Heads up, everyone. A little rat told me the Fashion Police are cracking down extra hard this year.
Figures. Just when I ran out of makeup remover.
If you plan to wear spike heels with long jean shorts for New Year’s, I hope you can sprint in those babies.
Fashion Police Crackdowns Aren’t a New Tradition
Sometimes fashion officers will meet an entire year’s quota by going all out on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. They like to compete to see who can set a new record.
These mug shots, public records for everyone and their brother to view, provide hard evidence of vintage fashion faux pas. I must admit they look trendy for their time period, so perhaps they committed the goofy smile no-no. See below.
Those vintage jailbirds are the lucky ones. They were arrested pre-Judge Judy days.
Word on the Street: There Will Be Check Points on Every Corner
So, beware. With Fashion Police out in full force, I advise we hunker down and wait it out at home.
Some people love to be risk takers. These baggy tunics could conceal a keg of beer or two:
What in the world are they thinking? Are they dying to end up in Judge Judy’s court?
Pay close attention to the couple below.
They’re undercover Fashion Police. So easy to spot. Shame, shame if you don’t see them coming from five blocks away on a moonless night.
What’s with the hippie look? Is it replacing the ugly sweater trend?
Do not — I repeat DO NOT shoot a goofy smile at a Fashion Police Officer. It sets them off in a major way.
Looks like someone’s not happy:
Snarl all you want, but you were warned goofy grins are a big no-no when looking the Fashion Police in the eye, especially if you wear fake pearls.
Uh-oh, double trouble:
This one takes the cake. Not only got nailed by the Fashion Police, but the Etiquette Squad made her eat off that same fork for the next 30 days.
I admit I’ve been fined by the fashion police in the past. Here’s one fashion faux pas, but it was a minor infraction. It’s amazing I wasn’t arrested for my Funky Foo Foo Updo, but I have a feeling they mistook me for a tree.
Grammy advises staying home like the good people in this retro video from 1960. They just so happen to be my grandparents, their next-door neighbors, and my uncle and his friends:
What are you doing for New Year’s? Are you getting all decked out and going somewhere special? Staying home? Having company? Committing a fashion crime?
Whatever you decide to do, I wish you a safe and Happy New Year, and may you gather a nice collection of shiny treasures as you reach for the stars and fulfill your dreams in the coming year. Cheers to a healthy, amazing, and prosperous 2018!
Need an updo hairdo to ring in the New Year? I’ve got just the hairdo for you.
All decked out for our great-niece’s Sweet 16 birthday party
Funky Foo Foo UpDo
We started December off in style when we went to our great-niece’s red-carpet themed 16th birthday party.
Look! There’s the paparazzi behind us. They couldn’t stay away. George looked mighty spiffy in his tux. He bought it years ago for our son’s wedding, but I think it was my funky foo foo updo that turned heads that night.
Funky foo foo up-do with dangling accessory in the back
Here’s how I did it:
I wanted to be daring and crazy and have fun. Call it stress relief. Styling hair is not my strong point, so it was a great feeling when I actually pulled it off. I felt like dancing. At the end of the video, that’s exactly what I did. Dancing is a big stress reliever, too.
Warning: Do not use one of those pink curlers for your base.
Perhaps a small plastic water bottle would do the trick. Empty, of course. 🙂
The video below demonstrates why you should not use one of those curlers:
It’s in fast forward to save time. I’m lucky I’m not missing a huge chunk of hair from the top of my head.
I felt like Bozo for a while there:
I wonder if the Bozo look will ever be stylish?
We had a blast at the party. Good times, for sure.
We’re staying home for a quiet New Year’s. I hope you have a wonderful time, whatever you decide to do.
What are your plans? Are you doing something special? Do you like to get all dressed up?
Would you wear a goofy hairdo just for the fun of it? Do you like to clown around?
If you have a picture to share, send it to me or share it in a comment below and I might feature it in a future post.
What are your thoughts?
I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by!
