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As a collector and seller of all things vintage, I've learned over the years that, as much as I would like to, I just can't keep everything.
In the spirit of sharing great finds, here are some of my personal favorites that I'm passing along in my sweet little Etsy shop and on The T-Cozy's sister blog, Kitsch Encounter. I do hope they will all find happy new homes.
Susan
So far, I have three oil painting classes under my belt. What a wonderful experience this portrait class has been for me.
So much to learn. Although I have a fine arts degree, my focus was commercial design and I never really learned to paint. I love to draw, but painting is another skill entirely. To say it is difficult is putting it mildly!
For our first few classes, our talented teacher, Joanne Roy, guided us through painting mono-chromatically so that we would focus on areas of light and dark without getting bogged down with color. Gillian Marshall, our model, is a gifted artist in her own right. See her amazing photographs here.
During class, I struggled along and tried my best to capture Gillian. Joanne began to show us how to add color, as you can glimpse in her painting to the right of mine. Her paintings are magical. You can view Joanne's work on her web site here.
This Rowayton Arts Center class has been a refreshing departure for me. It's an enormous challenge and I'm enjoying using my brain power in a new way. In next week's class, we'll have a new model and begin to work in full color. Yikes! I'm nervous!
Susan
I had a guest in my studio this past weekend. It was a toaster!
Appliances aren't that attractive and some people prefer to keep theirs concealed under a decorative cover. Marjorie, a patron from my former antiques shop and tea room, gave me a call last week. A few years back, I made a cover for her two slice toaster, shown here. Marjorie has just upgraded to a four slice model, so she wanted a new custom made toaster cozy.
I spent the morning on Monday sewing up the new cozy. I really like how it turned out. And when Marjorie picked it up yesterday, she was pleased with it, too. Isn't it sweet?
Now that's a well-dressed toaster!
(This post is linked to Kimba's DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land. Check it out!)
Susan
Say goodbye to summer! Although tomorrow marks the first official day of autumn, one of my recent finds will help to preserve what's left of summer's beautiful blossoms.
If you'd like to construct a flower press like my vintage one, I found some easy directions at a blog called Crafty Daisies here.
Even if you don't have a flower press, you can achieve the same result with a few heavy books. Here's how: Simply gather the plant material you'd like to press. Almost any flower, herb, or leaf can be pressed to preserve its beauty. Make sure there are no overlapping petals or leaves within the flower; if there is an obstructive stem or leaf, remove it from the plant. Lay out a piece of cardboard, then a sheet of wax or acid free paper. Next arrange your blooms and carefully cover them with another sheet of paper. You can continue this process, one layer on top of the other, until all your flowers are prepared. Finish off the stack with another piece of cardboard and lay several heavy books on top. Allow the flowers to press for two weeks before checking to make sure they are completely dry. Then you can frame them, use them in scrap booking projects, and make bookmarks or greeting cards with them.
Now I'm off to my garden to enjoy this last day of summer and to collect some blooms for pressing.Susan
I have just listed four nostalgic board games in my Etsy shop.
The first is a real treasure. What fond memories I have of playing the Barbie Queen of the Prom Game with my grade school friends.
This is the original game from 1960. It allows you to buy a formal dress, get a steady boyfriend and be elected club president. And if you're lucky, you'll get to be queen of the prom!
Some of the playing cards show actual Barbie outfits at the time. I remember my sister and I had both the Enchanted Evening and the Let's Dance ensembles for our dolls, shown below.
And then there are the boy friends. I recall no one wanting to get Poindexter, but I think he's cute.
Another game in my Etsy shop features Hanna-Barbera's Flintstones cartoon cast. This game dates back to 1962. As a kid, I loved watching The Flintstones TV show.
Remember Monty Hall? This 1964 Let’s Make A Deal board game is based on the popular NBC TV game show of the 1960’s and 70’s.
Made by the Milton Bradley Company in 1985, the board game, below, features Hanna-Barbera's Jetsons family. When I used to watch them on TV, I thought that by 2009, we'd all be flying around in space cars like the Jetsons had.
Fun stuff! I love playing board games with my family. And these vintage ones are extra special.
Susan
Remember my friend Lesley's wonderful Caribbean doll house I wrote about in August? Last week, she invited me over for a tour of another treasure --- her kitschy Swiss chalet!
