Flea Market Friday: Opening Day!

This weekend seems to mark the beginning of the spring church rummage sale season around here. I know of at least three or four happening this weekend. And while I won't be able to get to them all, here's a sampling of the goodies I brought home from a couple of them:

A 1950s felt applique tree skirt- this is going to my brother for his aluminum tree. Happy Bday, bro!

You Pyrex-iacs will recognize this piece of flameware with the original handle:

I left the price tag on for you :)

A bunch of sweet Peter-pan collared blouses for my daughter- she seems to wear more vintage than I do these days! I believe the two on the left are made from feedsacks.

A feedsack dress for her as well. Today is her birthday.

Two sets of souvenir hot pads- the top is from Tombstone, AZ and the bottom from Wisconsin Dells. I bought these mostly for the Etsy store- they should be easy to ship.

An awesome turquoise rotary dail phone. I paid 50 cents for it and it works great. However, if you could have seen it before I cleaned it up, you might not have paid even the 50 c for it- it was govered in grease.

A cute pink alarm clock for Kate's room- see how it almost exactly matches the wall color ;). It also works great and is very quiet- definitely a requirement when buying vintage clocks.



I finally found the vintage red cardi I've been looking for- at $2, a keeper for me.

Also this adorable hand-knitted Fair Isle. It's a bit small in the shoulders for me, so it's probably headed to the Etsy store.

I bought a couple of 1960s mini skirts for the store as well- they are really small; no way I could ever get into them!

I also found these papier mache eggs. I've gotten a ton of vintage Easter eggs this year- that will be an upcoming post...stay tuned!



Road Trip: Northlandz Model Trains

As some of you are aware, my family is really into trains. My husband and my son are just nuts about real trains and model trains. Jayson got a Lionel set this past Christmas and plays with it just about every day. We also have a pretty large HO scale layout in our basement which keeps my husband occupied during the winter months, but what he's not likely to tell you is that the trains and accessories that he used to get started first belonged to me.

I got my first train set when I was about 12. I liked the trains and cars OK, but what I really enjoyed was building and painting the buildings and scenery. So it may be a bit surprising that we have never made the short trip to visit Northlandz, the world's largest model train layout.

And you just know that any place that bills itself as 'the world's largest' anything is a natural destination for a vintage- and kitsch-loving gal like myself. I can't believe we had never gone before!

So when Jayson had a cold, rainy day off of school, we took a road trip to Flemington, N.J. and Northlandz.

Northlandz is unique in that, among all the model train layouts I've ever seen, both the trains and scenery are to scale. When I say that, I mean that the distances between buildings, town, and mountains are scaled accurately. There is plenty of room along more than 8 miles of track to get in rivers, gorges, towns, train yards, cities, junkyards, amusment parks, etc. etc.  without them being all on top of each other.

The building is absolutely immense. It's three stories high, with a one mile walkway that circles around 50,000 square feet of indoor display. The tallest mountain is 30 feet high, with 400 bridges (the longest is over 40 feet long), half a million trees, and 4,200 buildings. And it's largely the work of one man, Bruce Williams Zaccagnino, a model train enthusiast, musician and video game developer.

As a matter of fact, on the Monday when we toured the building, Bruce was the only staff member there. A jovial man, he welcomed us to tour the facility, and also ran the gift shop, cooked at the snack stand (fashioned after an old fashioned soda fountain, with really good hot dogs and pizza) and provided the musical accompaniment on the building's three grand theater organs.

Now, of course, it needs to be mentioned that if he was the only staff member there, it wasn't that busy. I guess Mondays during the colder months are not that well-attended, because we saw only about 10 other people there. Also, the building was quite chilly, probably in an attempt to cut heating costs. And there were a couple spots where the roof was leaking onto the walkway. From the outside, the building does not look that well-maintained, either. So definitely call before you're planning a trip to make sure he hasn't cut the open hours back!

