old this postcard is, but the seller states it's from the 1940's.

Well, whether one's been to Plymouth, MA or not, here's wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!


 



 

Thrifty Acres: The Miracle Of "Modern" Radiology

Hello! Recently I bought a small plastic case full of vintage needlework supplies at a church rummage sale. Sure, I was glad about my one-dollar purchase, but the icing on the cake was this unexpected find at the bottom of the case:

A vintage medically-theme booklet: "prepared by E. R. Squibb & Sons", as it states on the inside back cover. But here, the front cover shows a woman dressed up in dress, heels, hat and gloves to visit the radiology department.

Not sure what year this booklet was produced, but judging by the clothing, I'd say sometime in the 1950's or 1960's. 

So, why is Milady heading to Radiology? We'll learn that soon, but first we must learn this:

Yes, indeed, "X-rays are medical tools of great importance"!

Now we get to the crux of the matter: "Sometimes the gallbladder or ducts become infected or stopped up. If your gallbladder is not functioning properly, you may feel indisposed". Milady may feel merely "indisposed", but the illustration shows her grimacing with the pain in her side. 

But never fear! "The radiologist is a specialist. He has had years of training and experience." 

Therefore: "Pretend that you are going to have your picture taken and sit back and leave all the details to your radiologist or his technician. They will take one or more pictures and the procedure will be entirely free of discomfort and pain". 

Things must have gone well, for the back cover shows this illustration:

Milady's "picture taking" finished, she is now fluffing up her hair. After all, it must have gotten mussed up from having to put on the hospital gown shown in the previous photo. 

All's well that ends well, thanks to the miracle of modern radiology! 

(Note: if the name "E.R. Squibb & Sons" sounds familiar, it's because the firm is now part of Bristol-Meyer Squibb company. Edward Robinson Squibb had a very full life in medicine: he worked as a Navy doctor during the Mexican-American War, and after that started his pharmaceutical manufacturing business in 1858. He obviously had success in this endeavor quickly, for his firm became a major medicine supplier for the Union Army during the Civil War. The Squibb company merged with Bristol-Meyer in 1989.)

 

Made It: Christmas Ornaments From An Unusual Source

Hello! May seem hard to believe, but Christmas is two months from today! So what better time to show off some ornament gifts I just finished making? 

Every year I create ornaments for my younger nieces and nephews, the ones who haven't graduated from high school yet. I like to get these made early and out of the way since I always have other gifts to make. Here's what I stitched up for this year's set:

And a close-up:

Each design was stitched on  14-count Aida fabric, trimmed, backed with coordinating felt and then glued to wooden rings. A friend of mine gave me those rings, which came wrapped with wire hangers. They were the perfect size for the finished stitcheries. I'll admit, though, that these aren't big ornaments - the wooden rings are only about 2" diameter. So, small ornaments, but big on charm. 

What makes the source of these designs unusual is this:

A 1979 counted cross-stitch design book, published by the Japanese company Ondori. (In case you didn't know, the letters "DMC" on the  front cover refer to a well-known embroidery thread company). I bought this book at a thrift store for a quarter. I liked the interesting - and sometimes goofy -  designs, but it was the cheery colors that really caught my eye:

A friend thought these figures looked Dutch. 

These chicks would be cute for Easter.

A pig in pink. 

The page from which my ornament designs came. 

For reasons unknown to me, several of the larger designs in this book depict some sort of circus or carnival setting, such as this one:

Children on an animal-themed ride. 

Other designs along the same theme are children holding balloons, hot air balloons rising up in the sky beyond a roller coaster and a Ferris wheel, clowns riding a circus wagon being pulled by an ostrich, clowns doing an act with a monkey, and other whimsical scenes. 

The purpose of these - or any of the designs in this book - is unknown to me as well, since nearly the entire book is in Japanese. But the design charts were easy to follow and the DMC color numbers were given for each design. Those numbers are universal, so I had no problem doing the stitching.
  
I was curious about this:

Might have included some handy tips about how to pull out an end of the floss without ending up with a tangled mess like I've sometimes done. But it'll remain a mystery to me.

This book is 120 pages long plus four pages of ads for other Ondori craft books. The only real English in the whole volume is two snippets added later: the American importer of the book and the shop in my area that had stocked it. 

Although Japanese language craft books are still a thing in this country, I don't see them around much, so I do consider them an unusual source. But in this case, my thrift store find helped me with some Christmas gift-giving. There's nothing unusual about that!

 

 

 
 

Views From The End Of The World

Well, not actually the end of the world - but we did recently travel to Worlds End State Park in northeastern Pennsylvania. We used to live about 3 1/2 hours from this park; which made it a nice weekend escape from our workweek life in suburban Philadelphia.

We no longer live nearly as close to Worlds End State Park but still enjoy revisiting it from time to time for a little hiking. A few photos show why we like returning:

Views of many small waterfalls on Double Run. While I did enjoy sights on this part of our hike, I was less enamored of the trail routing. We were led onto rocks that lined the stream bed - not great footing, and slippery to boot. But by walking carefully we got through this part of the trail unscathed. 

