The Yellow Playhouse

When I was a little girl I was so envious of another girl who lived on my street. You see, she had a cool little playhouse in her backyard that was painted pink and sported a dutch door. Although I grew up pretty spoiled - we even had a pool - I always longed for a playhouse. What little girl doesn't?

When I became a mom to two little girls of my own, I thought about that playhouse again. My husband promised me that he would build our girls one. It seemed like such a huge undertaking to build one from scratch and years went by and we never seemed to have the money or time to start it. Both girls worked their way through elementary school and still no playhouse. We decided that we had better get that playhouse built or the girls would be too "old" to enjoy it.

Finally last summer the playhouse became a reality.

Take a look from start to finish.


The framework

This is what it looked like with almost everything on the exterior finished and painted. The color is the same yellow as our house.

We gave it the house number 610 1/2 because our real address is 610.

A little porch light. It actually works.

All lit up at night.

Of course the inside is just as cute as the outside. I made sure to fill it with some vintage dishes and decor found at yard sales. What fun! Maybe I'll post some pics some time.

I think once the girls are done using it I may just move in myself.

KayteeJane

And the Winner Is...

Thank you to all who entered my Vintage Purse giveaway! I really enjoyed reading your comments...they truly made me smile. Sometimes when doing a blog you wonder if anyone is actually reading it or cares about what you are posting. Reading the comments that you have left has inspired me and keeps me doing this! I wish that I had a purse for each one of you sweet ladies and friends.

Wendy will be receiving this cute little plaque with her purse also.

It was found in a thrift store in Berkley Springs, WV.

I love what Louann said in her comment regarding giving the purse away..."if you are giving one away a new one is bound to find you!"

I believe that to be true always - when you give something away you always get something back in return! Hopefully it will be something vintage!

Have a great day!

KayteeJane

Enjoy the Small Things

For some reason I am drawn to small-sized objects. I have a printers tray hanging on my wall where I display interesting, tiny things.

When I find small things that are interesting I add them to the tray. To me this is what makes decorating a home fun...and personal. When you come to my house you will see all sorts of things out on shelves and on display - I put out those items and treasures that are a part of my journey - things that I find unque or that mean something to me and my life.

Here are some you would see if you came to visit...

A metal "Bob Pin" holder. I love how Bobby Pins were once sold in a metal case.

Miniature Bibles.

I wonder who decided what scriptures would make the cut and which ones wouldn't?

A very small clothespin.

A tiny doll with a crocheted dress. She is no bigger than the size of a quarter.

I wonder if someone hand-stitched her outfit?

I also have a pottery bowl that sits on a shelf that is filled with keys and other "what nots". I bet many of you have something similar in your home - either in a drawer or out on display.

Here is what is in there - a pink dart, a compass, old keys, a hole punch, a bottle cap, another clothespin and some dice.

My daughter Hannah loves to touch and play with this stuff.

Who needs toys when you can play make-believe with old keys and other junk?

I also like to collect things with our family initial.

What small things do you collect?

I challenge you to bring these things out and put them on display.

Enjoy those small momentos and trinkets that you've collected over the years.

KayteeJane

PS: Today is the last day to enter the Vintage Purse giveaway. If you haven't entered yet, go to this post and leave a comment before midnight tonight. Thanks and good luck.

Cursive Writing

When I was a child I remember being taught cursive writing in elementary school. Although it was tedious and a little boring to learn, I'm so glad that I know how to do it. Sadly, this is something that students don't spend much time learning anymore. If it is taught, it is given a low priority after all the other subjects that our kids need to know. I'm wondering if at some point cursive writing will just be a thing of the past.

I found 2 of these antique school books from 1896 at an antique store.

These books show how important good penmanship was 100 years ago.

The student who used them inscribed on the cover - "Finished Friday March 27th, 1896"

This was back in the day when cursive writing was your calling card - done with ink and a metal quill pen (another collection that I have).

Take a look at these beautiful pages. I am sharing some of my favorites.

Letter C - Control your temper.

Letter L - Let your light shine.

Letter J - Join in the chorus

Letter U - Unspoken words do no harm.

Letter Z - Your last page must be best. (I guess they couldn't come up with a good sentence beginning with Z. No matter. This is a great advice.)

I love how moral values were taught along with the writing!

Let's keep cursive writing alive and well.

Go and write someone a letter in your best penmanship!

Until next time,

KayteeJane

Vintage Purses

I love purses. New purses, old purses, it doesn't matter. Here are some vintage purses.

Tan box shaped purse

 Awesome black and red velvet purse. This is a favorite. A gift from my friend Cindy.

 Navy blue crochet clutch purse with a plastic handle

 Love this child's wicker basket purse - can't you see this being worn on Easter?

 A tiny metal coin purse.

 The penny is there to give you an idea of the size of this purse

Another velvet beauty. This one has perfect colors for fall. (also from Cindy)

 Love the butterscotch satin interior

This particular post marks my 102nd posting.
In honor of surpassing 100 posts I am doing a give away.
I am offering to one lucky reader the great vintage purse show above & below along with a vintage (never used) hanky to go inside.

