Fun With Food Staples!

Since I was a kid in the seventies, I've been fascinated with crafts made out of things like beans and macaroni. Oh yes, it was a very seventies thing to do! I can remember watching my brother come out of art class with a huge American Eagle made out of macaroni. The macaroni was painted gold and mounted to a large board. It was freakin' amazing! I also remember how jealous I felt. I know, it sounds crazy but hello, this was the time when the Bicentennial was all the rage - and who can beat things made out of macaroni? Two great things that go great together.

So, you can imagine my joy (or maybe you can't..but humor me) when I was perusing Etsy (as one does) and I came across a great shop called DollFood that has tons of cool stuff - including an amazing vintage burlap banner depicting all sorts of nature, animals and household items made out of pasta, beans and spices. Burlap craft was another staple of the seventies. Once again, two great things that go great together! (Are you still humoring me?) I'm pretty sure that I squealed with glee. And then click. click. click. bought it! When it arrived, I was so amazed at how detailed it was and how many clever uses of different food staples were used. Three feet of crafty awesomeness complete with a little bell so that I can tell if someone is trying to steal it.

Here are some highlights. :


You know that bean cat had me at "hello" and look at the tiny little bug and fish! Don't worry. Bean cat won't eat them. He's got oranges made out macaroni.

Look at those owls! And that worm! He looks like a snake to me but hey, alphabet pasta doesn't lie. Speaking of which, I absolutely love the use of alphabet pasta.



The top of the banner suggests conversation - about this groovy banner, no doubt!                                             I mean, bean flowers, people...bean flowers!



That little bug is moving in for a caffeine fix! Or he could be just trying
to get a closer look at that coffee pot made out of spaghetti. "Look at that perfectly crafted handle" he says to himself. Yes, even bugs appreciate fine art.

Look at the turtle! And that butterfly! Eeee! See how alphabet pasta was used to make the turtle's feet? And how bow tie pasta was cleverly used to make the butterfly? That's the kind of stuff that thrills me.



These flowers are made of cloves and sunflower seeds.




A wee wagon carrying more pasta shells as supplies for the craft making masses! Those people can't get enough pasta! Heave! Ho!



That bee is darling down to every last detail - and that caterpillar made out of rotini...I'd have to say that little guy is definitely my favorite. Look at his little eyes! He's knows that he's going to be a bow tie pasta butterfly one day!


Pretty wild, huh? One has to wonder if the person who made this already had all of the supplies on hand or did they just completely clean out the pasta and bean aisle at the supermarket with visions of the masterpiece to come? Or maybe they were in a craft class where a whole table of folks sat around and made these. That's it! Quick! Someone get me a time machine...I'm going back and I'm carrying mass amounts of macaroni!

Speaking of fun with food, I've been wanting to share the work of one of my good friends for a while now. I met Miss Retro Modern on Flickr years ago and have always been impressed with her very own style of crafting. I'm talking peanuts with googly eyes, people. In beautiful scenes and in sweet little movies. Here is a great movie that she made that makes me both giggle and cheer. Keep your eyes peeled for the pasta guest stars! :

And here is her latest creation. She did this a day before the royal wedding in prediction of what the bride and groom might look like:



I think that she came pretty close. Just look at the happiness in their eyes!


Do yourself a favor and check out Miss Retro Modern's peanut people set and photostream on Flickr for more amazing photos and videos.

It's going to be hard to see these foodstuffs as mere staples in the pantry ever again, isn't it?

Until next time (go on! play with your food!)
x's and o's,
Eartha

Some Bunny Loves Cake

Hey buckaroos! Happy Easter to you all! I hope that your bonnets are fully festooned and that your Easter baskets overfloweth.

Please stop by to see those sugar sweet girls over at No Pattern Required. I'm guest posting today and made up a little Easter Bunny cake from a recipe from 1941.



No Pattern Required




Hippity! Hoppity! Sugar Rush!

Until next time (hope that you find the prize egg!),
x's and o's,
Eartha

Sugar Pie Sunday

They Can't All Be Good Ones

Hey buckaroos! Done any good thrifting lately? I sure hope that you've had some successes as I sure haven't. I keep having dud thrift store days. Coupled with the fact that Easter is coming up and the thrift stores use this as their excuse to bring out every basket ever donated, I'm having to keep a sense of humor about my thrifting. It's not hard though. I've always enjoyed the novelty side of thrift store finds almost as much as the great scores.

My latest trip yielded the opportunity to purchase the following items (and no..even though I'm not always known for my tasteful choices, I didn't buy any of these!)

First up..




Ain't nobody here but us grandchickens!


This one especially made me giggle because I feel like I know just where the person who made this was coming from and who it was probably gifted to. As a person who has no kids, my parents get lots of talk about the alternate grands from my household - "alternate grands" being anything that isn't an actual living, breathing human grandchild but something else that we barren children use to try and replace living, breathing human grandchildren though they often fall short of the goal.

Such as:




Badly Behaved Mannequin Boys





Badly Behaved House Cats



Kind of makes grandchickens look better and better, doesn't it? As someone who has actually given my parents gifts or notes signed from alternate grands in the past, I especially appreciate the cheerful gold glitter paint on the frame here and the sheer size of the frame (huge!) and have to wonder if it was gifted by a child to their parent or if perhaps...just perhaps the grandparent made this for themselves because they loved their grandchickens so much. And what is the resale possibility of this item? I love thrift stores - if for nothing else than their unfailing optimism that there is a buyer for everything...and let me remind you that there is:




Didn't expect to see her again, did you?



Sorry about that. Need something to wash the bad taste of pantyhose crafted thrifting past out of your mouth? Maybe this next item will be useful. Here we have something that I have never seen in a thrift store:




A Pimp Cup!


Bless it's heart with it's crookedly applied glittery ribbon trim. Not nearly as "royale" as advertised on the carton. Did the receiver of this gift keep it in the original carton for a while before resigning themselves to the fact that they just weren't pimp material and never would be? I'd like to have seen the thrift store pricer deciding what price category a pimp cup should go in. $8.99 is hardly royale. It's hard out there for a pimp cup.

And to round things out:




Cute Kitten Resting In A Stripper Heel


(You hear that? That's my blog hit counter working overtime from stripper heel fetishists hitting the pavement at Ranch Dressing after phrase searching on Google. Welcome y'all!)

Okay seriously, how can a jacked-up pimp cup go for $8.99 when this beauty is a mere $1.99? And that poor kitten! Left pining at home alone again while its owner goes out to earn the cat litter money. Story of my life, I tell ya.

Well kids, those were pretty much the highlights of my latest thrifting trip. It just goes to show that some days are epic "oh my god, this vintage Pyrex bowl doesn't even have a chip!" days and other days are well, Grandchicken Pimpin' Kittens In Stripper Heels kinds of days.


Until next time (one man's trash is another man's treasure, yo),
x's and o's,
Eartha