A Patriotic Gift

A good friend of mine, who was born on the 4th of July, has a special interest in the Presidents of our country.

I always get excited when I come across neat presidential things, because I can squirrel them away for later gift giving! A while ago, I found this little book about the lives of the U.S. Presidents at one of my favorite antique shops, The Butler Did It Antiques in Cannon Beach.

The book is very slim and just has a paper cover, so I thought it deserved a clamshell. Then I decided that it needed my friend's initials on it. Very presidential, don't you think?

Here the book is nestled in its box. It is a Little Blue Book, as can be seen on the front cover. I wonder if it was ever truly blue, that's some serious fading!

It all starts with George! All of the illustrations are pretty great. Another thing you can see in this photo is that the book was printed in the US, but what I didn't realize is that it was published/printed in Girard, KS. Girard is about an hour away from my friend's hometown of Independence, KS. That was a fun discovery!

Introducing... Milk Mail!

Milk caps are like a perfect little slice of vintage pie. Each one reminds me of an intricate poster and what better to do than find two that match and sandwich a special note in between! I've started turning my growing collection of vintage milk caps into a delightfully functional series called Milk Mail.

 Once you have your note written just put it in it's milk mailer and send it on its way!

 A small collection of these sweet accordion books is currently available for sale at mash handmade in Kansas City. Leave a note or drop me a line if you'd like to know when they're available in my Etsy shop.

Book Butterflies!

Each self sealing mailer comes with a length of bakers twine to secure the book, and a perfect compartment for safe mailing. Your recipient will pull the ribbon to release their book.

Step by Step Instructions

1. Pick your favorite milk cap book.
2. Write a special letter or draw some dandy pictures.
3. Secure the book with bakers twine.
4. Place your milk mail in the protective mailer.
5. Address the envelope and send it on its way!
    Extra postage will be necessary for careful handling.

Little Leather Library: Rebound

I was eying a stack of Little Leather Library books as I was browsing a vintage shop with my mother-in-law around the holidays, but decided that they could find a home with someone else, because I was looking for a little text block that I could put a new cover on and it wouldn't feel right to take the books apart when they were functioning just fine, otherwise! We ventured toward the back of the shop, at the promise of a sale section, and low and behold there were a few of these books that were falling apart with their covers detached! My mother-in-law scooped them up, and away she sped to the register. On Christmas morning I had three little broken books to unwrap, and they are such treasures!

I've started working on the book in the photo in between projects. I took the sewing apart and reinforced and re-hinged some of the pages with Japanese tissue. The paper on the left will be made into endsheets, and the leather on the right is for the new cover. The poems inside are so sweet, it'll be exciting to finish the binding so I can sit down and read all of them!

Vintage Paper Lace

Over a year ago I was browsing Etsy for some vintage ephemera, and fun papery delights that I might use in the bindery. I stumbled upon this spool of vintage paper lace and immediately called my friend Lisa (fellow papery delights lover, you know, it's a technical term) to see if she wanted to split the spool. And, of course she did! Wouldn't you?!

Since the spool arrived, packaged in a sweet box, it has been my bench-top staple. I haven't used it in a binding, but I've been using it on just about everything that's in need of wrapping! And as it turns out, paper lace is a bit like the old Lay's slogan. I can't get by with just one color.

Several months ago I added these gems to my collection.

They have a way of making simple packages feel so special!

All of the paper ribbon I've purchased has come from an Etsy shop called A Bohemian Market. The proprietor, Carole, is friendly and helpful. We've only ever communicated online, but her kind personality can't help but shine through in her words. I was excited to see that she had listed some new white lace ribbon in her shop and wrote to her last week to check on availability of some other colors... it was my lucky day! The white and peach above, as well as the orange below are all recent acquisitions.

Aren't all of the eyelets lovely? Most of the little shapes are punched out, but not all, so if I ever need a little bit of quick confetti I can just run my fingers across some length of the ribbon to loosen the remaining pieces.

By itself, or dressed up, Carole's paper lace would make a nice addition to any supply box! As I write this, her shop is full, so feel free to take a peek!

The nitty gritty, as written on the large spools: Maxi Paper Lace, Ideal for Bows, Packages, Floral Arrangements, & Trimmings, 3" Wide 12 yds Maxwell Wellington Greensboro, GA,  Made in the U.S.A.

First Etsy Treasury

 Back in December I thought I'd try my hand at making an Etsy Treasury. I added a few items and then got busy with something else, but I picked it up on Monday and finished my first treasury. I enjoy looking through other people's collections, and my Favorite Items list just keeps growing and growing, so I thought it would be fun to start grouping my favorites together!

I wrote to those I included with a note and a link, and then my favorite part happened, their comments rolled in all day long! They sent private messages and left comments under the photos and it just made it fun and exciting! This might have to turn into a habit! All of these people have great shops, here's a link to check them out.