Thrifted stuffs

 Just a few things I picked up last week at the thrifts.  I was pretty stoked when I happened upon this metal cooler.  There wasn't a price on it.  When I asked, I was told they were going to have to "look it up"....which meant they were checking ebay. sonsabitches...

 "They're going for 40 bucks on ebay" said thrift store boy.
 "With the bottom and top rusted?!" says I.
"Actually the one I looked at was smaller than this one." he says, trying to defend himself.
"With the bottom and top rusted!?!" I repeat.
"How about 10 bucks?  I am trying to work with you here." thrift boy exclaims.
Anyway... I wound up getting it for 5 bucks.  A very fair price....this isn't ebay.

 I also got this thermos the same day.

 I found these promo 6 inch rulers from the Federal Gun & Liquor Laws enforced by Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms.  "Moonshine Kills"! 

A month or so ago I found this adorable Fisher Price "little people dog" stackable toy.  So freaking adorable.

Having a Blast!

Las Vegas is known for a lot of things. To name just a few: neon, gambling, drive-thru weddings and atomic bomb testing.  On 5-5-55 an entire town was blasted with an atomic bomb just 65 miles from Las Vegas in nearby Yucca Flats.  Homes, buildings, power lines and yes, even people were subjected to this testing. Families gathered in their living rooms for quality time, dinner parties ensued, and shopping excursions for creamed corn were all interrupted to record their, unannounced to them, demise. How could such tragedy happen? Oh! Forgot to mention, this town was inhabited by well dressed mannequins. Survival Town residents lived in a million dollar town that was built just to test the effects of an atomic blast on everything from houses to clothes to canned soup. (Think Indiana Jones: Crystal Skull movie opening)

Survival Town 

5-5-55 

BEFORE

"...well I'm going to have to revise my 20 year plan but did I tell you about my 20 year plan okay well okay listen here in year one this is the year when I'm going to take off those extra seven pounds you know that's equal to seven pounds of butter haha so it's like I'm wearing seven pounds of butter ha and well uh oh where was I oh oh yeah...."

AFTER

"...ohh ohh feeling kinda gassy McNuggets you know make me so gassy all that grease and all it really helps if you drink eight-ten glasses of water a day did you know that sometimes I drink five and sometimes I drink nine to make up for the other three I didn't drink, coffee and dirt drinks don't count either ...."

BEFORE

"Excuse me, Oscar dear, I don't mean to embarrass you but you are not properly holding your salad fork and for that matter, the salad course has passed and we are now entering the dessert course."

AFTER

"No matter.  Both forks are now embedded in the ceiling.  But Oscar dear, you got a little something on your head there.  I just can't take you anywhere."

So, as a 59 year anniversary celebration of Survival Town testing, the fam and I had ourselves an Atomic Blast shindig.  Complete with staged inspiration photos.

 BEFORE

'' Why yes, dear.  A Fall Out Shelter does sound like a most intriguing idea for our family to consider."

"Too late...."

BEFORE

"Meat loaf again for dinner?!" I hate meat loaf!"

"Problem solved."

The next few posts will fill in other aspects of our party and aid you in throwing your own Atomic Blast Survival Town 60th anniversary shindig next year!

Fallout Frosting and Canned Water

For eats we continued the atomic theme to included a rendition of a 1946 mushroom cloud atomic blast cake and other fallout shelter survival foods.

 Atomic Blast Cake, 1946, as part of a celebration of the first nuclear testings.

(I like the unintentionally matching atomic blast head wear.)

We had our own fallout frosted confectionery!
(Mine turned out a little too "mushroom" and not enough "blast".)

The cake can be made by baking a bottom layer and a domed round layer of any flavor cake you choose.  I then inserted a glass into the bottom layer upside down.  I placed the domed cake on a saucer and "cemented" the bottom of the saucer to the bottom of the glass with a bit of creamy peanut butter.  Then "ice" the entire thing with cool whip.  Complete the devastation with little nuked houses, cars, and people from Monopoly and Life board games.

Fallout Shelter Appetizers

We cracked open a few MREs (Meal ready to eat) as part of our bomb shelter meal.
yum yum! We happen to have some left over from a few years back when our town was once again deemed a devastation area...had canned water for real.  You can reproduce the same idea by serving nonperishable foods such as spam and canned cream corn...and dine in a closet.

Those cans of wadded beef  and creamed eels will come in mighty handy now!

Miss Atomic Blast

During the atomic testing years in Las Vegas, one lucky girl each year could earn the prestige of being deemed Miss Atomic Blast. 

We had our own contest during our Atomic Blast shindig and Ellie won the title.  She had the advantage since she is already known as a " blast ended skrewt" around the house....

Crown someone at your celebration too by making a mushroom cloud get up out of cardboard and cotton!

Duck and Cover!

For entertainment during our Atomic Blast shindig, we watched several 1950's PSA videos about protecting yourself from atomic blasts. 

Our favorite is "Duck and Cover". The song is very catchy. PB likes when the monkey gets his comeuppance.
This film is about Survival Town, 5-5-55.
Ted and Sue show us how to be prepared for an atomic blast. 
The narrator's voice is so serious and urgent that I feel like a failure that I have not prepared an emergency shelter for my nonexistent invalid family members in wheel chairs against atomic bombs. 

