Creepy Labels

Have you seen the new craft magazine out called Creative TECHniques yet? It features crafting projects that can be done using your home computer and printer along with some tutes on software. The fall 2006 edition is out right now and has quite a few pretty cool projects. This being one of them. It is a project for turning plain whiskey-ish bottles into "fun" bottles of embalming fluid!

Supplies:
images
interesting glass bottle (I found mine left empty on a bench in a park...Honestly. Hey, it was free! )
mod podge
small amount strong brewed coffee or tea
water tinted with food coloring
a couple of paint brushes

How-To:
In your computer, if needed, resize images. Print. Cut out labels. Age paper, if deserved, with strong tea or coffee by applying on with a paintbrush. Let dry. Affix to bottle with mod modge. Paint coat of mod podge on adhered label. Fill bottle with colored water. Done.

A number of these in different sizes and shapes with varying colors of water would make a really neat Halloween centerpiece. Also soaking off labels on full bottles of wine or other liquors and then applying on these labels instead, would be a grand idea for a party or gift.

Oh! And Martha-online has these creepy candy jar labels
worth doing something with as well.

Eggs a' la Kang*

Come and get it!
Swapatorium leftovers:

I present to you, dear readers, a very unpalatable yet provoking dish. It is entitled Eggs a' la King and comes from the cookbooklet "Cooking with Condensed Soups" by The Campbell's Soup Company circa 1950's .

I don't quite understand this dish.... Is it for breakfast hence the eggs and toast or is it a side-dish for dinner hence it's pimento sprinkled soup mixture moat? It's just not right, something is askew here. Also, when looking at a meal words like...oozing, pustule mass shouldn't come to mind. If you ever find something similar to this sprouting off your body I would highly recommend it's removal.

I couldn't bring myself to eat this abnormality and it's just sitting in my fridge right now... plotting it's next move.

:Recipe:

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1 can (1 1/4 cups) condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/4 cup milk
4 hard boiled eggs, sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped pimento
4 slices toast

Heat soup slowly in a saucepan; add milk, stir well. Then add eggs and pimento. Serve on toast. 4 servings.

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Enjoy?
(only if you set your expectations really low)

Shocking! Chilling!

I'm over at the Swapatorium today!


Unsavory Oddities Here!

T-Shirt recon #3

I started working on this recon months ago (along with this one and this one) and finally got it finished! This shirt started life as a huge mans short sleeve tent. I stream lined the sides to give it a girly figure, cut the neck line to be more rounded and then made puffy sleeves for it. I didn't have a pattern so I don't really have any how-to's...I just had to "make it work!".

I do have this pic to share showing a preliminary of the pre-poof sleevage:

btw, how do you guys like my new school glasses? My mom got them for me. I think they make me look nerdy cute and boost up my IQ by at least 5 points. Oh! I'm going to school to finish my bachelors degree in fine art, for those who had asked. Yep, one of those degrees that guarantees I'll be dancing in the street for nickels.

What's Cookin'?! Round Two!

Round Two Sign Ups!!!!

Sarah and I are your hostesses for the second What's Cookin'? Apron and Recipe Swap and we hope that you will join us!

The theme this time is holiday party aprons and recipes!!!

go check out the details!

Ouija board craftin'

What do you do with your old Ouija board when it's just not summoning up spirits as fast as it used to? Well craft it into something cute for your person or home.

I didn't make either one of these crafts (just swiped the images from the net) so I don't have any how- to's, only suggestions.

I think that the ouija board on this purse was photo copied (and sized), adhered to a pre-existing purse, then embellished a bit with ribbon.


This table seems simple enough.. Black painted table with ouija board on top...And useful...either for asking dearly departed aunt gloria what the secret ingredient in her weiner casserole was (psss.. it's salt!) or just someplace to sit your Hornsby's hard cider.

Monster Lips!

