Thursday, July 30, 2009

Vintage Thingies Thursday

Hello, and thanks for joining me in another fun Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by Suzanne over at http://coloradolady.blogspot.com/search/label/Vintage%20Thingies%20Thursdays. She has lots of other participants you can visit as well, by clicking the above Url.


First I would like to share with you a vintage cake topper from 1944. It belonged to my dear mother-and father-in law. He was in the military, and they had cake toppers with the groom dressed in uniform. When he passed away, about 20 yrs ago, she had moved from her big home to an apartment. Can you imagine she was going to throw this away! I thought it was a real treasure. I said NO! I WANT IT!!! You want this old thing? It is made of a chalk ware like material on the bottom with a lacy design, and a music box. The music box no longer works though. She is a lady of many talents, and she made the arch around it from beads. I was also lucky enough to get this portrait of her and hubby on their wedding day. She is still living today at age 88, and still loves to make her crafts, which now is mostly needlepoint. If you collect or know someone who collects vintage cake toppers, there are places listed on the web, that will restore them to almost new condition. It is a rather pricey procedure though. I am happy to have them both.

You can click on the pictures to make them bigger, to see more details.

Now, I also love to collect these vintage "cabinet cards or photos" as they are called. I don't know why, but I especially love the ones with children and brides. I purchased this one on e-bay for about $5.00



This is my grouping of vintage photos, and the picture of my mom there on the left with her fingers in her ears! I thought it was so cute.


This is a photo I found in an antique shop, of (it looks like) a brother and sister. Aren't they adorable?





This is another picture of one of the above, if you want to see it closer you can click on it. I have them a little out of order. It's already afternoon on Thursday, and I'm running a little behind, and didn't want to start uploading them again.




Now, I know your thinking what the heck is this she's got here. I had seen this in a magazine, and decided to make one. It's a piece of vintage silverware, and I bent the prongs to make a postcard, photo holder. Click on the picture to make it bigger to see details. This one has four prongs, and the two in the middle are bent forward and curled. If you look at the above picture, you can see where the photo/card sits on the two middle prongs. The other two outside prongs are bent backwards to make it stand. To bend the prongs more easily, I held mine over a hot flame, and used needle nose pliers. Do the same with the back prongs, being careful not to touch the hot metal. You may need to fiddle with it a bit to get it the way you want, and to stand. I thought it was such a cool idea. Now, when you heat the metal, it will probably tarnish, so you will need to polish off the tarnished areas, or you can leave it.
Hope you enjoyed my post, and now hop over to Suzanne's to see the other vintage goodies.
Thanks for stopping by!
Debbie





13 comments:

Coloradolady said...

What a wonderful post. I love the topper and the photos are amazing. The fork looks like maybe someone was too impatient waiting on their supper.

Have a great VTT.

★Carol★ said...

That cake topper is so gorgeous, and I've never seen one made of chalkware! What a special keepsake, and thank goodness you rescued it before it ended up in the trash1 Love all of your old photos too, and the fork picture holder--how cool is that?!!

Becky said...

AIII!! She was going to throw it away?!?!? So glad you saved it! It is gorgeous as are your pictures.

I always get a little sad looking at the pictures for sale at antique/junque/thrift stores. Didn't they have any heirs?

Thanks for sharing! There's a bunch of silver forks in a box over there calling my name!

Cass @ That Old House said...

How lovely to have your parents' wedding cake topper! My parents eloped... no cake!

The postcard holder from the old fork is a brilliant idea. Those old photos are lovely --bittersweet, too, but lovely. I love the clothes.

Cass

for the love of thrift said...

I love, love, love that old cake topper. What a treasure, I'm not sure I've ever seen any. I'm a sucker too for old photos, imagining who they were and what was going on in their life. Great post

Marie said...

I just love that cake topper- it's beautiful!
And the photo collection!

fitty's pinky rose cottage said...

i really like your cake topper.. my fave actually.. and you got some nice vintage photos too.. and what a great idea to use fork as a stand for cards and photos..

the wild raspberry said...

i am drawn to those old photos of babies and kids and brides as well. there is something very wonderful about them~imagining their lives.
you found some great ones!
that fork idea is very cool.
have a wonderful weekend
chasity

Shari @ My Cottage of Bliss said...

Hello my friend! What an interesting post! The cake topper is so neat and all that beadwork is incredible. It must have taken your MIL many, many hours to complete that. Don't you wonder about the people in those old photos? Very interesting and certainly thought-provoking.

CC said...

Loved the cake topper and the photos are just wonderful. And that fork photo holder...well, now I must start looking for one of a kind silver forks. I just have to have some photo holders..thanks so much for the idea and instructions. Happy VTT and have a great weekend.

Bea said...

Glad you saved the cake topper. It is wonderful. Thanks for sharing your picture holding fork. Great idea.

Barbara Jean said...

Thanks for coming by.
It's nice to meet you too.
Your vintage pictures are wonderful
Wish i had more of my family.

blessings,
Barbara Jean

PS Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary. =0))

Lady Katherine said...

I love the bent fork! Such a great idea! Hope I do not forget it! Stop by and remind me! lol