A 1965 issue of Ladies Home Journal featured this fun salt and starch clay in their special Christmas issue. I was determined to make it, because why not really, and we now have some finished ornaments to show you and share the recipe! The recipe is pretty easy but does take one special ingredient. Don’t…
You guys, what happened to November?!?!?!?!!? Seriously. I know it’s December (omg!) but I DID do a project from the November issue and never got a chance to show you. I actually made this a few months ago, which makes it that much worse that I’m showing it to you late. The November issue featured…
I’ve mentioned my Pack-o-Fun stash here before. In fact, since I won an eBay auction in August for a decent stack I since got a great deal a thrift store for another stack just a few weeks ago. My collection is quickly growing! Even more exciting is two random stacks and not a single duplicate!…
December 1960! When this magazine cost 15 cents to pick up at a newsstand, and as the handwritten note says shows “knit cuffs!” Also in 1960, the US was the first to legalize the Birth Control Pill. Queen Elizabeth made it known her family would be known as the House of Windsor. The Beatles made…
I noticed this issue has no sign of an address label! Perhaps it was picked up at a newsstand for 15 cents. If you drove to the newsstand you may have paid 30 cents a gallon for gas. I have to say I’m very glad that magazines and gas have NOT followed a similar ratio…
Ronald Reagan was voted in as Governor of California. Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sounds of Silence” was number 1 earlier this year. Cigarette packages got warning labels. There were lots of Vietnam War protests. The Miranda Rights came into being. The US Department of Transportation was created. Ladies were rocking the Mini-Skirt, which took several years…
The 1967 Knit Beret did NOT work up like the picture showed but the finished result is beautiful and the pattern is here for free.  Since I wanted a ribbed hat I did the obvious thing and designed my own! This pattern is a little harder than the beret but still uses only basic stitches. Both…
In the September 1967 issue, one pattern I started immediately was this beret. Just one problem. At first, I overlooked the original stitch pattern and looked up an alternative. Turns out the stitch pattern IS there, but it isn’t actually right! The stitch pattern listed makes a beautiful stitch that I just adore, BUT it…
September 1967, a time for Lonely Hearts Club (the Beatles released that famous album in June) but you won’t have a lonely heart if you desire an interracial marriage. Thanks to Loving vs Virginia that was declared legal this year. 475,000 men were off in Vietnam, so you could have been lonely for them though.…
When I first saw this pattern in the 1967 February magazine I thought it was broomstick lace, which I’ve always loved but can’t remember ever trying. Spoiler alert- It’s NOT broomstick lace! It’s actually a very easy knit lace pattern that mimics broomstick. It’s called the Estonian Shell stitch, and it’s actually very beginner friendly!…
I spent some time trying to finish up some projects in my workbasket, and one of them was this tatted edge from the February 1967 issue. I do know how to tat, both needle and shuttle, but I admit I am not well practiced and I struggle. I’ve discovered if I really get myself mentally…
I promised in February that the Ripe Olive Empress Salad, Jello Mold, would be made! There was a delay, but it was made as promised. Usually I buy my gelatin in bulk but when I went to a new bulk food store they didn’t sell it that way. I had to go buy Knox from…
I love an old ad. And this 1967 issue had a great one! Palm Loom, “Make Prize-Winning Rugs.” It was right there in the February issue, tucked between 40 yards of lace for $1, and a “Female-Dri” belt. So, I tracked down the Palm Loom on ebay, and after some browsing, watching, rebrowsing, rewatching, and…
Do you ever start a project, or a meal, and from start to finish it is just cursed? Just every little thing that can go wrong does, and what should be quick and/or easy take forever or is very hands on. That happened to me Sunday night while cooking dinner. I started a full 30…