Polka Dot Pumpkin

This weekend our family carved pumpkins. Because "Sandy" is headed into Pennsylvania tonight we decided it would be best if we did our pumpkins a few days early. Trick or Treat has already been postponed from Wednesday to Saturday in our town as everyone anticipates the worst.

As you can see in this picture my husband is in on the act too. One of the things that I love about this man is that he is creative and he can build things. So, instead of using a knife or pumpkin carving tools for his pumpkin - he brought out a drill and Sawzall to do the job!

(Meanwhile my oldest daughter decided to wear her Batgirl costume - that she just purchased at Goodwill earlier in the day - to carve pumpkins.) Gotta love my family.

This actually is a much easier way to carve a pumpkin in my opinion. I've always struggled cutting them with a household knife - or with the little saws that come in those pumpkin carving kits.

"Curly" pumpkin guts are made from the drill. These would be cool to use some how. I could see a fake hand coming up from a bowl of these.

A Sawzall was used to cut a hole in the bottom for a candle. This particular pumpkin was so hard that only a power tool would do the job.

Here is the finished result. A Polka Dot Pumpkin! I love it!

Hope your Halloween is a fun one. May you stay safe from Sandy's path.

KayteeJane

Cake Plates

I've had a love affair with vintage glass cake plates for about 17 years now.

Here is my collection on display in my kitchen. There are 10 pedestal plates currently on the shelf in a variety of colors.

I recently bought this beautiful amber glass cake plate from my favorite antique store. I had looked at it once before - thinking that I would love to have it for Thanksgiving to hold a pumpkin cake or pie. The next time I saw it I didn't walk away. I am starting to really like amber glass - a color that I didn't care for before. This cake plate is also much larger than the others in my collection, which is another reason why I love it so.

I also was recently given these two black cake plates - shown here stacked one of top of the other. They are not antique but were made by L.E. Smith Glassware. L.E. Smith, which is no longer in business, made glassware for many years out of their factory in Jeannette, Pennsylvania. Many of their pieces were sold by Martha Stewart when she had her mail order catalog "Martha By Mail". Williams Sonoma also sold some of their items. This same black cake plate was featured on the cover of Country Living Magazine one October. Looking at these pieces makes me sad in a way because much of what was once made in America is not anymore.

 

My interest in collecting vintage glass and specifically cake plates started when I first looked at this cookbook and saw several beautiful photos featuring vintage glassware.

When this book came out I was engaged to be married and looking at bridal registries. I really only wanted beautiful vintage items to put in my home - not the stuff that I saw at the department store. Luckily I had a friend who knew about my interest in vintage glassware and she surprised me with this blue milk glass cake plate as a shower gift. It was the cake plate that began my collection. To this day I still proudly display it in my kitchen and I love it. I have never seen another like it.

The plate has a beautiful scalloped edge and this raised embossing on the top.

I love the way a homemade cake is elevated to something spectacular when sitting on a vintage glass cake stand. Cookies, cupcakes and h'or derves look great on them too.

These type of cake plates make great wedding or anniversary gifts. They are functional and beautiful.  So the next time you see one of these pieces for sale, buy it. You will definatly use it. You are buying a piece of American history to be enjoyed for years to come.

KayteeJane

Spooky Photos

Here is how I decorated my mantle for Halloween. I wish I could show the entire mantle (which is as wide as the room) in one picture - but with my low-budget camera this isn't possible unless I stand very far away - and then what would be the point? :)

Last year I decided to alter some antique cabinet card photos to make them part of my Halloween display.

These are not pictures of any of my relatives or ancestors. I just happen to like antique photos and have collected several over the years. I decided to repurpose some of the more "creepy" looking ones to use for a fun, vintage-looking Halloween display. Here are a few that I altered.

Some old children's shoes and a clock set to midnight are out with the photos.

A page from a old book about birds.

A vintage seed packet.

A great vintage book.

I'm really enjoying decorating this season!

KayteeJane

Happy Birthday to Me

Last week was my birthday. I received this great book in the mail from a fellow Pyrex-lover. (Thanks Frannie!)

What a great gift! I can't wait to pour over the pictures of the different patterns. Here is just a sampling.

I do have some Pyrex on display in my kitchen for Fall - The Polka Dot bowl that my husband bought me for Valentine's day one year and the baker that I bought recently look so nice next to my leaves tray.

The orange mugs were also a birthday gift from my daughter Hannah. They are Anchor Hocking Fire King. Love their bright orange color. We saw these at a flea market a while back. I picked them up and then didn't buy them. She went back on her own and bought them for me. Isn't that sweet?

I love birthdays. It is so fun when your loved ones really "get you" and pick you very thoughtful gifts.

Have a great day!
Katie

More Autumn Decorations

As usual my pottery collection plays a big part in my holiday decorations (mostly because I would have to find a place to store it all if I didn't display it along with the seasonal stuff :). A corner-cupboard in my dining room displays some yellow pottery. I kept my yellow pottery out because I think it compliments the fall colors.

These pottery squirrels come out every autumn. The pink & gray ones are McCoy. I love these. I found the pink one at a church rummage sale for 10 cents. Actually my super hubby spotted it. Can you believe that luck? - 10 cents! The gray squirrel was bought at a yard sale. I paid a little more for it but I'm glad I did. Our town is known for it's gray squirrels every where. I love to put him out on display every fall. The salt & pepper shakers also came from a yard sale somewhere. A candy tin for Bowers Old Fashioned Peanut Brittle is in the back. I didn't even think about the connection between nuts and squirrels when I put that there...only later did I get it.

I like to add vintage paper ephemera to my displays too. I added some vintage game cards here and a moth ball tin - think Silence of the Lambs!

This Anchor Hocking milk glass apple always comes out in the fall as well along with some plastic apple coasters.

This awesome vintage Brach's Candy advertisement was given to me by my friend Cindy last year. She put it in a gold frame. I am displaying it on my Life Savers rack - also in my dining room.

And there is more to show - which I hope to do within the next few days. Thanks for looking!

KayteeJane

Spider Webs

I finally got my Halloween/Fall decorations out. I saw this cool idea on Pinterest using a crocheted doily as a spider web. Since I have many crocheted doilys that I don't use  - but can't seem to part with - I thought this would be great. I added some fake spider web and plastic spider rings.

 

I put another doily at the top of my corner cabinet.

 

 

I also did this over a mirror on my mantle.

 

I really like how this looks!

More Halloween in the next few posts.

KayteeJane