Happy 150th Birthday Laura Ingalls Wilder! Tea Time Tuesday # 140

My Tasha Tudor friend Linnie encouraged us to celebrate Laura Ingalls Wilder's 150th birthday today! As it is Tea with Tasha on Tuesdays, it was the perfect day to have some fun and brighten up this long winter. I don't need much encouragement to have a tea party! Thanks Linnie, this was really fun.

Happy Birthday Laura Ingalls Wilder! Thank you for all the wonderful books about your life's journey.

I decided to follow Laura's Ma's advise...."Ma liked everything on her table to be pretty". So this is a tribute to Laura today and a chance to use some of my pretty things.

I don't have a Laura doll, so this little miss with her bonnet and red and white outfit has to do! She was pretty happy joining in the fun. I made little cut out brown paper heart garland as Laura did in one of her stories.

I ordered this DVD about Laura's life and Jimmy and I are planning to watch it tonight. So many of us read the books and watched the TV series, but I would like to learn more about her life.

A few goodies to grace the table. The pressed glass lantern was our first anniversary gift to each other 40 plus years ago!

With my health issues, I have been doing  a lot of cooking from scratch. I wanted to make something from the Little House Cookbook. It's quite fun to read and study the recipes. I actually decided to make a gingerbread recipe that is not in the book but I found it on the internet.

Here's a copy of the recipe in Laura's handwriting. It's pretty much the one that I used. I did use butter instead of shortening and I used whole wheat pastry flour.

I have never made gingerbread from scratch, so it was a new adventure for me.

It was totally a different sequence of combining the ingredients. Adding baking soda to a cup of boiling water was an experience! If you make this recipe, use a Pyrex bowl with the baking soda. I actually had a bowl break on me.

Here it is ready for the oven...yummy. I did increase the spices from 1 t. to 1 1/2 t. after I read some of the reviews. Oh, it did smell so good when it was baking.

Here's the finished gingerbread. It was delicious and baked well. I did have one little piece...not diet food, but had to have a treat today.

Jimmy is such a good sport to join me for tea and he always supports my tea time adventures.

Of course, I had to have the paper doll book! I haven't cut out the dolls or clothes yet and I'm not sure I can use my scissors! I may just have to enjoy the book.

I had to add a few Valentine crafts to honor Laura and her life. The quilt in the photo above was made by Laura and her daughter. I'm sharing a few red and white crafts that are favorites of mine.

This is one of the hearts I made from the cutter quilt that I shared a few weeks ago.

I adore little pin keeps. This is a vintage bonnet pin keep that I have had for some time. It even has a little thimble inside.

I found the directions and pattern for making one. You can find it on Tipnut if you are interested.

I have never read the complete set of Little House on the Prairie, but I would like to go back and read them all.

I had a fun time with all of this today. I'd like to leave you with this quote. Have some fun and pick up the books again. 

Tea Time Thursday #71 and The Little Grey Rabbit Books

Happy Tea Time Thursday! It seems that this Easter season is just zipping  by so quickly! Today I am sharing this sweet little Bunny Teapot that I found recently at the Salem flea market. It is very soft and very sweet. It was made by Takahashi. I used to but a great deal from that company when I was a gift buyer.

It was a great deal and I just liked the look of it before I discovered who made it.

This is a fun little porcelain bunny stand that I found at our local craft shoppe. The store was using them to display teacups...great idea! I am using it to show off my egg covered box that my mom gave me when I was in high school. I have always loved it.

At Christmas, Jimmy gifted me with these darling little books by Alison Uttley. She was an English writer who wrote over 100 books. The Little Grey Rabbit series is just so fun and very popular. She was born in England in 1884 and lived until 1976. She was a teacher and an artist. Like many other woman writers and illustrators of the time, she wrote to support her son after her husband died.

LITTLE GREY RABBIT GOES TO THE SEA is a favorite of mine.  I love all the illustrations.
The illustrator for most of the series was Margaret Tempest who lived from 1892-1082. I really couldn't find much information about her. The last 5 books in this series were written by another illustrator~Katherine Wigglesworth.

