Your Advent~Calendar – Day 15 🎅🏼

Hello my lovely friends 🥰

Welcome back! Now let’s open this door, and see what Day 15 has in store for us 😎

It’s….Snowglobes 😍

This time of year I have them all over the house. Here I gathered a few for show-and-tell 🙂

I found out some interesting tidbits about the history of these whimsical treasures.

✨The first version of a snow globe was displayed at the ‘Paris Universal Exposition’ in 1878 by a local glass company. It is described as “A paperweight, a hollow ball, filled with water and a white powder, which seems to ‘snow down’ on a man holding an umbrella”.

So how did we get from there to today? That’s described, in detail, in this article from artsy.com* (page will open in a new window).

It’s a very interesting story I hope you enjoy! 🤓

Before I go – here’s one more snow globe displayed, no…not in Paris 😁, it’s right here, in my little abode.

It’s my granddaughter’s favorite. When turned on it plays ‘Jingle Bells’ and the snow swirls around 😊 She loves it, the adults endure it 😅 It looks a lot better than it sounds. It plays a rather tinny version of this beautiful song. My daughter compared it to a smoke alarm 😄

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you’ll be back for the opening of the remaining doors! 🎅🏼

*I have no affiliation with artsy.com

Vintage Cookbooks ~ Delicious (?) Morsels From Long Ago

Hello my lovely friends 💕

Today I’d like to show you a few treasures from my vintage cookbook collection…and the (sometimes) oddball recipes inside. 🤓

Here are some of the beautiful books from days gone, and now not forgotten! 🥰

This gem here is the oldest one in the collection. It was printed in 1922. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 100 years old. 🤩

This is where I found one of the weirder recipes.
The mayo and powdered sugar combination is not something I’d ever wanna try. 🥴

This lovely book was printed in 1938, and holds more deliciousness 😅

I don’t know who thought that this is ‘Perfection’…but I draw the line at veggies & Lemon Jello! Won’t you?😋

What’s with the eggs? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I love everything about these books that allow us a glimpse into the life of people that came before us.
Like the random items used as bookmarks and notepads…

Old advertising…

And of course the wonderful signs of recipes well used…

Beautiful illustrations…

Handwritten Recipe improvements… 😃

Do you have old cookbooks? Maybe even hand-me-downs? Oh how I wish I still had one or two of my Mom’s cookbooks. 😊

Did you ever find a recipe that was popular way back when, but today we wouldn’t dare to serve today? 🙃

I’m looking forward to your input! Thanks for stopping by! 💕

A Story About A Tale ~ Cinderella

Hello my lovely friends 💕

A few days ago I came across a picture taken from a beautiful, antique edition of ‘Cinderella’, published by George D. Hurst in 1896. 

If you would like to see the other pages of this beautiful book, please click Here

I know this fairytale by the name of ‘Aschenputtel’, by the Brothers Grimm, always assuming (should never do that! 😏) that Cinderella was just the translated version of the old german tale. Shows you what I know 😄

The Brothers Grimm actually ‘borrowed’ the story of Cinderella from a french author by the name of Charles Perrault, born in 1628, died in 1703.
He wrote down all of the stories he told his own children, and collected them in a book called Stories or Tales from Times Past, with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose.
This very first fairy tale book contained the stories of Cinderella, Puss in Boots, The Tale of Mother Goose – of course, and more.

So basically a middle-aged, former lawyer is the father of our beloved fairy tales. 😊 Who knew? And a dapper gentleman he is…Thanks for reading! 🥰 Now, please tell me – what’s your favorite fairy tale? I can’t wait to find out.

Until next time 💕

Your 🎅🏼 Advent 🕯 Calendar ~ Day 3

Hello my lovely friends 💕 Shall we take a look behind Door # 3 of our Advent Calendar? 😊

Let’s shall 🤓

What’s this?

It’s a picture of the ‘Christkindlsmarkt’ in Nürnberg, Germany 😍

It is one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Germany.

But – ‘Despite intense investigations carried out by several historians and people interested in local history, the origins of the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt are unknown. The oldest piece of evidence relating to it is a box made of coniferous wood. On the bottom can be found the following inscription: “Regina Susanna Harßdörfferin from the virgin Susanna Eleonora Erbsin (or Elbsin) sent to the Kindles-Marck in 1628”. The box is currently in the possession of the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg.’

(Source: Wikipedia)

The market takes place every year during Advent on the city’s ‘Hauptmarkt’, a large square in the middle of town, and adjoining streets. Each year it attracts more than 2 million visitors.

