Glorious garlands part 4

 

One final post about Glorious Garlands, the little booklet I found in a 1999 Family Circle magazine.  There is actually even a bit more to this booklet, mostly on choosing fresh greens for a garland and on making other projects with fresh greenery too.   I plan to share a couple of posts concerning that information in December.

 
As you can see, this page has a Red Roses garland... 

 This consists of silk (or even real!) roses attached to a cedar garland.  The suggestion is to hot-glue pin backs to the base of each rose, to weave them into the greenery.  The article notes that although real roses will dry over time, they will still look pretty.  But think of the cost!

.... and a Sleigh Bells garland.

This fun garland has many types of small bells strung on wire and fastened onto a juniper garland.  I wish I had thought about this when I was finding package upon package of jingle bells in my parents' attic!

As I mentioned before, a faux greenery garland would be the way to go with any of these designs that you want to work on this July.  A brief search online reveals faux garlands made to resemble all types of greenery.  Some are quite pretty.

This ends our 2024 Christmas in July!  I hope you found some inspiration here and that you've had as much fun as I have!

Another lovely vintage Christmas card

 

 This is a recently discovered vintage card that will be listed in my Etsy shop.  I thought it was so pretty, with its unmistakable vintage pastel Christmas look.  I'm guessing it's from the 1960s.  Made of a classic parchment type paper, the bottom and right edges are deckled with a scalloped look.  Front and center in the design is a lighted lantern with the suggestion of a dark red candle inside.  It's centered slantwise against a gorgeous soft green background that I just love.  

 Tied atop the lantern there's a bow made of unusual ribbon: one side appears to be a muted teal, and the inside a pinky mauve.  Holly leaves, white and teal snowflakes, and more leaves in dark mauve surround the lantern.  Soft lantern light spills out across the design.  Iridescent white glitter adds sparkle to the design.

Inside the card is the exact same illustration made smaller, with no glitter.  

Below it is a sweet bit of verse: "Softly the lantern sheds its light, A joyful beacon through the night."  

 

The message, in a lovely vintage handwriting font, reads, "Warmly wishing you all the joys Of the Christmas Season and a very Happy New Year."  There is a signature in blue ink.

Isn't this just the loveliest card?  Beautiful cards are being made today, but I don't think they hold a candle to the older ones like this.

A lovely untitled poem from a vintage Ideals

 I thought I would share one more poem for Christmas in July.  This is one that I found in the front of the 1980 Christmas Ideals magazine pictured above.  It appears to be untitled, but the author is Helen Shick.  Here it is:

May the peace and love of Jesus Christ
    Go with you on your way,
And bless your home and loved ones
    In spirit Christmas Day.

May the joy of God's bright promise --
    The Advent of His Son --
Live evermore within each heart
    And comfort everyone.

May the faith of old-time prophets
    Be with you where you are.
And may the truth of God's own Word
    Remain your Christmas Star.
-- Helen Shick

I especially like the first stanza and think it would be a wonderful message inside a Christmas card.  I like the last lines also: "May the truth of God's own Word remain your Christmas star."  Giving light and guidance to one's path, it seems to me.

The illustration that is with the poem in the magazine is black and white, but it closely resembles this 1950s vintage Christmas card:

Hope you have enjoyed this lovely, meaningful poem.

A sweet bookmark design to make for stocking stuffers!

 

I've mentioned before how much I love The Graphics Fairy for free vintage graphics.  I'm really just beginning to look at the many amazing craft tutorials they offer.  I found this Printable Songbird Bookmark design that I really want to try, and thought that I would share it with you all.

Cardinals are a favorite bird for many people.  At the top of this post is a page I had saved from a small calendar.  I've had it for many years and finally scanned it, along with other bird images from the same calendar.  I thought it was perfect for this particular post.  

The tutorial was written by Diana from Dreams Factory.  She mentions that the cardinal image with green leaves that she used for the free printable bookmarks is from an 1840s natural history book.  How interesting!  She placed the bird image on a piece of handwritten French ephemera as a background.

The printable contains a total of six bookmarks, so you can make a number of these at one time.  You can finish the edges simply with distress ink, or do a fancier edge with gold foil.  Diana tells you exactly what products to use and how to do this.  

I think if I were to make the simpler bookmarks I might punch a hole in the top and add a cord and tassel or a piece of ribbon to it.  If I get brave and try the gold foil technique, I would not bother with any further embellishment, since these are elegant as is.

