i have been away and will continue to be so for quite some time.
until i can return i wish everyone the same deranged enjoyment this gal is having of mere jelly been spread.

THRILLS!!!

(promotional booklet frigidaire food freezers 1949)

why yes, there are thrills in the exciting world of freezing! that is if and only if you have a Frigidaire Food Freezer. "Many people think that they must buy a side of beef--or raise a garden to justify the use of a Food Freezer. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are many, many everyday uses for the Frigidaire Food Freezer." next listed within the booklet are easy items to freeze such as juice and of all things... ice cubes!


and one last word...
"remember freezing will retain the original quality of the food, but it will not improve it!"

so don't go thinking that stomach turning pasta dish you couldn't even talk the dog into will get any better after a few months on ice.

piehole-less

circa 1951. the grand prize winner got $25,000!!!! that's a lot of money back now.
the funny face hamburgers (seen below) were my favorite in the booklet. the idea was from a 12 year old girl and she won $1,000.

recipe
(click to enlarge)

i recently acquired a few other neat old recipe booklets and cookbooks that i plan on displaying here. and because i have nothing else of interest to share i think i will space them w-a-y out.

peeperless

i recently purchased this little guy at a thrift store for a mere 50 cents. i have named him eyeless eddie the optically impaired elf. the sad irony is it's his job to paint the eyes on the toys in santa's workshop. now we know why those "hand painted" figurines always look off.

i am not completely sold on the name yet so if anyone has a better one to offer, please do!

courtesy of mikwright

derby bake sale

i am a volunteer for the emerging roller derby team in my town. a few weekends back we had a bake sale. here's a sampling of what i made. it's record bowl/cupcake galore.

i made little plates out of 45s for individual cupcakes.

and used the regular records for sets of 3.
these cupcakes were made by another girl but were plain. so i added some chocolate eyeballs to spiff them up and then cuddled them together in one of my bowls.


also had a few with little plastic skates.

unfortunately the sale didn't do so great. this town is a tough crowd. at least i was pleased with my presentation.

items to view with bemused interest

it has been some time since i have come across any interesting vintage finds until this past weekend. i happened across a yard sale that was nothing but vintage stuff. only the folks who were doing this yard sale knew this and were asking astronomical prices on most everything but....this really tall glass (nearly 8 inches), $1 and this set of melamine bowls, $10. the dinosaur is merely to help illustrate the TALLness of the glass, it didn't come with it.
i like the teeny feet! they remind me of little witches cauldrons.
the larger bowl has a rubber plug, i guess so it can be filled with warm water? thus the flaming "therm-o-bowl" mark?
if anyone has any info on these items i would enjoy hearing it! the guy at the sale thought the glass was actually a cocktail shaker but he didn't have a lid.

dead shakers

these etched glass shakers are a DIY deal (not by me) but such a neat a idea. just thought i would show them....

criswell predicts....

during a local showing of the film Plan 9 from Outer Space the dixie dolls (my crafty girl gang, in case you aren't aware) put together some vintage horror/ b-movie/ cult classic (you get the idea, the movies that the cool kids watch) inspired items to push on the unbriefed public. the photo below is of our table...it was dark...

details:

center top on the orange metal bucket are bottlecap magnets with movie images that were lovingly bejeweled and glittered up by the dolls. bottom left are shrinky dink tattoo flash ear rings (not movie inspired but still very nice and of fine quality)


top left are refrigerator clips, halloween themed. on the right are shrinky dink tattoo flash necklaces. bottom right are some new necklaces i have been experimenting with. they are made from shrinky dink material that prints from a home printer.
here are a couple of the necklaces close up. i think they turned out fairly nice. the process is to lighten the image until it looks washed out, print on the transparency setting, then the rest is shrinky dink old hat. oh, also seal the image with clear nail polish.


lastly are the tote bags. a really bad photo but the only one i have. a better view of a tote here. and the plan 9 bag sold. yay!

btw, did you happen to notice the tags i put on the items? toe tags....

halloween sugarcoated

ghastly confectionery happenings in review, sorry to post them too late for recreation for the current halloween. but if you are like me these are treats fit for anytime of the year.

first, is this brownie cake (that just means it's a sheet of brownies with icing on top) pumpkinbutt and i collaborated on for one of my dearest friend's birthday...happy birthday again brent! we didn't have any pre-existing plan, and pumpkinbutt started by dumping black sugar sprinkles in the middle, which in turn brought to my mind a pile of dirt. so i then placed a glow in the dark skeleton in the heap. we charged the skeleton up with a flashlight and it turned out looking pretty cool....

