A Nifty Thing I Learned

Here is a fun little gadget that I had for a long time, and wondered what it was for!

I figured it must be for the kitchen, but besides that, I didn't know.

A cookie cutter?

 

On one side there are 4 straight lines.

On the other side there is a tri shaped piece.

Today I had some time and looked this piece up online, and I found out what it is!!

I was so happy to know!  And it's one of the most brilliant little pieces of

red plastic I've seen yet!!

Curious as to what it is?

Check out the answer here!

Thanks for stopping by!

Follow me for more fun!

~Ren



Happy Memorial Day

Thank you to all of our Veterans and their families

for all the sacrifices

they have given

Have a wonderful day!

~Ren

Thrifty Thursday

This past week I went to such an amazing sale,

I still can't believe I got some of the awesome things I did!

You know how sometimes you are just at the right place

at the right time?

Here is one of the fun items I picked up:

Do you know what this set is?

There are 9 pieces to it.... 

Look at this lovely hydrangea design!  It's my favorite out of the whole pack!

Any idea yet?  Here is a hint....they aren't meant to be cookie cutters!

Check them out HERE to find out the correct answer! Ü

Have a wonderful day,

Ren





Banquet Turkey Pot Pie Review



Thrifty Thursday

This Thursday I have a little project

that I'm going to be working on

and I hope to have it done for it's reveal, possibly....

next Thursday!!

Here is what I just got and it's really a barbie doll/ doll suitcase:

The chippy rusty red paint and the blue trim caught my eye right away!

The blue handle is a great decoration!

Here is what the inside looks like.  I see a clothes bar for hanging those darling little plastic dolly hangers!  Check out the awesome star paper inside.  This was awesome before and it's going to be awesome again!

....that is, after I get done giving a little makeover!

Check back soon,

Ren





Awesome Banana Bread

Here is my recipe for the best banana bread I have ever had! 

Really, it's so moist and flavorful, you'll be glad you made it!

Banana Bread

3 medium ripe bananas

1/3 Cup shortening

2/3 Cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 Cup orange juice

1 tsp. freshly grated orange rind

1 3/4 C flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Mix the shortening and sugar until creamy. Add eggs one at a time until smooth. Add the orange juice, rind and bananas and mix well. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this dry mix to the wet mix. Stir well. Pour into greased bread pan. Cook 350* for 1 hour.

~~If you want to make small loaves, this recipe will make 3... only cook for 40 min.

~~If you want to make medium loaves, this recipe will make 2... only cook for 50 min.

For more great recipes and ideas, follow me Ü

Enjoy,

Ren

Happy Mothers Day

Happy Mother's Day!!

To all the wonderful Mom's out there, I hope you have had a great day, you deserve it!

Here are some flowers for you

that you can use in your crafts!

 

and of course a little reminder lol:

Enjoy your day,

Ren

Thrifty Thursday

Generations of craftiness

that's what is here!

How many of you remember these coming in the mail?  Every month there were so many ideas to be inspired by and new recipes to try and crafts to make!

  Really, these books have been handed down to me and they literally cover generations, so I didn't just get them from a thrift store.  But, I did just uncover them from a box, so that's just as good, right? 

Some of these awesome little books were from my Gr.Grandmas, Grandma, some from another Grandma, some were my own Moms and I & my sisters have read them, too!

The magazine started out as "'Aunt Martha's Workbasket, Home and Needlecraft for Pleasure and Profit" and ran from 1935 ~ 1996.

Here is a link for more fun info on this magazine.

There are magazines in my stack from 1950 ~ 1970's. 

These black and white (or cream) colored ones are from 1950.

It appears that by 1953, they started to add some color (red) to their covers:

Wow!  What a difference that makes!  I'm still not sure if I like the original b&w version or not...

I like the simplicity of it, but I also like the pop of red.

Now, by the 70's, I see they've gone full on crazy and added all the colors:

....and of course, the price was upped from 15c in the 50's to 50c, then 60c in the 70's!

And how adorable are the matching sweaters for both you and your doll?!  Check out the sweet pompoms on the ends of the crocheted ties for the pointy hats...adorable!

I had a lot of fun relooking through some of these, the ads were something else, take a look at a couple:

Isn't this great?  She was DEAF before and Voila! with just this new little button,

she could hear like a 20 year old!  Amazing, yes?

And here we have a shampoo miracle!

  Just by using this cream shampoo, you had no more need for setting

your hair in curlers or waves.....

it just curled your hair in perfectly coifed curls and you were ready for a night out on the town!

The articles are great, too!  Here is an interesting one on how to put on a little party for your friends, and suggestions of what food to make it memorable on a budget:

By just reading this, you could learn how to make your own place cards by using fabric to decorate paper folded cards, make a gumdrop sculpture and how to make peach dream dessert!

