Apron Strings: Ties to the Past {Part III}

(me at the Opening Reception)

 Here are some little bits and extra pieces of a few other things I did with the Apron Strings exhibit.  Because I can't seem to make things simple, that's just too boring!

I have been really inspired and impressed with the exhibits I go to at the museum that hosted the apron show.  I have been posting on this blog for years about some of the amazing shows, such as dollhouses and atomic age.  All of these shows came about from the same curator that I worked with on the apron strings show.  She and I have a lot in common and I have enjoyed getting to know her through this process.  I decided to make her and I matching corsages and aprons to wear to the opening reception. 

This is the corsage.  The museum has a 'mascot' which is a mummified cat.  I printed the image and made a little apron for it to wear.  I guess she is female.  We need to have a contest at the museum to give her a name.  For now, I'll call her Gladys.

I made she and I  (the curator and I, not Gladys) both matching aprons along the lines of the one tulle apron that was in the apron show.  The one I mentioned which was described as "matching aprons for a group who are part of a function... together". You can see the finished product in the photo at the top of this post on my person.  I made her a special gift box from a vintage record cover and hot glued little aprons to the ladies. 

 Also for the Opening Reception I set up a photo booth kinda deal.

 I gathered up several of my aprons that I didn't use for the show along with some other props: oven mitts, fake foods, a cooking pot, scrub brush, grease container, cookie jar, tongs, cook booklets, a wooden spoon, and a toy octopus.

 My ironing board doing double duty as a table and display!  

Click on the image to enlarge if you would like to read the "How To" I wrote for the photo booth, I thought it was kinda funny.

I also had hair curlers!  I attached clips to a few so people (men) with short hair could play along too!

I liked the mug shots of the women mean mugging in their rollers!

Here are the 'serving suggestions' that me and my old man did in preparation for the Opening Reception 'Aprons in the Kitchen' Photo Booth .

I am brushing my teeth with the toilet brush....70's style.
So freaking funny!

So there you have it.  An apron hulabaloo.  It was a lot of work....

A Lot of Work, A Lot of work.  But I loved how it all turned out.

Hope you all have an apron wearing, cranberry jello mold kind of Thanksgiving!

See here for part 1 and part 2.

Apron Exhibit Preshow

This is big, people.
 I must be kicking off soon because my bucket list has been getting immensely lighter in the past few months.

Here it is!
I am going to be the featured apron collector in conjunction with a nationally touring Apron Exhibit!
My stuff is not touring nationally, I am the local spotlight. I wouldn't be comfortable with my things being 5 states away.

The other amazing thing is that I was allowed to curate all of my displays.  I added a lot of my own personal vintage items that related to aprons and housewifery such as apron sewing patterns, cook booklets and cookie cutters, to name just a few.

I am also heavily participating with curating the traveling apron exhibit as well.  I helped pick out vintage imagery to use on the walls, designed paper dolls for the children's museum, chose additional learning material/activities for the children's museum and the regular museum, and had say so with the arrangement of the entire show.

This is all something that I have been working on sporadically for the past several months, but consuming a huge amount of time over the last and this upcoming month.  For the past month and a half there have been two cases (shown here) that I designed and are a 'pre-show'.  I have done another five cases during the month of October which are in the main exhibit room awaiting the opening, which is next week.  These two cases are being moved over there this week.

 This is my 'collector's statement'.  

I will transcribe the text to it in another post for anyone interested in reading it.

Here I am...with myself!

Lastly, the third awesome thing about being a part of this exhibit is that it's being housed in my most favorite museum.  I have posted several times over the past years about other exhibits that were held there:

Creature Feature

Atomic Age Stuff
Cute Tin Toys
More Tin Toys
Doll Houses

Once the show is up in entirely I will be putting up scads of images and posts about it.
It's going to be a major apron hullabaloo!

Happy Housewife's Day

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A Woman's Work Is Never Done!

Today happens to be an extra special day for several reasons, all of which can be bundled into one fun new holiday!  Stick it out with me and see if you can pick up what I am putting down.

First and foremost, today is National Housewife's Day.
Being a housewife has become seen as a job of dread within the last several decades.  If you are a housewife you must be disgruntled and feel like you are being held back because the only way to be fulfilled is to have a time consuming career.  You also are assumed to just sit around eating bon bons and watching the soaps all day.  What a load of crap.  I happen to be a housewife.  I love it and don't even know what a bon bon is.  I am so immensely grateful that we can afford for me to stay at home because it is not always financially feasible for most.  It helps that I happen to be a naturally thrifty penny pinching miser. I see my role as housewife as not just one who cooks, cleans, sews, nurses, comforts, multitasks, organizes, errand runs, repairs, or any of the other multitude of jobs that one does in this position.  For me, I see my main focus as making life worth living for my family and being there for it.  I spend a good bit of time coming up with fun stuff for my family to do whether it's something in our community or around our home.  Some examples are small themed dinners or activities focused on an interest we have or a topic one of us is researching at the time.  I share a lot of those shenanigans on here...after washing the dishes of course!