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“Hello, this is Grammy, and I lived in the olden days.”
Photo: Courtesy of Alexas_Fotos at Pixabay
Does the land line in the photo below look like it belongs in the olden days?
A snazzy land line
To me, it’s a pretty nice land line with an answering machine and a Bluetooth, too.
To my oldest grandchild, Twinkle Eyes, it’s a strange sight. She’s almost eight years old, and when we got together for the family Christmas celebration, she stared at it for a long time.
“Haven’t you ever seen one of those?” I asked.
“No,” she said. “What is it?”
“It’s a land line phone,” I said.
“From the olden days?” she asked.
I laughed and so did my brother-in-law, Jim, and the other adults that heard us.
“We still have a rotary phone,” Jim said, “and it still works.” He retrieved it from the garage, then explained how to dial it. I recorded his explanation:
I don’t feel like I’m from the olden days, but this little scene that played out before my very eyes tells me otherwise. Considering all the technological advances I’ve witnessed in my life, I guess I really am from the olden days.
Checking out an old rotary/dial phone
Public Pay Phones Are a Rarity These Days
In the past ten years, public pay phones have become more and more rare. In fact, so much so that I started taking photos of them when I come across one.
Here’s a real humdinger of a pay phone I found up in the High Desert a few years ago:
Public phone in the High Desert, Southern California in 2013
As you can see, it’s not in working condition. Probably a victim of vandalism. Here’s what a public phone is supposed to look like:
Public phone in working condition
Come to think of it, telephones have changed drastically since I was born in 1956. I’ll have to do a post about it sometime soon.
In the meantime, for a few giggles and guffaws, check out the video below. It’s a crackup how today’s kids (various ages) react to rotary phones. I got a big kick out of their lingo, such as “oldish” and other terms that mean the same thing as being from the olden days. Who woulda thunk?
What are your thoughts? Have you witnessed great changes in telephones during your lifetime? Does it boggle your mind like it boggles mine? What do you think the future holds for the next generation of phones?
I’d love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Being Grammy to five young grandchildren, I enjoy their pretend play. Last week at the Dollar Tree, I found a nice selection of fairy wings and matching skirts, so I bought three pairs and I took those darling fairy wings to the Kelley family get-together last Saturday. The three granddaughters that were able to come wore their fairy wings for hours.
They flitted all over the great room pretending to fly in their fairy wings, established a make-believe fairy house in the alcove by the back door, and added their Christmas excitement to their fairy world playtime.
I was in Grammy heaven watching them and took videos to preserve these precious moments because having raised four children, the reality of how fast they grow up is a constant reminder to enjoy every moment.
George aka Gramps was sick with pneumonia or bronchitis (still waiting for the results of the chest x-ray), so he stayed home in bed and had to miss the gathering. Good thing I like to take lots of pictures and videos, so he got to see how cute the grandkids were. Everyone missed having George/Gramps there, though.
The other adults and older kids got a big kick out of the little fairies sprinkling fairy dust. Oops, that was glitter! I’m sorry about that, Jim and Linda.
As the girls played in their pretend fairyland, everyone else took turns asking Alexa random questions. This was my first experience with Alexa.
Here’s an example of the fun we had with Alexa:
So, Christmas 2017 is over. Can you believe it? George was still sick so we watched the movies It’s a Wonderful Life (my favorite) and A Christmas Story (George’s favorite).
While watching the movies, I sipped on apple cider from the moose mug my son and daughter-in-law got me from Wally World! I’m not a big egg-nog drinker anymore.
Glass moose mug Classic Edition from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
From the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”
I hadn’t watched It’s a Wonderful Life in years, so it was that much sweeter watching it on Christmas Day. Got me all choked up and made me reflect on each family member and my close friends and how each one has made a difference in my life.
George and I cracked up all through A Christmas Story. Laughter is excellent medicine for when you’re sick. Just what George needed.
