Happy Memorial Day!

Leslie, over at Brookhollow Lane has honored me with the Trendy Blog Award. I must say that 'trendy' has never before been used to describe myself or my interests. I am and always have been very old fashioned in my tastes and ideas. Only by connecting with people from all over the world (thanks to the internet) do I now see that there is a trend toward these things. I love finding others who prefer vintage to new, who love to sew and craft, who homeschool and who proudly share their latest thrift shop or flea market treasure. I find I'm making new friends nearly every day just by clicking on the little icon next to someone's comment. And their blog leads me to another and another. So, thank you Leslie for this award and for being one of my blogging friends.

Now I am to choose 10 bloggers to give this award to, leave them a comment to let them know and they in turn are to post about receiving it and choose 10 bloggers to award. (The math on this is mind boggling!)

In deciding which blogs to award, I looked for bloggers who might appreciate some visitors and perhaps some new followers. All of these ladies will treat you to vintage eye candy and/or inspiring crafts. Enjoy!

Dru at Garden of Dreams

Holly at Girls at Heart

Lisa at Ivory Blush Roses
Joy at Joy's thoughts and things
Pamela at Kitty and Me Designs
Paula at Paula's Palace of AltAred Art
Nan at Retired in Alaska
Joyce at Scrap for Joy
Joanna at Sweet Finds
Tamera at The Stone Fence Cottage

A New Treasure

I wanted to show what came home with me yesterday. We are finishing up clearing out my MIL's house. This is something she had as long as my husband and his brothers can remember. Years ago it was stripped of about 6 coats of paint, down to the ribbon stripe mahogany. I never saw her use it in the 20 years I knew her, but I'm so glad she kept it.

Pretty and small enough to tuck in the corner. But wait....

Here's a peek...

Now you know what it is.

Isn't she beautiful?

It's a Singer, 100th Anniversary model 201-2.

It has the instruction booklet and all the attachments.

I haven't tried it yet. But I'm hoping she sews as great as my online research says.

Hometown Reds

Join Sue over at It's A Very Cherry World. each Rednesday for lots of red goodness.

I went digging through my pictures and came up with some reds from my hometown.



First is the Day and Night Diner. You can get a good meal in this Worcester Lunch Car, nearly all original inside and out. Others have posted pictures of this diner and many other Worcester Lunch Cars in this FlickR group. When we travel, we always look for local diners to get a good meal and wonderful vintage atmosphere.





You can also get a good meal served in this vintage railroad car. It's part of the Steaming Tender Restaurant here in town. The main restaurant is located in the historic train station but the owners bought and converted this car to accommodate small parties. We were privileged to get a little tour of the work in progress but I haven't been in the 'new' car since it's been put into service.



















And since Memorial Day is less than two weeks away, I thought I'd share a nice picture from last year's parade. The fire trucks usually bring up the rear in the parade. Because my small town is made up of four villages, each with it's own fire department, we have lots of emergency equipment. No blasting horns or sirens on Memorial Day though, out of respect for the solemn occasion.

My First Tag Swap

I'm so excited to be in my very first tag swap. And it's the most fun theme. I'll be playing along with some other wonderful happy campers over at Paula's Palace of AltAred Art. I've chosen my camper tags to be styled after those little teardrop campers. I love the shape and possibilities for decorating this camper.





Here's what I've gathered to work with and my inspiration page. I still have some research to do and a sketch to draw before I start cutting and gluing.

1949 Dream Kitchen

I've been wanting to share this booklet I picked up at the flea market a few weeks ago. It's full of great images. This makes for a long post, so I've kept the pictures small. Just click on them to enlarge.























Who remembers these baby bathtubs???

























I think my favorite one is the boys using the bowls and pans to make their own game.

Green Mountain Reds

It has taken me all day to get this post done. But I won't bore you with the details.

While we were up North in the Green Mountain state of Vermont last weekend, I was already thinking of this Rednesday. This was our main destination.



This is the Cabot Visitor Center in Cabot, Vermont. We did not take the factory tour to watch the cheese being made as we have done on previous trips. We did however, taste nearly all of the samples set out and left with a couple of pounds of cheddar, some cinnamon crusted butter (YUM!) and a case of Cheddar Shake. We can buy most Cabot products here in Massachusetts but not Cheddar Shake. My guys love to put this on their popcorn. So about once a year we make the trip (about a 3-4 hour drive) and stock up.





