Invitations!
You can buy ready made invitations, but where’s the fun in that?  Using your computer you can make your own.  Photos and clip art can be found online for free (sxc.hu or rgbstock.com come to mind).

Or go for unique.  Postcards with flamingos, parrots, hula girls for a tropical theme.  Having a poker party?  Write your invite on the back of old Monopoly money.  Even if your gathering is by word-of-mouth, put the address and phone number on something unusual and less likely to be misplaced.

Decorate!
Going Western?  Use an old cowboy boot with a glass inside to hold fresh flowers, stick up some John Wayne posters, drape a bullwhip over your hutch, print out a sheet of cattle brands and use a removable glue to attach to drink glasses.

Anniversary or Birthday Party?  Hang up the year’s popular movie posters/celebrities/cars, whether Tommy Dorsey or The Who – album covers really create a time warp, toss around a few magazines like Saturday Evening Post or Life, use dinnerware serving pieces from the era.

Having a Tea Party?  Who says the china has to match?  A different cup/saucer set for each guest is a sure conversation starter.  Doilies and vintage cake plates set a refined and cozy mood.

Game Day?  It’s only one day, so take down the lovely landscape watercolor and hang up a beer sign.  Gather a collection of labeled beer glasses so each guest has a different one.  Find an old helmet, line with aluminum foil and you’ve got your chip bowl.  Recycle a trophy as a prize for the one guessing closest to the final score.  Substitute baseballs in the potpourri bowl.

Have fun and be sure to send us an invite!

Originally from Pennsylvania, Arlene (80) has always been involved in antiques, using her three-story Victorian home as a shop for 30 years.  When she decided to make the permanent move to Florida in 1985 she chose Harbor Place in Port St. Lucie.

Sweden-born Al (85) was a Captain in the Suffolk County, NY Police Department, after retirement he moved to Harbor Place in 1999.  They met, married three years ago and moved to Forest Park in Fort Pierce.  Al never had the slightest interest in antiques before meeting Arlene, but she discovered he had a ‘good eye for the stuff’ and now they work together keeping Booth #11 full of a variety of ever-changing items, from tools to paintings to art glass.

Al enjoys building model ships and puzzles.  Not your average puzzles.  He turned an almost full-sized jigsaw puzzle of a grandfather clock into a working clock and donated it to the Forest Park Clubhouse.  Honest – I took pictures.

When I stumbled into this website a while back, my first reaction was “huh?  barbed wire?.”  Of course I had to check this out.  Officially chartered in 1991 as The Historical Museum Of Barbed Wire and Fencing Tools, is a non-profit entity dedicated to preserving the history and artifacts of barbed wire.  The complex, located on Route 66 in McLean, Texas, houses The Devil’s Rope Museum, The Texas Old Route 66 Museum, The Western Heritage Community Room, The Hagemeier Library, and the Museum Mercantile, a large souvenir store.

Even if you don’t give a hoot about barbed wire, their website (http://www.barbwiremuseum.com/index.htm) is a good read, encompassing almost 150 years of American history and the barbed wire woven through it.  Who invented barbed wire, making the wire, how it affected the West, the Fence Cutter Wars, use in warfare, how it attained the moniker “Devil’s Rope”, etc.  Thoroughly enjoyable and informative – students, teachers and historians will find this particularly helpful.

Seen one, seen them all?  Not quite.  There are over 570 patented wires with over 2,000 variations.  Two patents became the most practical and successful, leaving the rest to become part of history and varying from common to very scarce.  Wonderful drawings including clear descriptions take some of the mystery out of the different types of barbs.

Other sections of this website include a special library with recommended reading list, how to identify barbed wire, where it can be purchased, and what is going on today in the barbed wire collecting hobby.  A new wire collection Appraisal Service is now offered for tax, estate, or insurance purposes.

There’s a lot more here:  cattle brands and history, McLean POW camp, Texas Route 66 information.  Artist Al Martin Napoletano is featured with some of his works.  Closely associated with the barbed wire collecting hobby since the early 1970s, Napoletano is a rodeo circuit artist and has illustrated many books.

If you’re planning to travel in Texas, the museum has information about Texas Route 66, The City of McLean, Texas and other nearby areas.  You can see the first restored Phillips Service Station in Texas, learn all about the McLean Prisoner of War Camp built during WWII, stay in a vintage Route 66 Motel, and eat at the world famous Red River Steak House.

Take a look at the museum dedicated to barbed wire – “whose existence is both absolutely beneficial to progress, at times cruel beyond comprehension, caused drastic changes in world-wide warfare, and yet protects our lives twenty-four hours each day.  What more intrigue could you ask of any subject presented to you?”

Tell ‘em I sent ya ~ Victoria

Laura’s Emporium now carries a full line of Howard Products for your wood furniture.

The TJS Labs Gallery of Graphic Design (http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/) is amazing.  Whether you’re trying to date a specific product, or just taking a stroll down memory lane – with 10,414 advertisement images – you’ll want to visit for a while.

No commentary to wade through – zip, zilch – just the image and the essential facts.  For instance the Geo. A. Hormel & Co. ad shown here is one of 37 ads for Spam.  It appeared on the back cover of the November 1, 1939 issue of Woman’s Day.

5,187 products advertised in 17 magazines from 3,127 different advertisers from 1930 through 1969.  Awesome, huh?  But that’s not the best part.  You’re going to love how this is set up.  There’s a simple search and an advanced search, but you hardly need them.  Completely cross-referenced; if it’s in this collection, you can find it with a few clicks.

Want to find ads by Norman Rockwell?  Select him from the 251 illustrators listed and ads on file are available to view with publication information.  Want to see all the ads from 1941?  Click on the year.  Looking for a product, can’t remember the exact name, but sure it had the word ‘zoom’?  1032 keywords are at your disposal.

The ability to search by Magazine, Advertiser, Product, Illustrator, Keyword, Year, or Issue makes this site a joy to navigate and downright fun to explore.  Continually updated with new images (as I write this, the newest batch was added just two hours ago!).

The Gallery of Graphic Design is also on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Gallery-of-Graphic-Design/108023629232681#!/pages/The-Gallery-of-Graphic-Design/108023629232681?v=wall) where you can view images and share your comments.  Also keeps you up-to-date on new additions.

Go to http://gogd.tjs-labs.com/ and then visit the facebook page.

Tell ‘em I sent ya’ ~ Victoria

Head upstairs to Susan’s Country Accents and meet Sweet Annie, Angel Bear, Kit E. Cat, Cinnamon Rabbit, and many others.  Susan has been a crafter of one sort or another for longer than she can remember, selling her creations to friends and at craft shows.  As a young mother of three, she was stenciling homes and tapestries as a creative outlet.  Always expanding her repertoire, Susan discovered dollmaking, candles, ornaments, and much more.  After the kids grew up she found her passion – primitives!

Surrounded by bolts of fabric in her converted garage, Susan creates dolls.  Handmade from start to finish using only quality materials and when complete, each doll is signed and dated.  Some are primitive and some not so prim, but all embody Susan’s love of dollmaking.

But dolls aren’t the only items you’ll find here.  Handmade child-size muslin prairie dresses – carefully aged, hand rolled candles, room sprays, decorative bowl fillers, seasonal items, wreaths, etc.  Besides being a valued dealer at Laura’s Emporium, Susan has her own website at http://susanscountryaccents.com.  Visit her website and stop by Laura’s to see her fabulous handmade creations in person.