Antiquing in Aurora Oregon

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! We were fortunate to be able to visit family and friends in Portland, Oregon. The weather was actually really great, not too many rainy days and we even got some snow! My fabulous husband took us out for a Saturday drive to the cutest little town of Aurora, Oregon. It was a gorgeous sunny day and just perfect for a drive. Aurora has a really quaint area with all kinds of turn-of-the-century homes that have been convereted into antique shops and coffee shops. We had a blast visiting house, after house or I should say – shop after shop and my husband was such a terrific sport to join in and he also spotted some super items that we brought back home with us (I will post these soon as I know they are going do great in our eBay and Etsy stores). We found a cool set of vintage 1950’s bowling Nuns; these sets were made by Napcoware and Lefton back in the 50s and they still evoke smiles and fun today!!

Merry Christmas to All Our Friends From Crazy4Me


We here at Crazy4Me would like to wish you all a very happy and safe Merry Christmas!

We thought it would be fun to share with you some of our favorite vintage Christmas images that we have gathered all year and these come from 1940s-1950s vintage Christmas linens – the vividly colored images and jovial scenes provide the perfect background for a Happy Holiday!

Vintage PinUp Girl Christmas

PinUp Girl Ornament Blonde

No holiday would be complete without mention of the PinUp Girl. The “come back” of the Pin Up Girl can be attributed to the desire people seem to have with admiring “pretty girls”, “Hollywood’s-good-ol-days”, and the nostalgia of yester year, especially Christmas time, as all things Vintage and Retro are hotter than ever. We can also thank mainstream television with shows like L.A. Ink and Miami Ink as it seems a majority of the episodes showed men and women having PinUp Girl tattoos done on various parts of their bodies by the very talented tattoo artists these particular tattoo studios have and wearing PinUp Girl inspired clothing.

PinUp Girl Dark Hair Tshirt

There are many fans of the PinUp Girl and why not have a PinUp Girl Christmas. It would be neat to decorate a Chirstmas tree in the vintage theme of the WW2 PinUp Girl.  Look at these neat vintage themed PinUp Girl ornaments we found! These ornaments would make fabulous gifts for the collector of vintage PinUp Girl memorabilia. Details here.

PinUp Red Hair Ornament

Vintage Christmas Teacups and Cookies

Miniature Gingerbread Cookies

Saw this lovely picture of a vintage collector teacup and thought “How Cute”!  What a great way to decorate for the holidays and display your vintage teacups and decorations. The teacup pictured is filled with handmade gingerbread cookies but why not add your own vintage ornaments, miniature Santa decorations or even fill a vintage teacup with vintage little mercury glass ornaments. This would also make a very darling party favor or Christmas gift. If you are interested in the cookies visit here.

Gift Baskets for Vintage & Retro Collectors – Perfect Gifts!

Vintage Holiday Basket 2

Right about now its probably cold outside, maybe even snowing where you are and its mid December with Christmas right around the corner! Do you find yourself in a slight panic asking yourself “What gift do I give the vintage collector”? Well, we hope you find this article helpful as we have put together three gift basket ideas you can create for the vintage and retro collector you know.

Vintage salt and pepper shaker collectors, vintage dog figurine and vintage teacup collectors will all be so happy to find these gift baskets waiting especially for them under the Christmas tree. Putting together a gift basket for the vintage collector is a very personalized and unique gift that surely will be treasured!

Basket 1: The Salt and Pepper Shaker Collector Gift Basket
The container used for this gift basket for the salt and pepper shaker collector can be a vintage basket, vintage colander, small vintage cabinet, vintage mixing bowls, vintage loaf pans, vintage hat box, ceramics/crates, cans, tins and trays to name a few.

Make sure you have an adequate amount of cellophane, netting, or tulles to completely cover the gift basket and have enough left to pull up over the basket to tie it off and secure the items. Fill the bottom of the container with shred, brown primitive papers, or vintage tea towels and napkins to cushion the contents.  Have some nice bows and ribbons and items to embellish the basket like florals, ornaments, and some greenery handy.

