Loved Barbie!!

I loved Barbies - did you?   I saved up and sent away to the Sears or Eaton's Christmas catalogue for mine - the Twist 'n Turn Barbie is the one I had and   still have , sadly, the bathingsuit is no longer around - I had one Barbie, Carla must have had fifteen, so, I think some of my Barbie pieces were mixed up with her friends Barbie collections... I have been wanting to do this post for months, finally, I am doing it today so I can pack all this stuff away again....

How about a little fashion show with my Barbie?  I had very few store bought outfits, my great aunt made most of Barbie's clothes - she had quite a wardrobe!!

My poor Barbie's feet are not in the best of condition, they're all twisted  and out of shape!  I wonder too if Carla gave her bangs a trim - her hair is a bit wild!!

Carla had the whole set of these Barbie cards - look what 1966 shows - my outfit!

One Christmas I got a set of wigs and hair pieces - this blondie is one of those - wearing another store bought outfit.  The dress had a sheer shawl but that seems to be missing too.

Isn't that little zipper the cutest?

This is a homemade set - perfect for travel!

Party time!!  How 60's is this?

Barbie even had a pair of Prince Edward Island tartan pants!

Evening wear for another party - this dress has a little top to go with it.

Barbie deserves the best - including a fur collar!

This is my Susy Goose Barbie closet - I was so proud of this, none of my friends had this, they all had the plastic Barbie bag - it's seen better days, it's missing a leg and one of the door hinges is broken, I played with this a lot and then Carla used it.

I had the Susy Goose Barbie bed too - it's gone!!

There's that Barbie head sitting in there - these are all pieces that I had with my Barbie.  I had so much fun playing Barbies with my friends, I remember having fashion shows at my birthday parties..  You know, it was kind of fun dressing her up again....

This is a wonderful book that I have about all things Barbie - I don't collect Barbies nor do I want to - I'm just happy to drag my one lone Barbie and all her finery out from time to time.  

I'm linking Barbie up with Junkin Joe, Time Travel Thursday ,  Sunny Simple Monday and The Blog Post Office

I Need a Good Rhubarb Recipe

I've tried three different rhubarb recipes in the past week - rhubarb crumble, rhubarb coffee cake and rhubarb/strawberry scones.  One was good, one went went straight to the garbage and the other is just ok.  All of these recipes came from Pinterest, so I guess I can say I pinned this one for Rhubarb Crumble, the original pin came from Rhubarb Central - I would definitely make it again.

The first day we had it with a little real whipped cream, the second day we had vanilla ice cream - either way it was delicious

I have no pictures to document the coffee cake at all - it didn't turn out at all, it went straight to the garbage!!  That makes me so mad when that happens!!!

Today I made Strawberry Rhubarb Scones - here's the original pin - I was hopeful for these, they are just ok, I had one plain, maybe the next one will be a bit better with a little butter.  Last year I blogged about the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Meringue that I made - that's a recipe that always turns out!!  Help me - if you have a great rhubarb recipe, I'd love to try it!!  Please share...

They kind of look like cookies, they really are scones - drop scones! 

I was happy for my Royal SMASHing post to be featured on the new forward & reverse linky party at The Blog Post Office - thanks so much for the shout out!  I'm linking up with The Blog Post Office  again today - check it out!

Shrimp Soup

Sometimes I just have no plan about a blog post, that's what happened with this one, I just snapped a picture and thought this might be a good one to share.  I've made this recipe many times - it comes from Company's Coming Lunches.  It makes two nice size bowls with just enough left to send for Gary's lunch today.

Shrimp Soup

3 tbsp. butter or margarine

3 tbsp. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper ( I don't measure the pepper)

3 cups milk

1/2 cup canned cream corn ( I add a little more)

can of cocktail or small shrimp, rinsed and drained

1 tsp. chopped chives(which I just happened to have growing)

I also added some parsley flakes.

Melt butter in saucepan.  Mix in flour, salt and pepper.  Stir in milk until it boils and thickens.  Add remaining ingredients.  Bring to the boiling point.  It's a quick and easy recipe and is always good!!

Check out the other great posts at Sunny Simple Mondays and Homemaker on a Dime

Stuff from Down the Road

Yard sales in this town are so bad, I think I might be done, I always think that there might be something good out there - but there never is, a couple of weeks ago I got my cake carrier and a few other things at one sale, but I'm thinking that might be it for the year - last summer my big find was a blender!  So, I went further down the road -at one sale a couple were  getting rid of a relatives stuff, another was a guy that will be set up every weekend - he said his house is full - I asked for Christmas, he says he thinks he has some in the basement, so I'll be going back there for sure!  

