A LITTLE THRIFT SHOPPING

My goodness, where has the time gone? I haven't posted in three weeks! I do have a good excuse, though . . . I think.

About mid-October all-of-a-sudden I had an urge to start making Christmas crafts! Boy, I don't know what got into me, but I couldn't stop. I haven't even been outside to clean up the yard before winter sets in! Then, all-of-a-sudden again, I decided to clean up and re-organize all my craft supples. So I've been doing that off-and-on for the past three days.

But Mister had yesterday off from work so we slipped out to the thrift shop. I'm so glad we did - got some great stuff: a nice Christmas table runner that looks vintage but is not, a Valentine and a Christmas hankie, a nice green planter that says "Brush, USA" on the bottom, a glass bell jar, a cool vintage sugar dispenser (which I'll use for a pencil holder as the red lid is cracked), styrofoam tree, 'brass' bells, an angel figurine, and an old bottle with a 'Mavis' logo.

Here is a close-up of the sugar. It has a great pattern on it.

Also, a close-up of the angel. The colors are so pretty!

Last, a close-up of the Mavis label. I have a very dear friend from Canada named Mavis, so I'll send this to her. (I hope she doesn't read my blog!)

VTT - BABY TIME AND A HISTORY LESSON!

I'm joining Vintage Thingies Thursday over at ColoradoLady's (Suzanne) blog!

My brother in Tennessee called the other day to announce that he and Yami (Yamileth, from Panama) are expecting their second child! Their first, Esperanza is 8. She was worried that, at age 34, she might be too old to have another child. Ha! I had mine at 38 and 42, and I survived (barely)!

So, in keeping with that theme, I'm showing you two items that were "found" recently.
The Curity sachet, which is no longer scented, was found in a vintage book I have. Curity diapers were made by The Kendall Company (Walpole, Mass.). My parents met at Kendall Mills back in the late 40's; and I also worked there my first job out of high school - Steno Pool and Switchboard! A Steno Pool, for you youngsters out there, was a big room of typists who copied dictation, letters, reports, etc. in larger companies, like this:

The switchboard I worked at looked similar to this, but there were only three of us:
Now, back to the baby photo again. Mister found the little bottle in the barn a few days ago, filled with screws. He asked if I wanted it - duh! It says: "The original and largest diaper service in New England, Dy-Dee Service, See 'Yellow Pages' for local phone number". I have no idea what it held, maybe lotion or safety pins.

Oh, you don't know what a diaper service is either? Well, back in the day (at least up through the 60's) this is how it worked: you collect your dirty (cloth) diapers, set them outside once a week, and receive a fresh stack of fluffy white diapers in their place. No messing with smelly diaper laundry.

I have no idea if there are any of these services still in business or not.

VTT - Laundry Time!

Let's face it, the laundry is never done! But we can make it more pleasant by decorating our laundry areas, can't we? Here are a few of my laundry room tidbits.

This first one is a small 4-inch Hummel plate, from 1987. I don't consider the 80's as vintage period, but for this post I'll make an exception! This sweet little cherub is hanging out her bloomers. I miss having a clothesline - will have to work on Mister to put up another one.

Next is a vintage child's ironing board (with red trim - just like the above bowl!) and a vintage looking laundry bag from Victorian Trading Co. I have to mention that I love these Scotch brand hooks - my old house had so many nail holes in the walls, it was pitiful!

Last is the top of my dryer with two old laundry bottles - Dazzle and Clorox, and my fun non-vintage laundry sign! After looking at this picture, I think I want to put some shelving up, and for my laundry products to be in nice looking jars or tins.
At the bottom left of this photo, on the dryer but cut off, is a little sign I made that says "Enjoy the Journey". It means that in life a lot of things stink, and a lot of things can't be changed (like laundry!), so rise above the negativity, don't let them bother you, and enjoy the journey anyways.

Don't forget to go to Coloradolady to see all the other VTT's today!