So, ’twas a fairy merry Christmas for us. How about you?Did you get together with family? Friends? What are your thoughts? Are you looking forward to the new year?
I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment if you have time. Thanks so much for stopping by.
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It’s been said a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
I was eight years old when my family moved to California from Pittsburgh in November 1964 and was just starting over, so a coffee table doubled as a dining table and we made do with the bare minimum for the time being. I don’t remember feeling like we were poor.
One day during Christmas break, a mystery man appeared at our door and handed my older brother and me five wrapped presents, each one labeled with the name of one of my siblings and one for me. My gift? The board game Candy Land.
Mom was in the shower when the man dropped off the gifts. She asked us who the man was. We had no idea, but we thought maybe he was our father’s boss, Henry Roan. When questioned about it, Mr. Roan denied being the gift giver.
Years later, Mom finally solved the mystery. It’s much sweeter to hear her tell it in her own words. Go to the 1:20 point in the video.
(Pause to watch that part of the video now if you’re able. The total video is just under three minutes. If you’re unable to view it, look for the answer to the mystery at the bottom of the post. Warning: That’s the short, flat version. My mom tells it way better. Honest!)
Isn’t that a lovely real life story? Such a beautiful act of kindness from a stranger. A stranger who had passed the kindness on from someone who had played Santa to him when he was a child.
Have you ever had an unexpected act of kindness happen in your life, one that touched you deeply? Do you enjoy paying it forward to others? What are your thoughts?
I’d love to hear from you. Wishing you and your family joy, peace, and a blessed Christmas and holiday season. Thank you for stopping by!
If you weren’t able to watch the video: The mystery was solved by Mom one day years later when she was looking through photo albums. She saw my younger brother’s kindergarten class photo. The teacher’s name was Mrs. Purse.
Mom recognized the teacher. Our family had moved twice since then, and Mr. & Mrs. Purse now lived across the street, three doors down. Mom remembered how Jeff’s kindergarten teacher had asked the class, “Who doesn’t have a Christmas tree?”
My brother raised his hand, so she told him our family could have the classroom tree since it was now Christmas break. Mrs. Purse brought the tree over, all decorated with colorful paper chains and other kindergarten art.
“She must have noticed that we were poor and didn’t have much,” Mom said.
What a coincidence that we ended up being neighbors. After baking cookies for them, Mom led us kids over to the Purses’. Mr. Purse answered the door.
“You played Santa Claus to my children years ago,” Mom said.
“Yes, I did,” he said. He then explained when he was a child, a mysterious cowboy played Santa to him and his family. He said he enjoyed passing the kindness on to others.
Today’s post features more Favorite Childhood Toys. This is Part 6.
Photo: Courtesy of Katrina_S at Pixabay
This series features favorite childhood toys of my family members. I’m enjoying this so much, it will be a continuing series, so I hope you will leave a comment sharing what your favorite childhood toy was. I’ll do a future post on faves of my readers and other people I know.
I have to laugh at some of the sibling rivalry incidents. Reading those stories has triggered more memories from my childhood. A few incidents that happened with my sister Pam had me laughing so hard earlier, I was crying.
Jeff – Born 1959: “Not sure I had a favorite one. I did have a vibrating football game but only for a short time since Gordy destroyed it because I put a pen cap in his navy bean soup.”
“I also used to play with toy soldiers.
Photo: PublicDomainPictures at Pixabay
“I will go with string bowling (correct name?), which I remember playing for hours and hours with Scott Hager. (It was his game.) It was bowling pins, about 3 to 4 inches high, and you swung a ball attached to a string (like a tether ball game) and try to knock them all down. I guess I pick it ’cause it was challenging and fun to do with Scott.”
Deborah – (Jeff’s wife): “I had a stuffed monkey with a banana in his hand that I could put the banana in his mouth. He was only 8 inches tall and wore a yellow vest. His head and the banana were made of rubber and the rest was made of cloth and fur.
