Magpie Ethel

Happy Day

If you have ever left a comment on my blog you have most probably received a reply from me.  When I started replying to comments it took me awhile to figure out what the closing line of my note should be.  I finally decided on ending each note with the closing line of "Happy Day". After all, doesn't everyone want their day to be a good one?

Imagine my delight when I cam across this metal case at a local antique sale.

I loved the red and white gingham, the child like graphics and that is was a "Happy Day" Outing kit.  It was in great shape and I did not even open it up to look at the condition of the inside.  It set me back a whopping $5. It made me happy.

I got happier when I opened it up and the graphic was repeated on the inside!

I am just going to leave it open in the studio and use it for storage.

I am still having issues with comments coming through to my email account.  Hoping to get it figured out and just know that I am not ignoring you if you don't get a reply from me. Please continue to leave them...

So just in case you don't hear from me in an email reply ...wishing you a happy day!

Estate Sale Friday/Saturday - Whoooooooo

Whoooooo does not love a good weekend in estate sale land?

This big owl was found at a church sale today - it totally reminds of Halloween in the 70s with its groovy colors.  It is big - about 2 feet tall and is made of that pressed plastic!

I hit one sale yesterday.  I was number 40 to get in the door and they let 40 in...phew..I just made the first wave!  Lucky me!  I also hit one church sale today and the second day of another sale.  I was happy with my finds!

A good amount of vintage birthday (candles and holders in original packaging),a pair of plastic snowman, a plastic duck and a trio of putz style houses.

There was a great stash of old party paper goods.  I love the graphics on this Birthday plate. The two Mickey Mouse plastic party favors were in the hodge podge of a box with the birthday items...was happy to discover them.

More party goods. Cups for Valentine's Day, Christmas and Halloween. A tin can of Christmas reflectors.

I scored on vintage Easter! A couple of rabbits, a SPUN bunny head, easter eggs, some spun cotton chicks and some Easter egg dying kits.

A good amount of Christmas including Christmas corsages, ornaments, mercury glass garland, a spun head angel, bells and some bird ornaments.

This peacock is missing his tail and his clip on the bottom, but look at his tiny crown on his head.

I scored on vintage Dennison style Christmas stickers.

I have collected the stickers forever, but still have never seen these designs.  I especially love the one with the red gingham elephant that warns not to open till Dec. 25th!

A box of unused greeting cards.

A package of spun head animal party picks.

An assortment of baby items.  I especially love the two celluloid rattles and the little yellow lamb.

An Old Maid game from 1936.  I have seen alot of Old Maid games, but these cards were not familiar to me at all.

Two crazy plastic molds to make popsicles.  My friend Linda remembered having these as a kid!

A Halloween coloring book.

Coloring in French!

And a couple more tins to add to my stash.

Another good weekend in estate sale land! 

On a housekeeping note, I have been having trouble with my comments coming through to my email account.  I usually answer all the comments that I receive, but for some reason only a few are trickling into my email.  Please know that I am not ignoring your comments!  I am trying to get it figured out with typepad...it is driving me bananas!



 

 

Black and Orange Inspiration

You may remember the post I did about pulling out my bin of red, white and blue for 4th of July crafting.

Today it was time to pull out my designated Halloween black and orange bin.  I FINALLY started in on my Halloween goodies today.

I love getting the bin out and seeing what I have collected throughout the year that will make its way into my Halloween creations.  Kind of like an eye spy in black and orange!

A lucky year with spun heads. I love the "Glo Tye" ribbon spool.

Black cats and scary masks.

 
Can't wait to work some Magpie Ethel magic out in the studio.

Happy Day!

Collection Challenge #69 - Vintage Sewing Patterns

Today's challenge came from Gretchen who asked to see my vintage dress patterns prior to 1960.  This is one of those categories I don't collect in, but still have managed to accumulate a stash of them.  I will begin the post with dress patterns as Gretchen requested.  I have some other fun ones I will share as well.

Going thru these patterns I realize that I could pretty much wear any of these style of dresses...totally love their retro look.  I only wish my waist was as small as the models.

I don't know anything about the makers or history of these patterns.  Some of them have definitely seen some use.


I would wear the dress with the big green sash in a heartbeat.



This pattern is advertised as a "Hollywood Pattern of Youth".  It features a photo of Claire Trevor.  She was an American actress who was in her first film in 1933.  She appeared in over 60 films. (I had to google her...she was way before my time).

That is about it for my women's dresses.  My best estate sale story for vintage patterns is one where there were boxes and boxes of older ones from the 40s and 50s in the driveway.  They were all FREE.  I still kick myself for not getting a good stash of them.

I do have a few more patterns worth sharing.  This is my most favorite set of patterns.  These are for vintage doll clothes that my grandmother used when making doll clothes for my sister and I. 

I still have all those doll clothes that she made. Ethel was my grandmother's name and is where part of my blog name comes from.

I love well dressed pajama clad boys.

The illustration on this one is great.  The boys are entertaining themselves with yo-yos.

The mother that used this pattern must have had great success with it as she had it in three sizes.

Aprons, hats and handbags.

If only I could get Kate to wear some of these charming little girl fashions....but at 17, she is a bit too old.  She would do some serious eye-rolling if i even suggested it! I love the mustard yellow swing coat.

A fine shirt pattern  for a handsome young man.