Let us multitask ourselves on to the next item on today's agenda...

Today also happens to be the birthday of one of my favorite comedians, the domestic goddess herself....
Roseanne Barr!

"I hate the word housewife.  I prefer to be called Domestic Goddess."

I love Roseanne's sitcom.  We have the full series and have watched it in entirety several times.  I love her humor, wit, and snarkiness.  I admire that her character puts her family as her focus.  I am forever thankful to her for adding the statement "Tuesday Night Butt Ball" into my repertoire of sarcasm.

And lastly, it is also National Sandwich Day!  

Who doesn't enjoy the variety and simplicity of the sandwich.  Sandwiches are certainly no stranger to housewives or Roseanne with her loose meat sandwiches served up at the Lanford Lunchbox.

If you need a refresher course on the topic of sandwiches here is an enlightening film to inspire you.

  All of these subjects are connected and can surely be carried out as a fun activity and new festivity.  We have: Housewives, Roseanne, and Sandwiches.  So let's put it all together!  Let's invent a tradition or two to represent our new holiday.
 I recommend this: everyone wears aprons, watches a favorite episode of Roseanne, and dines on Party Sandwich Loaf.

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Only Party Sandwich Loaf looks like a lot of work.

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Maybe use a bit of Roseanne inspired wit to get someone else to make the sandwiches while they are apron cladded! After all, it is now  National Domestic Goddess Give Them The Finger Sandwich Day!

Caramel Apple Cookies

 I really love trying out the limited run flavors of stuff.  Especially because I can buy them on clearance for half price after season!

One of the best ones I have found is this Caramel Apple Mix by Pillsbury after Halloween.

Of course I couldn't make the boring cookie on the front of the box!

After baking the cookies I covered 3/4 of them with caramel apple candy melts for extra caramelness!

I added the caramel apple icing on the top of the cookie with a popsicle stick on the back. PB and I made fun little faces for the apple cuties with some cookie decorating black icing (also scored on clearance after Halloween!)

Here are few other limited run flavors I have done:

Eggnog Cookies

Donut Cookies

Cotton Candy Cookies

The Chimney Sweep World

Chim Chim-iney

Chim Chim-iney

Chim Chim Cher-ee

When you're with a sweep 

you're in glad company!

Up where the smoke is all billowed and curled

'Tween pavement and stars is the chimney sweep world.

I choose me bristles with pride, yes I do.

A broom for the shaft and a brush for the flue.

 Now, as the ladder of life has been strung

You might think a sweeps on the bottom most rung

Though I spends me time in the ashes and smoke

In this ol' wide world there's no happier bloke!

Chim Chim-iney

Chim Chim-iney

Chim Chim Cher-ee

A Sweep is as lucky as lucky can be!

Chim Chim-iney

Chim Chim-iney

Chim Chim Cher-roo

Good luck will rub off when I shakes hands with you!

Or blow me a kiss

and that's lucky too!

For Halloween this year we went as chimney sweeps from one of my all time favorite movies, Mary Poppins.   We took our photos in front of one of the Victorian homes in the historic village because it kinda reminded me of No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane.  As you may have noticed it is the same house from the Victorian Death and Mourning Tour....yes, we dressed up as chimney sweeps as we took the tour!  It was pretty comical. The Death and Mourning tour is only once a day and the day we went was the only day we could go. We got there really early and sat on the front steps to wait.  Next door to the house is a church from 1879, which is used primary as a rental for weddings, which happened to be the case this day.  As we were waiting for our tour to begin another regular tour was approaching the house.   Just to make sure we weren't missing the right tour my husband asked the tour guide if this was for the Death and Mourning Tour, which it was not.  This tour guide was a bit of a doof.  As he was guiding his group into the house, he looks at us and then asks "Are you with the wedding?" and my husband just plainly says "No." The tour guide doesn't ask anything else and takes his group into the house.  Are we with the wedding?  We're covered in soot!  We spent the time while that tour was going on taking photos on the front porch.  When the group was exiting, the doof tour guide looks at us again and asks "Are you part of the tour?" My husband says "No."  You could sense the tour guide was getting frustrated, which my husband was enjoying.  The tour guide then asks "What are you doing here?"  We answered "Waiting for the Death and Mourning Tour." Duh.  We already asked him about this before he started asking the wrong questions.  He leads his group down the sidewalk befuddled.  A few moments later a woman in black Victorian garb was making her way toward us.  Clearly she is our tour guide.  As she approaches and looks us over, she nicely asks "What are you guys dressed up for?" Hey!  There's the right question! To take our Halloween photos at "No. 17 Cherry Tree Lane"!

C'mon mateys!

 Step In Time!

Never need a reason,

Never need a rhyme!

Just step in time!

For our costume pieces we had most of the items in our closets.  I did make the boys matching vests.  I found a vest pattern and the needed fabric at a thrift store for a total of 2 bucks.  I made the sweep brooms from plastic handles from dollar tree and the bristles are black pipe cleaners.