Image from The Graphics Fairy

 
As I mentioned, these bookmarks would make a lovely stocking stuffer, or a small gift for an acquaintance or coworker.  They would also be the perfect addition to a book you may be gifting someone for Christmas.  Have fun with this wonderful idea!

More festive fabric -- Christmas in the Cabin

 

The photo above was not taken at Christmas, but in September 2012.  Much of our family, including six adults and nine children, had gone up north for a getaway to a log cabin on a lake.  Since most of us are not together at Christmas, we had a mini Christmas while we were together.  Prior to our trip, we drew names and bought dollar store gifts, which we exchanged on one of the nights.  This photo, taken from outside the Loon's Nest cabin,  seems the perfect one for Christmas in the Cabin. 

It's a really fun Christmas fabric line!  I love the retro colors on this one.  Christmas in the Cabin is by AGF for Art Gallery Fabrics.  

This is the description of the collection:

"Transport yourself to a winter wonderland reminiscent of the 1940s, where holiday charm meets retro flair. Christmas in the Cabin by AGF Studio invites you to stitch together nostalgic memories weaving warmth and cheer into every project. With patterns as timeless as a cup of cocoa by the fireplace, your creations will be wrapped in the festive magic of yesteryears!"

Here are some of my favorites:

The one above is called Yuletide Blossoms.  I love that it includes orange slices!

This one is Mugfuls of Joy.  Love this one!

Above is my favorite of the bunch!  Such a perfect retro look!

Above is Jingle All the Way!  Love this one too!

Above is Holiday Bound.  Cute design!

What would you make with this fabric?  I would love to make some place mats, cloth napkins, and/or mug rugs!

A fun paper crafting project!

 

One of my favorite resources for graphics is The Graphics Fairy.  The lovely Christmas graphic above is from their site, in fact.  I haven't tried any of their tutorials yet, but that is going to change.  I thought I would share these beautiful faux Christmas stamps with my readers.

Of course, you can't use these to mail a letter or Christmas cards.  They are not real postage stamps, but faux ones with a vintage look.  

Photo from The Graphics Fairy

 
They are, however, a lovely project that would add a sweet vintage touch to many a Christmasy project.  The full instructions are available, and there's a free downloadable Christmas stamp printable with many gorgeous designs.  It can be printed out on card stock or, if you prefer, sticker paper.  Thinning shears, like those used on hair, are used to create a pretty "perforated" edge. and touches of gold are then added with a calligraphy pen and gold ink, or with a metallic gold marker.  Then the stamps are ready to use on your gifts and paper crafting projects!

Photo from The Graphics Fairy

Aren't they beautiful?  I really hope to make some of these!

Another recipe to try -- Orange Creme Brownies

 

 As I mentioned in a previous post, some time ago I winnowed out the hundreds of scribbled down or clipped out recipes I had stashed here and there in my kitchen and cookbooks.  I found places to file them, sorted some to sell on Etsy, and ended up with a large envelope of them that I didn't quite know what to do with.  I couldn't seem to make up my mind whether to keep them or throw them away.

While planning for Christmas in July, I decided to pull out a recipe from this envelope -- I would pick the first one I came to that sounded the least bit Christmasy!  Living dangerously.  That worked out so well I decided to try it a second time.  And up came this newspaper clipping for Orange Creme Brownies.

Regular readers know I'm pretty partial to the festive flavor combination of orange and chocolate.  

So it seems as if these brownies would make a wonderful addition to Christmas cookie trays or as a kitchen gift on their own.  And hey, wouldn't a selection of orange/chocolate goodies be fun -- the chocolate dipped orange slices, some chocolate orange cookies, some chocolate orange muffins and these brownies -- or any combination thereof?  You can find all of the recipes here: Christmas recipes featuring oranges.

The clipping is hard to read, I know, so I'll type out the recipe.  I have no idea who to credit for this, but I've had the clipping for a very long time.

ORANGE CREME BROWNIES

3/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut in small pieces
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325º.  Line the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan with foil, allowing it to overhang the edge of the pan slightly.  Butter the foil and set the pan aside. 

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt onto a square of waxed paper.  

In a small saucepan, combine chocolate morsels, butter, sugar, and orange juice; cook and stir over very low heat until chocolate and butter are melted; remove from heat.  Stir in orange peel and vanilla.    Let cool 10 minutes.  Using a wire whisk, beat in eggs one at a time.  Add reserved flour mixture, beating until smooth; stir in nuts.  

