With all my though process on what to put our Christmas tree in – galvanized wash tub, wooden crate, or half of a whiskey barrel – the brilliant folks at Crate&Barrel have a solution all their own.
(Half of a whiskey barrel won, btw.)
It’s a galvanized tree collar……
It looks like an inverted washtub, but I think I can live with that.
Pretty clever folks over at the Crate & Barrel,
Pretty clever indeed.
Who doesn’t love The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
And the balloons? The big ones shaped like favorite cartoon characters……Snoopy, Donald Duck, Bullwinkle, Popeye, Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop.
How about a handful of old Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade pictures to make you dream of them.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has been an annual event since 1924, although the first one was called the Macy’s Christmas Parade. The iconic balloons didn’t appear until 3 years later. The parade tradition was postponed through the World War 2 years (1942 – 1944), and resumed in 1945. The very first television broadcast was in 1948……..and every year since,
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone…
all images from Guest of a Guest, modern kiddo, Evil Blogger Lady, and Time magazine.
Cedar boot bags are essential. They help boots keep their shape, dry them out, and most importantly, kill odor causing bacteria.
(We thought that maybe these were strictly a Texas thing – but then I saw that a friend from the Great White North made something pretty similar)
A few years ago a coworker bought a couple of Pendleton blankets to make pillows, and she asked me if I wanted the scraps.
Honestly, I dug the scraps out of a trash can…….(sigh)
I couldn’t sleep at night knowing that these glorious pieces of red/black Pendleton wool were just rotting in a landfill somewhere.
There was really only one thing I could do with all those 8 inch wide scraps.
Make Boot Bags…..
Here’s an easy tutorial to make some enveloped-shaped boot bags of your very own….out of any old fabric.
Start with a strip of fabric that’s about 30 inches long and at least 8 inches wide.
Fold the short edges over about 1/2 inch and pin down.
Then sew along the edge…..
Repeat on the other end of the strip.
After sewing each edge down, flip the whole strip over and fold the top part down about 4 inches.
The raw edge should be facing up at you.
Then bring the bottom up to almost the top and pin the whole thing to hold it together.
Should now have a piece that’s about 13 inches long.
Sew along the 2 longest edges now, leaving about a 6 inch distance in the middle. (Note* We have Man-Sized boots, I’d make them a little trimmer for lady-sized boots – maybe 5 inches)
I didn’t really try to match any patterns, I just let them land where they would.
Trim the edges off to about 1/4 inch from the stitches.
Now turn the whole bag inside out so the seems are on the inside of the bag…..but leave the top flap unturned.
…so you can fill the bags with cedar chips.
(When I was a kid with a guinea pig, we would pick this stuff up at Kmart. These days, it’s not that simple. I had to honestly find a feed store for a $5 bag of cedar chips)
Once your bag is stuffed with cedar chips, “flip” the top over like a closed envelope.
It didn’t take me very long to whip out about 10 of these. Even with my minimal sewing skills.
Because they aren’t sewn shut, I can always replace the cedar or even just add a few drops of cedar oil in a few years.
I made a few about 13 inches long for tall boots and a few about 8 inches for our shorter boots.
That’s how easy they are.
Stick them in your boots and enjoy how fresh they keep them.
Pretty cool idea, right?
…..and that, kind readers, is why I never throw anything away.
It was 50 years ago today that President John F. Kennedy was shot by a lone gunman while slowly cruising the streets of Dallas.
It’s hard to live in Dallas and not be reminded of this fact almost daily.
There’s even an X on Elm street in the exact spot where it happened.
(Fans of the Cavender Diary will remember that the Texas Theater where Oswald was captured and the famous “Backyard Rifle” potos taken by Marina Oswald at 214 Neely st both took place just blocks from our house)
Kennedy’s funeral was held 2 days later in Washington, DC.
To pay respect, 800,000 Americans lined the D.C. streets to watch the coffin’s procession…
…and the caparisoned horse with boots facing backwards in the saddle.
“The quietest day in American history. You couldn’t hear a sound except for hooves cloping, weeping, and the nostril sounds of the horses breathing.”
(photo via Time/Life)
On this day, November 18, 1928, Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in the cartoon Steam Boat Willie.
Have you ever seen it? I mean…ALL of it, not just that 10 second whistling snippet.
Well you’re in for a treat, I found it in its entirety….
That’s the 7-minute cartoon that launched a multi-billion dollar empire.
Mickey was almost caller “Walter” (and better yet, was originally “Oswald the Lucky Rabbit”) Before Walt decided to make his own cartoon character, somewhat similar looking to Oswald.
I love things that almost were/weren’t.
Anyhoo, Happy Birthday Mickey…..
I’m a Catholic.
I haven’t really been to a Mass since the Reagan administration, (except for the ones my brother sneaks on me because one of my nieces is playing the angel Gabriel …or being baptized, or something of that nature)
But for all practical purposes, especially when all the shit starts to go apocalyptical, I consider myself a Catholic.
Recently, it occurred to me that we have quite a few saints lurking around the pad…… maybe just to swing the vote in our favor.
St Francis in the living room in front of a painting of Jamie’s horse Wilbur.
He’s covered in prayer beads, turquoise, and my mother’s fetish necklace.
Pretty sure that he came from the Home Depot.
Made of concrete – he weighs a ton.
This chalkware Sacred Heart Jesus was a “10 dollar score” from one of my favorite haunts, Dolly Python. His head was broken off completely once and glued back on. Looks perfect to me.