Back in the mid 1960's, Lesley's grandmother purchased this doll house for her at New York's F.A.O. Schwarz. Isn't it incredible?
For years, this doll house resided in the third floor attic of Lesley's childhood home in Scarsdale. A couple of decades later, her husband Henry spotted it there and suggested they take it home to Rowayton. Lesley has been working on it ever since. And it has become a labor of love, not only for Lesley, but for many members of her family, too. Have a look inside. (You can click on any photo for a larger view.)
Isn't it spectacular? The attention to detail is inspiring. Did you notice the cuckoo clock? How about the false teeth on the dresser? In the kitchen, you'll find bread in the oven, a rolling pin in the hutch and the table set for tea. Each bed has a chamber pot and beautiful bedding. If you open drawers and cabinets, they, too, are filled to perfection. The tiny artwork on the walls is so sweet. The alpine picture on the right is actually a framed Swiss chocolate candy wrapper!
Knowing I wanted to come by for a peek, Lesley spent a good twelve hours dusting and cleaning the chalet. Her mom, Nancy, helped wash and rehang the tiny curtains. Years ago, she also helped sew the bedding.
This doll house has really been a family affair. Lesley has had the support of her son Willy and late husband Henry, plus many others who contributed to the project. Originally from Austria, her father Frederick's family owned an art gallery in Lucerne and they spent a lot of time in Switzerland. When her Aunt Frances took trips to Europe, she brought back animals, folkloric furniture and people for the doll house. Some items were found at local shops like Eileen Godfrey Miniatures in Pound Ridge, New York. Some of the furnishing are handmade. Lesley can always count on her good friend Jill to help with that. And we can't forget Grandmother Ada, who started it all by purchasing this toy chalet over 40 years ago.
This whimsical doll house is kitschy, clever and infused with Lesley's droll and witty sense of humor. I'm so glad she allowed me to have a peek. I hope you've enjoyed viewing it, too.
Susan
Time for another look at The Lucky Sew-it-yourself Book by Camille Sokol. I promised to share some of its easy sewing projects with you.
The first project is a scarf. This book is from 1964 and, at the tender age of six, I remember wearing little scarves like this.
If needed, you can view pages 12 and 13, the spread about about measuring your cloth, in my previous post here.
That's lesson #1! Feel free to share it with your kids, grandchildren, or anyone who wants to learn sewing basics. I'll share this book's other sewing projects for a simple pocketbook, apron, and pin cushion in posts to come.
Susan
Finally, the truth comes out. I can't type! Seriously. I have to be the worst typist on the planet. My typing technique is known as "hunt and peck." I use both index fingers exclusively and leave the rest of my other eight useful fingers behind. Why, you may ask? Because I never completed my typing class back in high school.
The only class I ever dropped in my life was typing. I was fairly certain I'd be heading to art school, so I said to myself, what do I need typing skills for? I became a graphic designer after college and back then, layouts were still done the old fashioned way, on a drafting table with a T-square and type galleys. But eventually, the Macintosh computer changed everything. So I found myself in front of a computer keyboard, typing away all day.
After a 24 year career, I took a break from graphic design in 2005. But there is no still way to avoid typing. I have this blog, plus all of the other things I have grown accustomed to doing on a computer.
Oh well. Instead of enrolling in an oil painting class, perhaps I should really be taking typing.
Susan
Every now and then I like to present some T-Party Tutorials. I love it when I receive emails from those who have tried a project of two. Here are a few nice folks who have been kind enough to share their terrific tutorial results with me.
Christine, one of my favorite local customers, read about cropping photos in my Photography 101 series. In her bird feeder before and after photos, she shows us what a little bit of cropping can do. Don't you think the after photo has much more impact than the original on the left? Great job Christine! To read more about cropping pictures, click here.
Like me, Lorraine, of the blog LP Vintage, is a vintage button enthusiast. She was so inspired by my button bouquet tutorial, she decided to create some of her own. What a beautiful bouquet! I just love her button combinations. To view my button bouquet tutorial, click here.
Thanks to Christine, Lorraine and Hilary for sharing their creations!
It's always fun to try new things. And today, I'll be doing just that. I'm going to a portrait painting class this morning. Though I have a bachelor of fine arts degree, painting is one area I have very little experience in. Wish me luck!
