Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year Everyone...


 May 2015 be filled with good friends, 
 good fun, 
 and good taste... 

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Merry Christmas Everyone!

It's Christmas Eve, all of your shopping is finished...


I hope you have your turkey out and thawed if it was frozen...


Santa is on his way, check his journey here...


Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Monday, December 22, 2014

"Christmas in French Canada" published in 1900.

I picked this book up at Salvation Army about a month ago. It was marked at $5.00 but when I opened it I saw the damage done by the previous owner's dog! They marked it down to $2.50 for me. It displays beautifully so it has some value.


I love the Art Nouveau flourishes on the cover and spine of this book.


This is inside the book at the front. I find it interesting, or should I say curious, that the Minister Of Agriculture had something to do with book publishing.


You can see some of the damage inflicted by "man's best friend" to the title page.


This image and the following images are my favourites from the book.










Sunday, December 21, 2014

"On Christmas Day in the Evening", a Christmas gift book

There is no publishing date in this book, it does have writing in the front however that is mostly illegible but with the date 1910.

There are four colour plates in the book that show the use of holly, red silk ribbons, evergreen garlands, and wreaths to decorate the home and church at Christmas.





Thursday, December 18, 2014

From my reference library - "Kraft Cheese - and ways to serve it"

Christmas isn't just about decorations and gifts, it's also about food, family and friends. So in the spirit of Christmas entertaining here is "Cheese - and ways to serve it" published by Kraft Cheese in1928. Inside the front cover is printed -

Copyrighted
Kraft-Phenix Cheese Company Limited
1928
Printed in Canada


The cookbook has seen better days, the front and back covers have come loose and are in two pieces, but the design for this little household recipe booklet is beautiful.

I have scanned pages with full colour images on them



I love the colours used in the centrefold, there is something about the illustration from this time period that I like very much. All of the work was done by hand, no quick computer graphics programs were used back then.


This image and the following four other images are full page scans complete with the recipes for your dining pleasure!





Have a great pre-Christmas time leading up to the big day that is not very far away at all. Relax, take a breath, and enjoy yourself.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

The church party Christmas tree for the adults.

That is a really dumb title but I am pressed for time...

Well, I have been away from my blog for a bit haven't I. I have been decorating the house for the Christmas party tonight, I will have post this year's display closer to Christmas.


This year's Christmas tree for the party for the grown-ups looks like it is really meant for the kids. I use this green vase filled with marble sand as the tree base. There is limited space on the table so it is perfect, with the very heavy marble sand filling the vase it means that I can get very extravagant without the tree falling over.


Here is a close-up of the tree. The bead spikes were made from Indian beads that I bought at Salvation Army several years ago.

I never know what I am going to do, I just start and see what happens. I had to take last years tree apart and decided to use the colourful bows one last time. I grabbed fun stuff to fill in the gaps.

To be honest I did not have as much crammed on the tree to begin with. I looked at the tree and didn't like it. I decided that the only way to fix it was to add more. I believe that nothing says excess like excess! This is eye candy without any apologies!

I have to go and get ready for tonight's party, have fun today.

Oh, I almost forgot, we have the party at Habit Coffee in Victoria, check it out, they have good coffee.

Saturday, December 6, 2014

"The Daily Mail Annual for Boys and Girls"


I picked this book up about 15 years ago for $1.50. There is no publishing date in the book but I did find this picture...


It reads "First family picture of T.H.R. Princess Elizabeth, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles." Prince Charles was born November 14, 1948.

This book was published in 1948, a little sleuthing pays off.


In Britain it is Father Christmas not Santa Claus who delivers the gifts on Christmas Eve.


The artist who illustrated this story has also illustrated other stories in the annual, it is difficult to read his signature but I think that it is Kurt Roberts.


I like how he portrays Father Christmas, Mother Christmas, and some of the toys, they have character, very interesting faces. Father Christmas is not a bland benevolent good guy.




There is an eight page colour section with instructions for making Christmas decorations. I wonder how many people could obtain the necessary materials to produce these items. This is right after the war and Britain was in the midst of rationing, I believe the rationing lasted until the mid 1950s; but where there is a will there is a way.









Go to my Etsy shop to purchase this Santa slipper, it is based on a handmade ornament in my collection. There are lots of other Christmas decorations for your home as well.