I spotted some shiny brites in this box - it was $2 for this huge box so I took it, the guy even carried it to the car - guess he was that glad to get rid of it!  There was another box too, for free - I left it there!  Most of this box is now in the trunk of my car, going to be donated - the majority of it I didn't want, but I did find a few treasures...  It was a huge box for $2.

Here's everything I kept - from the two sales...

This is a softer plastic than a regular blow mold, there were two in the box, I don't need two, if anyone out there wants it, it's yours, for free, just pay the postage, which can be done through Paypal.  I've never seen one like this before, it works just fine.

In the box were a couple of boxes with ornaments, there were a few good ones, maybe I'll be able to make a shiny brite Christmas wreath this year!  I was interested in the box because when I hit the mother load of shiny brites last year, there were a few made in Poland ones, now I have the boxes for them.   That was one of my best finds EVER, if you missed it, here it is.

I thought this was a pretty decoration

I'll probably be picking the arrangement apart - these were  some of the better decorations, I don't have a Santa like that!

I was happy to open this box, it's lights for a ceramic Christmas tree, my tree doesn't have all the lights, this year it will!

Finally, I have a vintage Christmas tablecloth!

How cute are these place cards?

There were a few packages of tags, mostly just ordinary except for this - they are 3D, click on so you can see that knee hugger, it's the sweetest thing!!!

A stack of 60's and 70's Woman's Day and Good Housekeeping magazines

Lots of neat old ads for SMASHing!

It was the inside caption that took my eye on this...

I wonder if Ruth was the next to marry? Click on it to read the note.

This is pretty old - we haven't tried it yet - I checked it out - it appears that different moving companies offered this type of puzzle..

I have a few of these old crocks from home but none this size, which would be great for flowers.

A couple of small juice glasses to end it off.

It was worthwhile to drive a bit down the road, I really think I might be giving up on the in town yard sales!!

Today I'm linking up with Junkin Joe, Thrifty Things Friday , Thriftasaurus and Thrift Share Monday with Apron Thrift Girl

The Dionne Quints

The Dionne Quintuplets - first their story was a miracle, it turned into a melodrama and in later years, it was a tragedy and really, still is so sad.  I went to North Bay this week to visit a friend,it was in my mind to go over to the tourist information building to pick up some Dionne postcards, so we went -  I got the postcards but an added bonus was seeing some exhibits they had in the building, then we were asked if we wanted a tour of the  home in which they were born - yes, we did - and admission was only $3.75, it was so interesting!  I had been through the house maybe 25 years ago - I never forgot the Dionne's but I had long forgotten about the contents.

The five identical girls - Annette, Emilie, Yvonne, Cecile and Marie were born May 28, 1934 - the miracle aroused worldwide attention to the tiny village of Corbeil, Ontario - they became the sensation of the 30's - the miracle of their birth, their cuteness, the poverty of their French Canadian parents and the controversy over their guardianship - their story was a blockbuster and still is a very intriguing one to read about!

The Ontario government removed them from their parents and placed them in a specially built hospital, their main caregiver was Dr. Allan Dafoe who had been called to give assistance after the first two girls were born.  Their father, Olivia Dionne fought to regain the girls, they were returned to their family when they were nine but by then the damage was done.

This was Quintland - their home for nine years of their life - they were on exhibit twice daily - I've read that approximately 3,000,000 people came to view these girls between 1936-1943 - famous people like Amelia Earhart, Clark Gable, Bette Davis, our tour guide told us that there is rumor that even Marilyn Monroe visited.    These girls represented a five hundred million dollar asset to the Province of Ontario during this time - it wasn't until 1998 that the Ontario government agreed to pay the  surviving Quints a sum of 4 million dollars to compensate for the time spent on display at Quintland.  They may have had a life of privilage but they never had a loving relationship with their family, by the time they were returned to their parents and other brothers and sisters, their lives had been so different - they never really felt at home with their family.  At this time, only two of the quints remain.

I went right to the library the next day and checked out their one book on the Dionne's - it's next up on my reading list.

It was a great day to SMASH too - I bought a set of souvenir paper dolls - but they are so nice, but I couldn't cut them up.  My Mom often mentioned her Dionne paper dolls - sure wish she had kept those....

I'm linking today with Time Travel Thursday

Royal SMASHing

Did you know that it is 60 years since the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth?  I've always been partial to all things royal - this week I watched a documentary on the Coronation, of course it was the first time a coronation  had been televised,  it showed the film reels being loaded on a plane headed for Canada - the next Coronation will be different, for sure - in this new tech world we live in - everything will be instant!

