Friday, December 23, 2011

blog #494 >> Crazy Harold's Christmas Snake

I designed this for the white elephant gift exchange at work. Poke a few holes in the box, and you're good to go! The gift had nothing to do with snakes, but guessing what's inside is half the fun! Plus, you never really realize just how much you wanted a snake until you've got one.



Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" like one of Crazy Harold's live snakes!

(I'll have a pdf available for download as soon as I get back to work. Sorry, I forgot to email it to myself.)

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!
T

Sunday, November 27, 2011

blog #494 >> Wish List 2011

All I really want this Christmas, is to get Florence up and running well again... poor poor Florence... But that's exactly what I'm getting for Christmas this year! My Dad graciously offered to fix all the little (and a couple larger) things that were wrong with Florence for Christmas. He fixed the barking light brake, touched up the paint, fixed the locks, replaced the starter, and when I get it back from having the carburetor rebuilt, (hopefully) it will be good to go for awhile. And then I've just got to get the swing of the manual choke, and I'll be good to go.

That being said, I feel like I still need to post my annual Christmas list, so here it is!

1. Vintage School Girl Dress $35.00
at One Rare Bird Shop
2.Vintage Granny Squares Afghan $37.00
at folk city
3. Bakers Twine $13.00
at Talking Twine and Trim
4. Armed with Technology Tea Infuser $14.99
at ModCloth
5. Grandma's Wartime Kitchen $9.95
6. 1940's House $20.00
7. C7 Light Bulbs $4.69
Someday I will go to replace one of my C7 Christmas light bulbs, and I will be out of replacements! I WILL CRY ON THAT DAY! I've got to stock up now!!!
8. French Curve Set $10.96
9. Vintage Camera Pencil Sharpener $18.00
from FredFlare
10. The House of Seven Gables $2.50
11. Far Far Away III Snow White Japanese Fabric $7.12
from Miss. Matatabi (but I've also seen it at Cool Cottons on Hawthorne)
12. Far Far Away III Clothesline Japanese Fabric $3.68
from Miss. Matatabi (but I've also seen it at Cool Cottons on Hawthorne)
13. Hark a Vagrant by Kate Beaton $11.73
p.s. I find her comics quite amusing. You can see them here.
14. Floral Molded Swim Cap $9.99
This summer I decided I need a vintage swim cap to go with my vintage bathing suit. Not that I actually swim much, but my hair does NOT like to get wet. (I like the mauve one.)
15. Fish Bath Plug - Stuck! $14.95
16. Better Bath Deep Water Bath $5.00
Ever wish your bath tub didn't have that overflow drain, so you could fill more water into your tub? I have! This has got to be one of the best ideas ever!
17. How to Knit by Debbie Bliss $3.50
This is my favorite beginners knitting book so far, and if someone gets it for me for Christmas, I can stop borrowing it from Amy!
18. School Girl Shoes Pris: 849 kr (I think they're sold out.)
I also think these are the cutest shoes in the world!
19. Vintage Tea Gown $149.95
from Victorian Trading Co.
I ADORE this Vintage Tea Gown, it reminds me of something from Downton Abbey. But they don't come in my size, so I'll be pretty safe from ordering one.

What does everyone else want for Christmas?
T

Friday, November 25, 2011

blog #493 >> Craft Show

This poor little blog has been left to fend for itself once again, while I went gallivanting about.
I had a fine time and now I' back to get caught up for the Christmas season.

First off, last weekend I did a craft show at Ardenwald grade school. I know, I should have posted about it BEFORE the event. But I was so busy trying to get ready for it, I forgot. But I'll be doing another one next weekend at Overlook House in North Portland, Dec. 3-4 so you can mark your calendars for that one. I've also replenished my supply of goods to pedal at these two shows, including this adorable woodland bag, a lovely apron made from vintage linen and tea lace, walnut boats, book flags, new hair clips and hair bands, and more pig pot holders (made from vintage pig fabric!)


And here is what I came home with from Ardenwald craft show: this lovely painting by Jennifer Finn of imogenlovley. Last year she bought Mrs. Annabelle Witzel from me, and this year she painted this fantastic picture of her, and gave it to me! I just want to say in caps: THANK YOU! I LOVE IT! and I already found the perfect place to hang it in the living room.


