First Halloweenies...It's Pinterest's Fault!

Calendar...You're Not the Boss of Me!

I have never been a summer person...unless it's Indian Summer.  My soul longs for golden days and cooler nights.  It's not just because I am in the autumn of my life...I've always felt more alive when the calendar page tears off to reveal September.  I want to drive down country roads lined with the sunny faces of wild sunflowers and take trips up the canyon to watch the first trees change color.  Labor Day weekend is usually the kick-off to my fall crafting season, but I seem to feel a sense of urgency somehow...like autumn can't come quickly enough.  It doesn't help that Pinterest is alive with fantastical ideas right now.  Creativity for me comes when it comes...I can't force it.  

Yesterday, I showed one of my cute neighbors my latest Halloweenies.  She jokingly requested that I wait until at least the first of September to decorate my front porch.  I think I can manage that if I replace the red/white/blue decor with sunflowers and vintage kitchen knick-knacks.  Hmmmm...getting a few "scathingly brilliant" ideas here.  Back to Pinterest!  But first I will share the Halloweenies in question.

Spice Tin Ghoulies and Mr. Cotter!

This is Mr. Cotter.  He's ready for a party.

Paper clay and Styrofoam balls make prim pumpkin heads .

I found the little 2.5 inch black and orange cotter pin box at 

Trackside Mall in Idaho Falls.

Just like Cinderella...Mr. Cotter's party ends at Midnight.

The Watkins Brothers...

Nut and Meg Watkins.

Their hats are small gelatin molds.

Tiny silver sugar spoons became quirky arms for these shelf-sitters.

The spoons are also from Trackside Mall.

Metal measuring spoons would have been my first choice.

And Finally...

Trick or Treat Containers.

Spray painted veggie cans with candy labels on two.

New Halloween Photo Backdrop.

I couldn't find my Halloween or Christmas backdrops.  I usually make them from those science project easels from the school supply department.  I went to Walmart to purchase one and found they now come in four or more sizes.  I was cutting down the huge 36" by 48" to make 2 or 3 backdrops.  The one I used was about 22" wide by 14" tall and folds to a compact 11".  Just decorate them with seasonal scrapbook paper and you're set.

Don't you just love this tin?

Oh, the ghoulies these would make!

For some reason, antique dealers seem to think that old spice tins are made of solid gold and price them accordingly.  I could see if they were unique like the tin above.  But tins of fairly recent vintage are sometimes marked $7 to $14 or more.  I tend to find better prices at local vintage flea markets like Fleaology  held several times a year at my friend Paula's home in Payson.  Even then, the selection varies.  If I want a certain color combination, I might not be able to find it.  I found a lot of great spice tins pics on Pinterest.  Maybe I could modge podge the labels I want on some of the cans I have.  It's something to think about.  

Be it Summer or Fall...Get Your Crafting On!

Falloween Spice Tins...Enjoy!

A Vintage Summer...Lagoon and the Beach Boys!

A Vintage Summer...Lagoon and the Beach Boys!

"There's a park near the city, yeah, and all the kids dig the Lagoon now

It's full of all kids of girls and rides and we'll be flyin' there soon now

And girl for girl, they've got the cutest of the western states, yeah

They got the sun in the summer and winter time the skiing is great, yeah

Salt Lake City, we'll be coming soon

Salt Lake City, we'll be coming soon."   The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys were part of the summer soundtrack for countless teenagers during the 60's and early 70's.  They were especially popular here in the state of Utah.  When I was a youngster, I remember my babysitter telling us that she had a date to go see the Beach Boys at Lagoon.  I was so envious. Sitting on the front steps of our house, I watched her leaving for her date.  She was so beautiful...a 60's teen princess!  She wore her blonde hair in a cute flip...and always used lemon juice for a rinse.  I wanted to be just like Sharon when I grew up.  She was as nice as she was pretty.

Promotional single of "Salt Lake City."

The song is on the album "Summer Days (and Summer Nights.)"

"Salt Lake City" was written to call attention to the band's fan base in Utah's capitol city.  There is a cute story floating around about the song "Fun, Fun, Fun" ('til her daddy took the T-Bird away) which was written in the group's hotel room in 1963.  The owner of KNAK...the #1 radio station mentioned in "Salt Lake City"...had a T-Bird that his daughter used to drive Brian, Carl, Dennis and Mike around Salt Lake.  She is the girl in the song.  I love this story!

The music of the Beach Boys will never grow old.

The Association and Herman's Hermits were two more groups I loved when I was young. 

How I wish I could have seen them at Lagoon.

Patio Gardens...where so many top bands performed.  

Lagoon...When I was your age!

The parking lot and entrance to the park.

The old white wooden coaster.

My Dad worked for the Department of Corrections in Utah and we had a Family Lagoon Day every summer.  All year long I counted the days until Lagoon Day...it was the highlight of my childhood summers.  I remember one tragic year when it rained buckets and Lagoon Day was cancelled!  The prisoners in charge of food service had made a lot of food for the picnic.  The people in charge didn't want the food to go to waste, so we all drove to a depressing old school in Sandy and ate in the lunchroom. Today, I still feel sad (and mad) when I drive past that school!

My favorite ride at Lagoon.

