Postcard Show

   I went to the annual Post Card and Paper Ephemera Show at the fairgrounds this weekend. Every year I go and drool over the Halloween postcards that I will never ever be able to buy. I can justify buying a lot of things, but not a $100 postcard.
   If I ever find a *working* vintage typewriter I would definitely pay $100 for it! It seems like people only sell sad, broken typewriters. Having someone tell you that it "probably works" if only you "buy some new ribbon, fix the keys and fix the return bar"....Well that's like saying "Here's a perfectly good laptop, it just is unable to save any of your work, but you can probably have that fixed"......

Here are my favorite things I bought at the show.....

Bought these from my absolutely favorite dealer at the fair. I don't know his name, which is strange since I've bought quite a few pieces from him. All of his stuff is real vintage and his prices are reasonable. 

  These were new to the show and they just jumped out at me. So, some of the pave stones are missing, big deal. I would think that these would be late 1950's, early 1960's since space themed jewelry and home items were all the rage. 

   They are screw backs, so they are slightly annoying, not as bad as clip ons. 

Other favorite buy: Vintage postal air mail stickers! Think I may need to copy these and start attaching them to my LWA pen pal letters. Or my Letter of the Month letters.....or maybe I'll just make them into really cool shrinky dink pins. 

  I should have gone back and bought more of these little guys. I think I bought them more out of sheer graphic design love than anything else. 

  The Colonial Airways System tag is from the lat 1920s and is from a Canadian Mail carrier. I loved the Art Deco lines and the constellation on the background.

   Any kind of air mail sticker always makes me a little tingly, silly, right? Mainly the tingly happens when I open my mail box and I see a letter with an air mail stamp (why can't we go back to the stickers?! Probably the same reason I didn't get an "I voted" sticker in the last election- $$$$). 

If anyone is interested in getting a letter with a lovely air mail sticker (a copy of one-sorry, saving the originals), let me know! 

Cheesy Chard Fritters

      I love fritters. Whether its potato pancakes (latkes), corn fritters, carrots fritters, zucchini fritters.....everything seems to taste better in a batter and fried up in oil. At least now I can say that the judges on "Chopped"explain that the vegetables' essence and juices are sealed in.....right....

   I am no vegetarian, but Deborah Madison sure makes it tempting in her new book, "Vegetable Literacy". Including a really tasty recipe for Swiss Chard Fritters. She calls for ricotta in her recipe, being out of ricotta, I substituted cottage cheese. I used the same amount, I just blended it until it was creamy in a food processor. I also did not use beet greens or beets to top my fritters with. I like my beets in a chocolate cake (you probably know that from the cake recipe I blogged about earlier).

   Deborah's book is more than just a cookbook; it's also a gardner's friend. All recipes are grouped by vegetable family and she lists varieties, kitchen wisdom, what to eat with the vegetable, how to cook and freeze and growing tips as well.

Chard, Ricotta and Saffron Cakes

10 to 12 cups trimmed chard leaves

2 pinches of saffron threads

1 cup white whole wheat pastry flour

1 tspn sea salt

1 1/2 tspn baking powder

1 cup ricotta (see above for substitution)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 c milk

2 eggs

3 tblspn olive oil plus more for frying

sour cream to serve

Don't be scared by the amount of chard in this recipe-it does wilt when you cook it! Not as much as spinach does, but a lot more than kale does.

Wash the chard-leaving some water on the leaves-like in the picture above. Cover and cook the chard in a pot over high heat until its wilted. This does not take long, under 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it!

When the chard is wilted, put it in a colander to cool and drain.

Cover saffron thread with 2 tablespoons boiling water and set aside. 

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. In another bowl, mix together the ricotta, parmesan, milk and eggs until blended. Add the oil and the saffron and then whisk in the flour mixture. 

Put the chard in between two paper towels and gently pat down to get out any excess water. Take it out of the paper towels and chop the chard finely and stir it into the batter.

Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Drop the batter in by the spoonful into the hot pan. You can make large or small cakes-mine were more medium sized. 

Frying up the fritters

 The batter is thick so it will take a bit to cook. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes, flip over and cook another 3 minutes. DO NOT press the fritter down!

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

These make a good appetizer or could be a side course of a meal. Or you could just eat them over the stove, hot out of the oil. There's nothing wrong with eating a fritter straight out of the pan-just don't burn yourself! 

Happy 1 year on Etsy!

    So, technically my Etsy shop's one year isn't until July 15th, but I thought I would celebrate early. So, if you go to https://www.etsy.com/shop/MinkCouture and enter coupon code HAPPY1YR you will get 10% off your order. This is only good through July 31st.
    We recommend stocking up on Halloween items like some of the ones below!

Reproduction of Vintage Postcard-A wall hanger to brighten up any room

Another cute wall decoration!

Hand knit and felted hat-bats against a moon! Tres chic for your party!

All other items are good for the sale too!

This little piggy....Another Strange Find

 Here's another strange find...A stuffed piggy with her babies. Notice how the babies are snapped onto her belly....It's like 6 toys in one!

Another Year at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair

  One thing I love about the summer (since today is officially summer) is fairs! My favorite fair of them all has to the the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair. Miles of yarn, fiber, spinning, quilting, hooking, knitting, bunnies and looms.
   This year seemed to lean rather heavy on the loom side of things.

A "Cricket Loom", love the red sparkly thread, had to buy some!

  First, I have to mention the vintage handbag exhibit. The pattern was difficult and the directions were lacking, typical of vintage patterns. This year's purse was a 1920's handbag that had to have netting, a drawstring closure and a top and bottom tassel. I ended up throwing the directions out and making up my own purse. Who says netting has to be "netting" anyway? 

   I was really looking forward to seeing what everyone else did, how they interpreted the design, the color schemes, etc....well....looks like people gave up! Out of 18 entries on 4 of us got their bags to the fair. 

I do find it interesting that most of us stayed with the "green" theme! 

I picked up a cute sea turtle needle felting kit at Purl and Loop and it seems that embroidery is making a comeback. No doubt because of Design Sponge's long entry and how-to's. 

Kind of reminds me of spiral graph!

I stopped by Swiss Frau Farm's booth to get some goat milk soap. Goat milk soap is wonderful, I highly recommend picking some up. Stay away from those petroleum sudsy soaps, you don't need suds to get clean! Goat's milk is wonderful for your skin, especially if you have skin problems or dry skin.

I couldn't decide, so I bought both! 

  I stopped by one of my favorite places, Nifty Thrift Dry Goods and bought some lace and some other cute ribbons and trimmings. No pictures (or peeking)! You'll see them out to good use soon enough in the Etsy store. 

Lastly, a new favorite place! Mia Bella Yarn. While browsing at their great selection of totes (one of which I should have bought! Grr buyers remorse...unless they have them at their store???) I was approached by Sarah and asked if I had looked at their Mink yarn.

  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They carry 100% mink yarn from The Grinning Gargoyle. I bought a skein in shiny copper penny color. I had never seen mink yarn before; the minks are brushed and not harmed in the process. The yarns are hand dyed and feel silky soft. 

   I felt it was kismet, mink yarn, MinkCouture store, Mink blog, mink swimming in the lake in my backyard. 

Sarah holding my yarn selection and pattern-I better get knitting!

The bag that I should have purchased!

Besides the giant freak thunderstorm, the day was fun, exhausting and as always everyone was friendly and helpful. 

  I can't wait for the Yarn Crawl or next year's fair.

Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair

    This year will mark my third year attending the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art Fair. This year I am finally entering the Vintage Handbag exhibit. The idea was to use a vintage handbag pattern from the 1920's as a starting point and then interpret your own design and make it. The must haves were: a drawstring closure, a top and bottom tassel and "netting".
    For those of you who aren't going to be in the area, here's a sneak peak of my design. I used Faberge's "Rose Trellis" egg as my starting point, but decided to use violets in place of the roses (since violets are Illinois' state flower).

