Back to School Cool!

While none of us are wanting to think about going back to school in my household, we did come up with something fun to take a bit of the edge off once it does hit.  Since PB is so into comic books right now, we scanned and printed a few of his favorite covers and mod podged them to the front of composition notebooks.  We really like the patterns on composition books so we chose to not cover the entire front but let it serve as a border.  The paper speech bubbles under the comic covers are for putting subject titles and his name.

It's Anatomically Accurate!

We picked up this Glow in Dark Anatomically Accurate Human Skeleton Kit at the thrift today for 99 cents!   Halloween plans can evolve any time of the year!

Homemade Laundry Soap

Look at this cute label my mom made for her homemade laundry soap!  I haven't used the soap yet but if it's anything as great as the logo, it will be divine!

Greyhound Diner Bus

 We ended our Columbus, GA trip by eating at Country's Barbeque.  I am not a fan of barbeque but I was not about to let that get in my way of getting to eat inside a 1930's Greyhound bus outfitted as a diner.

 Diners are allowed to sit in the driver's seat and turn the wheel.  The red buttons seen above PB's noggin are different sound effects: a revving bus engine, a horn blaring, and a bus driver making announcements over the intercom.  

The building was built in the 1930's and was originally a bus station.  The bus is attached to the building and has seating inside it.  The main part of the building has more seating and is very diner-ish decorated.  The menu doesn't have a "blue plate special" but a "Bus Driver's Special" such as a "Pig Tator".  It was a lot of fun getting to sit in the bus and look out the window while dining.

I have Roadside America to thank for the tip about the Bus Diner.  I highly recommend this site to anyone taking a trip looking for neat side attractions along the way or as main destinations.

Lunch Box Museum

We took a short day trip to Columbus, GA to visit the Lunch Box Museum this week.

It all started when we found the book Lunchbox Inside Out  while at the library a few weeks ago.  We were looking up general information about vintage lunchboxes and happen to discover that the Lunch Box Museum was just a few hours away.

Whoa!

 I would guess there are a thousand or more lunch boxes on display. Made from metal, vinyl, and plastic.

 There are thermoses lining the edges of the room and accompanying the shelves. There is also a large number of metal TV trays resting on old theater seats. 

Nearly every lunch box shown in the Lunch Box book is here...along with about 5 or more duplicates.

There is an area in the front of the museum where duplicates are for sale, at collector prices though.  The best thing is that all of the boxes can be touched and opened.

I really liked this Ghost Land lunch box from 1977.  It has a game on the back with a little spinner. 

 Funny!

 Cute tiny vintage Fisher Price lunch box.

The Addams Family

circa 1974 

 This Space Cadet box from 1952 had a neat surprise inside:

 A place to write the owner's name, and on a cute, clever space ship.

 There are a few metal sheets of printed designs for the lunch box and thermos, unused hanging on the walls.

 Universal Monsters

Circa 1979

 Snoopy

Circa 1980

 Roy Rogers and Dale Evans

circa 1957

There are a few of the first ever embellished lunch boxes depicting Hopalong Cassidy circa 1950 along with the last (of the heyday of metal lunchboxes) from 1987 depicting Rambo.  Along with everything else in between....  Star Wars, HeHaw, Kung Fu, Welcome Back Kotter, Planet of the Apes, Disney movies and cartoons, Dick Tracy, Smurfs, Atom Ant, Huckleberry Hound, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Beany and Cecil, Underdog, The Dukes of Hazzard...and more...much more.

This place was super cool and we would have spent hours here if it wasn't for the fact that there is no air conditioning, no fan, no breeze of any sort and it's the middle of July.

Only 5 bucks for folks over 10 years of age, 10 and below are free.

A few years ago we went to a very neat Lunch Box Display from the Smithsonian that toured through Art Museums and came to our town.

Lastly, to cover all bases, we found a mini lunchbox at the museum promoting the book Lunchbox!

Day Trip!

 We took a day trip this week to Columbus, GA.  We spotted this Folk Art Hearse!

 Cute little E.T. 

 "Don't mess with my Toot Toot". 

 That dry rotted thing in the middle of the window is a set of foam butt checks with underwear.

 Critters made from a mail box, suitcase, plastic tackle box, and other metal debris.

The cutest one! 