Spread in prepared pan.  Bake until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

When cool, spread with Orange Creme (recipe follows) and refrigerate until firm -- about 15 minutes in the fridge or 5 minutes in the freezer.  Spread warm Chocolate Icing over the Orange Creme.  

Using a knife, mark chocolate layer in about 36 squares (1 1/2 inches square).  Refrigerate until chocolate icing layer is firm, about 25 minutes, or place in the freezer for a shorter time.  Lift the foil edges to remove the brownies to a cutting board; cut in squares along marked lines.  Makes 36 brownies.  Refrigerate up to 4 days, or freeze up to 1 month.

    ORANGE CREME

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

In the small bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating until fluffy.  Beat in orange peel, milk, and vanilla.

CHOCOLATE ICING

1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening

In small saucepan, combine chocolate morsels, butter and vegetable shortening.  Stir over very low heat until melted.

These sound delicious!  They do sound like quite a bit of work, as well.  I would most likely double the recipe to make it worth my while.

I'll definitely be trying these with an eye to Christmas gifting.  How about you?

Glorious garlands part 3

 

 Here are a couple more ideas from the Glorious Garlands booklet I found in a Family Circle magazine from 1999.  As mentioned previously, it's so hard to think of this as vintage ... but it is!  25 years ago is vintage by any standard.

Today I'll share ideas from page 3.  These can easily be made using a faux garland rather than the real thing, which you would obviously want to do if you are making these now, in summer.

One is an angel wings garland ...

This is made by attaching a string of lights to a white pine garland and then attaching purchased pairs of gossamer wings, and halos made of chenille stems, to the garland in such a way that the lights glow through the filmy wings.  

I think I would just buy a pre-lighted faux pine garland and I think for halos, if I chose to use them, I might get some gold or white rings like the type used for cafe curtains.

The other is a seashell garland.

How perfect for summer, really.  If you pick up shells on your vacation you could use them for this.  (Although, if you do this, I highly recommend soaking them in water with some bleach added, then letting them dry in the sun, just to kill any odors.)  Or you could just buy a bag or basket of shells which would be all ready to use.  It's suggested to use a boxwood garland for this one.  I've seen some nice looking faux ones on Amazon for under $14.

Hope one of these garlands sparks some Christmas inspiration for you!

A sweet vintage Christmas card -- "A Happy Christmas Wish"

 

I recently came upon this card front as I was going through items to list on Etsy.  This is only a card front, so I won't try to sell it.  In fact, it has already found its way into a package winging its way to a buyer, as a fun little extra she is sure to enjoy.  But first I had to scan it for my own use, because I love this scene so much.

The aqua color is stunning!  I've noticed that Christmas cards in this color often sell quite well in the shop.  I guess other people must be drawn to them too.  The snowy scene on this aqua background is just gorgeous, with snow-covered evergreens, a few darker trees, and a lighted house and church.  Behind the buildings is just the suggestion of a snow-covered hill or small mountain.

Up in the corner is a pretty pair of bells in red, gold, and magenta.  I wouldn't have necessarily thought to put those colors together, but they absolutely work!  They are topped with pink and red berries, holly in shades of green and gray, and some frosty white pine sprigs.  

A suggestion of softly falling snow completes this beautiful scene.  I love vintage Christmas!

Repurposing some simple sewing projects

 

Years ago I won a giveaway at Sew4Home, one of my very favorite sites to find tutorials for things to sew for the home, and for personal use as well.  The giveaway was for a $125 gift certificate from Fabric.com.  You can read the story here.

One of the things that I chose was this fun Christmas panel from Moda, In From the Cold.  It's designed by Kate Spain.  I looked on line a bit, thinking that I might find one of these available on Etsy or eBay.  And they may well be out there.   But I got sidetracked when I found a treasure trove of free patterns to use with In From the Cold.  You may want to check these out.  I plan to take a closer look at them once Christmas in July is over.  But back to the panel.

I think that the rectangular pieces (which are the only parts of the panel I have used so far) were intended to be turned into little pillows. 

However, I looked at them and saw mug rugs.

 

And so,  that's what I did with four of them -- used one rectangle each for top and bottom, with batting between, to make two mug rugs.   I am sure I took photos of these, but a search has not turned them up.  But one of them is shown above.  The second one was made from the red rectangle at top left of the panel and the teacup one just below it.

But I seldom have a need to use a mug rug, yet I liked them too much to give them away.  So I had just tucked them into my hutch with similar items.  

