Remembering childhood through books1

Today I was getting some childrens books ready to sell that I found over the weekend.
When I decided to sit down and read one of them the "Wishing Tree" the book touched my heart and made me cry it also inspired me to do this post about books I loved when I was little books I still love to this day.

I could resist including a picture of me when I was a tiny tot reading a book :)
I cannot remember a day in my life that I didnt love books.
So many people these days are putting down the good old hard cover for a kindle its like betraying a friend..my mom even got one the other day.
How could she it wont have the same feel or smell or comfort about it.. and you cant sit in the bathtub with it....atleast you shouldnt.

Most people when they get older throw out or get rid of there old childhood books for new more grown up books but I was never able to do that and I never wanted to.
My mom told me to never grow up and that was just fine with me she read to me until I was 18 and if I wanted to go over there right now for a cup of tea and a good story I could :)
Thats just always how it was im a lucky girl to have such a wonderful mom.
I also liked to read to her I remember reading Scary stories to her all day while she was sick or Nancy drew or Holes and Waste Side School is falling down

The lorax is a wonderful book I like what it is trying to teach and I also love how colorful it looks.
Its one of my husbands favorites and also the first gift I got him when we were dating
We went to the mall and split up so he could get me a gift and I went into the book store and got this for him and when he came back with my gift ( from victoria secret ) he got me a nightie and I got him a childrens book we are funny he said why did you get me a gift its not my birthday? and I said its a just because gift he said..whats a just because gift and I said just because I love you and its not my birthday either and he said but your a girl and I love you.
His mom was really confused she asked why he had a childrens book when he was almost 20 and he said because I like it and it was a gift.

We read it outloud to eachother every year.

A Bargain for Frances has always been a favorite of mine its so cute.
I love the art style of this book.I recently replaced my old copy I found one for a 1.00 at a flea market and I read it out loud to Josh and he loved it.
If you have the time you should read about Russell and Lillan Hoban they are interesting but kind of sad as they split up and the series ended :(

Heres a hard one to find they had them all at the library I went to as a child and I loved them
They are very cute and I always thought the little girl Betsy looked like me.

A favorite of mine by Mercer Mayer the art work is amazing!
I just love it I looked for it to buy for years and years before finding it again and now I have it of course I loaned it to my mom who also loves it and wanted to hold on to it.

One of my favorite pictures from the book :) this inspires me for some of the stuff I do.

No fighting no biting by Maurice Sendak a really great book my mom used to check out and read to me..I used to love to bite everything my toys and my mom.

And of course Nancy Drew I started likeing it when I was about 8 maybe younger I cant really remember I just remember I liked the cover art and I asked my mom if it was any good and she said that it was that she had a wonderful teacher in the fifth grade who read them outloud to the class,so she started reading them to me and she made up voices for all the charactors and Hannah became Hannah Hedgehog because at the time I had a hedgehog named Hannah.
I learned so much from Nancy drew not only was it entertaining but it was educational I cant count how many times that I knew the answer to something and someone said how do you know that and I smiled and said Nancy drew.
A great part of my childhood I still continue to collect them.

The Bobbsey twins are a sweet little series I love the cover art
I wish kids read this type of stuff more.

My brother left these behind when he move and...

I had countless snow days filled with learning fun with Scrooge and Donald and Mickey taught me everything from Diamonds, inventions ,holidays, health, animals, art ,history ,and on and on

Amella Bedella,I feel like her most of the time trying to be helpful but making things worse
I was surprised when my husband didnt know who she was he said Amella who???
how disapointing how can one not know who the wonderful Amella is :)

Now heres one I bet everyone knows Winnie the pooh is one of the sweetest things in the world.
I had the chance to read the history about him awhile back and it made me kind of sad lets just say that Christopher Robin didnt grow up to be a nice man he didnt love his dad who loved him.
and he grew up and turned his back on his toys how can someone do that....

"I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you."

They had this book in my school library when I was in kindergarten
I could look at it all day everyday.

This was another one from my schools library that I loved to look at trust me on days when I was low on friends this book got me through it I could always imagine the carebears there to help me out and give me courage and I didnt feel so alone.

Another book my mom used to read me
This book was so funny it would make me laugh and laugh Mrs Piggle wiggle was clever
This is one I need to find and add to my growing collection..but I really dont have anymore room for book shelves.

This is a book I loved the pictures were great but its Eloise Wilkin and her stuff is always amazing,
I remember my grandparents gave me money when I was 2 or 3 and I saved it and bought a baby doll and named her baby dear I and a few years later I left her at the college my mom was going to we went back the next day but some horrible kids had covered her in horrible graffiti my grandma was able to get most of it off though.

Trixie Belden a really really fun series and it can be hard to find sometimes
but its fun to get into they have great adventures
the kind of adventures kids dont really have now..its not to the tattoo parlor or sneaking into a bar or watching justin bieber its an actual adventure.

Ok this is getting super image heavy so ..................this is part one.

