Neosho Finds #4: Cook Books and Crafty Things

Let's wrap this thing up, shall we? Here are the last of my wonderful finds for your viewing pleasure. Let the craftiness and cookin' commence! Mom found this great folding sewing basket for me, since I've needed one to hold my embroidery works-in-progress for some time.


These are two vintage circle skirts, both with busted zippers, which I'll use for their awesome fabric. They were a quarter a piece.


I found four Aunt Martha's transfers and some vintage pipe cleaners and trim. All of it cost less than $2.


This vintage homemade gingham pillowcase may become an apron, and I'm sure I'll find some use for this scrap of pretty terrycloth. The adorable vintage slippers were only 25 cents. I have so much respect for knitters, as I have no patience to learn much besides the most basic of techniques, and even then it feels seriously awkward to wield those two long needles. Maybe it's because my Grandma taught me to crochet granny squares when I was a girl, and though I'm not very skilled, the gentle undulations of the wrist, and the pencil-like grasp on the hook just seem more natural to me. My awesome friend, M, is another story. She's the one who finally showed me what I just couldn't grasp from looking at diagrams in knitting books that might as well have been written in Chinese, for all the sense they made to me. She knitted Sugar Pea four of the most darling little umbilical cord hats you ever did see.


I got a few pieces of basic fabric (not the vintage haul I was hoping to make), a bag of scraps, and this old plastic sewing machine accessory box full of presser feet that do all sorts of fancy things, if I can figure them out, and if they will work with my Elnita. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Lookee at all these vintage patterns that I got for 25 cents each!


This little doggie pincushion was made in Japan, and even though his old straw stuffin' is poking out of his tummy, I had to give him a home on a little shelf in Sugar Pea's room. Or maybe he's a donkey. It's hard to say. I stuffed him in a grocery sack, along with bunches of other stuff, at a church sale where everything you could cram in a bag was $3.


Don't ask me what I plan to do with this vintage brown and silver wallpaper. Just know that at four rolls for a quarter, this awesomeness needed to come home with me. Gift wrap? A framed wall panel? Tear-away panties? The possibilities are endless.


I found these two old BH&G books for a buck a piece at the nearly tinkle-inducing scout troop sale last Saturday.


At one really good sale we hit in Neosho, I found seven cook books and recipe pamphlets dating from the 1920's through the 1940's. All of them are in excellent condition, and not one was over a dollar.



Okay, Dollfaces. I told you I was saving the best for last, so I know you've been nearly breathless with anticipation, waiting ever so patiently to see what my most special find would turn out to be. Well, as I told you, the Christmas magazines are one part of what I consider to be the greatest treasure I discovered. Here is the other: four McCall's Needlework & Crafts dating from 1966,1967, 1970 and 1971. You already know the story behind them and the amazing price. Can you stand it? These things are chock full of vintage craft ideas and directions, ranging from the gorgeous to the downright hilarious.


I will be sharing plenty of gems from their pages, and maybe a few laughs, too. These beauties are going to provide hours of enjoyment. Astronaut helmets made from bleach bottles, a headboard created with crochet and embroidery hoops, animal beanbags, and more crewel embroidery than you can shake a yardstick at, anyone? Heck, even the ads are a good read. Did you know that in 1967 it was perfectly acceptable (and apparently legal) to advertise mail order pet monkeys for $18.95 in the back of ladies' publications? Neither did I, Dollfaces. Neither did I.