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?