Cleaning Week: Skilcraft Cleaning Cloths

 

Here is a handy dandy set of cleaning cloths to get you moving in all the right directions! 

 They even come in this reusable storage pocket system...worth 25 ¢ !

Four different cloths saturated in G.E. Silicone and "other chemicals" to make housework easier!

Sounds legit to me!  Let's get to cleaning, just don't mind the fumes or your skin mutating.

First you got your Furniture cloth.  "Dust absorbing", don't worry about what that means.

Next you get the Window Cloth.  Works wonders!  Use without any soap, water, or sponges.  "Sanitized" must be code for "Other chemicals".

Shoe Shine Mitt.  

For all leather goods.  Well, we can skip this pouch.  Who has any leather luggage etc. anymore?  Everything is plastic, fabric, or "manmade materials" now. 

Silver Copper-Brass

This cloth has got it all!  Chemically treated, sanitized, built-in anti germ...

It doesn't sound like such a good idea to me to polish your silverware with this chemical laden thing and then eat off them. 

I picked this gem up at an estate sale a couple of years ago for 5 bucks.  The graphics are really where it's at.  I am sure all the "Sanitized" has evaporated decades ago thus rendering the cloths unable to do their assigned duties.  I really just have this hanging on the wall near my kitchen to give the illusion that I've got this whole cleaning thing all figured out.

Cleaning Week: Simoniz Floor Wax

As part of our National Cleaning Week celebration I present one of my favorite vintage 1959 cleaning solution container decor pieces.  It's perfection (other than that gouge across the namesake)!  I love the colors, the prim perfect housewife, and it's "Professional Quality" seal used by professional waxers claim! 

Here are a couple of vintage Simoniz ads featuring snazzy ladies with their shiny floor lustre!

Could you care less about your floors?

{Good Housekeeping Nov 1946}

No waxy build up here!

 

Cleaning Week: The newest, the best, Can't be beat!

{Better Homes and Gardens Nov 1956}

I scoured through a big stack of my vintage house keeping magazines and found a few cleaning week related ads for today.  In the above Soilax ad it appears that this housewife likes to mop at night with a flashlight attached to her sponge mop, or either that she is mopping the floor of a coal mine.

{Good Housekeeping  Nov 1951}

250,000 housewives can't be wrong!  That's right!  We are right about everything.  Oh, they can't be wrong about Dishmaster.  Hmmm... I agree with the initial claim.

{Better Living Magazine Feb 1955}

I am in love with this cutie lady and the overall illustration styling.  Look at that sassy peplum apron!  Her cute 'hitting the town' hat and gloves!

{Good Housekeeping July 1948}

Again the precious graphics!  Cutie thimble lady.  Glim is sneeze-free?  I guess the flakes would make people sneeze. huh.

{Good Housekeeping Nov 1946}

I included this ad because I LOVE display racks 5 and Dime style.  Other than that Kellogg can get back to making corn flakes.

 

National Cleaning Week

Did you know there is an official week for Spring Cleaning?  Me neither.  But this is the week!

Best grab your favorite cleaning apparatus and get busy.  You may have gotten away with not falling in line with the nationally sanctioned dirt busting from past years but you never know when that white glove may come a'swiping!

If you have a real mess on your hands...hoarder style, grab yourself a rake and a shovel!

If you just have a few dust bunnies breeding under the bed then sic the vacuum on them!

We got to get on this!  National cleaning week only happens once a year and this is our time to shine!  Shine those sink faucets I mean!

For the next week I am going to be featuring vintage cleaning ads, materials, and other sanitized themed fun for those moments you are taking a break from waxing, washing, and polishing...or eating bon bons and watching your soaps.

8 year Anny Display

We have a small display cabinet in our living room that I have been doing some themed displays for the past couple of months.  It usually has our vintage Florida souvenirs but I decided this year to periodically change it out for different themes or celebrations.

Right now it has a wedding theme in it as part of our 8 year anniversary. 

It has a mixture of items from our wedding like the zombie hands that were our cake (donuts) topper along with some other vintage wedding toppers I picked up from thrift stores and estate sales.

The vintage anniversary cards were a gift from Mr. Husband last year.  The pop shoppe bottle caps were the wedding boutonnieres.  The customized board was a wedding gift from friends.

I just love it and how it turned out.

Another case display: Snow Day

Circus Anny 8 and March Coconut Cake

Step right up folks and see it for yourself!  Live and in person!  

Two clowns hitched together for 8 years!

 Mr. Husband and I just celebrated our 8th wedding anny!  I decided to do a little circus theme to commemorate it since we stayed at Circus Circus when we got married in Las Vegas.  Also it worked out well with March's coconut cake of the month theme which is a clown.

Here are we are done up in vintage circus clown paper doll wear.

And here is Coco the Nutty clown, part of the monthly coconut cake of the month representing for March.  I would have thought it should be something set more to the only holiday there is in March. Something like a big green coconut shagged shamrock.   But who knows, maybe March is national creepy clown month.  Below is the inspiration image and it's something nightmares are made of.  My version is absolutely precious in comparison.  Kinda elf like.  He would be cute with some Christmas color changes and moved to the month of December.

{image source}

  An "apple" for a nose and blue crystal meth for his eyes.

*shutter*

Let's get back to this party.

Call in the cute clowns!

 

That's better.

Here's a look at some of the other details:

I happened to find this awesome vintage looking bag of popcorn at walsmart of all places!

I also used a couple of vintage clown bedecked paper napkins I got from a friend.

Here are scans of the napkins if anyone would like to do some creepy clown crafting:

Here's to our 8 years of antics!