But, that said, all things like this have their little quirks, and it was definitely worth the price of admission ($13.75 for adults and $9.75 for kids 2 and up, which can be a bit steep for my 2 yr old). But the kids probably got more excited than the adults, because around every turn my daughter would scream "look at this!"

As an adult, I appreciated the scope of the construction, and the amazing detail. The trains themselves were not that great- most trains were only 5 or 6 cars long, and those cars were mostly "Northlandz" promotions.  But the scenery is simply incredible- have a look at the following photos and also take a look at their website for more. (Apologies for the blurry and overexposed shots- it was hard light to photograph in.)

And they obligatory 'awkward family photo' LOL- my mom was having trouble with my camera. I was going for a 1930s look with vintage wide legged navy pants, a red polka dot blouse that tied at the neck and a cropped white sweater. Believe me when I say it looked better in person than it does here! ;) Kate has on the most adorable cherry print sundress, which of course was totally inappropriate for a day with freezing rain, but hey, when you're 2, you can pull that look off.

Make-it-from-Scratch Monday: Raspberry Jam

Whew! It's been quite a few hectic days around here at Chez QT! I've been putting still more stuff up on Etsy, so check out the link at right and spread the word- I'd love to get this thing really going and sell a lot of vintage goodies!

I've also been spending a lot of time in the kitchen. I just realized that with warmer weather approaching (eventually!) I need to empty my freezer of all the roasts and cold weather-type things. So it may surprise you to note that this week's cooking feature is a most un-seasonable raspberry jam.

But there's a story in this (as always). I sometimes shop at a local discount grocery, the type that sells dented cans and opened cases of this and that. They often get the castoffs from the big grocery stores around here, and sometimes the bargains really can't be beat, as long as you're willing to do a little work.

Case in point- a few weeks ago they had 1 pound boxes of California raspberries at 50 cents a piece. Yes, you read that correctly- they usually run about $4.99. Problem was, they were starting to turn moldy. But I scooped up about 6 pounds of the best boxes. Once I went through them, there were very few berries that were completely unsalvageable, and the rest went into the freezer for this project.

Sometimes when I make jam I do not have enough of one kind of berries (5 pounds of anything out of season can be $$) so I make a mixed batch with some strawberries, blueberries and cherries- the recipe is the same.

I also really like the Ball No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin, because I do not have to add copius amounts of sugar to get it to jell. I follow a diabetic diet, so I love anything that does not require additional sugar. But if you like you could add some sugar- I would say no more than 1 cup would yield a sweeter jam.

Raspberry Jam

Ingredients:

about 5 pounds raspberries, crushed (about 8 cups)
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
1 package Ball No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin
0 to 1 c. sugar according to your taste.

6 to 8 pint canning jars, bands and lids, sterilized and hot. I run my jars and bands through the dishwasher, at the same time my canner is heating up. I keep the clean lids in a cup of hot water I take out of the canner.

First, bring 2-3 gallons of water in your canner to a boil. This may take as long as an hour.

Meanwhile prepare the jam.

Crush the berries gently with a potato masher (I am using an antique wooden potato masher- it is a great tool for this job) in a large saucepan. Don't use a food processor or blender, as it breaks down the natural sugars in the berries and your jam will not set.

Add one cup of unsweetened apple juice and the package of fruit pectin and bring to a rolling boil.

Once the mixture is boiling begin to stir it continuously for 3 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and fill hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headroom.

Place lids and bands in place and tighten gently- just finger tight.

Place filled jars in the boiling water canner, making sure there is at least 2 inches of water covering them.

Boil for 10 minutes.  

Remove jars and place them on a cutting board or towel (not a cold counter top, or you risk some serious breakage!). Listen for the seals to pop. Allow the jam to stand at least 24 hours to set. (This is the hardest part! :)

More Etsy goodies!

Hi all- been busy adding new stock to my Etsy store. Take a look: http://www.etsy.com/shop/practiceintime

Some good stuff there- an H Bar C white women's western shirt, that green Schiaparelli men's shirt, and some cheap stuff- two 1970s women's blouses in fun prints.

