Saturday, September 9, 2017

I'm a bit of an "old soul"

I spent some time today trying to down size some of my "treasures."  I love old things.  Old jewelry,  old doilies,  old cross stitch,  old hand embroidered pillow cases,  old table cloths,  basically anything old.  Have I always been that way or did I acquire this "old soul" later in life?  I can't remember.  Some of these items belonged to my Grandma Hicks,  some were from my Great Aunt, and some I picked up from auctions where they were crying out to me as I walked by to take them home where they will be loved once again.

Vintage Aprons!  I love them!

  Tell me how this apron made of this material was used for anything but making the cook look good!



And vintage handkerchiefs!  I did buy a shadow box to display my vintage handkerchiefs in.  They are so lovely and delicate.  I'm guessing no real lady ever went anywhere without their delicate handkerchief. And I'm guessing she never blew her nose on them either!


Doilies!  Starched stiff!  I can't imagine how long it took to make one.  It's a dying art I'm afraid!


And look at the detail in these raised doilies!  I love them!


                  Next is table cloths.  This one looks like it was made from old flour sacks.


These table cloths with matching napkins have been starched and ironed.  I'm guessing they were only used for special occasions. And these probably haven't been unfolded for 50 years!




And I love old hand crocheted dresser scarves




 I've noticed many have these little crocheted edges.  And I also noticed pink seems to be the predominate color.




And my favorite is the beautiful pillow cases

Alas,  I am afraid this fine stitchery is a dying art...  

And finally I love old sparkly jewelry!  Which I like to put in a shadow box and hang on the wall. 


Hope you have enjoyed pictures of my treasures!  And I hope you are an "old soul" too!  We might meet someday at a flea market digging through the bins of old doilies or at an auction where someone else's treasures cry out for another "old soul" to take them home and love them again!  See you there!








Friday, September 8, 2017

The Great Aunts throw a party for the younger generation in 2015

The Hicksie Chicks decided a good tradition would be to throw a tea party for the younger generation.  We had such a blast!  Our  Aunt Alean attended as the oldest Hicksie Chick and the older generation wore vintage hats and we painted kids fingernails and put makeup on them and they dressed up in their cutest outfits and we had lots of jewelry and glittery things.... it was a special time that I think they will remember always.  Come along with me and enjoy our little party!

The kids Great Great  Aunt Alean has since passed away but she was in her nineties in this picture and loved attending the party!   And she sat quietly while the kids put lipstick on her and painted her nails too!

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We had plenty of sparkle and makeup and jewelry and all the things you need for a successful party!


and it was the perfect time to dress in the finery fitting a special occasion
and the little girls loved having the makeup put on by the  Great-Aunts.


They may call us their "crazy great- aunts" someday but today there were pretty impressed with us!

There were painted nails and stick on nails and glittery nails and nails of every color... Nails of beauty!





And the lipstick flowed ....

and not just on the young!  And we didn't limit this party to just girls either!  

Nails are done,  lipstick is on,  time for the eyes!


And now that everyone is looking gorgeous ....

it's time to go outside and blow some bubbles...


I think we can safely say a good time was had by all.   The kid's Great Great Aunt Alean has passed on.  Kids are growing up.  And it's important we do this again!  I hope the kids remember always getting together with their Great Aunts and Great Great Alean for a time to remember always!





Amish Breakfast Casserole Recipe Added,

One of my favorite breakfast recipes is this Amish Breakfast Casserole. It can be mixed up and kept in the refrigerator overnight, ready to bake the next morning or even frozen until you are ready to pull it out and have an easy breakfast. This makes a great Christmas morning breakfast casserole. 



Ingredients:

1 pound of bacon, cooked and crumbled.
9 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups of shredded swiss cheese
2 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups of small curd cottage cheese (don't worry cottage cheese haters, you won't even know it's there!)
5 cups of frozen shredded hash browns
salt, and pepper

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. If you you decide to refrigerate or freeze it you made need to mix it a little more just before cooking. Dump into a greased 9x13 pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for approximately an hour or until set. Let cool 10 minutes before eating. 

My guests at The Lodge love it when I make my Zucchini Muffins and serve them with this Amish Breakfast Casserole.  So gather the family together around  the "family table" and everyone talk about their day and their dreams and goals and invite relatives over and pretend you are The Waltons .  It's a good thing as Martha Stewart would say...

Crock Pot Peanut Clusters-- best candy ever!

One of my favorite(and easiest) recipes to make around Christmas time is Peanut Clusters made in a slow cooker.




