Snow Day Decor

 

I've been holding out hope that our area would get a February Snow Day, but it's just not in the forecast for us this year.

During that eager anticipation I decorated a little cabinet with a Snow Day theme: 

This is all the winter wonderland we are getting this year!

I also have a snowy treat and craft coming up next!

Here are all of last year's festivities:

Snow Day!

Snow Day Confectionaries

Snow Day icicle cake

Ivory Snow Day

Yeti Spaghetti

Here is our Snow Day craft ....circa 2012!

This post has been sitting in the deep freezer of drafts for a decade!

During PB's elementary years he would get craft kits, science kits, build your own robot kits, grow a dinosaur plant kits, all sorts of these boredom buster brain booster kinda things for Christmas.  We would stash them away for summer fun since during the school year his brain was already busting with homework.

This little guy ( which PB named Yeti Spaghetti) was one of the kits that PB and I made. The making part was balling up sparkly blue air dry clay and squashing it onto the plastic body form.  I think I got it at Michael's as a stocking stuffer. PB also got a make your own snow kit, so we put the two together.  The igloo was made from a piece of styrofoam.

Yellow Snow

 For our Snow Day treat I made " Don't  Eat The Yellow Snow Cones".  I made them by crushing ice in a blender and topping it with some sugar free coconut syrup (store bought, meant for coffee drinks) that I dyed yellow.

This treat is something that you don't want when it's frigid weather but works for us since we are heading into the 70s this week. 

Valentine's Love Cats

This year for Valentine's Day decor I decided to finally tackle a theme I have been wanting to do for years!  The Cure's song Love Cats!

It's not a plunge into the lyrics or visuals from the music video or anything deep like that.  I just thought it would be fun to do a mash up kinda thing with vintage valentines of cats and The Cure (Robert Smith really!).

😻"We're so wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, wonderfully, pretty!"😻  

😻"Oh, you know that I'd do anything for you"😻

😻"We should have each other for tea, huh?"😻

😻"We should have each other with cream"😻

😻"Then curl up by the fire and sleep for awhile"😻

😻"It's the grooviest thing, it's the perfect dream"😻

The Cure is one of mine and Mr. Husband's fav-o-rite bands and so I really wanted this theme to be top notch looking.  That's kinda why I had been putting it off for so long.  I only decided to do it this year (last minute actually) because I mentioned the idea to PB and he was all about it.  He is a Cats/Cure fan also!

Decor and craft break down:

So since I don't have access to free wide format printing anymore, I had to come up with another way to create a large focal wall centerpiece.  I wanted an image of Robert Smith and I thought making it like a stencil would be the easiest way to go.  There are a couple of stencils already out there in internetland but I decided that wasn't good enough.  I found a photo I liked and turned it into a black and white image and printed it as an 8x10.  I then built a projector from a cardboard box, a flashlight, and the image traced onto a piece of plastic (google DIY projector and you'll see what I'm talking about).  Well, this contraption wasn't so hot because it only helped me to put his primary features in the appropriate spots, you just can't see details. This idea then morphed into me having to do a large scale drawing. I think I did a good job on his rendering but it's just not the look I was wanting overall. The other crafty thing I made were the oversized red "Kiss Me" candy hearts.  I know, a different song, but just too perfect for Valentine's day!  I made these from some scrap styrofoam I cut into heart shapes, painted red, and added epsom salts to look like sugar crystals. 

Here are a couple of past v-tine decor:

Vintage Valentine's Day Decor

Valoween Decor

And click on the "valentines" label down below left for all my past v-tine post goodies!

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Sweetheart Rings

I love mid-century vending machine stuff.  I came across this "Sweetheart Ring" vending display card and absolutely fell in love with the illustration.  It's practically perfect in every way!  

I planned on framing it and hanging it up at Valentine's time.  But when it came in the mail I was in for a surprise.  I apparently didn't read the size of the card because this thing is micro sized...2 inch x 3 inch.  Not suitable for framing...it's like a gum wrapper!