I have so much more to add- next up should be a bunch of men's ties. Then a 1950s mens sweater and a 1950s beaded women's sweater. And more- keep checking in! The clothing takes so much time, with the photographing and measuring; it makes me want to sell only housewares! ;) But I have so much stuff, so it has to go!

And if you're a blog follower, I'll take 20% off your order. Just convo me before you buy and I'll give you a coupon code!

Real Life at Chez QT

 Here are a few snapshots that just go to show that real life is not always prim and proper, vintage-y perfection here at Chez QT! Like everyone out there, we have our moments. All of these photos were taken in the last couple of weeks, but not all on the same day!

My "helpers" cleaning up. Note the cords (2!) wrapped around the table base. And Kate's skirt-over-pants fashion statement.

The kids make a mess and stare at Spongebob while Daddy examines the inside of his eyelids.

Don't you love Kate's outfit? She dressed herself!

And I have my peculiar obsessions as well. I think my neighbors thought I was nuts, but hey- my sheets smelled outdoor-fresh!

Is it bedtime yet?

Thrifted Thursday- Birthday Thrift Crawl Haul, pt. II

Here's part deux of the goodies I brought back from my annual birthday thrift crawl two weeks ago!

First, a long sleeved Ship-n-Shore blouse with a mandarin collar. It's hard to see from the photo, but the stripes are burgundy and grey. Perfect for all my grey pencil skirts - I have tons of those!

Second, a pair of deadstock wedge-type sandals. They're made in Germany, and I guess are similar to Clark's or Birkenstocks in that they have an orthopedic cork footbed. So comfy!

A cotton playsuit. I haven't yet decided if I will keep this or sell it- it's a little big for me, but with a belt might be OK. Excuse the wrinkles; in the middle of ironing this my iron died.

Close up of the pattern- it's green dots with either white or black centers:

This is probably one of the rarest things I have ever thrifted. It's a Schiaparelli silk shantung blouse, never worn. I am guessing that this is either early 50s (right before the fashion house went out of business) or from the 70s when they tried to resurrect the brand. Take a look at the label, and if anyone has any more info, please leave a comment. This is probably headed to the Etsy store, so I want to get it right. 

Close up of the label. If you look carefully underneath the label, the shirt is stamped "Factory Sample." 

And lastly the ivory beaded cardigan I scored at the Salvation Army. I believe it's cashmere and it had never been worn.

Next thrifting adventure is this Saturday- I'm on the hunt for a good vintage iron! LOL

My pet peeves- a rant

I have to get something off my chest. My apologies if this offends anyone, but if I don't say something about this I think I'm going to burst. And this is my blog and you're all entitled to my opinion, right? LOL








I am a grammar nerd. But most of all I am a pedant for punctuation (as someone once told me).







The improper use of apostrophes has always bothered me. Especially with the words "its" and "it's".







It's (with an apostrophe) is only used when you are using the contracted form of "it is". As in, "It's entirely possible that I failed to learn about that in school."



If it does not make sense to say "it is" where you are using "it's", then drop the apostrophe. (Confusing then and than is another pet peeve of mine, but that's for another day.)







It's (i.e. it is) never used as a possesive, meaning something that belongs to it. That would be "its" (no apostrophe): "Its color was red."







And another thing that is really bothering me lately is the use of the word "fail" as a noun. As in, "I had an epic fail".







Fail is a verb, as in "to fail". It is not a noun, as in "I had a sewing fail last night". That does not even make sense, if you take it literally. I just want to ask, what did the sewing do, that it failed so miserably?







Why not just say "I made a mistake?"







Perhaps that is the answer- we don't want to admit that we made a mistake, and are trying to blame an inanimate object for our "fail"? I don't know, I just know that it really irritates me to read that!







Well, I feel a little better about that now.



It's a miracle.







P.S. Enjoy some of these pictures I took at the Philadelphia Flower Show a couple weeks ago- see it's not all bad!

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