I found the above image/recipe on the internet last year... I think it's a martha deal. It's really easy and fun to make with a little one. Sliced apples with peanut butter and candy (candy corn, red hots, gummy worms, ect.), nuts (in different shapes and broken) and raisins to look like teeth. The set of lips in the top right corner have marshmallow creme instead of peanut butter. I think using caramel instead of peanut butter would be rather tasty, also using some of that red candy apple stuff would be cool since it would look like blood! Fun! Here are pumpkinbutt and my Monster Lips:

And here we are trying to look scary!

it's the most wonderful time of the year....

yay! My favorite time of year! A time of year when it's okay to leave the house without make up and folks just think you're wearing a witches mask!

i am hoping to be decorating this "house" with a bunch of cool halloween posts since i don't think i am going to be decorating my real one. I just started back to school and will be some kinda busy for the next few months.

The above image came from a very cool book: Goth-Icky. A Macabre menagerie of Morbid Monstrosities with text by Michael J. Nelson of MST3K fame.

Goofy Golf !!! Panama City

I was going to tell you all that I do have a birthday that seems to happen about once a year at some point...but luckily I didn't have to ( mary ann!! wink, wink). So on with the birthday biz! I have been asking for the same 3 things for my birthday for the past 5 years....pink cake, goofy golf, and to play the bowling game at my favorite "dive" called the elbow room. The goofy golf in my town was devastated by Hurricane Ivan 2 years ago so we drove 2 hours away to go to the BIG Goofy Golf in Panama City. It was built in 1959 and is bad ass!!! This was my first time going to this one.

The monkey was my favorite! His eyes glowed red and his dryer-hose-looking-tail swung side to side! CUTENESS!

That big purple dinosaur is the coolest! And you can go inside him! See below!

My promo shot to be the next crocodile hunter.

Inside this guy was a spiral staircase that went all the way to a lookout point at the top.

my other favorite! I like how he is gingerly holding the chain to raise the monkey up and down yet has such a pissed off look on his face.

These photos don't even show the half of the stuff at this place, just the coolest of the cool. Among the other stuff is a really huge man-made underground cave, a Egyptian sphinx, a pirate boat, a few other dinosaurs, a rocket, a wooden haunted house, a goony bird, a snake, a Buddha, a castle....All in all, there are two courses with a total of 36 holes. But I'm not going to lie to you, some of the holes and their corresponding attractions have seen better days.

So what is this Goofy Golf all about you ask?

"In 1958, Lee Koplin reinvented and reenergized the idea of mini golf when he opened Goofy Golf in Florida. Suddenly, unlike its predecessors, obstacles became oversized. Giant dinosaurs, pyramids and other kooky sculptures towered over the putting areas. Goofy Golf dwarfed the idea of Tom Thumb golf and gave the game an amusement park feel. Even sculptures that were not part of the game were set up along the walkways to add to the surreal fantasy landscape."...Statement blatantly stolen from somewhere.

The other really exciting thing (at least to me) is that they still had original vintage post cards for sale! Here are a couple, Check it:

(this card shows that hand pose nicely)

(this card shows a bunch of stuff that is not there anymore, 'cept in the background is that wooden haunted house I spoke of)

more photos and info from one of my favorite sites, Roadside Architecture.


Other birthday happenings: Dixie Doll Kat called me first thing that morning and sung Happy Birthday as Marilyn Monroe-ish. And she is getting me a very interesting present .. I'll share once it happens (I'm the hold up!). She took me out on the town last weekend and bought me drinks and we played the bowling game... it was good times. No pink cake though (pink cake= that imitation strawberry prefab cake mix with prefab strawberry icing, yum yum!) . One year I am going to make myself a 3D pink dinosaur cake, yes siree! ..or maybe I'll do a few small cakes that are differnet goofy golf attractions! Aww, forget that! It's MY birthday! I should be getting a foot rub or something by Johhny Depp (in character as Ed Wood of course) while John Flansburg of tmbg sings me happy birthday in his skivees and a Mexican sombero... ahhh...that would be a grand birthday!

Back to reality....my birthday has come and gone....and left me as an old lady...Seriously.. I am an old lady...like, break-a-hip old.

Lovies!

Mary Ann sent me a huge package of things last week to help cheer me up! And it absolutely did. Look at all of this great stuff I got!

