thirty-one days {12}

Do you remember crafts your mom made at Christmas? It seems that I forget a lot but I remember crafting vividly.  I know I was fascinated by a gold wreath my mom made from computer punch cards (I know, right?).  I also know that she made wreaths tied in gingham and calico scraps; one for every window in our house.  I was a complete and total idiot for not keeping those.  

I have a set of Better Homes & Gardens magazines...1962, 1963, and 1964.  They remind me so much of the things I remember making.  With a little updating, the ideas are still really good.  And always memorable.  So really, what did your mom make that you remember?

Comments

[cottagemary]

Nice topic, Julie! My mom was a big crafter. And the magazine you have looks familiar to me. Sometime in the early 1960's my mom changed out the Christmas decorations from the 50's--- tree with big colored bulbs, pinecone people ornaments, tinsel and a train underneath, to another kind of tree with white lights and sequined ornaments she made by hand one year---I think it took all year to make enough to cover the tree. She used styrofoam, straight pins and tiny little sequins. She also made an absolutley huge pinecone wreath out of a hula hoop covered with chicken wire as a base, then she sprayed pinecones gold and hand- wired them to the chicken wire. It must have been pretty splashy! I remember it was featured in our town's newspaper that year, along with a big gold pinecone topiary tree she fashioned to put on the front door.
A gold wreath made from computer punch cards---makes me want to say the apples don't fall far from the tree! I bet it was adorable!

[barbara]

My mom made fantastic things for Christmas ... a nativity scene wall hanging out of felt and burlap, tiny stitched ornaments, gifts for all of my cousins, and clothes for me for Christmas ... I don't know how she got it all done. We have been looking for years for the pattern for a set of tiny felt mice ornaments. She has the whole set, including a mouse in a hammock, but the patterns are long gone. (We think from a McCalls magazine from the 1960s ... I'm always on the lookout!)

[debbiegroff@msn.com]

We had one of those computer punch card wreaths too! Don't remember if my mom made it or not. We went through a phase of folding Reader's Digest magazine and spray painting them and putting some kind of head on top....

[julie thompson]

Holy flashback...I totally remember the folded magazine thing too.

[julie thompson]

Now I'll be on the lookout too...two thrifters are better than one.

[julie thompson]

Fantastic crafting (your mom would have been a famous blogger in her day ;-) Thanks Mary!