Quick Panocha

 One of PB and my summer projects is to make a few recipes from our 1955 version of Better Homes and Gardens Junior Cook Book. Check out our other past recipes: peanut goodies and cherry tartlets.

We picked something out that we had all the ingredients on hand and it happened to be something we had never eaten before...Panocha.

These things are deliciously sicking sweet. I am warning you to limit yourself to only eating 3 at one sitting....no more!  You will want to eat the whole pan but you will then risk hyperglycemia. 

Super Boy Pumkinbutt Olsen

For the past several months Pumkinbutt has started buying and collecting vintage comics.  I can't help but feel a bit proud of him and know that it has been inspired by the "museum", as our house has been called before.  PB has started several businesses to raise his comic book money. His main venture is called Killer Spa, a foot and back rub service with zombies on the logo.  He spends a lot of time researching comics when he is not pitching me his zombie foot rub benefits (20% off on the weekends).  He checks out books from the library about vintage comic book collecting along with looking up information on the internet.  His main interest is Action Comics and Superman.  We also have been watching the 1950's Adventures of Superman, (checked out from the library also).  PB thinks that Jimmy Olsen is super cool.

 We wrote a letter to Jack Larson (who played Jimmy Olsen in the Adventures of Superman) secretly without PB knowing and guess what?  He wrote him back!

 Here he is showing off the note while wearing the Superman shirt he made himself and his "Clark Kent" glasses.  FYI, those 3D movie glasses with the lens popped out are great for kid dress up.

I made him a pair of sleep shorts from vintage inspired Superman and Action Comic book fabric.

I made them from the vintage Simplicity pattern seen below. I haven't worked with a lot of patterns, much less vintage ones.  The instructions for these shorts were no help.  I guess it was common knowledge back then how to put bottoms together.  Luckily I had held on to a newer PJ pattern (from when PB was littler)  to have directions to refer to as a refresher.  I found the fabric locally by chance, and half off!  Equilter has a small amount left with a blue background.

Our summer adventures continue!

Packaging love

I know I have mentioned a time or two how much I love vintage product packaging. The packages seen above may look as if they are vintage but not so!  These are available on grocery stores shelves today!  I love finding new packaging that has not changed for decades.  These are a few that I have found over the years/months. I am a sucker for products with cute graphics but if it's a food I hate, it can sit it's self on the grocery shelf.  No beets, no pork brains... thank you very much.  (Yes, I have found canned pork brains in a store before.) Here is a bit of info on some of these packages.  Many have somewhat functioning websites and history on the company:

The Allen's  canned goods have a wonderful look to them!  Their graphics, design, fonts and colors are the best! I found this one at a gas station/convenience store. And no, it's not expired! But next month it will be. Looks like it's squash for dinner!

Also made by The Allen's canned goods is this cutie! Sugary Sam Sweet Potatoes.  I hate sweet potatoes so I have resisted the urge to buy this can but I have seen it in several local small grocery stores and Big Lots. I think that star seen after the word POTATOES is a disclaimer that says "tastes like ass" or either "PO-TAY-TOES".

Jiffy, Jiffy, Jiffy!!  Let me count the ways I love you!  I have used Jiffy in so many recipes, here are just a couple: The best ever strawberry short cakes and cherry tartlets. Food staples in every home should include at least the multi use mix, pie crust, and corn muffin mix. BTW, you can request a FREE jiffy cookbook on their site.

Another recent find was Del-Dixi pickles. This brand was bought by the Best Maid food company (since 1926) in the early 1960's.

We bought these pickles for one reason alone....this cute little girl graphic that is on the lid...and, well, we happened to be out of pickles. Best Maid sells pickle juice by the gallon on their website, in case you need any... I know I do! Pickle-sicles! Yum!

And taking it a step beyond just eating the food and putting the packaging up on a shelf, there are fun ways to craft with these cute containers!  As seen with my retro crafty memo pad made from a Jiffy box. Wallpapering a kitchen with Jiffy box fronts would be cute!  The lid from the Del-Dixi pickles would made a fun fridge magnet.
In the book Found, Free, and Flea  (see last post) there are a couple of ideas to repurpose vintage packaging:

Wallpapering in Jiffy boxes... That is such a good idea... I need to go eat some pie crust wrapped corn muffins...and squash right now.