First off, she made me this adorable apron. It is made from a very delicate white dotted fabric along with.. I am thinking the floral print is from a bedsheet? Along the edges is white eyelet ruffle trim. The bottom section is pockets and that is where all my goodies I am about to show off where 'hidden'.


An extremely funny card (I put up here a few days ago), marble magnets, a bracelet and a little magnetized closure pouch (isn't that fabric the most !)

Then these two necklaces. The one on the left has a clear glass pendant with swirled green accents on a black satin cord. The necklace on the right...omg...I LOVE it...The pendant is a bezel set flat glass marble with a singles ad underneath saying: "Pretty Kitty Seeks Alley Cat" along with the rest of the ad. This has got to be one of the best ideas I have seen in a long time and so well made.
And did you notice that everything is color coordinated? That gal just thinks of it all! I don't know if it's clear or not but she made all of these things (other than the card) !!!!! She has a on-line shop a very mary design, that I highly recommened you checking out!

Thanks so much for the cheery package mary ann!!!!

Oh! The things you can do with wieners!

Serving up some leftovers! :

Greetings dear Swapatorium readers!

I bring you this lovely Wiener Crown Roast
to delight and amaze!

It is fully endorsed by Dr. Stupid, I might add.

So are you amazed? Are you just dying to make one of these to impress or depress your friends and family? It would be the perfect dish to bring to your bi-weekly Wieners are Wonderful meeting. Just call around first to make sure that someone else isn't bringing the same thing... That would be oh so embarassing! Read on for the behind the scenes secrets!

I based my Crown O' Wieners after these two images* of wieners in action:

However both of the above recipes have cabbage/sour kraut shacking up in the middle...sooo not happening in my house! I decided to alter the innards to something else that I thought would be more appetizing, afterall, folks I do have to eat these meals. (I used cornbread and chili). I have no recipe measurements to offer only how to construct this. I made a pan of cornbread and cut out 2 round same size pieces. First, slice hotdogs lengthwise stopping short of the outer skin so both sides stay connected. Next, take one piece of the cornbread, place on plate and start toothpicking (not sure that is a real word but you get what i mean!) opened wieners into cornbread. Add some chili in middle section placing the other piece of cornbread on top (toothpick same as earlier). Fill to the top with more chili. The green onion ribbon is to hide the toothpicks and adds a bit of extra stability and flair. Garnish that baby up because we all know that garnish makes a meal taste better because it looks better! That's just a little bit of advice that I offer for free, next time it'll cost you.

ps... I like having any excuse I can find to say the word "wieners"....It makes me laugh.


Enjoy!

~mary~

* images from WeightWatchers Recipe card found via internet and Family Circle Library of Cooking

Update! Looky what i found at a thriftstore this weekend!!!!! The complete set of WeightWatcher's recipe cards!!!! I won't be making the "Makerally" but there are quite a few other disturbing recipes/images that are going to be turning stomachs in the near future around here..............

and i forgot to mention this in the swapatorium post but there is a flicker group by a chic that was written a book on a few of the recipes from this weightwatchers series (thanks amanda for sending me that link!)It's worth a look-see.

Join Us!

Well then...Why not sneak off to the swapatorium? That's where I am hiding out today!


*this extremely funny image is from a card sent to me from mary ann!

Kitschy Crap

I got this book, Kitschy Crafts, as a gift this week. It highlights a few different crafts from the mid century to now. I'm just going to say it...the book kinda sucks. It has great use of layouts, fonts/text and images but the how-to and the craft selections are very mediocre....caprisun juice packet purse (seen it! and didn't think it was such a great idea anyway)... record bowls (cool, but they are in very single alternacraft book out there)...tie dye (this was never a good idea...ever! and even thinking about it makes me queasy and there are a million online how-to's for it I'm sure).

So anything interesting at all? I did find out that those grape cluster deals at antique malls are a handmade craft! The book tells how to make them but its pages long and is asking too much of me and my time. That is one cool lamp though!


