“In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It Goes On.”
Robert Frost
Showing posts with label CraveCute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CraveCute. Show all posts

Monday, March 26, 2018

Winter Holds Us Close

Spring is here or should I say near?  It still feels and looks like winter around our place.  We are not alone, many areas are still in winter's icy grip!  Winter holds us close and does not want to let go! The remedy of course, is to dwell on all things Spring and stop looking out the window until all the now ugly, dirty, ice and snow melts away!

Don't be sad, look at these cute and pretty vintage things instead. If you'd like something cute of your very own, please visit the links attached to the images, all items are for sale in my Etsy shop.

Golden Egg Book

I have my original copy of the Golden Egg Book from when I was a child, it is so cute! This is an even rarer copy with the yellow cover that I picked up at an estate sale.   A little bunny finds an egg and is very curious to find out what the heck is inside. Adorable illustrations!


Spring Tulips, Rosina June Floral Teacup & Saucer

The tea cup above has tiny yellow and pink tulips and lots of gold gilding! Fill with tea and honey, it's just the thing to drive away those early spring chills! Also works wonderfully for holding Easter candy, flowers or a votive candle!








Baby Lamb Lamp

This Vintage Lamb Lamp will add fun to your cottage decor.  I would love to keep him, but alas, I am trying to downsize! Working condition, but does not come with a lamp shade. 


An Introduction to Wild Flowers

While away the hours waiting for spring flowers by looking through this gorgeous wild flower book! And it makes a great gift too!


Bunny Candy Holder, McCoy, Fanny Farmer

This adorable cheerful yellow Bunny was sold filled with Candy from Fanny Farmer! The candy is long gone! In this example I've added some faux flowers.

Bunnies, 1930s

This is part of a great auction find. Books from the 1930's! The Bunnies book has some darling illustrations and is in really great condition for it's age! Who doesn't like looking at cute bunnies, especially when they aren't' chomping on your garden flowers!


Easter will be here soon and it looks like we might have more snow and rain! Hope wherever you are you have some warmer days ahead.  Don't give up hope, sooner or later spring will arrive!

Happy Easter and Happy Spring to You!
~~ Diane ~~

 

Sunday, September 18, 2016

My Neck of the Woods

Hello! Anyone still out there?
I know, I've been gone for a whole month without any notice... Sometimes things happen to distract us from the blog world and draw us into the real world, sometimes the real world is hard.


While I was away some good things happened and a few bad things too.  That's the way it is, the bitter and the sweet all mixed together.

Let me catch you up to date on what's been going on ....


Some friends, my husband and I, went to the Apostle Islands, Wisconsin and sailed on Lake Superior for several days, and I lived through it ... (a blog post to come).



 After 9 hours of sailing, I felt like the mushroom on the right...


I've spent lots of time on my Etsy shop, working on inventory and social media, like Instagram....


https://www.etsy.com/listing/475390057/daily-dime-bank-buckaroo-cowboy-coin?ref=shop_home_active_17
  
Daily Dime Bank, Buckaroo Cowboy




My sales have been good this summer, keeping me 
busy shipping and restocking my inventory...

 




Vintage Chef Cats Salt Pepper Shakers

Vintage Chef Cats Salt and Pepper Shakers


The garden still requires some work and of course I have to spend time with my two adorable cats. Family visits and little excursions about town seems to have taken up the rest of my time this summer.


Politics this year seems to be even more hateful than most years, but I did think it funny that I found these blue elephants.  I thought they would be a great gift for the conflicted voter, but alas, one has a broken and re-glued trunk, so they will be staying at my house for the time being!



mother goose rhymes
 Mother Goose Rhymes

This 1953 edition of Mother Goose has the most adorable illustrations by Eulalie M. Banks. It's one of those books that I almost don't want to sell because I just love the sweet images!  But it is for sale now in my shop.. Click on the first image of the items to see the full listing and information.



 The image above and below are more from the Mother Goose book...



Locally some major things have happened since I was last here.

As I wrote in a previous post, Prince Rogers Nelson passed away last April.  His home and studio, Paisley Park, is opening for tours this month and next month there will be a tribute concert in St. Paul.

On a very sad note, the 27 year mystery of what happened to the young boy Jacob Wetterling has finally been solved and his family is having a memorial service for him at the end of September. After all these years he will finally be put to rest. If you haven't heard of this, just google his name and you will find the stories, I haven't the heart to go into any more details here.







So that's about it folks. Summer is fast coming to a close and the days are already getting shorter. My garden is winding down for the summer and will soon be covered with falling leaves. I'm hoping I have more time to spend here on the blog as I do enjoy visiting with all of you. If you are on Instagram, follow if you wish, I do tend to get over there more often just because it's so quick and easy.