“I named him Bongo. Got him when we lived in Iowa. I was about 3 or 4 years old and always held him and took him with me. He was my best friend through a lot of childhood stuff. When I was a freshman in high school, I kept him on my bed. One day my mom took him and put him up in the closet. She still has him.”
“Also, one of my very favorite toys growing up was a pair of homemade stilts made for me by my Uncle Ron. He made them out of 2×2’s and attached wooden triangle footrests with big bolts. I loved them! He made these for me when I was 10 and I played with these all the way through junior high school. I even took them to the ranch all of us kids were shipped off to every summer (up between Camp Verde and Strawberry, AZ). These were really special to me!”
Hey, we had a set of stilts when we were kids, too! We shared them. These stilts are also homemade. I don’t remember who made them, but you can bet it wasn’t Dad!
Tahnee – Born 1986: “My favorite toy was Big Bird. I got it for my first birthday. Mom and Dad bought it right before my birthday, and Dad couldn’t wait to give it to me, so he did. When I saw it, I kept saying Bi’ Bir’, Bi’ Bir’! Then on my birthday, Mom and Dad took Big Bird away the night before and wrapped it. When I opened it, I said, Bi’ Bir’ again! I had him for years until I went away to college and then he bit the dust, and when I came home, he was gone.”
Dane (Tahnee’s husband) Born 1986: “Dane played outside most of the time as a kid. One time while riding his tricycle he hit a ditch and fell face first in the mud. His mom took pictures because it was so funny!”
Photo courtesy of ArtsyBee @ Pixabay
Jaimie – Born 1988: “Captain Planet action figures about age 5, maybe a little younger. She had the ring, all four of the VHS tapes, the ooze station that slimed real green ooze and even has a booklet declaring her an official Planeteer!
“When she was 3 or so, she loved, loved, loved spiders. Another of her favorite things was her ta-wanch-a-wa (tarantula) book. This led to her having her very own tarantula way back then. She has one now.”
Briana – Born 1990: “My favorite toy was a white Teddy bearnamed Smokey, which I still have. I think he was my favorite because he was the perfect size to dress up like a baby and push around in an umbrella stroller that my mom got me for him.”
Photo: Courtesy of darkmoon1968 at Pixabay
Jeffrey – Born 1994: “At age 3 he had a VW Beetle car with a button on the top to push down, which would make the car shoot across the room. He played with it for years.
Picture: Courtesy of Alexas Fotos at Pixabay
“He also had a toy muscle-man figure that was yellow and would pivot at the waist. When you pushed on the head, the arms would go up over its head. He got it about age 2 and always held it in his hand, constantly clicking it and making the arms go up. He carried it everywhere until he was about 6 years old. His mom still has it in her desk drawer, and it still works!”
Finding a muscle-man figure that fit that description proved to be challenging, but it must have been one of the 4 inch Hasbro figures in the above video. They were made between 1990 and 1994, and I’ve got to say they’re a hoot. Each figure does different movements. Very entertaining!
Can you relate to any of these favorite childhood toys? Did they trigger any childhood memories? Do you have any funny sibling rivalry stories you’d like to share?
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Each part in this series has featured favorite childhood toys of my family members. So far this trip down Memory Lane has been sweet and fun, despite some disappointments and mishaps along the way.
There’s also a post with favorite childhood toys of my readers, which you can read here.
Today we’ll cover my sister Pam and her family.
Pam – Born 1958: “My favorite toy must have been the Cecil puppet from Beanie & Cecil. ‘I’m coming, Beanie Boy!’ Oh, how I loved that cartoon. It frustrated me, though, that Cecil never came out of the water.
“Then I get the puppet that I asked for, and the puppet had half of him cut off, to put your arm through. So I didn’t get to see the other half then either. I’ll always wonder what he looked like under the water.”
Seems a lot of children are disappointed in one way or another. Either not getting the toy they desired, getting the one they wanted but it got broken right away, or even worse, someone else broke it. In Pam’s case, it would be an unsolved mystery that might never be solved. And now that mystery is kind of bugging me, too.