National Atomic Testing Museum

If you are in the Las Vegas area and need more Atomic Blast experience, visit the National Atomic Testing Museum "which chronicles how tourists sipped cocktails on casino rooftops, gazing at blast clouds on the horizon at the test site, 65 miles to the northwest. One of the key attractions of the museum is called Ground Zero Theater. Built like a concrete bunker, this presentation recreates the experience of watching a nuclear test from 7 miles away. As bright light fills the screen, a few seconds later a blast of air simulates the shock wave and the wooden benches rumble. The rest of the presentation is an overview of the programs conducted at the Test Site, including interviews with scholars and people who worked there."*

Artifacts are also on display at the museum such as this dog tag order form that was for residents to purchase...just in case disaster strikes.

Crafting up some dog tags to be used as the "Hi, My name is..." stickers would be a fun twist to use at the party....
*review

Ka-Boom!

" Don't be too concerned Timmy.  That's the MHICTY fam celebrating atomic testing on fake towns... Just another day for them!"

We had a super fun time doing this little family shindig!

Hope your Atomic Blast party doesn't go up in smoke if you choose to attempt such a catastrophe!

You can find these images and more on my Atomic Party Pinterest board.

Kitty in my Pocket!

 I picked up this vintage hand made, hand painted little girls, "kitty in my pocket" dress today at the thrift for 54 cents!  

 It's one of those adorable crisscross back smock type dresses.

(like this:)

 Of course it will not fit an adult properly (boobs and such!) so I did a very quick modification.

I quickly sewed some black rick rack to red bias tape and made a tie in the back. I don't think I have come up with the perfect solution just yet but it will pass for now.   I am going to experiment a bit with making a crisscross back version pattern for adults.  Thinking about adding some darts for sure....

And speaking of vintage little girl's fashion....Check out these cuties!

 I would so wear a dress with a rabbit popping out of a hat on it!  Not sold on the pink candy striped 

clown(?) though.

 I *love* the white dress with the mint green bow! and the white fishnet stocking paired with little white gloves!!!

Again, the white dress is the one! 

This has got me thinking about ways to translate these patterns into adult wear...basically an A line dress, but not as short! And Yes! to the little white socks and mary jane shoes!

Sock Stuffies

 I recently made a couple of sock stuffed animals for a couple of kids in PB's classroom.

Our town is pulling through a terrible unexpected flood.  My fam was so lucky that we only had a bit of roof leaking while others lost vehicles and their homes.  One little girl in his classroom lost her house and even had to be rescued by boat.  She was only allowed to take one toy and a blanket.  I made her the little kitty seen above.  She named him Mr. Paws.

I made this one for another girl in his class who requested pink and an octopus. She has been named Inky.

I am now getting daily requests from all the kids and some offering to pay me for one....

Hubs (Doh!) Birthday

 Since the fam and I went to Springfield (The Simpson's area of Universal Studios) at the beginning of the year, "Wadded Beef" has become a term used quite often around the house in conversation.  So it only made sense to put a birthday spin on it because Hubs is such a big Simpson's fan!

He had a Wadded Birthday Cake !

I decorated a large aluminum can to resemble the wadded beef one from the show.

I baked a sheet cake, iced it in classic Simpson's pink donut colored icing and sprinkles.....mmmm.... donuts with sprinkles..... 

And, well, wadded up the cake, put it in the can, and stuck some candles in it.

I also made us Creamed Eels (empty cans) as our container to eat the cake out of.

mmmmm.....wadded cake.....

and as an added bonus!  Lego just released Simpson  minifigs!
But don't forget to take your American Express though, because buying the entire 16 figure set will set you back over 60 bucks.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

 This past week has been teacher appreciation at PB's school.  Each day I sent a different dessert/treat in for his teacher with a little note attached from PB.  The notes generally had a funny reference to what the dessert was such as with the No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies, the note said "More fiber than a No. 2 pencil!"

 For Friday, there is a teacher luncheon and parents were asked if they could send in a dessert.  So I took that advantage to bake something with coconut and made a Coconut Pineapple Cake.

To keep the saran wrap from sticking to the frosting I was going to just stick plain toothpicks all over the cake, but then I thought why not make them be functional and work with the theme!

I found an image of a vintage school teacher with a chalkboard on the nets.  I then used a White Out pen to write the note on the "chalkboard".  I also found images of old Pink Pearl erasers and printed all out on cardstock, hot glued to bamboo skewers and arranged in the cake.

I am sure happy with how it looks....just hope it tastes as great!

I just relized that the quote on the chalkboard may be a bit misleading... Kinda like "Let's eat Grandma!" no, "Let's eat, Grandma"....commas save lives.  For clarification, Cook is the name of the school.... not let's cook the teachers!

(You can find the images I used on my pinterest.)

Zombie Hand Wedding Cake Topper

 For our wedding "cake" topper I used two Hotel Transylvania Kid's Meal toys.  I found both of them, together,  in the free box at a thrift store. Destiny!

I added a scrap of black fabric and a little button to the groom's cuff to give it a tux look.  For the bride's cuff, I used some of the discarded sleeve material from my wedding dress.  I painted the fingernails with the same nail polish I wore for the wedding.  I made the wedding bands from...ummm... silver chewing gum wrappers! ha! We once made wedding bands out of gum wrappers for each other for fun, so this was a nod to that!

Birdcage Veil DIY

 I fashioned my birdcage veil from components of a beaten up vintage hat I scooped out of the free box at a thrift store.  I know the above "before" photo of it makes it look fairly decent but trust me, a scrunched up white hefty trash bag on my head would have looked better.

After searching a bit on the nets I located a simple birdcage template:

I cut the veil part away from the old hat (the only salvageable piece) and loosely followed the above design.

I attached the cinched veil to a little piece of craft foam covered in a piece of scrap wedding dress material. Under this, I glued a little hair clip so I could attach it to my noggin.  I then topped it all off with a black velvet bow....helped to hide any possible flaws!