On to part 2

All about Kewpies part 1

Growing up I was never really into kewpies I had one that I sort of liked and my mom said something negative about it I dont remember what..but that was it I got rid of the kewpie probably sold it at a yardsale or donated it..I always thought she was right about everything and I also thought she could fly and get me the moon and maybe a handful of stars to go with it.
I still pretty much think she is right about most things..just not kewpies. though she seems to have not meant what she said because she likes all the ones Ive bought to sell and told me that growing up she had a gerber baby kewpie.



So when I first opened my etsy shop one of the first things I listed was a kewpie and it sold pretty fast so I just kept buying them and right now I have a ton of them in all different sizes some Im going to keep and some Im going to sell.


One of the things I find the most interesting is the variety of sizes and how every kewpie has something different about them due to the person who painted it.

The history of the kewpie doll is also very interesting
the kewpie was made by  Rose O'Neill  and they first appeared in ladies home journal in 1909 the first dolls produced were made in Germany they were made out of celluloid and bisque
And then in 1949 Effanbee created the first plastic versions.
Their name comes from the word Cupid,and the first dolls made of bisque are worth thousands of dollars.
The time capsule of the 1939 New York Worlds Fair contained a Kewpie

Rose O'Neill actually died in Springfield missouri which happens to be where I do most of my flea marketing

The kewpie is very popular
it is a mascot of several companies

Knock off kewpies are called Cupies they dont have wings.

Heres a neat video I found on kewpies
http://vimeo.com/47336006

Heres a photo of Rose O'Neill she is very pretty

And heres a picture of the comic strip :)

 Heres the very first Kewpie I sold I love how someone took the time to make this beautiful dress and hat for her It sparks my imagination...I imagine a little girl running up to her grandma and saying her Kewpie is cold and the grandma smiling and and then when the little girl goes out to play
she decides to make it a nice outfit to surprise the little girl :)
This kewpie was interesting I remember when I was paying at the cash register the lady said that people used to take off their heads and put baby powder in them..I had no idea what she was talking about until I was getting the kewpie ready for picture taking and I found that her head was full of the stuff.

This ones rubber felt different from the others and made squeaky sounds.
The other one was marketed towards crafters and is a knock off "Cupie"

The next one is a little one that I named Tiny Dancer and sold sometime back

This one is a little different its eyes arent as pretty because they are almost all black and souless
but every kewpie or cupie has its charm
It got adopted and went off to england.

                                           The next pictures are of my current hoard

                      Here they are lined up by size check out the tiny tiny one :)
                       The second to the smallest has a cute little sundress that I stole off a troll.
   The plastic kewpie in red is one that I bought today on etsy :) I cant wait to get it :)

 

 

 

I thought Id feature some cool kewpie finds

For sale here https://www.etsy.com/listing/122511165/darling-vintage-kewpie-doll-lolita?

 

I love this kewpie picture its full of personality and really sparks ones imagination about what those kewpies were up to before being interupted for a picture.

check it out here  https://www.etsy.com/listing/83755580/kewpie-doll-doll-flea-market-turquoise

 

 

Thats all for part one..yes part one

Vintage shopping spree

For monthes and monthes and monthes Ive been planning a big flea market day in Springfield mo its a few hours away from where I live.
Things kept getting in the way and so it kept being put off ..but last friday my husband took a day off of work to take me.
I woke up early excited and alert ( not my usual self ) but thats what flea market trips do to me.
Im like a 4 year old who broke into the sugar stash and downed mommys coffee when she wasnt looking.
We started the day buy grabbing some starbucks at the gas station normally I would go to mcdonalds because I like the ice coffee they have better than the bottled starbucks..but I didnt want to wait in line I wanted to get to the flea markets and scoop up all the good stuff.

So we got to the first flea market the largest of the 4 its got a huge upstairs and a downstairs.
and the first booth I stopped at had a TON of vintage squeak toys so I got the cheapest ones if I had more money on me than I did I would have got the others they were Ruth E newton and very cute. but they were 10.00 each and if I had got them all it would have been a 60.00 and my husbands wallet cant afford everything I want.

                                                 The first squeaky the one that caught my eyes
                                                      

                                                  and right by it were this two little cuties

     

                                        

I made sure to grab a cart because I could tell it was going to be a really good day

My husbad went off on his own adventure to the bathroom and to look for some Rush albums.

I was on a shopping spree

 and then in the corner of my eye I caught something wonderful something rainbow and beautiful
was...it was it really Rainbow brite? I got really exicted and ran over to the case and there it was in all its beauty a large Rainbow brite bottle I couldnt see the price and thats where I would usual just say ..never mind because going and having them get the key and then when you see the price is way to high is a little embarrassing and awkward but since it was Rainbow brite and I normally dont run into Rainbow brite stuff I went ahead and asked the nice Hippie at the desk to let me look
it was 7.00 which isnt horrible,I have this rule if its over 5.00 I have to be ok with keeping it if it doesnt sell..and this I would be okay with.