We climbed steadily up to our ultimate goal, Canyon Vista. According to a guidebook I have, Hiking The Endless Mountains by Jeff Mitchell, Canyon Vista is "One of Pennsylvania's most famous vistas..." In a state abundant with natural scenery, that's high praise indeed. 

When we got the Canyon Vista, here's what we saw:

 That's Loyalsock Creek you see below, from Canyon Vista's height of 1,750 ft. Mitchell comments that "Canyon Visit is not very high, but it offers incredible mountain scenery and an awesome view of Loyalsock Canyon." 

We were hoping for more fall color, but a couple also at the vista said that the frequent rains in the region had hurt the maples; they were told that the leaves had died and fallen off before they could change color. Nevertheless, my husband and I, and the couple (visiting from Philadelphia) were as happy with the views as Mitchell was. 

After the climb to Canyon Vista my husband and I prepared to climb back down. This actually took us a bit longer than the trip up. The descent was quite steep in spots, steep enough that we worked against gravity to ensure we wouldn't go too fast. The amount of boulders to cross, tree roots to avoid and wet leaves to guard against made for slow going. But again, we were cautious and made our way back to the car with no issues other than the skid I took down a wet, slippery boulder. No injuries from it, though, so no harm, no foul. But because of such tricky footing - along with that close-to-Double Run trail on the way up to Canyon Vista - I didn't wish to stop to take more photos.

Despite that iffy footing, we were very happy with our excursion to Worlds End State Park. Mitchell calls it "...one of Pennsylvania's most beautiful state parks...beauty encompasses the entire park." Truthfully, we didn't go to many state parks while living in Pennsylvania. Our hiking activities mostly took us elsewhere. But Worlds End State park was an exception, since the nearly 60-mile-long Loyalsock Trail passes through it. (We went on parts of the LT to and from Canyon Vista on this hike.)

(Mitchell says that the Loyalsock Trail is "...one of Pennsylvania's most famous hiking trails". Again, high praise for a trail in a state loaded with them. We have a fondness for the LT ourselves since we've hiked it in its entirety.)

By the way, it's believed that the "Worlds End" moniker came from early settlers to the region. According to the park's website (found here):

Early settlers to the area used two horse trails to cross the rugged highland from Muncy Creek to the forks of Loyalsock Creek at the town of Forksville. This treacherous road became obsolete in 1895 with the building of PA 154.

Pioneer Road Trail and Worlds End Road follow the path of the old horse trail. Worlds End Vista, at the junction of Pioneer Road Trail and Worlds End Trail, is the view that possibly inspired the name of the park.

And I should also note that one can view Canyon Vista without the rigors of scrambling over boulders and huffing and puffing up hills:

ADA accessible Loyalsock Canyon Vista, reached via Mineral Spring and Cold Run roads, and nearby High Knob Vista, provide outstanding views of the Endless Mountains region. Scenery is particularly unforgettable during the June mountain laurel bloom and the fall foliage period in October. (this info also came from the park website). 

We did see some folks approach the vista via the roads, which of course is fine and sure saved them some wear and tear on their legs. 

But even by foot, the views from the end of the world are worth it! 

Get Carded: Sad And Glad

Hello: Recently I made greeting cards to comfort a neighbor and to celebrate a niece's wedding. Two very different circumstances, to be sure, but both occasions deserved a nice handcrafted card. 

For the neighbor with a death in the family:

A close-up:

Purple is my go-to color for sympathy cards.

Materials used:

• white card stock
• textured purple art paper scrap
• solid purple art paper scrap
• heart shape cut from vintage playing card
• vintage button
• ribbon scrap
• "May all your precious memories help bring you peace and comfort through all the days ahead" stamped in lilac ink onto paper scrap, then affixed to card. 

I don't enjoy making sympathy cards, but I think this one turned out pretty well. It may seem odd using a vintage playing card in this way, but the design on the card back is pretty. 

I don't know if our neighbor cared about that vintage playing card design, but she was appreciative that we'd sent the card. 

Happier times prevailed last weekend at our niece's wedding. The "save the date" card and wedding invitation were printed on medium brown card stock, so I used that color as a starting point for my card.

And a close-up:

 


Materials used:

• white card stock
• kraft paper scrap embellished with gold stamp pad ink
• brown and white patterned art paper scrap
• white paper scrap
• off-white, heart-shaped scrapbook embellishment with "truly madly deeply" printed on the heart in gold 
• "Congratulations" stamped in black ink
• vintage gold-tone eyelet threaded with three pieces of ribbon

This card's simplicity matched the simple yet stylish design of the "save the date" and invitation mailings we'd gotten. A wedding card with an over-the-top design didn't seem right.

Congratulations to Courtney and Jake! And I hope our neighbor will be able to take the words on the front of her card to heart. 

Sad or glad, I'll make a card to match the occasion.