Dave (Pam’s husband) – Born 1955: A BB gun and bow and arrows.
Photo: Courtesy of RUINS @ Pixabay
Corey – Born 1981: “Super Mario Brothers 2 for the Nintendo was my favorite Christmas present toy. It was stolen from us by a kid we used to play T-ball with.”
There you go, another disappointing story. Having it stolen by someone you know, yet not being able to get it back, ouch! No fair.
Carissa (Corey’s wife): “My Little Pony because I used to pretend like I was a horse when I was in kindergarten or first grade.”
Casey – Born 1983: “Hands down favorite (still use it occasionally to this day) Crosman Airguns Pumpmaster BB gun and a whole lot of BBs. We’d put these bad boys to work on lawn furniture, cavemen/dinosaur toys, houses, paper targets, you name it. And I didn’t even shoot my eye out.”
Shannon (Casey’s wife): “A Brooke Shields version Barbie doll that my dad bought for me.”
Cammy – Born 1987: “My favorite gift EVER was the Barbie house that Mom and Dave handmade for me. It was two stories, had hardwood floor and carpet, drapes, real wooden doors, paint, a shingled roof, and a balcony. Not to mention a handmade bed for my Barbie. I loved that house so much, I will never forget it. And the best part was that it was handmade just for me. Those are the best gifts.”
I love homemade gifts, too!
Photo courtesy of Myriams-Fotos @ Pixabay
What are your thoughts? Do you enjoy taking strolls down Memory Lane? Did any of these vintage toys trigger some memories from your own childhood? I’d love to hear from you.
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List of family members’ favorite childhood toys is tucked into a pocket.
For Christmas 2009, I made an altered art book for my mom and dad, and inside one of the pockets is a list of family members’ favorite vintage childhood toys. You can check out that blog post here to see the entire altered art book.
This series features various favorite childhood toys from three generations, so if you enjoy vintage toys, you’re in for a treat. To read the prior posts, here’s the link to Part 1, Rebel on a Pink Scooter.
Today we’ll cover favorite childhood toys of my oldest brother and family and then youngest sister’s family
Older brother and family:
Gordy – Born in 1954: Favorite toys were army men. He played with them outside and in the house.
Vintage army men toys
Annette (Gordy’s wife): Born in 1956 – Barbies.
Gordie – Born 1981: Big Wheels and Legos.
Sarah – Born 1982: Pound Puppy
Youngest sister and family:
Cindy – Born 1963: “I played with my Barbies on a blanket out in the sun for hours and hours, but I also liked playing with toothbrushes, hair brushes, washrags, and my cactus garden, which was a kingdom.
“Mom had Gordy make wooden furniture for my Barbies, and that was really special, too. I remember playing with it all in the garage in the clubhouse (Mad Clubhouse). I also remember a fuzzy face record holder. It was bright pink and had a face on it, and it held 45s.”
Pretending toothbrushes and hair brushes were people and a cactus garden as a kingdom goes to show how fascinating and adaptable children’s imaginations are.
Some people I know had few, if any, toys when they were children. One friend told me they would use an empty sardine can and pretend it was a car. Rocks/pebbles and sticks were pretend toy people.
Photo credit: markusspiske @ Pixabay
Watching my grandchildren engage in imaginative play have been some of my favorite moments. It’s something they can do by themselves and seems to be a necessary phase in their development.
Oops, sorry, got off track here. Back to the toys.
Photo credit: 3dman @ Pixabay
Below is a Midge commercial. She arrived on the scene in 1963, the year Cindy was born.
Check out Mattel’s Barbie site if you want to spend hours looking at Barbies, accessories, and her friends through the years. Wow!
James (Cindy’s husband) – Born 1963: “He played basketball all the time and then played on a traveling team.”