Items to include in this gift basket are of course Salt and Pepper Shakers; maybe you are able to seek out and find the rare or hard-to-find shakers your recipient is looking for. Perhaps you are very generous and can include multiple sets or a couple pairs of shakers. Also, including a collectors book specific to salt and pepper shakers that details collecting areas and manufacturers, price guides, what to sell and what to keep would be a nice addition.  Adding some actual gourmet salts and peppers to this basket would be great. Maybe you are able to locate a calendar specific to salt and pepper shakers to add to the basket or have photographed the collection of shakers your recipient has and turned it into a calendar or coffee table book and can add it to this basket – that would be truly awesome!

Basket 2: Gift Basket For The Vintage Teacup Collector
Does your recipient collect Chintz teacups, or only teacups with pink roses, bone china teacups, or a variety of teacups? No matter which type of teacup your recipient collects, you should be in luck and have no trouble finding the perfect one as teacups are everywhere and beautiful vintage and antique ones can be tracked down at antique shops, vintage shops, and even thrift stores and estate sales.

The container used for this gift basket for the Teacup collector can be a vintage basket, a pretty wicker basket, vintage colander, vintage hat box, ceramics/crates, cans, tins and trays, lovely porcelain boxes, and vintage tea caddy’s to name a few.

Make sure you have an adequate amount of cellophane, netting, or tulles to completely cover the gift basket and have enough left to pull up over the basket to tie it off and secure the items. Fill the bottom of the container with shred, vintage tea towels or vintage napkins, even a small vintage quilt or scarf to cushion the contents.  Have some nice bows and ribbons and items to embellish the basket like florals, ornaments, and some greenery handy.

Items to include in this gift are teacups! Make sure the teacup is cleaned before placing it into the gift container. Teacups in whatever pattern and style your recipient collects.  If you have a treasured heirloom that you would consider passing onto a close and dear collector you know, this would be a treasured teacup to receive for certain! Adding a dainty enameled spoon or vintage sterling silver teaspoon along with a nice selection of gourmet teas, sugars and tea cookies. Adding a lovely vintage porcelain creamer and a darling little teacup ornament would be nice additions as well. Also, adding a resource like a collector’s book on teacups and china would be very nice too. Great resource here.
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Vintage Linen Stain Removal Mixture & Tips

Vintage Tablecoth NOERL

Now is the time of year when we are all entertaining and setting beautiful dining tables with our favorite linens and we want to be sure that these are cleaned and ready. Stains from last year and even years prior are still present and if your linens are already cleaned then, this linen wash recipe will be great as you know elderly grandma Ethel will sadly drop the cranberry sauce on your tablecloth as she insists on serving herself.

IMG_0949_1-1

Vintage Linen Stain Removal Mixture
1 Cup Clorox Color Safe Bleach
1 ¼ Cup Oxy Clean
1 Cup of your favorite Dishwasher Liquid Soap

Fill your washing machine with hot water. Add all 3 ingredients. Let washer agitate to mix thoroughly. Let the water cool down a bit. Add your linens to soak and agitate on a gentle or delicate cycle for a few minutes only.  Go back and again let the linens agitate for a few more minutes and keep the ingredients mixed. Depending on the stubbornness of the stain(s) and how much patience you have, it might work best to  let the linens soak overnight or while you are at work.

If there are hints of stains left after you remove your linens from the washing machine, lay your wet item on wet grass on a nice a hot sunny day and mist with some concentrated lemon juice being careful not to let the green grass stain it.

vintage santa tablecloth

TIPS:
On whites, the dishwasher liquid may be enough of a bleach to remove stains.
The lemon juice and hot sun work well and should do the trick too!
If soaking only a couple items, use 1/3 of the ingredients mentioned above.
You can also use the ingredients mixture and technique to soak dirty quilts but put them in the bathtub so the material does not get damaged.