I must dash away now... see you soon!
~~Diane~~


Wednesday, March 23, 2016

March into Spring!

March, in like a lamb, out like a lion! That saying seems so true as we saw warmer temperatures at the beginning of the month take a dive and now more snow is in the forecast!  You'll really need to cuddle up close to someone to stay warm, just like the bunny and duck below!



The Golden Egg Book was written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Lilian Obligado. Vintage 1962 publication by Golden Press, NY. A Little Golden Book.


I'm sharing some cheerful Spring and Easter images with you today. The books and the basket of chicks are available in my Etsy shop.  Click on the links if you are interested in finding out more about them.




These vintage wind-up Peek-A-Boo Chicks are simply adorable! As with many of the old wind-up toys, they don't work all the time, but they're still very cute!









The Fuzzy Duckling is a Big Golden Book. One morning the fuzzy duckling goes for a walk and meets a variety of animals along the way.  In the photo above he meets up with some lambs. Gorgeous illustrations on every page! Vintage hardcover book measures 12 1/4" x 9 1/4", great images for framing!



My house is finally decorated for Spring and Easter, even though today we are having a snowstorm! But that's the way it is here in Minnesota, and I have to remind myself that just a few years ago we had a huge snowstorm in early May!




I love these large milk chocolate eggs I found at Costco.  My husband could hardly wait until I finally let him have one after I was done taking pictures!  The bowl is vintage, I inherited it from my Mom and it was a gift to her from an Aunt, so it must be over 50 years old. The music box chick is a newer piece.






I hadn't purchased chocolate bunnies for years, but couldn't resist these cuties in their bright packaging.  The tablecloth is a vintage hand embroidered piece, I purchased it from an Etsy shop several years ago.





And finally, one of my new favorites, this is a vintage hand embroidered table-runner. I am in love with this sweet little duck! My husband found this at an estate sale and knew I would like it!


I wish you all a Happy Spring and a Joyous Easter....

Oh, and if you live in a climate like mine
you shouldn't have any trouble finding those hidden Easter Eggs.

Just follow the Bunny tracks in the snow!
~~ Diane ~~





Friday, September 25, 2015

Toast Anyone?

Autumn has arrived and everyone is posting their incredible photos of their trees, flowers, front porches etc.... all decorated with the seasons best.

Not me, today you get toast.


Yes, it may seem an odd thing to talk about, but I can't get it out of my mind these days....

I dropped by a moving sale last week and an elderly couple was selling off a vast majority of their things. I picked up a few teacups and other little items, but the most interesting item I came home with is this fun cookbook.

"A Book of Recipes and Suggestions for the Use of Toast", by Mills Bakery, Detroit Michigan - Halls Baking Co - 1937.


While I'm making light of what seems today like a funny book, remember this was written during the Great Depression (1929-39), the deepest and longest-lasting economic downturn in the history of the Western industrialized world. Another horrible event at that time was the Dust Bowl, also known as the Dirty Thirties, a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the US and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent wind erosion caused the phenomenon. 
Times were extremely tough for people throughout the country and food was hard to come by. What little they had was extended by using a relatively inexpensive item at the time, which in this case was sliced bread. My parents families were both farmers and lived through both of these horrid events.


So I guess at the time, it was appropriate for Toast to have 
a special place at the table for all to enjoy. Let's take a look 
at a book about Toast!

























This was declared the First and perhaps Last book about Toast!





The Glory of Toast!

Toast, a happy glorification of the world's oldest and most important food, now takes on a new significance in the preparation of the daily meals......... golden brown toast adds to the attractiveness of whatever it is served with, and eye-appeal always makes good food taste even better. .... and of course it is easy on the food budget.  Particularly so, because it is the smart way to serve leftovers. - from A Book of Recipes and Suggestions for the Use of Toast



A Toast To Toast 
by 
Grace McKinstry




I will never think of Toast in the same way again!








Just a peek at some fun Toast Recipes!





Hope you enjoyed my book about toast! If you'd like to purchase the book it's available in my shop, CraveCute on Etsy.




Who knew toast was so much fun.....

I found these on Flickr!

Fun Toast People!

Toast Talk (13), c1965





Glamorous Cocktail Party Toast!
1937 ... toast juggling!



I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! 
And don't forget to Toast your Toast!

~~Diane~~





Monday, June 22, 2015

Summer in the City

No I have not fallen off the face of the earth. I am still here!
Just busy, oh so busy. Trying to fit in all the summer, work and play activities ... so little time and so much to do!

Because of course now is the time for garage, estate sales and flea markets!