Hmm, I bet he ate Cheerios, too, like the boys in this 1960s commercial:
Kyle – Born 1988: “Favorite toy was Ninja Turtles (which he called Tomais). He got his favorite Tomai when Brent was born for being a big brother. It was a Ninja Turtle van.”
Brent – Born 1991: “Favorite toy was K’Nex (Pronounced Connects). They’re kind of like Legos but they’re long sticks that fit together. He used to sit in his room for hours and hours putting together his K’Nex, then would take them apart and then start all over.”
I’d never heard of K’Nex before, but after watching this commercial and finding images of this toy, I think it’s pretty darn cool, so I can see why my nephew loved it. It’s still around these days, I believe, so I might want to buy this for my grandson one day.
Brooke – Born 1996: Her twin baby that looked just like her when she was a baby. And her kitchen set. The entire kitchen set was in the downstairs closet (under the stairs), and that was her little apartment.
Baby Brooke
I’m enjoying revisiting toys from the past. It’s interesting to see which vintage toys have stood the test of time and are sure to be around for generations to come.
Do you like vintage toys? Do you have any special memories of some of your favorites or disappointing times when you longed for a certain toy but never got it? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for stopping by during this busy, busy time of year. I hope you’re taking time to smell (and sip) hot chocolate or cider and find a moment here and there to enjoy the lights and decorations and listen to beautiful holiday music.
“Write your hurts in the sand. Carve your blessings in stone.” ~ Anonymous
Talk about blessings, my husband George is a walking miracle. In January, we thought we were going to lose him in a few months due to lung cancer spreading to his brain, but he’s doing amazingly well. His latest brain scan looks good and there are no tumors in his body. He rides his bike, has taken up oil painting, and is working toward fulfilling other items on his bucket list.
Wow! As I reflect back on 2017, I’m amazed at all the blessings. Too many to count, that’s for sure.
Thank you, Susie Lindau, for hosting THE BLESSED PROJECT. Composing this post has been a blessing in itself. I’m in awe at how this year has played out.
I’ve been blessed by many ordinary little things, like friendly visitors on our back fence:
Our neighborhood squirrels are a crack up.
And some not-so-ordinary blessings such as the GAMMA Knife radiation treatment that targeted nine lesions in George’s brain without damaging the surrounding tissue.
January 2017 – GAMMA Knife radiation procedure
Although this procedure wasn’t pleasant, George felt up to having our youngest daughter Suzee and her boyfriend Brett come visit us when we got home that afternoon. George even felt well enough to play his guitar for a bit.
The following week, the oncologist told us George had leptomeningeal disease, an aggressive cancer of the lining of the brain. We clung to tiny specks of hope. Any amount of hope is a huge blessing. So far I’ve only written about the beginning of the journey, Part 1.
Family members reached out and gave us strength, especially our four grown children. We’ve never been so proud of them.
Our five grandkids are full of laughter, amusing antics, and blessings galore.
From left to right: Chatty Girl, Ninja Doll, Grasshopper, Sweet Pea, and Twinkle Eyes
We’ve been blessed by prayers and support from people all over the world. Kind words and well wishes nourish the soul.
Our oldest daughter April had moved to North Carolina in September 2016, so when she learned of her father’s diagnosis, she made plans to fly to California with her two children to spend quality time with “Gramps” while he was asymptomatic.
In the meantime, Suzee made arrangements for us to meet Brett’s parents. We went to a nice Mexican restaurant:
We hit it off with Brett’s parents, Dave and Roxy.
Later that night, Brett proposed to Suzee.
They decided to get married as soon as possible.
The wedding was planned for three weeks later, which was during April’s visit. Our niece Carrie graciously offered to hold the wedding in her backyard.
Due to heavy rain, tents were set up the night before the wedding. It was pouring, and a gust of wind blew one tent into the neighbor’s yard. It hit a car but didn’t do any damage! Crazy, huh? The rental company replaced the tent the morning of the wedding and then everything fell into place.
Suzee walked down the aisle to the theme song from the movie Forest Gump.
