The Cuddly Cacti

These fabulous new additions to my cactus collection do not have thorns, spines, glochids, trichomes, hooks, needles, or any other exterior unpleasantness. They are soft, squishy and perfectly huggable!



Outside on a visit with their spiny cousins

They are crocheted cactus made by the amazing Urban Rustic. Visit her blog here, but I warn you, after viewing the results of her talent and energy, you will end up with an uncontrollable urge to sew, knit, crochet, hook rugs, do quilting, photography, needlepoint, and have more cats, dogs, lush English gardens, and clever turn of phrase.

Completely crocheted, from the pots all the way to the flowers

Happily (for me), she developed a case of compulsive cactus-crocheting earlier this summer and ended up surrounded by them. I was thrilled to be the recipient of some of her incredible handiwork.


This is Cornelius, who resembles
Carnegiea gigantea, the saguaro cactus.




The saguaro Source





This is Stanley - his shape is similar to
Stenocereus thurberi, the organ pipe cactus.



The organ pipe cactus Source

 

So I now have miniature representatives of the two iconic cacti of the great and beautiful place that I live – the Sonoran Desert. And I can keep them inside, and I don’t have to worry about over- or underwatering them.

Thank you, lovely blog friend Urban Rustic, for the beautiful cacti!

 

 

 

Have you received an unexpected and/or hand-crafted gift recently?

Katrina

Lost and Found - Part 7

Here at last is my final found treasure. It’s a small booklet that I found hidden between two books at an antique store. I am amazed that after 88 years, such a small, ephemeral item still survives, and in quite good condition.

 

This is an example of a time-honored tradition, the church cookbook. In 1925, the Phoenix Central Christian Church Women put together this booklet and sold it at 25 cents each for the church.

There are several pages of household hints, many of which were new to me.

 

Imagine using crystallized cyanide for ant control! And putting your ostrich plumes in the oven to get them to curl. (But watch carefully so they don’t burn!)

 

 

The advertisements are short, simple, and appealing.

Check out the gorgeous typeface for JC Penneys. And the illustration for Pilcher Optical could fit right in to Dr. Eckleburg’s billboard in The Great Gatsby.

On another page is a barber shop that offers marcelling for $1 and permanent waves for $15.

 

Finally we come to the recipes, and there are a lot of them. It looks as though the editor wisely decided that every submission should be included, rather than trying to select one or two from each category.

Thus there are five recipes for Gingerbread, eight for Devil’s Food Cake (!), and other similar multiples throughout the book.

It’s interesting that many recipes omit the actual cooking or baking instructions. Also, there are no oven temperatures.  A slow, moderate, or quick oven were the options, if any guidance was provided.

A recipe that no church cookbook should be without is, of course, the Bible Cake.

  

Another special find was inserted between the pages – a map of Phoenix dated April 1924. I find it utterly amazing to see the entire city squeezed into a tiny space that we consider a small part of the downtown area today.

 

The quaint charm of this map will probably be more apparent when you see the difference between Phoenix of the 1920s and Phoenix today:

The tiny black spot on the map on the left corresponds to the 1924 map above.

 

This amazing piece of history is the last of my found treasures, for the time being.

Have you discovered any treasures recently?

 

Katrina

Lost and Found – Part 6

Did you think that you'd have to look at those poor wet dogs for the rest of the year? Yes, I shirked my blogging duties for quite a while.

I do have a few new things to share, but while I get organized, I will finish up my Lost and Found Series.

I have a weakness for old books – have you noticed? Children’s books and picture books are especially hard to resist.

Here are two books that I recently found. One is a grade school songbook, quite the worse for wear.

Published in 1947, it clearly belonged to Elizabeth and was very well-loved.

end papers

 

The best thing is that each song has little drawings with it.

 

[You can try click-to-enlarge, but I don't know if it will work. Picasa is being a pain right now.]

 

 

Today's other treasure is a 1952 edition of the Girl Scout Guide.

 

I love the illustrations that accompany the enthusiastic instructions for being a healthy person and a contributing member of society.

Pristine uniforms

No TV or computer!



So many ways to serve the community

Year-round activities

 

 

There’s not much in common between the two books, except for a certain charm and wholesomeness in the illustrations. This was still a pre-television generation - only 9% of U.S. households had them in 1950 (www. tvhistory.tv).

 

I wonder what a modern-day kid would do if faced with the entertainment choices from the 1940s or 50s?!

 

 

 

 

Katrina

Lost and Found – Part 5

For those of us who are fabric hounds, finding a listing on eBay entitled “large lot vintage rayon fabric” would be a thrill. Reading further to find that the lot is from an estate and includes old dresses from the 1940s, curtains, and yardage, might winnow out the more sensible buyers, wary of mold, bedbugs, and dishonest sellers.