Fast-forward to this humid summer, where anything that is cold will sweat and get surfaces wet.  We were finding it an issue with the quart of cream and the small jug of maple syrup on the coffee bar at our little camp.  We had been solving the problem by keeping a paper napkin underneath these commodities, but I wanted something prettier, and something thicker, so I thought of the mug mats.  I'm using one and will swap it out for the other if it gets too damp.

What a perfect solution!  We are loving how well this repurpose is working on our coffee bar.

For more Christmas fabric inspiration, visit my virtual Christmas fabric stash on Pinterest.  There is so much glorious fabric out there!!

Cranberry Cream Pie

 

Some time ago I winnowed out the hundreds of scribbled down or clipped out recipes I had stashed here and there in my kitchen and cookbooks.  I found places to file them, sorted some to sell on Etsy, and ended up with a large envelope of them that I didn't quite know what to do with.  I couldn't seem to make up my mind whether to keep them or throw them away.

While planning for Christmas in July, I decided to pull out a recipe from this envelope -- I would pick the first one I came to that sounded the least bit Christmasy!  Living dangerously.  Well, this one actually sounds like a pretty good pick, and somewhat unusual.  I don't think I have seen a recipe for a cranberry cream pie before.  I'll definitely be trying this one.

 

I'll type the recipe out here in case it's not too readable. 

CRANBERRY CREAM PIE

12 ounces fresh cranberries
1 1/4 cup sugar, divided use
1 cup water
2 egg yolks, room temperature
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup sour cream, room temperature
1 baked 9-inch pie shell
8 ounces whipped topping like Cool Whip®

In a heavy large saucepan, combine the cranberries, 1 cup sugar, and the water.  Cook over medium high heat until very thick, about 10 minutes.

Mix together the egg yolks, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and cornstarch.  Add to berries, stir in sour cream, and cook until thick, about 4 minutes.

Pour filling into pie crust.  

Chill for at least 8 hours or overnight before serving.  Just before serving, spread the whipped topping over the pie.

A couple of notes: my mother taught me that when a recipe calls for 2 egg yolks, and there is no use for the whites, to just substitute 1 egg.  That's probably what I'll do.  And also, I think real whipped cream is much tastier and healthier than Cool Whip, so I will likely whip up a pint of heavy cream with a couple tablespoons of confectioners sugar (or maple syrup) and a tablespoon of vanilla.

What do you think?  Would you try this recipe?  I definitely will.

More festive fabric -- Baking Up Joy!

 

 The Christmas fabrics just get nicer and nicer, don't they?  It seems as if every year there are more delightful collections that I want to feature, and even more that I'd like to sew with!

Today I want to share a collection called Baking Up Joy, by Danielle Leone for Wilmington Prints.  That's extra meaningful to me because of our family baking traditions that I loved as a child and that my daughters have carried on with their own families.

The screenshot below shows all of the fabrics as fat quarters:

 And now here are a few of my favorites:

Above is the Baking Joy All Over yardage in white.  Most of the prints also come with either a red or a chocolate background.  As I looked at them all, I found in general I was drawn to the ones with white backgrounds.
 

Above is the Red Joy Toss yardage.  Fun peppermint striped handles on the utensils!

And lastly above is the Packed Cups yardage in white.  I love this but it did seem too busy in the other colors.

How about you?  Is there a project you'd like to whip up with one of these?

A sweet poem -- "Merry Christmas"

 

 It's time for a poem!!  I found this poem in an older Christmas Ideals magazine.  The author is Margaret Ann Rorke.  The fun graphic at the top of this post is a vintage Christmas card that sold in my Etsy shop some time ago.

Here's the poem:

MERRY CHRISTMAS

The sparkle from a pair of eyes
Lit up by Santa's sweet surprise,
A hearty laugh from one himself
Who acts a bit like that old elf,
A healthy home with spicy smells
That blend with pine, a few church bells,
Some cards, a visit from a friend,
A moment that you'll have to spend
Rereading Luke, some carols sung;
All this and more you'll find among
The wishes that I wish your way
To merry-up your Christmas Day.

-- Margaret Rorke

What a fun little poem!  When you think about what you wish for friends and family at the Christmas season, the things the author mentions here are definitely among them.  

Who doesn't love watching the "sparkle from a pair of eyes" as someone opens a gift to find just what they wanted -- or, even better, something they didn't even know they wanted!

Hearty laughter, the scents of pine and gingerbread -- all are aspects of delightful Christmas times at home.  