After watching that show, I knew I had to SMASH something for the Queen..

I've done a couple of Royal SMASH pages already...

In 1991, Charles and Diana came to Sudbury, Ontario - I stood on the side of the road, with Darcy in a stroller, hoping for a glimpse, well, it was a cloudy day with showers, they were late and all I saw was them speeding down the road, Diana was wearing a pink suit, she was waving...

In January, I started SMASHing  - my first page was one on Princess Diana..

I had another chance to see Royalty in 2011 and this one worked out way better, I just happened to be home on Prince Edward Island when Kate and William visited - it was well worth getting up in the middle of the night to get our position, in the front row - it was something I'll never forget...

SMASHing is such a great way to keep these memories alive - I can look at these any time and remember.   But, maybe now I'll go and have a look at my Coronation View Master reels, I found these last year at a Salvation Army for a couple of bucks.

Check out The Blog Post Office - it's a reverse linky, it's new and fun!!

Banana Bran Muffins

I haven't been keeping up on my Pinned from Pinterest posts at all and this isn't one either, I know I haven't been baking as much now that the nice weather is here, that's my excuse!  But, I had some bananas that were past their prime, I was in the mood for muffins but not my regular banana chocolate chip, so  I tried this recipe and they're really good!  It's out of a local charity cookbook, those recipes are often the best - easy to make with ingredients you probably have on hand and more often than not - really tasty.  

Banana Bran Muffins

1/2 c. soft margarine

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

2/3 c. milk

1 c. bananas, mashed

1 c. flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 c. natural bran

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. raisins or walnuts(I used pecans)

Blend margarine and sugar together.  Add eggs, mix well.  Combine milk and mashed bananas.  Add to egg and sugar mixture.  Add dry ingredients, mix until moistened.  Add vanilla.  Bake in greased muffin pans at 400 for 18-20 minutes.  I used the paper muffin liners.  

I'm linking this recipe with Addicted to Recipes and Sunny Simple Mondays

SMASHing On...And On....

I jumped up on the SMASH book craze back in January, it's so easy to get hooked on it - I did my first post  back in February right here - my first page was on Diana, Princess of Wales.  That was only a few short months ago, books have accumulated, supplies have multiplied and pages have gotten a bit more creative.

I'm working on four books right now - each book has a category but really you can use them for whatever you want and you can cover up the pages if there's something you don't care for.   They get pretty thick but I discovered hair bands at the buck store, just as good as the SMASH brand and way cheaper.

Then, there's the washi tape - oh, dear, is that addicting!!!  I also use it on letters and pacakges to pretty them up a little.  How long do you think before that other container will be full - probably not long, at the rate I'm going.  I never buy it regular price and there are online shops to order from that have such different patterns.  I only have Michaels to shop at so the selection doesn't vary that much and like I said, use your coupon or wait for it to come on sale.

I see so many people over on the SMASHaholics group with beautiful craft rooms, I have a small table set up in a spare bedroom and have moved my supplies into the closet - and yes, that's Pyrex Town and Country - full of sharpies.   The great thing about this is though, you can use old magazines, print from the internet -  it's nice to have some stickers and embellishments but you can do it without.   But, it seems that once you start buying all this stuff - that's it - you're drawn into the world of SMASHing!  The SMASHaholics group is on Facebook - it's a closed group but all you have to do is request to be included and you can do that right here

So, here's just a few of my pages - this first one I just completed today.  It's in the 365 book - some pages you don't think that they're your best and others they seem really great, this one is just ok to me, not one of my favourites!

One of the first things we do when we get home to Prince Edward Island is head to the beach and hunt for sea glass

I use the International book for any and all trips - I  SMASHed our whole trip to Florida this winter.

It's not every day that you get to dine at a Trump establishment - thanks to Darcy for treating us to such an unforgettable night.  What a good son!!

Loved reading the Nancy Drew books - that's my Nancy Drew game that I still have!

I didn't like the print on these pages so I covered everything except the "A" and SMASHed all "A" things!

This tribute page to  The Doors is one of my favourites!

Love this "sweet page"

It was hard to know which pages to share - this is only my second blog post on SMASHing, if you'd like to follow my SMASHing pages, I post every page on Instagram at mackaypj, more followers is a good thing!  I also have a Facebook page for my blog - I post my SMASH stuff there too, along with blog news and other odds and ends - follow me at Jills's Little Bit.  I'm pinning away on Pinterest here - I have lots of great boards - here's the link.  

Today I'm linking up with A Favorite Thing at Mockingbird Hill Cottage  - because, this is a favorite thing - SMASHing is such fun!!