Happy Valentine's Day!

I had every intention of getting a post done for Valentine's Day, but time slipped away from me, as it does so often these days! I wanted to hop on though, and let you know that my daughter, Sarah, did do a really fun vintage Valentine's Day post on her blog, Sing and Don't Be Silent. If you have time, she'd love it if you stopped by! Happy Valentine's Day!

Dotty Swap Fun!

On Wednesday, I received my Dotty Swap package in the mail from Shirley of Zetta's Aprons, who was my swap partner. It was a beautiful red and white polka-dot basket filled with so many fun surprises.

I loved the cupcake kit, which included a dotty cake mix, decorations, and the perfect cupcake liners. The Valentine's containers are so adorable with just the right amount of sparkle! They are filled with candy and a cute little Eiffel Tower keychain. And how about Lampchop, with her polka-dot bow? Isn't she adorable? I haven't seen her in so long. Such good memories! Shirley included some gift tags, Sweethearts candy with a cute bluebird tag on it, and a wonderful vintage valentine from her collection. Of course she had it all arranged beautifully, but as you can see, I had so much fun digging into the goodies that I couldn't get them back quite the way Shirley had them!  

Now that I know Shirley has received her package, I'll share what I sent her:

                      

It was such fun to make these, and to be a part of the Dotty Swap. Many thanks to Holly at Cutie Pie Cottage for hosting this swap. It brought anticipation and excitement during a normally gray and gloomy time of year.    

     

"Thin" Mints

It's that time of year. I'm in trouble and here's why:

I order mine from my niece, Abby, who lives in Ohio. I can't remember if I ordered 8 boxes, or 10 boxes, but who's counting? Of course that means I have to wait until I visit her, or she visits me, to get my cookies. The problem with that is my Girl Scout Cookie craving officially started last Thursday, with no cookie booths in sight. So what's a Thin Mint-starved person to do? Well, on that same Thursday my daughter came home to report the most amazing sight. Drive-thru Girl Scout Cookie sales! And it's right on the road I take home from work! They have a circular drive, so you can just pull through, order your cookies from a cute little girl and her mom, and pay right there. What a genius idea! Now I can satisfy my craving without even getting out of my car.

Of course this is not a good thing. I don't know about you, but I can eat a whole sleeve in one sitting. I counted, and that's 16 cookies and 640 calories. I've never chowed down a whole box at once, but you can do the math--1280 calories. Which brings me to this question: "Thin" Mints? Kind of ironic, huh?

Did any of you sell Girl Scout Cookies when you were young? I did, and my daughters did too. I went to the Girl Scouts website to do a little research, and discovered that cookie sales started as early as 1917. Only back then, the cookies were baked at home by the girls, with their mothers' help. Yes, moms were involved even back in those days! If you want to read more about the history of Girl Scout Cookies you can follow this link: http://www.girlscouts.org/program/gs_cookies/cookie_history/

I'm down to half a box now, and no visits with Abby in the near future. I think it's time for another visit to the drive-thru. Too bad they're not open 24 hours.

Understood Betsy

I  need to stay off ebay. There are things I don't know I need, until I find them while trolling around in one of the vintage areas.This time it was a vintage book. I don't even remember how I stumbled on it; a click here, a click there, and the next thing I know, I discover this book for only $15.00 with free shipping and handling. Of course I had to order it!

What is it about seeing your name in the title of a book? When I was a young girl, I devoured all the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace, and the Betsy books by Carolyn Haywood. Our library had all of them, and I checked them out over and over again. Somehow I missed this one; apparently the library didn't have it! 

I was drawn to the cover of this book because of the vivid colors and the fact that Betsy had black hair, like me (well, at least I did before it started turning gray!). The back cover is just as colorful. Betsy is sitting in the kitchen, and on the table in front of her is a book and a needle and thread. It's such a cozy scene, and one you would find in my home.

The book was first published in 1916 (my copy is a 1962 version), and tells the story of Elizabeth Ann, a small, timid 9-year-old orphan who goes to live on her aunt and uncle's farm in Vermont. Over time, Elizabeth Ann becomes Betsy, and "discovers herself, her abilities, and all the lovely things in the wonderful world from which she had been shielded."

Apparently this book was a classic in its time, and remains in print. It's recommended for children ages 8-12, but this little girl at heart is looking forward to reading it. Since I still live in my childhood hometown, I went online and searched our library's catalog. I'm happy to report that there are now two copies of Understood Betsy. It's good to know that the young Betsy's of today have another option to read!

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This Room Is Mine

 I recently rediscovered one of my favorite childhood books, This Room is Mine, by Betty Ren Wright. It's the story of two sisters who share a room, just like I did with my sisters. 

You can tell this book was well-loved! It's all taped together and is actually missing some pages. You'll see that I had dreams of being a librarian when I was a young girl. Inside all of my books I made columns for people to sign their names and check them out. Two of my favorite "toys" were my date stamp and ink pad that I got for Christmas one year. Apparently this book was checked out once, by my sister, in March 1970. I also made sure that they knew where to return the book, even if they lived in the same house!

Like all sisters, Chris and Mary got mad at each other.

Their solution was to lay a jump rope on the floor to divide their bedroom in half.

They agreed that whatever was in their half of the room belonged to them. I had to laugh when they argued over who was breathing the other's air. It sounds like something my sisters and I would have argued over.

All is well until Mother comes by asking who wants milk and cookies. The door is on Mary's side, so Chris is stuck.

She goes on to imagine spending her life on her side of the room, until her sister comes back and asks her if she wants to play jump rope. All of a sudden Chris doesn't feel mad anymore, so she picks up the jump rope and goes out to play with her sister.

I love the illustrations in this book, but more than that I think this book spoke to me as a child because I was always looking for a space to call my own. With three younger sisters and one younger brother, there were not many solitary spots! To this day, I yearn for a space to call my own. But just like when I was a child, I'm surrounded by loved ones, which makes quiet moments hard to come by. That's okay though. I know that much too soon, the time will come when I can have quiet time on a regular basis. But that will mean all our chicks have left the nest for good. So for now, I'll gladly share my space--no jump rope necessary. 

I'm linking up with Corey Moortgat's Lil' Vintage Story Books.

We Have A Winner!

 Thanks to all of you who commented to enter my first giveaway! This morning, we held the "official" drawing, which was me pulling a name out of my daughter's red vintage hat.

And the winner of the Throw Out Fifty Things book was...

Donna from The Sunny Side of the Sun Porch! Congratulations Donna! Be sure to visit Donna's blog, where she shares her life from her beautiful sun room. As you'll see, it's a lot more organized than mine is.

Not So Little Vintage Storybook

 It's Friday, so it's time for Lil' Vintage Story Books on Corey Moortgat's blog. This week, my vintage book isn't little, but it sure is cute. It was published in 1945 by Whitman Publishing Co., and the illustrator was E.B. Segner. 

Each page features a different animal charmingly illustrated

Anytime I find a vintage book with a farm theme, I have to buy it (if the price is right). I'm drawn to these because I hope to live on a small farm someday. I really am a farm girl at heart, and hopefully that dream will come true in the near future.

Last year, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this fabric:

It matches the book! How fun is that? I haven't decided what to do with it yet, but think it would make a cute quilted wallhanging. A project to add to my long list!

If you haven't had a chance, be sure to stop by Corey's blog and link up with your favorite vintage story book.