Halloween 2012

One more Halloweeny Wacky Package this week.  What did you expect??

Have a fun Halloween everyone!

TT/Halloween

Naturally "Halloween" is the theme this week at Tag Tuesday.  Since most of my work tends to be on the upbeat side, I tried to go a little sinister with this theme, but it still came out more light-hearted than I intended.

The "labels" are from a scrapbook paper that I recently bought, and they got me to thinking about a witch's spell.  From there I decided to make my tag resemble a witch's journal page.  Rather abstract concept, I guess, but it was fun!

Enjoy!

Halloween Candles

As I mentioned around Easter this year, I inherited my grandmother's Gurley Christmas candles years ago.  There were a few Easter and Halloween candles in there too.  These two ghosts were hers.

And these I was lucky enough to snag at an estate sale this Spring.

If you're a careful observer, you noticed the jack-o-lantern candle in yesterday's post.  That belonged to my grandmother too.

Enjoy!

How To Care For Your Monster

With Halloween right around the corner, I decided to share this children's book, How To Care For Your Monster.  Written by Norman Bridwell (also Clifford The Big Red Dog author), it was published in 1970.  This copy was a hand-me-down from some older neighbors when I was a kid; I still enjoy it, and now so does my daughter.

The helpful hints on winning a "monster show" are a real "howl." 

And how about taking your monster trick-or-treating?

And while we're on the subject, here are a few more Halloween type books I like to set out; they are some of my favorite decorations.

I remember this "Haunted House" book as the must have item from the school library.  It also had an accompanying record which I don't have.

Again this Saturday, I am linking to Mockingbird Hill Cottage's "A Favorite Thing." Take a peek; lots of fun posts.

Enjoy!

Wacky Answer

Not much of a stretch between Cover Girl Make-Up and Cover Ghoul, right?  So everyone knew yesterday's (10-24-12) Wacky Pack!  Bravo!

Wacky Pack Wednesday

Yet another Halloweenish Wacky Pack this week.  Most of you ladies will recognize this one.

Ya know, when I don't use this product, I look a little like a ghoul!

Enjoy!

TT/Seed Pods

"Seed Pods and Seed Heads" is the theme this week at Tag Tuesday.  I'm sure we'll see all kinds of cool colors and forms from nature, excluding mine!  I just don't happen to have interesting seed pods by my house.  "Helicopters" are the highlight, and when I made this tag, they had yet to start falling.

So I thought of a favorite little drawing by E.H. Shepard for Winnie-The-Pooh.  Piglet is blowing the seeds off a dandelion.  That counts, right?

I drew the image myself and added some fabric trims and faux leaves that I thought needed a bit of paint to liven them up.

Should be interesting to see what the other taggers come up with!

Enjoy!

This Old Dollhouse

Now that you've seen the individual rooms, here is my dollhouse in its entirety. Made of plywood, nothing fancy at all.  There is an attic; you can reach up under the roof to store pieces not in use-- very handy.  There are also three finger-sized holes drilled on each side near the top; great for moving the house, which I have done many, many times.

So the reason I've held onto this none too spectacular house is very simple: my grandfather made it.  There's a reason no one can argue with.

Thanks for coming on my "little" tour.  I plan to post progress on the new house now and then.

Enjoy!

The Living Room

The last room on our dollhouse tour; also the biggest room in the house, the living room.  The fireplace I bought within the last couple of years.  Everything else is pretty old, including the paint on the right side.  The whole room was that color back in the 70s; it was my folks' living room color.  I used the leftover paint.  I've left it all these years because it matches the couch so well.  And the wallpaper is actually a Early American reproduction.

Speaking of the couch, it's a bit off scale which kind of bugs me, but my mom made it out of an upholstery sample of the same decade as that wall paint.  She also made the mini afghan.

So there you have all the rooms.  Tomorrow I'll post the whole enchilada.

Enjoy!

The Kitchen

For you folks visiting from Mockingbird Hill Cottage, let me bring you up to speed: this week we've been touring my (old) dollhouse.  If you care to, scroll down to Sunday's post and see what started all this.

So this is my dollhouse kitchen.  It has been renovated, by me, a couple of times. There were two other walls on the first floor that made four rooms.  Somewhere along the line I wanted the living room bigger and took out a wall.  Then I decided I wanted the kitchen bigger (what woman doesn't want that?) and took out another wall.

This room has plenty of old stuff in it, but it probably has the most of the newest stuff too.  And I know Quisp cereal is not period to the style of this room, but I had to have it-- loved Quisp!

This tray was plain aluminum.  I painted it to look like a tole painted tray.

This sewing cabinet is 30 years old or more, and I have a soft spot for it since I have a life-sized sewing cabinet just like it.  It belonged to my Great-Aunt Madge (of recent button fame).

So that makes two of my favorite things: my dollhouse and my sewing cabinet. Once again, I am linking to Mockingbird Hill Cottage and "A Favorite Thing." Tomorrow we move to the Living Room.

Enjoy!

The Bedroom

Here is the only bedroom in my dollhouse.  Mostly older items; the pictures are the newest.  And speaking of pictures, the Gone With The Wind poster is a Dover sticker that happened to fit that frame perfectly.  Dover art stickers are a pretty good size for dollhouse art.  My sister made all of the crocheted pieces, including the curtains and throw rug.  Such teeny work!

