cute tin toys

pumpkin butt and i recently went to see a collection of tin toys at our favorite museum of oddities in town. they have a small room that has rotating shows of interesting collections belonging to local people. hmmm... i am somewhat interesting.... i have several collections.... possibilities?

more tin toys

here are a few more shots.

the showing before this was of salt and pepper shakers. i really thought i had posted about it but can't locate it. (they weren't allll that great anyway.) this is the same museum that had the doll house exhibit.

xmas gifties

i made some containers/cookies as gifts this christmas. i searched for disgruntled holiday leer, added snark and stuck them to the front of cute glass cracker jars.

here is the final product:

the top layer consists of mexican wedding cookies (homemade) and the bottom layer is walnut brownies (box). the cookies tasted a bit salty to me so i drizzled melted chocolate over the tops. i would suggest omitting the salt or maybe find another recipe all together.

MEXICAN WEDDING COOKIES 1 c. butter 4 tbsp. powdered sugar 1 tsp. vanilla 2 c. flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1 c. chopped nuts (fine) Cream butter and sugar; add vanilla. Add flour and salt; mix well. Fold in finely chopped nuts and chill dough in refrigerator about an hour. Shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Bake in moderate oven (350 degrees) about 15 minutes or until light brown. Remove from pan and while still warm, roll in more powdered sugar.

wishing you a bleak and horrid holiday

the tree color/ theme for this year was black/red/ white/gothy. for the last 3 years it has been demanded by pumpkinbutt to be Creature from the Black Lagoon...which isn't bad at all but we decided to try something different this year.
i only had a few hours to pull it together. i am sure that way more could have been done... dripping blood icicles? ehhh. maybe not. that's a bit extreme. It is basically red and black ornament balls with plastic black rats,bats, spider webs and skeletons.
it's simple but turned out fairly well. here are two riveting close ups :

vintage stinky, rubbed off felty, christmas wreath

there's been minimal crafting and free time within my world for oh.... two years or so. i happened upon an opportunity to get together with best gal pal, dixiedoll heather last week for some holiday craft cheer. yay!
i have been scouring thrift stores for 7 or so years collecting little vintage christmas stuffs. i didn't care if the eyes were missing, Rudolph had a non repairable bent antler or they reaked of that old plastic smell. misfit ornaments need a home too! I accumulated a decent sized box worth... but wasn't sure what was the best way to use them. Until I remembered seeing a huge wreath in an antique mall several years ago that was covered in these kinda odds and ends. Aha!
heather and i rummaged through the box and made wreaths together. Behold my results:

The box is still about 2/3 full. I plan to do some more adding to the wreath eventually... it's just not there for me yet. heather ran off with her wreath before i could photograph it. heather bought the wreaths at big lots for 10 bucks a piece. her's was red and she went with a simple approach, inserting a smaller plastic holly wreath in the middle with a plastic fireplace with Santa sitting on the mantle in the middle lower section. Very cute indeed! when i get an image i will put it up.

back from the dead!

this post is going to move alot like a zombie but here goes.... in that vein here is a new piece of decor i made and wanted to share. it started out being one of last years christmas trees and has since lingered about. Over the past few months it has been used for a funeral themed birthday party, the dining room table center piece, general halloween ambiance and then back around to christmas. it's comprised of a few thin branches spray painted black, a strand of flame flicker lights (from target halloween), spanish moss, and little brains. I carved the brains from some yucky rotten green/brown floral foam i got at a thrift store. i was quite excited to find this foam because yucky translates so well to zombie brains. i then dry brushed the exterior with a bit of brain matter tinted acrylic paint.



i was asked to do a review type deal of a few products from Sourpuss Clothing several months back. it seemed to me that these products could have a tie in with some of the zombie-ishness going on around my place...because after making the tree i felt the need to make these brain cupcakes, with which i retrieved from the oven with a ever so cute tattoo flash hot pad from Sour Puss Clothing!
but it gets better......., it has a matching mitt!
and to accompany the cupcakes i mixed up some Zombie cocktails. (note the gummy brains and body part garnish)



with which i placed on these darling coasters (from Sour Puss Clothing).....

and then, while in a drunken stupor actual zombies* appeared scrounging for some brain matter (*as portrayed here from a page in My Zombie Pinup Calendar, i couldn't get to a camera during the chaos).......

i then used the legs of this nightlamp (from Sour Puss clothing) to jab 'em in the brain for protection!

i know....

it's a really really late post for halloween stuff BUT this is an idea that can be used with any old t-shirt which is outgrown or stained that still has a great image on it. Seen below is a halloween tee of pumpkinbutt's that was outgrown along with having acquired a bizarre blue stain across the back. so i cut out the good stuff .... and sewed it on to a new tee! I used a really neat stitch option that is all jagged and irregular (used here as well) which in my mind translated as close to "spooky" as i could get.

Here is pumpkinbutt in his new tee pulled up over his head. this is generally the only way i can get him to take a picture...... if it allows him to be goofy with the proof being captured on film.

post halloween treats

i know it's a bit late in some mind frames for halloween stuff but i have a few i wanted to share. first are the treats shown below. i found the recipe in a little free halloween idea booklet from my beloved Target. if Target is not carrying the pumpkin spice kisses anymore i am sure there will be something else just as interesting to try out in the same way.

so yummy i couldn't even keep the plastic mice away!

skellimingos

(located in a yard near my house)
i'm not sure if this is a DIY deal, but it's pretty darn cool.

creepy!

popular science magazine 1934

hey! i got a mention here

my little house

lastly in the series of little house posts, here is mine. my grandmother gave it to me when i was little. it is made by marx. the house is metal and the furniture plastic. it's from, i guess the 60's, maybe 50's. it was already at least 20 years old when i received it :

the business side.

the kitchen

livingroom. i like how this picture turned out.

my naked lady sunning herself on the patio. bedroom seen behind her.

bathroom and nursery in background. the patio has a little pond. i have always been fond of that feature.

the peeping tom side.

more houses!

nearby, there is a museum which showcases oddities (a petrified cat from the early 1900's) and other interesting collections (antique medicine side show bottles/containers). The current show is of DOLLHOUSES!!! the majority of the display consists of these huge handmade houses of various themes built by one lady. i certainly can respect the amount of time and energy that was put into them only my sights were set on these vintage darlings:




the houses were bolted down so i was unable to photograph the insides. additionally, along the background walls were reproduction vintage doll house advertisements:

a dollar a set! a DOLLAR a SET!

that magnetic one looks like fun and all for just 3.33!

it has a little yard and a little fence and a little swing set! and if there is a little dog there better be little poops too.

little house pace

hello all! i am back, in a way, on a limited basis. i have surely missed MHICTY.

and on that note, since i will be posting minutely, here is a tiny sweet house i recently received. don't let the children depicted on the box be used to determine size. they must be rather petite because the house measures only about 5 inches wide.

i'll be back again, darlings!

i have been away and will continue to be so for quite some time.
until i can return i wish everyone the same deranged enjoyment this gal is having of mere jelly being spread.

THRILLS!!!

(promotional booklet frigidaire food freezers 1949)

why yes, there are thrills in the exciting world of freezing! that is if and only if you have a Frigidaire Food Freezer. "Many people think that they must buy a side of beef--or raise a garden to justify the use of a Food Freezer. Nothing could be further from the truth. There are many, many everyday uses for the Frigidaire Food Freezer." next listed within the booklet are easy items to freeze such as juice and of all things... ice cubes!


and one last word...
"remember freezing will retain the original quality of the food, but it will not improve it!"

so don't go thinking that stomach turning pasta dish you couldn't even talk the dog into will get any better after a few months on ice.