Crock Pot Peanut Clusters Recipe:



1 16 oz. jar of salted peanuts 


1 16 oz. jar of dry roasted peanuts


2 16 oz. packages of white almond bark



1 12 oz. bag of milk chocolate chips



1 12 oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips



2 10 oz. bags of peanut butter chips or for a little different flavor you could use butterscotch chips.



Directions: 



Now for the hard part, dump everything in the crock pot and leave it on warm for several hours until it melts! Just stir occasionally as it melts. 





Once all the chocolate has melted, drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper and let it cool. 


For a little color, you could add some sprinkles. The kids love helping with this part. 


These are great for Christmas gifts!  And my local Red Cross loves it when I bring them to serve when the Blood Mobile comes to town.  No better way to get your sugar high than with homemade Peanut Clusters! 

China Tea Flowers


I stopped in at a garage sale and was admiring their yard with all the neat decor. Garden Whimsy is the popular term I hear.  This ladies China Tea Flowers jumped out at me and tried to follow me home!  Well, you know what I mean.  I couldn't get them out of my mind!  And my thoughts were traveling full speed down the highway of "I can make them myself"   and if you know me, you know I never just make one of anything.  Or two.  Or three.  You get the picture?  I believe in bulk!  So, I wandered local flea markets to find vintage china dishes and votive cups for the center. 

Baubles....you know those shiny things you glue here and there to look pretty.  I personally like the ones that shine and sparkle best but to each his own.  I bought the baubles by the bag at my local Walmart.  Some I found in the craft section in with the pretty buttons.  Use your imagination.  You know that thing I don't have.   So I have to use google and do a lot of copying ideas of others.


I used smaller vintage plates too and some of the votive cups were too large so baubles....

 I tried several things for the backs for the pipe to slide into to hold them secure and finally found some three sided bottles at my local Hobby Lobby store for $1.99 each.  That gave a flat side to use to glue. 


Vintage spoons work good also but you need to flatten them out so the glue will have more space to grasp the back of the plate.  And I found the tip of the spoon which goes down into the pipe sometimes is bigger than the hole of the pipe....

Speaking of glue, I used 100 percent silicone.  I bought the large tube but if you were only going to make a few then the smaller tube is easier to work with.  And the larger tube wants to dry out and that's a pain if you need to come back the next day to finish the job.  But if you use the larger tube you need the little doohickey that squeezes the silicone out with.   I have no idea the real name for that thingy...   Others drill holes but I don't have the equipment for that and I have had no problems so far with the silicone not holding even in our 100 degree summer temperatures.


Now lets talk the pipe.  I am told it is called metal conduit.  It's not a  real heavy metal and I used the 1/2 size.  I bought it at my local Sutherland's and it is really cheap but comes in about 12 foot sections.  The nice guy at the counter told me they would cut it for me and he proceeded to pull this little hand saw thing out from behind the corner.  Of course,  he never said a word when I told him I needed four 12 foot sections cut into 3 pieces each.   And then bless his heart when I told him it was to make china flowers to stake in the flower beds he just looked at me.   And still didn't say a word.  How many men do you know that could cut those pieces by hand and do it cheerfully?  I don't know many myself...He is a good man.  But not sure I could bring myself to go back and get more.  Just sayin...


  By the way,  some sites use rebar.   So whatever floats your boat works.  Now for paint.  Stems should be green.  So I headed to my local Walmart and bought some spray paint.


Think I had to pay something like $5.99 for the paint and it took me about 3 cans so if you can find cheap paint in flower stem green  buy it up!


Now I wouldn't recommend following my example by laying the pipe in the driveway and spray painting them green for obvious reasons.  But I was in a hurry.  It does help to do them in bulk.  You have to spray one side and let them dry.  Helps when it is 100 degrees outside! And then roll them over and spray paint the other side.  By the way it has been several weeks and my drive still has a splash of green. Probably will be there for quite some time.  


I altered the size of my pipes so when I put the flowers on them they weren't all the same height.  I pounded them into the ground about a foot.  Don't they look cute in the center of your flowers?







This plate is made out of metal.  I found pictures where people had spray painted old metal pie pans too.  So not everything has to be from china.


This is one of my favorite pictures.  Right now my Sedum is covered in blooms and the bees and butterflies are swarming all over them.   How pretty are my china flowers among the blooms?


And one other thing.  You can also sit these pretty flowers on a picture pedestal instead of taking them outside.  This one has a vintage dish in the center that I don't want to take a chance on getting broken so I leave it in the house.  Or set it on a shelf.


And one final thought.   My grand-daughter Maddy loves pretty dresses and all things girly so it is no surprise that she also loves pretty china dishes.   So get your little ones involved in making these pretty flowers too!  Teach them to carry on the tradition of treasuring old dishes and things of beauty.
Enjoy Garden Whimsy!   Isn't life fun?