(This is sort of a sacrifice as I really like this purse - but I like my readers more!)

This purse is soft embossed velvet with a brass closure & leather handle.
It has a tan background with gold, olive green & dark red flowers & leaves.

This is the hanky - with a hand-crocheted butterfly & border in yellow & brown thread. Neatly pressed & never used.
I don't know about you but I love carrying a cloth hanky in my purse.

To Enter:

Leave me a comment on this post.

When you leave your comment please make sure that I have a way to contact you if you are the winner.
If you are commenting using a Google Account please check the "follow up comments to your email" box...or leave your comment using your name and blog/website URL.

Please tell your friends or mention this contest on one of your blog posts.

I would surely appreciate it :)

The contest closes Monday September 12th - so please enter by then.

I will choose the winner randomly.

Speaking of blogs - one of my favorite blogs about collecting is Colleen's FreshVintage blog. Colleen has such a humorous way of writing about all of her awesome vintage finds. 

I have followed her for a few years now and I am never sorry that I stopped to visit. I love her taste in vintage advertising, typewriters, industrial furniture & games. Recently Colleen was nice enough to mention my blog on this post.

Please stop by and say KayteeJane sent you!

Until Next Time,

KayteeJane

Enjoying the Last Days of Summer

Hi Friends,

I apologize for not posting for several days :) I am an elementary school teacher and the end of August is always hectic so I haven't had much time for blogging. Thank you to those of you who keep checking in!

Anyhoo...Here are some of the goodies that I've found lately while out at the sales. This past weekend was a better weekend than I've had recently in the way of finding good vintage "junk".

This is my favorite find of recent weeks. It is a child-size shopping cart. This isn't a toy but an actual commercial grade cart made by a manufacturer that makes adult-size carts for grocery stores. This was used in an actual grocery store in my area where the young shoppers could push their own cart through the store just like mom and dad. My kids love it and have enjoyed playing "store" with it. Guess how much I paid for it? Only $3! You know all you moms out there are jealous! (Thanks Stacy - wink! wink!)

I also found this great vintage milk-glass spice set.

It was priced $1. I kid you not! The jars still had spices in them. All the paper labels are perfect.

Hubby and the kids went yard saleing on their own a few weeks back and bought me some treasures. Here is what they found for me.

This tiny metal Fineline eraser box - with the erasers still inside. This is to add to my vintage school supply collection. Actual size about 2" across. They paid $1.

This little pottery bowl set. They paid 75 cents.

A "Big Ben" alarm clock. Price = 50 cents

And this cast-iron match holder. I left the price tag on for the picture.

Didn't they do well? They got some great treasures and for so little money.

If you want to see what other yard sale shoppers in blog land found this weekend I'm also sharing HERE at Apron Thrift Girl's Thrift Share Monday.

I've been doing some cooking lately since there are so many delicious vegetables available from the garden right now.

I thought I'd take a small departure from my collections to share with you two recipes that we made this past week.

Mexican Salsa

Ingredients:

Using a knife cut up into small pieces:

6-8 ripe red tomatoes

1 onion - I used a purple onion

2 jalapeno peppers - remove the seeds (I recommend wearing rubber gloves when doing this so that your hands don't get pepper oil on them which can burn your eyes and mouth for several days after handling the pepper.)

also add:

1 cup of finely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

the juice of 1 lime

3 cloves of minced garlic - or more to your liking

salt & pepper to taste

Serve with tortilla chips. Yum! - Whatever you don't eat store in the refrigerator. Good for up to a week.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups diced potatoes

2 cups fresh green beans - cut into small pieces

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

2 cups of corn - cut off the cob

3 celery stalks - chopped into small pieces

1 onion - diced

minced fresh parsley - about 1/2 cup

minced garlic - about 3 cloves

salt & pepper to taste

In a large stock pot cover the bottom of the pan with olive oil. Cook onions, celery & garlic until soft. Add all remaining vegetables & parsley. Add chicken broth. Cook on a low simmer for around 1 hour or until vegetables are soft. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve with your favorite bread!

I hope you get a chance to enjoy the last days of summer too by hitting a yard sale or two or by cooking up some delicious, healthy, homemade food using the season's bounty.

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon.

KayteeJane

A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You

Back in February I posted about my favorite book from my childhood Love Is A Special Way of Feeling by Joan Walsh Anglund. That post continues to be one of the more popular posts that I've done.

Recently at a church sale I found another of Joan's awesome books. I am awed by her talent. This one is as charming as the one I shared earlier. It was originally published in 1958 and is as relevant today as it must have been then.

It is titled A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You.

I will not be keeping this one. It is a birthday gift for my dear "sister" Cindy. Today is her birthday. So before I let this gem go I wanted to share this special book with you all so that you could enjoy it too and to thank all of you "friends" out there in blogland who have come along with me on this journey by visiting with me here.

I invite you to read along with me. You won't be disappointed.

 

Isn't that just lovely? I dedicate it to all of my friends...and you know who you are...who have stood beside me these past months with love. I love all of you.

Thank you Joan!

KayteeJane