I still wanted to come up with a way to display it so I made this mini fake vending machine:

I bought a couple of packages of cheap-o plastic rings from 1.25 Tree that have 2 colors, red and fuchsia.  I don't do fuchsia unless it's vintage 80s fashion so I popped all of those 'jewels' off.  I had even painted some of them black with nail polish but decided to just keep it simple and tossed the stripped rings in as background filler and placed the red rings up front.

I made the vending machine out of an old Christmas card box, aluminum foil, and red craft paper.

This one is more of a mock up.  I want to find a tall small square glass canister at a thrift and make something a bit more substantial.

Here is another vintage packaged "Sweetheart rings" that Mr. Husband got me.  Looks like the Mr. on the package is under witness protection.

February Coconut Cake of the Month

{image source}

February's coconut cake of the month is called "Ever-Lovin' Heart" in keeping with Valentine's Day.

I thought it was clever how the directions turned a round cake into a heart shape.  Only in the end it makes for an ugly heart shape, in my opinion.  What you see from my version is a cake that I really had to shape, far more than the instructions lead me to believe.   Even then it's a cake only a stomach can love.

 

Bestmaid Children's Tableware

 

A vintage set of 'Bestmaid" Children's plastic tableware that we picked up from my most favorite antique mall for just 5 bucks.

This mall is in the next town over and pre-covid we would make it a day trip, going to some thrift stores, other neat shops, and getting lunch at a our favorite retro styled pizza restaurant, such a good time.  However for the past 2 years we have drastically cut back our outings for obvious reasons (ie: Covid and we live in Florida, two deadly things combined) and have only ventured over there twice.  We happened to be in the area back in October, not a planned visit, and decided to swing in.  I was stopped in my tracks when I read the sign by the front door " Last weekend, owners retiring".  I have been shopping at this antique mall for 20 years. It's a part of my history and my life.   I have so many things all over my house that I have bought from there and posted on here.  I loved the way the building smelled.  Everyone knew, no hesitation that The Rusty Cricket* was my favorite antique shop. I was even once at an estate sale run by some friends several years ago and the antique owner happened to be shopping there too.  My friend kinda dragged the owner over to me telling her I was her number one fan.

I loved that they played music from the 1940-60s on the over head.  I loved that it was a real vintage/antique mall having actual old stuff... I know, who would think?  There weren't booths of handmade big hair bows and discarded cookbooks from 2008 like 90 % of "antique malls" in our area are, along with those blasting cringy country music crap.  I know in the big scheme of things this isn't or shouldn't be a big deal.  But it was truly my happy place and I am devastated.   

Mr. Husband and I took our time and browsed the store.  Apparently the whole place had been on sale for the week and it was fairly picked over.  I only found a few things, one of them being this set of plastic kid's toy eating utensils...something that is so me.

I scanned the package card for you all to use for your crafting pleasure!

So then to make matters worse and complicated, we called our friend (the one mentioned earlier) and were like Hey did you know Rusty Cricket* is closing up?  He then tells us a side of this story that made me question my commitment.  Our friend knows a lot of dealers due to his business and the shop is also in the neck of the woods where he grew up, so he knows the gossip.   He first tells us that the owner didn't tell the dealers about the shop closing until the week before, leaving them in a bad spot.  He also told me that the owner is a nutsy anti-mask idiot!  Once he was loading something into her shop and she tells him she would prefer if he didn't wear his mask.  What the?!  Like I said earlier...Florida.

So now I am in this weird state of feelings, having to separate the positive experience of the shop from the morons that ran it.

But to not leave this post on such a negative spot, a couple of weekends ago I had a last minute crazy idea for Mr. Husband and I to drive over to Alabama and go to an estate sale.  It was the last day and only 20 percent off, meaning I figured it wouldn't be packed out with people.  Since Alabama is a hour or so drive away I decided to look up a few other fun spots for us to stop at too.  One was a thrift store and the other was a super cute antique mall!  It only carried vintage what-nots and doodads (no bows!), had really good prices and was housed in a neat mid century modern building.  