This is the crocheted pillow on the bed.  Love it!

The bed my mother made decades ago out of a box and some leftover fabric (the fabric was left over from making me a robe).

So when my daughter got a dollhouse about three years ago, I decided if Mom could make a bed-- so could I.  Here is the one I made, using mine as a model.  Not half bad.

Enjoy!

Wacky Answer

Most of you knew yesterday's (10-17-12) Wacky, right?  Playskool nesting blocks.  I always wondered why Playskool is spelled with a "k."  I mean, I know it's an advertising gimmick, but wouldn't you think products geared at children would be spelled properly??  Just one of the dumb things that runs through my mind.

The Necessary Room

 Getting back to the dollhouse, here is the bathroom:

The three fixtures are still available today, but mine are pretty old, 35 years or more. The toilet is the old-fashioned type with the tall tank, but for years it kept falling over until I finally cut it short.  No more falling.  My sister made the rugs-- very nice! 

The hamper is really old, very early 70s.  My sister and I shared a dollhouse prior to me getting this one, and it was full of plastic furniture.  This is one of those pieces although I painted it; it was a bright aqua blue.  Cool, but it didn't match.  Believe it or not, I just saw the same hamper on Ebay!  It was part of a complete set sold in a blister pack (no, I didn't buy it but was tempted).

Enjoy and tomorrow we'll move onto the bedroom!

P.S. Did you notice the toilet brush moved?  I don't remember doing that-- I shot these pictures a while ago.  Maybe my house is haunted (by very clean ghosts!!).

Wacky Pack Wednesday

Another spooky Wacky Package for this week.  I'm assuming this is an older style package since I can't find it online, but everyone should know it especially if you have kids-- or were a kid!

Enjoy and tomorrow is back to "Dollhouse Week!"

TT/Rust

"Rust" is the theme at Tag Tuesday this week.  I scratched my head for awhile with this one.  I don't seem to have much rust around.  I finally thought of a very rusty horseshoe that I picked up at a garage sale this summer.  I took a picture of it alongside a couple of fading zinnias.  The little "good luck" tag is a piece of canvas I stained with coffee then stamped.

I hope everyone notices the rusty safety pins.  I actually rusted those myself with a method of soaking in bleach then vinegar and salt that I found online.

I'm interested to see what the other taggers come up with.

Enjoy!

The First Room

Here is the first room of my old dollhouse.  Decades ago it was a nursery, but for some reason I turned it into a playroom, attic room, upstairs parlor; what would you call it?  I think it evolved because of the trunk under the window.  I styled the room around that.

This rug I cross stitched about 10 years ago.  Never again!  Such tiny stitches!

There's nothing especially significant about this horse tricycle.  It's plastic, but I've always liked it.

And this crude fireplace I made at about age 11.  I just kept glueing rocks together. I can't believe it's held together so long!  I guess that is why I keep it in the house-- reverence for perseverance.

So there it is: the first room.  I'll pick up again Thursday with the bathroom.  How's that for a tease?  And remember, you can click on any of my photos to bring them up larger.  This week that might come in handy!

Enjoy!

Dollhouse Week

My family and I bought the dollhouse below at a garage sale yesterday.  Glad my husband was along-- it's heavy and awkward.

Notice the price tag?  Were these sellers kidding?  It does need some repairs and paint, but those are pretty easy fixes.  

I always wanted a dollhouse with a real door, real windows, a staircase...  Good things come to those who wait (and wait, and wait...).  

So this week, I plan to showcase my other, furnished dollhouse that I've had for, hmm, about 40 years (yikes!).  Tune in tomorrow.  Same blog time!  Same blog channel!

Enjoy!

Lemon Chimes

Another little collage in my "favorite songs" series.  "Lemon Chimes" is a great bluegrass number by a great bluegrass band, The Dillards.  Ever hear of them?  If you said no, you might know them as The Darling Boys on the "Andy Griffith Show." Super talented group.  Give them a listen sometime if you never have (or watch an episode of "Andy Griffith!).

And a rather appropriate October post too if you read the lyrics.

Enjoy!

Wacky Answer

I don't need to say yesterday's (10-10-12) Wacky Pack was Cool Whip, do I?  Nah.

Smile

My mom crocheted these smiley face potholders back in the 70s when that little icon was all the rage.

You must admit they are bright and cheery!

And here is a smiley face pin given to me way back then too from a neighborhood friend.

Enjoy and "Have A Nice Day!"

Wacky Pack Wednesday

I better post a few scary Wackys this month, right?  Here's one everybody should know.

Boo!

TT/Rainy Day

A dreary day at Tag Tuesday today-- just kidding.  The theme is "Rainy Day."  I used an old playing card for the main image.  I wanted the background and "Rain, rain..." verse to look kind of waterlogged.  Not sure if I quite pulled that off.

I also added "drops" with Mod Podge.  They show up better in this photo.

Enjoy and stay dry!

Fall Trees and Columbus Day

After all the blogging, crafting, wedding-ing that I did this weekend, I thought I'd take it easy today.  So enjoy a few Fall photos from my neck of the woods.

Enjoy-- wait, I already said that!  And Happy Columbus Day!