The ridiculously low bid for this lot easily overwhelmed the weak defenses of my common sense, and I nervously awaited the arrival of a huge carton of … what?

In fact it turned out to be just as described – a large lot of vintage rayon fabric in various forms, along with some other goodies. Of course I gave it the hot dryer treatment to kill anything that might have hitched a ride, then sorted through my new treasures.

Several of the “dresses” were actually dressing gowns.

 

This rayon wrap-front robe with a bias-cut skirt just needs a few seams and hems stitched and a new snap on the front. What a color combination!

 

The little navy robe is falling apart, but have you ever seen anything like the fabric?

 

I will definitely put this to reuse.

 

 

 

 

 

The burgundy dressing gown has a huge panel missing from the back, and the fabric shows some disintegration throughout.

 

Still, I’d like to try to use it in some way, maybe in a collar and cuffs that can be stabilized with fusible interfacing.

 

Here are two examples of actual dresses.

 

The pretty polka dot shirtwaist is silk. It’s in pretty good shape other than missing one sleeve and the other one hanging by a few threads. I might be able to repair this with a bit of restyling and restitching. 

The brown dress is missing most of the front (this is the back of the dress). The floral print is beautiful, and the fabric is in good condition, so I can definitely use it in other projects.

 

Then there are miscellaneous pieces. 

An intensely pink-on-mustard floral skirt portion of a dress

A gorgeous black floral piece of something

 

This tropical print was part of a bedskirt!

 

There were also some pieces of modern fabric. How did they get in there? (Not that I’m complaining!)

Doesn’t this look like the quintessential mid-century Hawaiian print rayon? But it’s a Cameron Industries fabric from 1993!

 

There were several other little beauties in the lot, and now that I’ve unearthed them all, there is hope that one day they will make it to the sewing table. At least they are hanging neatly in the closet now, instead of bunched up in a bag on the floor.

 

I have one or two more “Lost and Found” treasures to share with you, and then we’re back to complaining about the heat.

 

Katrina

Lost and Found – Part 4

My precious little pile of antique postcards was missing for several years. I had looked in every conceivable place (I thought), and finally decided they must have been inside some book or box I’d given away. It was very sad.

So I was overjoyed to discover them in an unlabeled envelope that was in a plastic photo organizer that was in a box of collage materials that was in a drawer.

 

[be sure to click on images to see these beauties in more detail!]

There are Christmas cards:

 

So much detail for such tiny pieces of paper:

 

And more Christmas cards:

 

Birds were a popular subject for all occasions, as were pansies, lovely ladies, and playful animals.

 

Musical instruments made an occasional appearance as well.

 

Many postcards had a tiny landscape included among the other images.

 

 

Most of these were actually mailed, and have illegible postmarks on their one-cent stamps. The messages are necessarily brief, and always make me wonder about the things that were left unwritten.

On a greeting sent to Miss Amy Beaumont in Portal, North Dakota, Nov. 1910:

·        Hello There – I am healing good. It is cold enough. Jo Sherman home. I have not been up that way all summer. I suppose everything is at the same. From a Friend, Albert Petersen

On a Christmas card to Miss Mabel Buchholtz in Bloomington, Illinois, Dec 21, 1921:

·        Merry Xmas and Happy New Year, From Miss Eva Tansley, Melvin Ill. (Write Soon!)

 

On a greeting sent to Miss Clara Vaughn of Helena, Montana, Jul 14, 1911:

·        Dear Clara, We rec’d a “Star” containing your speech and gave you credit for sending it. We are proud of your success. The babies are having measles, Miriam just over it and Oakley D just taking it. Where will you teach this fall? – Edith Lutes

 

Other cards must have been simply handed to the recipient, because there is no address or stamp. Simple messages are written in pencil:

·        From Grandma Robbing to Esther – Jan 1, 1912

 ·        To Carl from Mayme on his 26^th birthday 1914. Wish you a Happy Birthday.

 

I just have two of these beautifully colored French postcards.

 

Finally, the star of the collection – a nine-page foldout souvenir postcard set from Cuba.

The front (above) and back (below) covers of the postcard booklet. The postage stamp was removed at some point – no doubt extremely collectible in itself.

The sender dated her luncheon at the Country Club of Havana to Jan. 31, 1926, so I can date the postcards to the 1920s or earlier.

 

There are actually 18 images, since each card has pictures on both sides.

I treasure this view into the old Cuba that was “The Summerland of the World” according to the little blurb in the booklet; and where “gem-like Havana” could be reached via “a delightful sea-voyage of 5 ½ hours from Key West.”

 

So here I have provided actual, tangible proof that there is some benefit to cleaning your room once in a while. You might find something that you thought was lost forever.

 

Katrina

 

P.s. The postcards are now in a labeled box on a shelf. I’m not putting myself through that again.