I haven't had the opportunity to read them all yet, but I am hoping to do that very soon.

I might have to have a cup of tea and sit down with some fun reading! 

July and Eulalie Banks

Happy July! Where did the month of June go? July promises to be a busy month for the Colantino family. Right after the 4th of July, Jimmy and I have another Expo Antique and Collectible show. We are in the process of sorting, choosing, cleaning, pricing and getting things ready now. We pack for the show in about a week! Of course, we can't forget Otto's first birthday on the 25th!

I woke up before 5 AM this morning after a restless and warm night. I was having bad dreams off and on and our summer East wind is here today. Things were blowing and banging in the backyard already.

It promises to be a HOT day to welcome in July....near 100 degrees. I will have to water more than once as the wind just parches the plants. The warm sun should speed up Jimmy's tomatoes and ripen the blueberries.

Summer means time at the Oregon coast if you can squeeze a trip or two in. Do you like to go to the beach? Summer means lots of time to play when you are a child. I hope kids will get time to play outside. I think it's sad that kids just don't get out like we did when we were little.

Have you enjoyed these illustrations? Isn't the art just charming? Yesterday, I was listing a few delightful children's books I had picked up at an Estate sale and I was doing a bit of research on them. The illustrator is Eulalie Banks. I had never heard of her but this is another woman illustrator that I know I have seen her work. She had a very long life~1895 to 1999~and illustrated so many books. She was quite an artist and even did murals. She was born in England, but spent a great deal of her life in the USA. Sadly, she was not always paid well for her beautiful work. This seems to be a common story with women illustrators in the past. These are the books that I listed. I'm not sure I want to sell them now! I love children's lit and the artwork that accompanies these books.

I found this picture of Eulalie that was taken in 1978. A very talented lady. I wonder if she kept her British accent.

When you start reading about her and looking at her work, this book will always come up. A very fun book to own!

When I was a little girl, my mom read us a bedtime story every night. I think we had this book! It was one of my favorites and I still love this collection by Robert Louis Stevenson. I can still see some of the illustrations in my head. I think I need to find this book too! Oh goodness, look what has happened again! One of my favorite classes in college when I was studying to be a primary school teacher was CHILDREN'S LIT. I'm not sure what I loved more~the stories or the artwork.

Enjoy the month of July and all the summer fun it brings! Stay cool. I think it's time for ice tea now. 

Fern Bisel Peat

I was at a flea market a few weeks ago and I was looking at this lady's goodies. She exhibits at a lot of shows that I attend. We were chatting and I told her I liked children's tin dishes and she said she had something to show me. This little set...a coffee pot, cream and sugar, and two cups...all from one set- a nursery rhyme theme and one other little cup from another set. Of course I fell in love with the tin set and she came down in her price. I had some spending money left over from my trip, so I caved!

She told me that it was a Fern Bisel Peat set and that her name was on the little coffee pot. I was clueless. When I got home, I had to do some investigating to find out who this person was!

Little Bo Peep!

This is the extra little cup and I don't know the pattern. Shades of Mary Engelbreit, don't you think?

I have these sitting on a wonderful old candy box tin. My SIL Chris gave this to me along with several English king and queen tins. I love this box! I love tin and tin boxes! It's so nice inside too.

I also bought this little set of tin pans from the dealer. I thought they had to go home with me.

So back to Fern Bisel Peat. She was an illustrator who worked for the Children's Play Mate magazine for years. Most of her work was done in the 1930's and 1940's. I know I have seen these many times, but I didn't really pay attention to them. I will now! There is very little information to be found on her, which I think is so sad. She was born in 1893 and lived until 1971. Her art work is delightful and I love her style.

She also did a lot of paper dolls. I love paper dolls and am surprised that her work escaped me!

She illustrated many many books too. Do a search on her to see more or her work. You can find Pinterest boards too.

You know how I love my dolls and I like to iron. I would love to have this print...love the little poem in the corner.

Yes, I will be on the hunt for more of her work and her delightful lithographed tin dishes.
Have a great weekend.