 This cute Bunny shaped baby dish is from the 1950's.
It sold the day after I listed it! I can see why, it's cute as can be!







But.....



Even Cuter than that are these darling cardboard wall art figures of
"The Three Little Kittens". Including  Mom and the Pie! They are available in my shop.













 "I love you this much!!"
 




"Where's the tea?"





"Oh, we're so sorry Mom, somehow we lost our mittens, 
but please can't we have some pie?"


Now I must go on this lovely evening and 
catch up with all of you on your blogs. 
See you soon! 
~ Diane ~

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Five AM Wake-up Call!

It's been awhile since I've been to any estate sales. Now that the weather is finally nice, my husband and I went to one last week. Up at 5 AM, making the coffee, feeding the cats, making myself look somewhat presentable and then gathering my estate sale shopping necessities. On the list... first of course, cash, flashlight, cloth bag and slip on booties, (sometimes they ask you to remove your shoes).

Then off we go. In this area we first get our preliminary numbers, this time they were in a plastic bag, taped to a car window in front of the house. We were there about an hour before the start of the sale, so after I picked up our numbers, we went to the local fast food place and had our breakfast and then returned to the house to get a parking place.

At the time the sale started, usually 8 AM, we exchanged our preliminary numbers for the real numbers. Then we lined up and waited. This keeps everything running in a somewhat orderly fashion, so there are no people knocked over getting through the door. Maybe the big box stores should use this method at the holidays?!!

After all of this, you just hope there is something inside that was worth all this rigamarole! When we got in my hubby ran to the garage to look for sailing and fishing stuff. I toured the upstairs and realized the prices were way too high. A bit discouraged I headed for the basement. Still kind of a dud sale, until I found two really cute items!!

The first item I found was a Walt Disney Mickey Mouse Pencil Case. It was in really good shape on the exterior. Sadly, only a couple of used crayons remained inside. The graphics are still in nice condition.




 




On the same table I found something I'd never seen before. At first it just looked like a long skinny box with cute graphics. When I opened it I was delighted with what I saw.


















It is a darling miniature teacup and saucer set! The company Merry Manufacturing, made all sorts of these items. I found several different types on Pinterest and they are all adorable.




Both of these items are for sale in my Etsy Shop, CraveCute. Update! While I was posting this my phone went Ca-Ching! I have an app on my smartphone that makes the sound when I get a sale. The Tea Set has already sold! Guess I should have priced it higher!! Haha!







Even though most of these estate sales post pictures on the internet, you still never really know until you get there what interesting things you will find. I often go thinking I will buy one thing, and end up finding something else completely different and completely adorable!



Thus begins the spring shopping season for me! Fresh air, warm breezes and Flea Markets and Estate Sales!



Thanks for being here!
~~ Diane ~~




Thursday, March 19, 2015

Spring into Action




Spring will be here in just a few hours, the calendar says the first day of spring is March 20th. I am happy to say that it is starting to look like the beginning of spring around here too. Some plants are emerging from the leaf litter and showing their little green leaves.  The grass is starting to grow.

The most evident sign of spring was last week, when I heard a flock of geese overhead.  They were surveying our lake to see if there was open water to land.  Our pond has melted at the edges, just enough room for the ducks to start paddling around. We have a flock of about 25 mallards here right now.  Some of them will head on north as the ice melts off the northern lakes.

The geese stopped to look around a bit for nesting spots, but left in search of a larger lake.  They will come back as things melt and they have more room to swim around.  We may have some flowers soon if the warmer weather continues! Until that happens, here are some cute Vintage Spring things to cheer you up!

For more information about each item, simply click on the highlighted title above each item.

Isn't this just one of the cutest bunnies you've ever seen!

Bunny Rabbit Planter




Here are more cute things I've added to my shop this past week.  Some have been sitting on shelves for awhile and it's time to send them on to new homes. Just remember that even if you are in another country, like the UK, as long as you've been a follower and have left comments here, I will gladly quote you a shipping price. Just go to my Etsy shop CraveCute and leave me a message.




Fuzzy Duckling Book






Three Lambs Jumping a Fence














Bunnykins Windy Day Mug









Yellow Chicks Salt and Pepper Shakers











Rosina "JUNE" Teacup

























These cute chicks aren't listed yet, but should be in my shop soon.







I hope you enjoyed this little spring trip through my shop.  If you're wondering, the "paintings" are my photos digitally enhanced with photo editing tools. Just another thing for me to waste time with! I do like the way they turned out though! I wish I could actually paint like that! Thanks so much for visiting, I'll try and catch up with your blogs soon. ~ Diane

What kind of things are you doing to 
get ready for Spring?