Vintage Postcard: Halloween Greetings!

Halloween Greetings, vintage postcard style! In the olden days, Halloween was celebrated by cherubic Christmas elves who danced around cauldrons.

Halloween Greetings - vintage postcard

This vintage postcard, along with dozens others, is part of a collection that belonged to Liz‘s husband’s grandmother. Some have no writing on the back and others were sent to her (postmark and hand-written dates range from 1908-1929).  Liz let me borrow and scan them so that I could share them here!

There was no date or writing on the back of this card, but it’s one of my favorites of the bunch. All the color is hand-painted over the printed image, and is still vibrantly gorgeous even though there are some obvious aging issues – the yellowing cardstock, the brown age spots (aka foxing, which is a term I like to throw around thanks to Antiques Roadshow), and the soft feeling of the paper.

Many more vintage postcard gems to come, both from Liz’s collection and my own growing stash. Some are pretty, some are weird, and some are just plain frightening. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

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Fear Saves Life!

Vintage Happy Valley banner

As you go off to Halloween parties this weekend, remember this handy tip:

Fear Saves Life! Propaganda advertisement from 1936

FEAR… saves life! Bearded guy in a loincloth, take note.

Vintage newspaper ad published in the local Springville Herald in 1936. I spotted it while doing painstaking page-by-page newspaper research as mentioned here. Sadly, the Tripp Drug Company is no longer in business here in Springville, Utah. Fear cannot apparently save everything.

I think that the headline would make a nice embroidered sample, don’t you? Let me know if you make one!

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What are we DOING? What?!?!

what are we DOING?

I haven’t posted in a few weeks, as you’ve noticed. Or maybe you didn’t. Anyway it was because I went on an awesome medieval vacation!!!!!! I learned how to make cheese and Viking whipcord and pewter casting!

Then when I got back from medieval vacation, I couldn’t handle all of the little details of real life. It took me a few weeks to get things figured out.

So here’s what I’m working on:

Oops I forgot to color correct.

1. Some more tablet weaving trim. I am pretty much always weaving something. I have about 1 foot of this left to do, and for some reason it’s taken me a lot longer than other projects of the same size. I mean in actual weaving time, not hanging-around-waiting-to-be-woven time (which was also very long).

Does anyone need some free dirt? I'm serious.

2. Working on rescaping the back yard. My dad has done most of the work, but I’ve helped dig a few times. We sing that song from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves a lot. And we quote from Holes a lot too. My dad estimates we’ve moved several hundred tons of dirt. Just imagine how this used to be a lush, grassy, hilly yard, and now it’s a cliff of clay and dirt dunes. But eventually we’ll have a large patio with a fireplace and nice curved steps to the upper level which will hopefully have raspberry bushes or something.

My camera hates contrast.

3. I’m needlefelting on this wool jacket. Needlefelting is fun because it’s stabby. The gold is around the sleeve hem and the green (yes that actually is green) is around the bottom hem and up the front opening and around the neckline. I will do a lot of horizontal lines across the front with buttons and loops.

I haven’t been crafting a lot lately because I’ve been cooking. My family got a bunch of pears, apples, plums, and grapes that needed to be used immediately, so naturally I used them to fuel my Redwall food project. If you like pseudo-medieval fictional food, that’s the place to go. And apparently a lot of people like it. I still have a few pears and a lot of plums left, so it’s not over yet.

I am going to make some Redwall cheese as soon as my rennet gets here (can you believe I couldn’t find it in any grocery stores? It’s like they want you to buy their cheese instead of making your own). I’m so excited to make cheese.

So that’s pretty much all I’m up to. Unless you count the stuff from previous weeks that are still unfinished.

So what are you up to?

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Floozy Finds: Photo dregs!

I have my ‘Find’ for next Monday, but it’s not quite ready for a blog post. Let’s just say that maybe Utah county is leetle bit whiter than the average loaf.

Meanwhile, here are the last few pictures I took of Spanish the Fork’s Scarecrowpalooza.

Westley wasn't so lucky this time around in the Lightning Sand. Aaaaand JAZZ HANDS!

Mrs. Spud would give you some of her tots but she is freakin' starving.

Nothing says you're ready for a poetry slam like a turtleneck/sport coat combo.

Indiana Jones! What does that little Lego lady in the corner represent?! And the green nonsense symbol? I bet it's a clue to a super secret underground subculture of Lego slash George Lucas enthusiasts.

That’s all I got, folks! Good night!

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Oh My Heck! Sunday Shopping at Joann Fabric in Orem!

Oh My HECK!

I went to JoAnn Fabric in Orem last night to take advantage of my 50% off coupon as part of their “moonlight madness” sale. As I was waiting in a looooong line at the fabric cutting counter as 9pm approached, the passive aggressive store closing time announcements began to inform customers that they can LEAVE goddammit and come back tomorrow during store hours, blah blah blah. And oh yeah, this:

“We are now open on Sunday from 10am to 6pm.”

My brain did a double take. Then it hit me! And as my Catholic family would say: Hallelujah! A sign of progress! Or, the Apocalypse/Rapture/etc., since it was still October 21. Whatever.

One of the most annoying things about living in Utah County has been the de facto ban on Sunday shopping. I am not LDS and have no problem shopping (or doing anything else) on Sunday, but because I am in the minority, I am forced to suffer along with the majority and do all of my shopping online at home. Whether I wear my pajamas or a modest floral dress is my business.

But times are changing here in Utah County as local stores (independent and big box) start experimenting with Sunday hours. I think it also shows as certain laws change amidst controversy, such as the one that legalized Sunday beer sales in Provo. However, we citizens now have a responsibility to support these progressive changes or they may not stick.  Michaels, another local craft store that is located right across University Parkway from Joann Fabrics, started offering Sunday hours about a year ago. They even went so far as to offer a special Sunday-only coupon. But that experiment obviously failed, because they are again closed on Sundays. Sad.

So please, if you are not morally opposed to shopping for your craft supplies on the sabbath, make an effort to patronize JoAnn in Orem on Sundays. Let’s show them with our numbers that it’s a good business decision.

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