Not only is Mary Poppins one of my favorite movies, but it has one of my favorite persons,

Dick Van Dyke! 

Nowhere is there a more happier crew

than them what sings:

Chim Chim Cher-ee

Chin Cher-oo!

This is Halloween!

Our Jack-O-Lantern this year!

PB is obsessed with The Nightmare Before Christmas movie and music, which certainly makes this momma proud! So I carved this Jack Skellington pumpkin for him.

Here are a few O-Lanterns from past posts:

2005 Jack Skellington-O-Lantern

2010 Screeching Cat-O-Lantern

2011 Cute Kitty-O-Lantern

2013 Ceepy Vulture-O-Lantern

Zombie Food

 I generally insist on my Halloween candy being cleverly creepy. This chocolate "Zombie Food" by  Skybar/Necco is perfect!

 Body parts! Feet, hearts, and of coarse braiiiins!

and they are filled with oozy blood red caramel!

Last Minute Shroudings

Fly Infested Glasses

When it comes to Halloween I start planning far in advance. Kinda like when the Mayor of Halloween Town in Nightmare Before Christmas has the plans for next Halloween, wanting to go over them with Jack on Nov 1st.  That would be me.  

I also try to squeeze in last minute ideas right up to the witching hour!

Here is an example of just that.  

This is something that takes about 15 seconds to do but is super fun and cute!

I used an itty bit of poster putty and attached (temporarily) little cheap plastic flies to the corners of my glasses!  They stay put really well and just peel off (damage free) when their services are no longer needed.

I have since been using poster putty sticking all sorts of critters everywhere!!!  The bathroom mirror, windows, on my car stereo, on top of my drinking glass, the edge of the computer monitor, the front of the microwave....you get the idea!

It's Oogie's turn to boogie now!

For the entire of month of October I like to put little fun Halloween treats in PB's lunchbag.  Everyday I have had a Halloween joke or riddle on a slip of Halloween stationary along with a tiny bag of gummy boogers.  I also made a small round container resemble a magic 8 ball and put one of these cookies inside.  He has to ask his question first and then open the lid to reveal the answer on the cookie.

For the last day, Oct 30, I decided to make something special as the grand finale...an Oogie Boogie stuffed with bugs and gummy worms!

Oogie is made out of green craft sheet foam that I drew his face on with permanent marker and stitched the sides with black upholstery thread. I found a template for Oogie here.

 Everything is water resistant which is a must in a lunchbag.  I placed the bugs and gummy worms in a small halloween ziplock bag and stuffed it up Oogie's.....well, area.  I left this section unstitched for easier candy apprehension.

My bugs! My bugs!

Goblins and Ghoulies, Creepies and Crawlies!

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~ ~ ~ ~

Serpents and spiders 

Tail of a rat

Call in the spirits

Wherever they're at!

~ ~ ~ ~

DIY Haunted Mansion Madame Leota Crystal Ball

I have seen several DIY Madame Leota Crystal Ball props on the nets and was dying to try to make my own.  The instructions are always told simply to print image and place it in the globe with some black netting behind/around it. Sounded simple enough and in essence that is all there is to it.  My problem came in when I was trying to find a good image to use and the right sizing.  I went through several early attempts trying to make it look right, with different images of her face, different sizes, trying to add lighting with battery powered tea lights and different colored netting.  I was about to give up when I decided to go with the idea I used in these Christmas Photo Ornaments of PB I made back in 2006.  I made the image use pretty much the entire inside circumference instead of having her printed face 'float' in a wad of netting.

The items I used were found cheaply at thrift stores.  The two main pieces, a glass cloche globe and the metal base, which originally was a candle holder, totaled 2 bucks.  An alternative to the glass globe could be a large clear round christmas ornament.  Michael's has these with their christmas stuff currently that are plastic and open up, making it really easy to place the image inside without having to roll it up or maneuver a chop stick in there to position everything.

~ ~ ~ ~
Rap on a table
It's time to respond!
Send us a message
from somewhere beyond!
~ ~ ~ ~

Victorian Death and Mourning Tour

This year we once again attended the Historic Village's Victorian Death and Mourning tour!

They added more content, items, and staged areas then in previous years.

Generally the upstairs is not part of this particular event but this year it was expanded and included for a death bed scene.

  

 Shown above are cotton and coins used to cover and close the eye lids.

There were photographs of women in mourning, along with postmortem photography.  There were also examples of death announcements.  During the period of mourning this same stationary was used for all correspondence.  The size of the black border on the edge of the stationary was used to alert the receiver that the funeral was coming nigh. The thinner the border the sooner it was impeding.

Another area had several examples of clothing that were worn with descriptions of time frames certain colors, types of fabrics, and amount of skin could be shown and acceptable after the death of a loved one.

A wooden, hand built coffin was added to the parlor...

...with a viewing window.


The tour covers far more than I put here.  See these past posts for the extras such as: a large framed hair woven art piece from deceased loved one's locks, mourning jewelry, and a shrunken head.

Historic Halloween Tour 2013
Haunted House Tour 2012