Wednesday 29 August 2007

Scandalous!

Apparently, this great state of Mississippi has ranked the highest in obesity rates.
My word. I just can't fathom why...



Now folks, this here is how you make an authentic, New Orleans/Delta style Po' Boy. This is not a sub sandwich. Nor is this a gyro, or anything similar. It's a Po' Boy. You start by cooking a cheap roast till it's just falling apart, saving the drippings to make a gravy (or use a canned gravy if you're lazy like me), which is mixed with the beef and then you shred it up like all get out. Then it's simmered till it's even softer. Serve dressed on real French bread. If you don't have real Po' Boy bread like what is shown below, keep your french bread out for a couple of hours till it's just slightly stale. This is traditionally served with onyon rangs, I guarantee, cher.




Note: If you don't have gravy dripping down all the way to your elbow while eating this, you have not made a Po' Boy.

Monday 27 August 2007

Because my Swiffer duster was cold. And ugly.





I had to make a cozy for my Swiffer duster. Swiffers work wonderfully, but they lack the old fashioned charm of feather dusters. The emboidery pattern was part of a pack I won on ebay- it dates from 1915. I stitched the embroidery (done on a piece of unbleached muslin) to a cloth gingham bag I made. Only then did I realize that the ginormous flower on the embroidery is just a tad creepy, and the bonnet girl appears to be fighting it off. So now my Swiffer duster is warm, but it probably has nightmares.

Anyway, I got this lovely pink 50's cannister this weekend, along with the pretty hanky it's sitting on. Prince Froggie, guardian of my craft table, is checking it out:



I needed a nifty storage for some glitter letters (which I am dying to make use of, but haven't yet) , so I dressed up this apothecary jar:

Monday 20 August 2007

Fairy Jar and Thrift Store Score

I have been loving the various different "fairies in jars" i've seen lately, so I thought i'd try my hand at it. I have discovered that putting something in a jar and trying to make it look like it belongs there is not exactly easy.



Neither is photographing it, as my hubby found out. I wish you could see this in better detail, but you get the jist.

Here are my latest thrifting/antiquing finds, and I luv, luv them: A pretty tin, aqua colored with gold trim and roses. I've already put a bunch of paper scrap in there:




Also, a box full of adorable, differently illustrated Pennsylvania Dutch recipe cards from the 30's:



...Aaand the recipe on the back, "liver dumplings".

Tuesday 14 August 2007

"A" is for "About Dang Time I Made Something".








Here's a wooden letter A that I embellished with Tuscan Rose stamps, scraps, paint, etc. I've gotten obsessed lately with those shades of robin's egg blue and aqua that everyone else has long since been admiring. As usual, i'm the last one to notice. Usually by the time I catch on to a trend of any type, it's already over. Woohoo! I made it just in time. But hey, we should make what we love, regardless of what's popular. I also love my "vintage" paint chip-y watering can there, that I keep my brushes in.



Well we've been in this house for a while now, and the only room i've really done anything with is this one- the office/craft room. I am slowly but surely transforming it into a cozy studio space.



Lately, i've felt somehow down that I hadn't been making anything. But then I began really following some other artsy type blogs and I realized that they don't always have to make something new in order to post on their blogs... they just post things they like, things they find, places they go, etc. I found that inspiring. I always enjoy looking at pictures of the things that people find on their thrifting expeditions.

Past weekend, I found these prettyful vintage curtains at an antique/thrift store here in town. I think they are barkcloth, but who knows. I just love them.





They have a sweet yarny tassely trim. There's flowers, chickens, etc... But my favorite embellishment is this little colonial horseman:


And here is a weenie dog:




His name is Oscar, he is a mini-daschund, and he's the cutest pain in the butt I ever saw.