Didn’t realize that I collect vintage rosaries, but apparently I do. (3 is a collection, right?) Somehow these ended up draped over the John Lennon picture next to Jesus.
Several Santos candles on a narrow shelf in the bathroom under a cow skull.
They’re available at every grocery store in our neighborhood.
In Mexico, people light them to ask a saint for good luck, money, and even love.
We light them for bathroom ambiance at parties.
This French crucifix was a gift from my dear friend Lenny.
By “gift” I mean that he had several in a garage sale and I just took one and brought it home with me.
I just love how it’s a little banged up.
This plastic Mary has been collecting necklaces – and a few more rosaries, apparently – in the bedroom since we moved in.
She was another Dolly Python score, and white paint over khaki plastic.
I know, she looks like aged wood. At some point in her lifetime she was left out in the rain…
A lot.
Love how perfectly eroded her face is.
We have a second Mary on the kitchen window sill watching over the sink.
“Our Blessed Mother of the Perpetually Dirty Dishes”, ……perhaps?
Another Saint Francis, a gift from my mother, hovers over the potting bench on the side of the house.
These 2 plastic St Josephs grace the picture shelves in the hallway.
Because he’s the patron saint of fathers and the dead, he carries the Christ child and lilies.
The smaller one Jamie found buried in the front yard. Apparently, he is buried to conjure good luck selling a house.
The house sold,……. to us………, so I guess it worked.
Quite a few saints sprinkled throughout the Cavender house……
Like I told y’all, I think we’re covered.
Need some gift ideas for the holidays?
There’s still time to make a few.
May we make a suggestion?
How about pine sachets filled with all too fragrant pine needles.
That’s right, Apartment Therapy is suggesting OUR pine needle sachets that we made for impromptu gifts last year.
I just couldn’t bear to trash any of those fallen pine needles, I had a pile of tartan fabric scraps staring me in the face…..and the rest is history.
Check out our tutorial here, and check with Apartment Therapy to be inspired by 29 other Handmade Gift Ideas this month (1 more each day, for the next 20 days)
We posted about collecting Frankoma pottery a few months ago, and have been getting emails from all the collectors we’ve created.
Sorry about that, Folks,
But it is pretty “crave-able” stuff.
Easy to find….
And best of all, still cheap. (I mean reasonably priced.)
Found this old Frankoma ashtray for a couple of bucks recently.
Perfect size for holding spare change, Burt’s Bees, and car keys.
This is the stamp on the bottom,
I’ve always wondered of the other states were jealous because Texas has such a distinctly beautiful shape.
Makes a perfect ashtray, doesn’t it?
For some reason, the ash falls on Dallas and Houston….
HHmmmm
Found this picture of a wall designed by Thom Felicia,
Aren’t those big gears/wheels just pure industrial coolness?
“Of course they’re awesome,” you say, “Everything you show us is.”
“But where can I, just a humble reader, find them?”
Fear not, I’ve found a few for you…….
Here’s a monster-sized one on Etsy from Vintage Industrial.
It ain’t cheap……..but it packs quite a bit of orange punch for the money.
Speaking of ain’t cheap, Restoration Hardware sells cast gears like this….
Pretty cool assortment,
Iron Anarchy has several vintage pieces for sale.
“This side away from seed” is certainly intriguing.
These babies I stumbled upon here in Dallas at Lula B’s antiques….
From 8 – 20 bucks each, that’s “doable”…. and how cool do they look grouped together like this?
And this big momma was next door at White Elephant…..
$175 isn’t toooo bad. It does come with the mount already welded on.
So there y’all have it.
Decorating with the kinda stuff most sane people would just walk right past.
Pumpkin, Good
Enchiladas, even Better,
Put them together = Mind Blown
Plus, this is a quick and easy diner.
Start with a whole roasted chicken from the grocery store. It’s already seasoned, cooked and probably warm……and that speeds this process right along.
After removing the skin (sure it’s delicious, but no one wants a big fork full of skin in their food) shred about a breast and a half by just pulling the meat apart with a fork.
The Mexican grocery store in our neighborhood has hand-made, fresh tortillas all day long.
I went with white corn. 30 tortillas for a buck fifty….AND they are still warm.
Lay out a few tortillas and add a handful of the shredded chicken and diced jalapenos to each.
Don’t be afraid of jalapenos.
The pumpkin is mellow, and the jalapenos will be just a nice sharp complement to every bite.
Fresh are great, but I prefer pickled jalapenos for this recipe. We call them “Nacho Slices” here in Texas. They should be crisp, and not soft.
Dice them finely, on a plastic board, and sprinkle a few on top of the shredded chicken.
Then add a big fat pinch of freshly grated medium cheddar cheese.
It is an absolutely perfect accompaniment for pumpkin and jalapenos.
Trust me,
Roll your filling up in the tortilla nice and tight.
And line all the filled tortillas, fold side down, in a Pyrex baking dish.
Should make about 8.
For the pumpkin enchilada sauce,
Mix together:
Spread the pumpkin mixture across the top of the rolled tortillas with a spatula.
I just cover the top 90% of the tortilla rolls.
Then a huge layer of grated medium cheddar cheese.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
Until the cheese is melted and the enchiladas are hot through out.
Enjoy with a side salad and nice dark autumn beer.
Ohhhh, Mind Blown,
Right?
You’re welcome.
THE CAVENDER DIARY 