In a post last year, I was feeling rather lustful for some vintage items I saw in a 1958 John Plain catalog. Lustful? Is that the right word? I suppose so — if that word can be used to describe how much one wants an item, human or not. I remember admiring some vintage electric razors that were made just for women. Here is the shot from the John Plain catalog:
I’m a Pyrex junkie
As I typed the title to this post, the song “Jukebox Hero” played in my head. Let’s see . . . “I’m a Py-rex junk-ie . . . with stars in her eyes?” Somehow I doubt it’d be a hit.
But alas, it is true: I have found myself scouring Ebay and Etsy listings, looking for the perfect Pyrex to adorn my kitchen. The days leading up to the new year found my husband and me majorly “mucking out” our kitchen — making way for the new Blue Heaven dishes and getting rid of stuff I just didn’t use. You know what that meant — an excuse to fill that space back up with new stuff. Or should I say “new” stuff?
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Kitchen-Klatter
Another item I received for Christmas immediately took me back to my younger days as soon as I saw it; my mom gave me a Kitchen-Klatter cookbook from the early 70’s. Mom might not even realize how much Kitchen-Klatter is ingrained into my early memories, but she knows I like old cookbooks, so the gift fit.
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Home Decorators Collection goes retro
Just received my new Home Decorators Collection catalog the other day, and although I planned to quickly leaf through it before throwing it away (lest anything tempt me during this season of low funds!), their new retro-style dessert plates and servingware caught my eye. I love these!
Jack’s Country Store
A few months ago I bought a tablecloth from Jack’s Country Store, needing to cover my cracked ice table with something to minimize the scratching that my boys were inflicting from running their toys all over it. I purchased an adorable tablecloth that looked like it was straight out of grandma’s kitchen — nice pastel colors with cherries. Incidentally, they must have been phasing out their larger sized tablecloths, because all the ones they sell now are 52×52, which doesn’t quite reach the end of my table, but the cloths are cute nonetheless.
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A great Etsy find!
While browsing through Etsy the other day, I happened upon some great switchplate covers made with retro wallpapers. There’s something from every era, it seems, and she uses some great fab fifties’ wallpapers as well. Take a look:
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It’s cool! It’s refreshing! It’s a retro font!
Went shopping at a local store the other night, and when I got home I pulled out all the coupons they had stuffed in the bag. Imagine what a pleasant surprise it was to see that the store implemented some nifty fifties’ fonts for their coupons. Way to go, Schweser’s!
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It’s never too early to think Christmas!
It happens every fall. Just as the leaves start turning and falling off the trees, and the landscape begins to look a little more sparse, I start thinking about Christmas.
I will freely admit that fall and winter are my favorite seasons. Fall I love for the cooler weather and beautiful colors, and winter I love for the excuse to stay cozy inside and being able to enjoy the occasional snow day. True enough, after Christmas hits, winter tends to grow old very, very quickly. I suppose I love winter partially for the rush of being able to decorate another tree and capture that homey Christmas spirit once again.
Each year my tree gets a little more retro. I haven’t yet gone the way of the aluminum or flocked tree, but it seems that each year my vision pushes me to go with more retro color schemes. Last year it was blue lights and silver and white ornaments, which would have looked superb on a flocked tree, but still looked cool nonetheless.
And then a few months ago I discovered Bronner’s. Oh my . . . talk about a gigantic playground for Christmas decorating enthusiasts! I become even more hooked when I started noticing some of their awesome retro ornaments.
Case in point:
Silvery goodness with a classic starburst design. It also comes in green, gold, and blue. Get it here!
Oh my, how I love this thing. It’s called a pine star ornament, and it’s about as retro as they get. it also comes in gold:
They’re shatterproof, too, which is even better news for those of us with small, hyper, and sometimes violent boys who think that Christmas ornaments make good baseballs. Or weapons.
Here’s a true starburst ornament, hence its name:
I am in love. Truly, madly in love. Is it taboo to feel love for a shatterproof ornament that sort of resembles a sea urchin?
I am not kidding when I say that these ornaments are just a tiny sampling of what this store has to offer. There are ornaments for every hobby, every era, every nationality, and every quirk. They also carry lights (amazing how many different types they have!), outdoor decor, stockings, hats, and pretty much every other item that has a direct or vague association with Christmas. Go there. Get lost. You won’t be sorry.
I spy some retro design!
Still swamped with the beginning of school madness. Haven’t yet adjusted to the pile of papers covering both my desks in two separate buildings. Someday they’ll be clean. Like in June.
In the meantime, however, I just had to share a lovely little glimmer of hope in the world of really boring product packaging. I’d love to kiss whoever thought of this one:
And yes, I will confess: I bought this bag of candy mostly for the packaging. I’m a sick, sick woman.
Antique store score!
A friend and I visited an antique store in a neighboring town, partly to scour for cool finds, partly to just get OUT of the house. The antique store in our own town is open sporadically, and it’s always closed when we actually get a chance to shop, so we had to go on a mini road trip. We complained a lot about that, y’know? Gee, do I have to leave the house for several hours for a trip with no children? Oh, twist my arm, then!
A saw several things I “had” to have, but the mature side of me won out and I pared down my “had to haves” to a couple things. Price won out in the end, as it usually does!
Score #1: A plug-in clock for my kitchen:
We had always had a plug in above one wall of cabinets, and I knew it probably provided electricity to a trusty old kitchen clock at one time. Imagine my reaction when I saw this kitchen clock for $10 piled behind some other stuff in the store. What’s more — it works. Accurately. What’s more retro than this color scheme? Off white, copper, and turquoise. Yummy!
This next purchase was sitting on the sidewalk when we walked in, and I noticed the price right off the bat: $22.
A child’s desk! The rolltop is long gone, and that’s OK, because my kids would have ruined that in about 2.4 seconds flat. It’s a little wobbly, but an easy fix. My favorite part, however, is the decals that decorate the top and the sides:
A birdie . . .
De plane! De plane!
and . . .
A Lassie dog!
Although I would not put it past me to pay $22 for the decals alone, I really bought it for my youngest son, who has turned into a drawing maniac. The drawers aren’t wide enough to put a pad of paper in, but they’re plenty big to hold a pencil box, scissors, and whatever else strikes his fancy. I’m hoping to modify the desk to put a drawer in the front, attached to the existing trim, so he has a place to store paper.
Once repaired, I think the desk will be a wonderful place for my little (I mean, BIG) guy to create some fantastic stuff. Don’t you?