Showing posts with label Mothers Of Invention. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mothers Of Invention. Show all posts

Friday, April 10, 2009

Born In The Wrong Decade

When Rick and I went up to Hearst Castle I got the same tingle in my spine I always get when the tour bus starts playing the 30's and 40's tunes. Though the Castle is full of very old art, it was alive and busy during this time period until Hearst grew ill in 1947 and was unable to live there anymore. BTW do you know that Hearst asked his Southern California doctor to consider coming to Hearst to be his personal physician so that he could live where he wanted to the most before he died? Hearst offered the doctor the DEED to Casa Grande (the large "cottage" in front of the castle) for his whole family to live there. The doctor turned him down and I'm sure the descendants have been chewing on that decision ever since!:)
Anyway, being up there always reminds me how much I absolutely love that time period.
If I could order my time period I get to live in or recreate it somehow without looking odd to my neighbors I would:
Wear darling house dresses accented with the most delicate and domestic aprons:



Working in a kitchen much like these:



I would have listened all day at home working or cooking or setting the dinner table to this:

GO HERE (also the new background to The Happy Homebody)

It is absolutely my favorite, never tire of it, kind of music. Of course, my treadmill choices are much more up to date. You can't really sweat to this music, but you can sure love life to it.


I would go out on dates to do this with my husband (and we do plan to learn this someday though perhaps a more mellow version! BTW this is from a great movie called "Swing Kids" and you may recognize if you look closely the current Batman actor in is early days:)







Or out to dinner dressed like this:


As you may imagine..the costumes on "Kit Kittridge" thrilled me:
But I would also love to deck my children out in full Dick and Jane as well:
My sweetie's job would put him dashingly in this: (though he would hate it because he ALWAYS loves shorts instead)
Truly it was a hard time in history. The great depression was on going and families were learning to make due. I remember my grandma telling me that my great grandmother could take anything and make a meal and almost every meal included homemade biscuits or cornbread. They ate lots when the eating was good, and less when it was not. There were no ways to just come up with credit for something. They became resourceful. Out of their resourcefulness women learned to be true artists. Artists of the home. Making beauty from simplicity and taking great pride in their work. It shows in the beauty of even the simple aprons and the little dresses made from flour sack calico. The music of the time is full of feeling and a deep desire to pull the good out of life and hold on to it. To have a penny in your pocket and a skip in your step as you went about getting by loving those you loved and making life good for each other.
It is a charming time, and an inspiration to me in many ways.

Soon I hope to share my own making due charm of a window covering made from my own thrifted vintage aprons and a walk through a very old personal cookbook collection that was an amazing walk through another woman's life in another time. Coming soon.....:)
We seem to have lost that which was charming in the rush to that which is newer and better and in the end, really does not work as well or last as long. In our wares, our schedules, and even our relationships. Maybe the times to come with teach us to slow down and make life charming again.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Mothers Of Invention Monday: Trash to Trendy


I was talking with Lilo's teacher after school and her daughter came in bearing a gift for her mother. It was one of the coolest things I've seen. It was a crochet bag made of old plastic grocery bags. I was intrigued. I found the pattern as well as some links for making things from recycled items. Have fun browsing!
Recycled Bags Crochet Handbag
Recycled Grocery Bags Shoulder Bag
Recycled Grocery Bags Purse

There are many more fun ideas where these came from at "My Recycled Bags"

For more ideas to use your recycled stuff try:
Make Stuff/Recycled

a "what I can do with ...." format

If you have a fun Invention for Monday (remember, anything from leftoevers to gifts, to date nights... you name it) link your post here:







Monday, October 20, 2008

Mothers Of Invention Monday: A Little Mommy Marketing




I came up with a simple way to make some money this holiday season. I wanted to share it for our Monday theme.

