The Little Teapot That Could.

This little teapot has traveled around the world.  Literally.

She started off in Norway.  Then she was seen in Australia.  Now she makes her home in Canada.  My good friend MMMC sent her all the way from Brisbane to the LC.  MMMC loves Scandinavian design.  Being the good friend that she is, she is converting me to her way of thinking.

I hate to use her but I've had my orders.  Maybe a soothing cup of Brisbane Breakfast tea would be lovely.
My friend was afraid the the teapot would arrive and do for a Broken Item of the Week but she arrived all safe and sound with a little house tucked in alongside her.

A Scandinavian style crafted house!

Thank you so much MMMC!  I love ya more than my snowbanks.

stop the presses!  I just found out my little teapot is vintage!

Meet Me at the Playground

When I was a little girl I received a playground for Christmas.  Complete with kids.  Wanna see?

There's a teeter totter.

Hold on, children!

There's a swing.  This kid looks kind of creepy.

Don't go too high!

This poor child has to play by himself.  I've had this toy for a very long time and I lost one poor child just a few years ago.
The set still works and I have the key to wind it up too.

The graphics on it are wonderful.

I wouldn't let my girls play with this when they were small.  They could now if they wanted to.

I've decided that these children are all boys because they have no shirts on.  They must live in Australia because it's summer there.

Okay, I've finished playing now.

Hudson's Bay Copy Cat?

I found another super duper item in my foraging/purging project.

Before you get too excited, this is a Candystripe camper blanket not a Hudson's Bay blanket. There are no points on it. However, it is vintage, still in the bag it came in, and has never been used. The size is 60x84 and I know for a fact that it is older than I am. I just stole borrowed this photo off of the net and where you see the blue stripe mine has a green one.

For those of you who have never heard of the Hudson's Bay Blanket, read here. This is my quandry:  Do I sell it or keep it?

Gentle Readers, please advise.

Cuteness Alert.

I'm still rummaging!  Last night I uncovered a small box containing these little cuties.

They are very tiny.

And small. *

They are blue and white of course.  I guess I've always loved blue and white.

I'm putting them in my Etsy shop.  Hurry over.  No pressure.

* The money used as a size reference is a subtle hello to all of my American readers.  If you would like your country represented, send money.

Vintage from a Vantage Point

 I am still sorting and purging around our house. Today was a great day for it because we've been snowed in. I decided to tackle #1's room. Daughter #1 adores anything vintage.  Especially clothes and accessories.  She is a pack rat.  Her grandmother was also a pack rat.  I was cleaning out another dreaded box from #1's old bedroom and came upon these:

 These look like perfect accessories for the girls on Mad Men.

Moving on.  I then pulled these out of the box. I never considered my childhood items to be vintage until I was informed of it by my daughter.  I don't want any nasty comments about them being antiques either.

My bingo game still in the original box from when I was a little girl.  I also found this in the game box:

Alas, it was empty.  Mum wouldn't let me have these when I was a young girl because I might grow up to smoke.  My great aunt lived with us then and she always bought them for me whenever we went up town.  I loved her.

I guess I was going to grow up to be a cigarette smoking Bingo player.  Who knew?

p.s. I'm expecting an urgent phone call from #1 forbidding me from the disposal of said items.

Hard Times, Bleak House et al

There are hard times here at the LC gentle readers.  I'm out of blogging fodder.  People have even suggested that I break something so I can have my Broken Item of the Week entry.  People!  This blog is nothing if I have no integrity in my writing.

 You just can't make this stuff up!

Anyway, I have spent the last week sorting and purging.  Two car loads to the donation shop, two carloads of paper, cardboard, etc to the recycle bins.  While going through numerous bureau drawers I happened on these two little pieces that I had entirely forgotten about.

I cannot even remember where they came from.

This one is from the same place.

They are fairly small and very cute. I just found them last night.  I don't dare show them to my hubby because he'll want to keep them.  He was away last week when I got rid of things.  He's fine with it as long as he doesn't see what's in the boxes that are leaving the house.  Does anyone else have any Dickens souvenir china?

On a more serious note and also befitting the title of this post, can you please include the people of Brisbane, Australia and surrounding areas in your thoughts and prayers?  Massive rainfall and flash floods are taking lives and wrecking havoc on this lovely place.  I have friends in this area and they are safe but there are lots of those who are not faring so well.

Emerald, North Queensland

Finally...the Giveaway!

Gentle Readers,
Please accept my abject apologies for the delay of the giveaway.  My sweatshop worker sewing guru was unavoidably detained by making six of these:

Why, I ask you, do six angel costumes for the elementary school play take on more importance than my giveaway?
I digress.  Here's the booty:

A sixteen inch square pillow cover designed by me (with help from the Graphics Fairy) and silkscreened by me.
A vintage tablecloth, never used, made by my mum. It is a dark brown and white cloth, perfect for that brown transfer ware!

I'm also adding the pretty note cards shown in the first photo.

I'm so proud of myself for reaching over 150 posts so I want to reward you folks for putting up with me.  You know the drill, become a follower if you haven't already and leave me a comment on this post.  I'll announce the winner on Monday so get your fingers typing.  Also, this giveaway is open to anyone in the whole wide world!

Cheers!

Miracle?

My husband loves to forage in Homesense as much as I do. Yesterday he brought me these two cuties. Both the crown and the dog are cast iron. The dog is painted gray, I don't think you can tell from the photo. I love when he surprises me like that. Today, when he got home he went to change and hollered down the stairs: " There ARE still miracles today; I found five ironed shirts in my closet. " Very funny.

I Remember Mama

A long time ago my mother made this laundry bag. She made the stitches and coloured the picture. I came accross this when I was digging out my (unironed) tablecloths. I'm afraid this bag is older than I am! I would love to know what she coloured the fabric with don't you? Do you notice that she never completed it either! I wonder if I should.