Fun With Friends...Craft Day!

Beautiful Basket of Chicks!

I think this is my favorite Easter postcard.

Have you noticed that the longer one goes without posting, the harder it is to get going again?  I had to literally force myself to sit down at the computer and start editing pictures for this blog post.  I have so many stories in the hopper that I need to work on...some from as long ago as last March!  Lazy?  Or is it Spring Fever?  Yesterday my daughter Amber told me a word that she learned from a German co-worker...Fruhjahrsmude.  This means essentially "Spring Fever."  Amber tends to get Fruhjahrsmude every February so we've always called it her "February Meltdown."

One way to fight Fruhjahresmude is to get together with a group of crafty friends and craft something so stinkin' cute that it lifts your spirits for days afterward.  I have been fortunate to be welcomed into a fun group that meets monthly at the home of Jann Olsen of Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson in Alpine.  She has a beautiful home just filled to the brim with wonderful things!  Our last meeting was March 15 and it was my turn to teach a craft.  I had so much fun a couple of years ago making things out of potato mashers...inspired by Pinterest...that I chose Easter Mashers as my craft.

 March Craft Day...Easter Mashers!

Oh, the lowly potato masher...what can you become?

My Masher Trio.

The idea is to use the masher as the platform for a tart tin or a nest and build the arrangement around it.  I love picking up mashers from the thrifts, so I had a few to spare for those who couldn't find one.  I made the red one two years ago.

Easter Parade of Mashers!

Each is as beautiful and individual as the woman who made it.

Masher Press Conference...lol!

Simple Easter/Spring Garland.

We also made these pretty and simple shabby garlands with Easter graphics, scrapbook paper, lace doilies and rick rack.  The paper circles are 3" in diameter and it takes about 2 yards of rick rack.

February Craft Day!

My Spring Basket.

February 16 was the first time we got together.  Talented friend, Joanne Martin, showed us how to make beautiful baskets using peat pots or berry baskets.  We brought tons of crepe paper and embellishments to attempt the ultimate in Easter cuteness.  Everyone was a winner!

Spring lambs were a favorite theme.

Every fashionable chick needs a party hat!

Easter Parade lined up for the photo shoot.

I wish I had taken more pictures. 

For more pics go to Jann's Post.

Paula of Pollyanna Reinvents showed us how to replicate

German Putz Sheep with Sculpy and light quilt batting like Warm and Natural.

She also has a lot of fun photos on her post.

Lastly...

New Easter Find...Candy Colored Vintage Bunny! 

I found her at Retro Betty, a darling vintage shop in Salt Lake City.

I'm so happy I was able to post before Easter!

Have a Blessed Holiday!

"Jack Valentine"...and a Few Valentine's Treats!

Punch-out Valentines were my favorite!

I loved Valentine's Day as a child.  In school we would spend a day decorating old shoe boxes with construction paper hearts and stickers.  We struggled cutting out hearts with those blunt scissors and usually got more paste in our hair than on our boxes.  There were usually a few kids who enjoyed the sweet minty taste of the school paste...myself included!  In my mind my finished box was a work of art...but probably looked something like this...

I liked to wander around the room admiring...critiquing...all the other boxes.  I imagined that there would be a special card left in my box by a secret admirer.

Typical Grade School Party.

The 60's were my era.

The party above was probably a lot more fun than the ones I remember.  The last hour of school was set aside for us to line up and "deliver the mail."  We all seemed to get an equal amount of cards and teacher made sure no one was left out.  I worried about that...there were usually a few quiet and shy children in the class.  I wasn't quiet, but I was a bit shy.  We usually got a heart-shaped cookie that someone's mom had made, then we gathered up our boxes and went home.  It was fun to sit on the floor and open the cards.  Some had a few conversation hearts sealed inside the envelope, but I don't remember a lot of candy in the stores, except for the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  I eagerly read each card with Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone and others seeking a secret message from my admirer, but "I Choo-Choo-Choose You" wasn't exactly a confession of undying love!

Jack Valentine...

Who is Jack?  

Until this morning I had never heard of a character called "Jack Valentine."  I was online looking for Valentine's trivia as a possible blog topic, when I came across several mentions of Jack. Jack is a folk character from Norfolk in eastern England.  He is sometimes known as Old Father Valentine. In Victorian times in Norfolk, Valentine's Eve was almost as important to children (and hopeful lovers) as Christmas with anonymous gifts from secret admirers or parents.