As a side note I want to thank everyone for the kind emails and comments I have been getting about my 'sock drawer'... It's still in disarray and I don't know when I will be able to get it really taken care of and life has to go on right?

Dear Kind Readers,

I will be away for the following week. My life is as crazy and disorganized as a man's sock drawer. Metaphorically speaking, I need to pair up and organized the good socks and trash the bad ones....They aren't even worth saving for sock puppets.

we'll catch up soon!

~m

Poppin' cool!

Check out this cool pop corn bag! I really like the illustrations on old packaging. I got a few of these bags this weekend during a tour the dixie dolls and I went on of our public TV station. One of my oldest friends (I've know him and his wife almost half my life) works for this station and gave us the 'interesting' tour after hours. I happened upon an old popcorn machine that was in storage along with a box of these bags and well.. kinda helped myself to a few of them. Don't worry, I shared! I stole some for heather and Kat too!

One of the movie theatres in town has got some bad ass pickle paper bags. I need to get my hands on a few of those as well...

the dolls are thinking about making them into something... not sure what yet though...suggestions? They measure 3 1/2 in wide by 8 1/4 inches tall and I only got off with about 10 of them.

It's Broiled and I'm calling it Dinner!...the leftovers

Here is the leftovers from the swapatorium post for last friday. Not my finest but it'll do......

Hello dear Swapatorium readers! For this month's vintage recipe installment I wanted to make something that looked really hideous. I wanted it to be so hideous that it would turn your stomach and send you all scampering off to cash in a 'round trip meal ticket' by it's mere image. And then I found this....It's Broiled Ham and Lima Beans.

Better Homes and Gardens Meat Cook Book 1965

It's being smothered in a blanket of brownish yellow sludge! Yum yum! Well I proceeded to make this dish with such high hopes and well.... compared to mine, the original actually looks fairly appetizing. Tell me "it's hideous" folks, and make my day!

I had such expectations of an exact reproduction. I went wrong by using canned lima beans which have no color left to them, even though the " serving suggestion" image on the exterior of the can shows them in a lovely shade of bright green. LIES!! My second downfall was not using finely shredded sludge, I mean cheese. Learn from my mistakes friends. Flavor-wise it's not too bad at all, just keep your eyes shut while eating!

***********RECIPE***********

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Eng and Chang Bunker

Last stop of the vacation! Mt. Airy, NC is where the infamous Siamese twins Eng and Chang are buried. They were born in Siam in 1811 having a 5 inch band of flesh and cartilage joining them at the chest. They toured in sideshow type attractions before settling down near Mt. Airy and raising a family. They married two sisters and had 21 children combined.
They died only a few hours apart in 1874. Chang went first due to a blot clot in the brain. Eng died, it is believed from fear of dying.






I found a really good article on the twins here. It goes into alot of interesting facts and more on their lives.

After they died it was discovered that the only organ they shared was their livers which were fused but independently complete. They could have been easily separated if they lived in present day but it's debatable if the operation could have been possible during their time. The twins' fused liver is still preserved in formalin at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is exhibited alongside a plaster death-cast of the twins. (sidenote:I want to go to the Mutter soooo badly!!! It's a museum of medical oddities and curiosities.)

They are buried in the White Plains Church Cemetery in Surry County, NC (outskirts of Mt.Airy). The church they helped to establish and build.

I did find an Andy connection to the twins:

"The Wedding of the Siamese Twins" by Burton Cohen, a play detailing the intimate and often amusing lives of Chang and Eng Bunker, is scheduled to be performed annually at the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mount Airy, NC.

Another interesting thing is that Mark Twain wrote a short story about Eng and Chang: The Siamese Twins


That's that! Vacation over! Time to get unpacked and back to cooking up revolting matter that I like to try and pass off as food!

Andy Griffith TV Land Landmark

The last Andy inspired installment of the Mt. Airy, NC (Mayberry) vacation. This statue was installed on the lawn in front of the Andy Griffith Playhouse as part of a special ceremony on September 24th 2004 to kick off the town's annual 15th Mayberry Days celebration. Andy Griffith was there himself for the unveiling. This is one of two Andy and Opie statues done by TV Land. The first one was erected in Pullen Park, Raleigh, NC. I don't really understand why they chose to put the first one up there. Sure they mentioned the town of Raleigh on the Andy Griffith Show many a time but the show wasn't based there.