The animals in my neighborhood

    Living right on the edge of a forest preserve can be a blessing and a curse. The wildlife can be stunning when its not eating your flowers and veggies. Lately I've had some new visitors in the area.....

This raccoon ventured out in the daylight. I think he just wanted to watch the hockey game....

One turtle, then I found a second, laying their eggs I suppose......

Happy Hunger Games District 8!

Have I mentioned how much I love the Hunger Games books???

   I present, coming soon to the Etsy store.....District 8 hat. Miniature hand knit and felted out of blue-green wool with a sparkly orange "veil". A ribbon of vintage 'sewn by" serves as the hat band and a blue stripe button with a "8" bingo marker and a "Findings" safety pin in the center. 

    Want it now? Contact me and I can reserve it. 

     Want a different district? I can make that too!

     Check out the store for a Mockingjay fascinator!

Library Craft Show

The jewelry table

The mish-mosh table

Well, the craft show wasn't a complete success....not a single item sold! But, I don't think anyone sold anything either. How can you compete with cutey Cub Scouts selling hot dogs and free face painting??

  It was a good time and if you stopped by the booth and wanted to get something and you don't see it up on the Etsy site, contact me and let me know!

Craft Fair Coming Up!

    On June 1st MinkCouture (my Etsy store) will be at the Round Lake Public Library for their "So Close to Summer"Craft Show. Unless there is a torrential downpour.....
   All the details are here. If you show up and purchase anything from me that day I will give you a 10% discount if you tell me, "There is no friend as loyal as a book". It's like a secret library password to savings! I will be bringing by some new scarves and button bracelets, so stop on by next Saturday! 

Dispatches From the Fair-Bell Jars

So, I am going to mix things up a bit and I will try to bring you a quirky flea/ antique find every Sunday. 

   This one comes from the Elkhorn Antique Market in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. 

  There is something both disturbing and beautiful about this. I don't know why, but bell jars seem to be popping up everywhere. I saw some last week at a fair placed on top of flat slices of tree trunks. This looks to be a bell jar on a candle holder. I also saw bell jars on top of hand mirrors. You place something under them and they taken on a precious quality. 

   I tend to feel the same way about doll parts as I do about clown pieces. They creep me out; especially when the doll is missing eyes. Watch this Brothers Quay film and you'll understand (I hope). 

   Poor Miss Pearl. I bet she just really wants a body and a little girl to love her instead of being trapped under glass. Any thoughts dear readers?

Graduation Speeches

    Soon the class of 2013 will be commencing and they will be thrown out into the world. At my undergraduate graduation every student received a small booklet. The booklet contained wisdom , quotes and stories from our teachers and faculty. Things they thought would be useful out in "the real world". My most re quoted advice from this booklet is from our artist in residence in the Dance Dept; "Show up, Shut Up and Do your job". It seems like this is not the case anymore, sadly enough.
    My other piece of advice is about travel. You might find this somewhat not in vogue either in this day of GPS and in car navigation. But, it is good advice. Advice that should be taken before Route 66 becomes just another mega interstate that gets you from point A to point B in the least amount of time possible.

" I like to think of the college experience and the life that follows as a matter of choosing between I-70 and Route 66. If I want to go to from Chicago to the West Coast in the shortest time I might head to I-70 and travel west. But if I want to go west, enjoy and see what lies between Chicago and the West Coast in an unhurried manner I would take Route 66. And it is good to have this choice because there are times when each is appropriate."

-Stephen Friol
   Dean of College of Fine Arts and Dean of Faculty Millikin University

Post Antique Fair Finds-Strange Animals

With the Summer months approaching it can mean only one thing....Antique Fair Time!!! I love a good antique/flea/craft market. It also means that I can share my strange finds with all of you!