🎄🎅🏼🕯🎅🏼🎄🕯🎄🎅🏼🕯🎅🏼🎄🕯🎄🎅🏼🕯🎅🏼🎄🕯🎄🎅🏼🕯🎅🏼🎄🕯🎄🎅🏼🕯🎅🏼🎄🕯

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of Advent history. 😊

Thanks for stopping by! 🤗 I hope you will do so again soon! 😘

April Fools Day

Did you get through the day without being pranked? Did you play a hilarious joke on someone? I’d love to hear about it! 😀

Do you know the origins of this tradition? To be completely honest with you until a few minutes ago I had no idea…never really gave it much thought. Then I came across this…
{on the Facebook page ‘Wicca Teachings’}

The funniest prank played in this household happened a few years ago…Prankster: my husband; Victim: our daughter

A few years back Daylight savings time fell on April 1st.
It being Sunday, my daughter being a teenager – sleeping in was a must for her!
Well, when she got up – it was around 10, 10:30 – ALL the clocks read 5 pm!!!! 😂
Hehehe! She was a bit panicky – ’cause there were friends to be seen, homework to be done.We let her race around for about 30 minutes, until hubby finally confessed his prank. She was so relieved, she couldn’t even be mad! 😋

I hope you got through your day without any fish being thrown at you, or stuck through your door! 😳
If you did get someone good….please tell me! 😬

Have a fabulous weekend!

~ Tina xoxo

Dreamcatchers ~ The Story

Dreamcatchers ~ I love them…and I’m thinking it’s safe to assume that you do too, or you  wouldn’t be here, right?! 😍
There is something about these dainty creations that fascinates me. When I look at one, I can see the black shadows of nightmares getting tangled in the net, while the airy and happy dreams slip through the hole and slide down the feathers to the sleeper.
As I was sitting in my studio, tying and knotting the delicate web inside a hoop, I started to wonder about the inspiration, the reason. Well, I know they originate with the Native-Americans, I know about the nightmares being captured, and disappearing with the light of day. But what’s the story, the legend? So I did some research. After a little digging – visiting various websites, clicking on numerous links, I got lucky! I found the beautiful tale about the origin of the dreamcatcher…

Dreamcatchers originate with the people of the Ojibwe Tribe. Through intermarriage and trade they were later embraced by neighboring nations. Ancient tales of the Ojibwe people speak of the children’s caretaker, Spider Woman, known as Asibikaashi (the inanimate form of the word for spider of the Ojibwe people is ‘asabikeshiinh’) She is said to have taken care of all the children and people on the land.
As the Ojibwe nation began to fan out and settled all over North America, it was difficult for Asibikaashi to protect all the children. The mothers and grandmothers started weaving magical webs, using willow hoops and sinew, and would hang the charm above the cribs and beds to protect the wee ones from nightmares.

And so, thanks to Asibikaashi, and the mothers and grandmothers of the Ojibwe people, we get to enjoy these beautiful charms and are blessed with their protective powers.

Here are some Dreamcatchers I made over the past few weeks…

 

They even found their way into my jewelry…

As always ~ Thank you so very much for visiting! 💖
’til next time
~Tina xoxo

 

Books, bookmarks, and a little bit of history

October is ‘National Book Month’….how did I miss that…until now?!
It reminded me that I wanted to share the pictures of my recent trip to the bookstore with you.
Now you’re sitting there with raised eyebrows, thinking…”Yes, and? She’s off her rocker, writing about visiting a store!” Right? 😉
But wait ’til you see the pictures! This is not an ordinary bookstore… it is a four (4!!!) story paradise… well, if you love books, that is!

When you walk in you see this…

Oooohh… I heard the angels sing! 😇
Pretty much everything is displayed cover up, front and center! So you find gems you would normally never know about. Since I am, I admit it, a ‘judge a book by its cover person’, (well, most of the time) it’s a perfect layout. Pretty clever marketing! 😜

3rd floor…

View from the 4th floor

For this pic I had my eyes closed when I stepped to the banister, held out the camera, and snapped the photo! Even looking at it now makes me slightly dizzy.

Now, I wanna add that I always have and always will shop and support small businesses. Nothing beats the personal attention, the charm, and the beautiful displays, so different from store to store! 😍

But this visit to this enormous bookstore was almost like sightseeing. I truly enjoyed it, but I won’t have to go every week!

Speaking of sightseeing…now I should probably mention that this bookstore is at the ‘Country Club Plaza’ in Kansas City. The Plaza is a unique shopping district, built in the 1920s by the J.C.Nicholas Co. It was the first shopping district in the world structured to cater to the automobile. Pretty cool, huh?! This entire shopping area is of Spanish architecture, influenced by the buildings in Seville, Spain, and all of the structures are decorated with imported Mexican tile or lace-like terracotta. The Plaza was completed in 1922, but there have been renovations since then. For instance, in 1977 a major flood caused severe damage to many buildings, and prompted a vast renovation.
Here are some pictures of the beautiful tile decor…

Delightful, isn’t it? 😄

Alrighty…that’s it for today!

Oh, no… wait! One more thing, somewhat related. After that trip, I felt inspired to replenish my bookmark display at the shop. I’ve been making beaded markers, but this time I designed/created a new style. These are made of leather bands with pretty glass charms and beads at either end. Take a look…

Okay…this is really the end (for now) 🙂
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little trip ~ let me know your thoughts, or share your memorable doings/observation.

Love
Tina xoxo