I'd be the most talked about hostess on the block if I made a gumdrop sculpture!

And wait...what's that?  In the bottom right hand corner?  A tool to make Curls and Waves in your hair?

Why, yes it is.  Only this advertisement says you can make them WITHOUT getting your hair wet.

So, I guess this is another option instead of the wonderful cream shampoo.

There are also some darling patterns, and directions on how to make quilts, how to crochet and knit, and so much more! 

Miss August is from a quilt block a month I am guessing?

For any housewife who wanted to make some spare change, there are some very crafty business ideas!

This article shares with you how others have made their small fortunes, including: pieces potholders made from fabric scraps, and another lady who was giving sewing classes at the cost of 6 lessons for $5.  Another smart woman was a sage herb gardener who planted, tended, grew, picked, dried and bagged her sage into one ounce baggies ~ then sold 12 of these baggies for $1.  She sold 10 dozen and more each year!  

After I reminisce through these one more time, I'll list them in my vintage shop, so others can

enjoy them, too.

Enjoy your day,

~Ren

What's New Tuesday

Today I've had so much fun making up some Inspiration Kits for my Supply shop! 

The reason I enjoy these so much, is because I love to use them myself!

This kit is called my Vintage Inspiration Kit ~ Mini ~ Orange Cream Brown.

This kit contains 15 pieces of paper ephemera perfect for your scrapbooks, smash books, journal books, altered arts, mixed meda, any of your crafty craft projects!

It is made with all vintage papers:

I've included so many fun items in here: a coin wrapper, coaster, handwritten poem, french flashcard, postage stamps, a playing card, cigarette coupon and more!  I also added 3 circle confetti pieces I made with vintage ledger papers!  There's so much possibility with my inspiration kits!

I only made one of this particular kit, so if you'd like it, grab it quick!

Here is a peek at another type of kit I added today!

These kits are my Vintage Game Paper Ephemera Kits! 

They each contain 30 pieces of vintage papers and pieces from many different games!

So much fun!!

Inside of these kits, I have papers from Bingo, board game cards, markers, pieces, score card papers, bridge tallies and much more!

Come check them out, you'll be surprised at what else you find!

Enjoy your day,

~Ren



Pantry Oatmeal Patties

I know this isn't Wednesday, and I would normally post a recipe I've made on that day, but I ran out of time and still wanted to get this posted this week.

This is what I made for supper last night, and I changed up the recipe a bit to fit our tastes more. 

First off, I'll say that this recipe is really meant to be a meal that you can pull from your pantry, and can be easily made without the addition of nuts, or shredded cheese.  Many of the "meatless meals" I make, include nuts and often some shredded cheese.

Here is a picture of the "meat":

It's very moist and the recipe made a big pan.

Here is the original recipe, and I'll put off to the side what I changed.

Pantry Oatmeal Patties

1 chopped onion

3 eggs, beaten

1 C. cottage cheese

1 C. quick oatmeal

1 C. dry bread crumbs (I used 1 C. ground walnuts)

1/2 tsp. sage

1/2 tsp. salt (I didn't use)

1 can evaporated milk (I used 1% milk)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

This is the soup I like to use:

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, only using 1/2 can of milk.

See how nice and creamy it looks?

  Form into patties.  Fry them in a skillet or griddle.

I set them on a paper towel to soak up extra oil.

Next, lay them all in a greased 9 x 13" cake pan (I like to spray with olive oil).  By layering them, you can fit them all in and they're easier to grab to take out, too.

See how some of these are darker than others?  They're not burnt, just very browned.  I like these ones best, as the oats get toasted a bit and add more yummy flavor!

     Take can of soup and mix with other 1/2 can of milk.  Pour over patties.

 Bake 350* for 20 min.

When you take it out of the oven, this is what it will look like.  The liquid has thickened up and the patties have absorbed some of the soup and flavoring also.

The idea of using the whole can of evaporated milk, is a great one I think.  Because, usually a recipe will call for a portion of a can and then what do you do with the rest of it?  Usually I throw it out, since I rarely use it in any of my recipes.

If you do use the evaporated milk, I will tell you that you will love it, if you like a sweetness to your food.  I prefer to have it not be sweet, so I skipped it and used regular milk.

Also, I when using the bread crumbs, this has a more 'bready' taste to it, and I know what you're thinking, "Of course it does!"  lol, but usually when using bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs) I don't taste the heaviness of it, like I do in this original recipe.  Not that it is bad, in no way at all, it's just a personal preference of mine that I chose to use nuts this time.

I really encourage you to try this, either way the recipe is written.  If you try it, let me know how you liked it, Enjoy!

~Ren