It seems like there are always some creepy animal type things...

I am always amazed at the amount of Salt and Pepper Shakers that can be found. They come in all shapes and sizes and the collections always take up at least a shelf or two in every booth. If you've been to my Etsy Store you may have noticed I have a thing for animals with rhinestone eyes. However, my button animals are cute and these cats are kind of creepy with their expressionless eyes. Plus, Siamese cats just bring to mind "Lady and the Tramp".

Possibly the oddest assortment of figures : duck, elephant/ wooly mammoth, poodle, squirrel. At least the squirrel and the cat get green eyes. The poodle looks angry/ possessed and may just go all Cujo on you when you bring it home. Not to mention how out of scale these are! The cat looks sad and the squirrel is either screaming/ surprised or is staring into some pretty car headlights. 

The Garden (Again)

   After getting over a really nasty sinus infection, I vowed to take it easy this weekend since it will soon be the "Summer Con Crazy Time" (as I call it) at work. However.....it was so nice outside yesterday I thought , "Why not pop some seeds in the garden?". I think we finally made it over the no more snow hump here.
   New to the garden this year...heat resistant radishes, red kuri squash, brussel sprouts and potatoes. I am especially excited about the potatoes! I dug my trench and picked out the best fingerlings that had at least two eyes. Since potato leaves are toxic I am hoping that the bunnies and deer will leave them alone. Hopefully my Irish heritage will not bring on a bought of potato famine!
  I will take pictures and update as the planting season moves through summer.  Happy planting!

Wallpaper Choices

    I've been thinking about a bedroom re-do for awhile now. New carpeting was just put in, so it seems to be the perfect time to really get motivated about this. I keep bouncing between paint and wallpaper. My bedroom is fairly small, so I can't go all out on the dark dramatic color that I tend to like. I have spent many an hour looking at paint chips in the hardware store. 

    Paint names are getting to be as goofy as the names for hair dye. Tide Pool. Gloaming. Zen. Rainwater. Powder Puff. Duck's Egg. Windy Pine. Garden View. Ice Floe. Can I just get a Pantone callout (says the designer in me)?! Seriously, I think it would be easier for me to find a Pantone chip that I like and bring it to a paint company than to pick a blue/green color that I want. 

    That was before I got sucked into Houzz and started looking at wallpaper. A couple hours later I was at least able to order some wallpaper samples. Some I genuinely love, others seemed like they may a little too quirky, but why not get a free sample. When I received my samples it became clear that "sample" means something different to everyone. I got a notecard sized sample from Anthropologie and full 8 X 10 sizes from others. So, Anthro....get it together and give a larger sample, especially with what you charge. Though I love Octopus' Garden I am not going to fork over that much money (and I am only doing one wall!). I might consider it for this only because it reminds me of the wallpaper in the mayor's office on "Once Upon A Time".  Then I found out that I would have to apply my own paste....So now I have to pay for professional installation too?!

    I am very much in love with this star themed wallpaper from Barneby Gates. It serves as the grown up version of my childhood room (Celestial themed with glow in the dark stars on the ceiling). Donwside is, they're in the U.K. Maybe I could just paint and stencil? 

    Other pretty wallpaper was found at Farrow and Ball and they do have distributors in the U.S. Some of my favorites include: Lotus, Ranelagh and The Chelsea Paper's Wisteria.

    I still have no idea what to get, but at least I have some pretty paper to use as a jumping off point. 

Simone Handbag Museum

   With all the road closure this weekend due to the massive flooding; I was finally able to take some time and look through Judith Clark's "Handbags: The Making of  Museum". I highly doubt I will ever make it to Seoul to visit the Simone Handbag Museum. So, this book is close enough. Page after page of gorgeous handbags, purses and pockets in full color detail will keep you glued to the book through several cups of tea. Each purse is dated and has a detail description of materials and use. Here are a couple of purses that I liked.