spiderweb cupcakes. i found the idea online. i am not going to post an image of the original because it puts mine to shame. you can google it and have a good laugh at my shoddy rendition.



i love these!!! zombie hands emerging from the depths of a chocolate cupcake. i found this idea online also......ordered hands from here

book sale finds

i recently attended the local friends of the library book sale (book sale past here). i acquired a few books on intriguing topics however this 1954 cake decorating book by the wilton's was a real find.

within the pages i discovered this cake idea:


i thought this cake was very interesting. it is to celebrate washington's birthday but since that is a tradition i have never been into i see it in a bit of a different light. it recalls to me the scene in the movie napoleon dynamite when pedro "builds" summer a cake as a way to ask her to the dance. he makes the cake with the script on top asking her out and then leaves it on her door step. now with that seed planted, i see this cake as something one would leave on the door step for their next murder victim. it's nice really... have some cake and just understand that i plan on doing you in with a hatchet!

baby vamp

i bought this sweet little red velvet baby dress at a thrift store for coco...
then sketched up a flame pattern, cut it out of vinyl along with a bow, and adhered it to the dress with fabric glue. much better! now she matches her daddy!

and to compliment the outfit, i am altering a pair of fishnet stockings to baby size.

cutest fabric

very cute halloween fabric i picked up at joann's recently, and on sale for 3.99 a yard! it's got vintage style beistle cats (as seen below)!

not sure what the fabric will become... for now, i think i am going to go for simple and use it as a tablecloth. perhaps a girl with more time on her hands could turn it into a dandy apron or a halloween trick or treat satchel.

thrift score!

newest find and for a mere dime!

martha, martha, martha

martha has put out a new halloween holiday mag this year along with having a few halloween inspired crafts in the living mag. have you seen these yet? oh martha, i am displeased with your offerings. waaay too many rehashed ideas from previous issues. to save you all some money i am putting up some of the best ideas (some old, some new) featured in the two current issues . seen above is the best and freshest idea she has to offer this year, entitled Harrowing Handicrafts. the spider webs and tatters are made from tissue paper. how to.

from here on out everything below was copy/pasted, not my words. i don't want any of the blame for the dorkish descriptions.

broomstick favors

Give witches-for-a-night a proper send-off with broomstick favors. You need two lunch-size paper bags for each broomstick. Unfold one bag, and push out its base while folding in the left and right sides. Using scissors, cut the bag into thin strips, stopping short of the base. Cut thin strips into the top inch of the second bag. Open both bags, and place the second bag inside the shredded one; fill with candy. Insert a small branch 1 inch into the bag; cinch the tops of both bags, and secure with black twine.

spiderweb eggs

Ingredients

• 1 dozen large eggs
• 8 cups water
• Gray sea salt, for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper, for serving
• frozen blueberries
  

Directions

1. Place eggs in single layer in a large saucepan, and cover with water and blueberries. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand 10 minutes.
2. Using a slotted spoon, remove eggs one at a time, and place on a folded kitchen towel. Lightly crack shell on side with the handle of a whisk or a wooden spoon. Transfer egg to medium bowl; cover with cooking water. Repeat with remaining eggs. Let eggs cool completely in water in refrigerator.
3. Carefully peel shells from eggs. Serve with salt and pepper. Spiderweb Egg How-To: After boiling eggs, remove them to a kitchen towel. Using the handle of a whisk, carefully crack one side of the egg and transfer to a bowl to soak in the blueberry-tinted water they cooked in. Wipe up any spills quickly; blueberry juice stains.

spider picks

With scissors, cut the bugs off plastic spider rings (available at party stores), then puncture their centers with a needle tool (from crafts stores). Insert the toothpick into the hole from bottom; color tip with a black marker. Set out with nibbles, such as mini mozzarella balls.

tissue paper garland

Cutting the strings of shapes won't drive you batty, since the paper comes accordion-folded in its package. With black tissue paper you can craft bats, cats, rats, or witches; orange makes great pumpkins; and white is perfect for skulls and ghosts.

Trace or draw desired design across full width of a package of folded tissue paper; we used a cookie cutter as our guide. Cut along the outline, leaving a bit of uncut fold at both sides so figures connect to one another. You'll end up with several strings of five or six shapes each; tape together for a garland.