Random Acts of Halloween!

 Random Acts...New Creepy Crafties!

One of my all-time favorite postcards!

I have been so lax at blogging, I am embarrassed to say.  More and more it seems like Facebook and Instagram are taking the place of posting for many of my blogging friends. I like the immediacy of sharing a new craft on Instagram...but nothing beats the magazine-style format of a good blog post.  I enjoy writing about my life and odd-ball things I find on Vintage Vacations.  The world is full of things that make you scratch your head and say "Huh?"  I just love finding those things.  So I will continue on.  

This time of year, blog posts are mainly holiday craft oriented.  The long winter days of January are a good time for story telling.  This isn't the fanciest blog, with professionally designed elements...but it's mine and I love it!  I hope you will hang in there when I am lazy and don't blog as often...I will try to do better.

 New Creepy Crafties...

Shadow Box Jack.

He was an Art-Group project.

Boxes from Trina, Kim, Margo...and Me!

"Cat Scratch Fever"

Made from an old scratch remover container and a vintage British tart tin.

Side View.  I just love his scraggly tail!

This little kitty is "Ditt-mark."

He's from a typewriting ribbon box.

"Tin Man Jack"

His tin is an oil can for a fuel-powered iron.

Of course he needs this little funnel for a hat.

Grim Grinning Gourds...come out to socialize!

I saw Kim K's wreath on Instagram and had to make one too!

This was so cheap to make...$10 worth of Walmart pumpkins

and an old wreath I already had.

Fun Fall Arrangement.

We made the mushrooms at Art Group from tart tins and old chair spindles.

I still love making "Fairy Gardens!"

This one was for my friend Kathy's Birthday!

I love using small porcelain figures and salts and peppers.

And Finally...

My DIL Lori painted this Halloween chair for me.

She is so talented!

This will be a Halloween heirloom for years to come.

This creepy clown needed a place to sit!

Thanks for letting me share my "Ghoulish Delights!"

Last of the Red, White and Blue...White King Uncle Sam!

Uncle Sam inspires our latest craft group project.

The Uncle Sam Project

My local crafting group met a few weeks ago to work on our Uncle Sam projects.  The challenge was to create an Uncle Sam figure from an old tin and a paper clay head.  We meet in Alpine, Utah at the home of Jann Olson of Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson.  She is the half-way lady...half way between southern Utah County and the Salt Lake City area.  It's always so much fun at Jann's house!  She is an amazing person with so much creative talent...as her home and garden will attest.  You never know what her "Theme" will be from month to month...bees and old plaid thermoses come to mind...lol!

This is my finished Uncle Sam.  

He's created from a can of White King Cleanser.

I used measuring spoons for his arms.

"Heads of State!"

Making the air-dry clay heads took up most of the time.

My fellow crafters chose some really fun tins.

It's harder than you think to find something red, white, and blue!

What a crazy variety of expressions, don't you think?

Paula's Sam, in the middle, is amazing!  

Closer view of Sam's hat.

Made from a toilet tissue roll.

I sat Sam's drum on a pedestal for a bit of height.

It's an empty ribbon spool.

I love using rosettes...they make things so fancy!

It looks a bit out of balance...but that's just the angle.

Wooden Patriotic Banner.

I finished this banner yesterday...better late than never.

Bit closer view.

Wooden Bingo pieces are fun!

This is just a quick post to catch up.  Today I am getting out my fall and Halloween craft boxes.  I am starting to see creepy little crafties in my dreams.  I just thought of a Carousel of Creepiness...so stayed tuned.  I think my visit to Nederland, Colorado to ride on the Carousel of Happiness may have something to do with it...lol!

My Dream Tin.

This would be the basis for the perfect Uncle Sam Project...if only one would come my way!

Happy Summer Crafting!

Summer Crafting...Spice Tin Uncle Sam!

Spice Tin Uncle Sam!

My crafting group is getting together later this month to create quirky Uncle Sams using vintage tins and whatnot for one-of-a-kind patriotic decor.  I am still working on gathering together the elements I will need for the group project.  We plan to make the heads out of paper clay or oven-dry clay.  I have my head almost ready...which is the big thing to cross off the list.  In the meantime I found a cute bobble-head Uncle Sam at Hobby Lobby.  The head was just the right size to use with an old spice tin I had in my stash.  Yay!  Something fun to make to get in the spirit for Craft Day.

Sam is about 8 inches tall, not including the stand.

I aged the head with watered down brown paint.

His legs are wooden spools with pop bottle caps for feet.

I don't know what those electrical thingies are for, but

they work just right for hands.

I got a whole bag of different sizes and colors for $1 at a fleamarket.

Sam's little drum is a wooden Christmas ornament.

I found a couple of great Bingo cards in my stash that were perfect

for a patriotic wall hanger.

First Creepy Crafty of 2016...

This is Mothra.

She is created from an Avon Mothicide tin.

She is a little over 7 inches tall.

Fun use for my rusty calipers I found last spring.

The wings are rusty hearts.

Side view of Mothra's green tongue.

She was a lot of fun to create.

It's always Halloween in my head.

This was just a quick post before we leave for our Granddaughter Madison's graduation.  I can't believe our little girl is almost 18!  Tomorrow we'll head for Yellowstone for a couple of days...I can't wait.  It's one of my favorite Vintage Vacations!

Baby Dot...Vintage Baby Powder Doll!

Vintage Baby!

I love the soft colors of vintage baby cards!

When I was expecting my third daughter Sascha in the 1980's I was mad for all things Vintage Baby!

I decorated her nursery corner with vintage baby dresses hanging on the wall and a vignette of baby care items on her dresser...little pink containers for cotton balls and baby pins, tiny brush and comb.  Every thing for Sascha was soft aqua and pink.  I still love the soft colors of vintage baby cards and baby care items like baby powder containers.  Some of the graphics are amazing...I only had the basic Johnson's Baby Powder.

The variety is endless!

My friend Dorothy sent me a pin one day...a vintage baby tin that I immediately felt needed to be repurposed into one of my vintage tin characters.  I wrote back that it needed a doll head and arms. From her response of "Mercy!" I gathered that it sounded a bit creepy...lol!  I already had an old composition Patsy doll that was in pretty bad shape.  The sawdust and glue was starting to deteriorate so I though it might be fun for a creepy Halloween project.

I found a darling baby powder container from 1936 at a Salt Lake antique mall.  The brand was "Baby Dot."  I wish I had taken a pic of the container before I transformed it.

Baby Dot!

She's about 8 inches tall.

Close-up of Powder Container

Rear View

Side View

The top of Patsy's head was crumbling.

The bonnet is made from a vintage plastic Easter party favor.

So that's the story behind Baby Dot.  I went on a tin buying binge yesterday, so there will be some odd new characters coming up in the next few months.  It is so strange when Easter is in March.  It leaves April all dressed up with no place to go.  I leave up a lot of my spring decor until Mother's Day, so things look cheerful even when it's a rainy day.  Spring is definitely taking her time this year as I know many of you will attest.

Happy Spring!

PS: Some darling vintage baby images for you...