Pretty in Pink Trick or Treat

We will be celebrating two holidays this weekend- Halloween on Saturday, of course, and Dia De Los Muertos or The Day Of The Dead on Sunday, November 1st. And I’m observing the dual holiday and Pink Saturday with a special treat-a Pink Treat give away for the Day of the Dead.  Even though I like the traditional fall hues, pink touches do pop up…This sparkling Black Halloween tree is pretty traditional with lots of orange and black…

Same with this group of recycled and embellished  spooky bud vases…

yes, they are single serve wine and beer bottles…but a few Halloween touches, and they have come to life again,,,and even this EEk! wine bottle topper is orange and black …

lots of black and white in this rag wreath and garland that I received in the Sweet and Sinister Swap 2008

And more black and white from Sweet and Sinister partner Nancy…a vintage doll case outfitted for Halloween…

But traces and tones of our favorite pink showed up in these creepy corsages I sold at a recent holiday bazaar…

 

They were fun, but my favorites  in pinkness were the Catrina dolls in the Dia De Los Muertos Homecoming Corsages…

and the domino necklaces…

The colors are bright and happy because Dia De Los Muertos celebrates the lives of those we have loved. If you are not familiar with the celebration and its lovely traditions, visit one of the web sites devoted to its observation. This Pink Saturday I’ll be hosting a giveaway  in honor of a beloved illustrator  of children’s books, Eloise Wilkin. She wrote and illustrated dozens of children’s books and she even created a line of dolls. She passed away in 1987, but her works are still appreciated and very collectible. Last Saturday I posted a few of her books that I had discovered at a library sale.  to introduce you to Dia De Los Muertos,  I’ve picked Baby Dear to share with one of my visitors this week.

Leave a comment and I’ll enter you in this celebration of the life and work of Eloise Wilkin. Then off you must hurry to visit Beverly to pick up your invitations for what are sure to be some wonderful posts. http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Happy Pink Saturday to one and all…I’ll draw on Sunday evening.  LaVerne in Texas

Little Golden Pink Saturday

This Saturday I am excited to share a few treasures from our town’s annual library used book sale.

Yes, Little Golden Books…for only 50 cents each!…Look at the sweet pink finds I picked up at opening night…

 

They were  illustrated by Eloise Wilkin and they represent a couple of decades of her work…from the 39 cents 1965 second printing of Good Little Bad Little Girl

to the 89 cent 1981 copy of We Like Kindergarten

 

The little faces are so sweet…who can resist this precious picture from My Little Golden Book about God? This is a 1975 reprint of a 1956 edition…

And isn’t this just the most wonderful way to pause for a moment on Pink Saturday…

This book, Dear Baby, is a 1971 second printing of a 1962 book which introduced a line of dolls designed by Eloise Wilkin and manufactured by Vogue Dolls. It’s filled with Mommy and me activities.

I work setting up for the book sale  almost every. It’s a huge project…so large in fact, that a half dozen inmates from the county jail in their bright orange jump suits are called into service loading and unloading hundreds of boxes from the warehouse into the civic center.

No, those aren’t inmates…I didn’t want to embarrass any of those boys by taking their pictures…don’t know why not, two of them were pictured and named on the front page of our almost-daily town newspaper! Bet their mommas were proud…local bad boys doing good… These volunteers are getting ready to start unpacking the first load. It takes one day to unload and get the books on tables. Then the next two days are spent organizing…it’s not Dewey Decimal, but you can actually find topics pretty easily.

This is only the first load…after lunch an equal number of boxes came in…

We actually have detailed layout maps to follow in setting out the tables…It opens to volunteers and Friends of the Library on Thursday night when the line stretches out the door and around the corner…then Friday and Saturday morning it opens to the public…and like so many of these events, Saturday afternoon is Fill A Bag for a couple of bucks…I bought  a stack of National Geographic from the WWII era for 25 cents each…they have great ads…and an illustrated dictionary from the ‘30s…great for collage projects and ATCs…and sheet music for 20 cents…don’t think I make it back down for bag day…If your local library has a sale, check it out…people come from miles around because New Braunfels holds such a large one that is so well organized if I may say so myself…now back to Beverly’s house to pick up her blog-land map of all things Pink…http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Thanks so stopping by. LaVerne

Pink Saturday and Tea at the Museum

The Sophienburg Museum and Archives here in New Braunfels, Texas, recently hosted a tea featuring member’s tea sets…and the sweetest cookies you have ever seen or tasted…they were inspired by the tea sets.

Of course, there were other yummy things to eat…and just look at the cute pink umbrella decorations…

They made a rather bland meeting room come alive!  Pink just does that, doesn’t it?  That’s why we celebrate Pink Saturday! Stop in to check out this week’s list of participants at Beverly’s house http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

I’m off to Garden Ridge, Texas, for a craft show…I’ll be checking out the pink and taking a few pictures to share next week…enjoy the day…LaVerne

Pink Saturday Already?

Wow! This week has flown by…It’s Wimberley Trade Day again so I’ll have to visit the blogs on Sunday…But don’t let that stop you from joining the party without me…sniff, sniff…Beverly has the list ready for you…http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/

I’m getting into the October mood with some Halloween decorations and something new this year…corsages…well, how sweet, you’re probably thinking and you’d be right…sorta right…these corsages take their inspiration from Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations…and Catrina dolls. Catrina dolls are skeletons often wearing Victorian clothing and taking part in life’s activities.

 

Here’s one in a Tree of Life…notice her bright festive pink…

You can see by the flowers and happy colors that it is a joyful celebration.

When we were in Ruidoso last month, we girls decorated Halloween bags and I added a series of Fall Catrinas to mine. They were so fun and added such an unexpected  playful touch to a traditional Trick or Treat tote…

I tried to capture the same fun with a series of corsages …the picture quality is the worst…wish I had taken them earlier when I could have used natural light.

I started with a small skeleton, gave her a lace shawl, a sweet pink heart, a skirt of pink fall foliage, and a headdress to make Frieda Kohlo jealous. I wanted her to be Pretty in Pink…They really are fun and festive, (You’ll have to take my word for it.) but my pictures make the poor ladies look ghoulish…

I used flower distressing and destructuring techniques learned at Paper Cowgirl Art Retreat. ..great for tattered looking roses…pretend the fuzzy look is on purpose to make the ladies more scary…

Anyway, that’s how we are spending Pink Saturday, the fuzzy little Catrinas and I…If I can get some better pictures, I’ll put a couple in my Etsy shop…Enjoy your Pink Saturday visits and let’s  hope your Pink State of Mind lasts all week. Thanks for stopping by…LaVerne in Central Texas