Here are some close ups.




















There are 4 other TV Land Landmarks depicting other classic TV characters in their corresponding cities. I would really like to go see the Bob Newhart one. It looks really cool and I love that show. Once TV Land had a commercial were they just sang "Bob Newhart" over and over with the theme song playing in the background. It made me laugh and I liked singing along with it... the words were easy enough to remember.

One last stop to make in Mt. Airy then it's time to unpack!

Floyd's Barbershop

The legendary Floyd's City Barbershop is located next door to the Snappy Lunch on Mainstreet. The owner actually isn't named Floyd but Russell Hiatt. The shop and character of Floyd Lawson on the Andy Griffith show were based after him. Mr. Hiatt has been in this shop for 46 years and used to cut Andy's hair.

Here is mom and I with the owner, Russell Hiatt aka "Floyd".

Pumpkinbutt striking a pose in a neat vintage kid's sized barber chair.

Floyd's Barbershop is a really neat place. When we walked in, there was a guy getting a haircut in one chair and another guy just chit-chatting with them in the other chair. Everyone was super friendly to us. It was so similar to the feeling that Floyd's had on the show.

I hope next time we come through pumkinbutt can get his hair cut here. That would be very cool.

Just two more short stops left before we head out of town!

Opie's Candy Shoppe

Opie's Candy Shoppe is located just a few doors down from the Snappy Lunch. They have a lot of really neat old timey type candy. It's sold 5 bucks a pound which I thought was a good deal til I had to pay 8 bucks for 2 handfuls of candy, yikes! At least I got some cool looking candy wrappers out of the deal as well. I was very excited to see they had a candy called Squirrel Nut Zippers because I very fondly enjoy the band of the same name. I'm sure you will see why....


Next stop Floyd's Barber Shop!

And by the way, I'm over at the Swapatorium today serving up some broiled hideousness. Do stop by!

Snappy Lunch

Next stop... The Snappy Lunch in downtown 'Mayberry'! It has been open since 1923 and Andy, himself has talked about coming here to get a hot dog and bottle of pop after school as a boy. On the back of the Snappy Lunch Take Out menu it says "In an early episode of The Andy Griffith show entitled 'Andy the Matchmaker' Andy suggests to Barney that they go down to the Snappy Lunch to get a bite to eat...Andy also mentioned the Snappy Lunch in his version of the song 'Silhouettes'." So, as you can see, it's definitely a stop to make on the Mayberry tour.

There are two dining areas in the Snappy Lunch. The area when you first walk in is all done up in dingy nasty 70's style and the back room (shown here) is done up in retro 50's. I preferred this room.
Other than being know as part of the Andy Griffith/Mayberry experience, the Snappy Lunch has another bragging right:
Here is the "World Famous Porkchop Sandwich".. It says so right on the take out menu! World Famous! (sidenote: sorry to get off the subject here but my mind generally works in references to things and with this one it calls to mind the part in the movie Elf, when he is all giddy happy and congratulates the diner for having "the world's greatest/best coffee" ha! That part of the movie makes me laugh. Esp. when he takes his girl on a date there and apparently the coffee actually is really "a crappy cup of coffee".... okay back to our previously scheduled programming).

I was thinking it would be a fried porkchop but it's more like a pancake batter-covered-then- fried porkchop. I recommend getting one while in town just so you can say you did. It will only set you back 3.65. And after all people, it's World Famous!
So, you want to see us all eating? Sure you do!

Mom (she's thinking.. good lord, does she have to take pictures of everything?):

Me (I'm thinking that I hope my lipstick is near perfection, and by the looks of it I got my wish! ha!)

pumkinbutt..he kept to safe territory and just ate two bags of chips:

Below are the deets on the Snappy. They close up shop kinda early (after lunch) so I would call first.

125 North Main Street
Mount Airy, NC
336-786-4931