 

It didnt take long until I found some other goodies.

....................GNOMES!!!!!!!!!

I love Gnomes who doesnt?

They are adorable and kitschy and very very 1970s

Infact one the of first things me and josh bought for our apartment was a gnome statue

he hangs out at Joshs desk

The gnomes are made of plastic and have little holes in their heads like they hung from something once?????

The next few finds were good

A 1980s Wuzzles stuffed animal and a carebear

and a fisher price looking thing

After this I wondered downstairs and I found a few cute little things
a pound purry a little prettys cat ( it needs some work before I take a picture )
and some interesting rattles a cat and a dog they are miss labeled as Water guns.

I love cheap plastic dimestore stuff it brings back great memories of childhood.

I bought a few more little things like this beautiful asian treasure.

 

I wanted to fit in the other 3 flea markets so I decided to call it good and go pay

I think I spent 40.00 not to bad considering all the stuff I bought.

So I went to the next flea market with the unfortunate name of S.T.D

but it is always pretty rewarding I got a few Bobbsey twins books and some vintage craft books

I saw a handful of really great stuff but it was expensive

A Ms Beasley doll which josh told me he wouldnt let ride home with us because it was scary looking.

a ton of Liddle kiddles and uneeda dolls and Old original skipper

I drooled at them and left them behind sadley.

I went to S.T.D 2 and found a lot of great stuff

some melmac divided plates for Josh because he cant stand his food touching and divided plates are really hard to find for some reason.

I got some little toys and a found two more squeakys

an Elephant and a really really old doll.

After that josh said we were done...and I said nooooooooooooooooo!!
I dont want to quit yet and he said but the next one well probably be closed
I pouted like a baby and said can we just look? and guess what it was open it stays open till 10pm I love places that have late hours not enough do.
Right after we first walked josh spotted 3 kewpies and I drooled and smiled happily because I really love kewpies.

After that I was happy with calling it quits I had about 5 bags of stuff and I was really happy.

                        Heres a group shot of the squeakys I ended the day with

I cant wait until the next flea market adventure!!!!!!!!

 

The Easter Bunnies!

Ive been very very busy lately and Im proud of myself I dont usually stick with something Im the type of person who well put stuff off until its to late and then regret it later.

Last year I had meant to put up easter bunnies on etsy and never got around to it.this year I did it..its part of my new years resolution ..to do things more and so far im doing pretty good.



                                              Heres the first bunny I made JellyBean 

                                                              Heres Bluebell ( my favorite )

                                                                              Cupcake                         

                                                           and Daffodil

                                                                                
                                      As you can see Jellybeans tail is different thats because I hadnt bought the
                                           pom poms yet.

I think they turned out pretty good Ill probably be making more bunnies in the future.

Check them out in my shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/Vintagetoyfun?ref=si_shop

Something to squeak about

 Since my last post I have managed to buy three more squeak toys and Im very happy

Ive been trying to do research on different companys that made squeak toys but Im not finding much out,Im going to play Nancy Drew and keep at it though until I get results.




The first new squeak I bought was this deer on etsy..it doesnt really squeak though but Im still happy to have it in my collection as it is very retro kitsch

The next one was a angry looking kewpie type I read something awhile back and it said his name was Butch,I got him on Ebay ..he has some paint wear but he is still cute..though if I find one in better condition Ill buy it and put the one I have up for sale in my shop.


Next is a adorable little lamb I bought from my friend Victora http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyPalPeppy?ref=pr_shop_more
As soon as I saw its cute little eyes I had to have it for the collection.


I took some pictures but they are sort of sloppy as I rushed it because my cameras batteries were dieing..so soon Ill get more creative with them and make them look neat.

When I get a house I plan on having a really nice area for them instead of where they are now mingleing with my dvds.
                                          Here are the new additons to squeak town
                                          The deer looks so instense and serious
                                          the lamb as a look of curiousity and innocence
                                          and the kewpie boy looks very very angry.
                                         I love how they have their own personalitys

                                          Here they are together ( minus a couple of them )

                                          A close up of the lambs cute little face :)

 

I have decided that the giant kewpie ( is mayor kewpie saurus rex ) mayor of squeak town.

Soon Ill probably add a few more Im hoping to get my hands on a dreamland bare bottom bunny doll

 

Heres a look at my growing kitty though he seems to be growing a bit slower than most of the cats Ive had it makes me worry a little..I want him to grow up to be big and strong.

Ive never had a cat who is this crazy hyper he is everywhere he jumps from chair to couch to my desk in great leaps and he learned that jumping in my desk chair makes it go in circles and he loves it..its like his own little rollarcoaster ride or something.

He is looking very bothered in the pictures because..I take them all the time I think he is getting tired of it but..he is just soooooooooooooooooo cute :) I love him.

 

 

Well thats all for now Ive been trying to blog more so you will see another post pretty soon.