Minnie, Freddy and Friends ~ A Favorite Thing

Every Halloween back when my kids were young, I would make their costumes for trick or treating. I started off with those cut 'em out and sew 'em together printed designs and gradually got more elaborate as time went on and they got older. Sometimes I sewed them from a pattern, sometimes we put together thrift shop finds, a couple of times they were jammies!

1984

There was a clown and Superman -- my daughter (Stephanie) was propped against the couch since she couldn't quite stand up on her own! My son (Adam) was very proud of his Superman rain boots! Superman appeared at our house until his suit was halfway up his legs -- those jammies got quite a workout!

1985

Then a pumpkin and a robot -- I loved those printed designs!!  Note the superman boots are now robot boots....

1986

They loved their matching glow-in-the-dark skeletons -- and were so excited about their bone necklaces which glowed too! I made matching caps out of a Halloween fabric to top them off. The best part was that they wore those skeleton jammies and could glow at will, with a lot of giggles included!

1988

Do you remember Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street? I saw that movie (on VHS tape thank goodness.... I wouldn't have survived a real movie in the theater!) and it scared the living daylights out of me! Anyway, a number of years later when they had sequels, Adam wanted to be Freddy Krueger (no, he did NOT see any of the movies, at least not until he was grown up enough and watched what he wanted to!)

Anyway, I could not deter him, so we found a Freddy Krueger hand with the blades, a red and black sweater at a thrift shop, and got gooey stuff to be the burns on his face. Yuck! But I must admit, Adam was the cutest Freddy Krueger around! (But I told him he was scary and creepy....)

Stephanie was Minnie Mouse -- I can tell you that I will NEVER sew fur again!! And the gloves and yellow shoes! That was quite a costume to sew! But it did make the rounds of her friends and three of them wore it over the years! After a while I sold it in a garage sale so I'm betting that some other little girls got to be Minnie for Halloween!

Later on came Dracula (note the teeth and the pointy hair) -- Stephanie was a princess that year, dressed in shiny pink with big silver rick-rack and a tall princess hat, but I couldn't find a picture. I saved that cape and Adam has it now -- it would be a bit short on him now but he'll probably find some way to wear it!

Now that my costume creating days are over, I display some pictures around Halloween to remember some of those fun costumes! (I have passed on my Halloween Costume Baton to Stephanie -- she can make those kitty witch princesses for Noli!!)

Here she is in last year's costume -- a kitty fairy! 

All kitty fairies have wings....

♥♥♥   Linking Minnie and Freddie to A Favorite Thing over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage


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A Crewel Embroidery ~ A Favorite Thing

Last week on A Favorite Thing Saturday, Linda of A La Carte shared a lovely cross-stitch piece that she had made for her parents. It is sweetly simple in design but carries a beautiful sentiment -- you can see it here.

Well, that lovely stitchery brought to mind a crewel embroidery picture that I had made for my mother's birthday in 1972. And, since her birthday was a few days ago (she would be 101), this is a perfect time to share this embroidery.

She hung it between the living room and dining room on a portion of wall that was between the opening to the hall (from the living room) and the swinging door to the kitchen (from the dining room). There was no wall between the two rooms -- just one big open room that spanned the width of the house. Anyway, it fit just right there and looked bright and cheery against her light green walls.

When she died in 1978, my father asked me if I would like it back, and of course, I did. And it has hung on a wall in each of the several houses I have lived in since. Now it is hanging in my sun porch, and I smile when I see it. The flowers are still bright and cheery after all these years! Hey, I just thought of this:  my walls are light green too (even though photo editing doesn't show that)!!

This was in a kit and when I was almost done, I ran out of the crewel yarn for the bricks! Oh no!! I searched high and low and finally found some that was close to the color -- I don't think anyone else ever noticed, but of course, I did!! And that bugged me no end! Can you tell where the substitute color is?

A friend of mine made the frame for me, using a wood molding with a brick design to mimic the brick in the stitchery.

I really like the fuzzy centers of the flowers -- I remember them being somewhat difficult to do and I clipped one or two of them a bit too close, but I like the 3-D effect!

And, of course, what matters is that my mother loved it, 

and that it brought her joy.

♥♥♥   Linking to A Favorite Thing Saturday over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage
           and to Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound

                                

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Bambi .... and a few friends!

My Etsy vintage shop has gotten pretty sad looking so I'm trying to get photos made and new things listed. It's the photos that take me the most time -- not so much the actual taking of the picture, but the editing! It just seems to take me forever!!

But I've got a few things ready!

This cutie deer planter is just the sweetest! Doesn't he remind you of Bambi?

I'm sure he was doing a bit of exploring beside the woodland pond and....

Oh my! Surprised by a funny little frog!

Bambi is already in my shop but here are a few things you can expect to see soonest!!

