Jewelry I Made

I do many types of crafts, but I have to say my favorite one is creating jewelry - I create fun and eclectic, one of a kind pieces, including earrings, pins, necklaces and bracelets. I also incorporate altered art into my jewelry work, there are so many possibilities! I LOVE Charm Bracelets! I have been making them for many years now, and I have made hundreds of them in every imaginable theme you can dream up :) Here are some of the ones I made for Easter - you can click on the pictures for a larger view. I love all the color and different trinkets that are on them, hope you will enjoy them too! :)

Jewelry I Made

Retro Flashback - Chiquita Banana

Earlier this week I posted some vintage cookbooks, one of them being a Banana Cookbook. Ever since that I have had that Chiquita Banana jingle going through my head over and over...LOL....I could not remember all the words, so I looked it up. Here is some information on the famous Miss Chiquita Banana, that I wanted to share with you :)

Vintage Chiquita Banana Advertisement

Vintage Chiquita Banana Sheet Music

Here are the original words to the jingle:

I'm Chiquita Banana, and I've come to say

Bananas have to ripen in a certain way.

And when they are flecked with brown and have a golden hue,

Bananas taste the best, and are the best for you.

You can put them in a salad. You can put them in a pie - aye.

Anyway you want to eat them it's impossible to beat them.

But bananas like the climate of the very, very tropical equator.

So you should never put bananas in the refrigerator.

Below is an old Chiquita commercial, I love it! Click on the arrow to start the commercial.

Retro Flashback - Chiquita Banana

You're Invited to A Potluck!

You're Invited to a Potluck! Shabby In The City is hosting a virtual Potluck - what fun! Bring your favorite dish and recipe, and join us on Friday April 6th. See you there!

You're Invited to A Potluck!

Thrifted Vintage Kitchen-ey Stuff

Here is some neat vintage stuff that is grouped on top of one of my kitchen cabinets. All of the items have been bought from either yard sales, thrift shops, or found. The first picture shows a large round red and white metal serving tray (love the pattern!) that was bought for $2 at a yard sale. The Cape Cod insulated Cooler was found sitting on the curb on garbage pickup day (My kind of deal! :)

**Note** At first my husband used to cringe in embarrassment when I would jump out of the car to run to the curb, and haul something to the car that was waiting for trash pickup. Years later, he is now used to me doing it, and doesn't mind - especially if it is something that he is interested in. But he still asks ME to get it for him...LOL However there was a breakthrough! Just this morning he took our garbage cans out to the curb early in the morning. He was so excited to tell me that he found a 3 drawer storage unit on wheels that a neighbor had discarded, and he even hauled it in and cleaned it for me - I was just telling him a couple weeks ago that I wanted to get another one for some more crafting stuff I just bought. Wow - miracles do happen! :)

Back to the stuff - there is an old Calumet Tin that my mom had given me, a cute Lipton's advertising cup that was 10 cents, it's not old but it looks old, and two watermelon pieces that were thrifted for about 10 cents each.

In this picture, you can see my big old white ceramic hen, it is as big as a real one I think - it was thrifted for $2. A cute rooster planter that was $1 at a yard sale, and sweet vintage tin with little strawberry decals on it, it was 25 cents at a yard sale.

Here is a closeup of the rooster planter, along with a vintage Bon Ami tin that was $4 at an estate sale. Love that little chick on the front of it!

Thrifted Vintage Kitchen-ey Stuff

Vintage Glassware

This must be the month for glassware! Everywhere I go I keep finding more of it. Below are some of my newest treasures - in the first picture are 2 Polynesian/Tiki-like glasses, or mugs with a wooden handle. Found at yard sale, $1.00 for the pair. I hope to find more of them for my future Tiki Bar :)


When I found these flamingo iced tea glasses, my heart skipped a beat! They are very large, although they don't look it in the picture. Aren't they great! I purchased 5 of them at a yard sale for $3, but alas, when I got home one of them was broken. sniff....sniff..... But I still have an even number of 4, and that is fine with me.

I love these cute flowery glasses, actually my hubby spotted them at a thrift store. The colors are so cheerful, and they go perfectly with our kitchen which is a jadeite green, with accents of soft yellow and red. We use these glasses all the time. Thrifted for $1.50 for a set of 4.

Here are a few "orphan" pieces of thrifted glassware that I have come across. I will keep hunting for a couple more of the yellow gingham ones, and would eventually like a set of the striped one. Love the colors on it! 25 cents each for the yellow ones, 10 cents for the striped one.

Vintage Glassware

Find of the Week - Cookbooks!

I have always adored those little cook-booklets that were so popular in the 40's-50's, I love the pictures in them, and especially some of the off-the-wall recipes that can be found in them :) Well you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found the mother of them all, this HUGE binder full of them! This binder is about 6 inches thick, and some of the books included in it are: 500 Tasty Snacks, 500 Delicious Dishes from Leftovers, 250 Classic Cake Recipes, 250 Ways to Prepare Poultry, 250 Superb Pies and Pastries, 250 Delicious Soup Recipes, 500 Delicious Salad Recipes, 250 Ways to Prepare Meat, 250 Fish and Seafood Recipes, 300 Ways to Serve Eggs, 250 Ways to Serve Vegetables, 250 Delectable Desserts, 250 Ways to Serve Potatoes, 500 Tasty Sandwich Recipes, 250 Ways to Make Candy, 250 Luscious Refrigerator Desserts, 250 Cookie & Small Cake Recipes, 300 Healthful Dairy Dishes, 250 breads, Biscuits and Rolls, 250 Sauces and Gravies, Meals for Two Cookbook, Body Building Dishes for Children, 2000 Useful Facts About Food, and Menus for Every Day of the Year......whew!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?! More pix below:

Find of the Week - Cookbooks!

Vintage Cookbooks - Part 3

Here is the "Montgomery Ward Home Freezing Cookbook" from 1946. Next to is a really cool book from Armour and Company, it was a souvenir from the 1934 Century of Progress World's Fair!

And then there is "21 None Such Mince Meat Recipes" which has some really nifty pictures. But I have to ask - what IS mince meat???? Really - I know I have had it at least once in my life, can't remember it though, but nowhere in this book does it tell me what it actually is???

And next is a newer booklet called "A Season to Celebrate with Philadelphia Cream Cheese" I love that stuff! My granny used to make a wicked fruity-cheesy dessert out of it for the holidays. If you ask me, probably anything they could cook up would be good with Philly in it. I have to ramble on here for a minute - have you tried the ready made Philadelphia Cheesecake filling yet?? I recently found it in a tub container in the dairy case, and let me tell you - THIS STUFF IS ADDICTING! I had every intention of making the suggested Cheesecake out of it, but I must sadly report that it never made it that far...I ate it right out of the container! (I am embarrassed to say) but ohmygoodness was it tasty! Dare you to try it and not do the same! LOL

Vintage Cookbooks - Part 3