February 18, 2017
They danced to Sublime:
My dad is 84 and can dance like a whippersnapper and make people laugh while he’s at it:
A blessed day to rejoice, celebrate love and life and our expanding family.
Family photo with the newlyweds
Best friends
In March, we were blessed by attending youngest grandchild’s baptism. Oh my goodness, so stinking cute!
In May, I got to go to the Madonna Inn in Santa Maria, California, for my niece’s bridal shower.
My niece and my sister
In July we hitched a ride to Cambria with Amy and family to attend our niece’s wedding.
A week after the wedding, my mother and father (pictured above with the bride and groom) celebrated 65 years of marriage.
Niece’s wedding reception – July 2017
Mom and Dad celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary
In late July, we celebrated George’s 65th birthday. First, we went to lunch with our son Mike and his family.
Celebrating George’s 65th birthday – July 2017
Then we all went to a concert at the park, where our middle daughter Amy and her family joined us.
George and I celebrated 41 years of marriage in September. Amy invited us to go to Mammoth with her family and our son Mike for a four-day weekend in mid-September. They rented a pontoon boat for a few hours.
No, that’s not Maxine the cartoon character all bundled up. It’s me feeling blessed that the pontoon wasn’t rented for the whole day!
The next day we visited Devil’s Post Pile, a natural wonder of hexagon-shaped basaltic columns caused from lava and a glacier, fire and ice. A short, beautiful hike through nature’s wonderland is the best kind of blessing.
If you go to the 13:00 minute mark in the video below, you can view the hexagonal columns. Prior to that point in the video, it features the lovely hike to get there.
A few days after returning from Mammoth, we flew to gorgeous North Carolina to see April and her family. Son-in-law had to work, so we didn’t do much sight seeing. Instead, we taught the kids lots of games, put puzzles together, shared spooky stories while sitting around a fire pit, and told silly jokes.
Grammy: Where do ghosts live?
Grasshopper: I don’t know. Where?
Grammy: North Scare-o-lina!
In addition to doing puzzles, Gramps taught the kids how to play dominoes.
October offered plenty of blessings, like carving funny-faced pumpkins and attending a Halloween party thrown by my writer friend, Marissa. Each person had to read a scary story or poem. What a blast!
Writers friends
December 2nd we got to go to a red-carpet themed party for our great-niece’s Sweet 16 birthday party.
As if all those blessings weren’t enough, April, her husband and the kids flew to California the first week of December and we got together at Amy’s to celebrate Thanksmas, a term Amy coined.
There are so many more blessings, but this post is long enough, so thank you for stopping in to visit. I wish you and your family endless peace, joy, and more blessings than you can shake a candy cane at.
I’d love to hear what some of your blessings are, what you’re looking forward to in the coming year, and if you need prayers or well wishes for a special intention, leave a comment and I’ll keep you in my thoughts.
Collectibles for sale – Blue Sky clayworks tea light holder
We have a lot of collectibles and it’s time to sell some. The medical bills are crawling out of the woodwork mounting. A yard sale won’t cut it for collectibles, and I’ve been going back and forth between selling on eBay (a lot of the collectibles are breakables so the thought of mailing them makes me cringe) and Craigslist.
Then there’s the Buy, Sell, Trade groups, which I haven’t tried yet. I guess there are phone apps for selling stuff, too, but I’m too overwhelmed to try a new app. Open an Etsy shop? Perhaps. Better yet, a WordPress plug-in which would allow me to add a boutique to my website might be the best bet, but since I’m flying by the seat of my pants right now, I’ll have to check into plug-ins later.
For now, I’ll start with a blog post. Why not? I can actually sell stuff on my own website. How cool is that? It’s self-hosted, so yay! Thank you, Jay at TechSurgeons. I highly recommend TechSurgeons if you’re thinking of getting a self-hosted site. They offer other tech support, too.