After getting the goods at Cabot, we headed east to St. Johnsbury where we had hotel reservations. Taking a recommdation from the hotel desk clerk, we headed downtown and enjoyed at delicious dinner at Anthony's
Diner. We brought dessert back to eat at the hotel. I had Maple Walnut Pie and hubby had Fresh Strawberry Pie. I should have taken a picture of that for Rednesday!












Across from Anthony's was this wonderful old train station. It contains a visitor center which unfortunately was closed. I would have loved to go in here.




Just one of the beutiful red barns along the way. I LOVE barns. It's so frustrating for me that I can't get pictures of the lovely things I see while zipping along the highway. I did manage to snap this one out the front window. If you enlarge the picture, you just might find bug splats on the windshield.





And I thought I'd tack on a picture of my newest Pinwheel Sampler blocks since I did sneek some red in both.

I hope you have enjoyed this weeks Reds. Check out all the wonderful Rednesday posts over at It's A Very Cherry World.

My First Penny Rug

For many years now, the town next door has held a huge craft show on the weekend after Thanksgiving. Many crafters come and go, but there are some who are always there, in the same spot every year. One such crafter has a booth full of beautiful felt decorations. She has a pegboard full of Christmas ornaments that she has embroidered and stitched together. But her piles of penny rugs have always captured my attention. I have been to many craft shows and I've never seen anyone else selling these adorable items. She begins the day with two stacks of penny rugs, each about 12 inches high. They each seem to be a different design. All hand stitched, all beautiful colors. As the day progresses, the stacks shrink. I'm sure she must have customers that come back each year to buy a new design to add to their collection.
So, in case you can't hear the longing in my voice, I'll come right out and say it. I envy these penny rugs! I want them all!
And yet, I've never attempted to make one myself. Certainly my decades of sewing and crafting experience, qualify me to create one of these objects of my desire. I guess I was waiting for someone to take me by the hand and show me exactly what to do. That's exactly what happened while reading Creative Breathing's blog Just the project for a first attempt at making a penny rug. This was so much fun to make! I think perhaps I'll try the cherry design next. Thank you Elizabeth, for taking my hand.

Kitchen Reds

There seemed to be a theme running through the Rednesday posts today. See them over at It's A Very Cherry World. So I went to my kitchen to find reds for today. This sugar and creamer were passed on to me from my grandmother quite a few years ago.














This cookbook was also given to me by my grandmother. It doesn't have any date in it but the art work on the divider pages suggest '40s or'50s.



















Next is this pretty dish towel from my MIL. She had a set of 3, these strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

















And finally here's my cookbook shelf in the kitchen.

Two Posts In One Day?!!

Yes, two posts in one day. Unheard of for me, I know. But I couldn't wait to share these with you.
I have fallen in love with so many vintage bits of greeting cards, post cards and children's books that have been kindly shared online that my computer image files are bursting at the seams. A couple of months ago I began my own collection when I purchased some vintage postcards at a local flea market. As I have mentioned in my previous post, I have a wonderful selection of places nearby to go 'junking'. In these shops I always find vintage post cards. Many wonderful post cards from flowery greetings to places both local and around the world. What I'm not finding, are greeting cards.
Well, I have been rewarded and I will be sharing. We have slowly been cleaning out my MIL's house since her passing last fall. Saturday, I went over for just a bit to see what else I might 'deal' with. Two good sized boxes, bound in rubber bands, as so many of her things are, sat on a stray chair in the spare bedroom. Stretching off the rubber bands, I pulled up the cover of the smaller box. Inside was filled with letters and cards, saved through the years. OMG! Could the larger box be holding the same sort of treasure? Stretch off the rubber bands, pull off the cover... YES! More cards! I spent hours over the weekend going through them. Reading letters from the past and noticing that my MIL's mother always chose the prettiest cards. The cards seem to be from the 1960s through the '80s. The earliest ones are baby cards from my husband's birth in 1967. They aren't all wonderful. But I will show the best ones. I'll start with Mother's Day cards, as that is right around the calendar's corner.
This one was made by Ambassador Cards and my MIL has marked 1981 on the back.

This little bunny card for a Godmother is also made by Ambassador cards, no date.

The swans are designed by Robert Laessig, American Greeting, 1975

This pretty card has glitter on the tree, grass and water. Made in USA by Gibson. My MIL has marked 1968 on the back.

This adorable Grandmother clock is from Hallmark and my MIL has marked 1982 on the back.

And the last one for today is this American Greetings card. It's not dated, but from the signatures inside, I estimate before 1975. There's a piece of ribbon attatched to the girl's hairband. And don't you love the hot pink knee socks!!!

Please left click on the pictures to see larger. Right click to save and use for your personal craft projects.