signage

I am terribly distraught to learn that the Krispy Kreme in my town is going to be gutted of all it's cool midcentury neatness to be turned into boring cookie-cutter blahness. I thought I would share a photo of the sign before it's gone:
And for the fun of it, here are a few more cool signs I've photographed in past years. These are located around the Ocala, FL area.

Caption This!

This game is quite fun! You all left such funny captions on the last one. Here's another:


Dear Lord baby Jesus, we thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Dominos, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family. My two sons, Walker, and Texas Ranger, or TR as we call him. And of course my red hot smokin' wife Carley, who is a stone cold fox.

Oh, it's fun!

I haven't really had alot of time for my typical shenanigans lately. To fill the void till then I thought it may be fun for us to play "Caption This!" games...

During a tender yet revealing moment while working on their dishpan hands, Jimmy revealed, "Darling, I find having to breath the same air as you revolting. " ...and Sally agreed, returning the sentiment whole heartily.

Newly Acquired

Hello dear readers! I recently acquired a bunch of pretty cool vintage doo-dads that I thought I would show off to you all.

These containers...Please disregard the fact of it being a crappy photo.

ice trays. I am very fond of the ones on the right with the detailed handles. I'm not going to use them for ice. I think they could be repurposed somehow...

HATS!...16 of them. Once I have a decent hairdo I'll sport a few.

A cute "Made in Japan" Santa decoration. Some neat old detective pulp novels.

An Asian robe that is in mint condition.

Now for the best ever! Drum roll please!.....ahh, drum roll?!....

A 6 1/2 foot aluminum Christmas tree!
Check out the neat red glass balls attached to the tips. The best part of the story is that it was rescued from a dumpster!

Hello all,

Terribly busy but I am making an appearance at the Swapatorium today. It's ehhh.... not my best. I hope to catch up with you all soon.

~m~

Forget the green bean casserole!

Does this sound all too familiar? Turkey....dressing.....cranberry sauce....green bean casserole= zzzzzzz.... Why not liven up the Thanksgiving menu and table a bit this season? This vintage recipe has undeniable good looks and fairly normal ingredients. It also has that added charm of being made in a mold, overly garnished and a massive amount of peas. Family and friends will no doubt praise this culinary ensemble on it's presentation alone!

This dish is called Mushroom Fondue with Peas... Fondue, really? Well sure! It has cheese....and bread....and, um.... well... damn it, they call it fondue! Of course a grill cheese sandwich could be called fondue with those kind of requirements. Maybe they left out the last instruction of: Just put the whole thing over a sterno can and pass out skewers.

Okay, now for flavor.... Truthfully it's lacking a bit in that department, but it has potential. I think adding a dash or two of something from a spice rack would be a splendid idea.

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

Enjoy!

Recipe from the Culinary Arts Institute cookbooklet:
250 ways to serve Fresh Vegetables, 1951.

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:

*****************************

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.

**************************

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