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For a bonus post I have carrots from the garden, and a cool looking bug I found.




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p.s. I also have a new post on The Joys of Jell-O here!
Cheers!
T

Monday, October 31, 2011

blog #492 >> Happy Halloween

Wishing everyone a Happy Halloween with an assortment of my favorite Halloween pintrest pins!

from pintrest

From maudelynn.tumblr.com who has LOTS of great Halloween pics.
"Paulette Goddard and Bob Hope in a promo still for The Ghost Breakers"


From jmurphybears.com

From livingbettertogether.blogspot.com

From happybirdycake.blogspot.com

From marthastewart.com

From community.livejournal.com

From myowlbarn.com

From maudelynn.tumblr.com

Enjoy!
T

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

blog #491 >> Driving Miss. Florence

"Florence" is beyond any doubt, the name of my car.
I'm not sure how I could ever have thought of any other.
She has the personality of a little old lady.
She's slow to start out, slow to stop.
She takes her time, and never rushes.
And she has already made many of her likes and dislikes quite clear.
I'm not saying she's a complainer, she just lets you know what she's thinking, without beating around the bush.
For instance, Florence likes waiting a minute before rushing out in the morning.
Florence also likes to go down hill... FAST!
Florence doesn't like to go up hill fast.
And Florence does not like her doors to be locked or unlocked EVER!

(image found at Pintrest, from this site.)

Today, was my first day of actually driving Miss. Florence, and she is everything I remember driving an old car to be, for good and bad. But it's funny how the two mix in your memory. One thing is certain, driving an old car always leaves a chance for an exciting day everyday. You never really know if you're going to make it to and from your destination. I've yet to build much confidence in the old girl, but that will come. The more you drive it, the more you trust it. But she may not have much confidence in me yet either. That's probably why she keeps on locking me out. "Help! Save me from this girl who doesn't know what she's doing!!!"

Everything is exactly how I remember it, pumping the gas and revving the engine a little before starting out when the engine is cold. Taking the corners slow, breaking before you actually need to stop, speeding up nice and easy, it's surprising how quickly those things came back. It's a good thing I'm not an impatient driver. She's not the car for an impatient driver. We're a good fit for each other in that way, neither of us care much when we get someplace, it's more about how we get there.


But the thing I think I like best about her is the fit of the steering wheel, and signal light. It's not one of those bulky, fat, chunky, plastic things. It's slight, slender, sleek and large. It turns smoothly with precision, and it fits my long-slender fingers perfectly. And I can just flick that tiny little wire signal light over with my tiny little finger.
...thing I like least? THE BLOODY DOORS WON'T LOCK! And when I finally get it locked, it's even harder to unlock. (However, I did get some "Lock Ease" for the locks and at least the passenger side works pretty slick now.) I seriously thought I was locked out of it this afternoon, and then I realized I had been turning the key the wrong direction. *sigh* I obviously still have much to learn about Florence.

Well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day! I've got to call about insurance and take a trip to the DMV. This is the not-so-fun part of buying a car. But I'm excited to see what the next couple of weeks have in store for me.
Will Florence break down on the side of the road leaving me stranded to walk home? Or will she continue being constant, reliable and running smooth as silk?
In truth, I'm guess the future will consist of both.
Cheers!
T

Sunday, October 16, 2011

blog #490 >> Rambler

Somebody's got a new car...
And that somebody is ME!!! I'm so excited, I'm giddy.


I will never know how fast I'm driving.