Check out our one year anny which also had a circus theme:

Circus Themed One year Anny

And our wedding in Las Vegas:

Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love Vegas Wedding

Silver Springs Souvenirs

Here is a small sampling of our vintage Silver Springs souvenirs.

Back in the day Silver Springs was known for cranking out copious amounts of souvenirs so we have our fair share in abundance. 

Above is a souvenir folder of a picture of yourself and a bunch of people you never met before.

A glass, a booklet of postcards, and a late century (70s) brochure.  I see the brochure contains a map of Florida.  In modern times it would be covered with "Avoid", "Avoid", "Avoid" etc.....

These three pieces are my favorites and the oldest in the collection, dating to the 40s and 50s.

A historical booklet with a serving suggestion photo op involving The Lucky Palm or the Horseshoe Palm on the cover.

This is the inside of the huge brochure about the "Bridal Chamber"...again with the palm.

And this linen postcard, with the palm sans chick but with an amazing shot of a glass bottom boat.

I personally love the palm and don't tire of its presence in their materials...I wish they would use it in their modern ones but it's grown to the point now it's kinda wonky. Yes!  It's still there!

Check out a couple of Silver Springs trips along with me posing with the palm!

2003 Silver Springs Vacay 

2016 Silver Springs Vacay

Florida Fudgegator

Since Spring Break is upon us (or just past us for some) and all postcards of "Wish You Were Here" are postmarked Florida I thought I would share a couple of our vintage Florida souvenirs this week.

This has got to be one of my favorites, Gallopin' Gus, The Florida Fudgegator!

It reminds me of molded Easter bunnies with the little fabric bowtie with most likely, a royal icing candy eye on the original.

We happened to pick up this souvenir candy box (still with the mold!) from a yard sale of all places.

Of course the "mold" is really just the tray that the candy sat in to keep Gus from breaking his neck during transport but for me it's a mold!

The mold/tray is getting brittle so this will probably be the only fudgeagator that I make.  I made my Gus from green melting candy because a brown gator just doesn't make sense.

This guy is just so cute.  Every time I see him I think of Jackie Gleason  "And away we go!"

St. Patty's Day Dinner

 

{image source}

For our St. Patty's day dinner I made us this "Irish Corn" inspired by a vintage recipe from Bird's Eye Corn.  To make it more healthy I omitted the flour, butter, and cream and instead used fat free greek yogurt and a bunch of spices (chef's choice!).

For the official recipe see below:

1 box Bird’s Eye Golden Sweet Corn, partially thawed
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon chopped onion
2 teaspoons flour
2/3 cup light cream or rich milk
1 tablespoon chopped pimento
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper

Place the Bird’s Eye Corn in saucepan (note how perfect each tender kernel is); add butter and onion. Cover and heat until corn is completely thawed. Remove cover and saute about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle flour over corn and blend quickly. Add cream or milk gradually, stirring constantly. Continue cooking over low heat until sauce is thickened-about 5 minutes. Add pimento, parsley, and seasonings. Makes 3 or 4 servings.

For the main course I baked a quiche (recipe here) and bedazzled the top with some bell pepper shamrocks.  

And then not pictured but I also made some oven baked potato chucks as the other side.

I thought the meal turned out okay but the rest of the fam just wasn't into it.

Erin Go Oh Yeah!

{image source}

What better way to celebrate St. Patty's Day than with some fine green Irish brew!?

Kool-Aid that is!

Add in some sugar cookie shamrocks and you're all set for shennigans!

Here is the sugar cookie recipe I always use.

The cookie cutter I used was a vintage Tupperware clover I picked up who knows where.

You may have taken the time to notice and even read the little note that was left for the harried housewife in the vintage ad.  If not I'll summarize: "Snotty Aunt Kate called and last minute invited 7 moochers (aka The Duffy's) to the party and she demands you make them more Kool-Aid."  Well, that's at least how I read it.  

To that I have this come back for Aunt Kate and the Duffy's:

{source: mikwright}

A classic from the fine snarky folks of mikwright!

 

I want the gold! Give me the gold!

 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀 🍀

It's weird how some things become family traditions around our house.  And this is one of them.  Every year we all gather 'round to watch the Mobile Leprechaun news segment from 2006.  So many good lines to chant and we fold over with laughter every single time we watch!

We live about a hour from Mobile so it's kinda fun thinking it's "local".

We could see him and get to say "YEaH!"We could met the Leprechaun hunter with his thousand year old plastic calling flute!We could get the gold!  We want the gold!Or we could catch a crackhead that got a hold of some bad stuff!
Back in 2019 we did catch a glimpse of him in our own yard, up in a tree!

Unfortunately we happened to shine a light on him and he disappeared...but we got a neat crack pipe out of the deal!

Clover O' Shamrock

 Another bit o' nostalgia again today.  This is a clover man PB made in kindergarten. 

Have I told you all that he's a senior in high school now?

Leprechaun Trap

Back in 2010 PB and I made a Leprechaun trap together but it never made it to here...not much did.

But here it is now, with a heaping dose of nostalgia.

Here is sweet PB 6 years old showing how the trap works.  He is wearing one of my favorite outfits of his at the time (I still have the shirt!).

 Here is a close up of the trap hole, covered by leaves.

He and I came up with making this last minute and had such a fun time scouting for materials around the yard to use.  

The next morning he actually trapped a leprechaun!  It was a vintage elf wearing all green, kinda like a knee hugger.  It was the "Elf on the Shelf"  idea that the leprechaun was "Toy Story" frozen when it gets caught...just something I came up with.  PB still has his leprechaun on a shelf in his room.  I should have had the insight to have this little guy come to life every year and cause mischief on St. Patty's eve....