This purse is from 1800-99 Europe. The "netting" on it is made from cloves. Now I want to try this on the purse I am making for the Fiber Arts Fair in June. How does one sew through dried cloves???

This purse is from 1825-20 Britain and is made from metal rings covered in crochet thread. I like my purses more solid, so people can't see what I am carrying. I give this my thumbs up because I cannot crochet; I can knit, but for some reason I cannot master the crochet hook.

My favorite purse out of the whole book! "Vanity Dance Purse, America, 1920, Celluloid, Artificial Silk Cord and Floss". This purse opens to reveal a round mirror, pink powder puff, lipstick and a place for your cigarettes and matches. I just love the color scheme and how you can pack all those items into such a tiny purse. You had to pack light out on the dance floor.

Record Store Movies

 Counting down the hours until Record Store Day? Why not pass the time and watch some great movies that have vinyl front and center in them? In no particular order I give you:

Empire Records

The movie that made everyone want to work in a record store. Who wouldn't want to work in a record store, you listen to music all day and hang out. There is also a nice lesson on why vinyl is way better than a CD (hint, it involves fire). Sure you have to chase a shoplifter and you might just have to hold an epic fundraiser so you don't become a chain store. A little too chilling a scenario since the economy took a nosedive.


High Fidelity

The ultimate Chicago record store movie, I swear that the guys in Reckless Records are just like this. Full of top record lists and employees that just keep showing up for their love of vinyl (and mockery of people who obviously know nothing about music). It also includes a rather impossible trip on the Purple Line and a hilarious scene involving an air conditioner and Tim Robbins.

Ghost World

So, its not set in a record store, it does feature people bonding over records. This was a film that when I watched it I thought, one of these girls has a great movie career ahead of them...boy was I wrong.....A good movie for outcasts and people who wonder who writes those "chance meeting ads" in the paper.

A Clockwork Orange

Violence aside, Alex does have great taste in music. Too bad its later used to torture and condition him to take away his free will. 

500 Days of Summer

This should have been the first sign the relationship was heading for trouble. Though I do like Octopus' Garden, its not my favorite Beatles song. That's another debate and post all together. Better to spend your time at a record store than IKEA.

Any other favorite movies about or set in record stores???

Record Store Day 2013

   It's almost Record Store Day! So, this week I am featuring some vinyl themed posts. First off, you can head here to find your participating stores. I'll be featuring a countdown clock on the website too.
    Nothing beats the sound of vinyl. Computers and digital players just can't give music that warm alive sound that you can get from a record. Try an experiment at home-play a song on your record player, than through your computer and you decide which is better...bet its on the record player. Hopefully you still have a record player.
   I still have my first record player, granted it's a Fischer Price plastic one. I think you can pick one up at certain antique stores. You'll notice it buy the lovely shades of brown and burnt orange. The sound quality is quite nice when you consider there are no giant speakers. I spent many long nights in school listening to records while I tried to finish papers and projects.
    I believe records have greater artistic value to them too. With the rise in music downloads how often are people looking at album artwork? Storm Thorgerson's artwork for Pink Flyod was a perfect mix of music and art.
   If you want to check out more artists head over here.
  Besides your local record shop or antique store, my favorite place for finding vinyl is Good Will (or any Salvation Army/ second hand store). You can get a record for a dollar. I picked up a collection of 78's for a buck. They were a collection of historical events: the Hindenburg disaster, JFK assassination, lots of Edward R. Murrow broadcasts. I also bought an original recording of Orson Wells' 'War of the Worlds"- a record I like to play on Halloween night.
   My record collection varies; I have folk, rock, a record put out by a restaurant in Chicago, French cafe music, movie soundtracks, punk and Disney recordings. Your record collection can tell people a lot about you, much like your book collection. So, what does it say if you own no vinyl? 