Dressed in a top hat and tails, Jack Valentine would knock upon the door and leave presents for the expectant child.  Sometimes Jack would play tricks upon the children and tie string to the gift, so when the child reached for it, he would jerk it away.  After the children were thoroughly frustrated, Jack would let go of the string and let them have the gift.  But they must never look for him.  Some children found the idea of Jack a bit frightening.

This story of Jack brought back a few Valentine's memories from my own childhood.  As much as I enjoyed the school party...it was the evening that I liked most.  When I got home from school, my mom would be putting sugar cookies on paper plates for our friends. In my old neighborhood in American Fork, it was popular to leave cards or cookies on a neighbor's porch, ring the doorbell and run.  This was also when we gave cards to children that were not in our classes.  Some tricksters would tie a string to a card and jerk it away when you tried to pick it up.  Does this sound familiar?  I had never heard of Jack Valentine...yet it seems his spirit crossed the ocean with the British pioneers who settled my home town.  What do you know?  I learn something new every day!

My Funny (Random) Valentines....

Snowmen for Valentine's.

Bethany Lowe tall snowman hat was changed with glittery red hearts.

I had so many creative intentions for Valentine's this year.  But some time in January the road got a little bumpy.  First, my father fell and broke his hip, which required surgery.  On the same day his wife, Geri, suffered a stroke that in a few weeks would take her away.  It was hard for my dad to be in a rehab center in one Chicago suburb while his wife was in ICU in another.  I am so thankful that Geri's family was on hand to help him.  When Geri passed away on the 26th, we made our plans to fly to Chicago for the funeral and to support Dad.  There are a lot of plans still to be made.  Dad will be in the center for a couple of months until he can get around, then he will be coming home to stay with us.  I'll be glad to get him here...Chicago is a whole world away from here.

In the meantime...here are the few Valentine's I was able to make this year...

Snow White Mini Fairy Garden

Alice and Bambi Mini Fairy Gardens.

I discovered that I could get miniature trees and such at Hobby Lobby in the train miniatures aisle.  Alice's tree has red "roses" added. The Queen likes them red.

Glitter Snowman Hat Ornament.

Framed Valentine's Card.

Print a vintage card 8"x 10'' on printable fabric

Paint the edge of an 8"x 10"canvas frame.

Glue the fabric to the frame and add glitter hearts and letters.

Walmart sold the frames in a 2 pack.

In the hall and on the wall...

A fast, easy project that would be a great gift!

Happy Valentine's!

Meri Wiley's Darling Valentine House!

Saw it in my file and had to share!

When Dreams Are Drowned...Saint Thomas, Nevada!

Vintage Vacation...

Your trip into the past begins at Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The turnoff is a dirt road just to the left after passing through the north entrance station.

St. Thomas, Nevada...

Thanksgiving Day 2015 George and I set out to discover St. Thomas for ourselves.

New Year's Day was the second time I had visited the ruins of old St. Thomas.  What remains of the town lies exposed on the dried up lake bed of Lake Mead.  The ongoing drought has left the town high and dry since about 2002...enough time for the NPS to construct a rude parking lot with a pit toilet and signage.  We knew almost nothing about the town on our first visit,Thanksgiving Day.  I took a lot of pictures, but they didn't have context.  Back at home I decided to research the history of the town.  I found a lot of old photos and a couple of maps with homes and buildings labeled.  George and I wanted to go back, so we invited my sister Patti and her husband Harold to come with us to Vegas for New Year's.  Harold has a bad heart, so Patti and I hiked the 2.5 mile trail, while George waited with Harold.  We were surprised to see so many families out...we had the place to ourselves in November.

A drowned house in Thistle.

I have always loved ghost towns and this one especially appealed to my imagination.  The reason? In April of 1983 there was a landslide in Spanish Fork Canyon about 50 miles south of here.  The slide dammed the Spanish Fork River and created a lake that drowned the small town of Thistle.  I was horrified at the thought of my high school art teacher, Evan Nelson, losing his home to the flood.  Years later, the rooftops of destroyed homes still float in marshes clogged with algae and the broken limbs of trees. I think this will make a good story for another time.

History of St. Thomas

The Construction of Boulder/Hoover Dam.