Photo: Courtesy of Geralt at Pixabay
While I’m at it, I’d like to thank Kristen Lamb, social media guru for writers and owner of W.A.N.A. International, because she recommended Jay and she offers brilliant advice for writers. If you aren’t following her blog, you’ve been missing out, so here’s her link. She also offers awesome classes for writers, and be sure to check out her archives if you love hidden treasures
Photo courtesy of Pezibear at Pixabay
Where was I? My schtuff. I must part with it. We have way too much. I still need to go through the china hutch and take photos and videos of my collection of cups and saucers and other goodies, but it won’t be before Christmas because we’re running out of time.
Picture courtesy of Fotomek at Pixabay
Below is a video of my vintage talking Pee Wee Herman doll. He still talks. The prices I’ve found online for him go up to $249. A bit high, huh?
I think $100 plus postage is a fair price. What do you think? I actually have two Pee Wee dolls, but my oldest daughter is claiming one.
The only Pee Wee’s Playhouse poseable figure we saved is the King of Cartoons, so below is a video is you like Pee Wee’s Playhouse collectibles:
Vintage Pee Wee’s Playhouse King of Cartoons – Unopened
King of Cartoons price $15.00 plus shipping
Then there’s the President Clinton Draft Evader doll, which is actually a gag gift. The doll is in excellent condition, but the box, eh, not so much. Here’s a video in case you’re interested:
The President Clinton doll can also be hung from a doorknob by his hands. Price: $50 with free shipping.
Clown lovers, especially Emmett Kelly clown lovers, you might want to check these out. Unfortunately, the autographed Ready, Set, Go and Kittens for Sale pieces are no longer available, but the other pieces are:
Emmett Kelly fire fighter figurine (shown in video) Price: $50 plus $15 shipping.
Emmett Kelly clown
Emmett Kelly clown (pictured above) $50 plus $15 shipping
Have you heard of Blue Sky clayworks collectibles? Man, I LOVE these. I decided to keep the one with the yellow-flowered roof because I’m going to design a fairy garden and it would make a perfect center piece. Since my two-year-old granddaughter is afraid of fairies, I hope she outgrows her fear by the time I get around to making it.
Here’s a video showing the Blue Sky pieces:
Interested in any of these Blue Sky clayworks tea light collectibles? Make an offer. Note: I do not have any of the boxes.
Blue Sky clay works collectibles for sale
Set of four American Women of Arts and Letters – $80 – free shipping
American Women of Arts and Letters Collectibles. Mary Pickford, Grandma Moses, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Pocahontas figurines.
Here are some other items I haven’t had time to do a video about:
Le Cirque 10 1/2 inch clown clock
Clown clock – $40 plus shipping
Back of clown clock
The Performance collector plate
Like this collector’s plate? Make an offer!
Back of clown collector plate
Sun Dancer collector plate
Interested in this piece? Make an offer!
Back of plate
Pay through PayPal.
If you saw something you’re interested in, you can email me at contact at lynnkelleyauthor.com. Please type BLOG SALE in the subject line so it’s easy to spot.
I’ll answer any questions in the comment section.
Any tips to help a newbie figure out what I’m doing? I’m all ears and very thankful for your advice.
Photo: Courtesy ArtPyle at Pixabay
Even if you’re not in the market for buying anything, I hope you enjoyed browsing my stuff. I think it’s interesting to learn what kind of things people collect.
Have you sold collectibles? How did you go about selling them? Do you find it hard to part with some of your favorite stuff? Do you collect things? What kind of collections do you have?
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Legend of Monster Island
Action Adventure for kids - Book 3 in the Monster Moon Mystery series by BBH McChiller (Kathryn Sant and Lynn Kelley) Available in paperback and eBook.
Writer of fiction for children and slice-of-life pieces for grownups, Master Certified Health Coach, mother of four, grammy to seven grand darlings. Goofball. Subject to laughing jags. Co-author of Monster Moon Mystery series under pen name BBH McChiller. Altered art scrapbooker, Toastmaster, YouTuber, and recovering court reporter.