Book Rules

   Since the Chicago Tribune posted a column on rules for movie remakes this weekend, I thought books should have some rules too...


1. Books that are a running series, one book a year is fine. Books that are a series of 4 or less- two   books a year-I'm talking about you Marissa Meyer! Its no fair offering a book a year the way you end your books!

2. If you are running a series then leave us with a snippet of the next book at the end.

3. Do not write a brilliant series and then cop out at the end (some on, the ending of Mockingjay needed a couple more pages and some more closure).

4. Books and movies based on books should be judges separately. This goes for T.V. shows as well. Game of Thrones does need all those characters and will everyone who read the series please shut up about whatever this 'Red Wedding" thing is so those of use who only watch the series can experience it without any knowledge?

5. People who design book covers, can you please give women heads? Please visit here for proof and further discussion.

Anyone have rules to add???

Home Made Marshmallow Peeps

     Some treats only come out at holiday time- candy canes for Christmas, candy corn for Halloween and marshmallow Peeps for Easter. Of course, Peeps are out year round now (ghosts, hearts, Christmas trees), but I still only buy a pack during Easter. They come in bunny or easter chick shape and in a rainbow hue of pastel colors. Just Born is celebrating 60 years of marshmallow goodness this year.
    Quite a few years ago I tired to make my own. Martha Stewart had done a peep and bunny diorama of deliciousness that I just had to try and make. Well, my pre teen self just didn't have the patience or culinary fortitude. All I remember is that my sugar never set and I ended up with a puddle of goo that was forever sticky.
    I re tried the recipe today and it was a success! These are super easy to make if you have a little bit of patience. You don't even need artistic ability, you can make marshmallow blobs. These taste sweeter than store bought peeps and they don't have the crunch of peeps going stale....yet.


Marshmallow for piping

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

2 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin (1 package of Knox brand)
1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup cold water
1 cup sugar

You will also need sanding sugar for coating the marshmallow, this is the finer colored sugar in the baking aisle.


In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes.

While gelatin is softening, in a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Stir over medium high heat until the sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring and place a candy thermometer into sugar. Boil until sugar reaches 238 degrees, the soft ball stage. (Most candy thermometers will have "soft ball" written on them) It takes some time to reach this stage, be patient!

Remove syrup from heat, add to softened gelatin. Mix by hand with a whisk for 2 minutes to combine and cool. Beat on medium high heat with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form and the marshmallow mixture holds its shape. Another step that takes some time. This takes over 10 minutes of whisking. How do you know when its ready? When you turn off the mixer and lift the whisk out and you have a sturdy string of marshmallow clinging from the whisk to the mixing bowl-thats when. DO NOT under mix, you will wind up with sad puddles of goo.

Now the fun-adding sugar and forming!

I prepped three small baking sheets (the kind that go in a toaster oven) by covering the bottom of them with a fine layer of sugar. This will prevent your peep or bunny from sticking.

I chose some happy Easter colors...you could also make Easter zombie bunnies with the green. I had some red,
but then my bunnies would look like Watership Down and thats just sad....

    Use your largest piping tip you have, I had a Wilton #12, but it should be around 1/2 inch. Put the marshmallow mixture in your piping bag. I don't have the fancy bag holder, so I used a glass-works just as well. Make sure to have your bag rolled all the way down and slowly open it up as you fill it. Try and get the air out too.

Filling the piping bag

Now is the fun part! Now for the bunnies!

Pipe out a "body" for your bunny, the larger middle circle. Next add a smaller circle for the head and then a smaller circle for the tail.

Wet your fingers and gently pat down the peaks on the head and tail.

Pipe the ears, these are just long rectangles that come off the head of the bunny.

Spoon sanding sugar over the whole marshmallow creation so it doesn't stick to anything.

You can keep your goodies for 2 weeks if you seal them in an air tight container.

Who says that you have to make bunnies? You can make any shape you want. I made a Peep-o-saurus Rex!

Happy Easter!