I have the basics of sewing down and have passable skills.  I got this pattern out to look for a date when it was made and was completely overwhelmed with how complicated it looked. I will not be sewing this.

A handsome cowboy.

And last but not least, teeny tiny rompers for toddlers.

It was fun to go through my stash and take some time to look at the patterns and fashions of yesterday.  Thanks for the challenge Gretchen!  If you have an idea for a future collection challenge, leave me a comment and finish the sentence "Show me your collection of _____."  Always fun to see what i can come up with.

Party Check List

Kate asked if she could have a few friends over for a back to school tea party/white elephant.  I currently have 25 teen girls in my backyard sipping icy drinks (it is in the 90s today) and munching on cookies.

I do so many family birthday parties for big crowds (our usual size is about 25-30 - big Italian family) that over the years I have developed a routine that I follow. This is what I do when I don't have to cram everyone in my house and the weather is decent.

I use my existing wooden picnic table and pull out a couple of folding tables that I cover with table cloths.  I usually use vintage cloth floral ones, but this time I did not feel like washing them all after the party..so I resorted to vinyl.

This is the first year I used this vintage find.  It is vinyl and I love, love it!

Even the woman on the packaging it came with marvels at its beauty!

I pull out my cute colorful folding chairs from the attic. The hot pink chairs are an IKEA item and the green are an estate sale find.

I tuck a table for drinks back under the trees.

Drinks go in a bucket with ice next to the drink table (this shot is post party). Ice water in the big green container with spigot.

I use a vintage ironing board for serving in a narrow space.  This party it held the cookie bar (not home made...I was lazy and the temps are too hot). Drink table is beyond the cookie bar.

I also have a huge collection of vintage glass dishes for parties. These are the variety that were intended for snacks and not full meals.  Great for a cookie exchange or appetizers.  They come in a variety of sizes and shapes.  I have about 40 of them.  I am crazy.

I also got out my vintage punch cups for the girls to use.

I have a stash of silverware that is specifically for parties.  I did not use it today, but it is great to have on hand.

Most of my serving platters and such are vintage.  I got a great stash of plastic serving dishes a few years ago that resemble hobnail or pressed glass and are in awesome colors.

I always have fresh flowers.  Today I used vintage milk bottles and glass jars to hold the blooms.

Sticking to my tried and true methods and having an assortment of serving pieces on hands  makes throwing a party fairly easy. I stick to the same colors - green, pink, blues and yellows as I collect,so everything is mix and match . I do throw orange in occasionally too.

I can hear Kate and her friends laughing in the backyard...the party sounds like a success!

Estate Sale BANG Friday

Labor day weekend marks the end of the summer and estate sales will slowly begin to wind down as the colder months approach.  I was not hoping for much this holiday weekend, but it looks like the estate sale season may have ended with a BANG for me!

I signed up yesterday for a sale that advertised 93 years of accumulation.  The list was to go out at noon.  I got there at 11:40 and the list had gone out early...I was #50! Grrrr.  Lucky for me, when I hit the sale this a.m. a friend had signed up a no-show friend, so I took the no-show spot and became a much more desirable #15 to get in the door.

It was a good sale.

A shiny bright Christmas tree in original box.  I have never picked up one of these before and it is pretty nifty.  The ornaments slide over a center pole and make the tree shape. A bag of party cups.

Tiny boxes of Christmas ornaments, crafting straw raffia, a box of satin covered Easter eggs and a bunch of crazy green buttons.

Multiple strands of vintage glass garland and a Christmas corsage...hurray!

A handmade wreath made from bump chenille.  I may have to try my hand at crafting one of these. A cute little vintage paint tin.

A tiny fluffy Easter chick in orange and a old plastic clown whistle. Some vintage pipe cleaners (which I swore I would never buy again as I have so many are peeking in at the right...they were a great color!) They are sitting on an oblong tin canister.

A vintage Easter egg coloring kit, Easter grass, old party noisemakers, a couple of tins and a Wizard of Oz bucket.


The tin features Dorothy, Toto, the Tin Man and rest of the crew.

The Easter Egg dye box had a bunch of Easter related stuff crammed into it. The stack of stuff is in the bottom of the photo.

This was in the stack. It looks to be a premium giveaway from the Schilling Company....Bunnyville Circus.
With the most charming cardboard cutouts to make a circus scene, complete with train and water tower.

Vintage greeting cards.  There were some salesman samples on original cardboard display cards which were kind of nifty.
Cute elephants.

A display card for multiple birthday invites for children.  I added a couple more that I picked up loose at the sale.

I don't see those with a patriotic theme often.

I could not believe my luck when I found a baggie full of Halloween SPUN heads.  I hit once sale after this one that advertised crafts.  I found ANOTHER baggie of spun heads there.  I was spun head magnetized today! Always happy to add some tiny mushrooms to the mix as well.

A box of vintage wrapping paper.

They just do not make modern wrapping paper like the old stuff.

Look at the sweet faces on this baby themed clothespin paper.

A Christmas wallet from a local bank and an OFFICIAL letter to Santa written long ago...she wanted Santa to bring her a watch.
And last but not least, one of my favorite finds was a bag of old meyer/water decals.  Most of them are nursery rhyme themed and I have never seen them before.  They are stinking adorable.

What a  BANG of a day. 

Have a safe and wonderful holiday weekend...happy day!