I think I may have found myself a "rebound" however it's a long distance relationship.

*Name changed since gossip is involved

Kitchen Approved Selected Tomatoes

Some NOS food packaging I got for Christmas featuring a super cute "Tomato" holding a tomato!

 

Frankaroni Loaf

It's a sight to behold!

Just let your eyes rest and take it in for awhile!

{From Tested Recipe Institute 1958}

During the months of quarantine back in 2020 I tried out several vintage casserole concoctions.   It's the only hobby I had left, other than sleeping till noon.   For the most part these dishes have all been fairly tame, even some being a bit on the dull side.  This is because we do have to eat these for dinner and I didn't want to disturb the Fam with anything too out there.  However I was getting to the bottom of the barrel of options that look fairly normal and include ingredients that we would actually eat.  Frankaroni Loaf was the turning point.  It's the first sign that things are not okay anymore.

(This dish does not include a cheese custard pie.  It's just an extra non-photographed recipe included on the card)

The ingredients are normal in and of themselves, but not usually placed all together baked in a molded loaf.  They also don't typically have a tomato sauce- olive speckled bandolier across them.



For this recipe (as with all recipes) I did some substitutions to make the dish more healthy or use foods I keep on hand.  I used turkey hot dogs, chopped up dill pickle slices as the relish, fat free shredded cheese, skim milk, and whole wheat penne pasta.  

Although the dish looks a bit out there it's not so bad tasting.  I think the only thing it's missing is a bit more of a sauce, not the tomato sauce...maybe a white sauce!  Everything tastes better when drowned in white sauce!

S'Macaroni Bake

You guys. 

 I have been mesmerized by this vintage ad for years.  I can not track down where it came from or more importantly what the recipe is.  The image quality is so poor.  I have done my best to decipher what I thought it said because I needed to make this beautiful S'Macaroni Bake!!! 

So I saved and enlarged the recipe and put on 2 pairs of eyeglasses that are for someone with 20/1000 vision, barely making out the secrets of this dazzler.

Behold the original recipe (for the most part):

S'Macaroni

In a large bowl combine and chill:

*One 8 oz package Ann Page elbow macaroni cooked and drained

*One 1 lb can salmon, drained and flaked

*1/4 cup each: chopped celery, onion, bell pepper, pimento

*1 tsp each: oregano and pepper

* 1 tsp salt

* 2 tbsp lemon juice

* 1 cup medium white sauce (At some time make 2 additional cups for use in preparing Creamy Lemon Sauce)

Prepare 3 cups baking powder biscuit recipe (or packaged biscuit mix)

~Can't make out the next few lines: something about liquid and lightly floured and rectangle.

Fit dough into dish and fill with chilled macaroni mixture. 

~Something about dough edges and fluted. 

Sprinkle surface with caraway seeds?, stripes of pimento, and dot with sliced stuffed olives.

Bake 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Serves 6 or 8? with Creamy Lemon Sauce ( 2 cups medium white sauce plus ?? lemon juice blended well)

 

There it is.  And there it's going to stay for the most part!  The "S" in S'Macaroni is for Salmon!

Nope. No way. Not happening. 

To keep the in "S" in S'Macaroni,  I decided to use sausage and I highly recommend it!  So, so good!

Here is my quick and easy "recipe":

I cooked up some turkey sausage and mixed it with cooked noodles and white sauce.  The biscuit dough is from a mix.  I couldn't find long stripes of pimento so I used red bell pepper.  Modern stuffed olives aren't radioactive green anymore unfortunately so I had no option but to use drab unphotogenic replacements.

It's pretty much biscuits and sausage gravy...and noodles.

And who doesn't like that?!