Thanks to good ol' Wikipedia and a blog called Ken's Photo Gallery  I was able to learn a lot about the history of St. Thomas. The town was founded by Mormon settlers in 1865, lead by Thomas Smith and at it's peak had a population of about 500.  Church records show that by the end of 1866, 45 families were living there growing cotton and other crops.  The town was near the confluence of the Muddy and Virgin rivers.  There was a reliable source of water, which is why the Anasazi and Basketmaker Culture had made their homes in the area for nearly 1000 years.  The Anasazi complex, now known as the Lost City was also flooded. In the 30's, archaeologists and the Civilian Conservation Corps rescued hundreds of artifacts that are now on display in the Lost City Museum in Overton.

Most of the Mormons left in February 1871 over a boundary dispute.  A land survey had shifted the state line of Nevada one degree longitude to the east, placing all the Mormon settlements in Nevada instead of Utah or Arizona. The state of Nevada then proceeded to collect back taxes for previous years payable only in gold.  The settlers chose to leave without paying.  Others moved in and claimed the abandoned properties.  A few Mormons returned in the 1880's.  

Vintage Post Card.

From Ken's Photo Gallery Blog: "The construction of Hoover Dam and the resulting rise in the waters of the Colorado River forced the abandonment of the town in 1938.  Before the water got there, most of the buildings were knocked down, dismantled or moved.  The orchards and many of the large shade trees were cut down so they wouldn't snag boats from the bottom of the lake.  Over the years the town has been under 50-70 feet of water.  Fast-forward 73 years to today, and a 9 [13]year drought has provided an opportunity to explore a ghost town.  Foundations, walls, and grated cisterns dot the site, along with numerous alkali-crusted trails branching in all directions.  The ruins of St. Thomas are protected by the National Park Service as a historic site.  The cemetery was relocated to Overton, Nevada where there is a St. Thomas interpretive center..." This is just a brief synopsis of the town's origins.  Visit Ken's Photo Gallery blog post for more information.

Map created by Ken for his blog.  

Patti and I used this map to locate the different buildings. 

I printed photos of the old buildings on the back of the map page.

Gentry Hotel Area...

The gracious Gentry Hotel.

Ruins of the Gentry Hotel

Ruins of the Gentry family home.

Located across the street from the hotel.

Harry Gentry General Merchandise.

Located just south of Gentry Hotel.

Salvaging at the post office.

Someone ordered a last day post office cover.

Mail was still being cancelled in roofless building.

St. Thomas School...

St. Thomas School before demolition.

The school was also used as a Mormon church and a town meeting hall.

The town had no police, jail, or town government.

Early 1930s School Children.

Note the rounded front steps.

"Recess was the highlight of the day.  We played all of those good games like OmpPomp Pullaway, Steal Sticks, Kick the Can, Run Sheep Run, marbles and baseball." --Euzell Prince Preston

St. Thomas School Bus.

"I remember when Marvae used to make taffy candy and bring it to school...soon as the bus stopped I ran to meet her. That candy was sure good." --Rachel Burgess Robbins.

George standing at the rounded front steps of the school.

Patti holds a photo of the school on the front steps.

Main Street...Highway 91.

The main street of St. Thomas was a continuous loop, not unlike a race track.

Not sure which part of the road this is.

Remains of Hannig Ice Cream Parlor

Ice Cream Parlor before front wall collapsed.

"The boys woke us...with their blasts of dynamite in the surrounding hills...There were parades, races...barrels of lemonade...And because July 4 was a special day, we were given a special treat...5 cents for an ice cream cone." --Inez Gibson Waymire

Lake Mead creeping up on this car.

The last resident, Hugh Lord left the town June 11, 1938.

Arrowhead Store.
St. Thomas became popular as a stopover on the Arrowhead Trail; the first automobile road from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City...later known as Highway 91.

Hand-drawn map available at the Lost City Museum in Overton.

The Lost City was an ancient Anasazi ruin also claimed by Lake Mead.

I am so glad we decided to go back to St. Thomas.  Knowing a little of the history made the town come alive for me and my sister.  George and I are constantly on the look-out for interesting places to visit in the Las Vegas area.  I am so glad I found the Ken's Photo Gallery Blog.  He has blogged about dozens of day trips he and his wife have taken since they retired to Henderson, Nevada.  When George retires, we will spend part of the winter in our Henderson place.  Until then, we will enjoy our long weekend visits...especially since our neighbors have stopped parking in our covered space...lol!

I hope you enjoyed this "Vintage Vacation."