The "Blue Jammies"

I am reposting this for my first week of Favorite Things Friday. For more FTF, click here.

Today I'm very happy to announce the arrival of our newest son, Liam Bradley Coller! Baby Liam was born yesterday morning about 5:00 am.

In honor of this little guy's birth, I'm blogging about the "Blue Jammies" for Vintage Thingie Thursday and Favorite Things Friday.


Liam is our seventh child and the newest one to wear these "vintage to some" baby pajamas. I'm not sure how I even ended up with these 11 years ago when I was preparing for the birth of our first child but it has somehow become a tradition for each of our children to wear them on their first night home. They're made of a light blue terry cloth material and have square plastic snaps and white lace on the collar. I'm thinking they're from the late 70's, early 80's. **Update: My mom says that she's pretty sure she got these as a gift in 1982 when my brother Joe was born. They must have been in the hope chest she gave me when I had our first daughter. That makes them even more special! Thanks Mom and Uncle Joe!**

At this point, we're still in the hospital but I'm really looking forward to getting Liam all snuggled up in the Coller Family Pajamas once were home and settled! (Update: to see Liam in the Blue Jammies, click here and scroll down to the end of the post.)

For more Vintage Thingy Thursday, click here!

Vintage Thingie Thursday: My Strawberry "Stuff"

It's my favorite day today: Vintage Thingie Thursday!

I decided to pull out all my strawberry stuff and see if you all can help me to identify and date it! I have been (very slowly) collecting strawberry themed items as they make my home seem so cheery and relaxed. I suppose I'm sorta partial to them to since one of my mom's favorite stories about me is how I'd call them "bah-shoos" as a baby. I can not find a correlation between that baby phrase and the word "strawberry" but it must have made sense when I was little!

The only item that I can identify by maker and date is the hand-painted wooden Munising bowl. According to information I found online, this bowl dates from sometime between 1940 and 1955. Apparently, they're popular and collectible and I probably shouldn't have been tossing my keys into it for the last few years as my once pristine bowl, (which I thought had been recently painted and was not worth more than the $1 I paid for it at a yard sale) is now missing some of it's green leaf paint.

Last week I found the little recipe card holder at our local Salvation Army. It's a handmade block of wood with a clothes pin attached and a cute toll painted strawberry design. Not only does it fit with the theme I'm trying to collect for my kitchen, it also is a functional piece that I didn't really know I needed until I found it! The recipe card features a great chili recipe that I got from Weight Watchers--I'll tag it onto the end of the post for you all!

I don't remember where I found the little sugar bowl or the strawberry printed cloth but I'm assuming it was sometime during my yard sale adventures of the last few years. I have found several "look alike" sugar bowls on ebay but they are all separated into pieces and the base is always a separate piece. This bowl is attached to the base and looks to be a little older than those I've seen online. The cloth has raised felt strawberries and doesn't seem to actually be vintage. **UPDATE: one reader just suggested that my "sugar bowl" was actually a jam jar with similar ones being found on ebay. She's right! Although I did not find my exact jar on ebay, there are several there that are similar. Thanks for the tip---is it obvious that I'm from the "packaged foods" generation?? Who woulda thought there'd be a specially made vessel just for holding jam!! Ha!!

The platter looks very similar to both the Mikasa Strawberry Festival and the Sheffield Strawberries and Cream designs but is not exact and is unmarked.

I thought some of you might like a challenging treasure hunt for the day so make sure and let me know if you can identify any of these pieces!

Before I close with the chili recipe I promised, I'd like to show you all the picture of baby Liam in the blue jammies I blogged about last week.

Unfortunately, I've not had a chance to sew him some masculine receiving blankets as I just found out he was a boy...well, the day he was born!! So, he's got sister's flowery blanket on---but he's okay with it...he knows he's a manly man!

Thanks to all who sent well wishes! We're so glad to have a new little boy in the family---even if they do outnumber us girls now!

Thanks for visiting my blog today for Vintage Thingie Thursday! To see more vintage items from other participants, click here.

Jan's 6 Can Chili

1 can fat free refried beans
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 pkg. chili seasoning mix
onion, green pepper, other veg. (opt.)

Mix all together and cook on stove or in crock pot until hot! 2 Weight Watcher points per cup.

Vintage Thingie Thursday: My "Special" Books

Today I'm featuring two of my special treasures: my Louisa May Alcott books that my husband bought for me a few Christmas's ago!

My mother first introduced me to Alcott's Little Women when I was a little girl and she's been a favorite author since. Imagine my surprise and complete delight when my husband surprised me with these two antique editions of Under the Lilacs and Jo's Boys.

This version of Under the Lilacs was published in 1898 and the edition of Jo's Boys was put out a year later in 1899. I love the pretty flowery designs along the cover and spine. Inside each book, opposite the title page, is an illustration.











Jo's Boys features a sculpted profile of Alcott with her signature and Under the Lilacs has a picture of characters Ben and Sancho from the story.

One of the reasons why I love to collect old books is that I like to imagine where they may have come from. Inside the cover of Under the Lilacs is a stamp which reads: "Chester Thorn, Agt., The Saturday Evening Post, 24 East Taylor Street, Kokomo Ind." Inside Jo's Boys the following is written in beautiful calligraphic handwriting: "Thula May Faulkners Book, 1901".










As I'm sure you can imagine, I'd love to complete this collection! I'll be keeping my eyes open for more in this beautiful set!

To see more Vintage Thingie Thursday posts, click here.