I've wanted a new car for quite awhile now, but it's never really worked out. Whenever I see one I really like and think, "Hey I should buy that." It sells before I've a chance to give it a third or forth thought. Then I always come back to the same notion, the car I have is fine. Why get rid of it just because I'm tired of it? As I said, the car I've had for several years now, has been a fine car... Not a great car, not a bad car, just a fine car. It breaks down occasionally, but nothing to warrant replacing it. But this past month it's been a bit of a headache. First, it failed DEQ, which was actually quite a shocker, it's not that old of a car, and it's got super low miles. Even the lady at DEQ mentioned its low miles. Next it needed a new battery. Yes, fine, it hasn't had a new battery since I've had it, cars need stuff like that. Then, it cost over $500 to get it fixed just so it could pass DEQ, not much over... (okay it was $501) but it just keeps on adding up. Basically, it's getting annoying. And the sad part is, I don't love the car. If I did, I wouldn't care how much it broke down or how much it cost to get it fixed. I really want a car I love again. I want another Hornet. If I'm going to have an old car that's breaking down all the time, I want to love it.
So I decided to start looking. I scoured the ads on Craig's List with a fixed price range with-in my budget. I started in 1970 and worked my way down. I found a lot of contenders. A few can be seen here, here, and here. And I went to visit a couple of them, but the Rambler has been one of my favorites from the beginning. And the more I saw of it, the more I loved it. Plus, it looks a bit like the Hornet. It has that nice old car smell and rumbling engine. I'm trying to pick a name for it now... it's between Ramblin' Rod, and Florence Hobart, (after the original owner.) I just can't decide.
It's a 1965 Rambler American and I'm picking it up tomorrow after a trip to the bank.
I can't wait!
T

p.s. Anyone want to buy a 1996 Ford Taurus, recently passed DEQ, with low miles?

Saturday, October 1, 2011

blog #489 >> Red Plaid Skirt

I must admit, I finished this skirt awhile ago, but I just now got around to taking pictures of it. The fabric is from The Sew Weekly, "Mad About Plaid" fabric bundle. ...and I have a confession to make, I didn't use the buttons. After a lot of planning, I went with a larger variety. But I'm sure those little fellows will be perfect, and exactly what I need for something else. I love how this skirt turned out and I can't wait to make the matching hat and bag to go with it!
(This was also my first full project with Evette, and she did a swell job. But she wasn't so smooth with the thin slippery lining. I've still got some bugs to work out of her, and she's still got to go into the shop. But we're off to a promising start.)
Cheers!
T
p.s. The pocket idea came from pintrest.







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For today's bonus post you need to go check out these fantastic lady ties made by my blogging friend Flapper Girl. They are a great way to jump into fall fashion.
Buy them on etsy here!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

blog #488 >> Homemade Catsup

This weekend my mom gave me a bunch of tomatoes from her garden to make homemade catsup with. I haven't had homemade catsup since I was a little girl, but I've found that I still really love the stuff. It hardly even tastes like regular catsup, it's like a whole different condiment.
This batch turned out fantastic, even though it made twice as much as it was suppose to. (I'm still not sure why.) I was worried that I didn't boil it down enough, but it's only slightly thinner than regular catsup, and it's perfect for dipping. So I suppose I shouldn't worry about it. Last night I made home-fries and a corndog just so I'd have something to eat catsup with. It was not a disappointment.


I also made a batch of my favorite pickled carrots, and I threw the turnips into a shepherd's pie. I tired preserving the eggplant in olive oil. We have so much eggplant this year! But I've never tried it before so I'm hoping for the best. And those are the sunflowers I got from the little flower stand when I was out and about this weekend. They are quite lovely, but I wish they didn't make me sneeze.
Cheers,
T

Monday, September 26, 2011

blog #487 >> Bella Beach

Yes, I know... I'm very late in getting these up, and I've been an extremely lazy blogger. As always, I forgot to take pictures on my vacation. (To be precise, I took four!) And I was waiting for my family members to post their pictures first... so I could go and steal them! (I bet you're glad you watermarked your photos now Carrie!) Now that I think about it, I haven't posted a single blog since I've been back from the beach. There's always that point in which I get so far behind, it's hard to get caught up. I imagine this will be the first of many blog updates to come within the next week.
Anyhow, here are a few pictures of our trip to the beach. My grandma rented a beach house for a week so my entire family could spend some time at the coast. The weather was beautiful and I wish I could have stayed longer.




Some pretty rocks I found, because I'm always picking up pretty rocks.
The driftwood graveyard at the end of the beach.

Cool tree growing over cliff-cave.

Sinking in the mire.

A crab we caught, only we had to let him go.

Tangle of sea cucumbers.

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For a bonus post, I have Scotch Eggs: a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage, rolled with bread crumbs. They're quite delicious, (I skipped the bread crumbs, but I'll add them next time.) I served mine with Irish Soda Bread. I realize, that's not a culturally proper combination, a bit like mixing Sweet n' Sour Chicken with Sushi, but they do taste great together, so I hope it will be overlooked.
Enjoy!
T