This beautiful afghan -- 

crocheted and then cross-stitched with the flower design.

So much loving work was done on this one!

I think it's perfect to curl up under on chilly fall evenings!

Here's a fun cookbook -- full of holiday treats!

Like this Halloween cake!!

A pretty Fenton strawberry

These cute Monkey Pod snack dishes -- bell pepper and pineapple

And, how absolutely priceless is this .....

a ceramic asparagus canister!!

So, think I can get them listed today?

We'll see!!

♥♥♥   Linking Bambi to Knick of Time Tuesday -- take a look -- there's lots of great vintage to see!

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My Grandmother's Goblets

Last week I mentioned the goblets I was using as part of my fall decorations and decided that they would be perfect to show this week. They are among my very favorite, and very special, possessions.

As with most heirlooms, these goblets have a story. They belonged to my grandmother, my mother's mother. Her name was Lonnie and she died when my mother was fifteen, which means that my grandmother died around 1926.

I have no idea how old she is in this picture but it is one of those that were tinted to have color in the photo. My mother had the original copied and gave one to each of her brothers and sisters. 

She's lovely, but why couldn't they smile back then?!!

My mother came from a family of six -- four girls and two boys. (And then added two more half-brothers and two step-brothers when my grandfather remarried!) All ten of those children were considered family for all of their lives, no matter that they might not all be related by blood.

Apparently, my grandmother's things were scattered and the goblets were not thought of for a very long time.  Well, my mother went on a quest to find them (I can vaguely remember her doing so) and eventually tracked them all down. She wanted each of the girls to have two goblets each.

Mama's two goblets resided in her china cabinet until she gave one each to my brother and me. After my mother's death, my brother gave me his goblet. So now I have two, and they are very special indeed. 

I have done some investigating -- I figured that they were Carnival Glass but didn't know anything about the pattern. I have learned that the pattern is called Colonial and the color is Marigold. They were made by the Imperial Glass Company in the early 1920s and apparently were only produced in the Marigold color. They have a distinctive octagon shape on the base.

I cannot tell you how precious they are to me, or how thrilled I was when my brother gave me his. I guess he thought that since he never had children of his own, I could give my children one each and keep them in the family. 


♥♥♥  Linking my goblets over at Claudia's for A Favorite Thing Saturday

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Fall Tea Set ~ A Favorite Thing

Most of the time, my thrifting hours are spent hunting down vintage goodies for my shop, oftentimes things I can enjoy for myself for a while and then pass on to someone else who will love them just as much. So that was my thought when I found this tea set.

But, you know what? I think I might just keep this one for myself! I have what has turned into a tea set collection (more on those another time!) and this little one will fit in just right. Plus, I use fruit in my dining room decor, and the colors in this tea set are perfect!! I even have two different placemat sets that blend right in! So I'm declaring it a keeper!!

I'm using it in my fall decorations which will stay up through Thanksgiving. I've got a bit of Halloween up for Miss Noli's delight and will add in some Thanksgiving as that holiday nears.

Don't you love that pineapple doily? I found it somewhere long ago -- someone had tea dyed it and I think it looks just perfect with my tea set!

Close-up of the design -- it is hand painted and on the sticker you can just barely make out the word Japan and something else that I'll have to get out a magnifying glass to even pretend to see. I'll have to do a little investigating as to its origins.

Did you notice these goblets? They are another favorite thing! A very, very special favorite thing! They belonged to my grandmother, and I think I will tell you about them another time -- maybe next week!

Oh, and guess what!! 

Peanut Bird was featured this week on A Favorite Thing Saturday!!! He was my entry for that fun party last Saturday (read all about him here....) and sweet Claudia gave him a little feature time! Oh my, Peanut Bird was just beside himself when I told him, and is now insisting that the trail mix jar goes to another shelf so that he gets top billing. Silly Peanut Bird.


♥♥♥  Linking my fall tea set over at Claudia's for A Favorite Thing Saturday,
 and on Pink Saturday at How Sweet the Sound 'cause we're showing fall stuff there!!


                                   


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Red at the Main Street Grill

I didn't have a single red thing in mind for Rednesday today.....

(or for Vintage Thingie Thursday for that matter.....)

until I took a mug out for my morning coffee.

And there it was!

I've always liked these mugs with their red sign reading "Main Street Grill" 

....and their retro look

They are from Hallmark and go along with the Mitford series houses (now retired) which were based on Jan Karon's books. They make drinking coffee (and cocoa in the winter!!) a lot of fun!


♥♥♥  Linking my mugs to Rednesday over at It's a Very Cherry World. Check it out for more red fun!!
♥♥♥  Linking them too over at Vintage Thingies Thursday at Colorado Lady. Lots of fun vintage goodies to see!

                          

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