A great recipe from a 1931 magazine for Gingerbread Muffins

By:
On:
In: Old Ads, Recipes
With: 0 Comments

My magazine collection is growing, a lot really I may be addicted, and recently I ordered a stack of issues from 1931. One the back of one cover was a Pillsbury ad about how their balanced flour makes large batches easy and talks about making 250 muffins. I was a little afraid of quantity when I saw the included recipe, but the amounts looked reasonable so I went for it. I didn’t use Pillsbury flour, I used a gluten free 1/1 blend. The recipe made exactly 12 reasonable sized muffins. Mine did not take 27 minutes, I believe they took closer to 20. So I’dRead More →

Free crochet pattern for this puff stitch cowl, WITH stitch tutorial video-- From My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Free Patterns
With: 0 Comments

I love single skein projects. I do. If a publisher approached me and said: “Alicia, we want you to design a book!” I’d say “Can it be single skein projects?!?!?!” (Hint hint to any publishers out there.) Well, of course, that’s if they specified YARN specific book, otherwise, I’d do a book with a bit of this and bit of that. I LOVE one skein projects though because you can spontaneously buy a skein of yarn as a total impulse purchase (or you know, on purpose with a plan, if that is your thing) and then you can sit down and work a bit, and WAHLAH!Read More →

A Listerine Ad from the 1930s-- My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Old Ads
With: 0 Comments

Recently I got a new stack of old magazines from the 1930s, and one of the first things that jumped out at me was the full page Listerine Ads. Let me share some of them with you. The course of the year of these issues starts out quite mild, Listerine kills germs, and we all have germs! Then it progresses to things like killing colds, and (I did not know this) helps have shiny hair! One ad I did not photograph says that you should gargle Listerine after shopping to prevent getting sick. ALL Of these ads say that you should gargle Listerine every twoRead More →

How to make a large container of yummy hot cocoa mix for less than $6 and using 15 minutes or less of your time! Only three ingredients needed! Easy DIY from My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Recipes
With: 2 Comments

Do you like hot cocoa? I do. While some people only drink cocoa, or tea, or coffee, or hot cider, I drink them all! I love to get cozy with a hot cup of something. So does my son. My son also loves snow days. He will often be out ALL day on any snow day.  I’m sure you can imagine we use a lot of cocoa. So for a few years now, I’ve been making my own hot cocoa mix. It’s handy to have, cheap to make, and tastes great! It’s a blend of various recipes I’ve found in old books and magazines overRead More →

I got a fun goody box and decided to recorded a box opening video to share the excitement!-- My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Craft Chatter, Fun and Games
With: 2 Comments

Hey guys! So last week I contacted a great rep at Fiskars and asked if they would be interested in sending me some sample items to share with my followers, and they said yes! The package arrived today I decided to do a box opening to share the excitement. These items were sent to me free, however, I was not paid in any way, not to like them, or even forced to talk about them. All excitement is truly my own (and I am very excited!) Fiskars has always made a great product and I am delighted to show off some of their stuff. WantRead More →

Free pattern for the crochet Katherine Shawl, a shawl/scarf that uses a single cake of light weight yarn! From My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Free Patterns
With: 0 Comments

A while ago I released the Ann Shawl, a crochet shawl that was named after the aunt who tried to teach me to crochet, and here we have the Kathryn Shawl, named after my Mom who DID successfully teach me to crochet. Here’s the thing, they are exactly the same crochet shawl. The only difference is yarn and hook size used, and I have two more finishing ideas for you!Read More →

A fun, make up as you go hat formula for using a single cupcake yarn. Free from My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Craft Projects, Free Patterns
With: 1 Comment

I’ve mentioned that I’m a troll cook, but I also tend to be a troll crafter. The Troll Attitude tends to be “it is what it is.” A recipe makes the amount it is meant to make.  A cut shape comes out the measurement it comes out, and in this case, a hat comes out as pointy as it need be. The Backstory: At the end of December I was planning to do a yarn fast for 2018. I was hoping to buy some blanket quantity yarns and also stock up on a few basics and then work my stash for the rest of 2018. IRead More →

My finished doll from the Pookie Pattern! We've named him Junior.

By:
On:
In: Craft Projects
With: 0 Comments

Back at Christmas, I won a wonderful giveaway from Pookie and Pals! I got to pick 10 free patterns from their collection. It really made my day because my husband actually had to work on Christmas, so while everyone was unwrapping and celebrating our celebration was over and my husband was at work. Pookie and Pals is on Ravelry here, and has ADORABLE doll patterns and lots of clothes for them! The original Pookie doll pattern is free, and she also gives away a weekly pattern on her facebook page!  So be sure to follow her if you like her designs. My son declared thatRead More →

By:
On:
In: Craft Chatter
With: 4 Comments

Hi everyone!! Recently I’ve been chugging away at several projects and working on doing my Make Your Home Challenges, and I’ve been pondering something. Condo Knitting. Recently, I have been hearing this phrase and people claiming “it was hugely popular in the 70s.” Condo Knitting is knitting using two different size needles. Here’s the thing though I have been reading vintage stuff, and especially craft stuff, for most of my life (born in the wrong era remember) with a huge emphasis on the 60s and especially 70s. I’ve read pretty much every 70s thing I could get my hands on for over 20 years. (MakeRead More →

A 1931 image of the Hit-or-Miss block, perhaps the original granny square! -- My Workbasket

By:
On:
In: Craft Chatter
With: 0 Comments

I’m having a snow day here and what a lovely snow day it is! Just enough snow to be pretty but worth canceling appointments, and the mailman brought a recent eBay score, 10 Needlecraft magazines from the  1930s. So I’m sipping coffee (will switch to hot tea after this cup) and flipping through my newest magazines. The January 1931 issue has this picture and directions that blew my mind! The “Hit-or-Miss” block, perhaps the original Granny square! The directions are the same and everything. Maybe “Granny” knew this original version. Have you ever heard it called a Hit or Miss?!?!Read More →

The Make Your Home Challenge is a fun, year-long challenge to help you get organized! Our January Challenge is to create a file box to organize our year, and includes a complete how-to video!

By:
On:
In: Make Your Home
With: 2 Comments

It’s time for our January Make Your Home Challenge! Our main challenge for January is to set up a file folder system to help us manage our year! I explain it all in this video: Be sure to subscribe to my Youtube Channel to get all the challenges! I’ll be posting quick mini challenges there that I may not post here at the site, or may post here later than on Youtube. I’m really happy to be leading this challenge for you and hope you follow along and enjoy participating! I have a variety of challenges figured out. I really encourage you to only doRead More →

1977 Issue of the Workbasket magazine, a vintage craft and homemaking magazine.

By:
On:
In: Issue Overview, Old Ads
With: 2 Comments

Follow my blog with Bloglovin I cannot even believe it is 2018. My son is old enough now to realize how quickly time goes and is often commenting on it. 2017 was a good year all in all, but every year has its ups and downs. I was super sick last year for New Years, some weird virus, but other than that 2017 was one of the healthiest years of my life. How was your 2017? Are you excited for 2018? Any big events this year for you? Total truth here: I was so gearing up for 2018 that I almost forgot to actually getRead More →