Church bells pealing, friendly visits, a mailbox full of Christmas cards -- these things make the season just delightful.  

Most importantly, quiet moments to hum a few carols and to reread the Christmas story from the book of Luke.  I wish all of these for my loved ones.  How about you?

Gingerbread Cupcakes

 

 Festive recipes are fun to try in the off season if one can bear to turn on the oven, or if one can even bear to spend time in the kitchen!  I have had this recipe for Gingerbread Cupcakes saved for awhile now in my "Possible links for Christmas in July blog posts" document.  It's a recipe from Christy at The Sweet Tidings.

It does look to me as if this scrumptious-looking recipe (I can almost smell these cupcakes!) probably should be made in mini muffins.  It says that it makes 12, but there is only one cup of flour.  So if you try this cupcake recipe, make them mini!

More glorious garlands

 

Here are a couple more glorious garlands from the little Family Circle booklet from December 1999.

 
These are made without greenery and include a fancy fabric garland --

This one is made by cutting fabric scraps into strips that are 2" by 7", then tying them to a length of cotton cord , working outward from the middle toward either end.  This one reminds me of rag garlands I used to make back in the day.  The pictured garland seems to include some metallic fabrics and maybe even some tulle, making it much fancier than rag garlands.  This also suggests making a garland for a child's room, using alternating red and white strips of fabric to resemble a candy cane.

-- and here's a sparkling stars garland. 

 For this garland, it's suggested to spray-paint wooden stars and a lightweight length of chain in gold and silver glitter paint.  (I didn't even know this came in a spray paint.)  Then if necessary one could drill holes in the stars and use wire to attach them to the chain.

I think I might try this one by making stars out of cardboard and painting with metallic paint, then maybe even adding glitter.  They could be glued to a length of metallic ribbon. 

Since these two garlands don't involve greenery, they would be ideal to make now, during the summer.  Have fun with these ideas!

Rusitic embroidery hoop ornaments from the Crazy Craft Lady

 

 Speaking as someone who has a large stash of small embroidery hoops in their craft closet, I am always looking for fun ways to use them, especially in Christmas crafting.  This idea from Aimee at The Crazy Craft Lady is a really good one!

Head on over to read about it: Rustic Embroidery Hoop Ornaments and to see more photos.  These round ornaments use a foil cookie sheet to resemble a "tin" backing.  One paints it gray to achieve this effect.  The embroidery hoop parts are stained brown to make them much more attractive than the plain wood.  Details are added with bottle brush trees, wood pieces, and black & white checked ribbon.

 
So pretty, don't you agree?   I'm thinking this might be a fun project to include in our annual crafting adventure with grandkids!  I've just pinned this to my Crafting for Christmas Pinterest board.  If you have a similar board, you might wish to do the same.

A festive Christmas cookie recipe to try!

 

It's hard to think of a more festive flavor combination than dark chocolate and peppermint, though I'm sure there could be many other contenders for the "festive flavors" category.  I had saved the link for these fabulous Dark Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies -- a 2020 post by Olivia at Liv for Cake.

I was picturing traditional candy cane cookies only dark chocolate, and trying to think what that would look like, though I thought the taste would be amazing.  

Well, these are actually a round dark chocolate crinkle cookie (the recipe calls for them to be scooped with a cookie scoop, but as regular readers know I prefer to shape cookies into balls instead of scooping).  The baked cookies are dipped in melted white chocolate, then sprinkled with crushed or chopped candy canes.  

Aren't they beautiful!?   I love the way she has tied them up with red and white twine.

Photo by Liv for Cake

They would make a gorgeous addition to my cookie trays!

A fun vintage ad

 

 Now I have to admit I have never, ever thought along the lines of silverware as a Christmas gift.  I guess maybe for an adult child or something?  Or possibly a gift from parents or grandparents to a newly married couple?

But apparently some advertising genius back in the day did think along these lines, because look at this: A Christmas tree showcasing silver (or more likely, stainless) teaspoons!  

The pattern names that I can see are Lasting Rose, Chateau, Shasta, Textura, Tempo, and Cantata.

For fun, and to learn more, I did a search for Lasting Rose stainless and found that it was indeed an Oneida product -- Oneidacraft Deluxe Stainless Flatware.  Nearly an entire set sold on Etsy for $149.  It is vintage from the 1960s.  So if Lasting Rose is Oneida Stainless, the other patterns are too.  

I could research this topic quite a bit more, but will just share this fun advertisement for today.  Enjoy!