If you had enough tickets, you didn't even have to get off.

I would ride as long as my tickets lasted.

The Midway!

The Midway in the 70's

Midway Rides

The Fun House!

The Fun House was where I spent most of my time...when my tickets ran out!

This slide was the best...if you could stay on your sack.

How well I remember the smell of those burlap sacks...and the friction burns!

So fun...but so many bumps and bruises!

Somehow they never worried about law suits in those days!

Something For the Kiddies...Mother Goose Land

I have added a few new pictures since I first posted this.

The American Fork Facebook group has been great...always contributing new photos they have found.

Childhood's End...

My last Lagoon trip before I got married.

Two snow cones are always better than one!

It's What Fun Is!

When I Was Your Age...I Was on the Newspaper Staff!

Shirley Devey Girl Reporter!

I wish I was as glamorous as the girl reporter in the picture...Rosalind Russell in "His Girl Friday."

This is your reporter, Shirley Devey Hatfield coming to you from the news desk of C.A.V.E. Radio, American Fork, Utah.  It's been 42 years since I prowled the hallowed halls of AF High School looking for material for my column "Shirley's World."  I grew up reading humorous writers like Erma Bombeck.  So I wanted to be a humor columnist for a major newspaper when I grew up...or else a Broadway actress or playwright.  I was on the junior high newspaper staff and also on the yearbook staff...so it was logical to sign up for the high school paper as well.  Madison, my 17 year old grand daughter, is on the yearbook staff of her high school. Journalism obviously runs in the family.  So, Madison, here is another chapter in the saga called "When I Was Your Age."

My fellow newspaper staffers.

I am the one on the left standing wearing a dark coat and my trademark round glasses.

Once they let me be on the newspaper staff, I lost interest in actual news reporting.  I had dreams of writing my own trademark column with my own byline.  I don't know I how convinced Mrs. Gordon to let me have my own humor column...she must have seen my lackluster interview of the girls' P.E. teacher.  I'm one of those people who is often terribly shy, but who covers up feelings of low self-confidence with humor.  To be sent to interview a cranky teacher was to me a bit like being sent to my execution or finding myself at school in my underwear.  I hovered outside the P.E. teacher's office for a half hour before she came out and demanded who I was and what I wanted. Good times.

I enjoyed writing my column...although sometimes I would use it to tease someone like my younger brother, sophomores, or the boys who sat on the floor in the hall and called me "Betty Lu" when I walked by.  I once called them the  "Jocks, with heads full of rocks, who sit in the hall, wearing shoes but no socks."  Lack of socks was some kind of senior boy fashion statement.  Looking back on some of my columns I can see that today my humor might be considered "politically incorrect" or insensitive.  I've learned over the years that humor can be hurtful at times.  No one likes to be the butt of one's jokes.  So I am still learning.

My First Forkaster Column

I later chose the name "Shirley's World" after a Shirley MacLaine TV show.

The world of technology was in  a whole different place, when I was in school.  We used adding machines and slide rules in our classes.  The Forkaster was typed on a typewriter and printed by mimeograph.  Mistakes on the master meant that a page would have to be typed again.  My typing skills were so poor, I was not allowed any where near a typewriter...unlike Rosalind Russell in "My Girl Friday." And I have no idea how they put photos into the pages.  I drew a lot of silly little cartoons to illustrate some of the articles and even designed a couple of ads for local businesses

Right here, right now, I am creating a blog post.  We can sit down at our computers and be publishers and reporters with the push (or click) of a button.  We don't have to work for a news organization to be reporters these days...we can be bloggers.  My "bucket list" included working for a real newspaper...preferably my hometown paper, The American Fork Citizen.  By the time I actually worked there, the paper had a Highland edition.  I tried being a reporter and covering school activities and city council meetings...but it wasn't long before shyness got the better of me and I was again lobbying for my own column.  I was able to do both...reporting and the column...for a couple of years until it was time to do something else on the list.  I can't say that being a blogger was on my "bucket list," but if I knew then what I know now...it sure would be.  I'll end this post with one of my favorite columns.  By this time I was also using my writing to tease George...I called him Waldo...lol!

Valentines Day Column...

George loved my articles...he got a kick out of being "Waldo."

That's the way it was when I was your age!

For Love of the Automobile!

Welcome to Lakeside Storage!

One sunny Saturday, we got our vintage kicks...but not on Route 66!  On the west side of Provo, Utah...not too far from the Boat Harbor...is a storage business called Lakeside Storage.  The owner has a deep and abiding love affair with the automobile...specifically the art of the gas station.  Since we weren't customers of the business, we asked at the office for permission to walk in and take a look around.  So much vintage happiness!  It made me want to pack up the car and hit the road...find another piece of Route 66 to explore!  That, my friends, is what summertime is all about!

 Road Art Gallery!

I love the re-purposed Phillips 66 sign!

Every corner was filled with color...I could hardly believe the variety!

All the old pumps just happened to have glass tops in perfect condition.

I think the collector was able to find reproductions from a restoration specialist.

My favorite...Superman's phone booth!  

The glass was too little hazy from recent rains to get a clear picture of the Man of Steel.

I'm itchin' to travel somewhere...

PS...A few Vintage Vacation graphics to get you in the mood...