I invested in a costco bulk amount to make my homemade almond roca and sell it. It's easier to pick one thing, make it well because repitition helps fine tune the recipe, and sell it in enough time for people to give it as a gift for Christmas. Help them out by pre-packaging it cute but cheap.
Here is my plan:
1. Buy the ingredients.
2. Make a sample batch and put it in a bowl as samples.
3. Create one sample of the packaging. I will not have the product in this, just some filler like foam peanuts or something. It is just to demonstrate how it will look when they get it.
4. Create an order form on the computer and put it on a clipboard with a pen tied to it.
5. Place the product at my husbands work in the breakroom, my mom's workplace (if she let's me:)or anywhere else besides church that I can think of. Put a plastic container of samples with a lid for freshness and a sign that says "please just take one to sample". Have the clipboard left there so they can sighn up their name, phone number and how many bags they want. I'm not sure what poundage the bags will have yet because I have to figure out the cost too.
6. Create a display tray with packageing sample and product samples and go around to the neighbors, kids teachers or other places to see if anyone wants orders. If they are not sure, ask if I can get back to them later.
7. Have a date the product will be ready. Prepare ahead of time to deliver.
8. Make remaining orders. Package and deliver on the date. Collect payments.
(I may warn ahead of time that payment needs to be cash so their are no problems)

Harvest Blessings Bundles
The above is my plan for before Christmas. I have an even easier one for before that. I made a wonderful apple coffee cake this week. The dry ingredients I put in a bag ahead of time. All I had to do after that was chop one apple and add the oil and egg. What a great little Thanksgiving blessing to give someone I thought. Then I thought....what a great item to sell too!
So, the plan is to make batches of the dry mixes. Package them similarly only with harvest colored raffia and tag, along with instructions and ingredients and sell them for a great price if people want a easy "thank you" gift for someone at this time of year. I am not sure this one will sell as much but I thought I'd give it a try and it's something I don't have to cook! Have the kids help and go around with you too!


For packaging I'll be using brown sandwich bags. They are cheap and VERY cute when dressed up a bit. After all, the best present is "brown paper packages tied up with string"!. Here is an idea from what I did for friends and neighbors cookies last Christmas. This photo is from Angry Chicken where I got the idea last year. Mine were more full and I used rick-rack ribbon and cheap price tags w/ red writing and snowflakes drawn. I don't have that blog on here anymore to show you, but this gives you the idea.

Some ideas may be:

-You favorite bread

-Homemade candy

-Homemade cards (I saw a whole group of women at costo around the big pack of handmade cards. I think this could be a big hit)

-Jar Mixes for all kinds of baked goods or coffee mixes

-potholders or scarfs (if you crochet or knit fast, other wise, start now for next year!)

Here is another packaging idea: A coffee cake would be cute put in a coffee mug w/ ribbon.

If you want to take part in Mothers of Invention Monday just paste this sticker to your blog and tag back your blog entry. I'm just getting this going but, I think its a great one to share. Go here to see what it's about.








Here is the large one for the head of your post if you like:










Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Relenting To Some Blog Themes



I'm not one for being tied to a theme. Anyone reading here knows my thoughts are random and vary from theme to theme, tangent to mundane. That's how I like to write. Still, there seem to be some worth taking up. Especially since two are my own creation which is is how I'd rather do it anyway. Originality is my motto.

I've all ready told you that Saturday will be "Seek the Lord in schooling". A time to share praise, prayer or stories of how school is going in any realm God has us.

I'm taking up the "My Husband Rocks Friday" because I keep thinking of things I love about Rick that he deserves credit for and I think the more we muse about our own studs, the more studly they become to us.

The only other one right now is another original from me. "Mother of Invention Monday".

Times being what they are, and God desiring to be glorified in our pocketbooks, I hope we can learn more and more to use what we have and find joy in that as well as contentment. So, Monday will be a day I come to share how I used something I had instead of buying it, or a new food combo we came up with, a new deal for something we would buy anyway, a activity for the children using what we have etc.... I am hoping that you can come and share yours too. Start thinking of how you can become more resourceful and share your ideas. (Does anyone know how to do that back link to you blog thing? Jessica? Are you out there?)

I won't be starting today, just announcing it. I have a sick 5th grader home and lots of housework to do!

Be thinking, be praying how you can use your creativity to save. Keep up with what you have and relish the contentment of simplicity! The theme is of course coming from the saying "Necessity is the mother of invention".
If you would like to join me in this you can copy this onto your blog:


In the meantime I'll figure out how to back link so we can start this up more officially. :)