Susan
Are you having a nice Labor Day weekend so far? The weather is divine here, so I opened up my studio windows this morning to enjoy the fresh air and work on a little project for my Etsy shop.
I brought out eight small tins that I have on hand for loose leaf tin. Then I filled each with three dozen color coordinated buttons.
Next I designed some button motif labels for the tins.
Doing these labels brought me back to my graphic design days. I really had fun working on them.
What do you think? I love the way they turned out.
Each tin is filled with an nice array of vintage buttons from my personal collection.
Click here to check out these sets of buttons in my Etsy shop.
Now we are off to a picnic with friends on picturesque Sprite Island. I hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.
Susan
I am the proud owner of a marvelous antique Hoosier cabinet. It resides along a prominent wall that spans our kitchen and adjoining family room.
If you’re not familiar with this type of cabinet, here’s a little background information. Founded in 1898 in Indiana, The Hoosier Manufacturing Company came up with the clever idea of taking a standard cupboard and turning it into an efficient and compact baking center. These free standing work stations had every “modern” convenience such as a tilt-out flour bin that could hold 50 pounds of flour with a built-in sifter in its base. With an enamel pull-out work surface, they also boasted a sugar bin, spice rack, tin lined bread drawer, additional drawers for utensils, and shelves behind the doors for more storage. Most had a roll-down tambour door tucked just below the top doors to hide away clutter.
Between 1900 and 1940, several other manufacturers such as Sellers, McDougall, Wilson and Boone, turned out slightly different versions, with great success. (The name “Hoosier” stuck, even if the cupboard was produced by another maker.) Earlier cabinets were made from sturdy oak; later versions used lesser grade woods painted to match kitchen color trends of that time. These ingenious cabinets could be purchased from the Sears catalog or other merchants and delivered anywhere within reach of a railroad. The Hoosier cabinet fell out of favor when built-in kitchen cabinets became all the rage in the 1940s.
My extra-wide Hoosier is one of the older oak models. It has lovely etched glass in the upper cabinets and lots of extra drawers. It provides an amazing amount of storage and houses all of our bake ware, cookie sheets, mixer, placements, cloth napkins, glass serving pieces, and more. It has a pull-out enamel top and a wooden cutting board along with its original roll-down tambour door.
On top of our Hoosier sit three of my vintage 1940's wooden soap powder dispensers.
Along the side, I've hung the sweetest wooden Dutch girl. Out of all of my vintage pieces, this one may be my favorite!
A set of pretty floral Japanese pottery canisters rests behind the tambour door.
Inside the top doors, you'll find my collection of vintage glass ware; lots of cake pedestals, bowls and platters. I like to use glass serving pieces because they blend with any of our dishes. Plus, they are inexpensive and can be found at most thrift stores and flea markets.
My oak Hoosier is unusual; along with having large drawers in the bottom unit, it has three smaller drawers in the upper portion below the tambour door. One of them holds a collection of vintage cutlery with bright red bakelite handles.
Hoosier cabinets make wonderful display pieces. In my former antiques shop and tea room, I had a couple of different cupboards in the front room. Above on the left is a white Sellers brand cabinet with red bakelite knobs and deco stencils. It was sold at T-Party to a gentleman from New York City who planned to use it in his guest bathroom to hold extra towels and toiletries. Then I acquired a 1933 green cabinet with original art deco stenciling on the upper doors. It still had the old sifter and flour bin with an oval glass window so one could see how much flour was remaining. It even had a meat grinder. I sold it at T-Party to a couple planning on using it in their beach cottage kitchen.
I love Hoosier cabinets. If I ever have another antiques shop, I envision having all sorts of Hoosiers lining the walls filled with wonderful old kitchen ware. Wouldn't that be fun?
Susan
Here in the Northeast, it has turned a bit cooler, making it perfect tea drinking weather. I can tell when this happens, as sales of tea and tea related items pick on my web site. I offer an array of exceptional loose leaf teas along with Bee House teapots that make brewing tea leaves a breeze. You'll also find matching tea mugs, infusers and rough cut brown sugar cubes to add just a touch of sweetness. And don't forget my vintage fabric tea cozies to keep those Bee House teapots nice and warm.
I always take a little break for tea in the afternoon. With the lovely weather we've had lately, I've been heading out to my back porch with my Kindle, a banana walnut muffin and cup of Susan's Blend. Wish you could join me!
Susan
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